The Aeroplane of Adventure

©2009 David Marlor

This novel is based on the characters created by Enid Bylton in the Adventure Series. In this regard, it is the ninth adventure and follows The River of Adventure.

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Chapter 5: Where in the World Are They?

The children clutched each other as the aeroplane's engines stopped. They heard the men climbing down, talking to each other in a language they could not understand. After a while, Jack looked over at Philip. He nodded. Jack crept out of the crate and peeped around to the front of the aeroplane. It was obvious that the men had left. He looked cautiously out of the nearest window and could see nothing but the sea, glinting in the bright morning sunshine. He crawled over to the other side of the aeroplane and looked out of that window. Then he crawled back to the others waiting anxiously for him.

"We're on a small grassy airstrip beside the sea," reported Jack. "There's a small shed a few hundred yards way. We're fairly close to the edge of the airstrip and there are some bushes going up the side of a steep high hill. I think we should get out of the plane and find some cover, until we know what these men are up to. As far as I can tell, there are no other aeroplanes on the airstrip."

The other children listened in silence to Jack as he reported what he saw. They decided to get off the plane and take what belongings they could. Jack went first and climbed out of the aeroplane's door, half scared that the men might see him. Philip handed out their duffel bags and the girls' suitcases. Once they were all out crouching under the aircraft's wing, they each took a suitcase or duffel bag and then one by one ran across the open stretch to the bushes. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they were safely behind a large bush at the side of the airstrip.

"Now what?" asked Dinah.

"Well," said Philip, "I really think we should try to get some more of that food off the plane. We might be here a while, you know?" The others agreed.

Jack lay flat on his belly with his field glasses and swept the airstrip and the hill rising up behind them for signs of life. He could see some smoke coming from the chimney of the little hut at the end of the airstrip. "I think the men are in that little hut," he said. "I'll watch it through my field glasses and if I whistle like a pewit, you'll know the men are coming back. Lucy-Ann, you and Dinah stay behind this bush and Philip, you fill a sack with as much food as you can carry."

Philip waited for Jack to give the okay, then he quickly ran crouching back to the aeroplane. He climbed inside, found a sturdy sack and started piling in as much tinned food as he could, his heart beating painfully. Soon he could carry no more and he dragged the sack to the front of the plane, having a little difficulty in the narrow space between the crate and the side of the aeroplane. Before leaving the aeroplane, Philip had a quick look in the cockpit. He wasn't sure why, but suddenly felt they should see if they could find out who these men were. One of the men had left his jacket on the co-pilot's seat. Philip quickly felt the side pockets and drew out a small black book and a folded a piece of newspaper. The urgent cry of the pewit startled him. He quickly put the small book into his pocket and jumped out of the plane. He ran in a crouch from the plane to the bushes were the others were waiting, glad that a small bend in the airstrip screened him from the view of the approaching men.

He dived into the bush, into the arms of a worried looking Lucy-Ann and Dinah.

"Come on," said Dinah. "Jack spotted four men this time coming over here. We've got to move."

Jack was already pulling the suitcases away from the bush. They crept slowly back, further into the bushes and under the cover of some trees. Philip dragged the food. They all sat down exhausted behind large trees surround by bushes. Then Jack shinned up a tree and perched on a convenient branch and watched the men at the plane.

"Jack," whispered Lucy-Ann at his feet, "can you see anything?"

Jack could see quite a lot. There were four men walking over to Bill's aeroplane. Two of them were the two who had stolen the aeroplane. Jack thought he could hear the two new men speaking with an English accent. All of the men looked big and strong. Jack didn't like the look of them in the least. All four of them went to the plane and stood around looking at it. One of the new men had an instrument and was measuring something on the side of the aeroplane. Jack couldn't see what they were doing properly because their backs were to him. They spent a few minutes at the aeroplane. Then one of the men went over to what looked like a small bush towards the hut. He started pulling it to the plane and Jack could see that it was some sort of netting, the same colour as the ground cover. The men started draping the netting over the plane. Jack shinned down the tree and joined the others. He whispered to them what he had seen.

"They're hiding the plane, so it can't be spotted from the air," whispered Jack, so quietly that the others could hardly hear him.

"You know," said Philip, "I don't feel very safe this close to the men. I vote we move up the hill. In fact, I think we should climb to the top and see if we can spot a village, road or town and get word to Bill." The others thought this was a good idea.

Jack climbed back up the tree and watched the men finish off hiding the plane and walk back to the hut at the end of the field. He climbed back down. "The coast is clear for the present," said Jack.

"Let's get out of here. Lucy-Ann, can you carry my duffel bag on your bag and I'll take your suitcase? Dinah, can you manage?"

"I'll help Dinah with her case," said Lucy-Ann. She took Jack's duffel bag and then lifted a corner of Dinah's suitcase.

"Do you think it's safe to let Kiki out now?" asked Jack. "She'll be good if I tell her to be and won't fly off?"

Philip nodded. Jack let Kiki out of her cage. She was delighted to be free again. She flew up onto Jack's shoulder and rubbed her beak against his ear.

"Now Kiki," said Jack. "You be a good girl and stay on my shoulder." Jack tapped Kiki on the beak and the parrot knew that Jack wanted to her to be quiet.

Philip took his duffel bag on his back and with Jack's help managed to carry the sack of food with them. They found what looked like a narrow path winding through the trees and decided to follow that. It was hard going up the hill, trying to keep in the trees so they wouldn't be seen.

Philip flopped down on the sunny hillside after a half hour of climbing. "Can't we ditch this sack of food and come back for it later?" he asked, tired from hauling it.

Jack flopped down next to Philip, exhausted. He looked around and pointed. "What about those bushes over there? Surly we could find a big bush and hide the sack in the middle of it?"

They decided that they would carry some of the food in each of their suitcases and duffel bags. While the boys rested, Dinah and Lucy-Ann did some exploring in the bushes. They found a thick bush that they thought would do. After a rest, the children pushed the sack into the middle of the bush. Jack and Philip felt sure it would never be found. It was well hidden and they didn't think anybody would find it unless they purposefully pushed their way into the middle of the bush. Philip took Dinah's suitcase from the girls and they made quicker progress after that."

It took longer than they thought to climb the hill, partly because they had to keep a constant watch for any people below. In some places the trees thinned out and the children were afraid they could be seen by anybody looking from below. The path led to the face of a steep cliff.

"Look at that," said Jack who was in the lead. "That cliff must be hundreds of feet high, I should think."

"Hey, look here," said Dinah, who had been doing a bit of exploring. "I think the path goes up here." She pointed to a large crack in the rocky cliff.

"Come on," said Philip, anxious to get as far away from the men as possible. "I don't see any other way, except back down to the aeroplane, and somehow I don't fancy that." Philip led the way up the rocky and steep path. It seemed to be a natural crack in the cliffs. Walking on the rock strewn path was difficult.

"You know," said Philip after a while. "This really looks like it might be an old stream bed. See how the rocks are rounded like pebbles?" The others agreed that that was the most likely explanation for the narrow winding passage. The cliffs on both sides grew higher and higher as the passage became narrower. The passage ended at a natural tunnel in the rock. Philip fished out his torch and shone its powerful beam into the natural tunnel. It was rounded and quite smooth.

"Do we see if it goes anywhere?" asked Dinah doubtfully.

"You wait here and I'll see where it goes," said Jack. "Come on Kiki, let's do a little exploring."

"Three blind mice down the well," said Kiki sitting on Jack's shoulder. The others watched Jack as he disappeared into the tunnel. He was back in a few minutes.

"Well?" demanded Dinah impatiently.

"We can get through, though it's a bit steep," said Jack. "I could see daylight at the other end."

With Jack in the lead, the children made their way into the narrow tunnel. It was quite steep as Jack had said and they had to rest a few times for it was hard work carrying their things though it. At one point, they had to crawl through a narrow section that was nothing more than a hole between two especially hard sections of rock. Once through that, the tunnel became very steep and they had to make their way up towards the daylight above using hand and foot holds in the rocks. Just below the opening above them, they came to a wide ledge and they all thankfully sat down and rested.

"Whew," said Dinah mopping her forehead, "that was hard work. I'm thirsty, let's have a drink." Lucy-Ann found some tinned fizzy orange juice in Jack's duffel bag and they all took a drink.

"I'm going to pull myself up and out of that hole and see where we are," said Jack. The others were quite happy to sit and rest a few more minutes on the rocky ledge. Jack found it quite easy to pull himself up on the hard rock and pop his head out of the hole. He found himself on an open grassy section of hillside overlooking the aeroplane far below.

"Hey, Philip. Pass up my field glasses, will you?" asked Jack. He felt his field glasses being pressed into his hand as Philip passed them up.

"What's up?" asked Philip at his feet.

"Just a minute," said Jack, as he carefully focused on the airstrip below. After a moment he said, "Watch out, I'm coming down." Philip moved out of the way and watched as Jack jumped back down onto the ledge.

"There's a wide open grassy stretch that we have to cross," reported Jack. "lt's open to view from the airfield below. The men are as down there and they'll see us if we just walk across. What should we do?"

The children held a council of war. They decided that they had to cross the open space.

Philip looked at his watch. "We'll have to move soon because we need to find a safe place to camp for the night. I suppose we could wait and hope they go back to their hut."

"That wouldn't work," said Jack. "You can clearly see the hut from the hole. If we can see them, they could easily see us."

"I'll go back a little way and see if there's another way up this cliff," said Philip. "Wait here." He crawled back down the hole and left the others sitting on the ledge.

"Can we have something to eat," asked Lucy-Ann. "I'm starving." Dinah found some food in her suitcase and opened a tin of biscuits. They nibbled on the dry biscuits and felt better immediately.

Philip came back in less than twenty minutes."No go," he reported. "We'd have to go back to the airfield and try going around the other side of this cliff. And somehow I don't fancy that." Neither did the others.

"Well, we'll have to crawl across this open stretch. The grass is quite tall , so if we crawl flat on our tummies, we shouldn't be seen," said Jack at last. "Let me think for a minute."

The others kept quiet while Jack thought about his plan. "I think it will work," he said after a long pause. "Listen, I'll crawl across this open space. Philip, give me your rope." Philip passed his rope over. "Here's what I think we should do," said Jack. "I'll climb out with the rope and crawl across the open space flat on my tummy. Philip, you keep hold of the other end of the rope. I shall keep a close watch on the men and stop if I see them looking this way. Once I'm across, Philip, tie the rope to a suitcase or duffel bag and then push it out of the hole. I'll drag it across the flat area with the rope. I shall be able to see the men easily from behind a bush on the other side. If they look up I'll stop dragging until they look away. They won't see the suitcase because of the long grass, but they might see the grass moving and get suspicious and come up and investigate."

"But, how will you get the rope back to drag the other suitcases and duffel bag?" asked Dinah sensibly.

"Easy," said Jack, grinning. "We've done it before when I rescued you from that castle in Borken, remember? I've got some string in my pocket. I'll tie the string to the end of the rope and Kiki can fly back to you with it in her beak. Then all you have to do is pull on the string and the rope will come back to you. If the men see Kiki, they won't think anything about it; there are thousands of colourful birds here. And I don't think they'll see the string, they're too far away."

"What about us?" asked Lucy-Ann. "How do we get across?"

"Well. When we get our things across, Philip can tie the rope at this end and then you and Dinah can come across one at a time holding the rope." said Jack. "If I pull on the rope, it means that you have to stop moving and lie flat. When it's all clear, I'll tug twice and you can keep moving. Philip, you come last and untie the rope. Hold on to it and if you feel a sudden tug, stop and lie flat."

The children thought that Jack's plan would work. Besides, none of them could think of a better one. Jack crawled out of the hole and lay flat. He watched the men through his field glasses. They seemed occupied with the aeroplane, so he slowly made his way flat on his tummy. He had to stop frequently and check on the men. He made it across eventually, tired and sore from crawling.

"Come on Kiki," said Jack, "let's hide behind that bush." Kiki nibbled at his ear and said something about a king down a well. Jack held the rope and felt a tug that meant that Philip had secured a suitcase to the rope. Jack kept a watch on the men down below as he slowly pulled on the rope. He managed to get the first suitcase across.

He untied it and tied the end of his string to the rope. He gave the other end of the string to Kiki. She took it in her beak, wondering whether she could eat it.

"Go to Philip," said Jack softly to her. "Go to Philip, Kiki. Go to Philip." Kiki knew that name. She liked Philip almost as much as Jack. She knew Jack wanted her to take what she had in her beak to Philip. She flew off and Jack watched her fly straight to Philip, whose head and shoulders were showing out of the hole, and landed on his shoulder. She dropped the string.

Philip grinned. "Good old Kiki," he said.

"Good boy, good boy," said Kiki, excited, and dancing from one leg to the other. "Good boy. Pop goes the weasel."

"Now go back to Jack, Kiki, go on, back to Jack." Kiki gave a squawk and flew off back to Jack in his hiding place. Kiki thought this was a fine game.

The children managed to get the suitcases and duffel bags across, although it took them almost an hour to do it. As Kiki was making her final flight, Jack saw one of the men look up. He said something to the other men and pointed up. Jack was worried, but surely they couldn't see the string following behind Kiki? All they could see was a bird flying. Jack watched anxiously. After a while, the men went off to their hut for some food. Jack realised with a pang that he was hungry and that it was getting late. They'd been here hours wasting time so they would not be seen.

Jack felt a tug on his rope that meant that Philip had it secured. He tugged back and at once felt the rope stiffen as somebody took hold of it. Jack couldn't see who it was and was glad. That meant the men couldn't either. Jack glanced back down the hill and got a shock. Golly, thought the boy, one of the men is looking straight at us through field glasses. Jack tugged urgently on the rope at once. Had they been seen? Jack held his breath and watched back though his field glasses.

Kiki, who was getting bored, decided that she wanted to go back to Philip. She give a loud squawk that made Jack jump. Kiki flew off his shoulder and made directly for Philip. Jack watched her go and then quickly went back to watching the man with the field glasses down below. He could see the field glasses moving as it followed Kiki. Suddenly the man shouted to the other men, who came running over. What had he seen?

Jack looked back and saw that Kiki had landed on Dinah, making Dinah jump a little. Her jump caused the grass to part and her bright red pullover could easily be seen from below. Dinah settled down lower in the grass and she was once again invisible to the men below.

"Blow Kiki," thought Jack. "Why did she have to do that? Now they'll be wondering what's going on up here."

Jack was right. One of the men set off for the narrow path the children had followed. He must know it then, thought Jack as he watched through his field glasses. One of the other men continued to watch the hillside through field glasses. There was nothing for it but to get moving and fast. Jack figured that it would take the man less than an hour to get here if he walked or ran fast.

Jack tugged on the rope and Dinah began to move, causing the grass to rustle and sway. Jack knew the moving grass could be seen from below, but couldn't help it.

"What's up?" panted Dinah as she reached him and saw his worried face.

"We've been seen," said Jack. "Somebody's coming after us."

"Golly," said Dinah in alarm. "What about Lucy-Ann and Philip?"

Jack took a scrap of paper and wrote a quick note. He rolled it up and tied it to Kiki's leg with a small piece of string. He told her to take it to Philip.

Philip, surprised to see Kiki, saw the rolled paper tied to her leg. He quickly untied it and read Jack's note. The note was scrawled and was hard to read. It said:

"Come at once. No time. We've been seen. Men coming. Crawl fast both of you, don't worry about being seen. Jack."

"What is it?" asked Lucy-Ann as she watched Philip read the note.

"Come on, Lucy-Ann," said Philip. "We've been seen. Crawl fast to Jack and follow the rope."

He helped Lucy-Ann crawl up and out of the hole. Then he undid the rope and followed close behind. They made good time, partly because they didn't have to be cautious. They reached Jack and Dinah.

"No time to stop," said Jack. "We've been seen, thanks to Kiki."

"Poor Kiki," said Kiki, "pity poor polly, poor Kiki, what a Kiki." Nobody took any notice of her.

"Come on, let's get moving," said Jack, picking up a suitcase and duffel bag. "Up the path here as fast as we can."

Continues tomorrow...

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