Ann's Wake

As mentioned, Julian and Dick had left their sister, Georgina her cousin, and the rest of the crew their friend to attend on the receiving end of their handie talkie calls. She had taken a nap in the afternoon before they left her, and got her first cup of strong tea when they said goodbye.

She was cosily seated in a sofa with lots of tea and Hershey's Mr. Goodbar, and a lot of knitting to do while waiting.

The receiver was an amateur radio station, not a handie talkie, and it was connected to an Ampex tape recorder (reel to reel, this was before cassette recorders!). In case she needed proof, she could just activate the recorder to the sound from the radio station.

From time to time, she interrupted her knitting when they called.

A little before midnight, she heard the call "three into house, over" from Julian.

A minute or two later, this came:

"Georgina calling Ann, do you hear me, over?"

"Ann calling Georgina, I hear you. Over."

"Put on the tape recorder, and hear when we get caught, when you have sufficient proof, call the police, over."

She put on the tape recorder. "Tape recorder running, over."

Sounds went somewhat amuck for a few seconds, Georgina later explained that she had scotched a pin over the push button that activated the handie talkie.

Then sounds changed, voices a bit far away became audible.

Then Georgina shouted "brutes!"

Voices of angry men came nearer (along with noises of steps) ... "what are you doing here?"

"Birdwatching."

"Likely story, your friend tried to get in using a rope on an arrow ..."

Scuffle went on, Georgina said "let me go!"

And a blasé voice answered "I don't think so, here we go!"

Noices of steps on the ground shifted to feet on gravel ...

"Let her go!" This time George White spoke up, people ran to him and caught him ...

"So, you kind of betrayed your friend?" ... (sound of a punch) "We don't like traitors ... we may use them, we don't like them."

Nobby's Daring

The two outside - George and Georgina - received Nobby and Charlie who had been posing as trying to "shoot a rope into the castle" Errol Flynn version of Robin Hood. Nobby was glad to see them, but the others told him they needed to get caught to do a diversion for the ones getting in. George and Georgina stand back.

When Nobby and Charlie are caught - it doesn't take too long, the two groups of five meet before the front porch.

The ten men stand menacing around Nobby and Charlie.

"What do you think you are doing?"

Charlie and Nobby didn't answer.

"We have some more men inside if someone else is trying to be funny."

A rustle which was very weak gave Charlie and Nobby some hope, they were "trying to be funny" ... but Nobby kicked a stone on the ground to hide that rustle, and the men did not notice. They were very well built.

Keeping their attention could prove to be painful. Even so ... Nobby kicked a stone again.

"Hey, stop that - we pay the people who rake the gravel path, don't destroy their work!"

He knew this would hurt, but he disobeyed.

"OK, you are asking for it ..."

The man punched a hard fist with a long windup into his stomach.

He heard Georgina shout "brutes!" and thought "no ..."

Soon Georgina Kirrin and George White were caught too.

Nobby was waiting still held in the arms of two men.

"So, you kind of betrayed your friend?"

Nobby didn't answer. He got a punch into his face with the notice:

"We don't like traitors ... we may use them, we don't like them."

He glimpsed over to Georgina who smiled very furtively, but triumphantly. Police were coming.

The Archers Do Their Work.

Over the fence, then onto the house, there were twenty feet or so to the path of the arrow. Charlie carefully laid down the strong but slender rope in large swathes over the ground, tied it to an arrow, shot at a wooden panelling part of the roof where it met the house.

The arrow stuck into it with a big thud. He started to draw the rope towards himself, though careful not to pull too strongly, just so as to slowly make it appear he was trying to climb the fence with the rope - when he arrived below the fence, a window opened, and a man, somewhat angry, took the arrow, pulled it out of the wood, and shouted to him:

"Ha, this only works in movies."

Charlie turned around and tried to escape.

The angry man turns inside the window and tells his fellows:

"See him running? No? See the rope? The arrow came from there ... see if he's still around"

About five men get out from the window, climbing down on the security ladder, and they use the rope, doubled, to climb up over the fence one after another and down on the other side. They then follow the rope to catch Charlie ...

Meanwhile, Nobby also shoots, at the other side of the house, where the front porch is, thirty feet, and about the same thing happens. He's detected, five men are told to get out, they do so through the front porch and chase Nobby.