Magic Faraway Tree (6 page)

 

   
The table whizzed steadily onwards, over hills and woods, and once over the sea.
"We've come a very long way from home since we've been in the Land of Spells,"
said Jo. "I hope the table knows its way to our home. I don't want to land
in any more strange lands just at present!"
The table knew its way all right. Jo gave a shout as it flew over a big dark wood.
"The Enchanted Wood!" he cried. "We're nearly home!"
The table flew down to the garden of the children's cottage. Their mother was
there, hanging out some clothes. She looked round in the greatest astonishment
when she saw them arrive in such a peculiar way.

 

   
"Well, really!" she said. "Whatever next! Do you usually fly around
the country in an upside-down table?"
"Oh, mother! We've had such an adventure!" said Jo, scrambling off.
He looked up in the air to see if the bench was following -but there was no sign
of it.

 

   
"Where's the bench?" said Dick. "Oh-I suppose it will go to the
Faraway, as that is where the others live. Gracious-I feel all trembly. Jo-I am
NOT going into any more lands at the top of the Faraway Tree again. It's just
a bit too exciting!"
"Right," said Jo. "I feel the same. No more adventures for me!"
9-The Land of Dreams.

 

   
The children had had enough of adventures for some time. Their mother set them
to work in the garden, and they did their best for her. Nobody suggested going
to the Enchanted Wood at all.

 

   
"I hope old Moon-Face, Silky and the Saucepan Man got back to the tree safely,"
said Jo one day.

 

   
Moon-Face was wondering the same thing about the children. He and Silky talked
about it.

 

   
"We haven't seen the children for ages," he said. "Let's slip down
the tree, Silky, and make sure they got back all right, shall we? After all, it
would be dreadful if they hadn't got back, and their mother was worrying about
them."
So one afternoon, just after lunch, Silky and Moon-Face walked up to the door
of the cottage. Bessie opened it and squealed with delight.

 

   
"Moon-Face! So you got back safely after all! Come in! Come in, Silky darling.
Saucepan, you'll have to take off a kettle or two if you want to get in at the
door."
The children's parents were out. The children and their friends sat and talked
about their last adventure.

 

   
"What land is at the top of the tree now?" asked Dick curiously.

 

   
"Don't know," said Moon-Face. "Like to come and see?" 64
"No, thanks," said Jo at once. "We're not going up there any more."
"Well, come back and have tea with us," said Moon-Face. "Silky's
got some Pop Biscuits -and I've made some Google Buns. I don't often make them-and
I tell you they're a treat!"
"Google Buns!" said Bessie in astonishment. "Whatever are they?"
"You come and see," said Moon-Face, grinning. "They're better than
Pop Biscuits -aren't they, Silky?"
"Much," said Silky.

 

   
"Well-Fanny and I have finished our work," said Bessie. "What about
you boys?"
"We've got about half an hour's more work to do, that's all," said Jo.
"If everyone helps, it will only take about ten minutes. We could leave a
note for Mother. I would rather like to try those Google Buns!"
Well, everyone went into the garden to dig up the carrots and put them into piles.
It didn't take more than ten minutes because they all worked so hard. They put
away their tools, washed their hands, left a note for Mother and then set off
for the Enchanted Wood.

 

   
The Saucepan Man sang one of his ridiculous songs on the way:
"Two tails for a kitten, Two clouds for the sky, Two pigeons for Christmas
To make a plum pie!"
Everyone laughed. Jo, Bessie and Fanny had heard the Saucepan Man's silly songs
before, but Dick hadn't.

 

   
"Go on," said Dick. "This is the silliest song I've ever heard."
The Saucepan Man clashed two kettles together as he sang:
"Two roses for Bessie, Two spankings for Jo, Two ribbons for Fanny, With
a ho-derry-ho!"
"It's an easy song to make up as you go along," said Bessie, giggling.
"Every line but the last has to begin with the word 'Two'. Just think of
any nonsense you like, and the song simply makes itself."
Singing silly songs, they all reached the Faraway Tree. Saucepan yelled up it:
"Hie, Watzis-name! Let down a rope, there's a good fellow! It's too hot to
walk up to-day."
The rope came down. They all went up one by one, pulled high by the strong arms
of Mister Watzisname.

 

   
Fanny was unlucky. She got splashed by Dame Washalot's water on the way up. "Next
time I go up on the rope I shall take an umbrella with me," she said crossly.

 

   
"Come on," said Moon-Face. "Come and eat a Google Bun and see what
you think of it."
Soon they were all sitting on the broad branches
outside Moon-Face's house, eating Pop Biscuits and Google Buns. The buns were
most peculiar. They each had a very large currant in the middle, and this was
filled with sherbet. So when you got to the currant and bit it the sherbet frothed
out and filled your mouth with fine bubbles that tasted delicious. The children
got a real surprise when they bit their currants, and Moon-Face almost fell off
the branch with laughing.

 

   
"Come and see some new cushions I've got," he said to the children when
they had eaten as many biscuits and buns as they could manage. Jo, Bessie and
Fanny went into Moon-Face's funny round house.

 

   
Moon-Face looked round for Dick. But he wasn't there. "Where's Dick?"
he said.

 

   
"He's gone up the ladder to peep and see what land is at the top," said
Silky. "I told him not to. But he's rather a naughty boy, I think."
"Gracious!" said Jo, running out of the house. "Dick! Come back,
you silly!"
Everyone began to shout, "Dick! DICK!"
But no answer came down the ladder. The big white cloud swirled above silently,
and nobody could imagine why Dick didn't come back.

 

   
"I'll go and see what he's doing," said Moon-Face. So up he went. And
he didn't come back either! Then the old Saucepan Man went cautiously up, step
by step. He disappeared through the hole -and he didn't come back! , "Whatever
has happened to them?" said Jo in the gravest astonishment. "Look here,
girls-get
a rope out of Moon-Face's house and tie yourselves and Silky to me. Then I'll
go up the ladder-and if anyone tries to pull me into the land above, they won't
be able to, because you three can pull me back. See?"
"Right," said Bessie, and she knotted the rope round her waist and Fanny's,
and then round Silky's, too. Jo tied the other end to himself. Then up the ladder
he went.

 

   
And before the girls quite knew what had happened, Jo was lifted into the land
above -and they were all dragged up, too, their feet scrambling somehow up the
ladder and through the hole in the cloud!
There they all stood in a field of red poppies, with a tall man nearby, holding
a sack over his shoulder!
"Is that the lot?" he asked. "Good! Well, here's something to make
you sleep!"
He put his hand in his sack and scattered a handful of the finest sand over the
surprised group. In a trice they were rubbing their eyes and yawning.

 

   
"This is the Land of Dreams," said Moon-Face sleepily. "And that's
the Sandman. Goodness, how sleepy I am!"
"Don't go to sleep! Don't go to sleep!" cried Silky, taking Moon-Face's
arm and shaking him. "If we do, we'll wake up and find that this land has
moved away from the Faraway Tree. Come back down the hole, Moon-Face, and don't
be silly." 68
"I'm so-sleepy," said Moon-Face, and lay down among the red poppies.
In a trice he was snoring loudly, fast asleep.

 

   
"Get him to the hole!" cried Silky. But Jo, Dick and the Saucepan Man
were all yawning and rubbing their eyes, too sleepy to do a thing. Then Bessie
and Fanny slid down quietly into the poppies and fell asleep, too. At last only
Silky was left. Not much of the sleepy sand had gone into her eyes, so she was
wider awake than the rest.

 

   
She stared at everyone in dismay. "Oh dear," she said, "I'll never
get you down the hole by myself. I'll have to get help. I must go and fetch Watzisname
and the Angry Pixie and Dame Washalot, too!"
She ran off to the hole, slipped down the ladder through the cloud and slid on
to the broad branch below. "Watzisname!" she called. "Dame Washalot!
Angry Pixie!"
After a minute or two Jo woke up. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. Not far off he
saw something that pleased him very much indeed. It was an icecream man with his
cart. The man was ringing his bell loudly.

 

   
"Hie, Moon-Face! Wake up!" cried Jo. "There's an ice-cream man.
Have you any money?"
Everyone woke up. Moon-Face felt in his purse and then stared in the greatest
surprise. It was full of marbles!
"Now who put marbles there?" he wondered.

 

   
The ice-cream man rode up. "Marbles will do
to pay for my ice-cream," he said. So Moon-Face paid him six marbles.

 

   
The man gave them each a packet and rode off, ringing his bell. Moon-Face undid
his packet, expecting to find a delicious ice-cream there-but inside there was
a big whistle! It was most astonishing.

 

   
Everyone else had a whistle, too. "How extraordinary!" said Dick. "This
is the kind of thing that happens in dreams!"
"Well-after all-this is Dreamland!" said Bessie. "I wonder if these
whistles blow!"
She blew hers. It was very loud indeed. The others blew theirs, too. And at once
six policemen appeared near by, running for all they were worth. They rushed up
to the children.

 

   
"What's the matter?" they cried. "You are blowing police whistles!
What has happened? Do you want help?"
"No," said Dick with a giggle.

 

   
"Then you must come to the swimming-bath," said the policeman, and to
everyone's enormous astonishment they were all led off.

 

   
"Why the swimming bath?" said Fanny. "Listen, policeman -we haven't
got bathing costumes."
"Oh, you naughty story-teller!" said the policeman nearest to her.

 

   
And to Bessie's tremendous surprise she found that she had on a blue and white
bathing costume-and all the others had bathing suits, too. It was most extraordinary.

 

   
They came to the swimming bath-but there 70
was no water in it at all. "Get in and swim," said the policeman.

 

   
"There's no water," said Dick. "Don't be silly." And then,
very suddenly, all the policemen began to cry-and in a trice the swimming bath
was full of their tears!
"This sort of thing makes me feel funny," said Jo. "I don't want
to swim in tears. Quick, everyone-push the policemen into the bath!"
And in half a second all the policemen were kicking feebly in the bath of tears.
As the children watched they changed into blue fishes and swam away, nicking their
tails.

 

   
"I feel as if I'm in a dream," said Dick.

 

   
"So do I," said Jo. "I wish I could get out of it. Oh, look-there's
an aeroplane coming down. Perhaps we could get into it and fly away!"
The aeroplane, which was small and green, landed near by. There was nobody in
it at all. The children ran to it and got in. Jo pushed down the handle marked
UP.

 

   
"Off we go!" he said. And off they went!
10.

 

   
A Few More Adventures
Everyone was very pleased to be in the aeroplane, because they thought they could
fly away from the Land of Dreams. After a second or two Bessie leaned over the
side of the aeroplane to see how high they were from the ground. She gave a loud
cry.

 

   
"What's the matter?" asked Jo.

 

   
"Jo! This isn't an aeroplane after all!" said Bessie in astonishment.
"It's a bus. It hasn't got wings any more. Only wheels. And we're sitting
on seats at the top of the bus. Well! I did think it was an aeroplane!"
"Gracious! Aren't we flying, then?" said Jo,
"No -just running down a road," said Fanny.

 

   
Everyone was silent. They were so disappointed. Then a curious noise was heard.
Splishy-splash! Splash! Splash!
The children looked over the side of the bus-and they all gave a shout of amazement.

 

   
"Jo! Look! The bus is running on water! But it isn't a bus any more. Oh,
look-it's got a sail!"
In the greatest astonishment everyone looked upwards- and there3 billowing in
the wind, was a great white sail. And Jo was now steering with a tiller instead
of with a handle or a wheel. It was all most muddling.

 

   
"This is certainly the Land of Dreams, no doubt about that," groaned
Jo, wondering whatever the
ship would turn into. "The awful part is-we're awake-and yet we have to have
these dream-like things happening!"
An enormous wave splashed over everyone. Fanny gave a scream. The ship rocked
to and fro, to and fro, and everyone clung tightly to one another.

 

   
"Let's land somewhere, for goodness' sake!" cried Dick. "Goodness
knows what this ship will turn into next-a rocking-horse, I should think, by the
way it's rocking itself to and fro."
And do you know, no sooner had Dick said that than it did turn into a rocking-horse.
Jo found himself holding on to its mane, and all the others clung together behind
him. The water disappeared.

 

   
The rocking-horse seemed to be rocking down a long road.

 

   
"Let's get off," shouted Jo. "I don't like the way this thing keeps
changing. Slip off, Moon-Face, and help the others down."
It wasn't long before they were all standing in the road, feeling rather queer.
The rocking-horse went on rocking by itself down the road. As the children watched
it, it changed into a large brown bear that scampered on its big paws.

 

   
"Ha!" said Jo. "We got off just in time! Well-what are we going
to do now?"
A man came down the road carrying a green-covered tray on his head. He rang a
bell. "Muffins! Fine muffins!" he shouted. "Muffins for sale!"
"Oooh! I feel exactly as if I could eat a muffin," said Bessie. "Hie,
muffin-man! We'll have six muffins."
The muffin-man stopped. He took down his tray from his head and uncovered it.
Underneath were not muffins, but small kittens!
The muffin-man seemed to think they were muffins. He handed one to each of the
surprised children, and one to Moon-Face and Saucepan. Then he covered up his
tray again and went down the road ringing his bell.