Read Online The Secret Island by Enid Blyton - Free Book Online Page B

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    Nora began to cry softly. Tears ran down her cheeks and fell on her hands. Jack looked at her and then crept silently up. He slipped his arm round her.
    “Don’t cry, Nora,” he said. “Perhaps they won’t have time to explore. It is getting a bit dark now. Do you see that big black cloud coming up? It will make the night come quickly, and perhaps the trippers will think there’s a storm coming and row off.”
    Nora dried her eyes and looked up. There certainly was a big black cloud.
    “It looks like a thunderstorm,” said Peggy, creeping up to join them.
    “Oooh!” said Nora suddenly, almost squealing out loud. “Look! Someone’s coming up the hill! I can see the bracken moving! It must be one of the trippers creeping up to find us!”
    The children went pale. They looked to where Nora pointed - and sure enough they could see first one frond of bracken moving, and then another and another. Someone was certainly creeping up the hill hidden under the fronds.
    Nora clutched hold of Jack. “Don’t make a sound,” he whispered. “No one can possibly know we’re here. Keep quiet, Nora. We’ll slip inside the cave if he comes much nearer.”
    They sat silently watching the swaying of the tall bracken as the newcomer crept through it. It was a horrid moment. Was someone going to spring out on them?
    “Get inside the cave, you two girls,” whispered Jack. “I think you’ll be safe there. I’m going to slip round the hill and come up behind this person, whoever he is.”
    The girls crept just inside the cave and parted the bracken that grew around it to see what Jack was going to do. He was just slipping away when the person creeping up the hillside stopped his crawling. The bracken kept still. This was worse than seeing it move! Oh dear!
    Then a head popped out of the bracken, and Nora gave a loud squeal.
    “Mike!” she said. “Mike!”
    “Sh, you silly chump!” hissed Peggy, shaking her. “You’ll be heard by the trippers!”
    Fortunately the gramophone was going loudly, so Nora’s squeal was not heard. The three children stared in delight at Mike. It was he who had been creeping up through the bracken after all! What a relief! He grinned at them and put his head down again. Once more the bracken fronds began to move slightly as Mike made his way through them up to the cave.
    “Oh, Mike,” said Nora, when he came up to them. “You did give us such a fright. We thought you were a tripper coming after us!”
    “I got a good view of them,” said Mike, sitting down beside the others. “There are three men and two women. They are tucking into an enormous supper.”
    “Do you think they’ll explore the island as they said?” asked Peggy anxiously.
    “Perhaps this thunderstorm will put them off,” said Mike, looking up at the black sky. “My word, it’s brought the bats out early! Look at them!”
    Certainly the little black bats were out in their hundreds. The hot, thundery evening had brought out thousands of insects, and the bats were having a great feast, catching the flies and beetles that flew through the air.
    It was the bats that sent the trippers away. One of the women caught sight of two or three bats darting round under the trees, and she gave a shriek.
    “Ooh! Bats! Ooh! I can’t bear bats! I’m frightened of them. Let’s pack up and go quickly!”
    “I can’t bear bats either!” squealed the other woman. “Horrid little creatures!”
    “They won’t hurt you,” said a man’s voice. “Don’t be silly.”
    “I can’t help it; I’m frightened of them,” said a woman. “I’m going!”
    “But I wanted to explore the island,” said Eddie.
    “Well, you’ll have to explore it another day,” said the woman. “Just look at the sky, too - there’s going to be a dreadful storm.”
    “All right, all right,” said Eddie, in a sulky voice. “We’ll go. Fancy being frightened of a few bats!”
    The children on the hillside stared at one another in delight. The trippers were really going. And no one had discovered them. Goody, goody!
    “Good old