Chapter one- The real beginning of the holidays
"Pouf," said Susan, raking the sticks together in the fireplace. "Isn't it a blessing to be home?"
And for the next half hour or so, both she and Peggy were busy re-arranging matters to their own satisfaction and keeping the ship's boy and the able seaman hard at work. The two captains announced that they would go to the harbour and check on the boats and did not return.
"There's not really so much to do." John remarked, clearing assorted twiggy bits from his pockets as they sat under the Look-out Pine. They had snaked past the campsite on their way from the harbour to the lookout point, as much for the practice as anything else.
"I've had enough of being told to fetch things by the Great Aunt." Nancy said with a grin. "I don't want Peggy to start getting mutinous ideas."
John held up a caterpillar for her inspection. It was a dark green with legs at the front and back and none in the middle.
"She's a pine looper." Nancy said. "I don't know if they have another name. I think they only eat pine needles. Do you think it's still alive?"
The caterpillar answered the question itself by drawing up it back legs to its front legs, turning itself into a loop before straightening out again. It was tickly. John looked doubtfully up at the lookout pine.
"I'll probably squash him if I try to carry him up"
"No need. Uncle Jim knocked a few twigs off hoisting the lantern."
The pine looper transferred itself readily to the twig and rapidly became invisible.
"Unnoticeable, anyway which amounts to the same thing." said Nancy as they lodged the twig in a suitable place. "So, Commodore, what are your orders for tomorrow?"
For a moment, John wondered if she was going to expect him to come up with all the ideas. Then he remembered how she had taken charge only an hour or so ago, when they thought there were intruders on the island. She was too generous to intentionally usurp his command, but he would find it happening none the less if he didn't pay attention.
"Sailing, sailing and more sailing." he said. "We haven't really explored the northern end of the lake, although I suppose you have."
"We're quite happy to explore it again. It feels quite different being more of us."
That was as close as an Amazon pirate was going to get to admitting to missing anyone, let alone feeling lonely. Perhaps Nancy felt she had said too much, because she scrambled to her feet and proceeded, after a few attempts, to stand on her head. She didn't do it as well as Susan, but was no worse than Titty or Roger. Bridget had convinced herself she could stand on her head with John "Keeping her steady". John had found Bridget uncomfortably heavy when held upside down by the ankles, and hoped she had forgotten about it. He mentioned this last thought to Nancy.
"That's alright. I won't do it where Bridget can see." said Nancy. "I just felt I had to do something unladylike."
She sat down again, red-faced and with pine needles in her hair. Now that he was Commodore, John felt safe asking the question he had been carefully avoiding for a year. Whatever her answer, it wouldn't alter things now. Anyway, it didn't seem to matter as much here, where what you could do mattered so much more than when your birthday actually was.
"I'm not fourteen until the end of September." she replied.
"I'm fourteen already." he said. She continued to look enquiringly at him.
"Beginning of July." he added.
She nodded. "I thought you probably were older than me."
"I thought you were."
"Just tall for my age. That's how I was so sure you were older, so I didn't say anything. Anyway, you're Commodore fair and square by winning the race, not just by happening to be a couple of months older."
There was a comfortable pause, with both of them leaning against the pine tree, looking out over the Lake.
"Commodore?"
"Yes?"
"Planning for tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"We're facing the wrong way for the first thing."
"What do you mean?"
"Sailing down to Horseshoe Cove."
John felt surprised. "We don't know that anything been left behind."
"It probably hasn't. It'll do as an excuse though."
"An excuse? I don't see why we need to go at all. Well, perhaps we should to say thank-you to the Swainsons. But if there's a good wind tomorrow we shouldn't waste it. Horseshoe Cove isn't too far to row, really. We could do that on a calm day."
Nancy maintained a studied silence.
"It's not as though…" he began.
"We could always…." he tried again.
"We've sailed her…."
"But not from Wild Cat to Horseshoe Cove." she said, adding cryptically, "That's the thing about places."
There was another pause, not quite so comfortable. Both of them wriggled slightly.
"Susan will probably think we ought to go and say thank-you, so I suppose we should do it as soon as possible."
"Yes."
Nancy's shoulder, now just touching his own, relaxed slightly. He felt pleased that he had lived up to her expectations, obscure though they seemed to him.
"It's more difficult to think how we're going to have war all living on the same island." he said.
"We'll think of something. We can't start a war until Uncle Jim's been to supper anyway."
"Mother and Bridget are meant to be coming and staying for a night."
"Good for the ship's baby, but we can't have a war with them here either."
"Horseshoe Cove and then exploring the arctic tomorrow." John said with decision.
"Whales and longships and Viking settlements and the sun never setting for months at a time."
"And long heroic sagas and horned helmets and reindeer."
Nancy pretended to look alarmed. "We don't have to call on the Misses Martindale."
"Who are they?"
"Friends. Two sisters. Not exactly old, but not young either. Both about forty or fifty, I think. They do have a horned helmet. Peggy and I have both tried it on. They're very kind, but it's even harder to get away from them than it is from the Swainsons. They keep saying how lovely it is to have young visitors. We try to only visit them in weather that's too bad to be outdoors. They go out and paint in watercolours a lot when it's fine and sell them to a shop in Grasmere. Sometimes they have lodgers."
"A real Viking helmet?"
"No. They used to have another sister who practically ran the amateur drama society and it was hers. They do tell very long sagas, though. Some of them are quite interesting."
"Susan says she's been blowing the whistle and have you two gone deaf? And Peggy says daft more like and you're to come now." Roger, having delivered his message, skipped smartly out of range of retaliation and went back down the path to the camp in the dusk, leaving his elders to follow at a more sedate pace.
"I must apologise for my Mate." said Nancy, voice serious but eyes dancing.
"He keeps forgetting to use that crutch." John grinned.
"You can't blame him for wanting to hold on to it. It's a jolly good one."
Despite waking early and with the best of intentions, they didn't start sailing until quite well on into that first morning. John swam around the island and found it easier than last year. Nancy managed it too, although more slowly. Roger and Titty showed Nancy and Peggy how they had dived for pearls last year. Susan told John he was in charge of the fire and went off, rather impatiently by herself, for the milk. Nancy had spoken the truth when she had told John that she really could not stay under water long. She managed to retrieve one "pearl" from the bottom of the lake just, failed to swim underwater and got out to help John with the fire and the breakfast. By the time Susan got back from Dixon's, she found the companies of both ships clothed and more or less dry. The bread was cut and buttered (admittedly someone – probably Nancy – had been heavy handed with the butter.) The cornflakes were in the bowls, waiting for the milk and Peggy had just poured the boiling water on the tea. Eight boiled eggs were wrapped in a tea towel keeping warm. All this did a lot to improve Susan's mood.
The wind was still from the north and they ran down easily to Horseshoe Cove. Only Susan, Peggy and Roger went up to Swainson's Farm and came back empty handed. Captain Flint had a good eye for detail.
They beat against the freshening wind, past Cormorant Island and their own island and past Houseboat Bay.
"He's flying the elephant." said Roger in the Amazon for a change, although they could all see that for themselves.
"It's because he's so happy." said Peggy. There was no need to say why.
They passed Darien and could not see mother and Bridget in the garden or the field. The wind was steadier than yesterday and they continued north briskly.
"We should have put a skull and cross-bones on that flag-pole." said Nancy, "Just to let everyone know we're properly pirates and explorers again."
"Mother would have to take it down at sunset," said Peggy, "and you know how tangled she can get with flags."
They had arranged that they would go nearly to the head of the lake and before stopping for dinner and the Amazons would show the Swallows a good place to tie up.
"And it will be tying up." Nancy had warned John. "There's not that many rocks but they're awkwardly placed. The birch trees come quite close to the shore though, so the thing to do is tie the painters to trees and then use the anchors to stop them swinging into each other. There's a bit of a current there."
Now though, Swallow was considerably ahead. Both boats were tossing in the wake of the steamer heading south, although it had passed them several minutes ago.
"It's not that Swallow's a better boat, really." said Nancy, almost fiercely. "She's just got a better Captain."
She seemed to require no response to this remark. Roger, despite John's strictures on sail being the thing, could not help looking back at the steamer with admiring eyes.
"Man overboard!" he yelled in excitement. "At least it's a dog really."
"Just keep looking straight at it," said Nancy, "and mind your head, I'm bringing us about."
Whether or not John was better, Nancy and Peggy were good too. Amazon was running before the wind and reached the dog very quickly. The dog, a Retriever, seemed happy to see them and more than willing to come alongside. With Roger and Peggy leaning all their weight over to the port side, Nancy, leaning over to starboard managed to get the dog's front paws into Amazon twice, but as soon as she let go, to grab the dog's hindquarters and pull it aboard, it withdrew its paws and continued swimming.
"There's nothing else for it. I'm going to have to get in and push. I can't get a good grip on the fur, and the collar's come off. Roger, you're lightest. When I get the front paws aboard, you grab on for all you're worth and I'll boost it in from behind. Peggy will keep Amazon balanced. I'll get in and out over the stern. The rudder with be in the way, but it can't be helped. Luckily the centre-board is already down.
"What if that doesn't work?" asked Roger.
"By then the others will have noticed and come back." Nancy had already removed her shoes and was in the water as she said this. The dog greeted her by licking her ear. She had to push down on the gunwhale to get enough purchase to push the dog upwards. This time the Retriever seemed to understand what was required of it and scramble aboard as soon as he had got one back paw over the gunwhale. Peggy only just jerked upright in time to prevent herself going over the port side. The dog shook itself vigorously and laid an affectionate and wet head against Peggy's shorts.
"Lie down." Nancy commanded from the water. To Roger's private surprise, the dog did just that.
"He might have swum ashore anyway." said Roger, holding the dog firmly by the scruff to stop it standing up to give Nancy another rapturous welcome as she scrambled back aboard.
"Pretty deep if it didn't." said Peggy, who felt that their rescue attempts should not be belittled.
"Shiver my timbers," exclaimed Nancy, who was shivering fairly briskly herself, "I don't know why John doesn't"
She stopped abruptly. Roger was tickling behind the dog's ears but she could see the expression on his face. Nancy realised that he was reassuring himself that the dog would not have drowned, even if he had not happened to see it jump (or fall) in. He was not giving her cheek.
"He would have been lost once it got ashore." she said instead.
"How are we going to get it back to its owners?" asked Roger, privately hoping it would be impossible to do so.
"Give chase to the steamer." said Nancy, grinning despite her shivers. "Let's show them what Amazon can do with the wind behind her. Let's have that centre-board up, Roger. What are they doing in Swallow, Peggy?"
"Hanging round waiting for us to catch up."
"Let's get underway and then you signal to them, Peggy and let them know what's happened. I don't know how much they could see."
Captain Nancy really was very like Captain John when she was sailing, thought Roger, however different they might be ashore. There was the same total concentration, the same impatience with anything that did not affect the task in hand.
"Which steamer?" she had asked once they were underway and Peggy was signalling.
"Term?" It sounded like a silly name to Roger even as he said it.
"Tern?"
"That's it."
"We might catch them in Rio."
But as they approached Rio, they saw the steamer leaving.
"Suppose they've got off and gone back to look for the dog?" said Peggy.
"If they saw us pick him up and described us to anyone, they'll find out who we are and where we live fast enough." said Nancy. "There's no other pirates on the Lake, Amazon or otherwise. But if they get down to the foot of the lake, they'll have much less chance of finding out who we are and where their dog is."
"Do you think we'll catch up with the steamer?" said Roger.
"Not a chance." said Nancy cheerfully, "but we might reach them while everyone is still standing on the landing stage wringing their hands. Are the others following us yet?"
"Yes," said Peggy. "Titty's signalling. I.D.I.O.T.S."
"That's what John told her to say." said Roger.
"Well we did go and change plans." said Peggy.
Nancy said nothing, but settled down to get the most out of the freshening northerly wind. Amazon steadily drew ahead of Swallow. Still as long as the Swallows kept the Amazon in sight it didn't really matter.
They had just passed Darien when Roger said "I'm hungry".
"Have a sandwich then."
Roger and Peggy shared out the pemmican sandwiches. Nancy was concentrating on sailing too much to take more than a bite or two out of her sandwich, and Roger gave the dog the rest of it. Much to Roger's disappointment, Peggy refused to let him open the chocolate.
Approaching the landing stage at the foot of the lake, Nancy was beginning to wonder if they would so easily find the dog's owners. She need not have worried. Roger, jumping ashore with the painter, found himself almost pushed aside. The dog leaping ashore and racing off up the landing stage, towards a small family group, barking frantically and wagging his tail furiously.
"You two go and explain." Nancy said. "I'll wait for the others."
Author's note
As always, the Swallows, Amazons and their relatives belong to Arthur Ransome. The other characters (human or otherwise) are mine. The first line of the story is the last line of Swallowdale.