Enid Blyton (19 page)

XIX

Everyone stared at Saucepan in horror.
"Saucepan! The Spell can
’
t be gone! Why, you
put the lid on as tightly as can be," said Silky.
"Let
me
look!"

Everyone looked, but it was quite plain to see
that the kettle was empty. There was no spell
there.

"Well, maybe you didn
’
t put it into that kettle,
but into another one," said
J
o. "You
’
ve got so
many hanging round you. Look in another kettle,
Saucepan."

S
o Saucepan looked into every one of his kettles,
big and small, and even into his saucepans too
—
but that Spell was not to be found.

"It
’
s really most peculiar," said
Moon-Face
,
puzzled. "I don
’
t see how it could possibly have
got out! Oh dear—why didn
’
t one of us keep the
Spell instead of Saucepan? We might have known
he would lose it!"

"We
’
re in real danger in this strange Land,
without a Spell to protect us," said Silky. "But we
can
’
t run off home because we mustn
’
t leave
Bessie in a magic ring, and
we have to tr
y and get
Connie put right. Oh dear!"

"We
’
ll have to find someone who will get Bessie
out of the ring," said
J
o, anxiously. "Let
’
s go
round the Land of Enchantments and see if
anyone will help us."

So they started off
, leaving poor Bessie looking
sadly after them. But the pixies took her hands
and made her dance once again.

The children came to a small shop at the back
of which sat a goblin with green ears and eyes. In
front of him were piled boxes and bottles of all
sorts, some with such strange spells in them that
they shimmered as if they were alive.

"Could you help us?" said
J
o, politely. "Our
sister has got into a magic ring by mistake, and
we want to get her out."

The goblin grinned. "Oh no, I
’
m not helping
you to get her out!" he said. "Magic rings are one
of our litt
le traps to keep people here."

"You
’
re a ver
y nasty person then," said Moon-
Face, who was upset because he was very fond of
Bessie.

The goblin glared at him and moved his big
green ears backwards and forwards like a dog.

"How dare you call me names?" he said. "I
’
ll
turn you into a gramophone that can do nothing
but call rude names, if you
’
re not careful."

"
Indeed you won
’
t," said
Moon-Face
, getting
angry. "What a silly little goblin like you daring
to put a spell on me, the great
Moon-Face
! You
think too much of yourself, little green-ears. Go
and
bury yourself in the garden!"

"Moon-Face!" said Fanny, suddenly. "Don
’
t be
rude. Remember what Mrs. Saucepan said."

But it was too late.
Moon-Face
had been rude
and now he was in the goblin
’
s power. When the
green-eared little creature beckoned slyly to him,
poor Moon-Face found that his legs took him to
the goblin, no matter how he tried not to go.

"You
’
ll be my servant now, great Moon-Face!"
said the goblin. "Now, just begin a little work,
please. Sort out those boxes into their right sizes
for me. And remember, no more rudeness."

Fanny burst into tears. She couldn
’
t bear to see
Moon-Face doing what the nasty little goblin
said. "Oh, Saucepan, why did you lose that spell?"
she wailed. "Why did you?"

"Here
’
s a powerful-looking enchanter," said
J
o, as a tall man in a great flowing cloak swept by.
"Maybe he could help us."

He stopped the Enchanter and spoke to him. A
fine black cat came out from the tall man
’
s
shimmering cloak, and strolled over to Silky,
blinking his great green eyes at her.

"Can you help us, please?" asked
Jo
, politely.
"
Some of our friends are in difficulties here."

He was just going on to explain, when he
suddenly stopped and made a dart at Silky who
was stroking the black cat and saying sweet things
to it! She was very fond of cats, and stroked every
one she saw. But she mustn
’
t—
she mustn
’
t do
that in the Land of Enchantments!

It was too late. She had done it. Now she had
to follow the Enchanter, who smiled lazily round
at the little company. "A nice little elf!" he said
to them. "I shall like having her around with the
black cat. She will be company for him. She can
cook the mice he catches. He won
’
t eat them raw."

To the great dismay of the others, the Enchanter
swept off, his cloak flowing out and covering poor Silky and the cat.

"Oh, now Silky
’
s gone!" sobbed Fanny. "First
it was Bessie, then Moon-Face, and now Silky.
Whatever are we to do?"

"Look!" said Saucepan, suddenly, and he
pointed to a little shop nearby. On it was painted
a sentence in yellow paint:

"Come here to get things you have lost
!
"

"What about trying to get Connie
’
s voice there,"
said Saucepan. "Not that
I
want her to have her
voice back; I think she
’
s much nicer without it
—
but we might be able to get it back if we go to
that shop."

They went over to it, Fanny still wiping her eyes.
The shop was kept by the same beautiful fairy who
had flown to Mrs. Hidden
’
s cave, and whose secret
Connie had overheard! Connie was afraid of going
to her, but Saucepan pulled her over to the shop.

The beautiful fairy knew Saucepan, and was
delighted to see him. When he told her about
Connie, she looked grave. "Yes, I know all about
it," she said. "It was
my
Secret she heard, and a
very wonderful Secret it was. Has she written it
down to tell any of you?"

Connie shook her head. She took out her little
notebook and wrote in it. She tore out the page
and gave it to the fairy.

"I am terribly sorry for what I did," the fairy
read. "Please forgive me. I haven
’
t told the
Secret, and I never will. If you will give me back
my lost voice, I promise never to peep and pry
again, or to try and overhear things not meant for
me."

"I will forgive you," said the fairy, gravely.
"But, Connie, if ever you do tell the Secret, I am
afraid your voice will be lost again and will never
come back. Look! I will give it back to you now
—
but remember to be careful in future."

She handed Connie a little bottle of blue and
yellow liquid, and a small red glass. "Drink what
is in the bottle," she said. "Your voice is there. It
’
s
a good thing I didn
’
t sell it to anyone."

Connie poured out the curious liquid and drank
it. It tasted bitter, and she made a face.

"Oh, how horrid!" she cried, and then clapped
her hands in joy. "I can speak! My voice is back!
Oh, I can talk!"

"It
’
s a pity!" said Saucepan. "I like you better
when you don
’
t talk. Still, I needn
’
t listen."

Connie was so excited at having her voice back
again that she talked and talked without stopping.
The others were very silent. Both
J
o and Saucepan
were worried, and Fanny was still crying.

"Be quiet, Connie!" said
J
o at last. "Saucepan,
WHAT SHALL WE DO?"

"Go back and ask my mother for another spell,"
said Saucepan. "That
’
s the best I can think of."

So they all went back to the hole in the clouds.
But they couldn
’
t get down it because there were
so many people coming up!

"The Land of Enchantments must be moving
away again soon," said Saucepan, in dismay.
"Look! Everyone is hurrying back to it, with their
toadstools and things!"

"We can
’
t risk going down to your mother
then," said
J
o, more worried than ever. "If the
Land moves on it will take Moon-Face, Bessie
and Silky with it, and we shall never see them
again.”

They sat down at the edge of the hole, and
looked worried and upset. What in the world were
they to do?

Then Fanny gave such a loud cry that everyone
jumped hard. "What
’
s that? What
’
s that sticking
out of the spout
of that kettle, Saucepan? Some
thing red, waving about—look!"

Everyone looked—
and Saucepan gave a yell.
"It
’
s
the Spell! It must have crawled up the spout,
and that
’
s why we didn
’
t see it when we looked in
the kettle! It cou
l
dn
’
t get out because the spout is
too small. Those are its leg-
things waving about,
trying to get out of the spout!"

"Quick! Get it out, Saucepan," said
Jo
.

"Bad spell, naughty Spell," said Saucepan,
severely, and poked his finger in the spout,
pushing the spell right back. It fell with a little
thud into the inside of the kettle. In a trice
Saucepan took off the lid, put in his hand and
grabbed the spell. He jumped to his feet.

"Come on! Maybe we
’
ve just got time to rescue
the others, Bessie first
!"

They rushed to t
he magic
ring, and Saucepan
stepped into it with the spell held firmly in his
hand. At once the chalk ring faded away, the pixies
ran off squealing, and Bessie was free. How she
hugged Saucepan!

"No time to waste, no time to waste," said
Saucepan, and ran off to find Silky. He saw the
Enchanter in his floating cloak, talking to a witch,
and rushed up to him.

"Silky, Silky, where are you? I
’
ve a spell to set
you free!" cried Saucepan.

The Enchanter looked down and saw the
wriggling red spell in Saucepan
’
s hand. He shook
out his cloak and Silky at once appeared.
Saucepan
clutched her by the hand.

"Come on! You
’
re free. You don
’
t need to
follow him anymore. He
’
s afraid of this spel
l
."

The Enchanter certainly was. He ran off with
his black cat without a word.

"Now for Moon-Face," said Saucepan.
"Gracious, can I hear the humming noise that
means this Land will soon be on the move?"

He could, and so could the others. With beating
hearts they rushed to the green-eared goblin
’
s shop.
There was no time to
waste. Saucepan threw the
red spell at the goblin, and it went down his
neck.

"You
’
re
free, Moon-Face. Come quickly!"
cried Saucepan. "The Land is on the move!"

Moon-Face rushed after the others, leaving the
goblin to try and grope the wriggling spell out
of his neck. Everyone rushed to the hole that led
down through the cloud. The Land was shaking
a little already, as if it was just going to move.

Bessie and Fanny were pushed down quickly.
Then Silky and Connie followed, almost falling
down in their hurry. Then came Moon-Face and
J
o, and last of all Saucepan, who nearly got stuck
in the hole with his saucepans and kettles. He
got free and fell down with a bump.

"The Land
’
s just off!" he cried, as a creaking
sound came down the ladder. "We only just
escaped in time! Goodness, look how I
’
ve dented
my kettles!"