[00:00.97]2 The Island
[00:04.87]We went to Scotland the next day，first by plane，then by train．
[00:12.12]Greta Ross travelled with us．
[00:15.28]I looked out of the train window and saw fields and villages and mountains．
[00:22.42]‘Mum is right，’I thought．‘Scotland is a very beautiful place．’
[00:30.56]‘You're going to be my husband's secretary，’
[00:36.17]Greta Ross told my mother He's a businessman，but he never leaves the island．
[00:42.62]He does all his work by telephone and letter and computer．
[00:49.68]He invests money in companies，all over the world．’
[00:55.38]‘Do many people live on the island？’I asked．
[00:58.87]‘Not many，'said Greta Ross．‘You'll meet them soon．’
[01:04.15]‘Greta Ross is young，’I thought．‘Is her husband young，too？
[01:11.53]How can a young man buy an island？Is he very rich？’
[01:17.89]After the train，we went on Mr Ross's boat，which took us out to the island．
[01:25.82]The boatman was a young man．He had dark hair and was brown from the sun．
[01:34.45]‘This is Tony，said Greta Ross．‘He works for Mr Ross．’
[01:42.04]‘Hi，'said Tony．
[01:46.04]Soon we were near the island．
[01:49.32]I could see the beaches and the cliffs．The boat slowed down．
[01:55.44]‘There are dangerous rocks around the island，’explained Tony．
[02:02.19]‘A lot of them are under the water and you can't see them．
[02:07.18]I have to be careful．
[02:09.74]But the rocks keep other boats away，and that pleases Mr Ross．’
[02:15.84]‘Why？’I asked．
[02:19.26]Tony looked at Greta Ross but she wasn't listening．
[02:24.20]‘Mr Ross doesn't like visitors to the island，'tony said in a quiet voice．
[02:32.72]Then Greta Ross looked at us and Tony said no more．
[02:38.54]‘Why doesn't Mr Ross like visitors？’I thought．
[02:44.03]‘Has he something to hide？’
[02:47.35]When we arrived on the island，my mother and I followed Greta up to the house．
[02:55.21]It was very big and there were trees all around it．
[03:00.04]A woman was waiting inside the house．
[03:03.89]‘This is Mrs Duncan，Tony's mother，'said Greta．
[03:10.60]‘She's the housekeeper and her husband is the gardener．
[03:14.66]Mrs Duncan will take you up to your rooms．
[03:19.28]I'm going to tell Mr Ross you've arrived．’
[03:22.35]The housekeeper was a little woman with short hair．
[03:28.13]She went up the stairs，and my mother and I went after her．
[03:32.67]My room was next to my mother's．
[03:36.25]I looked out of the window and saw the garden at the back of the house．
[03:41.34]A man was working in the garden，near some trees．
[03:46.17]‘Is that Mr Duncan？’I thought．
[03:50.25]I looked between the trees and saw the sea．
[03:54.00]‘It's a beautiful house and a beautiful island．’
[03:58.37]That evening，we had dinner with Mr and Mrs Duncan and Tony．
[04:05.00]We ate in the big kitchen．
[04:07.84]‘What happened to Mr Ross's last secretary？’asked my mother．
[04:14.30]‘She's in hospital，'replied Mrs Duncan．‘She's going to be away all summer．’
[04:23.25]‘Isn't Mrs Ross lonely here？’I said．
[04:28.78]‘No，'said Mrs Duncan．‘She likes painting a lot．
[04:34.82]She has a room upstairs and goes there to paint．She's very good．
[04:41.25]Sometimes she goes to different places on the island to paint pictures．’
[04:47.28]We finished eating our meal．Soon after，Greta Ross came into the kitchen．
[04:56.32]‘Mr Ross wants to see you and your daughter now，
[05:00.93]Mrs Sanders，'she said ，‘Follow me，please．’
[05:05.33]We followed her through the house and into a big room．
[05:12.54]This was Mr Ross's office and he was sitting behind a desk．
[05:17.37]I was surprised．He was a young man，about thirty．
[05:24.00]He had a moustache，short dark hair，and he wore glasses．
[05:31.38]Mr Ross was speaking into the telephone．
[05:34.78]‘Who does he look like？’I thought．‘Is it Tony Duncan？’
[05:40.93]‘Mr Ross is talking to a business friend in New York，'said Greta．
[05:47.65]‘Please，sit down．’
[05:49.63]While we waited，I looked around the office．
[05:54.05]There were three telephones，a computer，and lots of books and papers．
[06:00.39]There was another door and I could see a smaller room，next to the office．
[06:07.70]There was a smaller desk and another computer in there．
[06:11.67]Mr Ross finished speaking on the phone，
[06:16.69]Then looked care fully at my mother and me．
[06:20.20]For a few seconds he didn't speak，and just watched us．
[06:26.41]Then he said，‘I'm pleased to meet you，Mrs Sanders．
[06:34.87]I need some help with my work．
[06:37.14]My secretary is in hospital，and there's a lot of work to do．
[06:43.26]Sometimes you’ll have to work late at night，
[06:46.74]because of time differences in New York and Tokyo．Is that all right？’
[06:51.65]‘Yes，that's all right，’said my mother．
[06:56.33]‘Can you use a computer？’
[06:58.58]‘Yes．’
[07:00.19]‘Good．’He looked at me．‘Is this your daughter？’
[07:05.79]‘Yes，this is Carol，'said my mother．
[07:09.91]‘Hallo，’I said．
[07:12.78]‘Greta says you like gardening．
[07:16.17]There's a big garden here，so you can help Mr Duncan．
[07:19.99]And there's a farm．
[07:22.59]Dan and Stella Parks live in the farmhouse and work on the farm．
[07:27.52]You can help them，too．
[07:29.51]We have some animals．Some sheep，a few cows and chickens．
[07:36.98]And there's a horse called Smoke．He's grey，like his name．Can you ride？’
[07:45.68]‘Yes，’I said．‘I can ride a horse．’
[07:51.49]‘You can ride Smoke around the is land，if you like．’
[07:55.89]‘I'd like that，’I said．‘Thank you．’
[08:00.25]‘And we grow vegetable and fruit，’he said．
[08:05.02]‘I work on the farm sometimes．I enjoy it．’
[08:09.33]I smiled at him but he didn't smile back．
[08:13.75]‘Carol will enjoy working on the farm，'said my mother．
[08:18.69]‘Won't you，Carol？’
[08:20.13]‘Yes，’I said．
[08:23.31]‘Mr Ross looks sad，’I thought．‘But how did he get all his money？
[08:29.60]And why does he hide away on an island？’