Magic Faraway Tree (10 page)

 

   
Jo jerked himself away. His collar tore -and the boy half slid, half climbed down
the ladder to safety. Soon he was in Moon-Face's house with the others-but what
was this? The toys did not stay up in their land-they poured down the ladder after
the children and their friends!
"They're coming in here!" yelled Moon-Face. "Oh, why didn't we
shut the door?"
But it was too late then to shut the door. Soldiers, golliwogs, bears and dolls
poured into Moon-Face's funny round room-and Moon-Face, quick as lightning, gave
them each a push towards the middle of his room.

 

   
The opening of his slippery-slip was there-and one by one all the astonished toys
fell into the hole and found themselves sliding wildly down the inside of the
tree!
As soon as Jo and the others saw what Moon-Face was doing, they did the same.

 

   
"Down you go!" said Jo to a fat golliwog, giving him a hard push-and
down he went.

 

   
"A push for you!" yelled Dick to a big blue teddy bear-and down the
slide went the bear.

 

   
Soon the children could do no more pushing, for they began to giggle. It really
was too funny to see the toys rushing in, being pushed, and going down the slide,
squealing and kicking for all they were worth. But after a while no more toys
came, and Moon-Face shut his door. He flung himself on his curved bed, and laughed
till the tears ran down his cheeks and wetted his pillow.

 

   
"What will the toys do?" asked Jo at last.

 

   
"Climb back up the tree to the Land of Toys," said Moon-Face, drying
his eyes. "We'll see them out of my window. They won't interfere with us
again!"
After about an hour the toys began to come past Moon-Face's window, slowly, as
if they were tired. Not one of them tried to open the door and get into Moon-Face's
house.

 

   
"They're afraid that if they don't get back into their land at once it will
move away!" said Silky. "Let's sit here and watch them all -and have
a few Google Buns and Pop Biscuits."
"I'm so very sorry to have caused all this trouble," said the Saucepan
Man in a humble voice. "And I didn't bring anything back for tea either.
You see, I really thought, when I got into the Land of Toys, that it was the Land
of Goodies, because one of the first things I saw was that toy sweet shop. And
in the Land of Goodies you can just take anything you like without paying-so of
course I went right into the shop and began to empty some chocolates out of a
box. That's why they put me into prison. It was dreadful. Oh, I was glad to hear
Jo singing. I knew at once that you would try to rescue me."
This was a very long speech for Saucepan to make. He looked so unhappy and sorry
that everyone forgave him at once for making such a silly mistake.

 

   
"Cheer up, Saucepan," said Moon-Face. "The Land of Goodies will
soon come along-and we'll ALL go and visit it, not just you -and we'll have the
grandest feast we have ever had in our lives."
"Oh, but do you think we ought to?" began Jo. "Honestly, we seem
to get into a fix every single time we go up the ladder."
"I'll make quite sure that the Land of Goodies is there," said Moon-Face.
"Nothing whatever can go wrong if we visit it. Don't be afraid. I say, Jo,
you and Dick and Saucepan do look awfully grand in your soldier's uniforms. Are
you always going to wear them?"
"Oh, gracious-I forgot we haven't got our proper clothes," said Jo.
"Mother will be cross if we leave them in the Land of Toys. We left them
under a hedge near the fort."
"And I left my lovely kettles and saucepans in the fort," said Saucepan
in a mournful voice. "I feel funny without them. I don't like being a soldier.
I want to be a Saucepan Man."
"I'd like you to be our dear old Saucepan Man, too," said Silky. "It
doesn't seem you, somehow, dressed up like that. But I don't see how we are to
get anything back. Certainly none of us is going back into the Land of Toys again!"
Just then three sailor dolls, last of all the toys, came climbing slowly up the
tree. They were no
crying. Their sailor clothes were torn and soaking wet.

 

   
Moon-Face opened his door. "What's the matter?" he asked. "What's
happened to you?"
"Awful things," said the first sailor. "We were climbing up this
tree when we came to a window, and we all peeped in. And a very angry pixie flew
out at us and pushed us off the branch. The Faraway Tree was growing thorns just
there and they tore our clothes to bits. And then a whole lot of washing water
came pouring down the tree on top of us and soaked us. So we feel dreadful. If
only we could get some new clothes!"
"Listen!" cried Jo suddenly. "How would you like to have our soldier
uniforms?. They are quite new and very smart."
"Oooh!" said all the sailor dolls together. "We'd love that. Would
you really give us those? We shall get into such trouble if we go back to the
Land of Toys like this."
"We'll give you them on one condition, sailor dolls," said Jo. "You
must find our own things in the Land of Toys and throw them down the ladder to
us. We'll tell you where they are,"
"We can easily do that," promised the sailors. So Jo, Dick and the Saucepan
stripped off their smart uniforms and gave them to the sailor dolls who took off
their torn blue clothes and dressed themselves in the red trousers, tunics and
bearskin helmets. They looked as smart as could be.

 

   
"Now you will find our clothes for us, won't you?" said Jo. "We
are trusting you, you see."
in
"We are very trustable," said the dolls, and ran up the ladder after
Jo had told them exactly where to find everything.

 

   
Jo, Dick and Saucepan sat in their vests and pants and shivered a little, for
the uniforms had been warm. "We shall look funny going home like this if
those sailors don't keep their word!" said Dick. "As a matter of fact,
I'd have liked to keep that uniform. I like it much better than my clothes."
"Look-something's coming down the ladder!" cried Moon-Face, and they
all ran out to see. "How quick the sailor dolls have been or soldier dolls,
I suppose, we ought to call them now."
Two sets of clothes tumbled down the ladder and the children caught them. Then
came a clatter and a clanging as kettles and saucepans came down too. Saucepan
was delighted. He put on a pair of ragged trousers and a funny old coat that came
down with the pans -and then Silky helped him to string his kettles and saucepans
round him as usual.

 

   
"Now you look our dear old Saucepan again," said Silky. The boys dressed,
too. Then Jo looked at Moon-Face's clock.

 

   
"We must go," he said. "Thanks for the Pop Biscuits and everything.
Now, Saucepan, don't get into any more trouble for a little while!"
"Smile?" said Saucepan, going suddenly deaf again. "I am smiling.
Look!"
"That's a grin, not a smile!" said Jo, as he saw
Saucepan smiling from ear to ear. "Now don't get into any more TROUBLE!"
"Bubble? Where's a bubble?" said Saucepan, looking all round. "I
didn't see anyone blowing bubbles."
The children grinned. Saucepan was always very funny when he heard things wrong.

 

   
"Come on," said Bessie. "Mother will be cross if we're home too
late. Good-bye, Moon-Face. Good-bye, Silky. We'll see you again soon."
"Well, don't forget to come to the Land of Goodies with us," said Silky.
"That really will be fun. Nearly as much fun as the Land of Do-As-You-Please."
"We'll come," promised Bessie. "Don't go without us. Can I have
a red cushion, Moon-Face? Thank you!"
One by one the four children slid swiftly down the slippery-slip to the bottom
of the tree. They shot out of the trap-door, gave the red squirrel the cushions
and set off home.

 

   
"I'm looking forward to our next adventure," said Dick. "It makes
my mouth water when I think of the Land of Goodies! Hurrah!"
16.

 

   
The Land of Goodies.

 

   
The four children were rather naughty the next few days. Dick and Jo quarrelled,
and they fell over when they began to wrestle with one another, and broke a little
table.

 

   
Then Bessie scorched a table-cloth when she was ironing it -and Fanny tore an
enormous hole in her blue frock when she went blackberrying.

 

   
"Really, you are all very naughty and careless lately," said their mother.
"Jo, you will mend that table as best you can. Dick, you must help him-and
if I see you quarrelling like that again I shall send you both to bed at once.
Fanny, why didn't you put on your old overall when you went biackberrying, as
I told you to? You are a naughty little girl. Sit down and mend that tear properly."
Bessie had to wash the table-cloth carefully to try and get the scorch marks out
of it.

 

   
"I say, it's a pity all these things have happened just this week,"
groaned Jo to Dick, as the two boys did their best to mend the table. "I'm
afraid the Land of Goodies will come and go before we get there! I daren't ask
Mother or Father if we can go off to the Faraway Tree. We've been so naughty that
they are sure to say no."
"Moon-Face and the others will be wondering why we don't go," said Bessie,
almost in tears.

 

   
They were. The Land of Goodies had come, and a most delicious smell kept coming
down the ladder. Moon-Face waited and waited for the children to come, and they
didn't.

 

   
Then he heard that the Land of Goodies was going to move away the next afternoon,
and he wondered what to do.

 

   
"We said we'd wait for the children -but we don't want to miss going ourselves,"
he said to Silky. "We had better send a note to them. Perhaps something has
happened to stop them coming."
So they wrote a note, and went down to ask the owl to take it. But he was asleep.
So they went to the woodpecker, who had a hole in the tree for himself, and he
said he would take it.

 

   
He flew off with it in his beak. He soon found the cottage and rapped at the window
with his beak.

 

   
"A lovely woodpecker!" cried Jo, looking up. "See the red on his
head? He's got a note for us!"
He opened the window. Mother was there, ironing in the same room as the children,
and she looked most astonished to see such an unexpected visitor.

 

   
Jo took the note. The bird stayed on the window-sill, waiting for an answer. Jo
read it and then showed it to the others. They all looked rather sad. It was dreadful
to know that the lovely Land of Goodies had come and was so soon going -and they
couldn't visit it.

 

   
"Tell Moon-Face we've been naughty and can't come," said Jo.

 

   
The bird spread its wings, but Mother looked up
and spoke. "Wait a minute!" she said to the bird. Then she turned to
Jo. "Read me the note," she said. Jo read it out loud:
"DEAR JO, BESSIE, FANNY AND DICK,
"The Land of Goodies is here and goes tomorrow. We have waited and waited
for you to come. If you don't come to-morrow we shall have to go by ourselves.
Can't you come? "Love from "SILKY, SAUCEPAN AND MOON-FACE."
"The Land of Goodies!" said Mother in amazement. "Well, I never
did hear of such funny happenings! I suppose there are lots of nice things to
eat there, and that's why you all want to go. Well-you certainly have been bad
children-but you've done your best to put things right. You may go to-morrow morning!"
"Mother! Oh, Mother, thank you!" cried the children. "Thank you,
Aunt Polly!" said Dick, hugging her. "Oh, how lovely!"
"Tell Moon-Face we'll come as soon as we can to-morrow morning," said
Jo to the listening woodpecker. He nodded his red-splashed head and flew off.
The children talked together, excited.

 

   
"I shan't have any breakfast," said Bessie. "It's not much good
going to the Land of Goodies unless we're hungry!"
"That's a good idea," said Dick. "I think I won't have any supper
to-night either!"
So when the time came for the four children to
set off to the Enchanted Wood, they were all terribly hungry! They ran to the
Faraway Tree and climbed up it in excitement.

 

   
"I hope there are treacle tarts," said Jo.

 

   
"I want chocolate blancmange," said Bessie.

 

   
"I simply can't begin to say the things I'd like," said greedy Dick.

 

   
"Well, don't," said Jo. "Save your breath and hurry. You're being
left behind!"
They got to Moon-Face's, and shouted loudly to him. He came running out of his
tree-house in delight.

 

   
"Oh, good, good, good!" he cried. "You are nice and early. Silky,
they're here! Go down and call old Saucepan. He's with Mister Watzisname.

 

   
I'm sure Saucepan would like to come too."
It wasn't long before seven excited people were climbing up the ladder to the
Land of Goodies. How they longed to see what it was like!
Well, it was much better than anyone imagined! It was a small place, set with
little crooked houses and shops -and every single house and shop was made of things
to eat! The first house that the children saw was really most extraordinary.

 

   
"Look at that house!" cried Jo. "Its walls are made of sugar -and
the chimneys are chocolate-and the window-sills are peppermint cream!"
"And look at that shop!" cried Dick. "It's got wails made of brown
chocolate, and the door is made of marzipan. And I'm sure the window-sills are
gingerbread!"
The Land of Goodies was really a very extraordinary place. Everything in it seemed
to be eatable. And then the children caught sight of the trees and bushes and
called out in the greatest astonishment:
"Look! That tree is growing currant buns!"
"And that one has got buds that are opening out into biscuits! It's a Biscuit
Tree!"
"And look at this little tree here -it's growing big, flat, white flowers
like plates -and the middle of the flowers is full of jelly. Let's taste it."
They tasted it-and it was jelly! It was really most peculiar. There was another
small bush that grew clusters of a curious-looking fruit, like flat berries of
all colours-and, will you believe it, when the children picked the fruit it was
boiled sweets, all neatly growing together like a bunch of grapes.