The Wishing-Chair Again (22 page)

There was a crowd of little people yelling with laughter. Peter waded in and pulled Winks out. The goldfish flapped out, too, and lay on the beach. It didn't seem to mind leaving the water at all—but then, as Mollie said, it wasn't a
real, live
fish. It was just a roundabout one.

“Winks, we're not a bit sorry for you,” said Peter. “As usual, you brought your trouble on yourself. Now, just pick up that fish and take it back to the roundabout.”

The fish was big but not heavy. Winks groaned and put it on his shoulder. It flapped its fins and made itself as difficult to carry as it possibly could. Winks staggered back to the roundabout with it.

But the roundabout was gone. It had completely disappeared.

“Well,” said Winks, dumping the fish on the ground at once. “I'm not carrying this fish any longer, then.”

But the others made him. “We might meet the pixie in charge of the roundabout,” said Peter. “And you could give it him back then. He was very upset at losing it.”

So Winks had to stagger along carrying the goldfish. Still, as Peter said, if he was going to make trouble, he could jolly well carry his own troubles!

It certainly was an Island of Surprises. There was a surprise round almost every corner! For one thing, there was a wonderful Balloon Tree. It had buds that blew up into balloons. Under the tree sat a brownie with a ball of string. You could choose your own balloon, pick it off the tree, and then get the neck tied with string by the brownie. They all chose balloons at once.

Winks stayed behind and they had to go back and fetch him. He had done a very surprising thing. He had picked six of the biggest balloons and had got enough string from the brownie to tie each of them to the big goldfish. And just as Chinky and the children reached the Balloon Tree again they saw Winks set the goldfish free in the wind—and the breeze took hold of the balloons and carried goldfish and all high up in the air.

“Oh, Winks!” said Mollie. “Now look what you've done!”

Winks grinned. “Just a little surprise for the goldfish,” he said. “Thank goodness I've got rid of him.”

Well, what can you do with a brownie like that? The others gave him up in despair and walked on again. The Wishing-Chair followed them closely, as if it was a bit afraid of the Island of Surprises.

Round the next corner was another surprise. There were a dozen small motor cars that seemed to go by magic. “Come and race, come and race!” chanted a little goblin. “The winner can choose his own prize!”

The prizes were as exciting as the little cars. There was a purse that always had a penny in it no matter how many times you took the penny out—so you could soon have as many as you liked. There was a book with a most exciting story that never ended. When you came to the last page you found there was another after all—so you never did come to the end of the story!

There was a little clock that didn't strike the hour, but called them out in a dear little voice. “It is now twelve o'clock! “ And there was a teapot that would pour out any drink you liked to mention.

“Ooooh—do let's try a race!” cried Winks, and he leapt into a fine blue car. “I want one of those prizes!”

They all chose cars. The goblin set them in a row and showed them how to work them. “Just press hard on these buttons, first with one foot and then with the other,” he said. “Now—are you ready—one, two, three, GO!”

And off they went. Winks bumped into Chinky and both cars fell over. Mollie's foot slipped off one button and her car stopped for a moment or two. But Peter shot ahead and won the race, whilst all the little folk cheered and clapped.

“Choose your prize,” said the goblin. Peter chose a little dish with a lid. It was a wonderful dish. Every time you lifted the lid there was some titbit there—a sausage or a bar of chocolate or an orange, or an ice-cream—something like that. Peter thought it would be very useful indeed to keep in the playroom.

They had a wonderful time that day. Once the surprise was not very nice. They went to sit down for a rest on some dear little rocking chairs. The chairs at once began to rock as soon as everyone was sitting in them—and they rocked so violently that everyone was thrown roughly out on the ground.

The goblin in charge laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks.
“Not
a very pleasant surprise,” said Mollie, picking herself up and running after her balloon, which was blowing away. “Funny to watch, I dare say—but not funny to do!”

They kept having titbits out of the Titbit Dish, but Mollie wished there were more ice-creams. So it was a lovely surprise when they came to a big public fountain, which had a tap labelled: ‘Ice-cream Tap. TURN AND SAY WHAT KIND.’

Mollie turned it at once. “Chocolate ice-cream,” she said, and out came a stream of chocolate cream that ran into a small cornet underneath and froze at once.

“Wonderful,” said Mollie, and everyone said the same. Winks, of course, had to try and be tricky as usual. He turned on the tap and said “ Vanilla, strawberry, coffee and chocolate, please.”

The tap gurgled and spluttered and then fizzed out completely. No ice-cream came at all.

“Now you've made it go wrong,” said an angry imp nearby. “We shan't get any more ice-creams till the tap's put right!”

He was so angry that he chased the four of them round the corner.

“Winks, I do WISH you wouldn't do such silly things,” said Mollie.

“Oh, look! “ cried Peter, and they all looked in delight. They had come to the little field, and in it were big white swans waiting to take people for flights in the air.

“Shall we have a fly?” said Peter. “Do you think the Wishing-Chair will be jealous if we do?”

“I think one of us had better stay down on the ground with the chair, whilst the others are having a turn at flying on the birds,” said Mollie. “Just in
case
it flies off in a huff, you know.”

So Mollie sat in the Wishing-Chair whilst the others chose swans and rose up in the air on the backs of the beautiful white birds. How lovely it was sailing along like that on a bird's back!

When it was Winks' turn to sit in the Wishing-Chair and stay with it, whilst the others rode on the swans, he got bored. So he thought he would get the chair to chase the swans and make them fly faster!

And up went the Wishing-Chair into the air and began to chase the swans, bumping into their tails and creaking at them in a most alarming manner. One swan was so startled that it turned almost upside down trying to get away from the Wishing-Chair—and the rider on its back fell headlong to the ground.

It was a witch! Fortunately she had her broomstick with her and she managed to get on that as she fell. She landed on the ground with not much more than a nasty bump.

But she was so angry with Winks! She called the Wishing-Chair to the ground at once and scolded Winks so hard that he tried to hide under the chair in a fright. Mollie, Peter and Chinky flew down at once, angry, too, because of his mischievous trick.

“Ha, Chinky! “ said the angry witch, “is this brownie a friend of yours? Who is he?”

“He's Winks, a brownie,” said Chinky.

“What—Winks, who turned his grandmother's pigs blue?” cried the witch. “I thought he was at Mister Grim's school. Well—it's time he was back here. Swan, come here!”

A big white swan flew down to her. The witch picked up Winks as if he were a feather and sat him firmly down on the swan's back.

“Now,” she said to the swan, “take Winks to Mister Grim's school and deliver him to Mister Grim himself. If he tries to escape from your back, peck him hard.”

“Oh, no, oh, no!” wailed Winks. “Mollie, Peter, don't let me go.”

“You'll have to, Winks,” said Mollie. “You really are too naughty for anything. Try to be good this term, and perhaps you'll be allowed to spend your next holidays with Chinky and us. Goodbye.”

“But I shan't get enough to eat! I always have to go without my dinner!” wailed Winks, with tears pouring down his cheeks. “I don't want to go!”

Peter couldn't help feeling sorry for him. “Here— take the Titbit Dish,” he said, and pushed it into Winks' hands. “You'll always have something nice to eat, then.”

Winks' tears dried up at once. He beamed. “Oh,
thank you,
Peter—how wonderful! Now I don't mind going back a bit! I'll be as good as anything. I'll see you all next holidays. Goodbye!”

And off he went on the swan, back to Mister Grim's school for Brownies, hugging the Titbit Dish in joy.

“He's very, very naughty, and I can't help thinking that Mister Grim's school is the only place for him,” said Mollie. “But I do like him very much, all the same.”

“He's a bad lot,” said the witch. “It's a very good thing I didn't send him off to the Village of Bad Lots. He'd have had a dreadful time there.”

“Look, the sun's going down,” said Chinky suddenly. “We must go. They say the Island of Surprises always disappears at sunset, and we don't want to disappear with it. Quick—it's disappearing already!”

So it was! Parts of it began to look misty and dream-like. The children and Chinky went to the Wishing-Chair at once. “Home, Wishing-Chair,” said Mollie. “Quick, before we all disappear with the Island. That witch has vanished already!”

And home to the playroom they went- They heard Mother ringing the bell for bedtime just as they arrived.

“Oh dear—our very last adventure these holidays, I'm afraid,” said Mollie. “Chinky, you'll take the chair to your mother's, won't you, and take great care of it for us? You know the date we come back home from school. Be here in time to welcome us!”

“We'll slip in and say a last goodbye before we leave for school,” promised Peter. “Don't be lonely without us, Chinky, will you? And couldn't you go and see Winks once or twice at school—in the Wishing-Chair— just to cheer him up?”

“I'll see if my mother will let me,” said Chinky. “She doesn't like Winks, you know. Anyway, he will be quite happy with the Titbit Dish, Peter. It
was
nice of you to give it to him.”

“Goodbye, Wishing-Chair,” said Mollie, patting it. “You've taken us on some wonderful adventures this time. Be ready to take us again next holidays, won't you?”

The chair creaked loudly, as if it, too, were saying goodbye. The bedtime bell rang again, this time quite impatiently.

“We must go!” said Mollie, and she gave Chinky a hug. “We
are
lucky to have you and a Wishing-Chair, we really are! Goodbye!”

Goodbye, too, Mollie, Peter, Chinky, Winks and the Wishing-Chair. We'll see you all again someday, we hope!

THE END

The first story about

Mollie, Peter and Chinky

is called

ADVENTURES OF THE

WISHING-CHAIR