Authors note: This story is actually a school assignment I had in year
seven or eight (so back in 1992 or 1993?), however I found it interesting
when I was looking through a bunch of disks the other day. The assignment
was fairly standard; take a character/s from a novel/novels and write about
either events in the books, or reflecting on events from their perspective.
Luckily for me there was no word limit since I wrote five (I think?!)
chapters! For some reason I actually couldn't come up with a novel I wanted
to write about, and I was looking in the bookshelf and I saw all the Famous
Five novels sitting there, and they immediately became my targets. I don't
know about you, but when I read the series when I was younger I used to
wish I could have adventures like them! They lived such an exciting life,
and mine was so boring! *Sigh* Anyway whilst this is an old school
assignment like I said, I thought it would be interesting to get some
feedback, just in case there is anyone else on here who remembers what it
was like reading The Famous Five when they were younger, and wishing they
lived the same exciting life as the Five did.
Chapter One:
Dick receives an invitation.
"Wasn't today gorgeous? And I was stuck in the office all day!" Dick asked as he came through the front door of his modest London apartment. He was 25, but he didn't look a day over 20. With his black hair, and laughing eyes he was definitely handsome.
"Well you would chose to be a lawyer." His wife, Jessica, replied, but she looked at him fondly. They'd been married almost three years, and as far as she was concerned they were the best three years of her life. Dick had a knack for making her laugh, and making her forget her problems. No matter how tired he was from work, he always had the energy to realise she was feeling down and make her smile. Unlike him she wasn't used to the city life, she was country born and bred, but she'd made the sacrifice of moving to the city when they married. Sometimes she would glance out of the apartment window and see nothing but city, and long for the wide open pastures of her hometown.
"Don't remind me." Dick replied. "Hey, I was speaking to Ju today; would you believe it's James' second birthday next month? Time flies doesn't it?"
"It does." Jessica agreed. "Do you know it's been almost a year since we went back to visit my parents? I don't suppose you've got any time off coming up?"
"Not really, not more than a day or two at the most." Dick replied, sitting down on the couch and loosening his tie. "Anyway, Julian was telling me that he ran into a boy we went to school with, Sooty-"
"Sorry, did you say Sooty? What kind of name is that for someone?" Jessica asked, going into the kitchenette and trying to decide what to make for dinner.
"It's a good name when you're real name is Pierre!" Dick replied with a grin. "And if you met him you'd realise-he's very dark. We actually had an interesting adventure with him once-"
"Adventures." Muttered his wife, with a grin as she rummaged in the fridge and decided to make something simple like pasta. "You and those adventures."
"We stayed at his place once, it was called Smugglers Top!" Dick said, choosing to ignore her comment. "It was actually at the top of this island separated from the land by marsh so thick that many people had been simply sucked down into it. His father was a very fierce man, much like Uncle Quentin, and also a scientist. And he hated dogs, and so we had to hide old Timmy from him. It was such a laugh getting Timmy out for a walk, luckily the place had secret passages so we managed. And there was this man, a real live smuggler, named Barling, and one night Sooty came and woke Julian and I up because someone was signaling from the tower of the house! Anyway it turned out Barling was involved, along with Sooty's father's servant, Block, who was pretending to be deaf! And they kidnapped Uncle Quentin and Sooty, and we all had an adventure down in the catacombs in the hills underneath the house!" Dick finished, breathless.
"I don't know how you can stand the boring life of a lawyer." Jessica replied, hiding a smile. She'd heard all about the adventures that Dick, his older brother Julian, younger sister Anne, and cousin George had been in over the years when they were children. In fact she'd heard most of them countless times, but knowing how Dick felt about them she never bothered to remind him she'd heard them before. But she hadn't remembered the name Sooty, at least not until Dick had started speaking!
"I don't know either. Sometimes I'd love a nice juicy adventure.." Dick replied with a sigh. "But after the adventure with the circus and all at Tinker's place we didn't have another one. No matter how hard we looked.."
"Maybe you only have adventures when you're younger?" Jessica suggested. "Is canned sauce alright for the pasta? I didn't have time to do any real sauce today since I worked this morning, and then I went shopping to see about those new couches."
"Canned is fine. I don't suppose we have one of those gorg breads to go with it? And maybe some tomatoes? I love tomatoes! Or radishes? They go so well with bread. And I could duck out to the store to get some peaches and we could have ice-cream and peaches for desert." Dick said. Some things never change, and Dick's appetite certainly hadn't.
Jessica rolled her eyes. "Isn't pasta enough?" She asked.
Dick sighed. "I guess so.we used to have some of the best meals when we were kids, when we were on adventures. Weird combinations of course, but they always seemed to us the best meals ever."
Jessica frowned slightly. "Dick, what's with all the reminiscing?" She asked.
"It was just, well when I was speaking to Julian I realised it's been a few years since we were all together. With both him and I busy working here, and Anne up in Scotland at University, and George in Kirrin and all.." He trailed off.
"Oh!" Jessica suddenly said. "There's a letter for you on the table. It looks kind of formal."
Dick went over to the table and opened the letter. "Dear Dick and Jessica" He read out loud. "Quentin and Fanny request your presence at the wedding of their daughter, Georgina, to Larry on Saturday July 17th!"
"George is getting married?" Jessica asked. "Wasn't she the one who said, at our wedding I believe, that she was planning on simply living on her island with her dog?"
Dick laughed. "Well she's been saying that since we were kids. But fancy this, old George getting married! Well we must go to the wedding!"
"Of course." Jessica said, putting a pot of water on the stove. "We couldn't miss it."
The telephone started to ring, and Dick, who was nearest to it, picked it up.
"Hi mother, how are you?" He asked.
"Good, did you get the invitation?"
"Yes, we got it today. We'll be going of course. It'll be great to see George again." Dick replied.
"Can you see Fanny trying to get her into a wedding dress?" His mother asked.
Dick snorted. "It'll be a battle alright. But at least she's grown out of that being a boy stage-sort of.."
His mother laughed. "I imagine you'll all spend hours at the wedding talking about those awful adventures of yours! When you all get together it's like listening to Sherlock and Dr. Watson.."
Dick laughed, embarrassed. "Sorry Mother, but we can't help it! If you ask me no other kid in England had as much fun as we did. Remember that time you let us go off with the caravans?"
"Against our better judgment. Your father and I were always worried that one day we wouldn't get a postcard.and had we known you had the intention of following the circus we might not have agreed!" His mother replied.
"Which is why we didn't tell you that? But honestly mother, how were we meant to know that Lou and Tiger Dan were thieves, and how were we meant to know that we put our caravans in the hollow where they stored their things underneath. And wasn't it lucky Pongo the chimpanzee was so smart? Or else we might still be trapped underground! I wonder sometimes how Noddy got on after that. It was lucky he was so good with the horses so he could stay with the circus though!"
"You know I don't envy Jessica having to listen to this at the wedding." His mother said with a laugh.
"Oh Jess doesn't mind!" Dick assured her, glancing at his wife. "I bet she wishes she'd had adventures like we did."
"Not much." Jessica replied, hearing his last comment. She had been perfectly happy on the farm! But she knew that Dick had loved his adventures!
"Anyway I better go mother. I want to run down to the store to get something for desert." Dick said, looking thoughtfully at Jessica.
"Okay sweetie. We'll see you soon then-at George's wedding if not before." His mother replied.
"No problems mother." Dick replied, hanging up.
Jessica was stirring the canned sauce, looking out the window into the distance. Dick came up behind her, putting his arms around her. "Jess, you don't get sick of hearing about my adventures do you? Do I talk about them too much?"
"You talk about them a lot Dick, but I know they made you very happy.." Jessica replied.
"There was a but there, wasn't there?" Dick asked.
"It's just I sometimes get the impression you'd rather be with your brother and sister, and cousin, having adventures, then being stuck here.." Jessica admitted.
Dick sighed. "Do I give you that impression?" He asked. "I don't mean to you know. I'm old enough to know that it isn't going to happen, and to be honest if an adventure turned up now I'd say go away, I've got an important court case starting next week so I don't have time for you!"
Jessica laughed. "Oh I don't know about that.." She said. "But it's nice to hear it anyway. And besides I think I probably talk about the farm as much as you talk about your adventures, don't I?"
"Yeah, which reminds me, when I was on the phone to mother I was thinking, why don't we take a few weeks off before George's wedding and spend some time at your parents place on the way to Kirren?"
Jessica threw her arms around her husband. "Thank you!" She said. "I know you're very busy so it's hard to find time to get away, but thanks!"
"And tell you what? I'll not speak another word about adventures for the entire month!" Dick added.
Jessica laughed. "Again I doubt that, but you know what? I don't mind hearing about your adventures. I think some of them are pretty exciting!"
"Yeah, but you know what's exciting to me now?" Dick asked.
"Work?" Jessica said making a face.
"Hardly. No, you are..oh, and the thought of those peaches and ice-cream for desert!" Dick assured her.
Chapter One:
Dick receives an invitation.
"Wasn't today gorgeous? And I was stuck in the office all day!" Dick asked as he came through the front door of his modest London apartment. He was 25, but he didn't look a day over 20. With his black hair, and laughing eyes he was definitely handsome.
"Well you would chose to be a lawyer." His wife, Jessica, replied, but she looked at him fondly. They'd been married almost three years, and as far as she was concerned they were the best three years of her life. Dick had a knack for making her laugh, and making her forget her problems. No matter how tired he was from work, he always had the energy to realise she was feeling down and make her smile. Unlike him she wasn't used to the city life, she was country born and bred, but she'd made the sacrifice of moving to the city when they married. Sometimes she would glance out of the apartment window and see nothing but city, and long for the wide open pastures of her hometown.
"Don't remind me." Dick replied. "Hey, I was speaking to Ju today; would you believe it's James' second birthday next month? Time flies doesn't it?"
"It does." Jessica agreed. "Do you know it's been almost a year since we went back to visit my parents? I don't suppose you've got any time off coming up?"
"Not really, not more than a day or two at the most." Dick replied, sitting down on the couch and loosening his tie. "Anyway, Julian was telling me that he ran into a boy we went to school with, Sooty-"
"Sorry, did you say Sooty? What kind of name is that for someone?" Jessica asked, going into the kitchenette and trying to decide what to make for dinner.
"It's a good name when you're real name is Pierre!" Dick replied with a grin. "And if you met him you'd realise-he's very dark. We actually had an interesting adventure with him once-"
"Adventures." Muttered his wife, with a grin as she rummaged in the fridge and decided to make something simple like pasta. "You and those adventures."
"We stayed at his place once, it was called Smugglers Top!" Dick said, choosing to ignore her comment. "It was actually at the top of this island separated from the land by marsh so thick that many people had been simply sucked down into it. His father was a very fierce man, much like Uncle Quentin, and also a scientist. And he hated dogs, and so we had to hide old Timmy from him. It was such a laugh getting Timmy out for a walk, luckily the place had secret passages so we managed. And there was this man, a real live smuggler, named Barling, and one night Sooty came and woke Julian and I up because someone was signaling from the tower of the house! Anyway it turned out Barling was involved, along with Sooty's father's servant, Block, who was pretending to be deaf! And they kidnapped Uncle Quentin and Sooty, and we all had an adventure down in the catacombs in the hills underneath the house!" Dick finished, breathless.
"I don't know how you can stand the boring life of a lawyer." Jessica replied, hiding a smile. She'd heard all about the adventures that Dick, his older brother Julian, younger sister Anne, and cousin George had been in over the years when they were children. In fact she'd heard most of them countless times, but knowing how Dick felt about them she never bothered to remind him she'd heard them before. But she hadn't remembered the name Sooty, at least not until Dick had started speaking!
"I don't know either. Sometimes I'd love a nice juicy adventure.." Dick replied with a sigh. "But after the adventure with the circus and all at Tinker's place we didn't have another one. No matter how hard we looked.."
"Maybe you only have adventures when you're younger?" Jessica suggested. "Is canned sauce alright for the pasta? I didn't have time to do any real sauce today since I worked this morning, and then I went shopping to see about those new couches."
"Canned is fine. I don't suppose we have one of those gorg breads to go with it? And maybe some tomatoes? I love tomatoes! Or radishes? They go so well with bread. And I could duck out to the store to get some peaches and we could have ice-cream and peaches for desert." Dick said. Some things never change, and Dick's appetite certainly hadn't.
Jessica rolled her eyes. "Isn't pasta enough?" She asked.
Dick sighed. "I guess so.we used to have some of the best meals when we were kids, when we were on adventures. Weird combinations of course, but they always seemed to us the best meals ever."
Jessica frowned slightly. "Dick, what's with all the reminiscing?" She asked.
"It was just, well when I was speaking to Julian I realised it's been a few years since we were all together. With both him and I busy working here, and Anne up in Scotland at University, and George in Kirrin and all.." He trailed off.
"Oh!" Jessica suddenly said. "There's a letter for you on the table. It looks kind of formal."
Dick went over to the table and opened the letter. "Dear Dick and Jessica" He read out loud. "Quentin and Fanny request your presence at the wedding of their daughter, Georgina, to Larry on Saturday July 17th!"
"George is getting married?" Jessica asked. "Wasn't she the one who said, at our wedding I believe, that she was planning on simply living on her island with her dog?"
Dick laughed. "Well she's been saying that since we were kids. But fancy this, old George getting married! Well we must go to the wedding!"
"Of course." Jessica said, putting a pot of water on the stove. "We couldn't miss it."
The telephone started to ring, and Dick, who was nearest to it, picked it up.
"Hi mother, how are you?" He asked.
"Good, did you get the invitation?"
"Yes, we got it today. We'll be going of course. It'll be great to see George again." Dick replied.
"Can you see Fanny trying to get her into a wedding dress?" His mother asked.
Dick snorted. "It'll be a battle alright. But at least she's grown out of that being a boy stage-sort of.."
His mother laughed. "I imagine you'll all spend hours at the wedding talking about those awful adventures of yours! When you all get together it's like listening to Sherlock and Dr. Watson.."
Dick laughed, embarrassed. "Sorry Mother, but we can't help it! If you ask me no other kid in England had as much fun as we did. Remember that time you let us go off with the caravans?"
"Against our better judgment. Your father and I were always worried that one day we wouldn't get a postcard.and had we known you had the intention of following the circus we might not have agreed!" His mother replied.
"Which is why we didn't tell you that? But honestly mother, how were we meant to know that Lou and Tiger Dan were thieves, and how were we meant to know that we put our caravans in the hollow where they stored their things underneath. And wasn't it lucky Pongo the chimpanzee was so smart? Or else we might still be trapped underground! I wonder sometimes how Noddy got on after that. It was lucky he was so good with the horses so he could stay with the circus though!"
"You know I don't envy Jessica having to listen to this at the wedding." His mother said with a laugh.
"Oh Jess doesn't mind!" Dick assured her, glancing at his wife. "I bet she wishes she'd had adventures like we did."
"Not much." Jessica replied, hearing his last comment. She had been perfectly happy on the farm! But she knew that Dick had loved his adventures!
"Anyway I better go mother. I want to run down to the store to get something for desert." Dick said, looking thoughtfully at Jessica.
"Okay sweetie. We'll see you soon then-at George's wedding if not before." His mother replied.
"No problems mother." Dick replied, hanging up.
Jessica was stirring the canned sauce, looking out the window into the distance. Dick came up behind her, putting his arms around her. "Jess, you don't get sick of hearing about my adventures do you? Do I talk about them too much?"
"You talk about them a lot Dick, but I know they made you very happy.." Jessica replied.
"There was a but there, wasn't there?" Dick asked.
"It's just I sometimes get the impression you'd rather be with your brother and sister, and cousin, having adventures, then being stuck here.." Jessica admitted.
Dick sighed. "Do I give you that impression?" He asked. "I don't mean to you know. I'm old enough to know that it isn't going to happen, and to be honest if an adventure turned up now I'd say go away, I've got an important court case starting next week so I don't have time for you!"
Jessica laughed. "Oh I don't know about that.." She said. "But it's nice to hear it anyway. And besides I think I probably talk about the farm as much as you talk about your adventures, don't I?"
"Yeah, which reminds me, when I was on the phone to mother I was thinking, why don't we take a few weeks off before George's wedding and spend some time at your parents place on the way to Kirren?"
Jessica threw her arms around her husband. "Thank you!" She said. "I know you're very busy so it's hard to find time to get away, but thanks!"
"And tell you what? I'll not speak another word about adventures for the entire month!" Dick added.
Jessica laughed. "Again I doubt that, but you know what? I don't mind hearing about your adventures. I think some of them are pretty exciting!"
"Yeah, but you know what's exciting to me now?" Dick asked.
"Work?" Jessica said making a face.
"Hardly. No, you are..oh, and the thought of those peaches and ice-cream for desert!" Dick assured her.