Five Have a Mystery to Solve Read Online Free PDF

she thought. „Oh goodness - Wilfrid"s tickling its back - and it"s scratching where he"s tickled it - just like we would!"
    „Come and say how do you do to my pet toad," called Wilfrid. „I"l carry your pail for you then."
    Anne picked up her pail in a hurry, afraid that Wilfrid might whistle up a few snakes next.
    What a boy! How she wished the others would come back! Why, Wilfrid might own a boa constrictor - or have a small crocodile somewhere - or... but no, she was being sil y! If only the others would come back!
    To her horror the toad crawled right on to Wilfrid"s hand, and looked up at him out of its real y beautiful eyes. That was too much for Anne. She fied into the cottage, spil ing half the water as she went.
    „I wish I was like George," she thought. „She wouldn"t really mind that toad. I"m sil y. I ought to try and like al creatures. Oh my goodness, look at that enormous spider in the corner of the sink! It"s sitting there, looking at me out of its eight eyes! Wilfrid, Wilfrid - PLEASE come and get this spider out of the sink for me!"
    Wilfrid sauntered in, fortunately without the toad. He held his hand out to the spider and made a curious clicking, ticking noise. The spider perked up at once, waved two curious little antennae about, and crawled across the sink to Wilfrid"s hand. Anne shuddered. She simply couldn"t help it! She shut her eyes, and when she opened them, the spider had gone and so had Wilfrid.
    „I suppose he"s now teaching it to dance, or something!" she thought, trying to make herself smile. „I can"t think how insects and animals and birds like him. I simply can"t bear him. If I were a rabbit or bird or beetle, I"d run miles away from him. What"s this curious attraction he has for creatures of al kinds?"

    Wilfrid had completely disappeared, and Anne thankful y went on with her little jobs. „I"l tidy up the loft where the boys wil sleep," she thought. „I"l wash this living-room floor. I"l make a list of the things in the larder. I"l clean that dirty window over there. I"l ... good gracious, what"s that noise?"
    It was the sound of magpies chattering noisily - a harsh but pleasant noise. Anne peered out of the little cottage window. Well, what a sight! There stood Wilfrid in front of the window, a magpie on each outstretched hand - and one on the top of his head! It stood there, chattering loudly, and then turned round and round, getting its feet mixed up in the boy"s thick hair.
    „Come out here and I"l tell one of my magpies to sit on your head too!" shouted Wilfrid.
    „It"s such a nice feeling. Or would you like a young rabbit to cuddle? I can cal one for you with my little pipe!"
    „I don"t want a magpie on my head," said Anne, desperately. „For goodness sake get a nice little baby rabbit. I"d like that."
    Wilfrid jerked the magpies off his hands and shook his head violently so that the third one flew up, squawking cheerfully. He then sat down and pul ed out his queer little whistle-pipe, as Anne called it. She watched, fascinated, as the strange little dirgelike tune came to her ears. She found her feet walking to the door. Good gracious - could there be some peculiar kind of magic in that pipe that made her go to Wilfrid, just as the other creatures did?
    She stopped at the door, just as a baby rabbit came lol opping round a tall clump of grass. It was the funniest, roundest, dearest little thing, with a tiny bobtail and big ears.
    It went straight to Wilfrid and nestled against him. The boy stroked it and murmured to it.
    Then he cal ed to Anne softly.
    „Well - here"s the baby rabbit you asked for. Like to come and stroke it?"
    Anne went softly over the grass, expecting the rabbit to bolt at once. Wilfrid continued to fondle it, and the little thing looked at him with big, unwinking eyes. Anne bent down to stroke it - but immediately it leapt in fright and fled into the grass.
    „Oh dear - why did it do that?" said Anne, disappointed. „It was quite all right with