Enid Blyton (6 page)

"It hasn
’
t grown this year yet," said
J
ack. "I
forgot to plant any beans, you see. Also, the giants
were a bit of a nuisance last year, always shouting
rude things down the Bean-Stalk to me."

"Oh!" said
Jo
, starin
g at J
ack in dismay. "What
a pity! We particularly wanted to go up your
Bean-Stalk."

"Well—
I can
plant the beans now, and they
’
ll
grow," said
J
ack. "They
’
re magic ones, you know.
They grow as you watch them."

"Oh, good!" said Moon-Face. "Cou
l
d you plant
some, do you think? We
’
d be most awfully obliged."

"Certainly," said
J
ack, and he felt about in his
pocket. "I
’
d do anything to help old Saucepan.
His kettles and saucepans are still going strong in
my kitchen
—
never wear out at all. Now
—
wherever
did I put those beans?"

The others watched anxiously as he turned a
queer collection of things out of his pockets. At
last came three or four mouldy-looking beans.

"Here we are," said
J
ack. "I
’
ll just press them
into the earth—
so—and now we
’
ll watch them
grow. Stand back, please, because they sometimes
shoot up at a great pace!"

VI

Everyone watched the ground in which
J
ack had
buried the beans. At first nothing happened.
Then a sort of hillock came, as if a mole was
working there. The hillock split and up came
some Bean-Stalks, putting out two bean-leaves.
Then other leaves sprang from the centre of the
stalk, and pointed upwards. Then yet others came,
and the Bean-
Stalks grew higher and higher.

"Queer!" said Bessie, watching them grow up
and up. "They don
’
t even need a pole to climb up,
J
ack. Is that how they grew when you first planted
them, years ago, to climb up to Giantland?"

"
J
ust the same," said
J
ack. "Look—you can
’
t
even see the tops of them now! It
’
s amazing how
they spring up, isn
’
t it? Look how thick and strong
the stems have grown, too
!"

So they had. They were like the trunks of young
trees.

"Have they reached Giantland yet?" asked
Moon-Face, squinting up.

"Can
’
t tell till you climb up," said
J
ack. "I
’
d
come with you, but I
’
ve got visitors coming—and
the Princess isn
’
t at all pleased if I
’
m not there to
gree
t them. So I
’
d better go now."

He shook hands politely all round, and was very
pleased when the Saucepan Man presented him
with an extra large
kettle in return for his kind
ness. Bessie was glad to see him taking the kettle.

Up the Bean-Stalk they all went. It was not
at all difficult, for there were plenty of strong leaf-stalks to tread on and to haul themselves up by.
But it did seem a very, very long way to the top!

"I believe we
’
re going to the Moon!" said
Jo
,
panting. "We shall see the
Man in the Moon
peeping at us over the top!"

But they didn
’
t go to the Moon. They went to
Giantland, of course, because the beans never
grew up to anywhere else. The topmost shoots
waved-over Giantland, and the children and the
others rolled off them and lay panting on the
ground to
rest.

"Gracious! I couldn
’
t have climbed any
further!" said
Bessie, trying to get her breath.
"Oh my, what in the world is that,
Jo
?"

"It
’
s an earthquake!" cried Fanny. "Can
’
t you
feel the earth trembling and quaking?"

"Here
’
s a mountain coming on top of us!"
shouted
Jo
, and pulled the girls down a nearby
hole.

Saucepan peered down, laughing. “No
earthquake and no mountain!" he said. "
J
ust an
ordinary giant coming a
long, whose foot
steps
shake the ground."

The
noise and the earthquake grew worse and
then passed. The giant had gone by. Everyone
breathed again and crept out of the hole.

"I suppose that
’
s a rabbit-hole we were in, where
giant rabbits live," said Bessie.

"No—a worm-hole, where giant worms live,"
said Moon-Face. "I saw one down at the bottom,
like an enormous snake."

"Oh dear—I shan
’
t go down a hole like that
again!" said Fanny. But she did, when another
earthquake and walking mountain appeared! It
was another giant, tall as the sky, his great feet
shaking the earth below.

"Come on!" said Moon-Face, when the second
giant had gone safely by. "We must hurry. And for
goodness
’
s
ake pop out of the way if another giant
comes by, because we don
’
t want to be squashed
like currants under his feet."

The third giant stopped when he came near
them. He bent down, and the children saw that he
wore glasses on his enormous nose. They looked
as large as shop-window panes!

"Ha! What are these little creatures?" said the
giant, in a voice that boomed like a thunder-st
orm. "Beetl
es, I should think
—
or ants! Most
extraordinary, I have never seen any like them
before!"

There was no hole to slip down. The children
saw that the giant was trying to pick one of them
up! An enormous hand, with fingers as thick as
young tree-trunks came down near them.

Everyone was too scared to move, and there
was nowhere to hide, except for a large dandelion
growing as tall as a tree, nearby. But Saucepan had a bright idea. He undid his biggest saucepan, and
clapped it on the top of the giant
’
s thumb; it fitted
it exactly, and stuck there.

The giant gave a loud cry of surprise, and lifted
up his hand. He stood up to see this funny thing
that had suddenly appeared on his thumb, and
Saucepan yelled to everyone.

"To
the dandelion, quick! Hurry!"

They rushed to the tall dandelion plant. One of
the heads floated high above them, a beautiful ripe,
dandelion "
clock," full of seeds ready to fl
y off in
the wind.

Saucepan shook the stalk violently, and some of
the seeds flew off, floating in the air on thei
r
parachute of hairs.

"Catch the stalks of the seeds, catch them, and
let the wind float you away!" yelled Saucepan.
"The giant won
’
t guess we
’
re off with the
dandelion seeds."

So each of them caught hold of a dandelion
seed. Fanny got two, and held on tightly! Then
the wind blew, and the plumy seeds floated high
in the air, taking everyone with them. They saw
the giant kneel down on the ground to look for the
funny creatures that had put the saucepan on his
thumb—but then they were off and away, floating
high in the breeze.

"Keep together, keep together!" called Moon-Face, grabbing Silky
’
s
hand. "We don
’
t want to
be blown apart, all
over Giantland. We
’
ll never
meet again! Take hands when you get near."

Fanny was nearly lost, because she had hold of
two seeds instead of one, and was blown higher
than the others. But
Jo
managed to grab her feet
and pulled her down beside him. He made her
leave go one of her dandelion seeds, and took her
hand firmly.

They were now all linking hands in pairs, and
kept together well. They floated high over
Giantland, marvelling at the enormous castles
there, the great gardens and tall trees.

"Even the Faraway Tree would look small
here
!" said Bessie.

"Look—there
’
s the boundary between the Land
of Marvels, and Giantland!" suddenly cried
Saucepan, almost letting go his dandelion seed
in his excitement. "I
’
d no idea we would get there
so soon. What a wal
l
!"

It was indeed a marvellous wall. It rose steadily
up, so high that it seemed there was no end to it,
and it shimmered and shook as if it were made of
water.

"It
’
s a magic wall," said Saucepan. "I remember
seeing it before. No giant can get in or out, over or
under it, because it
’
s painted with Giant-Proof
paint."

"What
’
s that?" asked
Jo
, shouting.

"Giant-Proof paint can only be bought in the
Land of Marvels," explained Saucepan. "Anything
painted with it keeps giants away, just like the
smell of camphor keeps moths away
—
It
’
s
marvellous. No giant can come within yards of
anything painted with that silvery magic paint. I
only wish I had some
!"

"Well—how are
we
to get over or under this
wa
ll
?" said Moo
n-Face, as they floated near. "
It
may be Giant-Proof, but it looks as if it would be
Us-Proof too
!"

"Oh no—we can go right through it," said
Silky. "You
’
ll see that as soon as we get right up
t
o it, it won
’
t be there! It
’
s only Giant-Proof."

This sounded extraordinary, but Silky
’
s
words
were quite true. When they reached the wall, it
gave one lasts shimmer—and was gone! The
children floated right down into the Land of
M
arvels, where everything was the right size. It
was a great relief to see things properly again,
and not to have to crane your neck to see if a flower
was a daisy or a pimpernel!

They floated to the ground, let go their dandelion
seeds, which gradually became the right size, once
they were away from Giantland, and looked round
them.

"There
’
s the ladder-without-
a-top," said Silky,
pointing. "No one has ever climbed beyond the
three thousandth rung, because they get so tired.
And there
’
s the Tree-That-
Sings. It
’
s
singing
now."

So it was—a whispery, beautiful song, all about
the sun and the wind and rain. The children could
understand it perfectly, though the tree did not use
any words the
y knew. It just stood there and
poured out its song in tree-language.

"I could listen t
o that for ages,” said
Jo
. "But
we really must g
et on. Now—we must all hunt for
Connie. Let
’
s shout for her, shall we? Now—al
l together—shout
!"

They shout
ed. "CON-NEE! CON-NEE! CON-
NEE!"

An old woman nearby looked crossly at them.

"Be quiet!" she s
aid. "Making such a noise! I
’
ve
a good mind to
change you all into a thunder-
storm. Then yo
u can make as much noise as you
like! It
’
s
bad enough to have
one
chi
ld here,
making a fuss and
yelling and screaming, without
having a whole crowd!"

"Oh—have you seen a child here?" said
Jo
, at
once, in his polites
t voice. "Where is she, please?
We are trying to look for her."
 "And she hasn
’
t come down.
 
I hope she stays up there for good!"

"Oh—bother Connie!" groaned
 
Jo
. "Now we
 
shall have to do a bit more climbing, and see how
 
far up the ladder she
’
s gone! Come on!"

So off they all went to the shining ladder, that
 
stretched from the ground up and up and up. No
 
top could be seen. It was an extraordinary thing.

“I
’
l
l go," said Moon-Face. "I
’
m not tired, and
 
all you others are. I
’
ll bring Connie down. I don
’
t
 
expect she
’
s gone farther than the hundredth
 
rung!"