"She's going up yonder! Up beyond the last of those huts where the men are. She'll be through soon and the water's coming up underneath the bank... What are you waiting for?..." and the remainder of the sentence was carried away by the wind which rose again to a shriek of triumph as Jon saw a great plume of spray thrown into the air high over the bank and then flung towards them in the gale until it spattered the windscreen.

"Out of the way, all of you," the girl shouted as she eased her left foot and the little car jumped forward amidst the shouts of those who were now hurrying towards them from the beach.

"The lorry is following us. They've got away all right," David shouted. "Gosh! I wouldn't have missed this for anything."

Jon muttered, "I'll be glad to see Penny and the kids, though, and get them home again... Vasson was right again, wasn't he, David?... Look at the crowd under the hill there... they're smashing the windows of a car... Look, David, I'm sure that's our car..." He leaned forward and shook the girl's shoulder. "Here, you," he yelled. "I thought you said Grandon had driven home and passed us in Rye. That's our car there."

She wriggled her shoulder free.

"Strong boy!" she said. "And my name's Valerie, and you had better call me Val, like everybody else, and not just 'you'... Now listen to what I say, because it's important. I'm going to drive down a little way on the shingle at the side of the hill because there's not so many people there! Before I stop, nip out, one each side, and I'll lock the doors from inside. Don't let anyone get so much as a finger inside the car and I'll manage to lock my own door somehow and bring the key with me... Are you ready? Right! Jump for it."

Neither of the boys attempted to argue for they realized at once that her suggestion was wise. As the car lurched on to the loose shingle in the comparative shelter of the hill, they opened the doors and jumped out. Jon stumbled and fell to his knees, and as he got up a wild-eyed woman rushed towards them.

"Lend me your car," she pleaded. "We daren't wait any longer. Turn it round and take us back to Winchelsea." Before Jon could answer Valerie was beside him and locking the door handle. Then she turned to the stranger.

"We're just fetching some children," she shouted. "Don't tell anyone else and we'll try and give you a lift if there's room... But don't tell anyone." Then she slipped between the boys and took their arms. "That will keep her quiet, I hope," she went on. "Now buck up, for we've no time to waste... Come along this way behind the bungalows."