Enid Blyton (8 page)

VIII

Mother wasn
’
t
very pleased to see how dirty,
ink-spotted a
nd ragged Connie
’
s clothes were
when she came back with the others.

"I shan
’
t le
t you go with the others to the
Faraway Tree a
gain if you can
’
t keep yourself
cleaner than this,
" she said, crossly. Connie was
not used to being talked to like this, and she burst
into tears.

The ch
ildren
’
s mother popped Connie
’
s
clothes into th
e wash-tub and said, "Tomorrow
you will iron
and mend these clothes, Connie.
Stop that noise, or
I shall send you to bed without
any supper."

All the children
were tired, and fell asleep as
soon as their
heads touched the pillow. When
Connie woke
up, she remembered all that had
happened the
day before, and wondered if she
could possibly have dream
t it. It seemed so queer
when she thought about it.

"Are we g
oing to the Faraway Tree to
day
again?" she
asked J
o, when they were all at
breakfast.

Jo
shook his head.

"No. We
’
ve got
lots of work to do. And anyway
you didn
’
t like
it, or the people there, so we
shall go alone."

Connie looked as if she was going to burst into
tears. Then she remembered that tears didn
’
t
seem to bother anyone here, and she blinked them
away. "What Land will be at the top of the Tree
this week?" she asked.

"Don
’
t know," said
Jo
. "Anyway, we
’
re not
going, Connie. We
’
ve had enough travelling this
week!"

The next two days it rained so hard that Mother
wouldn
’
t let the children go out. They heard
nothing from their friends in the Faraway Tree.

The next day shone sunny and the sky was a
lovely blue. "As if it had been washed clean by
all the rain," said Fanny. "Let
’
s go to the
Enchanted Wood. May we, Mother?"

"We
l
l, yes, I should think so," said Mother. "I
badly want a new saucepan, a nice little one, for
boiling milk. You might go and ask the Saucepan
Man to sell me one. Here is the money."

"Oh,
l
ovely!" said Bessie, overjoyed at the
thought of visiting the Faraway Tree-Folk again.
"We
’
ll go this morning."

"I
’
m going too," said Connie.

"You
’
re not," said
J
o. "You
’
re going to stay
at home like a go
od girl, and help Mother. You
’
ll
like that."

"Indeed I shan
’
t!" said Connie. "Don
’
t be
mean. Take me with you."

“Well, it
’
s no fun to take you," said
Jo
. "You
haven
’
t any manners, and you don
’
t do what
you
’
re told, and people don
’
t like you. You
’
re
far better at home. Anyway, you don
’
t believe in
anything in the Enchanted Wood, so why do you
want to come?"

"Because I don
’
t want to be left out," wailed
Connie. "Let me come. I
’
ll be good. I
’
ll have
nice manners. I
’
ll like everyone."

"Well, you won
’
t go in that nice little frock,"
said
J
o
’
s mother, firmly. "I
’
m not going to have
you spoil another. If
you go, you must borrow an
old cotton frock of Fanny
’
s. They
’
re rather
patched, but that won
’
t matter."

Connie didn
’
t want to wear Fanny
’
s
old frock,
but she went to put it on. She couldn
’
t bear
being left out, and if the others were going off to
the Wood she felt she really must go too. Soon
she came back again in Fanny
’
s old washed-out
frock.

"You look sensible now," said
J
o. "Very
sensible. It won
’
t even matter if you go down
the Slippery-Slip without a cushion again. That
material won
’
t wear out in a hurry. Come on,
everybody!"

They set off,
J
o jingling the money for the
saucepan in his shorts
’
pocket. They jumped
over the ditch and landed in the Enchanted
Wood. At once everything seemed magic and
different. Connie felt excited again. She was
longing to see Moon-Face, who, since he had
rescued her from the Land of Marvels seemed
to her to be a real hero.

They came to the Faraway Tree. It was so hot
that the children didn
’
t feel like climbing up.
"We
’
ll go up on cushions," said
J
o. "We
’
ll send
the red squirrel up to tell
Moon-Face
to send
some down on ropes."

He whistled a little tune and the red squirrel
popped out of his hole. "Your jersey is getting so
holey you won
’
t be able to keep it on soon!"
said Bessie.

"I know," said the squirrel. "But I don
’
t know
how to darn.”

"I
’
ll darn it for you one day," said Bessie.
"I
’
m a good darner. Now, squirrel, go on up to
Moon-
Face, there
’
s a dear, and ask him to send
down four cushions on ropes. It
’
s really too hot
to climb up today."

The red squirrel bounded up the tree as light
as a
feather, his plumy tail waving behind him.
The children sat down and waited, watching the
queer little folk that trotted up and down the big
tree, going about their business.

Soon there came a rustling of leaves, and down
through the branches came four fat cushions,
tied firmly to ropes. "Here we are," said
J
o,
jumping up. "Moon-Face has been jolly quick.
Choose a cushion, Connie, and sit on it. Hold
the rope tightly, give it thre
e jerks, and up you
’
ll
go!
"

It was exciting. Connie sat on the big, soft
cushion, held on to the rope, and gave it three
tugs. The rope was hauled up from above, and
Connie went swinging upwards between the
branches. She saw the Tree was growing apricots
that day. She wondered if they were ripe.

She picked one and it was most deliciously sweet
and juicy. She thought she would pick another,
but by that time the Tree was growing acorns,
which was most disappointing.

Soon everyone was on the broad branch outside
Moon-Face
’
s house. He was there with Mister
Watzisname, pulling hard at the ropes.

"Hallo!" said Mister Watzisname, beaming at
the children. "Haven
’
t seen you for a long time."

"You
’
ve always been asleep when we
’
ve come
here," said Jo. "W
atzisname, this is Connie."

"Ah—how do you do?" said Watzisname. "Is
this the little girl
Saucepan was telling me about?
She doesn
’
t look so dirty and ragged as he said."

"
Well
!" began Connie, indignantly. "Fancy
Saucepan saying . . ."

"Now, don
’
t lose your temper," said
J
o. "After
all, you
did
look dirty and ragged the other day.
Where
is
Saucepan, Moon-Face? I want to buy
something from him."

"He
’
s gone up into the Land at the top of the
tree," said Moon-Face. "He heard that there was
an old friend of his there, Little Miss Muffet,
and he wanted to go and see her. She once gave
him some curds and whey when he was very
hungry, and he has never forgotten it. It was the
only time in his life he ever tasted curds and
whey."

"Oh!" said
Jo
. "Well, what Land is up there
is week, then?"

"The Land of Nursery Rhyme," said Moon-Face. "So Watzisname says, anyway. You went up,
didn
’
t you, Watzisname, and saw Little Tommy
Tucker, and Little
Jack
Horner?"

"Yes," said Watzisname. "Quite an interesting
Land. All sorts of friendly people there."

"Let
’
s go up and find Saucepan!" said Bessie.
"It would be fun. It
’
s quite a harmless Land,
that
’
s plain. Goodness knows how long Saucepan
will be up there with Little Miss Muffet. Maybe
he
’
s feasting on curds and whey again, and won
’
t
be back for days!"

"Oh
—
do let
’
s go!" said Connie. "And Moon-Face, dear Moon-Face, you come too."

"Don
’
t call me
'
Dear Moon-Face
'
," said Moon-Face. "You
’
re not a friend of mine yet."

"Oh!" said Connie, who was so used to being
fussed and spoilt by everyone that she couldn
’
t
understand anybody not liking her.

"I think it would be rather fun to go up and see
the Nursery Rhyme people," said
J
o. "Come on—let
’
s
go now. We could get a saucepan from the
old Saucepan Man whilst we are there, and take
it back with us."

"Well, come along, then," said Moon-Face, and
led the way up the topmost branch of the tree.
One by one they climbed it, came to the little
ladder that led through the cloud, and found
t
hemselves in yet another land.

"The Land of the Nursery Rhyme Folk," said
Bessie, looking round. "Well—we ought to know
most of the people here, though they won
’
t know
us! I wonder where Saucepan is. He could introduce us to everyone."

"We
’
ll ask where
Little Miss Muf
fet live
s,"
said Moon-Face. “Look—that must be
J
ack
Horner over there, carrying a pie!"