Enid Blyton.

The Valley of Adventure.

Chapter 1.

UP IN BILL'S AEROPLANE KIKI the parrot was annoyed. She had been left all alone for a day, and she talked angrily to herself.

"What a pity, what a pity, what a pity, poor, poor Polly! Ding-dong bell, Polly's down the well, good morning, good morning!"

Mrs. Mannering put her head in at the door of the room where Kiki was sitting.

"Kiki, don't be so absurd! Talking away to yourself all day like that! The children will soon be back."

"Ding-dong bell," said Kiki mournfully, and made a cracking noise with her beak.

"I suppose you miss Jack," said Mrs. Mannering, coming into the room and shutting the door carefully behind her. "He won't be long now, Kiki. You'll hear him and the others any minute. Now be a good bird and don't make any more noise."

Kiki opened her beak, swelled up her throat and gave her famous imitation of an express train screeching on entering a tunnel. Mrs. Mannering put her hands to her ears.

"Naughty Kiki, naughty! How many times have we told you not to do that?"

"How many times have I told you to shut the door, shut the door, shut the door," answered back Kiki, and ruffled up her feathers so cheekily that Mrs. Mannering gave her a tap on her beak.

"Funny old bird," she said. "Ah, listen - that sounds like the children coming back. They've been up in an aeroplane, Kiki! Fancy that! That's why you had to be left alone all day!"

"Jack, Jack, Jack!" screamed Kiki, hearing the voice of her owner. Four children burst into the room, their faces red with excitement.

"Hallo, all of you!" said Mrs. Mannering. "How did you like it? Was it fun being so high up in the air?"

"Oh, Mother! It was the greatest fun in the world!"

"Aunt Allie, I shall buy an aeroplane of my own as soon as ever I'm grown up."

"Mother, you ought to have come. Bill piloted the plane and he was marvellous."

"I wasn't air-sick, Aunt Allie, though Bill gave me a paper bag to be sick in."

Mrs. Mannering laughed. All the four spoke at once, and she had hard work to make out what they said. Kiki gave a loving screech and flew to Jack's shoulder.

The four children sank into chairs and prepared to relate their day's adventure. There were Philip and Dinah, Mrs. Mannering's children, dark-eyed, dark-haired just as she was, and both with queer tufts of hair that insisted on sticking up in front. Both Dinah and Philip were called Tufty at school. Then there were the other two, Jack and Lucy-Ann, brother and sister, who had no mother and father, and lived with "Aunt Allie," as they called Mrs. Mannering. All four were like one family.

Jack and Lucy-Ann Trent were very alike. They both had red hair and green eyes, and were so covered with freckles that it was quite impossible to find a bit of pink skin on their faces, arms or legs. It was not surprising that Jack was so often called Freckles.

Kiki the parrot belonged to him. He had had her for years, an amusing and talkative parrot, with a gift for repeating anything she heard, and for imitating any noise, from a sewing-machine to an express train. She adored Jack and was miserable when she was not with him.

Jack had a pa.s.sion for birds, and Philip had a great liking for animals of all kinds. He was wonderfully good with them, and they obeyed him and loved him in a marvellous manner. He always had some kind of queer pet about him, which caused quarrels between him and his sister Dinah, who was scared of most animals and of nearly all insects. But now all four were thinking of nothing whatever but their glorious flight in their friend Bill's new aeroplane.

Bill Smugs was their firm friend. He and they had had hair-raising adventures together. In one adventure they had gone down old copper-mines to track clever forgers. In another they had happened on a nest of dangerous spies. As Bill Smugs said, those children simply "fell into adventures."

Now Bill had actually been presented with a fine aeroplane, to help him in his work. The children had been wild with excitement when he had written to tell them this at school.

"I bet he'll take us up for a flight," said Jack. "I just bet he will."

"We'll make him," said Philip. But they didn't need to make him, for he was quite willing to show off his aeroplane to them, and to demonstrate how well he could fly it after only a short training.

"Mother, we went far, far higher than the clouds," said Dinah. "I looked down on them and they didn't look like clouds a bit. They looked like a great big snow-field. It gave me quite a funny feeling."

"I had a parachute strapped to me in case I fell, and Bill showed me the rip-cord I had to pull in case of danger," said Lucy-Ann, the youngest, her eyes shining. "But there wasn't any danger."

"We flew right over our old home, Craggy-Tops," said Philip. "It was so queer looking down on top of it. And we flew over here too, Mother, and our house looked like a toy one."

"Aunt Allie, Bill says it's frightfully exciting flying at night, and seeing the little pin-p.r.i.c.ks of light shining up from the dark countryside," said Jack. "We begged and begged him to take us on a night flight, but he said he would have to ask you. You will say we can go, won't you? Golly! I can't imagine what the boys at school will say when I tell them about going up in a plane, day and night."

"Day and night," repeated Kiki. "Ding-dong bell."

"She's got ding-dong bell on the brain," said Jack. "There's a small child next door who keeps reciting nursery rhymes, and Kiki listens and picks up bits of them. Yesterday she kept moaning about 'three blind mice,' today it's 'ding-dong bell.' Don't know what it will be tomorrow."

"Humpy dumpy," said Kiki obligingly.

"Humpty, dumpty," corrected Jack. "Not humpy dumpy."

"Humpy dumpy b.u.mpy," said Kiki solemnly, and scratched her head with a claw. "Humpy, dumpy"

"All right, all right," said Jack. "Aunt Allie, can we go up at night with Bill? He's coming to ask you tomorrow, so do say yes."

"I suppose I shall have to," said Mrs. Mannering with a laugh. "You and Bill. So long as you don't go headlong into another awful adventure."

"Adventures aren't awful," said Philip. "They are simply lovely!"

"Not to the people who aren't in them," said Mrs. Mannering. "I feel quite ill sometimes when I think of the adventures you children have been in the middle of. No more, please."

"All right. We won't get into any more these summer holidays," said Lucy-Ann, giving her aunt a hug. "We won't worry you. I don't want any more adventures anyhow. I've had enough."

"Baby!" said Dinah scornfully. "Well, if we do have another, we'll leave you out of it, Lucy-Ann."

"No we won't," said Philip, giving Dinah a poke in the back. "We can't do without Lucy-Ann."

"Now, don't quarrel, you two," said Mrs. Mannering, foreseeing one of their everlasting squabbles boiling up. "You're tired now, all of you, after all your excitement. Go and do something quiet till supper-time."

"Sing for your supper," put in Kiki. The children laughed.

"You're an idiot, Kiki," said Jack affectionately. "Did you miss us today? Well, I was scared you might fly out of the aeroplane in fright, if we took you. But I expect you'd have been quite a sensible old bird, wouldn't you, and sat on my shoulder all the time?"

Kiki pecked lovingly at Jack's ear, and made a crooning noise. She sat as close to him as she could. The children began to talk about their exciting day.

"Wasn't it lovely going to the aerodrome and getting in on our pa.s.ses, and walking up to Bill just as if we were grown-ups?" said Philip. "And golly, wasn't Bill's aeroplane fine?"

"I didn't think it would be so big," said Lucy-Ann. "You know, it was funny - I sort of held my breath when we started off, thinking I'd get a funny feeling when we left the ground, like I do in a lift - and I never even knew when the wheels left the runway and we were in the air! I got quite a shock when I looked down and saw we were over the house-tops."

"It seemed awfully easy to fly a plane," said Jack. "Easier than driving a car. I wish Bill would let me have a shot."

"Well, he won't," said Philip. "I say, wasn't it queer when we got into that air-pocket and the plane suddenly dropped down without warning? My tummy sort of went up into my throat."

The others laughed. "Mine did too," said Lucy-Ann. "I'm glad I wasn't sick. It was a waste of that nice strong paper bag, but I'm glad I felt all right."

"We went hundreds of miles, I should think," said Jack. "I felt a bit funny when we were over the sea. It looked so enormous and so flat. I shouldn't like to fall out over that! What a splash!"

"I bet Mother will say we can go on a night flight with Bill," said Dinah. "I could see in her face that she was going to say yes. If only we could! Bill said we could fly to his old home, land at dawn, and spend the rest of the night with him, sleeping all we liked in his two spare rooms - we needn't get up till twelve if we didn't want to. Fancy flying all night and going to bed at dawn!"

"Then we'd fly back in the afternoon, I suppose," said Jack. "Gosh, I'm glad we've got Bill for a friend. I do think he's an exciting sort of person. It's thrilling, too, to know that he's always on some sort of secret job, and never says a word about it - always snooping out some deadly secret. I wonder if he's on any job now?"

"You bet he is!" said Philip. "That's why he's got this aeroplane. May have to take off at any moment after spies or somebody. Hope I'm with him when he does."

"Well, you won't be," said Dinah. "Bill would never run us into danger."

"I shouldn't mind if he did," said Philip. "Hallo, there's the gong for supper! I'm jolly hungry."

"That's nothing new," said Dinah. "Come on - let's go and see what there is. Smells like bacon and eggs."

They went to their supper. They were all hungry, and finished up the eggs and bacon and plum-cake in no time. Kiki helped herself to the plum-cake too, till Mrs. Mannering protested.

"Jack! Will you stop Kiki picking all the raisins out of that cake? Look at the mess she's making! There won't be any cake left soon. Smack her on her beak."

"Naughty Kiki!" said Jack, and tapped her on her beak. "Don't eat it all."

"How many times have I told" began Kiki, but Jack was too tired to talk to her.

"Don't argue," he said. "I'm so sleepy I'll have to go to bed."

Everyone felt the same - so off they went, and were soon asleep and dreaming of flying aeroplanes over the clouds, somersaulting and looping the loop in a most amazing but perfectly safe manner.

Chapter 2.

BILL GETS HIS WAY.

BILL came along to lunch the next day. He had a ruddy face, twinkling eyes and a rather bald head with plenty of hair at each side. The children rushed to meet him. Mrs. Mannering smiled at him.

"You gave the children a wonderful time yesterday," she said. "And now I hear that you want to take them on a night flight. I can't think why you want to bother yourself with a pack of children like these."

"Ah - you never know when they're going to embark on some wonderful adventure," said Bill Smugs, grinning round at them. "I don't want to be left out of it, you know. Besides, I feel sorry for you, Mrs. Mannering, having to put up with them for eight or nine weeks these summer holidays - I thought it would be a kind deed if I took them off your hands for a while."

"Well, what do you want them to do?" asked Mrs. Mannering. "Just go for a night flight, spend the night at your old home and come back the next day?"

"That was the first idea I had," said Bill. "But now I hear I'm due to have three or four days off - and I thought maybe you could spare the children for longer. We could fly to my old home, and then stay there and mess about a bit. There are heaps of wild birds for Jack to see, and I've no doubt that Philip will find plenty of even wilder animals. The girls will enjoy the change too."

"Oh! It does sound good!" cried Jack, and the others agreed. Mrs. Mannering listened and thought for a moment.

"Yes - I don't see why they shouldn't go with you, Bill. I know you'll look after them all right and see that they don't get mixed up in any awful adventure again."

"I can promise you that," said Bill. "There are no adventures to be found anywhere near my old home. It's a most peaceful, quiet place. Nothing doing at all."

"Well, if you promise not to rush into danger or trouble, you can go," said Mrs. Mannering to the delighted children. "When do you want them, Bill?"

"Tomorrow, if possible," said Bill. "The job I am on seems to be hanging fire at the moment, so I might as well take my few days now."

"What's the job, Bill? Do, do tell us!" begged Lucy-Ann. Bill laughed.

"I couldn't possibly tell," he said. "All my work is secret, you know that. I'll tell you all about the job when it's over and done with, though. You'll find it jolly interesting."

"We'll have to pack suitcases, won't we?" said Dinah. "If we're going to stay a few days, I mean. We may want a change of clothes - and macks."

"Yes, bring jerseys and shorts to mess about in," said Bill, "and macks too, because it always seems to rain at my home. And, Mrs. Mannering, could you spare a few rugs, as I may not have quite enough blankets for so many visitors?"

"Of course," said Mrs. Mannering. "I'll look some out for you."

"I'll bring my lovely camera," said Jack. "There'll be room for odds and ends like that in the plane, won't there, Bill?"

"Plenty," said Bill. "Bring your field-gla.s.ses too, because you may want to have a squint at the different birds in the hills around."

"Oh, it will be exciting!" said Jack, his eyes shining at the thought. "I can't wait till tomorrow. Let's go today!"

"The plane's not ready," said Bill. "Got to have something done to her today. Anyway, my leave doesn't start till tomorrow. You get everything packed and ready, and come to the aerodrome tomorrow night. Be there at eleven o'clock sharp. I'll order a car to call for you and take you there."

"What a time to start on a journey!" said Mrs. Mannering. "I don't know that I altogether like it."

"You can't change your mind now, you can't!" cried the children.

"No, I won't," said Mrs. Mannering. "But somehow I don't feel very easy in my mind about it all. Oh, children, you won't go and do anything dangerous, will you?"

"There's nothing dangerous for them to do," said Bill. "I'll look after them all right. Anyone doing anything dangerous will be sent back to you, Mrs. Mannering."

The children laughed. Then Jack's face fell. "I say - what about Kiki? She won't like me being away for some days. Can I take her with me? What about the plane - will she be all right in it?"

"You'd better put her into a basket or something," said Bill. "She might get scared at the noise and fly off. She'll be all right in a basket on your knee. We can't leave her behind."

"Right," said Jack, pleased. "Do you hear that, Kiki, old bird? You're to travel in a basket - and mind you behave yourself!"