Jennings and His Friends

by Antony Buckeridge

  "No, you don't have to go to the village again, Venables."

  "But, sir, I must. I've left Jennings and Darbishire there," explained Venables.

  "Well, I have something to tell them when they come," said Mr Wilkins.

  "May I go and fetch them, sir? They'll never come back without me."

  "I... I... Are you trying to be funny, boy? , They know their way back, don't they?"

  "But, sir, you must listen, sir. You see what happened was..."

  "Be quiet, Venables! I don't want to hear another word."

  Mr Wilkins looked at Venables angrily. "I know all your tricks," he thought. "One of you wants to go and fetch the other two; and all the three of you want to miss half the detention class."

  "But, sir! You don't understand. Listen to me, please!"

  "Be quiet, boy!" shouted Mr Wilkins. "Do as I tell you, or it will be worse for all three of you!"

  For the first ten minutes after Venables had gone Jennings and Darbishire continued to eat doughnuts. For the next five minutes they played with Mrs Lumly's cat. At a quarter past four they began to worry about how they could explain it all to Mr Wilkins.

  But at twenty-eight minutes past four they understood that the greater trouble for them was Mrs Lumly: on the table there were a lot of plates and bottles for which they had to pay.

  "Why doesn't Venables come!" exclaimed Darbishire for the fifth time in three minutes.

  "If you ask me, he is a traitor," Jennings said angrily. "Wait till I see him again!"

  They did not speak for some time, but looked at their watches.

  "Have another doughnut, Jen? There's only one left," said Darbishire at last.

  "No, I can't. I'll burst. I've had seven already and two bottles of lemonade."

  "She is beginning to give us those strange looks again, Jen. Let's order some more doughnuts. We mustn't let her suspect anything, must we?"

  "I know, I know!" said Jennings. "But I really will burst if we don't do something."

  Mrs Lumly was really giving them strange looks. She was greatly surprised. "I've never seen boys who could eat so many doughnuts," she thought.

  "Oh, she is coming back again. Try and look hungry!" Jennings whispered, when the kitchen door opened.

  "I'm sorry, Jen, but I can't look hungry," Darbishire said sadly.

  "Well, boys!" exclaimed Mrs Lumly when she saw only one doughnut on the plate. "You, boys, have an appetite! I don't think you must eat any more cakes, or you'll be ill. Let's see now, you've had fourteen cakes and doughnuts and five bottles of lemonade... that'll be nine-and-sixpence, please."

  The time had come to explain and it was not easy.

  "You see," Jennings began, "there was a... a... a mistake - by chance, of course. You see..."

  "No, boys, there's no mistake," said Mrs Lumly. "It'll cost you nine shillings and sixpence, though where you've found room to put it all is more than I can understand..."

  Suddenly Darbishire heard the click of the garden gate and he jumped from the chair. At last! Venables was coming back! Good old Venables! He leaned over the table and whispered the happy news in Jennings' ear. Good old Venables! He must be hungry: he must have something for the last sixpence of his uncle's present. Jennings turned to Mrs Lumly.

  "Will you bring us a last plate of doughnuts for our friend, please?"

  "But he has gone," said Mrs Lumly.

  "Yes, but he has come back."

  "All right," said Mrs Lumly and went to the kitchen.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  A young lady helps Jennings and Darbishire

  The door opened and Jennings and Darbishire jumped to their feet to greet their friend.

  But... in the doorway they saw a pleasant young lady of twenty-five or twenty-six years old. She put her suitcase on the floor, smiled and said:

  "May I join you at your table? I don't see where else I can sit."

  "Oh, yes, please; that'll be all right," said Jennings.

  "Not Venables!" whispered Darbishire. "It isn't Venables! What shall we do?"

  "Be quiet, Darbi," whispered Jennings. "It's not polite." He turned back to the young lady and took the cat from the chair.

  "I see you have enjoyed all this," said the young lady and pointed to the empty plates and bottles.

  "Yes," said Jennings, "we couldn't do anything else but to eat and drink all this; if you understand what I mean."

  The lady looked at the boys with interest, but the boys looked at her with no interest at all. They wanted to see Venables with his ten-shilling note in her place. They noticed that she was young and beautiful. They also noticed the initials M. W. on her suitcase, but this certainly did not tell them anything, because there was very little resemblance between Margaret Wilkins and her brother Lancelot.

  Though Jennings and Darbishire noticed nothing unusual about Miss Wilkins, she could see that something was very much the matter with them. When Mrs Lumly came with another plate of doughnuts Miss Wilkins ordered a cup of tea for herself.

  "You don't look very happy," she said to the boys. "Aren't you going to eat these doughnuts she has brought?"

  "No, thank you," answered Jennings. "If I see another doughnut I'll burst."

  "Something has happened, hasn't it?" she asked.

  "Yes," said Darbishire sadly.

  "Tell me what the matter is. Maybe I" can help you."

  "It's very nice of you," answered Jennings, "but I don't think you can help us. There is only one person who can help us, and he's not here. He invited us to a feast and when. we were finishing the first plate of doughnuts and cakes he had to go and think Gosh!'"

  "He had to go and. do what?" asked Miss Wilkins.

  "Oh, he didn't really have to go anywhere to think it. He sat there where you are sitting now and thought it. And after he thought 'Gosh!' once or twice, he slowly turned round and said, 'I've left the money in the other pocket.'"

  "He didn't really turn round and tell us," said Darbishire, "because he was sitting in front of us all the time."

  "Well, you know what I mean," said Jennings.

  "Oh, yes, I do," answered Darbishire, "but maybe this lady doesn't. She may think that he looked out of the window and told us."

  "I think I understand," said Miss Wilkins.

  "Of course, it is not really all Venables' fault," said Jennings. "Because there is a detention class which we had to go to, and if Venables is there we shall have to eat these doughnuts for hours and hours - maybe all night."

  "If you can't pay, maybe you'll let me pay for them," said Miss Wilkins.

  "Oh, thank you very much," said Jennings. "But we can't take money from you. You are our guest: we invited you to sit at our table."

  "When you come back to school and find your friend you can give me back the money," said Miss Wilkins.

  "Well, all right, then; thank you very much. And we'll give back the money the minute we see Venables - if he is alive after Old Wilkie's detention class."

  "Whose detention class?" asked Miss Wilkins in surprise.

  "Old Wilkie's-Mr Wilkins'; he is one of our teachers; and when he is angry he is like a fire-breathing dragon."

  "Really?" exclaimed Miss Wilkins.

  She understood that the boy did not know that he was speaking with the fire-breathing dragon's sister.

  "Yes, really," continued Jennings. "You just sit in one of his algebra lessons and then you'll believe it. I've met some frantic types in my life, but Old Wilkie!..."

  Miss Wilkins was surprised. She knew that her brother was sometimes explosive, but a fire-breathing dragon, or a frantic type - no, that was more than she could accept.

  She drank her tea quickly and said, "May I walk back to school with you?"

  "Certainly! Then we can give you the money," said Darbishire. "But maybe we are taking you out of your way."

  "Oh, no. I'm going to Linbury Court, but I wasn't sure of the way and got off the bus in the village, by mistake."

  Darbishire looked at
her in some surprise. Was she a parent? "Excuse me, but you are very young to be some boy's mother," he said politely.

  "No, I'm not. I'm... I'm some boy's sister," said Miss Wilkins.

  She called Mrs Lumly.

  "Two pence for the tea and ten shillings for the rest," she said.

  Miss Wilkins paid the money and said, "Let's take these doughnuts back to school for your friend."

  Jennings and Darbishire did not really want to do it, but they did not want to argue with Miss Wilkins either. So they took the doughnuts for Venables, and all three of them went out of the house. Jennings was carrying Miss Wilkins' suitcase and Darbishire was carrying the doughnuts in a paper bag.

  They thanked Miss Wilkins many times for her help, but now they were beginning to think about what was going to happen when they got back to school. It was already five o'clock!

  Margaret saw that they were worrying and asked them questions about the more pleasant side of school life. They told her about the next issue of the Form Three Times, and they began to talk about Mr Wilkins again.

  "I'm sure he is not really such a monster," said Margaret.

  "Oh, but he is - he's worse!" exclaimed Darbishire. "He is not like the other teachers. Mr Carter is very decent; Mr Hind is very decent too; and even Mr Pemberton - he's the Headmaster! But Old Wilkie - no!"

  "But what really is it that you don't like about him?" asked Margaret.

  "Well, he sometimes shouts at us when we've done something wrong; and we don't mind that. But it is the same when we are trying to be decent. Take this, for example: Jennings wanted to write life-stories of famous and unfamous people, like Mr Carter and Mr Wilkins, for this newspaper that we told you about. You know - what they were like when they were young, and what their full names are."

  "We know Mr Wilkins' initials are L. P., but what these initials stand for is a secret," said Jennings. "I don't think anybody really knows."

  Margaret smiled. So Lancelot did not want to tell anybody about his romantic name!

  "Of course, we didn't dare to ask him how old he was," Jennings continued. "He is not the man you can ask questions like this."

  "And did Mr Carter tell you how old he was?"

  "Well, no, he didn't, but we could work out a problem and find out," said Jennings.

  Now they came to the school gates and Jennings said, "Let's say good-bye now. I'll tell Venables to bring that money to you, because I don't think we'll see you again before you go."

  Margaret was sorry to hear it.

  "But aren't we going to have a talk about your wall newspaper? Maybe I can help you with your life-stories."

  The boys did not think that some boy's sister could really help them with their life-stories.

  "I don't see how we can have a talk with you," said Jennings sadly. "Then, you see, we've missed the detention class."

  "Is that serious?" asked Miss Wilkins.

  "Is that serious! Old Wilkie will be so angry, that he'll - well, if you hear a great explosion in five minutes' time, you'll know that we are talking to him."

  At that moment Mr Carter came out of the door and hurried to them.

  "Good afternoon; my name is Carter," he said. "You must be Miss Wilkins."

  "Yes," Margaret smiled.

  "I'm happy you've found your way," said Mr Carter. "If you come with me, I'll take you up to your brother's room. I promised to meet you, because he has been busy with a detention class, but he'll be free in a moment."

  Now Mr Carter noticed that Jennings and Darbishire were standing with red faces and open mouths. Mr Carter also noticed a strange expression on their faces.

  "I think you haven't seen your brother for a long time, and you'll have a lot to talk to him about," Mr Carter said to Margaret.

  "Yes, I really want to tell him a lot," said Miss Wilkins loudly.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Visitor for Mr Wilkins

  If you once stepped under an ice-cold shower when thinking that it was hot, you will know something about what Jennings and Darbishire felt when they understood that their guest was Mr Wilkins' sister.

  For a minute they didn't speak. When Mr Carter closed the door behind him Darbishire exclaimed:

  "I can't believe it! I just cannot believe it! I just can't believe it! Old Wilkie's sister! No, I can't believe it!"

  Jennings did not hear him. He was thinking about fire-breathing dragons and frantic types.

  "Why didn't she tell us that she was his sister?" he exclaimed.

  "If Old Wilkie was my brother I shouldn't be proud of it. What worries me is how we are going to talk to him now, when she's gone and told him all about it."

  They went to the changing-room and left their caps and coats there. In the corridors they saw the boys of Form Three who were going to the school yard after the detention

  "Where have you been?" Temple asked them. "Old Wilkie was so angry when you didn't - come that he nearly burst."

  "Don't talk to me about bursting: I've just had seven doughnuts." Darbishire threw the paper bag into Temple's hands. "Here you are - eat these! We were going to give them to Venables, but I don't want to be decent to him now."

  Through the window Jennings saw Venables who was hurrying from the school yard. Jennings shouted to him. Venables was greatly surprised to see his friends at school.

  "Oh, there you are!" he shouted. "How did you get back? I was on my way to the village. I've got my ten-shilling note, now, look."

  "You are a traitor, Venables," shouted Jennings. "You left us there without any money and we had to eat all those doughnuts and cakes."

  "Yes, we had to eat doughnuts and cakes and they cost ten shillings," said Darbishire angrily.

  "But I only meant to spend half of that, even when I was with you."

  They argued for some time, but at last Jennings decided that it was time for them to go to Mr Wilkins. They left Venables and slowly, very slowly went to Mr Wilkins' room.

  "I think she is sitting there, at this very moment, and telling Mr Wilkins what we said about him," said Darbishire.

  Yes, at that very moment Miss Margaret Wilkins was sitting in the arm-chair in her brother's room with a cup of tea in her hand.

  "It's very pleasant to be here," she said and put the cup on the table in front of her.

  "Have another cup of tea, Margaret," said Mr Wilkins.

  "No, thank you, Lancelot. I had a cup of tea before I arrived."

  "If you don't mind, Margaret, don't call me Lancelot here."

  "But why not? You've always been Lancelot at home."

  "That was at home," explained Mr Wilkins. "But here, if the boys find it out, I'll never know a moment peace."

  "What shall I call you then - Old Wilkie?"

  "Y-yes, well, it's better than Lancelot. The boys call me that when they think that I am not listening."

  Margaret watched him with interest. Was he really as bad as the boys thought?

  "Have another cup of tea!" invited the fire-breathing dragon.

  "No, thank you, Lance... er, Old Wilkie. I had a cup of tea in the village with two of your boys. Jennings and Darbishire they said their names were. I think they are very nice boys."

  "What!" Mr Wilkins jumped to his feet and looked at his sister in surprise. "You... you mean... you want to tell me... Well, Margaret, they had to be in my detention class - not drinking tea with my sister. So that's where they were. Well, when I see them, I'll.."

  "But it wasn't their fault! They were very sorry that they were missing your detention class, but they couldn't leave the place because they had no money."

  "The only thing I can tell you, Margaret, is that they must be punished and they will be punished," said Mr Wilkins.

  "Can I see them again before I go?" asked Margaret.

  "Why do you want to do that?"

  "I promised to help them with their wall newspaper," she explained. "You didn't help them when they wanted to write your life-story."

  "No, I didn't. My life-st
ory! I've never heard such nonsense. Well, they'll have to think about it again because I didn't tell them anything."

  "That's why I want to see them. I can tell them a lot of interesting things," smiled Margaret. "Do you remember that time when you were very small and you had six helpings of Christmas pudding? I remember Father said to you, 'Lancelot, my boy, this is a good lesson to you never to...'"

  "Oh, Margaret! You can never tell them a thing like that!" cried Mr Wilkins.

  "Or do you remember the time when you fell down from the apple-tree and cried

  and..."

  "But you know very well, Margaret, that it wasn't my fault. The branch was rotten - it let me down."

  "It wasn't the boys'-fault that they didn't come to your detention class. Their friend let them down."

  "It isn't the same thing, Margaret. You must understand that."

  "But I can't understand that. It's exactly the same thing, one of those things which often happen to people when they are small," she argued. "And if you can't see it now, try to read about it in the life-story of Lancelot Wilkins, when you see it in the next issue of the Form Three Times!"

  "I... I... But Margaret, you can't... you won't..."

  "I shall," said Margaret.

  Mr Wilkins came up to the window and opened it. It was too much for him. He looked out of the window. The evening was cool and it calmed him. He began to remember the time when he was. a small boy. Maybe he had really behaved in the same idiotic way as Jennings and Darbishire. Maybe their friend really let them down and they could not come to the detention class. Then he thought about Lancelot Wilkins' life-story in the Form Three Times. Oh, no,

  not that!

  He turned back from the window and said, "I don't want to be unfair, Margaret, so I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll make them do the sums which they missed this afternoon, and I'll not punish them."

  "That's fair enough," Margaret answered. "And you won't... Well, what I mean is, you won't say anything about Lancelot and all that apple-tree nonsense, will you?" • "No," said Margaret. "But you must promise that you will be very decent to them when they come to explain why they were absent from your detention class." "I will," said Mr Wilkins.