The Magic Faraway Tree Read online

  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."

  "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 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.

  "Well, does he suppose we can eat kittens?" said Bessie. "I say-aren't they darlings? What are we going to do with them?"

  "They seem to be growing," said Jo in surprise. And so they were. In a minute or two the kittens were too heavy to carry-they were big cats! They still went on growing, and soon they were as big as tigers. They gambolled playfully round the children, who were really rather afraid of them.

  "Now listen," said Jo to the enormous kittens, "You belong to the muffin-man. You go after him and get on to his tray where you belong. Listen-you can still hear his bell! Go along now!" To everyone's surprise and delight the great animals gambolled down the road after the muffin-man.

  "He will get a surprise," said Dick with a giggle. "I say -don't let's buy anything from anyone else. It's a bit too surprising."

  "What we really ought to do is to try and find the hole that leads from this land to the Faraway Tree," said Jo seriously. "Surely you don't want to stay in this peculiar land for ever! Gracious, we never know what is happening from one minute to another!"

  "I feel terribly sleepy again," said Moon-Face, yawning. "I do wish I could go to bed." Now, as he said that, there came a clippitty-cloppitty noise behind them. They all turned-and to their great amazement saw a big white bed following them, tippitting along on four fat legs.

  "Golly!" said Dick, stopping in surprise. "Look at that bed! Where did it come from?" The bed stopped just by them. Moon-Face yawned.

  "I'd like to cuddle down in you and go to sleep," he said to the bed. The bed creaked as if it was pleased.

  Moon-Face climbed on to it. It was soft and cosy. Moon-Face put his head on the pillow and shut his eyes. He began to snore very gently.

  This made everyone else feel dreadfully tired and sleepy, too. One by one they climbed into the big bed and lay down, snuggled together. The bed creaked in a very pleased way. Then it went on its way again, clippitty-clopping on its four fat legs, taking the six sleepers with it.

  Now what had happened to Silky? Well, she had found Dame Washalot, Mister Watzisname and the Angry Pixie, and had told them how the others had fallen asleep in the Land of Dreams.

  "Gracious! They'll never get away from there!" said Watzisname anxiously. "We must rescue them. Come along." Dame Washalot put a wash-tub of water on her head. The Angry Pixie picked up a kettle of water. Watzisname didn't take anything. They all went up to the ladder at the top of the tree.

  "The Land of Dreams is still here," said Silky when her head peeped over the top. "I can't see that horrid Sandman anywhere. It's a good chance to slip up and rescue the others now. Come on!" Up they all went. They stared round the field of poppies, but they could see none of the others at all.

  "We must hunt for them," said Silky. "Oh, my goodness, look at that great brown bear rushing along! I wonder if he knows anything about the others." She called out to him, but he didn't stop. He made a noise like a hen and rushed on. The four of them wandered on and on -and suddenly they saw something most peculiar coming towards them-something wide and white.

  "What in the world can it be?" said Silky in wonder. "Goodness me-it's a BED!" And so it was-the very bed in which the four children and Moon-Face and Saucepan were asleep!

  "Oh, look, look, look!" squealed Silky. "They're all here! Wake up, sillies! Wake up!" But they wouldn't wake. They just sighed a little and turned over. Nothing that Silky and the others could do would wake them. And, in the middle of all this, there came footsteps behind them.

  Silky turned and gave a squeal. "Oh, it's the Sandman! Don't let him throw his sand into your eyes or you will go to sleep, too! Quick, quick, do something!"

  The Sandman was already dipping his hand into his big sack to throw sand into their eyes. But, quick as lightning, Dame Washalot picked up her wash-tub and threw the whole of the water over the sack! It wetted the sand so that the Sandman couldn't throw it properly. Then the Angry Pixie emptied his kettle over the Sandman himself, and he began to choke and splutter.

  Watzisname stared. He suddenly took out his pocket-knife and slit a hole at the very bottom of the sack. The sand was dry there. Watzisname took a handful of it and threw it straight into the choking Sandman's eyes.

  "Now you go to sleep for a bit!" shouted Watzisname. And, of course, that's just what the big Sandman did! He sank down under a bush and shut his eyes. His sleepy sand acted on him as much as on anyone else!

  "Now we've got a chance!" said Silky, pleased. "Help me to wake everyone!" But, you know, they just would not wake! It was dreadful.

  "Well, we can't possibly get the bed down the hole," said Silky in despair. Then a bright idea came to her. She felt in Jo's pockets. She turned out the little pink jar of Whizz-Away ointment. "There may be just a little left!" she said.

  And so there was -the very tiniest dab! "I hope it's enough!" said Silky. "Get on the bed, Dame Washalot and you others. I'm going to try a little magic. Ready?" She rubbed the dab of ointment on to the head of the bed. "Whizz-Away Home, bed!" she said.

  And, good gracious me, that big white bed whizzed away! It whizzed away so fast that Silky nearly fell off. It rushed through the air, giving all the birds a most terrible scare.

  After a long time it came to the end of the Land of Dreams. A big white cloud stretched out at the edge. The bed flew through it, down and down. Then it flew in another direction.

  "It's going back to the Faraway Tree, I'm sure," said Silky. And so it was! It arrived there and tried to get through the branches. It stuck on one and slid sideways. Everyone began to slide off.

  "Wake up, wake up!" squealed Silky, banging the children and Moon-Face and Saucepan. They woke up in a hurry, for they were no longer in Dreamland. They felt themselves falling and caught hold of branches and twigs.

  "Where are we?" cried Dick. "What has happened?"

  "Oh, goodness, too many things to tell you all at once," said Silky. "Is everyone safe? Then for goodness' sake come into my house and sit down for a bit. I really feel quite out of breath!"

  11

  Up the Tree Again

  Everyone crowded into Silky's room inside the tree. "How did we get back to the tree?" asked Dick in amazement.

  Silky told him. "We found you all asleep on that big bed, and we rubbed on it some of the Whizz-Away ointment, the very last bit left. And it whizzed away here. Oh, and we wetted the Sandman's sand so that he couldn't throw sand into our eyes and make us go to sleep."

  "Watzisname was clever, too. He slit the bottom of the sack with his knife, found a handful of dry sand there and threw it at the Sandman himself!" said the Angry Pixie. "And he went right off to sleep and couldn't interfere with us any more!"

  "It was all Dick's fault," said Jo. "We said we wouldn't go to any more lands -and he went up there and got caught by the Sandman. So of course we had to go after him."

  "Sorry," said Dick. "Anyway, everything's all right now. I won't do it again."

  "We'd better go home," said Bessie. "It must be getting late. Goodness knows when we'll come again, Silky. Good-bye, everyone. Come and see us if we don't come to see you."

  They all slid down the slippery-slip at top speed. Then they walked home, talking about their latest adventure. "It was so queer being awake and having dreams," said Fanny. "Do you remember the muffins that turned into kittens?"

  "I wish a really nice land would come to the top of the tree," said Jo. "Like the Land of Take-What-You-Want. That was fun. I wonder if it will ever come again."

  For about a week the children did not even go into the Enchanted Wood. For one thing they were very busy helping their parents, and for another thing t
hey felt that they didn't want any more adventures for a little while.

  And then a note came from Silky and Moon-Face. This is what it said: "DEAR BESSIE, FANNY, JO AND DICK, "We know that you don't want any more adventures just yet, but you might like to know that there is a most exciting land at the top of the Faraway Tree just now. It is the Land of Do-As-You-Please, even nicer than the Land of Take-What-You-Want. We are going there tonight. If you want to come, come just before midnight and you can go with us. We will wait for you till then.

  "Love from " SILKY AND MOON-FACE."

  The children read the note one after another. Their eyes began to shine.

  "Shall we go?" said Fanny.

  "Better not," said Jo. "Something silly is sure to happen to us. It always does."

  "Oh, Jo! Do let's go!" said Bessie. "You know how exciting the Enchanted Wood is at night, too, with all the fairy folk about -and the Faraway Tree lit with lanterns and things. Come on, Jo -say we'll go."

  "I really think we'd better not," said Jo. "Dick might do something silly again."

  "I would not!" said Dick in a temper. "It's not fair of you to say that."

  "Don't quarrel," said Bessie. "Well, listen -if you don't want to go, Jo, Fanny and I will go with Dick. He can look after us."

  "Pooh! Dick wants looking after himself," said Jo.

  Dick gave Jo a punch on the shoulder and Jo slapped back.

  "Oh, don't!" said Bessie. "You're not in the Land of Do-As-You-Please now!"

  That made everyone laugh.

  "Sorry, Jo," said Dick. "Be a sport. Let's all go to-night. Or at any rate, let's go up the tree and hear what Silky and Moon-Face can tell us about this new land. If it sounds at all dangerous we won't go. See?"

  "All right," said Jo, who really did want to go just as badly as the others, but felt that he ought not to keep leading the girls into danger. "All right. We'll go up and talk to Silky and Moon-Face. But mind-if I decide not to go with them, there's to be no grumbling."