Free Five on a Secret Trail by Enid Blyton Page A

under the water, catching their legs, splashing, swimming away fast, doubling round and going underwater just as they got up to him!
    At last they all sat panting on the edge of the pond, the sun shining down warmly on them.
    „I say, Guy - did you hear anything strange last night?" asked Dick. „Or see anything'?"
    „I didn"t see anything strange - but I thought I heard somebody wailing and crying in the distance," said Guy. „Just now and again when the wind brought the sound this way. Jet didn"t like it at al - did you, Jet? He went and hid under my legs!"
    „We heard it too - quite near us," said Julian. „And saw strange lights."
    They discussed the matter for some time, but Guy could not real y help them, because he had not been near enough to the noises to hear them as clearly as the others had.
    „I"m getting hungry," said George, at last. „I keep thinking of ham and tomatoes and cheese. Let"s go back to the cottage."
    „Right," said Julian. „Good-bye, Guy - see you sometime soon. Good-bye, Jet, you mad little thing."
    They went off together, their swim-suits almost dry already in the sun.
    „Well, Guy was perfectly sensible this morning," said Anne. „Funny! I wonder why he"s so sil y sometimes."
    „See - isn"t that him - running down the path there - to the right, look!" said George, suddenly. „Now how did he get there so quickly? We left him by the pool!"
    It certainly looked like Guy! They called to him, but he didn"t even look round or wave, though he must have heard them. They went on, puzzled. How could one person be so different each time - and why? What was the point?

    They had a good breakfast and then went out to look round and see if they could find anything to explain the strange happenings of the night before.
    „The noises seemed to come from about here, when I came out last night," said Julian, stopping near the little group of trees. „And the lights seemed to start about here too - but not near the ground - they were high up, above my head."
    „Above your head?" said Dick, puzzled. „That seems odd."
    „It doesn"t!" said Anne. „Not a bit odd! What about those trees there? Couldn"t somebody climb up them and do the wailing and whining there, with some strange instrument - and set off the weird lights?"
    Julian stared up at the trees and then round at Anne. He grinned suddenly.
    „Anne"s got it! Clever girl! Of course someone was up there - or maybe two people - one doing the noises with some weird instrument and the other playing about with fireworks of some kind. Not the noisy kind - just coloured fire or bal oons lighted up from inside."
    „Yes! That"s why the lights seemed to be so high up, when you came out!" said Dick. „They were sent out by someone up in a tree!"
    „And floated away to scare us," said Anne. „Golly - I do feel glad that it was sil y tricks like that that frightened us so. They wouldn"t frighten me again!"
    „It explains something else too," said George. „It explains why Timmy didn"t find anyone!
    They were safely up trees! I bet they hardly breathed when they knew Tim was down below."
    „Yes. Of course! That puzzled me too," said Julian. „It was too spooky for words when even old Tim couldn"t find anyone real about - just noises and lights!"
    „Here"s something, look - a wrinkled little rubber-skin - pale green!" said Dick, picking something up from the ground. „That"s what those lights were - bal oons lighted up from inside in some way and sent floating away in the air."
    „Most ingenious," said Julian. „I expect they had quite a lot of funny tricks at their disposal last night. Yes - they certainly mean to scare us away!"
    „Well, they won"t," said Anne, unexpectedly. „I"m not going, for one. I won"t be scared away by stupid tricks!"
    „Good old Anne!" said Julian, and clapped her on the back. „Right - we"ll al stay - but I"ve got an idea."
    „What?" asked everyone.
    „We"ll pretend to go!" said Julian. „We"ll pack up