“Oh, Perky,” cried Edie, grabbing him by both hands as he stepped inside. “It’s wonderful!” She waltzed him round and round, almost tripping over the three-legged table.
“Steady on!” He laughed.
Greta grabbed Gus and made him waltz around the carriage too.
“Wunerful!” she agreed.
“I don’t know,” said Perky. “There’s always the disused signal box on the way to Stacklepoole Junction. That might suit us better!”
“Certainly not!” said Edie, and she flopped down on to one of the huge chairs, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air. “This is the Railway Children HQ, and that’s decided.”
“What’s HQ?” asked Greta.
“Head-Quarters,” shouted all three older children at once.
“Everyone needs a headquarters in wartime,” Edie explained. “And this is ours.”
“I love it!” said Greta, leaping on to the seat beside her and sending more dust billowing into the air.
“I’d be careful if I were you. Reckon there might be rats nesting in that upholstery,” warned Perky.
“Rats!” Greta leapt on to Edie’s knee.
“Nonsense. He’s only teasing,” said Edie, glaring at Perky over the top of Greta’s head.
“Of course I am,” he agreed. And Edie hoped that was true.
“So, what’ll we do here anyhow?” said Perky, sitting down too and stretching out his long legs.
“That’s easy,” said Gus. He was standing down the other end of the carriage, peering out of the window. “We can find out what’s really going on at the Snigsons’ farm. Look.”
Edie went and stood beside him. The bank at the side of the track was lower here and he pointed through a gap in the trees. She saw that they had a perfect view of the field and Boar’s Head Farm in the valley below.
“How exciting. We’ll be like real spies,” said Edie. She had always wanted to be involved in an undercover operation.
“If the Snigsons really are dealing in black-market goods then they ought to be stopped,” said Perky. “It’s a terrible crime, especially when brave men like my dad are away fighting.”
“Exactly!” agreed Edie. “And wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were the ones to catch them at it?” She thought how proud Uncle Peter and Aunt Roberta would be.
“I can find us some old notebooks from the post office, if you like,” said Perky excitedly. “We can jot down anything suspicious we see.”
“Good idea.” Edie could tell this was going to be fun. “What we really need is some binoculars,” she said. “Then we’ll find out what those terrible Snigson brothers are up to for sure.”
Chapter Eight
The Dark Demon
Aunt Roberta came home early from the hospital that night. They had a delicious supper of potato pancakes with raisins and a spoonful of sweet heather honey on the top.
“Even the Café de Paris couldn’t serve something so scrumptious,” laughed Edie. But, as soon as she’d said it, she felt a sudden stab of sadness, remembering the cafe was gone now. Suddenly, she missed Fliss dreadfully. It had been so long since she’d heard from her – why didn’t she write and send news?
If Fliss was here now, she’d turn the wireless on and we’d all have a bit of a dance while we did the washing-up, thought Edie.
But no one seemed in the mood to listen to music at Three Chimneys tonight. Edie glanced around the table. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one feeling a little glum. Everyone seemed strangely silent for once.
Gus was quiet and thoughtful, but there was nothing unusual about that. Poor little Greta was practically falling asleep in her plate. She must be exhausted from their expedition to HQ. The disused dining carriage was quite a hike for her short legs. But the biggest change was in the grown-ups. Edie realized Uncle Peter had barely said a word since they’d sat down. Aunt Roberta kept glancing at him anxiously, offering tight little smiles of encouragement which Edie couldn’t understand.
“Uncle Peter,” she said, hoping to lighten the mood a little. “Do you have any binoculars we could borrow?” She wasn’t going to mention she wanted them for spying on the Snigsons, of course. That was the sort of thing adults never approved of – even though she was certain they’d all be heroes if they really could uncover a secret stash of black-market food the Snigsons were hoarding somewhere, making money out of the war while people in the cities starved. For now, she planned to pretend that she and Gus wanted the binoculars to do some birdwatching. She was tempted to say they’d seen a golden eagle. Did you get golden eagles in Yorkshire? She wasn’t sure.
As it was, Uncle Peter didn’t even seem to hear her.
“Uncle Peter?” she said again.
But Aunt Roberta shook her head. “Leave it just now,” she whispered. “Uncle Peter’s tired. He overdid it digging in the vegetable patch, I think.”
Edie nodded as Aunt Roberta stood up and pushed back her chair. “Come on, now. Let’s tidy up these plates.” She clapped her hands and Uncle Peter flinched.
“What was that?” Edie sat bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night. Somebody was screaming.
“Help me! For god’s sake, help me!” The voice was shrill and shaking. Then there was a terrible stream of cursing and moaning – a torrent of awful swear words.
Edie was shocked. It was Uncle Peter’s voice. What was wrong? She threw back her covers. But before she could move, the pad of hurrying feet sounded on the landing outside and she heard Uncle Peter’s door opening and closing. He screamed again, but this time another voice, Aunt Roberta’s, answered. It was soft and soothing, though Edie couldn’t make out the actual
