Enid Blyton (11 page)

XI

Miss Muffet rushed to the door to warn the others
to go. "He
’
s heard you whispering together!" she
said. "Go quickly!"

The children and the others all fled,
J
ack and
J
ill too. The spider took his feet out of the hot
mustard bath and looked round for a towel to dry
them.

"I shan
’
t give you a towel," said Miss Muffet,
severely. "You can go after them with wet feet, and
get an even worse cold, and be dreadfully ill. But
I won
’
t nurse you then."

The spider sneezed. "A-wish-oo, a-
wish-oo! Oh
dear, this is really a dreadful cold. I don
’
t want to
make it any worse. I
’
ll be good and put my feet
back. I
’
ll have to let my prisoners escape."

"There
’
s a good spider," said Miss Muffet.

He was pleased. "I wish I could have a hot water
bottle, Miss Muffet. I
’
ve never had one."

"Well, as you
’
ve let your prisoners go, I
’
ll lend
you my bottle," said Miss Muffet, and went to
get it.

J
o,
Moon-Face
, Saucepan and the others had by
this time got to the top of the hill and down the
other Side. They looked back but could see no
sign of the spider.

"He
’
s not coming after us, after all," said Bessie
thankfully. "W
here
’
s the hole through the cloud?"

"We
’
ll show you," said
J
ack and
J
ill. "We
’
d
rather like to come down it with you, and see the
Faraway Tree."

"Oh
do
!" said everyone. "Come and have some
dinner with us."

"I
’
ll send down to Silky and get her to come up
and help to make some sandwiches," said Moon-Face.

When they came to the hole in the cloud they
all slid down the ladder and branch, and went to
Moon-Face
’
s house.
Jack
and
J
ill were amused to
see his curved furniture.

They sent the red squirrel down to fetch Silky.
She had been out shopping all morning, and came
up delighted to know that
J
o and the others were
up the tree. She squealed with delight to see
J
ack
and
J
ill too.

"Hallo!" she cried. "It
’
s ages since I saw you
two. Do you still fall down the hill?
Jack
, you
haven
’
t got your head done up in vinegar and
brown paper, for a wonder!"

"No—because Bessie kindly helped me carry
the pail of water down the hill
today
," said
J
ack.
"And she goes faster than J
ill, so we didn
’
t fall
over through getting out of step. We
’
ve had a lot
of adventures to
day, Silky."

"Oh, Silky, here
’
s a present for you," said
J
o,
remembering, and he gave the pretty little elf the
cotton-
ree
l
on which he had wound the spider-
thread.

"Oh thank you,
J
o!" cried Silky. "
J
ust what I
want! I couldn
’
t get any fine thread at all this
morning. This will do beautiful
l
y."

"Wil
l
you help to make some sandwiches,
Silky?" said Moon-F
ace. "We thought we
’
d have
a picnic dinner up here. Let me see—how many
are there of us?"

"Six children—and four others," counted
J
o.
"Ten. You
’
l
l have to make about a hundred
sandwiches!"

"It
’
s a pity the Land of Goodies isn
’
t here,"
said Moon-F
ace. "We could go up and take what
food we wanted then and bring it down. Got any
Google Buns or Pop Biscuits, Silky dear?"

"I
’
ve got some Pop Biscuits in my basket
somewhere," said Silky. "Do
J
ack and
J
i
l
l know
them?"

They didn
’
t, and they did enjoy them. They
went pop as soon as they were put into the mouth,
and honey flowed out from the middle of each
biscuit!

"Delicious!" said
J
ack. "I could do with a few
dozen of these biscuits."

Soon they were all sitting on the broad branch
outside Moon-Face
’
s house, eating sandwiches
and biscuits and drinking lemonade.

There was as much lemonade as anyone liked,
because, in a most friendly manner, the Faraway
Tree suddenly began to grow ripe yellow lemons
on the branches round about. All Moon-Face had
to do was pick them, cut them in half, and squeeze
them into a jug. Then he added water and sugar,
and th
e children drank the lemonade!

"This is a marvellous Tree," said Connie,
leaning back happily. "Simply marvellous. You
are clever, Moon-Face, to make such lovely
lemonade."

"Dear me. Connie seems to be believing in the
Tree at
l
ast," said
J
o. "Do you, Connie?"

"Yes, I do," said Connie. "I can
’
t help it. I
didn
’
t like that spider adventure—but this is
lovely, sitting here and eating these delicious
sandwiches and Pop Biscuits, and drinking
lemonade from lemons growing on the Tree."
She shook the branch she was leaning on, and
some ripe lemons fell off. They went bumping
down the tree.

There came a yell from below.

"Now then! W
ho
’
s throwing ripe lemons at me,
I should like to know. One
’
s got in my wash-tub.
Anymore of that and I
’
ll come up and spank the
thrower."

"There!" said
Moon-Face
to Connie. "See what
you
’
ve done! Shaken down heaps of juicy lemons
on to Dame Washalot. She
’
ll be after you if you
’
re
not careful."

"Oooh!" said Connie,
in alarm. She called
down the tree. "I
’
m so sorry, Dame Washalot. It
was quite an accident."

"Connie
’
s getting some manners," said
Jo
to
Bessie. "Any more Pop Biscuits? Have another,
Saucepan?"

"Mother
’
s
very well, thank you," said Saucepan.

"I said
'
Have ANOTHER
'
?" said
Jo
.

"You haven
’
t asked him to sell you a saucepan,"
said Bessie. "Ask him about a saucepan for
Mother."

"Have you got a saucepan that would do for our
mother?" asked
J
o. "I want a nice little saucepan
to boil milk."

"Oiled silk?" said Saucepan. "No, my mother
doesn
’
t wear oiled silk. Why should she? She
wears black, with a red shawl and a red belt and a
bonnet with . . ."

"Can
’
t we get away from Saucepan
’
s mother?"
groaned
Jo
. "I never even knew he had one. I
wonder where she lives."

Saucepan unexpectedly heard this. "She lives in
the Land of Dame Slap," he said. "She
’
s her cook.
She needs lots of saucepans because she has to
cook meals for all the children at her school."

"Gracious!" said Bessie, remembering. "We
’
ve
been to Dame Slap
’
s Land! we flew there once in
an aeroplane. We had an awful time because Dame
Slap put us into her school
!"

"Does your mother really live there?" said
Jo
.
"Do you ever go to see her?"

"Oh yes, when I can," said Saucepan. "I believe
Dame Slap
’
s Land is coming next week. I
’
d like
you all to meet my dear old mother. She will give
you a most wonderful tea."

There was a silence. No one wanted to be mixed
up with Dame Slap again. She was a most
unpleasant person.

"
Well
?" said Saucepan, looking round. "I
didn
’
t hear anyone say
'
Thank you very much,
we
’
d love to know your mother
'
."

"W
ell, you see—er—er
—it
’
s a bit awkward,"
said Moon-Face. "You see, your mother being
cook to Dame Slap—er . . ."

"I suppose you are trying to say that my dear
old mother isn
’
t good enough for you to meet!"
said Saucepan, unexpectedly, and looked terribly
hurt and cross. "All right. If you won
’
t know my
mother, you shan
’
t know
me
!
"

And to everyone
’
s alarm he got up and walked
straight up the branch into the cloud, and
disappeared into the Land of Nursery Rhyme.

Everyone yelled after him.
"Saucepan, we
’
d love to meet your mother, but
we don
’
t like Dame Slap!"

"Saucepan, come BACK
!
"

But Saucepan either didn
’
t or wouldn
’
t hear.
"You go and fetch him back," said
J
o to
J
ack and
J
ill. So up they went after him. But they soon
came back.

"Can
’
t see him anywhere," they said. "He isn
’
t
to be found. I expect he is hiding himself away
in a temper. He
’
ll soon be back again."

But Saucepan didn
’
t come back.

"We
’
l
l
have to go home," said
J
o, at last.
"Let us know when Saucepan comes back, Moon-
Face. Tell him we
would love to meet his old
mother, and it
’
s all a mistake. All the same—I
hope he
won
’
t
want us to
go to Dame Slap
’
s Land—I shouldn
’
t like that at all."

"Go down the Slippery-Slip," said Moon-Face,
throwing the children cushions. "Yes, I feel upset
about Saucepan too. He isn
’
t usually so touchy.
You go first,
J
o."

J
o sat on his cushion, gave himself a push and
down he went,
whizzing round and round the
Slippery-Slip right to the bottom of the Tree.
He shot out of the trap-door and landed on the
tuft of moss. He
got up hurriedly, knowing that
Connie was coming down just behind him.
Soon all four were at the foot of the Tree. The
squirrel collected the cushions and disappeared
with them.
J
o linked arms with the girls, and they
turned towards home.

"We
l
l, that was quite an adventure,"
J
o said. "I
guess you don
’
t want to meet Miss Muffet
’
s spider
again, Connie?"

"No, I don
’
t," said Connie. "But I
’
d like to
please old Saucepan, and meet his mother, even
if he hasn
’
t been very nice to me so far."

"You
’
re getting quite a nice little girl, Connie!"
said
J
o, in surprise. "Well—maybe we
’
ll all have
to go and meet his mother next week. We
’
ll see!"