‘But who put it there?’ asked Peggy.
‘Smugglers,’ I replied at once.
‘But there couldn’t have been smugglers here. We’re miles from the seaside,’ said Lionel.
‘That’s why they came, of course,’ I said. ‘It was a safe place. The coastguards would look everywhere at the seaside but they wouldn’t think of looking here.’
‘True,’ said Rosamund.
I could see that they were interested and, certain that none of them had read my Chatterbox, I went on, ‘They were called the Nightriders because they rode by night. They had to get the treasure to London and, if you come to think of it, we are plumb in the way between London and the sea.’
After I had said this I wondered if I was right, but to my relief the older ones, who knew a little geography, agreed that this was so.
‘Let’s go and dig it up,’ said Peter who, being young, thought things much easier than they are.
‘We might at any rate go and inspect the grotto,’ said Rosamund.
We went off to the corner of the garden where the grotto was. It looked very mysterious and a very suitable place for buried treasure, and even I began to think that there might be some there. Straggly laurel bushes cast a shadow over it, and the steps leading down to it glistened with damp.
Lionel descended the steps, unlocked the door and looked in. There were no windows, but a greenish light came through a ventilator in the roof, and when the door was wide open one could see all round the curious little place.
‘I suppose it was the smugglers who brought all those shells with them,’ said Rosamund, pressing close behind Lionel.
‘Of course it was,’ he answered. ‘And now to find where the treasure is hidden.’
Christmas with the Savages
is available as A Puffin Book.
Your story starts here …
Do you love books and discovering new stories?
Then puffin.co.uk is the place for you …
• Thrilling adventures, fantastic fiction and laugh-out-loud fun
• Brilliant videos featuring your favourite authors and characters
• Exciting competitions, news, activities, the Puffin blog and SO MUCH more …
www.puffin.co.uk
It all started with a scarecrow …
Puffin is over seventy years old. Sounds ancient, doesn’t it? But Puffin has never been so lively. We’re always on the lookout for the next big idea, which is how it began all those years ago.
Penguin Books was a big idea from the mind of a man called Allen Lane, who in 1935 invented the quality paperback and changed the world. And from great Penguins, great Puffins grew, changing the face of children’s books forever.
The first four Puffin Picture Books were hatched in 1940 and the first Puffin story book featured a man with broomstick arms called Worzel Gummidge. In 1967 Kaye Webb, Puffin Editor, started the Puffin Club, promising to ‘make children into readers’. She kept that promise and over 200,000 children became devoted Puffineers through their quarterly instalments of Puffin Post.
Many years from now, we hope you’ll look back and remember Puffin with a smile. No matter what your age or what you’re into, there’s a Puffin for everyone. The possibilities are endless, but one thing is for sure: whether it’s a picture book or a paperback, a sticker book or a hardback, if it’s got that little Puffin on it – it’s bound to be good.
www.puffin.co.uk
PUFFIN BOOKS
UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia
India | New Zealand | South Africa
Puffin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
www.penguin.co.uk
www.puffin.co.uk
www.ladybird.co.uk
First published 2016
‘Christmas with the Chrystals’ first published 1959 by Basil Blackwell.
Reprinted in The Puffin Book of Christmas Stories first published 1984 by Faber and Faber, published in Puffin Books 1986
Author’s text including ‘My Christmas Holidays’ and ‘What Happened to Pauline, Petrova and Posy’ published in The Noel Streatfeild Christmas Holiday Book first published 1973 by J. M. Dent
Extract from Ballet Shoes first published 1936 by J. M. Dent; extract from Tennis Shoes first published 1937 by J. M. Dent; extract from Circus Shoes, first published as The Circus is Coming 1938 by J. M. Dent; extract from Theatre Shoes, first published as Curtain Up 1944 by J. M. Dent
Text copyright © Noel Streatfeild, 1959, 1973
Illustrations in ‘Christmas with the Chrystals’ by Jill Bennett, copyright © Jill Bennett, 1959
Illustration from Ballet Shoes copyright © Ruth Gervis, 1949
Every effort has been made to trace the owner of the rights for the artwork by D. L. Mays in Tennis Shoes and Theatre Shoes. The publisher would be very glad to hear from the copyright holder.
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted
Cover illustration by Dinara Mirtalipova
ISBN: 978–0–141–37774–2
All correspondence to:
Puffin Books
Penguin Random House Children’s
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
* In 1958, when this story was written, £100 was worth a great deal more than it is today.
Christmas with the Chrystals & Other Stories (A Puffin Book) Page 10
