Free The Circus of Adventure by Enid Blyton Page B

and broken her hip,’ he said. ‘Will you go, Allie? I’ll take you there, of course, and then I must leave you and come back here, because of Gussy. But Mr. Ellis will bring you back, unless you stay for the night.’
    ‘Yes, I’d better go at once,’ said Mrs. Cunningham. ‘Poor Mrs. Ellis! Just what she was afraid might happen!’
    She got her things on, and Bill and she went out of the door. ‘It’s not worth waking up the children and telling them,’ he said. ‘They’re sound asleep. Anyway, I’ll be back here in a few minutes’ time.’
    He shut the door quietly, made sure he had the key with him to open it when he came back, and then set off with his wife. What a wonderful moonlight night! Really, he would quite enjoy the walk!
     
     
    Chapter 11
    HAPPENINGS IN THE NIGHT
     
    The moonlight streamed down over the countryside as Bill and his wife set out. ‘What a lovely night!’ said Bill. ‘As light as day, almost!’
    They went up the tiny lane, hurrying as much as they could. ‘I’ll ask at the farm if Mr. Ellis can bring you back,’ Bill said, ‘I won’t stay even a minute. I’m worried about Gussy. I may get a glimpse of Madame Tatiosa and her companion—but I don’t particularly want them to see me.’
    They were passing a little copse of trees, a patch of dense black shadow in the surrounding moonlight. Bill and his wife walked by, not seeing a small movement in the shadows.
    Then things happened very quickly indeed. Four shadows came from the copse of trees, running silently over the grass. Bill turned at a slight sound—but almost as he turned someone leapt on him and bore him to the ground.
    Mrs. Cunningham felt an arm round her, and a hand pressed over her mouth. She tried to scream, but only a small sound came from her.
    ‘Don’t struggle,’ said a voice. ‘And don’t scream. We’re not going to hurt you. We just want you out of the way for a short time.’
    But Bill did struggle, of course. He knew what these men were after—Gussy! He groaned in anger at himself. This was a trick, of course! Old Aunt Naomi hadn’t had a fall! There had been no real message from the farm. It was all a ruse to get them out of the house, so that it would be easy to kidnap Gussy.
    Someone gagged his mouth by wrapping a cloth firmly round his face. He could hardly breathe! He wondered how his wife was getting on, but he could see and hear nothing. He stopped struggling when at last his arms were pinned behind him, and tied together with rope.
    There was nothing he could do. It was four against two, and as they had been taken by surprise they were at a great disadvantage. Perhaps he would be able to undo the rope that bound him when his captors had gone to get Gussy. He might still prevent the kidnapping.
    Mrs. Cunningham was scared, and did her best to get away, but one man was quite sufficient to hold her and bind her hands and feet. She too was gagged so that she could not scream.
    ‘We are sorry about this,’ said a man’s voice, quite politely. ‘It is important to us to take the little Prince out of your hands. His country needs him. We shall not harm him in any way—and we have not harmed you either. We have merely put you to some inconvenience. Once we have the Prince one of us will come to untie you, if it is possible. If not—well, you will be found by some farm-labourer early in the morning.’
    The men left Bill and his wife against a haystack, protected from the wind. One of them had gone through Bill’s pockets first, and had taken out the key of the cottage.
    Bill listened as the men went off. Were they gone? He rubbed his head against the ground trying to get off the cloth bound round his face. Was his wife all right?
    He was furious with himself. To walk into a trap as easily as all that! The woman with the message must have been one of the gang, of course. No wonder she wouldn’t come in. He should have been suspicious about that. An ordinary messenger would have waited