[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Enid Blyton
Go Ahead, Secret Seven
One
Susie is most annoying
P
ETER
was going home from school one afternoon, swinging his satchel, when someone came
running behind him and bumped into him.
He dropped his bag and almost fell over. He looked round crossly, expecting it to be George or
Colin. But it wasn’t. It was Susie with her cheeky face, standing by the kerb grinning at him.
‘Sorry!’ she said. ‘You were in my way. How’s the Secret Seven Society going?’
‘You just look where you’re going, Susie,’ said Peter, picking up his bag. ‘As for the Secret
Seven, it’s no business of
yours
. You’re always trying to interfere!’
‘Jack says there haven’t been any Secret Seven meetings for ages,’ said Susie, walking beside
Peter, much to his annoyance. Susie was the most aggravating girl he knew.
Jack was Susie’s brother, and a member of the Secret Seven. Peter was quite sure he hadn’t said
anything about the meetings. But Susie was right. They hadn’t had any meetings for a long time.
The Easter term had been rather exciting so far, and Peter hadn’t thought a great deal about his
secret society.
‘Well, we’re having a Secret Seven meeting jolly soon,’ he said to Susie, making up his mind
very suddenly that they would. ‘But you’re not coming! And if you try any silly snooping, you’ll be
sorry. You don’t belong to our society, and you never will.’
‘I know your last password,’ said Susie, skipping over the cracks in the paving-stones. ‘Aha!’
‘You don’t,’ said Peter, racking his brains to remember what it was. Goodness — it wouldn’t do
for
him
to forget it!
‘I do. It’s Jack Sprat!’ said Susie, and Peter scowled at her. She was right. Jack Sprat was the
last password they had chosen — a secret password — and here was Susie shouting it out in the
road. She saw his angry face and laughed.
‘I’m right, aren’t I? Yours is a silly society. I know your password, and so do all the girls in my
class. I told them. So the next time you have a meeting we’ll all be along, shout out the password,
and you’ll have to let us in.’
‘Who told you the password?’ demanded Peter. ‘I know Jack wouldn’t.’
‘Oh no. Jack’s a most annoying brother. He never tells me anything,’ said Susie. ‘But when I
went to borrow a hanky from his drawer, I found a piece of paper there, hidden under the pile of
hankies. And on it was scribbled: “Remember the password — Jack Sprat”.’
‘You’re always snooping about, Susie!’ said Peter, angrily. ‘I never knew such a girl. Why can’t
you leave us alone, and not keep trying to find out our passwords and what we’re doing?’
‘Well, why don’t you let me belong?’ demanded Susie. ‘You let Janet belong, and Pam and
Barbara.’
‘Don’t be silly. It’s the Secret
Seven
. We can’t have any more members, or we’d be eight,’ said
Peter. ‘Anyway, we don’t want you, Susie.’
‘You’re mean,’ said Susie. ‘Well, I’ll tell Jack you’re having another meeting soon. When shall
I say it is?’
‘Don’t you go telling Jack anything!’ said Peter, really exasperated with this annoying sister of
Jack’s. ‘
I
send out notices of meetings, not you. And you needn’t bother to remember the password.
I shall choose another one immediately, and let the members know.’
‘Oh, well, Jack is sure to write it down to remember it again,’ said Susie, skipping off. ‘And I
shall be sure to find it. Goodbye, and give my love to Jack Sprat.’
Peter glared at Susie’s back. What an awful girl! He was glad that his own sister, Janet, wasn’t
like Susie. He walked home with a solemn face.
Certainly a meeting must be called soon. There hadn’t been one for ages. It would never do to
let the Secret Seven come to an end just because there weren’t any meetings, or anything special
happening.
But you can’t solve mysteries and things unless there are some to solve, thought Peter. We’ll
have to think up something else to do, till one comes along. Sometimes it seems as if nothing
happens for ages and ages. I’ll have to change the password, too. Fancy Jack being such an ass as
to write down the password in case he forgot it. He might have known that Susie would find it.
He went home, thinking hard. Janet, his sister, was already there, and Scamper, the golden
spaniel, came rushing out to greet him, barking with joy.
‘Hallo, Scamper! Been a good dog today?’ said Peter, fondling the long, silky ears. ‘Eaten all
your dinner? Been sniffing for rabbits’? Barked at the dustman? You have? Ah, you’re a
very
good
dog, then!’
‘Woof!’ said Scamper, and raced round the room like a mad dog.
Janet laughed. ‘He knew you were coming long before you came in at the door,’ she said. ‘He
sat with his head on one side, listening for about three minutes before you came in. He must have
known when you turned the corner up the lane.’
‘Janet,’ said Peter, putting down his satchel of books. ‘We’ve got to call a Secret Seven meeting
as soon as possible.’
‘Oh, good! But why? Has anything happened?’ said Janet, thrilled. She was disappointed when
Peter shook his head.
‘No — except that I met that awful sister of Jack’s — Susie. And she’s found out the password,
and she was jeering at us because we haven’t had a meeting for ages. So we simply must have one,
and we must choose a new password, too! Get out your notepaper, and we’ll arrange a meeting as
soon as ever we can.’
Two
Secret Seven meeting
T
HE
Secret Seven meeting was called for the very next day, immediately after school. Peter’s
mother was told, and she suggested that all the members should come to tea first, and have the
meeting afterwards.
‘I’ll wash up every single thing after the meeting,’ said Janet. ‘Hurrah! Another Secret Seven
meeting. How pleased everyone will be!’
The notes were sent out, and the Secret Seven were thrilled. Jack went scrabbling in his drawer
to find the bit of paper on which he had written the password. He found it, but he was
most
surprised when he read it. This is what he read:
‘Remember the password — Jack Sprat. No, Jack Horner. No, Jack the Giant-Killer. No —
it’s Jack and Jill!’
Jack stared at the bit of scribbled paper, frowning. Whatever had made him write all that? He
must have been mad. And which was the password? He was sure it was Jack Sprat.
He looked closely at the paper. ‘Blow Susie! She’s written half of it! She’s been snooping in my
drawer and found the paper, and read the password! Just wait till I see her!’
But fortunately for Susie she was out to tea. Jack hunted for his badge, and at last found it. He
had been afraid that Susie might have discovered that too. Really, she was the most annoying sister
in the world!
The tea-party was fixed for half-past four, after school. Janet and Peter had carried everything
down, and the shed looked very gay and cosy. They had a small oil stove in one corner for warmth,
six candles stuck here and there, and a box for a table. Janet had put a cloth on it.
Two enormous jugs of hot cocoa stood there, with seven mugs round it. Ranged on a shelf
behind were seven plates of food.
‘Honey sandwiches, sardine sandwiches — and I hope you won’t go for those too much, Peter,
you’re a pig over sardines,’ said Janet. ‘Buns buttered and jammed, all in halves. New doughnuts.
A chocolate cake baked today. A smashing jam-sponge sandwich, already, cut into seven by
Mummy. Doesn’t it look lovely? Oh — and a plate of mixed biscuits.’
‘Woof!’ said Scamper at once, and his tail thumped hard on the ground.
‘
Your
dish of goodies is on the floor, but you’re not to begin your tea till we do,’ said Janet.
Scamper looked at his own plate and sniffed longingly.
He saw two sardine sandwiches, made of the tails and little bones; one bun cut in half, with just
a scraping of butter, but no jam, because Scamper liked his without; and a very large dog-biscuit
smeared with potted meat. What a tea for a hungry dog!
‘Here they come,’ said Janet, as they heard footsteps coming down the path to the shed. She
peered out of the window. ‘It’s Pam and Barbara.’
Rap-rap!
‘Password!’ called out Peter.
‘Jack Sprat,’ came the answer, and Peter opened the door at once. No sooner was it shut than
more footsteps were heard, and another knock.
‘Password?’
‘Er — I’m most awfully sorry, Peter, but it’s such ages since we had a meeting that I’ve
forgotten it,’ said a voice, sounding rather upset. Janet glanced at Peter. Was he going to be cross,
and perhaps refuse to let in poor Colin?
No. Peter didn’t look at all cross. He opened the door, and Colin came in, looking most relieved.
‘Hallo!’ he said, staring in delight at the tea. ‘I’m sorry about the password, but, honestly, it’s
ages since we used it.’
‘It’s all right,’ said Peter. ‘It was my fault for not calling a meeting before. Anyway, that awful
sister of Jack’s knows it, so we’ve got to choose a new one.’
‘Rap-rap-rap-RAP!
‘Password!’ called Peter.
‘Jack Sprat!’ said two voices, and in came George and Jack, complete with Secret Seven badges.
The door shut. The candles gave a wavering light in the rather dark shed, and everything looked
cosy, and rather mysterious. Just the kind of thing the Secret Seven liked!
‘What’s the meeting about?’ said Jack, sitting on an upturned flower-pot. ‘Anything special?’
‘No,’ said Peter. ‘Nothing’s turned up, worse luck — but we can’t let our Society fizzle out
because we wait and wait for something to happen. We’ll talk about that later. Pour out the cocoa,
Janet, and remember that we all like heaps of sugar.’
‘Woof! woof!’ said Scamper, approvingly, and got a lump of sugar from Janet at once. She
poured out the cocoa, and Peter handed round the sandwiches. Soon everyone was tucking in, and
Scamper gulped down his sandwiches and his bun in no time, and then settled down happily to
crunch his potted-meat biscuit.
In ten minutes’ time every plate was empty. Not even a biscuit was left. Jack sat back with a
sigh. That was a scrumptious tea,’ he said. ‘Any more cocoa left?’
‘Half a mug each,’ said Janet. ‘Pass yours up.’
‘While we’re having our last drink, we’ll begin the meeting,’ said Peter. ‘It’s not a very
important
meeting, but we’ve got quite a bit to discuss and to plan. If this Secret Seven hasn’t any
particular job to work on, it’s got to find other things to do. Do you agree, members?’
‘We do,’ said everyone, pleased.
‘Right,’ said Peter. ‘Well, I’ll begin. Stop thumping your tail on the floor, Scamper, and you
listen too!’
Three
A new password — and a few ideas
E
VERYONE
sat quiet. Scamper stopped his tail-thumping and sat still too, his head on one side. He
was very, very proud to be at all the meetings, even though he wasn’t a proper member.
‘First of all,’ said Peter, ‘we must choose a new password, partly because Susie knows it!’
Jack was startled. How did Peter know that Susie knew it? ‘Yes, she does know it,’ he said, and
fished the piece of paper out of his pocket, on which he had written the old password, and on which
Susie had scribbled her nonsense.
‘Look there, she found this bit of paper, with our password on it. I wrote it down so that I
wouldn’t forget it, and I hid it, and she found it and scribbled on it! But how did you
know
she
knew it, Peter?’
‘She told me,’ said Peter. ‘She seemed to think our Society was about to come to an end, or
something, and she was so annoying that it made me decide to call a meeting at once. Jack, for
goodness’ sake don’t leave our passwords about again!’
‘All right. I won’t,’ said Jack, looking rather red in the face. ‘But you don’t know what it is to
have a sister like Susie. I wouldn’t be surprised if she isn’t trying to peep in at the window this very
minute.’
Everyone at once looked up at the little window, Scamper too. Peter shook his head.
‘No, nobody’s about. Scamper would bark if he heard the slightest sound. Well, what about a
new password? Anyone got a good idea?’
‘Snooper!’ said Colin, thinking of Susie. ‘That would be a good one.’
‘Yes, we’d all remember that because of Susie,’ said Janet
‘We’ll have to remember the password is
Snooper
, not
Susie
,’ said Pam, with a giggle. ‘I’m sure
I shall say “Susie” if anyone asks me the password next week!’
Jack often felt cross with his sister, but he didn’t very much like the idea of the password being
chosen because of Susie’s snoopy behaviour. After all, she
was
his sister, and although she was
very annoying at times, he was fond of her. He shook his head.
‘No. I don’t want that password, if you don’t mind. I’ve got a better one. One that nobody would
ever think of. What about “Beware!”? It sounds sort of
suitable
for us.’
‘Yes; it does,’ agreed Peter, and the others nodded their heads. They began to say the password
to one another, in hollow, mysterious voices, and Scamper looked rather startled.
‘Beware!’ Janet said to Barbara, solemnly.
‘Be-warrrrrrre!’ hissed Colin to Jack.
‘B
EWARE
!’ said Peter to Scamper, who got up at once and sniffed in every comer of the shed, as
if he had to discover what it was that everyone was warning him about. Beware! Well, he would
beware all right, but what of?
‘Look at Scamper. He’s puzzled to bits,’ said Pam, with a laugh. ‘It’s all right, Scamper. It’s just
our new password. Well, I don’t think
any
of us will forget it. It’s a very good one. Beware! It
makes me feel quite creepy.’
‘The next thing to discuss is what the Secret Seven are to do,’ said Peter. ‘I suppose nobody has
heard of anything peculiar or mysterious or extraordinary that we could look into?’
Nobody said a word. They just looked at one another hopefully, and then shook their heads.
‘Well, as there’s nothing peculiar to make plans about, we’ll have to decide something to
do
,’
said Peter. ‘I mean, it’s been such a long time since we held a meeting, and societies just fizzle out
if they’re not kept going somehow. We must
do
something to keep up our interest or when
something
does
come along, we’ll miss it.’
‘Yes, but what do you mean,
do
something?’ asked Colin. ‘We can’t
make
things happen.’
‘No. I know that,’ said Peter. ‘But we can put in a bit of practice. We can set ourselves one or
two things to do.’
‘What, for instance?’ said George.
‘Well, we could practise shadowing people,’ said Peter. ‘And we might perhaps have a shot at
disguising ourselves, just to see if we could get away with it.’
‘Disguising ourselves? But how could we?’ said Pam. ‘We’re only children. We can’t wear false
beards, or ragged clothes, or pretend to walk with limps or anything. We’d be spotted at once.’
‘Well, perhaps that’s not a frightfully good idea,’ admitted Peter. ‘We’ll leave that for the
minute. But we could practise spotting somebody, and then writing down a very clear description
of him, so as to get practice at that kind of thing. It’s always useful to be able to describe a thief in
great detail, for instance.’
‘But how do we know who’s a thief?’ said Jack.
‘We don’t,’ said Peter, beginning to be impatient. ‘We just go, say, to the railway station, and sit
down on a seat. We watch the people standing there waiting for a train. We pick on somebody, it
doesn’t matter who. We look at them carefully, and memorize everything about them. Then, when
they’ve gone, we write down what we’ve remembered. It would be very, very good practice for
observing people.’
‘It sounds rather dull to me,’ said George. ‘I’d much sooner do some shadowing or something.
Anyway, I’m not much good at describing anything. I’m always bottom in composition at school. I
just can’t think of a thing to say.’
‘All right, you can do the shadowing,’ said Peter. ‘Perhaps the girls would be better at spotting
people and describing them.’
‘Woof!’ said Scamper, suddenly. ‘W
OOF
!’
‘Somebody’s about,’ said Peter. ‘Quick, open the door and let Scamper out. If it’s Susie we’ll
give her the fright of her life!’
Four
What fun to belong to a secret society!
I
T
wasn’t Susie. It was Peter’s mother coming to say that it was getting late, and did they know
what the time was? She was very surprised to meet Scamper flying out of the door in the greatest
excitement, barking for all he was worth. He was quite disappointed that it was only Peter’s
mother!
‘Oh, Mother, it
can’t
be half-past six yet,’ groaned Peter. ‘We haven’t nearly finished the
meeting. Yes, I know we haven’t done our homework, but we haven’t much tonight. Can’t we have
another ten minutes?’
‘Yes. Ten minutes, then,’ said his mother, and went away. The door was shut again, and the
Secret Seven began to talk hurriedly.
‘George, you can do a spot of shadowing, and so can Colin,’ said Peter. ‘You girls can do the
observation idea, go to the station or the bus-stop, or anywhere, Jack, you and I will do a bit of
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]