It has been a little while since I gave you a piece of Julian’s News, but I hope you’ll forgive me. It got myself into a little bit of a writing rut and couldn’t get out of it. But now, it’s all ready and waiting for you.

If you haven’t read any before or need to refresh your memory, then check out the rest of the story from the links below:

Prequel – The way you make me feel
Part One – Julian’s news, telling Dick
Part Two – Julian’s news, back at Kirrin
Part Three – Julian’s news, the first day
Part Four – George
Part Five – George again

For those of you who have read everything so far read on! And in case you’re wondering;  yes I have finished.

Now I present you with part 6. I hope you enjoy it!

A WALK AND SOME TROUBLE

When Dick and Anne got back to Kirrin Cottage they found Julian talking to Aunt Fanny in the Kitchen. By the look on her face she had been told about Sally, and about George’s outburst.

“Hullo chaps. No luck by the looks on your faces,” Julian said glumly when he saw them.

“Not for lack of trying,” said Dick.

“It would have been a lot better if Dick hadn’t gotten impatient,” Anne said, glancing sideways at her brother. “But George is firmly thinks that you’re jolly selfish and that Sally will stop you having adventures.”

“She is also convinced that Sally is soppy and stupid for getting kidnapped,” Dick said, sitting down heavily in one of the kitchen chairs and picking up a piece of pastry that had escaped from his Aunt’s mince pie cases.

Anne watched Julian’s face as they told him what George had said. He was hurt. Anne moved around to his side and gave her eldest brother a hug.

“Don’t fret Ju,” she told him, glancing over her shoulder at Dick. “George will be fine when she calms down I expect.”

“I’ve been a right fool, Anne,” Julian told her. “If I had told you all together then none of this would have happened.”

“I expect it would have done Julian,” his Aunt chimed in. “George would probably have reacted exactly the same way. I had hoped that George had grown out of this behaviour.”

“And we wouldn’t have this problem if I hadn’t cornered you while you were reading your letter,” Anne said apologetically.

“None of this is your fault Anne,” Julian and Dick said firmly together.

“Certainly not Anne,” Aunt Fanny said kindly. “Will you be a dear and fetch me the jar of my homemade mincemeat from the scullery dear?”

Anne nodded and ran off to fetch the jar for her Aunt.

“Boys, you just need to leave George to cool off, as you know very well by now,” Aunt Fanny said, turning to them. She laid a hand on Julian’s shoulder. “You have done nothing wrong, Julian. George would have acted the same anyway you told her, and now I think you just need to sit back and let her work through it.”

“If she doesn’t come around to the idea of Sally and I though, Aunt Fanny, we could be in for a very awkward Christmas,” said Julian. Dick nodded in agreement.

“Don’t you boys worry,” Aunt Fanny said as Anne appeared with the jar of mincemeat. “Christmas will be fine, even if George is sulking.”

“The idiotic thing is that if I had told everyone together Aunty, George may have been better about everything!” said Julian sadly.

“It is possible, but then I suspect George still would have been upset,” said Aunt Fanny as she spooned the mincemeat into the pastry cases. “Now, you three go for a nice long walk or something to clear your heads. It’s a nice day and we shan’t get many of these as we get closer to Christmas.”

“Yes lets!” Dick agreed. “Come on Julian, it’ll be nice just to walk until we can walk no more.”

“Alright,” Julian said with a sudden smile. “Let’s do that.”

All three went off to get their coats and scarves while Aunt Fanny continued to fill the mince pies with a smile on her face.  She knew that her daughter was difficult, and that she disliked change, much like her father. Aunt Fanny had no doubt however that sooner or later George would get over her sulk and things between the five would once again be peaceful.

While she filled the pastry cases, Aunt Fanny wondered whether her daughter would ever accept any of her cousin’s partners as it would take them all a step further away from their childhood and their adventures.

‘Maybe I should have a word with George,’ Aunt Fanny thought. ‘Remind her that she can’t possibly stay a child forever and things have to change. I shall do that I think, but I’ll leave it a day or two to see if they sort it out for themselves. I should hate to make George think that I was interfering.’

As Aunt Fanny mused over the trouble between the five at Julian’s news, Dick, Julian and Anne had wrapped up warm and headed out for a walk.

“Let’s head down towards the old quarry,” said Dick enthusiastically.

“Lets not,” Anne shivered. “It will be colder down there and the sides will be slippery.”

They both waited for Julian to make a decision but their brother’s mind was clearly elsewhere.

“Julian?” Dick asked his brother, giving him a nudge. Julian jumped.

“Sorry. I was miles away.”

“We noticed,” Anne said, tucking her arm through Julian’s. She shared a smile with Dick. “We were waiting for your opinion on heading down to the old quarry.”

“Best not,” Julian said, making himself pay attention to them. “I don’t think it will be very safe at the moment.”

“You’re becoming more like Julian every time I see you Anne,” Dick teased his sister.

Julian guffawed as Anne spoke indignantly to Dick. “You could do with being a little more sensible, yourself.”

“That just takes the fun out of everything!” Dick retorted.

Julian smiled vaguely as his brother and sister bickered, wondering how long it would take George to come around and stop sulking. He wished he could talk to Sally but reasoned with himself that it would not do to tell her that George had taken such a stand against her.

Dick and Anne were still bickering playfully as they walked up onto the coastal path, in sight of Kirrin island where they had had so many of their adventures. Julian stopped to look at the island, a frown on his face. Anne and Dick stopped as well, and turned to look at the island in silence.

Anne considered how much older her brother looked now. She wished she could help him resolve the situation with George but knew that there was no way to do that until George was ready to talk.

Dick stood with his hands in his pockets and was whistling softly while thinking about all their previous adventures; it would all be very different now, with a different kind of adventure looming in the future. He felt a lot older now Julian was no longer at the same school as him, and had to think about the plan for his life very seriously over the last term; whether he should go to university before doing his national service as Julian had done or to do his service with the RAF first.

All three were silent for a long time, thinking about how things had changed in such a short space of time. Anne slipped an arm through each of her brother’s and was just about to suggest that they carried on with their walk when they heard a loud and familiar bark racing closer to them at top speed.

They turned to look back the way they had come and saw Timmy racing towards them at top speed, but no George followed him.

Without even thinking Julian found himself racing towards Timmy, Dick and Anne close at his heels.

“Here boy, here Tim,” Julian called crouching down as he reached the dog. “Where’s George old chap? What’s the matter?”

But Timmy couldn’t tell Julian what was wrong, all he could do was bark frantically at the three and paced back and forth, trying to get them to realise that they had to follow him.

“He wants us to follow him, surely!” Anne said, watching the dog as Timmy pawed at her skirt. “He never leaves George unless he has to!”

“Then  George is in trouble,” Julian said, standing up. He took hold of Tim’s collar and said clearly to the dog;

“Come on then Tim, where is she?”

Finally happy that he had got through to the three children, Timmy licked Julian’s hand and barked as if to say “Follow me and hurry!”

Continued in chapter 7