FIVE GO ON A SECRET TRAIL IN NAIRN

Good afternoon, boys and girls. I do hope you are sitting comfortably, so that I may begin my wondrous tale of the adventure of 5 rascals getting into all sorts of scrapes and jams near the pretty little seaside town of Nairn.

Naturally you will be expecting to see all 5 of our jolly wholesome crew, but, don't be so dim - someone has to take the photos. Heaven forfend that these 5 would ever be so base as to take a selfie. 

So here are our four frolicsome females. I do hope there are a lot of dishes to wash after they have had lashings and lashings of ginger beer and cake later. After all we know only too well that that's what girlies do best.

At this point, I should point out that the blog has not been proofread by my ever so wonderful wife, and there may be a number of editorial changes made!

Naturally, Dave, being the only male, made sure that all the girls were ready and suitably clad with warm clothes, mittens and stout shoes. Then they were off, following the Secret Trail, that only Dave knew. Sometimes such knowledge can be terribly burdensome, but Dave would never trouble any of the girls with this charge, which he bore so stoically.

The trail was wonderfully serpentine and eventually wound its way to the Ice House, where Mama used to keep copious amounts of ice for her daily pre-, post-, and breakfast G&T. One simply cannot get through the day without a snifter or two, she always said. Frankly, the children were much too frightful to allow abstinence. If only they could be seen and not heard, life would be so much more agreeable.

Dave gaily led the little troop on a merry way, further and further from home and the comfort of a roaring fire and the smell of crumpets toasting on the flames. They were undaunted and knew in their fluttering little hearts, that Dave would take care of everything.

Just as there was a smidgin of doubt creeping into their minds, they came upon a sign, which irresistibly, invited them to flirt with danger. Surely there must be all sorts of jolly japes to be had if one were to ignore the instruction to Keep Out. Modern life was just so terribly safe and children had become so cosseted and separated from peril that there was a danger ennui setting in!

Let's go!, they cried and tumbled over the fence and into a whole new world. Gracious, but there were huge holes to tumble into, diggers to play with, cables and wires, the purpose of which was impossible to divine, lots of sharp and deadly tools and, best of all, pipes to crawl into and hide from each other. My, what fun they had and hardly anyone got badly hurt. 

Unfortunately, their foray into this world of adventure had not gone unnoticed and PC Murdoch, from another story altogether, was soon galloping after them and threatening a clip round the ear and a stern word with Papa.

That would never do, so the infamous five had to escape. Luckily, the ever resourceful Dave spotted a way out. He reasoned that this would work for the five companions, as old PC Murdoch was rather too stout to make it through.

So it proved, as they escaped by the skin of their teeth.

Phew! They were all rather glad to have escaped the long arm of the law, with nothing but a bit of a fright! It really had been such fun!

What shall we do now, they wondered.

Why! we should go to my house and eat lots of scones and jam with lashings of ginger beer. Perhaps they should avoid being sick, if their eyes are not bigger than their bellies.

So, that was exactly what they did. All sorts of cakes had been conjured up by Sandra and a wonderful time was had by all.

Afterwards, Mama and Papa, said they would take them to the Punch and Judy show, once Mama was able to walk in a straight line.

Five go to Punch and Judy is, of course, another story for another day!

The end.