I can't believe the number of positive reviews I recieved for my last chapter. They've spurred me on tremendously, as I didn't expect this story to be very popular. Here is chapter 2.

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John was surprised to find he had a letter waiting for him at breakfast the next morning. Tearing it open, he recognised his mother's hand writing. Curious, he read her letter.

Dear John,

I received a letter from Mrs Dixon yesterday, containing grave news. It appears her sister fell down the stairs and has broken her arm. Mrs Dixon has taken her in and is nursing her, but this means there is no space for all of us at Dixon's farm, and even if there was, she would be too busy to look after us. So it appears we shall have to spend this Christmas in London, unless we can make alternative arrangements. And no, before you ask, you are not camping on Wildcat. Not in December, however dry and warm it seems.

I know you will all be disappointed but I expect you all to keep cheerful and not complain. Do not make this any harder than it is already. It is not Mrs Dixon's fault and you are not to blame her.

I am sorry for disappointing you. Can you please try and explain to Rodger,

Much love,

Mother

(The friendly Native. I know that's what you call me.)

John read his mothers letter again, then escaped to write hurriedly to Nancy.

Dear Captain,

I have received word from the natives that all our lovely plans for this summer are to be spoiled. It appears we must cut off exploring this winter and delay it till spring. Mrs Dixon's sister has most inconveniently broken her arm, and is now staying with Mrs Dixon, and so we are to spend our hols in London with the natives.

I must admit, when I heard this I was most fearfully disappointed, and I must confess I almost cried. But I was sitting at breakfast, and everyone was watching, and there must be some way we can meet up over the holidays. Though at the moment I cannot for the life of me see how.

We need you to come up with one of your ingenious schemes, captain. An Amazon pirate never gives up, and you always find a way round everything. So please, my love, find a way out of this.

I wait for your response,

The Commodore

Swallows and Amazons Forever.

It was a few days before John got a response from Nancy, and he tore it open eagerly.

John, you chump-headed galoot. What on earth do you mean, postpone it? The answer, if you had but stopped to think about it, is immediately obvious. I have sent a dispatch to my mother instantly and hope to have her response before the week is out. You shall all stay at Beckfoot, if she agrees, and we shall all have a marvellous time.

Now that is sorted, Peggy has asked me to remind you of our plans to find our own tree this year. She says we shall take Captain Flint with us and set out to chop our own tree. Then we can carry it down and set it up ourselves in our sitting room, and decorate it with lights and baubles. Stop worrying, I'm not letting the natives in London drag you away from me. You're spending Christmas in the lakes, and that's final. Thoughts of Christmas have dragged me through this term, and you're not backing out now. I need to see you.

With love,

Nancy Blackett,

Captain of the Amazon.

John's expression lifted as he read her letter, and a smile crossed his face. Trust Nancy. Now it all relied on the natives sorting it out between them. He replied to Nancy with joy, and both waited eagerly for their parents to inform them of the new plans. It wasn't long before John received another letter from Nancy.

Dearest Commodore,

I am delighted to inform you that as long as your mother accepts our holidays together are secure once more. I have just received a message from my mother. It reads like this:

Thank you for informing me of the situation. Living on the other side of the lake I hadn't heard of Mrs Dixon's predicament. I shall write to Mrs Walker immediately and tell her that they must come and stay with us. I know you all had great plans for this holiday and I won't let them be cancelled. Of course, if Mrs Walker doesn't accept my invitation, there is nothing I can do, but I hope she will. You needn't have sounded so annoyed with Mrs Dixon, it isn't her fault her sister broke her arm, and it was very nice of her to take her in. I hope you appreciate that.

She then goes on to talk about other things. So now if you end up in London, blame your native, not mine. I was thinking last night about the winter we built the igloo, and I got mumps. Do you remember? I was put in quarantine. That was when we first met the D's. I'm so glad we did. They won't be joining us this holiday; they are staying with their friends on the broads. It's their loss! The Scarab lives in our boathouse until they come back or send someone to claim her. By golly, I can't wait till we can race the Swallow and the Amazon again. I know it is too cold for camping, but surely the natives won't refuse us the ability to sail. It looks like being a mild winter, no snow due this year! So if we cannot visit the North Pole, why shouldn't we take to the seas? We can't spend all our time locked up with the natives, no matter how friendly they are. Besides if we are under their observation the whole time, there'd be no chance for us to slip off, just the two of us. Susan wrote, explaining how she found out. You really were a nitwit, to read out part of one of my letters in front of Rodger. Shouldn't you have checked first, and then read it aloud? It's a good thing I didn't write anything too scandalous!

Peggy has apperared to inform me I am being searched for. Apparently I am needed to make up a Hockey team. Me, playing hockey! Can you imagine! I truly have become one of the natives, if they had asked me at the beginning of the term I should have laughed in their faces. Unfortunately it appears the Amazon captain has, according to them, a talent at the detestable sport, and because I am of a competitive nature, I do tend to enjoy our matches. So I shall write soon, and continue to count down to the Christmas hols.

See you then,

Captain Nancy Blackett,

Amazon Chief.

Swallows and Amazons Forever!

John read her letter through a second time, relieved at Mrs Blackett's response, and highly amused at the idea of Nancy joining in with the native sports. Grabbing a pen, he scribbled a quick note.

To the captain of the Amazon,

Your mother is a sport. What would we do without these friendly natives? Speaking of such, will Captain Flint be joining us for Christmas?

Sorry I don't have time to write much at the moment. I hope you won your game,

The Commodore.

Swallows and Amazons Forever

Signing it he slipped it into an envelope, posting it straight away so he wouldn't forget.

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The next day he received a letter from his mother.

Dear John,

I know I've told you this before, but you mustn't spread our business around. If we have nowhere to stay at Christmas, it is no business of the Blackett's.

However, I have accepted Mrs Blackett's kind offer, and we shall be spending Christmas by the Lakes, as planned. In future, if you do such a thing again, I may refuse. It really was most rude of you.

The letter then went on to describe arrangements for travelling, and a particularly amusing dinner party she had attended. John read these quickly, but indignantly, then grabbed the nearest sheet of paper and wrote:

Mother, you really are a beast to accuse me of such things. I didn't invite us to the Blackett's as you seem to assume. When I heard, yes, I was disappointed, and I wrote to Nan to tell her we should have to call off our plan for Christmas. It was she who had the idea of staying with them, and she who followed up the idea by writing to her mother. I can't deny I'm relieved we are not spending the Hols in London, but do you really think I should do anything so vulgar as to invite myself to theirs?

His mothers response arrived quickly and was brief and apologetic.

Dear John,

I am sorry for what I wrote in my last letter. If what you write is true, you didn't deserve it. I didn't realise you maintained a regular correspondence with Nancy. Apologies again. Don't blame me for leaping to conclusions. In future I shall try to think before blaming you, you are not the headstrong boy you used to be and I need to remember that. Of course it was Nancy, just the sort of thing she'd do.

Forgive me?

The friendly native.

John, pleased at having everything sorted, suddenly remembered that he hadn't told Rodger about the rearranged holiday plans, and sought him out. He found him with a group of friends in the grounds, evidently up to no good, for they all looked up guiltily when he called to Rodger. Rodger broke off from his friends and jogged over to John.

"Hello, John. You don't often seek me out."

"Well, I had some news about the hols, and I thought you probably ought to know about it. I didn't tell you at first as I thought you might be frightfully disappointed, but now it is all sorted, and I believe you shan't mind so much."

"What is it John? Do stop talking in riddles and tell me plainly what has happened."

"Well, Mrs Dixon's sister has broken her arm, so we cannot stay at Dixon's farm these hols."

"What? Well, what are we to do? We aren't going to have to stay in London and be all prim and proper, are we?"

"No, of course not. I told you it was all sorted out. When mother wrote and told me I wrote to Nance, to tell her all our plans were off, and she wrote back instantly declaring we would do no such thing, and must all stay at Beckfoot. Both her mother and ours have agreed, and we are to spend Christmas with the Blackett's this year."

"Oh, how splendid! Well, thanks most awfully for telling me, John."

"Not a problem. I say, what were you up to just now. You all looked frightfully guilty when I yelled your name."

"Nothing too bad, honest John. Peter got a magnificent magnifying glass for his birthday, and as it was sunny we decided to try and see if we could, you know, light a fire with it."

"Well, huddled in that corner you shan't. Best place would be by the boathouse. You're out of the way there, and the sun would be stronger."

"John! I felt sure you would confiscate it, or tell us to stop, or something of that kind."

"I got into enough scrapes at your age to know it was jolly good fun and necessary to survive the native torture. I still should if it wasn't for the pressure put on our year to be splendid role models. That's the problem with being top of the school, Rodger. Enjoy your freedom whilst you can. What are you trying to burn?"

"Just a scrap of paper nobody needs anymore."

"Well, as I said, you won't succeed there. Try the grass by the boathouse, plenty of sun and water if the flame gets out of hand. Just don't destroy the boats, and if anyone asks me, I shall deny all knowledge of this. Have fun."

"Thanks again, John. You're an awful good sport, and the best commodore we could have had. I'll go tell them. See you later." And Rodger ran back across the grass to his friends. John shot a longing look at them, and retreated inside.

...

As Rodger approached his friends they looked up, worried.

"What did he want? They haven't found out about this, have they?"

"He wanted to tell me about some arrangements for the Hols. Oh, and he said we'd never get enough sun here, and to try down by the boathouse. And he'll deny all knowledge of saying that if anyone asks. Not proper for someone at the top of the school to be involved, he said."

"But he reckons the boathouse is a good spot? You know, I think he might be right."

"Of course he's right! Come on, let's go." And the group traipsed off towards the river.

...

At dinner John looked up once or twice to find the appraising eyes of one of Rodger's form on him, which he found extremely disconcerting. Even Jack noticed their attention, leaning over to ask,

"Any idea what's got into your brother's form? They keep looking over at you as if you were a God!"

"I really don't know. He's probably told them some exaggerated tale about something I did in the Hols. We shall never know."

But after the meal he grabbed Rodger and pulled him to one side.

"Did it work?"

"Yes, by the boathouse like you said. Everyone keeps saying what a good sport you are, helping us like that. None of us should have ever thought of that."

Rodger didn't mention it, but he was proud of the praise of his brother, and pleased his friends looked up to him. John saw this in his eyes and smiled.

"I only wish I could have seen it, but it couldn't have been done. Tell your friends Thank you for their praise, but they were the ones to position it to work, not me, I merely pointed them in the right direction."

"Right you are, John. Thanks again. If we can ever repay you, we shall."

"Repay me for what? You needn't bother, it was nothing."

Rodger laughed said goodbye, and left for his next class.

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Thanks again, guys, for reading this.

A special thanks to:

Dracones - For your positive review.

constantlearner - For your encouragement.

TheThingThatHasNoName - For your admiration and positivity. (Is that a word?)

huidinigirl - For adding this story to favourites and giving me positive feedback.

Simon C - For being encouraging and supportive.

NAYLEV - For adding this story to alert. It's always encouraging to know someone wants to read more...

Fergus Mason - For calling it 'Awesome', which I think is probably too strong a word. I have written more, see above chapter!

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Thanks to everyone else who has read this and enjoyed it. As you can see, I like recieving reviews... Who doesn't? So please click the little button, if you have a minute to spare to tell me what you think.

G4E