Julian glanced at the rather quiet Anne, then turned to Dick and George. "You two go along. Anne and I will wait here for the food."
Dick hesitated, sensing something wasn't quite right with his siblings, but George punched his arm impatiently. "Come on, Dick!" he said, eager to head off and see the cottage. "We won't be long, Ju!"
Julian nodded to Dick, and Dick shrugged. "Bet I'll bet you there!" he teased, and raced away up the lane, George and Timmy raring after him.
With the two of them out of sight, Julian turned back to Anne, slipping a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Alright there, baby? You've been quiet."
She leant into him gratefully. "It's going to be another adventure, isn't it?"
Julian grimaced, knowing Anne wasn't as fond of adventures as the rest of them, but said, "Yes, probably. We do seem to run into them an awful lot!"
Anne opened her mouth, then closed it again, shaking her head and turning away.
Julian nudged her gently. "What's wrong, Anne?"
She blushed. "You'd think I was a terrible person if I told you."
"You? Never." He ruffled her hair affectionately. "I don't think you could be a terrible person if you tried!"
She smiled, but it quickly faded into a look of worry. "I- Ju, would it be awful if next hols, we went home for a few days? Just the three of us?"
"Without George?"
"It's terrible of me, isn't it?"
She tried to pull away, but he squeezed her closer. "It sounds a bit mean," he said frankly, "but I know you don't have a mean bone in your body. Why do you want a holiday without George?"
"Not all of it!" she protested. "Just a little while. I just can't help but think that before we met George, we never had any adventures. And now, every holiday we're all in one adventure or another, and I spend more time with George than I do with you or Dick. I know he can't help it that he has to go to a girls' school, and I do like having him there, but I miss when it was just the three of us, having our own silly little adventures, not these dangerous ones!"
Julian was torn. On the one hand, he knew George loved having all of them together for the holidays, and would be terribly lonely and angry if they left him by himself, even just for a few days. On the other hand, he adored his baby sister, and hated to see her so upset, especially when she did have a good point. As the oldest, Julian had worried before at how dangerous some of the adventures they found were - they'd been lucky so far, but how long would it be before one of them were seriously hurt? It wasn't George's fault, of course, but it had all started after they'd met him.
"Tell you what, Mother's birthday is at the start of the Easter hols, since they're so early this year," he finally said. "How about, instead of us coming here right at the start of the hols, we go home and spend a few days with Mother and Father, then join George after that? George can't possibly mind us spending a few days with our mother for her birthday, and if he does, he'll just have to lump it!"
Anne giggled at Julian's pretended obstinance, bumping her shoulder into is. "He won't mind if you explain it, Ju! George looks up to you."
"I'll tell him before we go home," Julian decided. "You can tell Dick, I'm sure he'll want to check on you after this."
Anne sighed, but was secretly pleased at having two such caring older brothers.
A loud bark heralded George and Dick racing back down the street, Timmy running ahead of them. "Ju!" George said breathlessly, "there's a brand new chest in the cottage, and it's locked!"
Anne buried her head in her hands.
Julian patted her shoulder sympathetically, but couldn't help grinning. "Buck up, Anne! We've got another adventure afoot!"