The Wishing-Chair Again (18 page)

“I'll show you where it is,” he said eagerly, “Follow me.”

They followed him. He darted in and out of the trees, following no path that they could see—and then at last they saw Wandering Castle! It stood there, rocking a little in the wind, for it had no true foundations as other buildings have. It was tall and dark and gloomy—and it hadn't a single window of any kind!

“There you are!” said Sleep-Alone. “A very fine castle, too—only one door—and no windows. Just the place for me!”

Mr. Spells looked at the castle in silence. One door —and no windows. A very difficult place to escape from if they got inside. But they must get inside. There was no doubt about that.

“Stay here by the door, Sleep-Alone,” said Mr. Spells at last. “We're going in.”

He went up the broad steps to the great studded door.

The door opened. A giant stood there, a cross-eyed fellow, with a twisted smile on his face.

“Come in,” he said. “So you've found me, have you? Well, I'm not going to deny that I've got the Wishing-Chair—yes, and Chinky, too—and now I'll have you as well.”

To the children's surprise, Mr. Spells didn't run away.

He stepped inside and the children and Winks went, too, all feeling rather scared. Twisty laughed.

“This is easier than I thought!” he said. “How are you going to get out again, Mr. Spells, clever Mr. Spells? There is now no door—and, as I dare say you have seen, there are no windows at all!”

The children turned and looked behind them. The door had vanished. They were indeed prisoners. But Mr. Spells didn't seem at all disturbed.

“Where is Chinky?” he said.

“Follow me,” said Twisty, and he went down a long, dark passage and through a door. He crossed the room beyond the door, and came to another one. The door to this was locked and bolted. He opened it.

Inside was Chinky, sitting miserably in the Wishing-Chair! He leapt up in the greatest joy when he saw the others. Mollie ran to him and flung her arms round him.

“Chinky! You're safe! Oh, Chinky, we've come to rescue you!”

Peter slapped Chinky on the back and Winks pumped his hand up and down, yelling, “Chinky, good old Chinky!”

In the middle of all this there came the sound of the door being slammed and bolted. Then they heard Twisty laughing loudly.

“Easy! Too easy for words! You can't get out, Mr. Spells, however powerful you are. This door has a Keep-Shut Spell in it that I bought from an old witch years ago. And it's the only way out! You can go free if you give me some spells I've wanted for years.”

“You'll never get them from me, Twisty,” called Mr. Spells. “Never!”

For a few minutes Chinky and the children talked eagerly, telling each other all that had happened. Then they fell silent. They suddenly realised that they were prisoners. No windows. No way of getting through the door. Mr. Spells said yes, it had a strong spell on it that not even he could undo. But he didn't seem at all upset about things.

“Mr. Spells! You
are
going to get us out of here, aren't you?” begged Mollie.

“Sh! Don't get alarmed,” said Mr. Spells. “I am going to do a spell on us all. Yes, and on the Wishing-Chair, too. Now, where's my chalk?”

He found a white chalk in his pocket and a blue one, too. He drew first a white circle and then a blue one inside it. He made the children, Chinky and Winks sit down in the middle of it.

Then he got inside the circle himself, and sat down in the Wishing-Chair.       

“I'm going to say very magic words,” he said. “Shut your eyes, please—and don't be surprised at whatever happens!”

THE children, Chinky and Winks shut their eyes. Mr. Spells began to mutter some magic words under his breath—then he spoke some aloud and then he suddenly shouted three spell-words at the top of his voice, making everyone jump violently.

There was a silence. Then Mr. Spells spoke in his ordinary voice. “You can open your eyes now. The spell is done.”

They opened their eyes and looked round them in wonder. They were in the very biggest room they had ever seen in their lives. The floor stretched endlessly away from them. The walls seemed miles away. Not far from them was a colossal wooden pillar—or what looked like one. The ceiling seemed to have disappeared or else was so far away that they couldn't see it. Certainly there was no sky above them, so probably the ceiling was still there!

“What's that enormous wooden post?” said Peter in wonder. “It wasn't here just now.”

“It's the leg of the table,” said Mr. Spells surprisingly.

The children stared at him.

“What do you mean?” said Peter. “It's much too big for that—look, that's the wooden pillar I mean —over there. And where are the chalk circles gone?”

“We're still standing in the middle of them,” said Mr. Spells with a laugh. “Do you mean to say you don't know what has happened?”

“No,” said Peter. “I feel funny, you know—but except that we appear to be in quite a different place now I don't know what's happened.”

“
I
do,” said Chinky. “You've used a very powerful Go-Small spell, Mr. Spells, haven't you? Goodness, I was awfully afraid you weren't going to stop the spell soon enough—I thought we were going to shrink to nothing. How big are we?”

“Smaller than mice,” said Mr. Spells. “About as big as bees, I should think. I wanted to make us small enough to creep under the door, you see—and as it fits rather closely to the floor, it wasn't any good making us as big as mice, we wouldn't be able to squeeze underneath. As it is, I think we're just about right.”

“How clever of you!” said Mollie joyfully. “I see what has happened now —why the ceiling seems so far away, and why that table-leg looks like a great pillar—and why we can't see the chalk circles—we'd have to walk a long way to get to them now!”

“Quite right,” said Mr. Spells. “Now I think we'd better make a move, in case the giant comes back and guesses what I've done. I'm glad the spell went so well—sometimes a powerful spell like that makes loud noises, and I've known it to make lightning come round the circle.”

“Gracious!” said Peter. “I wish it had. I'd have enjoyed our own private little storm!”

“Now the thing is—where's the door gone?” said Chinky. “We've gone so small that the room is simply enormous, and the wall where the door is seems miles away. We'd better begin walking right round the walls till we come to the door!”

But Mr. Spells knew where the door was. Carrying the Wishing-Chair, which had gone small, too, he led them for what seemed miles over the floor, and they at last came to where the door was fitted into the wall. A draught blew steadily at them as they came near to the enormous door.

“That's the draught blowing under the bottom of the door,” explained Mr. Spells. “Now—I'm going to squeeze under first to see that everything is safe. Be ready to follow me when you hear me call.”

He disappeared under the door, bending himself double. Soon they heard his voice. “Yes—come along —it's all right.”

One by one they squeezed under the door, and found themselves in what they supposed must be the room outside—but now, of course, it seemed a very vast dark place indeed. “Shall I make us our right size again— or shall I keep us small?” wondered Mr. Spells. “On the whole, I think I'll keep us small.”

He led them across the room and down a passage, making them all keep very close to the bottom of the wall. It was a very good thing he did, too, because round the corner they heard the sound of tremendous footsteps that shook the floor and made it tremble— the giant coming along the passage!

In a trice Mr. Spells pulled them all into what appeared to be some kind of mouse-hole—it seemed as large as a cave to the children! They crouched there till the thundering footsteps had gone by. Then out they went as fast as they could.

“I want to find the front door if I can,” said Mr. Spells. “We can easily slip under that. It must be at the end of this passage. That is if it has appeared again!”

But before they reached it a thunderous noise made them all jump nearly out of their skins—Mr. Spells, too!

BANG-BANG-THUD-RAT-TAT-TAT!

“What is it?” cried Mollie, and caught hold of Mr. Spells. “What can it be?”

Mr. Spells laughed. “I think I can guess what it is,” he said. “It's Chinky's cousin, Sleep-Alone. He's got tired of waiting for the castle, and he's knocking at the door to see what's happened! Oh dear—now I don't know
what
will happen!”

Plenty happened. When the knocker banged again on the door, an answering roar came from inside the castle, and Twisty the giant came pounding along the passage in a fine temper.

“Who's that knocking at my door? How dare you make this noise? I'll turn you into a cream bun and eat you!”

The door was swung open and a wind blew down the passage at once, almost blowing the five tiny people over. Sleep-Alone stood outside, a small figure compared with the giant, but seeming like a giant now to the tiny children!

“Quick!” said Mr. Spells, “they are going to have a quarrel. Now's our chance to escape out of the door —but keep away from their feet for goodness sake. We're so small that neither of them will notice us.”

Feeling very much afraid of the stamping feet and shouting voices, the children ran with Chinky and Winks out of the door, keeping well to the side. But they couldn't possibly go any further than the top step because the drop down to the second step seemed like a cliff to them!

“I'll have to take a chance now and change us back to our right size,” said Mr. Spells. “Otherwise we'll have to stand on this top step and sooner or later be trampled on. Shut your eyes, please, take hands, and keep together. I haven't got time to draw chalk circles, so this spell will happen very quickly. As soon as you're the right size, run down the steps as quickly as ever you can, and go to that tree over there. I'll bring the Wishing-Chair, and we'll soon be off and away!”

“What about Sleep-Alone?” said Chinky. “We promised he could have the castle.”

“He'll look after that all right,” said Mr. Spells, with a laugh. “Sleep-Alone is bolder than I thought he was! Now—eyes shut, please, and hold hands hard.”

They all obeyed. Mr. Spells said the words that undid the Go-Small spell, and allowed them to shoot up to their right size again—but, as he had said, it happened very suddenly indeed, and all five of them gasped, felt giddy and fell over. It was just like going up in a lift very, very quickly!

“Quick—get up—he's seen us!” shouted Mr. Spells. He picked up the Wishing-Chair which had also gone back to its right size, and ran down the steps with it. Everyone followed.

Sleep-Alone and the giant had been having a real rough and tumble. The giant was stronger and bigger than Sleep-Alone—but Chinky's cousin was very wily, and got in so many sly jabs and punches that the giant had completely lost his temper.

He lashed out at Sleep-Alone, who ducked—but the blow just caught him on the top of his head. He stumbled —and that would have been the end of him if the giant hadn't, at that very moment, caught sight of the five prisoners tearing down his steps! He was so tremendously astonished that he forgot all about Sleep-Alone and simply stood there, staring out of his saucer-like eyes!

Then, with a bellow, he was after them. “How did you escape?” he roared. “Come back—or I'll throw you all up to the moon!” Mr. Spells put down the Wishing-Chair. He sat in it quickly and pulled Peter and Mollie on his knee. Winks and Chinky sat on the back. “Home, Chair,” ordered Mr. Spells, and at once the obedient Wishing-Chair rose into the air, a little slowly because it had such a heavy weight to carry. The giant made a grab at it, but the chair dodged, and Mr. Spells hit the giant smartly on his outstretched hand. The giant yelped.

“Goodbye!” called Chinky, waving his hand. “Give my love to Sleep-Alone.”

Meanwhile what had happened to Sleep-Alone? Plenty! When he saw the giant rushing after the others, he stood and stared for a moment. Then he grinned. Then he hopped into Wandering Castle and shut the door very quietly.

And when Twisty turned round to go back and finish his quarrel with Sleep-Alone, there was no castle there! It had gone on its wanderings again!