There was a silence. “Can I stay with you today till my Dad comes back?” said Jo suddenly, in her sing-song voice. “I’ll wash myself if you like. I’m all alone today.”

“No. We don’t want you,” said George, feeling as if she really couldn’t bear Jo any longer. “Do we, Anne?”

Anne didn’t like hurting anyone. She hesitated. “Well,” she said at last, “perhaps Jo had better go.”

“Yes,” said Julian. “It’s time you scooted off now, Jo. You’ve had a long time with us.”

Jo looked at Dick with mournful eyes, and touched the bruise on her chin as if it hurt her. Dick felt most uncomfortable again. He looked round at the others.

“Don’t you think she could stay and share our picnic?” he said. “After all — she can’t help being dirty and — and…”

“It’s all right,” said Jo, suddenly scrambling up. “I’m going! There’s my Dad!”

They saw the man in the distance, dragging his foot as he walked. He caught sight of Jo and gave a shrill and piercing whistle. Jo made a face at them all, an impudent, ugly, insolent face.

“I don’t like you!” she said. Then she pointed at Dick. “I only like him — he’s nice. Yah to the rest of you!”

And off she went like a hare over the sand, her bare feet hardly touching the ground.

“What an extraordinary girl!” said Julian, “I don’t feel we’ve seen the last of her yet!”

Chapter Six

What happened in the night?

That night Anne began to look rather scared as darkness fell. She was remembering the Face at the Window!

“It won’t come again, Ju, will it?” she said to her big brother half a dozen times.

“No, Anne. But if you like I’ll come and lie down on George’s bed instead of George tonight, and stay with you all night long,” said Julian.

Anne considered this and then shook her head. “No. I think I’d almost rather have George and Timmy. I mean — George and I — and even you — might be scared of Faces, but Timmy wouldn’t. He’d simply leap at them.”

“You’re quite right,” said Julian. “He would. All right then, I won’t keep you company — but you’ll see, nothing whatever will happen tonight. Anyway, if you like, we’ll all close our bedroom windows and fasten them, even if we are too hot for anything — then we’ll know nobody can possibly get in.”

So that night Julian not only closed all the doors and windows downstairs as he had done the night before (except the tiny pantry window that wouldn’t shut), but he also shut and fastened all the ones upstairs.

“What about Joan’s window?” asked Anne.

“She always sleeps with it shut, summer and winter,” said Julian, with a grin. “Country folk often do. They think the night air’s dangerous. Now you’ve nothing at all to worry about, silly.”

So Anne went to bed with her mind at rest. George drew the curtains across their window so that even if the Face came again they wouldn’t be able to see it!