The Wild Valley [antikvár]

CHAPTER I Lilliput Castle Mr Jenks' car was an old car and the engine made so much noise that it was impossible to converse. Philippa, sitting in the front seat, by turning her head could see that Mr Jenks* lips were moving, but his words were drowned in the roar and squeal and rattle. She hoped that he did not expect a reply. Apparently not, for he was now staring contentedly forward through the windscreen. As for Philippa, she was happy not to have to talk. They had left the town and the railway station far behind them and she wanted to be free to concentrate on the landmarks. A year had gone by since she had last wandered about in this countryside with Janet and Tony and Mark. She had been eight, then: now she was nine. The others, too, would be a year older. A year made a difference. The hedges did not seem to be as tall as she had remembered them to be, the woods so vast and dark, the distances so great. Even Mr Jenks, greeting her on the station plat-