"Well, but why doesn"t she?" insisted Nancy, "it would be so much easier."
"Why, of course she can"t," resumed Pennie in rather an injured voice, "because of the lights, and the people, and, besides, she never learnt to play the piano."
"I wish I needn"t either," sighed Nancy. "How nice to be like the Goblin Lady, and only play the harp when one likes!"
"I should like to see her," said Ambrose thoughtfully.
"You"d be afraid," said Nancy; "why, you wouldn"t even go into the garret by daylight alone."
"That was a long time ago," said Ambrose quickly. "I wouldn"t mind it now."
"In the dark?"
"Well, I don"t believe you"d go," said Nancy. "You might perhaps go two or three steps, and then you"d scream out and run away; wouldn"t he, Pennie?"
"Why, you know he _was_ brave about the cow," said Pennie, "braver than any of us."
"That was different. He"s quite as much afraid of the dark as ever. I call it babyish."
Nancy looked defiantly at her brother, who was getting very red in the face. She was prepared to have something thrown at her, or at least to have her hair, which she wore in a plaited pig-tail, violently pulled, but nothing of the sort happened. Nurse came soon afterwards and bore away David and d.i.c.kie, and as she left the room she remarked that the wind was moaning "just like a Christian."
It certainly was making a most mournful noise that evening, but not at all like a Christian, Ambrose thought, as he listened to it--much more like Pennie"s Goblin Lady and her musical performances.
Pennie had finished her stories now, and she and Nancy were deeply engaged with their dolls in a corner of the room; this being an amus.e.m.e.nt in which Ambrose took no interest, he remained seated on the table occupied with his own reflections after Nurse had left the room with the two children.
Nancy"s taunt about the garret was rankling in his mind, though he had not resented it openly as was his custom, and it rankled all the more because he felt that it was true. Yes, it _was_ true. He could not possibly go into the garret alone in the dark, and yet if he really were a brave boy he ought to be able to do it. Was he brave, he wondered?
Father had said so, and yet just now he certainly felt something very like fear at the very thought of the Goblin Lady.
In increasing perplexity he ruffled up his hair until it stood out wildly in all directions; boom! boom! went the wind, and then there followed a long wailing sort of sigh which seemed to come floating down from the very top of the house.
It was quite a relief to hear Nancy"s matter-of-fact voice just then, as she chattered away about her dolls:
"Now, I shall brush Jemima"s hair," Ambrose heard her say to Pennie, "and you can put Lady Jane Grey to bed."
"I ought to be able to go," said Ambrose to himself, "and after all I don"t suppose the Goblin Lady _can_ be worse than Farmer Snow"s black cow."
"But her head"s almost off," put in Pennie"s voice. "You did it the last time we executed her."
"If I went," thought Ambrose, continuing his reflections, "they would never, never be able to call me a coward again."
He slid off the table as he reached this point, and moved slowly towards the door. He stood still as he opened it and looked at his sisters, half hoping they would call him back, or ask where he was going, but they were bending absorbed over the body of the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, so that two long flaxen pig-tails were turned towards him. They did not even notice that he had moved.
He went quickly through the long dimly-lighted pa.s.sage, which led into the hall, and found that Mary was just lighting the lamp. This looked cheerful, and he lingered a little and asked her a few questions, not that he really wanted to know anything, but because light and human companionship seemed just now so very desirable. Mary went away soon, and then he strolled a few steps up the broad old staircase, and met Kittles the fluffy cat coming slowly down. Here was another excuse for putting off his journey, and he sat down on the stairs to pa.s.s a few agreeable moments with Kittles, who arched his back and b.u.t.ted his head against him, and purred his acknowledgments loudly. But presently, having business of his own, Kittles also pa.s.sed on his way, and Ambrose was alone again, sitting solitary with his ruffled head leaning on one hand. Then the church clock struck eight. In half an hour it would be bed-time, and his plan not carried out. He must go at once, or not at all. He got up and went slowly on. Up the stairs, down a long winding pa.s.sage, up some more stairs, and across a landing, on to which the nursery and the children"s bedrooms opened. He stopped again here, for there was a pleasant sound of d.i.c.kie and David"s voices, and the splashing of water; but presently he thought he heard Nurse coming out, and he ran quickly round the corner into a little pa.s.sage which led to the foot of the garret stairs. This pa.s.sage was dimly-lighted by a small low window, which was almost covered outside by the thickly growing ivy. Even in the daytime it was very dusky, and now it was quite dark, but Ambrose knew the way well, and he groped about with his hands until he came to the steep carpetless steps. And now his heart began to beat very quickly, for he felt that he was in the region of mystery, and that anything might happen at any moment. The wind had dropped, and there was no sound at all to be heard, though he strained his ears to the utmost for some signs of the presence of the Goblin Lady.
"Perhaps," thought he, "she has finished playing and gone away again with the wind." This was an encouraging idea, and though his knees trembled a good deal, he went on bravely until he came to the place where the stairs took a sudden sharp turn; but here he saw something which brought him to a standstill again, for underneath the garret door at the top there was a faint gleam of light. "That"s the glowworms,"
thought Ambrose, "and she"s there still." His spirits sank.
_Could_ he go on? It must be now or never. With a tremendous effort he went quickly up the remaining steps, stood on tiptoe to unlatch the door, and pushed it open. It swung back with a creak upon its rusty hinges, and a cold wind rushed in Ambrose"s face, for the window was open. The room was faintly lighted, not with glowworms, but by the pale rays of a watery moon, which made some of the objects whitely distinct, and left others dark and shadowy. Standing motionless on the threshold, Ambrose turned his eyes instinctively to the corner where the harp was dimly visible. There was certainly no one playing it, but as he looked he heard a faint rustle in that direction. What was it? Again it came, this time louder, with a sound like the flapping of feathers. Could it be the Goblin Lady? But Pennie never said she had wings. Unable to go either backwards or forwards, Ambrose remained rooted to the spot with his eyes fixed on the mysterious corner. Rustle, rustle, flap, flap, went the dreadful something, and presently there followed a sort of low hiss. At the same moment a sudden gust of wind burst through the window and banged the door behind him with a resounding clap. Panic-stricken he turned and tried to open it, but his cold trembling fingers could not move the rusty fastening. He looked wildly round for a means of escape, and his eye fell on a bright ray of moonlight resting on the lattice window. He rushed towards it, scrambled up on to a box, from thence to the window-ledge, and thrust himself through the narrow opening. If the thing came after him now, he could go no further than the bal.u.s.trade, unless he jumped down into the garden, "and that would kill me," he thought, "Pennie has often said so."
He stood on the rough tiles, holding on to the iron window frame with one hand; behind him the dark garret, where the thing still flapped and rustled, and before him the sloping roof, the tall chimneys, the garden beneath, partly lighted up by the moon. He could see the nursery window, too, in an angle of the house, brightly illumined by the cheerful fire within. d.i.c.kie and David were snugly in bed now, warm and safe, and Nurse was most likely searching everywhere for him. If they only knew!
"If ever I get back," he said to himself, "I never _will_ try to be brave again; it"s much better to be called a coward always." He had hardly come to this conclusion before, with a tremendous whirring noise, something came banging up against the shut part of the window from within the garret. Ambrose gave one wild scream, let go his hold, and went rolling over and over quicker and quicker, down--down--down.
CHAPTER THREE.
GOBLINET.
He remembered nothing more until he woke up that night in his own little bed with a very confused feeling that something dreadful had happened, though he could not think what it was. There was a light in his room, which was strange too, and presently he saw that Nurse was sitting there with her spectacles on, nodding sleepily over a book. What could it mean? He clasped his head with both hands, and tried to remember; but it was startling to find that there was a wet bandage round it, and inside it there was a dull throbbing ache, so he soon gave up trying and lay quietly with his eyes fixed on Nurse, and the funny shadow she made on the wall. At last she gave a most tremendous nod, which knocked off her spectacles, and then she gathered herself up and opened her eyes very wide. Presently she came to the bed with a gla.s.s in her hand and leant over Ambrose to see if he was awake; he drank what she gave him eagerly, for he was thirsty, and as he lay down again he said with an effort:
"I think I"ve had a very bad dream, Nurse, and my head _does_ ache so."
"Well, you"re safe and sound now, my lamb," she answered, patting his shoulder soothingly; "just you turn round and go to sleep again."
Still puzzled Ambrose closed his eyes, and wondered vaguely for a few minutes why Nurse called him "lamb." She had not done it since he had the measles, so he supposed he must be ill; but he did not feel at all equal to asking questions about anything, and was soon fast asleep again.
But this was the beginning of many weary days and nights for poor little Ambrose. When the doctor came the next day he looked gravely at Mrs Hawthorn.
"The child is in a high fever," he said, "and has had, I should think, some great nervous shock. Great care and quiet are needed. Let him sleep as much as possible."
But that was the difficulty, for, as time went on, Ambrose seemed less and less able to sleep quietly at night. As evening drew on the fever and restlessness increased; he could not bear to be left alone a moment, and often in the night he would start up and cry out trembling:
"Take her away." "She is coming." "Don"t let her catch me."
It was most distressing for everyone and puzzling too, for no one could imagine what it was that had frightened him in the garret, or how he came to be there at all at that time in the evening. It was evidently a most terrible remembrance to him, for he could not bear the least reference to it, and to question him was a sure way to give him what he called "bad dreams." So in his presence the subject was dropped; but Mrs Hawthorn and Nurse did not cease their conjectures, and there was one person who listened to their conversation with a feeling of the deepest guilt. This was Pennie, who just now was having a most miserable time of it, for she felt that it was all her fault. If she had not told those stories about the Goblin Lady it never would have happened, although it certainly was Nancy who had put the garret into Ambrose"s head.
Nancy was the only person she could talk to on the subject, but she was not any comfort at all.
"Don"t let"s think about it," she said. "I knew you made it up. I daresay he"ll get better soon."
Poor Pennie could not take matters so lightly; it was a most dreadful weight on her mind, and she felt sure she should never have another happy minute till she had confessed about the Goblin Lady. But she was not allowed to see Ambrose, and she could not bring herself to tell anyone else about it. Once she nearly told mother, and then something stuck in her throat; and once she got as far as the study door with the intention of telling father, but her courage failed her and she ran away.
She would creep to Ambrose"s door and listen, or peep round the screen at him while he was asleep, and her face got quite thin and pointed with anxiety. Every morning she asked:
"Is he better, mother? May I go and sit with him?" But the answer always was:
"Not to-day, dear. We hope he is better, but he has such bad nights."
Pennie was very wretched, and felt she could not bear it much longer.
She was in the nursery one morning looking listlessly out of the window, when her attention was caught by a conversation going on between Nurse and Mrs Hawthorn, who was sitting there with Cicely in her arms.
"I know no more than that baby, ma"am," said Nurse emphatically, as she had said a hundred times before, "why or wherefore Master Ambrose should take such a thing into his head. It"s easy to frame that he should get scared--when once he was up there in the dark, for he"s a timid child and always has been. But what _took_ him there all alone? That"s what _I_ want to know!"
"I cannot understand it," said Mrs Hawthorn; "but it makes him so much worse to ask him questions that we must leave it alone until he is stronger. We cannot be too thankful that he was not killed."
"Which I never doubted for one moment that he was, ma"am, when I found him," continued Nurse; "he was lying all crumpled up and stone-cold, for all the world like Miss Nancy"s dormouse when she forgot to feed it for a week."