"Blyton, Enid - Adv 05 - Mountain of Adventure" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

Enid Blyton: The Mountain of Adventure (Adventure #5)





Chapter 1

ALL SET FOR A SUMMER HOLIDAY



FOUR children were singing at the tops of their voices in a car that was going up a steep mountainside road.

A parrot was also joining in, very much out of tune, cocking up her crest in excitement. The man at the wheel turned round with a grin.

"I say! I can't even hear the car hooter. What's the matter with you all?"

Philip, Jack, Dinah and Lucy-Ann stopped singing and shouted answers at him.

"It's the beginning of the holidays!"

"And we're going to have a donkey each to ride in the mountains!"

"Pop goes the weasel!" That was Kiki the parrot, of course, joining in.

"We've got eight weeks of fun all together."

"And you'll be with us, Bill, as well as Mother! Mother, aren't you excited too?"

Mrs. Mannering smiled at Philip. "Yes Ч but I hope you're not going to be as noisy as this all the time. Bill, you'll have to protect me from this rowdy crowd of children."

"I'll protect you all right," promised Bill, swinging the car round another bend. "I'll knock all their heads together once a day at least Ч and if Lucy-Ann starts getting tough with me I'll . . ."

"Oh, Bill!" said Lucy-Ann, the youngest and least boisterous of the lot. "Jack's always saying I'm not tough enough. I ought to be by now, though, considering all the adventures I've been through."

"Tough enough, tough enough!" chanted Kiki the parrot, who loved words that sounded alike. "Tough enough, tough . . ."

"Oh, stop her," groaned Mrs. Mannering. She was tired with their long car journey, and was hoping it would soon be over. She had eight weeks of the children's holidays before her, and was quite sure she would be worn out before the end of it.

Philip and Dinah were her own children, and Jack and Lucy-Ann, who had no parents, lived with her in the holidays and loved her as if she were their own mother. Bill Cunningham was their very good friend, and had had some hair-raising adventures with them.

He had come with them on these holidays to keep them out of any more adventures Ч or so he said! Mrs. Mannering vowed she was not going to let them out of her sight for eight weeks, unless Bill was with them Ч then they couldn't possibly disappear, or fall into some dreadful new adventure.

"They ought to be safe, tucked away in the Welsh mountains, with both you and me, Bill, to look after them," said Mrs. Mannering. Mr. Mannering had been dead for many years and Mrs. Mannering often found it difficult to cope with so many lively children at once, now that they were growing older.

Philip loved any animal, bird or insect. His sister Dinah didn't share this love at all, and was scared of most wild animals, and hated quite a number of harmless insects, though she was certainly better than she used to be. She was a hot-tempered girl, as ready to use her fists as Philip, and they had many a battle, much to gentle Lucy-Ann's dismay.

Lucy-Ann and Jack were brother and sister too. Kiki the parrot was Jack's beloved parrot, usually to be found on his shoulder. In fact, Mrs. Mannering had actually suggested once that she should put a little leather patch on the shoulders of each of Jack's coats to stop Kiki from wearing thin places there with her clawed feet.