Enid Blyton (5 page)

V

Jo
, Bessie, Fanny and the others went on with
their tea. They finished the Hot-Cold Goodies,
then they started on some pink jelly that Moon-Face had made in
the shape of animals. They were
so nicely made that it seemed quite a pity to eat
them.

"We
’
d better save some for Connie, hadn
’
t
we?" said. Bessie. "Let
’
s
see if she
’
s outside the
door. I expect she
’
s standing there, su
l
king."

Moon-Face
opened the door. There was no one
there. He
called loudly, "Connie! Connie
!"

There was no answer. "She
’
s gone down the
Tree, I should think," he said. "I
’
ll just yell down
to Dame Washalot and see if she saw her."

So he shouted down to the old dame. But Dame
Washalot shook her head. "No," she shouted
back, "no one has passed by here since you came
up in the basket, Moon-Face.
No one at all."

"Funny!" said Moon-Face, going to tell the
others. "Where
’
s she gone, then?"

"Up
through the cloud?" said Silky.

"No
surely she wouldn
’
t have done that by
herself," said
Jo
, in alarm. "Look, Moon-Face!
There
’
s the red squirrel who wants to speak to
you."

The red squirrel came in, trying to hide a hole
in his old jerse
y. "I heard you calling Connie,
Mister Moon-Face," he said. "Well, she
’
s gone up
the ladder through the cloud. I expect she
’
s in the
Land of Marvels. I saw her go."

"Good gracious!" cried
Jo
, jumping up in
alarm. "Why, the Land is ready to leave here at
any minute, didn
’
t you say, Silky? What a silly
she is! We
’
d better go and get her back at once."

"I thought I heard the humming noise that
means any Land is moving on," said Moon-Face,
looking troubled. "I don
’
t believe we can save
her. I
’
ll pop up the ladder and see."

He climbed up the highest branch and went up
the ladder. But there was nothing to be seen at all
except swirling, misty cloud. He came down
again

"The Land of Marvels is gone," he said. "And
the next Land hasn
’
t even come yet. I don
’
t know
what it
will be, either. Well—Connie
’
s gone with
the Land of Marvels. She
would
do a silly thing
like that!"

Bessie went pale. "But what can we do about
it?" she said. "Whatever can we do? We
’
re in
charge of her, you know. We simply can
’
t let her
go like this. We must find her somehow."

"How
can
we?" said Silky. "You know that
once a Land has moved on, it doesn
’
t come back
for ages. Connie will have to stay there. I don
’
t
see that it matters, anyway. She
’
s not a very nice
person."

"
Oh Silky, you don
’
t understand!" said
Jo
. He
looked very worried. "She
’
s our friend. And
though she
’
s silly and annoying at times, we
have to look after her and help her. How can we
get to her?"

"You can
’
t," said Moon-Face.

Saucepan had been trying to follow what had
been said, his face looking very earnest. He didn
’
t
like Connie, and he thought it was a very good
thing she had gone off in the Land of Marvels.
But he did know a way of getting there, and he
badly wanted to tell the others.

But they all talked at once, and he couldn
’
t get
a word in! So, in despair he clashed his saucepans
and kettles together so violently that everyone
jumped and stared round at him.

"He wants to say something," said
Jo
. "Go on,
out with it, Saucepan."

Saucepan came out with it in a rush. "
I
know
how to get to the Land of Marvels without waiting
for it to arrive here again," he said. "You can get
to it from the Land of Giants, which
j
o
ins on to
i
t.”

"Well, I don
’
t see how that helps us," said
Moon-
Face. "We don
’
t know how to get to the
Land of Giants either, silly!"

"No, it
’
s
not hilly," said Saucepan, going all
deaf again. "It
’
s quite flat. The giants have made
it flat by walking about on it with their enormous
feet."

"What
is
he talking about?" said Bessie.

"Saucepan, stop talking about the geography of
Giantland and tell us how to get there."

"How to get there, did you say?" asked
Saucepan, putting his hand behind his left ear.

"YES!" yelled everyone.

"Well, that
’
s easy," said Saucepan, beaming
round. "
’
Same way as J
ack-and-the-Bean-Stalk
did, of course. Up the Bean-Stalk!"

Everyone stared at Saucepan in silence. They
had all heard of
J
ack-and-the-Bean-Stalk, of
course, and how he climbed up the Bean-Stalk
into Giantland.

"But where
’
s the Bean-Stalk?" asked
Jo
at last.

"Where
J
ack lives," said Saucepan, suddenly
hearing well again. "I know him quite well.
Married a princess and lives in a castle."

"I never knew that he was an old friend of
yours," said Moon-Face. "How d
id you come to
know him?"

"I sold him a lot of saucepans and kettles,"
said the Saucepan Man. "He was giving an
enormous dinner-party, and they hadn
’
t enough
things to cook everything in. So I came along just
at the right moment and sold him everything I
’
d
got. Very lucky for him."

"And for you too," grinned Moon-Face. "Well,
you
’
d better take us to your
J
ack, Saucepan.
We
’
ll go up the Bean-Stalk, and try and rescue
that silly little Connie."

"We
’
d better not
all
go," said
Jo
, looking
round at the little company.

"I must go to show you the way," said Saucepan,
who loved making a
jo
urney.

"And I must go, of course," said-Moon-Face.

"And I shall come with you to look after you,"
said Silky, firmly. "You always get into such
silly scrapes if
I
’
m not there to see to you."

"And I shall certainly come, because I was
really in charge of Connie," said
Jo
.

"And
we
’
re
not going to be left out of an
adventure like this!" said Bessie at once. "Are we,
Fanny?"

"Well
—it looks as if we
’
re all going then,"
said Moon-Face. "All right, let
’
s go. But don
’
t
l
et
’
s
get caught by any giants, for goodness
’
s
ake.
Must
we go through Giantland to get to the Land
of Marvels, Saucepan?"

"Bound to," said Saucepan, cheerfully. "The
giants won
’
t hurt you. They
’
re quite harmless
nowadays. Well, come on! Down the tree we go,
and then to the other end of the Wood."

So down the Tree
they went, and the red squirrel
bounded with them to the bottom. They wished
they could skip down as he did—it didn
’
t take him
more than half a minute to get up or down!

They reached the bottom, and then thought
how silly they were not to have gone down the
Slippery-Slip!

"It shows how worried we are, not to have
thought of that!" said Bessie. "Which way now,
Saucepan?"

Saucepan set off down a narrow, winding path.
"This way, look—under this hedge, and across
this field. We
’
ve got to get to the station," he
said.

"Station? What
station?" said
Jo
, in astonish
ment.

"To get the train for
J
ack-and-the-Bean-Stalk
’
s
castle," said Saucepan.
"How stupid you are, all
of a sudden,
Jo
!"

They came suddenly to a small station set
under a row of poplar trees. A train came
puffing
in, looking very like an old wooden one with
carriages that the children had at home. They
got in, and it went
off, puffing hard as if it was
out of breath.

They passed through many queer little stations,
but didn
’
t stop. "I said
'
Bean-
Stalk Castle
'
to the
engine, so it will go straight
there," said Saucepan.

The other
passengers didn
’
t seem to mind
going
to Bean-Stalk Castle at all. They sat and talked
or read, and took no notice of the others.

The train suddenly stopped and hooted. "Here
we are," said Saucepan. "Come on, everyone."

They got out on to a tiny platform. The engine
gave a
nother hoot and went rattling of
f.

"There
’
s J
ack! Hi there,
J
ack!" suddenly yelled
Saucepan, and rushed towards a sturdy young
man in the distance. They shook hands, all
Saucepan
’
s kettles and pans rattling excitedly.

"W
hat a pleasure, what a pleasure
!" cried
Jack
.
"Who are all these people? Have they come to
stay with me? I
’
ll go and tell the Princess to make
up extra beds at once."

"No, don
’
t do that," said Moon-Face. "We
haven
’
t come to stay. We just want to know—may
we please use your Bean-Stalk,
J
ack?"