When the train pulled in, the children alighted respectively onto the crowded platform, each manouevring a heavy trunk through the throngs of people milling about, attempting with difficulty to get both on and off of the train.
George and Anne at once made for the entrance to the station, still accompanied by Fatty, who had offered to carry Anne's hatbox for her. Julian had directed them to wait by the door on the telephone earlier that morning, in case there was any difficulty in regrouping on the platform. He had been right to suggest such a plan, Anne thought as she was jostled backwards not for the first time. Dear Ju really did think of everything! She was quite beside herself with joy at the prospect of seeing her two brothers again! Three months didn't seem such a long time in the hols when they were all together, but how dreadfully the time dragged when they were apart!
Fatty followed the girls, skilfully dodging anybody who looked as though they might walk directly into him with an agility that anyone who knew Fatty would not be surprised to learn he possessed. He was rather hoping the other Find-Outers would have the sense to make for the entrance, as well. Failing that, he would soon catch up with them when they were the only four left on the platform!
No sooner had the three of them reached the station door when Julian, Dick and Larry strolled up, each looking slightly short of breath. Timmy, who had not enjoyed the sensation of wading through the crowd, went mad at the sight of his two faithful friends and leapt upon them at once!
"Hallo, Tim!" cried Julian, quite unprepared for the frantic welcome and slightly amused at the way Timmy appeared to want to lick both boys at once. "Hallo, Anne! Hallo, George! You both look well!"
"So do you!" Anne smiled, allowing herself to be hugged by Dick.
"You've grown again, young Anne," Dick observed, as he turned to give the same treatment to George. "You seem to get taller every time we see you!"
Larry and Fatty, who had retreated back a step or two rather awkwardly, not wishing to be in the way of this joyful reunion, greeted each other with a warm handshake. It wasn't long before Pip had sidled up beside them, his hair tousled from his doze on the train. Daisy and Bets soon joined the group, Bets giving a loud shriek at the sight of Fatty and flinging herself upon him in a tight embrace.
"Oh, Fatty! I've missed you!" she cried, positively beaming. Bets, although thirteen now and almost grown up in her own opinion, was still very much the baby of the five. Her profound fondness and admiration for Fatty hadn't lessened any over the past few years, and he was still much of an inspiration to her.
"Nice to know how much you've missed your own brother," scoffed Pip, slightly irritated at his lack of welcome. His annoyance soon abated however when Bets flung herself upon him next, apologising profusely.
There was a slight pause between both groups as the welcoming of their numbers subsided; Julian and Larry turned almost simultaneously as each remembered the other was still there.
"Why don't you introduce us to your friends, Larry?" Julian grinned, strolling over to the other five, with Dick in hot pursuit.
And so the introductions began, though of course Anne, George and Fatty were already familiar; Find-Outers and Famous Five merged into one group, Timmy beside himself with joy at being surrounded by so many friendly faces, especially those of the four people he loved more than anyone else in the world! Each of the children was happy to be in Peterswood, with three long months before them and the sun beaming down, glorious and toasting their backs. Golly, how simply marvellous summer hols were!
There was however, one person who didn't quite make it into Peterswood. Poor Ern, who had finally managed to find himself a seat on the train, had made himself too comfortable and remained there sound asleep, as the train chugged out of the station. He didn't know that he had missed his stop, or that his beloved friends the Find-Outers were just yards away on the platform, or even that there was a big, black fly zooming frustratedly around his head; all Ern knew was that he was in a deep, blissful sleep and he jolly well didn't want to come out of it, thanks very much!
An hour later, Mr. Goon began his afternoon patrol of the village with more than a little reluctance. Ever since the phone call of yesterday morning, he had been in a decidedly bad mood; he snapped at Mrs. Cockles when she arrived to clean the house. He snapped at the police clerk who rung up to chase one of Goon's reports. He snapped at the newspaper boy, who was a redhead and reminded him forcibly of Fatty in one of his disguises. Today was one of those days when Mr. Goon snapped at everybody, for he was annoyed. Goon was annoyed that Mrs. Cockles always complained about his tattered window leather. He was annoyed that the clerk had lost last week's report on Mrs. Elderidge's cat. He was annoyed that the wrong newspaper had been delivered to his house, and that the boy who had made the mistake had red hair. But most of all, Goon was annoyed that there was no sign of Ern. Ern who had been so desperate to come and stay with him! Ern who had promised he would get the first train to Peterswood! Ern who had already made a nuisance of himself by breaking this promise!
'Gah!' muttered Goon, as he wandered down the high street. Looking ahead down the road, Goon spotted something that made him stop still. A little way off, he was able to spot those blasted kids as they crossed the street, their chatty, amicable voices carrying clearly on the still air. Ho! So they were back! There was Frederick Trotteville at the very helm of the party, strutting across the road in his usual cocksure manner. A manner which very nearly made Mr. Goon's blood boil just to think of it! And there were the Hiltons, young Bets hanging on Frederick's every word, as she always did. Mr. Goon didn't understand it. He thought Master Frederick Trotteville a very tiresome sort of person to idolise indeed! Predictably, the Daykin children followed on behind, accompanied by that irritating dog. But wait! Mr. Goon strained his eyes to see, as the children ambled further away; that was not the irritating dog he was used to! It was a dog, that was for sure, but it was not the snappy brute that loved to terrorise his ankles so! This dog was much bigger, and lighter in colour.
It was then that Mr. Goon spotted the figures of four other children following behind the Find-Outers, and he squinted against the blinding sunlight, doing his very best to make them out. They looked like three boys and a girl, and no doubt the dog belonged to them. So those pesky kids had found themselves four more pesky friends, had they! Well, they had jolly well better not disturb he, Goon, that was for sure!
At that moment, a rather disturbing thought crossed Mr. Goon's mind. What if one of those unfamiliar kids was actually one that he knew very well? What if one of the three boys he had spotted in the distance was actually Ern? It would be just like Ern to turn up in Peterswood and make straight for the Trottevilles' house, without so much as even informing his own uncle that he had arrived! Gah! The more Goon thought out this scenario, the more likely he thought it. It was exactly the sort of thing Ern might do to spite him! Well, he would show Ern! He would teach him a lesson about what happened to ungrateful, disrespectful young rascals!
"Hi! Ern! You stop right there!" bellowed Mr. Goon, as he followed this sudden impulse by tearing down the high street as fast as his legs would allow him, one hand steadying the police helmet on his head. He ignored the stunned passer bys and villagers who leapt out of the way in alarm at the furious policeman careering down the street after the Find-Outers; he didn't even stop to apologise as he knocked several of them down. All that Goon was focused on was getting hold of that there Ern and giving him exactly what he deserved - a good, hard shake!
"Ern! You come back here, Ern! I want a word with you!" Goon yelled, extremely red-faced and panting like there was no tomorrow. He was now within sight of the Find-Outers again and he wasn't going to let them slip away! They were in trouble too, for encouraging Ern, the young blighters!
"ERN!" hollered Mr. Goon once more, and a little way ahead the nine children and Timothy turned in surprise. "ERN! COME HERE AT ONCE! ERN!"
"Gosh, who's that?" Dick asked, bewildered. "And why is he addressing us as 'Ern'?"
"Why, it's Mr. Goon!" Fatty replied, a twinkle in his eyes. "He must be talking about his nephew! But why he should go around chasing us, I haven't the foggiest!"
The children stopped as Mr. Goon approached, now so out of breath that he could no longer shout without angering the tearing stitch in his side. He took instead to waving a large, pink fist around in what was evidently supposed to be a threatening manner.
"Mr. Goon! What a jolly pleasant surprise!" Fatty exclaimed, heartily. "It's been an awfully long time since we last saw you! I do hope you are keeping well!"
Goon, who could do nothing but pant as he drew up next to the children, turned even redder at Fatty's pleasantries. Damned insolent boy! What cheek he had to address he, Goon, in that manner when it was quite clear that he was not in the mood for polite conversation!
"Master Trotteville," Goon spat in acknowledgement, still gasping for breath. He paused again to survey the children in front of him, and experienced a dreadful sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he realised that neither of the three new boys was Ern. Why, if he was not very much mistaken, one of them was a girl!
Standing up straight and re-adjusting his collar in an attempt to look dignified, Goon opened his mouth to speak, but was beaten to it by Fatty.
"Lovely afternoon, isn't it, Mr. Goon? We were just taking a stroll back from the station with our new friends here," the boy indicated Julian, Dick, George and Anne and Mr. Goon scrutinised them once more, wondering if they could possibly be Ern dressed in some sort of clever disguise. After all, that dratted fat boy had taken him in more than once with one of his infamous disguises!
"Bah!" replied Goon, more steady in his speech now and certainly not in the frame of mind to deal with Frederick Trotteville's trivialities. "What have you done with Ern, boy? Ho! You tell me that! I know he's somewhere about!"
"Oh, so it was Ern you were shouting for!" Fatty remarked, feigning dawning comprehension. "Well, I quite agree with you Mr. Goon that it would be wonderful to have Ern with us. But I'm afraid he isn't here. We haven't seen him since last summer".
"Ho! That's what you say!" Goon retorted, his beady eyes narrowed. "Now you listen to me, I know you're hiding Ern somewhere and I'm going to find out where, see?"
"I really don't know what you're talking about," Fatty replied, airily.
"Gah!" exclaimed Goon. "I've had a nice, peaceful summer without you and your tall stories, Master Trotteville. Now you tell me what you've done with Ern!"
"I told you," replied Fatty, wearily. "We haven't seen him".
Ignoring this, Goon started down a new path. "You've come from the station, you say? Well, if you've come from the station, you would have met Ern, see?"
"And why is that?" replied Fatty, innocently.
Goon almost exploded with anger at the boy's tone of voice. How he wished he could give him a jolly good thrashing! "Because... because Ern got the first train to Peterswood!" he spluttered.
"We got the first train to Peterswood, sir," cut in Julian. "And there was no sign of him".
"We wouldn't have seen him, anyway," added George. "The platform was too crowded".
"I'm telling you the truth, Mr. Goon," Fatty said, earnestly. "We really haven't see him. Like I said, not since last summer".
"Last summer?" Goon repeated, still doubtful. He didn't want to believe these troublesome terrors, but he couldn't for the life of him see where Ern could have hidden himself were he with them. "You mean he hasn't been with you today, then?"
"No, Mr. Goon," replied Fatty, solemnly. "But we could have a look for him if you like. Perhaps he's hiding in these bushes here. Have a look, Pip, will you?"
To Mr. Goon's fury, Pip parted the leaves of the bush behind them and began rummaging around as though he had lost something. "Not here!" he grinned, emerging from the shrubbery. Bets' attempt to suppress a giggle failed dismally, and Goon turned to glare at her.
"Ho! I suppose you think you're funny, do you?" spat Goon. "Well, you tell me this then! If Ern got the first train to Peterswood this morning, where is he now? Hmm?"
"I couldn't say," Fatty shrugged. "Perhaps he's waiting at your house, Mr. Goon?"
"Perhaps he didn't get the train at all," Daisy suggested. "Perhaps he missed it".
Goon remained silent at this. He hadn't thought of that. It was damned well possible that Ern had missed the train. In fact, it was just like Ern! Mr. Goon kicked himself for not considering this eventuality. When Ern arrived, he would jolly well throttle him for allowing he, Goon, to humiliate himself in such a manner!
Goon coughed, and muttering something about 'important police duties', he excused himself as best he could. As he walked away, his head held high in a futile attempt at dignity, he cursed Ern under his breath. The dratted boy had caused him to make a fool of himself in front of those bratty annoyances once more! Goon was a serious officer, and didn't appreciate being made fun of. Ern would be well and truly for it when he finally decided to show himself, that was for certain! But where exactly was Ern? Where did he get to after he had fallen asleep? Why, he had stumbled into the start of an adventure, of course!