The Magic Faraway Tree Page 10

  "Oh, we can manage that for you," said Silky at once. "Old Dame Washalot will do it for nothing. It's the joy of her life to wash, wash, wash! I believe if she's got nothing dirty to wash, she washes clean things. She even washes the leaves on the Faraway Tree if she's got nothing else to wash. Is that the basket over there? Moon-Face and I will take it up the tree now, and bring it back when it's finished."

  "Oh, thank you, Silky darling," said Bessie gratefully. "Mother will be so pleased when I tell her. She'll stop worrying about that."

  Silky and Moon-Face went off with the basket. They took it to Dame Washalot, and how her face shone with joy when she saw such a lot of washing to be done! "My, this is good of you!" she said, taking out the dirty things and throwing them into her enormous wash-tub of soapy water. "Now this is what I really enjoy! I'll have them all washed and ironed by to-night."

  Silky was pleased. She knew how beautifully Dame Washalot washed and ironed. She went up to Moon-Face's house to have dinner with him.

  "I do so wish we could help make the children's mother better," she said. "She is such a darling, isn't she? And the children love her so much. Moon-Face, can't you possibly think of anything?"

  "Well, I don't suppose Toffee Shocks would be any good, do you?" said Moon-Face. "I've got some of those."

  "Of course not, silly," said Silky. "It's medicine we want -pills or something-but as nobody is ill in the Faraway Tree there's no shop to buy them from."

  That night they went to see if Dame Washalot had finished the washing. She had. It was washed and most beautifully ironed, done up in the basket, ready to be taken away.

  "I've had a fine time," said the old dame, beaming at Silky. "My the water I've poured down the tree to-day."

  "Yes, I've heard the Angry Pixie shouting like anything because he got soaked at least four times," said Moon-Face with a grin. "He's got plums growing on the tree just outside his house and he was picking them for jam-and each time he went out to pick them he got soaked with your water. You be careful he doesn't come up and shout at you."

  "If he does I'll put him into my next wash-tub of dirty water and empty him down the tree with it," said Dame Washalot.

  "Oooh, I wish I could see you do that," said Silky, tying a rope to the basket of washing, so that she might let it down the tree to the bottom, "Well, Dame Washalot, thank you very much. The person who usually does this washing is ill in bed and can't seem to get better. It's such a pity. I wish I could make her well."

  "Why, Silky, the Land of Magic Medicines is coming to-morrow," said the old dame. "You could get any medicine you liked there, and your friend would soon be better. Why don't you visit the Land and get some?"

  "That's an awfully good idea!" said Silky joyfully, letting down the basket bit by bit. Moon-Face had gone to the bottom of the tree to catch it. "I'll tell Moon-Face, and maybe he and I could go and get some medicine.

  She slipped down the tree and told Moon-Face what the old dame had said. Moon-Face put the basket of washing on his shoulder and beamed at Silky.

  "That's good news for the children," he said. "Come on, we'll hurry and tell them."

  The children were delighted to have the washing back so quickly, all washed and ironed. Dick set off with it to Mrs. Jones. Bessie ran to tell her mother that she needn't worry any more about it.

  Silky told Jo and Fanny about the Land of Magic Medicines coming the next day to the top of the Faraway Tree. They listened in surprise.

  "Well, I vote we go there," said Jo at once. "I'd made up my mind we'd none of us go whilst Mother was ill-but if there's a chance of getting something to make her better, we'll certainly go! One of the girls must stay behind with Mother and the rest of us will go."

  So it was arranged that Jo, Dick and Bessie should meet at Moon-Face's house early the next morning. Then they would go up to the strange Land and see what they could find for their mother.

  Fanny was quite willing to stay with her mother, though she felt a little bit left out. She said goodbye to Jo, Dick and Bessie soon after breakfast the next day, and promised to wash up the breakfast things carefully, and to sit with her mother until the rest of them came back.

  They set off and arrived outside Moon-Face's house at the top of the tree very soon afterwards. Moon-Face and Silky were waiting for them. "Is old Saucepan coming?" asked Jo.

  "Hie, Saucepan, do you want to come?" shouted Moon-Face, leaning down the tree.

  Saucepan was with Watzisname. For a wonder he heard what Moon-Face said and shouted back: "Yes, I'll come. But where to?"

  "Up the ladder!" yelled Moon-Face. "Hurry!"

  So Saucepan came with them and in a little while they all stood in the Land of Magic Medicines. It was just as peculiar as every land that came to the top of the Faraway Tree! It didn't seem to be a land at all! When the children had climbed up the ladder to the top, they found themselves in what looked like a great big factory-a place where all kinds of pills, medicines, bandages and so on were made. Goblins and gnomes, pixies and fairies were as busy as could be, stirring great pots over curious green fires, pouring medicines into shining bottles, and counting out pills to put into coloured pill-boxes.

  In one corner a goblin was stirring a purple mixture in a yellow basin. Bessie looked at it.

  "It's a kind of ointment," she said to the others. "I wonder what it's for."

  "It's to make crooked legs straight," said the goblin, stirring hard. "Do you want some?"

  "Well, I don't know anyone with crooked legs," said Bessie. "Thank you all the same. If I did I'd love to have some, because it would be simply marvellous to make somebody's crooked legs better."

  A pixie near by was pouring some sparkling green medicine into bottles shaped like bubbles, The children and the others watched. It made a funny singing noise as it went in.

  "What's that for?" asked Jo.

  "Whoever takes this will always have shining eyes," said the Pixie. "Shining, smiling eyes are the loveliest eyes in the world. Is it this medicine you have come for?"

  "Well, no, not exactly," said Jo. "I'd like to have some, though."

  "Oh, your eyes are smiley eyes," said the pixie, looking at him. "This is for sad people, whose eyes have become dull. Come to me when you are an old man and your eyes cannot see very well. I will give you plenty then."

  "Oh," said Jo. "Well, I shan't be here then! I've only just come on a short visit!" Dick called to the others. "I say, look!" he cried. "Here's some simply marvellous pills! Watch them being made!"

  Everyone watched. It was most astonishing to see. First of all the pills were enormous -as large as footballs. A goblin blew on them with a pair of bellows out of which came green smoke, and they at once went down to the size of a cricket-ball. He then splashed them with what looked like moonlight from a watering-can. They went as small as marbles.

  Then he blew on them gently -and they went as small as green peas, and each one jumped into a pill-box with a ping-ping-ping till the box was full, "What are they for?" asked Dick.

  "To make short people tall," said the goblin. "Some people hate being short. Well, these pills are made of big things-the shadow of a mountain-the height of a tree-the crash of a thunderstorm-things like that-and they have the power of making anything or anyone grow."

  "Could I have some?" asked Dick eagerly.

  "Take a boxful," said the goblin, Dick took it. He read what was written on the lid.

  "GROWING PILLS. ONE TO BE TAKEN THREE TIMES A DAY."

  Now Dick was not very tall for his age and he had always wanted to be big. He looked longingly at the pills. If he took three at once, maybe he would grow taller. That would be fine! He popped three of the pills into his mouth. He sucked them. They tasted so horrid that he swallowed them all in a hurry! And goodness, WHAT a surprise when the others turned to speak to Dick. He was taller than their father! He was as tall as the ceiling in their cottage! He towered above them, looking down on them in alarm, for he hadn't expected to grow quite so much, or qu
ite so quickly!

  "Dick! You've been taking those Growing Pills!" cried Jo. "Just the sort of stupid thing you would do! You're enormous! How in the world do you think you'll ever get down the hole in the cloud?"

  "Oh, do something to help me!" begged Dick, who really was frightened to be so enormous. Everyone else looked so small. "Jo, Moon-Face-what can I do? I'm still growing! I'll burst out of the roof in a minute!"

  The goblins and pixies around suddenly noticed how fast Dick was growing. They began to shout and squeal.

  "He'll break through the roof! He'll bring it down on top of us! Quick, stop him growing!"

  21

  Some Peculiar Adventures

  Dick was enormously tall. He had to bend down so that his head wouldn't touch the roof. The little people in the medicine factory rushed about, yelling and shouting.

  "Fetch a ladder! Climb up it and give him some Go-Away Pills! Quick, quick!" Somebody got a ladder and leaned it up against poor Dick.

  A pixie ran up it on light feet. He carried a box of pills. He shouted to Dick: "Open your mouth!" Dick opened his mouth. The pixie meant to throw one pill inside, but in his excitement he threw the whole box. Dick swallowed it! And at once he began to grow small again! Down he went and down and down. He got to his own size and grinned with delight. But he didn't stop there. He went smaller and smaller and smaller -and at last he couldn't be seen! It was a terrible shock to everyone.

  "He's gone!" said Bessie in horror. "He's so small that he can't be seen! Dick! Dick! Where are you?"

  A tiny squeak answered her from under a big chair. Bessie bent down and looked there. She couldn't see a thing.

  "Listen, Dick," she said. "I've got a pill box here. Come running over to me and put yourself in it. Then we shall at least know where you are, even if we can't see you. And maybe we can get you right if only we've got you safely somewhere."

  A tiny squeaking sound came from the pill box after a minute, so Bessie knew that Dick had done as he had been told and got into the box. But she couldn't see anyone there at all. She put on the lid, afraid that Dick might fall out.

  She stood up and stared round at the wondering little folk there. "What can we do for someone gone too small?" she asked. "Haven't you any medicine for that?"

  "It will have to be very specially made," said a Pixie. "We can't give him the Grow-Fast Mixture because he's really too small for that. We'll have to prepare a special little bath of powerful medicine, and get him to go into it. Then maybe he will grow back to his own size. But he shouldn't have meddled with our magic medicine. It's dangerous."

  "Dick's so silly," said Jo. "He always seems to get himself and other people into trouble! I do hope you can make him right again. I wouldn't want him to live in a pill box all his life."

  "We'll do our best to get him right," said the little folk, and they began to shout here and there, calling for the most peculiar things to make the bath for Dick.

  "The whisk of a mouse's tail!" cried one.

  "The sneeze of a frog!" cried another.

  "The breath of the summer wind!" cried a third. And as the children watched small goblins came running with little boxes and tins.

  "What queer things their medicines are made of!" said Jo. "Well, let's leave them to it, shall we? I'd like to wander round this big factory a bit more. Come on, Saucepan."

  Saucepan was very deaf because there was such a noise going on all the time. Fires were sizzling under big pots. Medicines were being poured into bottles with gurgles and splashes. Pans were being stirred with a clatter. Saucepan couldn't hear a word that was said-and it was because of that that he made his great mistake.

  He stopped by a goblin who was pouring a beautiful blue liquid into a little jar. It shone so brightly that it caught Saucepan's eye at once.

  "That's lovely" he said to the goblin. "What's it for?"

  "To make a nose grow," said the goblin.

  "To make a rose grow!" said Saucepan in delight. "Oh, I'd like some of that. If I had that I could make roses grow on the Faraway Tree all round Mister Watzisname' s branch. He would like that!"

  "I said to make a NOSE grow!" said the goblin.

  "I heard you the first time," said Saucepan. "It would be lovely to be able to grow roses. Do I have to drink it?"

  "Yes-if you want your nose to grow," said the goblin, looking at Saucepan's nose.

  Saucepan kept on hearing him wrong. He felt quite certain that the beautiful medicine was to make roses grow. He thought that if he drank it he would be able to make roses grow anywhere! That would be marvellous. So he took a jar of the medicine and drank it all up before the goblin could stop him.

  "Now I'll make the roses grow out of my kettles and pans!" said Saucepan, pleased. "Grow, roses, grow!" But they didn't grow, of course. It was his poor old nose that grew: It suddenly shot out, long and pink, and Saucepan stared at it in surprise.

  The others looked at him in amazement.

  "Saucepan! What has happened to your nose?" cried Jo. "It's as big as an elephant’s trunk!"

  "He would drink it!" said the goblin in dismay, showing the children the empty jar. "I told him it was to make a nose grow -but he kept on saying it was to grow roses, not noses. He's quite mad."

  "No, he's just deaf," said Jo. "Oh, poor old Saucepan! He'll have to tie his nose round his waist soon. It's down to his feet already!"

  "I can cure it," said the goblin with a grin. "I've got a disappearing medicine. I'll just rub his nose with it till it disappears back to the right size. I think you ought to watch him a bit, if he goes about hearing things all wrong goodness knows what may happen to him!"

  Saucepan was crying tears that rolled down his funny long nose. The goblin took a box of blue ointment and began to rub the end of Saucepan's nose with it. It disappeared as soon as the ointment touched it. The goblin worked hard, rubbing gradually all up the long nose until there was nothing left but Saucepan's own pointed nose. Then he stopped rubbing.

  "Cheer up!" he said. "It's gone, and only your own nose is left. My, you did look queer! I've never seen anyone drink a whole bottle of that nose medicine before!"

  A shout came from behind the watching children. "Where's that tiny boy in the pill box? We've got the bath ready for him now."

  Everyone rushed to where there was a tiny bath filled with steaming yellow water that smelt of cherries. Bessie took the pill box from her pocket and opened it.

  A squeaking came from the box at once. Dick was still there, too small to be seen! But, thank goodness, his voice hadn't quite disappeared, or the others would never have known if he was there or not!

  "Get into this bath, Dick," said Bessie. "You will soon be all right again then."

  There came the tiniest splash in the yellow water. It changed at once to pink. A squeaking came from the bath and bubbles rose to the surface. Then suddenly the children could see Dick! At first it was a bit misty and cloudy, then gradually the mist thickened and took the shape of a very, very small boy.

  "He's coming back, he's coming back!" cried Jo. "Look, he's getting bigger!" As Dick grew bigger, the bath grew, too. It was most astonishing to watch. Soon the bath was as big as an ordinary bath, and there stood Dick in it, his own size again, his clothes soaked with the pink water. He grinned at them through the steam.

  "Just the same old cheerful Dick!" said Bessie gladly. "Oh, Dick, you gave us such a fright!"

  "Step out of the bath, quick!" cried the pixie nearby. "You're ready to be dried!"

  Dick jumped out of the bath -just in time, too, for it suddenly folded itself up, grew a pair of wings, and disappeared out of a big window near by! "Dry him!" cried the pixie, and threw some strange towels to the children and Moon-Face. They seemed to be alive and were very warm. They rubbed themselves all over Dick, squeezing his clothes as they rubbed, until in a few minutes he was perfectly dry. But his clothes were rather a curious pink colour.

  "That can't be helped," said the pixie. "That always happens."

&
nbsp; "Well, I suppose I look a bit funny, but I don't mind," said Dick. "Golly, that was a queer adventure."

  "A bit too queer for me!" said Jo. "Now see you don't get into any more trouble, Dick, or I'll never bring you into any strange land again. I never knew anyone like you for doing things you shouldn't. Now, look here everyone-I vote we try and get some medicine for Mother, and then we'll go. Fanny is waiting patiently for us to go back, and I really think we'd better go before Dick or Saucepan do anything funny again."

  "What medicine do you want?" asked a goblin kindly. "What is wrong with your mother?"

  "Well, we really don't know," said Dick. "She just lies in bed and looks white and weak, and she worries dreadfully about everything."

  "Oh, well, I should just take a bottle of Get-Well Medicine," said the Goblin. "That will be just the thing."

  "It sounds fine," said Jo. The goblin poured a bubbling yellow liquid into a big bottle and gave it to Jo. He put it carefully into his pocket.

  "Thank you," he said. "Now, come along everyone. We're going."

  "Oh, Jo-there's a medicine here for making teeth pearly," said Saucepan, pulling at Jo's arm. "Just let me take some."

  "Saucepan, that's for making hair CURLY!" said Jo. "You've heard wrong again. Don't try it. Do you want curls growing down to your feet? Now take my arm and don't let go till we're safely back in the Tree. If I don't look after you, you'd have a nose like an elephant's, curly hair down to your toes, and goodness knows what else!"

  They were not very far from the hole in the cloud, and they were soon climbing down the ladder, leaving behind them the Strange Land of Magic Medicines. Jo was very careful of the bottle in his pocket.

  "Now we'll go straight home," he said. "I'm simply LONGING to give dear old Mother a dose of this magic medicine. It will be so lovely to see her looking well again and rushing round the house as she always did!"

  22

  Watzisname Has Some Queer News