Enid Blyton (25 page)

XXV

Everyone was very, very glad that the dear old
Faraway Tree was all right again. It had been
dreadful to think that it was dying, and might
have to be chopped down. Now it seemed to be
better than ever.

The children visited it every morning to pick
the fruit to take home for their mother to make
into pies and tarts. Everyone in the Tree was
doing the same, and old Mrs. Saucepan made
quite a lot of money by selling fruit tarts to the
people who went up and down the Tree.

The bad Trolls, who had damaged the Tree
’
s
roots, had all been taken up to the Land of Smack,
which was now at the top of the Tree.

"You should just hear the shouts and yells that
those bad Trolls make up there," said Moon-Face with a grin, to the children. "They
’
re having
a dreadful time. They keep on trying to escape,
and get down the ladder—
but they can
’
t."

"Why can
’
t they?" asked
J
o.

"Look and see," said
Moon-Face
, with a wider
grin than before.

So
J
o climbed up the topmost bough, and got
to the bottom rung of the ladder. He couldn
’
t
go any farther because on the other rungs were the
goat-moth caterpillars, still simply enormous!
There they were curled, like enormous snakes,
waiting for the Trolls to try and escape.

"The Trolls are terribly scared of them," called
up Moon-Face, "and as soon as they see them,
they rush back into the Land of Smack. They
don
’
t know which is worse, snakes or smacks!"

The others giggled. "What are you going to do
with the caterpillars when the Land of Smack has
moved on?" asked Bessie.

"Oh, chang
e them back to their right size
again
and take them to the trees we got them from,"
said Silky. "At present they are having pies and
tarts to eat, instead of the wood they like—but
we
’
d need to give them trees to gnaw if we fed
them properly, they
’
re big now! Still, they seem
to like the pies."

"How long is this Land going to stay?" asked
Connie, suddenly. "I hope it won
’
t stay long,
because I
’
ve got to go home soon. Mother
’
s better
and she
’
s coming back, so I
’
ve got to go too. I
don
’
t
want to, because it
’
s such fun here."

"Well, you ought to be glad your mother is
better and ready to have you home," said
J
o.
"You
’
re a selfish little girl, Connie
!
"

"All the same, it
has
been such fun here," said
Connie. "You
’
d hate to
leave the Enchanted Wood
and the Faraway Tree and Moon-Face and Silky
and the rest of your friends, you know you would!"

"Yes, we shou
l
d," said Bessie. "Moon-Face,
I wish a really nice Land could come before
Connie goes—just for a treat for her, you know.
Something like the Land of Birthdays, or the
Land of Take-What-You-Please—or the Land of
Goodies! That was lovely! Connie, some of the
houses in the Land of Goodies were made of
sweets and chocolate
!
"

"Oooh—how lovely
!
" said Connie. "Moon-Face,
what Land is coming next?"

"We
ll
—I rather think it
’
s the Land of Treats,
but I
’
m not quite sure," said Moon-Face. "I
’
ll
find out and let you know."

"The Land of Treats! What
`s
that like?"
said Connie, thinking that it sounded fine.

"Well—
it
’s
full of treats," said
Moon-Face;
"
yo
u
know—donkey-rides, bran-tubs, Christmas
Trees and ice-
creams, and things like that."

"And circuses and pantomimes and clowns and
balloons and crackers and . . ." went on Silky.

"Gracious!" said Connie, her eyes shining.
"What a lovely Land that would be to visit for
my last one. Oh, I do hope it comes before I go!"

It did! Two or three days after that, the red
squirrel, dressed in his grand new jersey, arrived
at the children
’
s cottage with a message.

He rapped on the window, and made Mother
jump. But when she saw it was the squirrel, she
opened the window and let him in. She was getting
quite used to the children
’
s queer friends now.

"
J
o! Bessie! Here
’
s the red squirrel!" she
called, and the children came running in.

"Good morning!" said the squirrel, politely.
"I
’
ve come with a message from Moon-Face, and
Moon-Face says that the Land of Treats will be at
the top of the Tree
tomorrow
, and are you coming?"

"Of course!" cried the children, in delight.
"Tell Moon-Face we
’
ll be there."

"I will," said the squirrel and bounded off.

The next day the four children all went up the
Tree in excitement. A rope had again been run
down through the branches, for hundreds of the
Wood-
folk were going up to the Land of Treats.
Whenever a really nice Land was at the top, the
Tree had plenty of traffic up and down!

Moon-Face
, Silky, Watzisname and Saucepan
were waiting for them impatiently. "There are
elephants," said Silky. "They give you rides. I
’
m
going on an elephant."

"And you can go up in a balloon," said Moon-Face. "Can
’
t you, Saucepan?"

"Moon? Go to the moon? Can you really?"
said Saucepan, looking excited.

"UP IN A BALLOON!" yelled everyone, and
Saucepan looked startled.

"All right, all right! No need to shout," he said.
"Come on, let
’
s
go now. I want a Treat."

The old Saucepan Man led the way up the
topmost branch. The others followed. Soon they
all stood in
the Land of Treats.

It looked simply lovely. Near them was a large-size roundabout, with animals to ride—but they
were live animals! How exciting!

"Oh—let
’s
go on the roundabout!" said Connie.

"No—let
’s
get ice-creams f
irst," said
J
o. "
Loo
k
at these! Did you ever see such beauties?"

The ice-cream man was standing with his little
cart, handing out ice-creams for nothing. They
were eno
rmous, and you could have any fl
avour
you liked.

"You
’
ve only got to say
'
Chocolate!
'
or
'
Lemon!
'
or
'
Pineapple!
'
and the man just dips his hand in
and brings you out the right kind," said Moon-Face, happily.

"He
can
’
t
have got every fl
avour there," said
Connie. "I shall ask for something he won
’
t
have and see what happens."

So when her turn came she said solemnly,
"I want a sardine ice-cream, please."

And hey presto! The ice-cream man just as
solemnly handed her out a large ice-cream, which
was quite plainly made of sardines because the
others cou
ld see a tail
or two sticking out of it!

"Ha, ha, Connie! Serves you right!" said
J
o.

Connie looked at the ice-cream and wrinkled
up her nose. She handed it to the ice-cream man,
and said, "I won
’
t have this. I
’
ll have a strawberry
ice, please."

"Have to eat that one first, Miss," said the
ice-cream man. So Connie had to go without her
ice-cream, because she didn
’
t like the taste of the
sardine one, and couldn
’
t eat it. She gave it to a
cat who came wandering by looking for
his
Treat,
which he hoped would be mice sandwiches.

"Now let
’s
go on the roundabout," said
J
o,
when he had finished his ice-cream. "Come on!
I
’
m going on that giraffe."

"I shall have a lion," said Moon-Face, bravely.
"I
’
l
l have that one. It looks quite tame, and it
has such a wonderful mane."

Connie didn
’
t feel like a lion or a giraffe. She
thought she would choose an animal who really
would be tame. So she chose a nice tabby cat,
who stood purring, waiting for someone to mount
her.

"Take your seats, p
l
ease!" called the roundabout
man, a most amusing fellow who turned himself
round and round and round all the time his
roundabout was going, and only stopped when
the roundabout stopped too.

Fanny chose a duck that had a lovely quack,
and the softest back she had ever sat on! Bessie
liked the look of a brown bear. Silky chose a hen
and hoped it would lay her an egg as it went
round and round. Saucepan chose a large-size
mouse, and Watzisname took a dog that wagged
its tail the whole time.

The roundabout music began to play. The
roundabout moved on its way, round and round
and round, going faster and faster. Saucepan made
his mouse move over to Connie, meaning to ask
her how she was enjoying such a treat.

But this was a great mistake, because Connie
was riding a cat. The roundabout man always put
the mouse on the opposite side to the cat—and
now here was the mouse almost under the cat
’
s
nose!

The cat gave an excited mew when it smelt
the mouse. It shot out its paw, and the mouse
squealed in fright. It leapt right off the roundabout,
and Saucepan almost fell off. He clung to the
large mouse, all his pans rattling and clanging.

The cat rushed off the roundabout after the
mouse. The roundabout man gave a yell and
stopped the roundabout. The children leapt off
and gazed in dismay at Connie and the cat chasing
Saucepan and the mouse!

"Gracious! I hope the cat doesn
’
t eat old
Saucepan as well as the mouse!" groaned Moon-Face.

XXVI