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door. Then, in the darkness, he tugged a corner of the blind. It flew up with a rattle. A pinkish
light, faint but clear, shone inwards on the room.
"It's dawn," said Charles wonderingly. "Morning. We've been away all night." He stared down
into the courtyard.
"I say, Carey-" "What?" "They're not bringing anyone in. It's-" He paused excitedly. "Carey,
it's the bed!" Carey leapt out of her chair, and Paul threw off the blanket. They raced to the
window. They watched, in that dim early light, two policemen lift the bed from the van. They
heard the legs scrape as it was dragged across the cobblestones. They saw the policemen push
it up against the wall. Then both men stood, rubbing the strain out of their hands and staring at
the bed. They laughed. "I could do with a nap meself," said one as they walked away indoors.
Then the courtyard became silent.
"If we could get to it-" breathed Charles.
"If-" said Carey.
The pale light shone softly on their faces as, longingly, they stared out through the bars.
6 MAGIC IN THE COURTYARD
At about nine o'clock next morning, the sergeant and the inspector faced each other across the
inspector's desk. The sergeant was standing. His hat was in his hand and his face was very
red.
". . . and that's all I know, sir," the sergeant was saying.
"But how did they get away?" asked the inspector. "I'm afraid I don't follow you, Sergeant.
How did they get into the yard to start with?" "Well, Mrs. Watkins took 'em down, sir, to see
my garden." "To see your garden?" repeated the inspector in a surprised voice.
"Them dahlias, sir, in pots, at the end of the yard, sir. Mrs. Watkins calls 'em my garden. I got
some sweet peas, sir, too-coming up nicely, the sweet peas are." "I didn't know you were a
horticulturist, Sergeant." The inspector spoke rather coldly. "And then?" "Mrs. Watkins, she
quite took to those kids, sir. She thought they'd like to see the bird, sir, too." "The bird?" "I
got a canary down there, sir. I was putting it out, like, in the sun, early this morning." "Have
you got anything else down there in the yard?" The sergeant shuffled his feet.
"Well, sir, only the silkworms." The inspector glanced out of the window, pursing up his
mouth in a rather peculiar way as if he were trying to keep it still.
"And you left the children alone in the yard?" he asked sternly.
"Well, sir, the gate was locked, sir. Roberts was on duty outside. I'd just slipped in the passage
to sip a cup o' tea Mrs. Watkins 'ad there waiting." "Well, go on. How long were you sipping
this tea?" "No time at all, sir. I just took the cup like from Mrs. Watkins, put in a bit of sugar,
stirred it, and came right out to the door-" "And then-?" "Well, I couldn't see the children. I
thought at first they was round be'ind the pillars." The sergeant wiped his face with his
handkerchief. "But no," he added.
"They'd gone?" "Yes, sir, they'd gone." "And the bed, too." "Yes, sir, and the bed, too. We
searched the premises. The yard gate was still padlocked. Roberts said he 'adn't seen nothing."
The inspector stared at his fingernails. "Very peculiar. Mrs. Watkins bears out your story?"
"Yes, sir." "Mrs. Watkins took to them, you say?" "Yes, sir. They were nice kids, sir, well
brought up. I got sort of sore with 'em last night. 'Urt my leg on that there bed of theirs. But
they weren't bad, not at 'eart they weren't." The inspector leaned back in his chair. "You took
to them yourself, in fact?" "Not last night I didn't. But this morning-well, sir, they were so
pleased like to see my little bird." "You regretted perhaps," said the inspector slowly, fixing
the sergeant with his eye, "having brought them in at all." The sergeant stared back at the
inspector. His eyes became very round and blue in his red face. He opened his mouth with a
gasp. "You think I went and let them out, sir?" Then his fat face became stern and dignified.
He swallowed. "I wouldn't do a thing like that. I know my duty, sir." He looked hurt and
stared at a spot on the wall above the inspector's head.
The inspector smiled. "I'm sorry, Sergeant, if I've misjudged you. But you've told me a very [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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