Katie McMahon, age 11, Co Fermanagh
Inspired by Five Go Off to Camp by Enid Blyton
One evening Katie arrived with her friends and dog to her house. Her friends were Tiona and Kyra, and her dog was called Coco, a springer spaniel. Coco was running around the house with excitement and Katie sat wishing she could do that too. She was so excited because she and her friends were going camping and leaving in just ten minutes. Their principal, Mr McGrath, was going with them and was bringing them all.
When he arrived, they lifted their stuff into the pony trap and off they set. They talked for a while, but they were so tired that they all fell asleep for the rest of the journey. Then, when at camp, they ate their supper and climbed into their cosy sleeping bags and fell asleep. The next day, they went to explore the land and they found an abandoned train yard.
Tiona suggested, “Let’s go in!”
Kyra said she wanted to go too, but Katie exclaimed, “NO WAY!”
However, in the end, they all went ahead, when suddenly a man ran after them and threw cinders at them! These hit Kyra and Katie on the legs, and Tiona on the arm. Katie ran but she got hit on the head and passed out, but was thankfully okay when she awakened. She then ran with everyone else back to camp.
Having decided they required supplies from the farm, they made their way and when they got there, they found three suspicious people and approached them. These people immediately stopped what they were doing and introduced themselves to the children. The man’s name was Mr Hanna, and his wife, Mrs Hanna, and his son Marcel, were the two others. They were nice enough and Marcel went back to camp with the group. Whenever they mentioned the man in the yard, he said, “Spooky trains at night!?” and ran away.
The group of friends were very suspicious, so that night they went and found that the boy was right about the trains. Curiously, they followed the train and saw that it was the Hanna Family. Mr Hanna spotted the girls, who immediately ran to Mr McGrath who then brought them in the pony trap to the police station. The police officers then escorted them back to camp because the pony was too tired. When the police got there, the girls told them everything and the police officer instantly remembered Mr Hanna. He was a black marketeer, so they arrested him and brought him into custody, when at last the girls and their principal could relax and enjoy their scenery and trip…
