You haven"t been to see my new house yet, so do come. I expect you have heard that I have moved to the Land of Goodies. It"s simply lovely. Do come and see me soon. I have a biscuit tree growing in my garden, just coming into fruit, and a jelly plant growing round my front door.
Yours ever,
PIPKIN.a
aWell! Does your cousin really live there?a said Mollie, in wonder. aHow lucky you are, c.h.i.n.ky. Now you can go and eat as many goodies as you like. I only wish we could come too.a aI came to ask if you"d like to go with me,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aMy cousin Pipkin won"t mind. He"s a very nice fellow, though I always thought he was a bit greedy. I expect that"s why he bought a house in the Land of Goodies reallya"so that he could always have lots of things to eat. Why, if you pa.s.s a hedge you"ll probably see that it"s growing bars of chocolate.a This sounded so exciting that the children felt they wanted to go at once.
aWe can"t,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aWe"ll have to wait for the Wishing-Chair to grow its wings again. The Land of Goodies is too far unless we go by Wishing-Chair.a aHow disappointing!a said Mollie. aI feel awfully hungry even at the thought of going. Do you suppose ice-creams grow there, c.h.i.n.ky? I never, never get enough ice-creams.a aOh, Molliea"you had eleven at a party the other day,a said Peter. aAnd you said you couldn"t eat any more.a aOh, don"t be silly. I was only being polite,a said Mollie. aI could have eaten eleven more. But what about Winks, c.h.i.n.ky? Is he coming, too?a Winks had come back with them to the playroom, and had stayed a night with c.h.i.n.ky, and then gone to tell his people that he wasn"t going back to Mister Grim"s again. He meant to bring back some of his things with him, and spend some of the time with c.h.i.n.ky in the playroom and some with his other friends. He was very pleased indeed at being free.
aWinks can come if he"s back in time,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aI don"t know where he is at the moment. He"s really rather naughty, you know, although he"s nice, and very good fun. I hear that he met my Cousin Sleep-Alone the other evening and, as soon as poor old Sleep-Alone was fast asleep in a little shed in the middle of a field, Winks took along two donkeys that had lost themselves and told them to cuddle up to Sleep-Alone.a aOh, deara"what happened?a said Mollie.
aWell, Sleep-Alone woke up, of course, and tried to throw the donkeys out,a said c.h.i.n.ky, abut one of them gave him such a kick with its hind legs that he flew into the clouds, got caught on a big one, and hung there for a long time.a aWell, it would certainly be a good place to sleep alone in,a said Mollie. aWhat a monkey Winks is!a aYes. I"m not surprised really that his family sent him to Mister Grim"s school,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aWell, will you come with me to the Land of Goodies, then?a aOf course,a said the children. aYou needn"t ask us that again.a The next day was rainy. The children went down to the playroom as usual, but mother made them take a big umbrella to walk under. aIt really is such a downpour,a she said.
They shook the raindrops off the umbrella as soon as they reached the playroom door. c.h.i.n.ky"s voice came to them, raised in joy. aIs that you, Mollie and Peter? The Wishing-Chair has just grown its wings.a aOh, good!a cried Mollie, and ran in. Sure enough the chair was already waving its green and yellow wings.
aBut it"s pouring with rain,a said Peter, looking in at the door as he struggled to put down the big umbrella. aWe shall get soaked if we go miles through this rain.a aWe"ll take the umbrella,a said Mollie. aIt will cover all three of us easily.a aFour of us,a said Winks, and he popped out of the cupboard and grinned at them. aI"ve come back for a day or two. I hid in the cupboard in case it was your mother or somebody coming.a aOh, Winks, I"m so glad you"re coming, too,a said Mollie. aCan we go now, this very minute, c.h.i.n.ky?a aI don"t see why not,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aDon"t put down that umbrella, Peter, we"ll come now and you can hold it over us as we fly.a So very soon all four were sitting in the Wishing-Chair, flying through the rain. Peter held the big umbrella over them, and although their legs got a bit wet, the rest of them was quite dry.
aIt"s quite a long journey, so I hope the chair will fly fast,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aIt will be a bit dull because the rain-clouds stop us from seeing anything.a The Chair suddenly began to rise high. It went right through the purple-grey clouds, higher and higher and highera"and then at last it was through the very last of them, and the children found themselves far above the topmost clouds, full in the blazing sun!
aWell,a said Peter, trying to shut the umbrella, awhat a brainy idea of yours, Wishing-Chair. Now we shall soon be warm and dry again. Blow this umbrella! I simply can"t shut it.a So it had to remain open and, as it happened, it was a very good thing it did, because Winks tried to catch a swallow going past at sixty miles an hour, and overbalanced out of the chair! He clutched at the umbrella as he fell and down he went, with the umbrella acting just like a parachute!
aVery clever of you, Winks!a said c.h.i.n.ky, as the chair swooped down and hovered by the umbrella for Winks to climb on to the seat again. aI hope you only do this sort of thing when there"s an open umbrella to catch hold of!a Winks looked rather pale. He sat panting on the seat. aI got a fright,a he said. aI really did.a aWell, don"t be frightened if you do fall,a said Mollie. aDo what c.h.i.n.ky did when he once fell! He changed himself into a large snow-flake and fell gently to earth! He hadn"t even a bruise when he changed back to himself again.a aVery clever. I must remember that,a said Winks. aI say, doesn"t this Wishing-Chair fly fast?a It certainly did. It flew even faster than the swallows, and pa.s.sed over miles and miles of country, which lay spread out like a coloured map far below. The children caught glimpses of it through openings in the clouds.
aWhat"s your cousin Pipkin like?a asked Mollie.
aWell, he was a bit plump,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aAnd I expect he"s plumper still now that he lives in the Land of Goodies. He"s very generous and kind, though he"s rather greedy, too. He could easily beat Mollie at eating ice-creams.a aCould he really?a said Mollie, who hadn"t thought there was anyone who could possibly do that. aOh, look, c.h.i.n.ky-a"we"re going downwards. Are we there?a They went down and down through layers of clouds. When they came below them they found that the rain had stopped. c.h.i.n.ky peered down.
aYesa"we"re there. Now just remember this, all of youa"you can eat whatever is growing on bushes, hedges, or trees, but you mustn"t eat anybody"s house.a Peter and Mollie stared at him in wonder.
aEat anybody"s house! Are the houses made of eatable things, then?a aGood gracious, yes,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aEverything is eatable in the Land of Goodiesa"even the chimneys! They are usually made of marzipan.a The Wishing-Chair landed on the ground. The children jumped off quickly, anxious to see this wonderful land. They looked round.
Mollie"s eyes grew wide. aLooka"look, Petera" there"s a bush growing currant buns. It is really. And look, there"s a hedge with a funny-looking fruita"it"s bars of chocolate!a aAnd look at that house!a cried Peter. aIt"s all decorated with icing sugara"isn"t it pretty? And it"s got little silver b.a.l.l.s here and there in its wallsa"and all down its front door too.a aLook at these funny flowers in the gra.s.s!a cried Mollie. aI do believe they are jam tarts! c.h.i.n.ky, can I pick one?""
aPick a whole bunch if you like,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aThey"re growing wild.a aOha"just fancy jam tarts growing wild,a said Mollie, in wonder, and she picked two. aOne"s got a yellow middlea"it"s lemon curda"and the other"s got a red middlea"it"s raspberry jam,a she said, tasting them.
aBetter come and find my cousin Pipkin,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aWe"re not supposed to come to the Land of Goodies except by invitation, so we"d better find him, so that he can say we are his guests. We don"t want to be turned out before we"ve picked a nice bunch of jam tarts, currant buns and chocolate biscuits!a c.h.i.n.ky asked a pa.s.ser-by where his cousin Pipkin lived. Luckily, it was very near. They hurried along, only picking a few currant buns on the way, till they came to a kind of bungalow. It was round and its roof was quite flat.
aWhy, it"s built the shape of a cake!a cried Mollie. aAnd look, it"s got cherries sticking out of the wallsa" and aren"t those nuts on the roofa"sticking up like they do in some cakes? Oh, c.h.i.n.ky, I believe your cousin lives in a cake-house!a aWell, he won"t need to do much shopping then,a said c.h.i.n.ky, with a grin. aHe can just stay indoors and nibble at his walls!a They went in at a gate that looked as if it were made of barley sugar. c.h.i.n.ky knocked at the door. It was opened by a very, very fat pixie indeed! He fell on c.h.i.n.ky in delight, almost knocked him over, and kissed him soundly on his cheek.
aCousin c.h.i.n.ky! You"ve come to see me after all!a he cried. aAnd who are these nice people with you?a aMollie and Peter and Winks,a said c.h.i.n.ky.
aGlad to meet you,a said Pipkin. aNowa"how would you like to see my Biscuit Tree to begin with? And after that we"ll go a nice hungry walk, and see what we can find!a
An Afternoon with Cousin Pipkin.
PIPKIN took them to see his Biscuit Tree. This was really marvellous. It had buds that opened out into brown biscuitsa"chocolate ones! There they hung on the tree, looking most delicious.
aPick as many as you like,a said Pipkin, generously. aIt goes on flowering for months.a aAren"t you lucky to have a Chocolate Biscuit Tree,a said Mollie, picking two or three biscuits and eating them.
aWella"it"s not so good when the sun is really hot,a said Pipkin. aThe chocolate melts then, you know. It was most annoying the other afternoon. It was very hot and I sat down under my Biscuit Tree for shadea" and I fell asleep. The sun melted the chocolate on the biscuits and it all dripped over me, from top to bottom. I was a sight when I got up!a Everyone laughed. They ate a lot of the biscuits and then Mollie remembered something else.
aYou said in your letter to c.h.i.n.ky that you had a jelly plant,a said Mollie. aCould we see that, too?a Pipkin led the way round to his front door. Then the children saw something they had not noticed when they had first arrived. A climbing plant trailed over the door. It had curious big, flat flowers, shaped like white plates.
aThe middle of the white flowers is full of coloured jelly! a cried Mollie. aGraciousa"you want to walk about with spoons and forks hanging at your belt in this land!a aWell, we do, usually,a said Pipkin. aI"ll get you a spoon eacha"then you can taste the jelly in my jelly plant.a It was really lovely jelly. aI should like to eat two or three,a said Mollie, abut I do so want to leave room for something else. Can we go for a walk now, Pipkin?a aCertainly,a said Pipkin. So off they went, each carrying a spoon. It was a most exciting walk. They picked bunches of boiled sweets growing on a hedge like grapes, they came to a stream that ran ginger beer instead of water and they actually found meat-pies growing on a bush.
The ginger beer was lovely, but as they had no gla.s.ses they had to lie down and lap like dogs. aI should have remembered to bring one or two enamel mugs,a said Pipkin. aWe shall pa.s.s a lemonade stream soon.a aIs any ice-cream growing anywhere?a asked Mollie longingly. aI expect that"s a silly question, really, but I would so like an ice.a aOh, yes,a said Pipkin. aBut you"ll have to go down into the cool valley for that. It"s too hot here in the suna"the ice-cream melts as soon as it comes into flower.a aWhere"s the valley?a said Mollie. aOha"down there. I"m going there, then.a They all went down into the cool valley and, to Mollie"s enormous delight, found a st.u.r.dy-stemmed plant with flat green leaves, in the middle of which grew pink, brown or yellow buds, shaped like cornets.
aIce-creams!a cried Mollie, and picked one. aOooh! This is a vanilla one. I shall pick a pink flower next and that will be strawberry.a aI"ve got a chocolate ice,a said Peter. aSo has Winks.a Pipkin and c.h.i.n.ky ate as many as the others. c.h.i.n.ky could quite well see why his cousin had grown so fat. Anyone would, in the Land of Goodies. He felt rather fat himself!
aNow let"s go to the village,a said Pipkin. aI"m sure you"d all like to see the food in the shops there, really delicious.a aIs there tomato soup?a asked Peter. It was his very favourite soup.
aI"ll take you to the soup shop,a said Pipkin, and he did. It was a most exciting shop. It had a row of taps in it, all marked with namesa"such as tomato, potato, chicken, onion, peaa"and you chose which you wanted to turn, and out came soupa"tomato, chicken, or whatever you wanted!
aThere isn"t the soup I like best,a said Winks, sadly.
aWhy, what do you like?a asked Pipkin.
aI like Pepper soup,a said Winks, solemnly.
aYou don"t!a said c.h.i.n.ky. aIt would be terribly, terribly hot.a aWell, I like ita"and there isn"t any,a said Winks.
aThere"s a tap over there without any name,a said Pipkin. aIt will produce whatever soup you want that isn"t here. Iall get some Pepper soup for you.a He took a soup-plate and went to the tap without a name. aPepper Soup,a he said, and a stream of hot soup came out, red in colour.
aThere you are, red, pepper soup.a he said, and handed it to Winks. aNow we"ll see if it really is your favourite soup or not!a a"Course it is!a said Winks, and took a large spoonful. But, oh dear, oh dear, how he choked and how he spluttered! He had to be banged on the back, he had to be given a drink of cold water, and then he wanted a biscuit to take the taste of the pepper soup out of his mouth. So Mollie had to run out and find a Biscuit-tree and pick him one.
aIt serves you right for saying what isn"t true,a she said to Winks. aYou didn"t like Pepper soup, so you shouldn"t have asked for any.a aI was just being funny,a said poor Winks.
aWell, we thought it was all very funny, especially when you took that spoonful,a said Peter. aBut it couldn"t have been so funny to you. Nowa"can I get you a little Mustard soup, Winks?a But Winks had had enough of soups. aLet"s leave this soup shop,a he said. aWhat"s in the next one?a The next one was a baker"s shop. There were iced cakes of all shapes and colours set in rows upon rows. How delicious they looked!
aWouldn"t you each like to take one home with you?a said Pipkin. aYou don"t have to pay for them, you know.a That was one of the nice things about the Land of Goodies. n.o.body paid anyone anything. Mollie looked at the cakes. There was a blue one there, with yellow tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of icing sugar. Mollie had never seen a blue cake before.
aCan I have this one, do you think?a she said.
The baker looked at her. He was as plump as Pipkin and had a little wife as plump as himself. Their dark eyes looked like currants in their round little faces.
aYes, you can have that,a said the baker. aWhat is your name, please?a aMollie,a said Mollie. aWhy do you want to know?a aWell, it"s to be your cake, isn"t it?a said the baker. He dabbed the cake and suddenly, in the very middle of the icing, came the letters M 0 L L I Ea"Mollie! Now it really was Mollie"s cake.
Peter had one with his name, and Pipkin had another. c.h.i.n.ky chose a pretty pink cake and his name came up in white icing sugar. He was very pleased.
Winks" name came up spelt wrongly. The letters were W I N X S, and Peter pointed out that that was not the right way to spell his name. Winks hadn"t noticed. He was a very bad speller. But Peter noticed it, and Winks chose another cake on which his name appeared spelt rightly. It was all very queer indeed.
aWell, Pipkin, thank you very much for a most interesting and delicious afternoon,a said c.h.i.n.ky, when they each had a cake to take home. aHow I"m going to eat this cake I really don"t know. Actually I don"t feel as if I could ever eat anything again.a aOh, my dear fellow, don"t say that! a said Pipkin, quite alarmed. aYou have eaten very little today, very little indeed. Why, I usually eat three times as much as you have eaten.a aYes, I believe you,a said c.h.i.n.ky, looking at the plump Pipkin.
They came to Pipkin"s house and said goodbye to him. Then they went off to find their Wishing-Chair. Winks lagged behind, nibbling his cake. The others hurried on. They knew exactly where they had left the chair.
Suddenly they heard c.h.i.n.ky give a loud cry of anger. aLook! Winks is doing JUST what I said n.o.body was to do! He"s breaking off bits of gate-posts to chewa" and look, he"s taken a bit of window-silla"it"s made of gingerbread! And now he"s throwing currant buns at that marzipan chimney to try to break it off!a So he was! Poor Winksa"he simply couldn"t change from a bad brownie to a good one all at once. He was tired of being good and now he was being thoroughly naughty.
Crash! Down came the chimney, and Winks ran to it to break off bits of marzipan. And round the corner came two policemen! They had heard the crash and come to see what it was. When they saw Winks actually breaking bits off the chimney they blew their whistles loudly and ran up to him.
aWella"he"s really got himself into trouble again now,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aIsn"t he silly?a Winks was struggling hard with the two policemen. He called out to c.h.i.n.ky. aSave me, c.h.i.n.ky, save me! Mollie, Peter, come and help!a aOho!a said the bigger policeman of the two. aAre they your friends? We"ll catch them, too! Birds of a feather flock together. No doubt they are as bad as you.a aQuick! We must get in the Wishing-Chair and go!a said c.h.i.n.ky. aWinks will always get into trouble wherever he goesa"but there"s no need for us to as well. Where"s the Wishing-Chair?a They found it where they had left it, hidden well away under a bush. They climbed in, with c.h.i.n.ky at the back, just as the big policeman came pounding up.
aHey! What"s all this?a he called. aIs that chair yours?a aYES!a shouted c.h.i.n.ky. aIt is. Home, Chair, home. Goodbye, Winks. Say you"re sorry for what you"ve done and maybe you"ll be set free.a Off went the chair, high into the air, leaving the big policeman gaping in surprise. He had never seen a Wishing-Chair before. They were soon out of sight. It began to rain as soon as they left the Land of Goodies, and they were glad of the big umbrella again. It was still wide open.
That night, when the three of them were playing Snap in the playroom, the door opened cautiouslya"and who should come in but Winks! The others exclaimed in surprise.
aWinks! You didn"t get put into prison, then?a aYes,a said Winks. aBut the walls were made of chocolate cakea"so I just ate my way through and got out as easily as a rabbit. But, oh deara"I feel as if I never, never want to taste chocolate cake again!a aServes you right,a said c.h.i.n.ky, sternly. aYou were bad and disobedient and I"ve a good mind not to let you share our supper.a aWhat is for supper?a said Winks at once.
aCHOCOLATE CAKE,a roared everyone in delight, and Winks fled out into the night. Noa"he simply could not face chocolate cake again.
A Most Alarming Tale.
FOR a week c.h.i.n.ky didn"t see the children because they had gone to the seaside. They gave him all kinds of advice before they went.
aNow you see that you keep an eye on the Wishing-Chair for us, won"t you?a said Peter. aAnd if it grows its wings, don"t you go on adventures without us.a aNoa"it would be horrid to think of you going off alone,a said Mollie. aIf the chair grows its wings whilst we"re away you"re to tell it to go to your mother"s. Then you won"t get into any difficulty or danger.a aAnd DON"T let Winks have the chair at all,a said Peter. aI like Winks, and he"s good fun, but he"s dreadfully naughty. I shouldn"t be a bit surprised if he isn"t sent back to Mister Grim"s school again someday.a aI know. I caught him practising magic with my wand last night,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aHe was trying to change the teapot into a rabbit. Silly thing to do.a aYes, very,a said Mollie. aYou can"t pour tea out of a rabbit. Now you be sure to keep an eye on Winks, c.h.i.n.ky.a aAnd don"t sleep with the door or window open at night, in case the chair grows its wings when you"re asleep and flies off by itself,a said Peter.
aOh deara"it"s so hot now,a said poor c.h.i.n.ky. aIt"s dreadful to have to sleep with the doors and windows shut. I"ve been tying the chair to my leg, so that if it does try to fly off, it will tug at my leg and wake me. Isn"t that all right? I thought it was a very good idea.a aYes, it is,a said Peter. aWell, so long as you remember to tie your leg and the chair"s leg together at night, you can sleep with the door and windows open.a aBut watch that n.o.body slips in to steal the chair,a said Mollie.
c.h.i.n.ky began to look very worried. aI"m beginning to feel you"d better not go away,a he said. aAnyway, don"t I always look after the chair at night for you? Nothing has ever happened to it yet!a The others laughed. aWe"re being fussy, aren"t we!a they said. aGoodbye, c.h.i.n.ky, dear. A week will soon go, so don"t be too lonely. I expect Winks will be popping in and out to see you.a aI shall hide my wand then,a said c.h.i.n.ky. aHe really is a dreadful little meddler.a The children had a lovely week at the seaside and came back browner than ever. As soon as Mother would let them they rushed down to the playroom to see c.h.i.n.ky.
He wasn"t there, so they looked for a note. There wasn"t one. aWell, he"s probably just gone out for a few minutes to see a friend,a said Peter. aWe"ll hang up the seaweed we"ve brought, and tidy up the room.a So they spent a happy ten minutes nailing up the long fronds of seaweed they had brought back, and tidying up their playroom, which seemed to have got very untidy whilst they had been away.
aIt"s funny c.h.i.n.ky hasn"t kept it tidier than this,a said Mollie, pulling the rugs straight, and putting a chair upright.
Then she suddenly gave a cry. aPeter! Where"s the Wishing-Chair? It isn"t here!a Peter looked round, startled. aWell! Fancy us not noticing that as soon as we came in! Where is it?a aI suppose c.h.i.n.ky"s gone off in it,a said Mollie. aHe might have left a note! I suppose he"s at his mother"s.a aHe"ll soon be back then.a said Peter, going to the door and looking out. aHe knew this was the day we were coming home.a But c.h.i.n.ky didn"t come, and by the time tea-time came the children felt rather worried. Surely c.h.i.n.ky would have been back to tea on the day they came home? He always liked to spend every minute with them that he could, especially now that they had to go to boarding-school and leave him for months at a time.
They had brought their tea down to the playroom. They were sitting having it, rather solemnly, when a small mischievous face looked round the door. It was Winks.
aHallo!a he said, but he didn"t smile, or prance into the room as he usually did. He looked very grave and walked in quietly.
aWhere"s c.h.i.n.ky?a asked Mollie at once.
aAnd where"s the Wishing-Chair?a said Peter.
aAn awful thing happened two nights ago,a said Winks. aReally awful. I hardly like to tell.
This was most alarming. The children stared at Winks in dismay. aFor goodness" sake tell us,a said Mollie.
aWell,a said Winks, aI was staying here with c.h.i.n.ky that night. I was to sleep on that rug on the floor with a cushion, and c.h.i.n.ky was to sleep on the sofa as usual. When we were tired we got ready for bed.a aGo on,a said Peter, impatiently. aI want to know what"s happened to c.h.i.n.ky.a aI went to sleep,a said Winks, aand I suppose c.h.i.n.ky did, too. I suddenly woke up to hear a terrible noise going ona"c.h.i.n.ky shouting and yelling, and furniture being upset and goodness knows what.a a What was it?a said Mollie, scared.
aI put on the light,a said Winks, aand what do you think had happened? Why, you know c.h.i.n.ky always ties a rope from the chair to his foot, don"t youa"well, the chair grew its wings that night and we didn"t wake a"so it tried to fly out of the door all by itself, anda"a aThe rope pulled on c.h.i.n.ky"s foot and woke him!a said Peter.
aYes, the chair pulled him right off the sofa,a said Winks. aHe must have landed with an awful b.u.mp on the floor, and I suppose he thought someone had pulled him off and there was an enemy attacking hima"so he was fighting the furniture and the rugs and shouting and yellinga"and all the time the chair was tugging at his foot, trying to fly off!a aGracious!a said Mollie. aWhat happened in the end?a aWell, when I put the light on I saw the chair struggling to get out of the door, and it was dragging c.h.i.n.ky along,a said Winks. aI ran to stop the chair, but it rose into the air, dragged poor c.h.i.n.ky out into the garden, and flew up into the sky!a aWhat about c.h.i.n.ky?a asked Mollie in a trembling voice.
aOh, Molliea"poor, poor c.h.i.n.ky had to go, too, hanging upside-down by one foot,a said Winks, blinking away tears. aI couldn"t do anything about it, though I did try to catch hold of c.h.i.n.ky. But he was too high up by that time.a aThis is awful,a said Mollie. aWhatever are we to do? Has the chair gone to his mother"s, do you think?a aNo. I thought of that,a said Winks. aI went next day to see, but c.h.i.n.ky"s mother said she hadn"t seen either c.h.i.n.ky or the chair. She"s very worried.a aBut why didn"t the chair go to c.h.i.n.ky"s mother?a wondered Peter. ac.h.i.n.ky would have been sure to yell out to it to go there.a aWell, I think the chair was frightened,a said Winks. aIt didn"t know it had got c.h.i.n.ky by the foot, you see. It couldn"t understand all the yelling and struggling. It just shot off into the night, terrified.a aThis is awfully bad news,a said Mollie. aBoth c.h.i.n.ky and the chair gone. And we don"t know where. How can we find out?a aI don"t know,a said Winks, who looked very tired. aI"ve been all over the place, asking and asking. I say a"is that a ginger cake? I haven"t had anything to eat today. Can I have a piece?a aPoor Winks,a said Mollie, and cut him a big slice. aYou do look very tired. I suppose you"ve been worried to death about c.h.i.n.ky.a aYes, I have,a said Winks. aYou see, I"ve been teasing him rather a lota"and I hid his wand and made him crossa"and I broke a cupa"and now I feel awfully sorry I was such a nuisance to him.a aYou"re really not very good at times, Winks,a said Peter, sternly. aYou ought to be careful, in case you get sent back to Mister Grim.a aYes, I know,a said Winks. He looked sadly at the ginger cake. aI suppose I"m too bad to have another slice of that cake,a he said. aI won"t ask for one.a Mollie couldn"t help smiling. She cut him another slice. aDon"t be silly, Winks. But now do try to make up for being silly and tiresome to poor c.h.i.n.ky, and think of some way we can find out where he and the chair have gone.a aThe awful part is, even when we do find out, if ever we do, we haven"t got the Wishing-Chair to fly off in to rescue him,a said Peter, gloomily.
aShall we go and ask Mr. Spells if he can help us?a said Mollie, suddenly. aHe"s awfully clever. He might think of some way of finding out where c.h.i.n.ky"s gone.a aYesa"that"s a very good idea,a said Peter. aYou"ve heard about Mr. Spells, haven"t you, Winks? Shall we go straight away now? I think I remember the way.
We have to go to the Village of Pin first, and then take the bus, and then a boat.a aYes,a said Winks, cheering up. aI feel much better since I"ve talked to youa"and eaten two slices of cakea"though I"m still hungry.a aWell, take the cake with you and finish it as we go,a said Peter. aThere"s not much left. Come on. We really must find out something about poor old c.h.i.n.ky.a They set off. Down the garden they went, and through the gap in the hedge. Into the field, and across to find the dark patch of gra.s.s. It was still there. They all sat down in it and Mollie felt about for the little k.n.o.b that set the magic going.
She found it and pressed it. Down shot the ring of gra.s.s, much too fast, and they all tumbled off in a heap below. aGracious!a said Winks. aYou might have warned me what was going to happen. I nearly died of fright when the earth fell away beneath me!a aCome on,a said Peter. aWe have to go down this pa.s.sage nowa"past all these doors. We really must find Mr. Spells as soon as possible.a They went on down the twisting pa.s.sage, which was still lighted clearly by some light n.o.body could see. Winks wanted to stop and read the names on each door.
a"Dame Handy-Pandy", ahe said. aWhoever is she? And this name says "Mr. Piggle-Pie." Oh, let"s knock and see what he"s like.a aWinks! Come along at once,a said Mollie. aWe"re in a hurry!a aWait! a cried Winks. aLook at this door! Look at the name. Hey, Mollie, Petera"it says "MRS. SPELLS!" Do you think she"s anything to do with Mr. Spells? Let"s find out.a And he banged hard at the little green door. aRATTA-TATTA-TAT!a Oh, Winksa"now what have you done?
Mr. Spells" Mother.
RATTA-TATTA-TAT! The echo of Winks" knocking at Mrs. Spells" door filled the underground pa.s.sage and made the children jump. They turned round angrily. aWinks! You shouldn"t do that!a aBut I tell you, it says "MRS. Spells" on this name-plate,a began Winks. Just then the door opened and a black cat stood politely there, with a little ap.r.o.n round its tubby waist.
aIf you"ve brought the papers, please don"t knock so loudly again,a said the cat, politely but crossly. aWe were in the middle of a spell, and you made my mistress upset half of it. Now we"ve made a spell to make things small instead of big. It"s most annoying.a Winks gaped at the cat. aI didn"t bring the papers,a he said. aI just wanted . . .a The cat slammed the door in his face, almost hitting Winks" nose. The children came running up, Peter calling out breathlessly aI say! I do believe that was old Cinders, Mr. Spells" cat! He had such enormous green eyesa"like green traffic lights shining out!a aWas it really?a said Mollie. aWell, let"s ask him if he is. Why, Mr. Spells might be here himself! It would save us quite a long journey.a aDare we knock again?a said Peter. aThat cat was really very cross.a aI"m not afraid of a cross cat!a said Winks boldly, and he lifted the knocker and knocked again. He also found a bell and rang that, too.
aRATTA-TATTA-TAT!JINGLE-JANGLE-JING!a aGoodness!a said Mollie. aWhat an awful noise!a It certainly was. Mr. Piggle-Pie"s door flew open and a cross voice called, aWho"s making that row? Just wait till I get dressed and I"ll come and chase you!a aThat must have been Mr. Piggle-Pie,a said Winks. aBother! He"s shut his door again. Now I shan"t know what he"s like!a Then Mrs. Spells" door flew open, and the cat appeared again. But this time it behaved much more like a real cat. It spat at Winks and scratched him on the hand.
It was just about to shut the door again when Peter called out, aI say, aren"t you Cinders?a The cat stared at him. aYes, I"m Cinders. Oh, I remember you. You"re the boy who came with a girl to rescue c.h.i.n.kya"and I helped my master do a spell to wake him up. What are you doing here, hammering at our door?a aWell, we were really on our way to see Mr. Spells,a said Peter. aBut Winks here noticed the name aMrs. Spells" on the door, and he knocked. He thought she might be some relation to Mr. Spells.a aShe is. She"s his mother,a said Cinders. aI came here to help the old lady with a new spella"the one you spoilt by making her jump. My master is coming to call for me in a few minutes.a aOh, is he?a cried Peter joyfully. aThen do you think we might stay and see hima"we do so badly want his help.a aWell, come in, then,a said the cat. aI don"t know about this brownie thougha"Winks, do you call him? Banging and ringing like that. You wait till Mr. Piggle-Pie is dressed and comes after him. He"ll get such a spanking.a aI don"t want to stay out in the pa.s.sage,a said Winks, looking nervously at Mr. Piggle-Pie"s shut door. aI"ll be very good and quiet and helpful if you"ll let me come in.a aWho is it standing gossiping at the door?a suddenly called an annoyed voice. aTell them either to go or to come in.a aYou"d better come in and wait for Mr. Spells,a said Cinders. So they all trooped in and Cinders shut the door. Winks was quite glad to be out of the pa.s.sage, away from a possibly furious Mr. Piggle-Pie.
The cat led them into a remarkably big room, with three windows. The children were so astonished to see what the windows looked out on that they quite forgot their manners for the moment, and didn"t greet the bent old lady who sat in a chair in the middle of the room.
One window looked out on the sea! Yes, the sea, as blue as could be! Another looked out on a sunny hillside. The third looked out on an ordinary backyard, where washing was blowing in the wind. Most extraordinary.
aWell! a said rather a peevish voice, ahave the children of today no manners at all? Can"t you even say how do you do to an old lady?a aOh, dear,a said Mollie, ashamed of herself. aPlease, Mrs. Spells, I"m so sorrya"do forgive usa"but it did seem so extraordinary seeing three windows like thisa"in an underground rooma"and one looking out on the sea, too. Why, I thought the sea was miles and miles away!a aThings aren"t always what they seem,a said Mrs. Spells. aWhat is miles away for you, may be quite near for me. Now, what was all this noise about at my front door? When I was younger I would have turned you all into pattering mice and given you to Cinders, for making a noise of that sort in a respectable place like this!a aMadam,a said the cat, seeing that the old lady was working herself up into a temper, aMadam, these children know Mr. Spells, your son.a The old lady beamed at once. aOh, do you know my son? Why didn"t you tell me that at once? Cinders, some strawberryade, please, with strawberry ice, and some strawberry biscuits.a This sounded excitinga"and when it came, beautifully arranged on a large silver tray by Cinders, it was just as exciting as it sounded!
It was a pink drink made of strawberry juice. In it were pieces of ice shaped like strawberries, and the biscuit had tiny sugar strawberries in the middle!
aThis is lovely,a said Peter. aThank you very much.a There came the sound of a key in the door. aAha" my son, Mr. Spells!a said Mrs. Spells. aHere he is!a And there he was again, just the same as before, tall and commanding, but this time dressed in a long green cloak that shimmered like water. He looked very surprised indeed to see the visitors.