"Auntie," she called, "it is a stove. And look, it's dry everywhere, and we could cook here and sleep here, too. Oh, please, please may we have the Lone Piners here to stay? We'd live here all the time, and we could sleep in those partitions - or upstairs if it's all right up there..." and she clambered up the rickety stairway into a vast granary which stretched over the barn below. Right above the great white doors was a little window at floor level, and the moment she saw it Peter vowed that here she would sleep so that she could live above the world and watch the stars swing over the wood without moving her head from the pillow. For a moment she crouched down and looked over the gently swaying treetops away down into the valley and Barton Beach. Then she jumped up.

"Come and look, Aunt Carol! It's the most marvellous place."

And when her aunt came up she seemed to have made up her mind.

"Yes, Peter, you're right. It's a splendid place for a camp, and if your uncle agrees then I see no reason why you shouldn't have your friends here. How many did you say?"

"Well, there's three for certain - David, Dickie and Mary. And four if Tom Ingles can come. There's Macbeth - 'cos I'm sure Mary won't come without him... Macbeth? Oh! he's a dog, - small and black, with short legs - you know the sort, Auntie... And then there's another thing. I'm sorry, but my pony Sally ought to come - she's with the Mortons now, and if Uncle didn't like her being out in a field, she could go in a stable p'raps, although she hates that..."

"Stop! Stop!" cried Mrs. Sterling, covering her ears. "That's more than enough - it sounds like a circus... Now come here and try to listen...

"I'd like you to have your friends here, my dear. It will be good for us all, but you must go and ask your uncle if you can use the barn as you suggest, and I don't think I should mention the dog or the pony. I should let those just arrive! And if you're a little uncertain about Tom, I wouldn't mention him either, because it makes it sound rather a lot, and it's a long time since Seven Gates had any visitors... If we have the time today, I'll help you clean this place up, but once you are all here I shan't interfere, and you will have to do everything yourself - cooking and cleaning and everything."

Peter had never, in her wildest dreams, expected an aunt like this, and for a moment she felt quite shy as she bent forward to kiss her.

"I can't say thank you enough. We'll take care. You'll be surprised how neat and tidy we are. If you can lend me some cleaning and cooking things and some old blankets and cushions for me, I'll tell the others to bring their sleeping-bags. Mine's locked up at Hatchholt, worse luck."