Enid Blyton (9 page)

So I've taken away your food to show you what it's like to be really hungry. What do you think about it?"

"I'm ashamed," said Winnie, and she hung her head.

"I'm sorry about it," said Morris, and he went red. "I'll go straight down to the hutch now and give the rabbits a good feed."

Off went the children—and found the hutch empty. How they cried!

"It's a hard lesson," said Mr. Pink-Whistle, feeling sad. "But learn it, my dears, and you'll be happier in the future— and so will your pets. Good-bye!"

He disappeared. Where had he gone? The children couldn't imagine!

CHAPTER IX

JIMMY'S DAY IN THE COUNTRY

IT was going to be a very exciting day for fifty of the town children.   They were all to go for a day in the country. How lovely!

At ten o'clock a big red bus stood waiting at the corner of the road, and the fifty children climbed in with two grownups to look after them. Off they went, singing and laughing.

Each child had his lunch with him and his tea, in school bags. Jimmy had egg sandwiches, two slices of cake, and an apple for his lunch; and jam sandwiches,

two buns, and a piece of chocolate for his tea. He thought it was lovely.

"Now, listen," said Miss White, one of the grown-ups, when at last the bus arrived at a farm in the country. "You may all wander off as you please, and see all the animals on the farm—but be sure not to go out of reach of the bell, because the bus will take us back at five o'clock, and you must all be here then. I shall ring the bell at half-past four to warn you."

The children ran off, talking happily. Some went to see the pretty new calves. Some ran to see the ducks and the hens. Others begged a ride on the old brown horse, and Jimmy waited for his turn too. He had been in the country before and he loved it.

Very soon he felt hungry, and he found a sunny place beneath a hedge and sat down to eat his lunch.   Oooh!   How good the egg sandwiches were!   The cake was

delicious, and the apple was as sweet as sugar.

"I mustn't eat my tea as well now, though I'd very much like to!" said Jimmy, looking at his jam sandwiches. "No—I'll leave them till four o'clock."

He packed up his bag again, put it over his shoulder, and went off across the fields to see if he could find some flowers to take home to his mother.

He knew his way about very well, for he had been down to the farm before. He jumped over a little stream, crossed two fields, and went into a wood. Big pink flowers were growing there, and Jimmy began to make a bunch of them. He went right through the wood, and came out at the other side. There was a field there that used to have goats in.

"I wonder if the goats have any babies," thought Jimmy to himself. "I love little kid-goats!"

He went to see—and there, under the hedge, he saw a small girl, with tears rolling down her cheeks. She belonged to Jimmy's party, and he looked at her in surprise.

"Whatever's the matter?" he asked.

"It's those horrid goats," sobbed the small girl, whose name was Margery. 

"I came here, and lay down in the sunshine, and somehow I fell asleep. And two big goats came whilst I was asleep and ate all my lunch—yes, and my tea too. And they even ate my bag as well! This is all that's left of it—look!"

She showed him the strap. Jimmy was sorry for her. It must be dreadful to have your lunch and your tea both eaten by goats, he thought.

"Have you eaten your lunch?" asked Margery, looking at his bag hungrily. "I suppose you couldn't share it with me?"

"I've eaten it," said Jimmy. And then, because he was a kind boy, he said, "But you can have my tea if you like! My mother will give me some more when I get home!"

"Oh, thank you!" said Margery—and she ate up every scrap of Jimmy's nice tea—chocolate and all!
 

"Now I'll take you where there are wild strawberries," she said. "I found them last year in the wood."

But although they hunted for ages and ages they couldn't find any at all. "It's time for the bell soon, I should think," said Jimmy. "Don't let's go too far."

When the bell rang at half-past four, Jimmy was dreadfully hungry—but his tea was inside Margery! So he couldn't have any! "Come along," he said. "We must go back. The bus will be there."

So back they went—but Margery was tired and couldn't hurry. And then she fell down and hurt her knee so badly that she howled and howled! Jimmy bathed her knee in some water and tied it up with his handkerchief. Then he tried to hurry Margery along, but she could only limp very slowly, for her knee hurt her.

"We shall miss the bus!" cried Jimmy in despair. "Do hurry!"

Margery cried. She fell over again. Jimmy knelt down and made her get on his back. "I'll give you a piggy-back," he said. "Maybe we'll be quicker then."

But Margery was heavy and he couldn't carry her for long. "Let's sit down here and wait for the bus to go by," said Margery at last. "We can stop it then."

So they sat down—but, alas, for them! the bus went home another way, and they saw it turning a corner far down the hill, full of children going home!

"Oh, it's too bad!" cried Jimmy, 
almost in tears. "I've helped you all I could, Margery, and given you my tea and carried you—and now we've missed the bus and my mother will be worried."

"Look—here's some one coming," said Margery. They looked down the lane, and saw a fat 'little man. It was Mr. Pink-Whistle, of course, and he was going home for a little holiday. He had been away from his cottage and his cat, Sooty, for quite a long while.

He saw the children and stopped. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Margery told him all their story. "It's too bad for poor Jimmy," she said. "He did help me such a lot, and he was so kind—and now I've made him miss the bus and we haven't any money and we've got to walk home, and my knee hurts, and ..."

"Good gracious me!" said Mr. Pink-Whistle. "How very lucky that I happened

to walk down this way. I'll soon put things right! That's what I'm made for, I think—to put things right. But you wouldn't believe what a lot of things go wrong! I'm always hard at work, every single day."

"I like you," said Margery, and she put her small hand into Mr. Pink-Whistle's rather large one. "You look a bit like a brownie in my picture-book at home. But how can you put things right for us? There isn't another bus home."

"Oh yes, there is," said Mr. Pink-Whistle. "It's not the usual bus, you know—it's one that nobody sees but the little folk of the woods! But if you'd really like to see it, just put on these glasses, will you? They will help you."

He handed the two surprised children a pair of large glasses each. They set them on their noses and looked through them.

My goodness! What a marvellous surprise!

They could see small brownies peeping at them from the hedge. They could see tiny folk of all sorts running here and there, no bigger than flowers. And they could see a queer little cottage standing not far off, which they were quite certain hadn't been there before! "It
was
there before!" said Mr. Pink-Whistle, "but you hadn't got those magic glasses on, so you just didn't see it! A friend of mine lives there. Let's see if she will give us tea."

They went up to the little green door.

Rat-tat! The door opened and a small woman stood there, with big pointed ears just like Mr. Pink-Whistle's. Her eyes were green, too, like his. She beamed all over her face and cried, "Mr. Pink-Whistle! What a lovely surprise! You're just in time for tea. Do come in!"

So they all went in, and Mr. Pink-Whistle told his friend, Dame Little, all about Jimmy and Margery. They sat down to tea—and, my goodness, what a tea it was! There were wild strawberries and cream. There were biscuits shaped like flowers. There were cakes shaped like animals, and they were full of cream. The funny part about them was that when you pressed them, each cake squeaked! But Jimmy didn't squeeze too hard, because it shot the cream out! What a tea it was!

"The bus will be by soon," said Dame Little. So they shook hands with her, and she took them to her gate.

Down the lane came the bus—but what a bus! It was shaped like a Noah's ark on wheels, and you had to climb up a ladder and get in at the lid, which the conductor held open! Inside there were rows of seats, and on them sat rabbits, moles, a hedgehog, brownies, and many other passengers. They looked rather surprised to see the children, but made room for them most politely. The strange bus started off and the conductor shut the lid.

"This is a most surprising adventure," said Jimmy. "I can't believe it's true."

"Well, you don't need to believe it," said Mr. Pink-Whistle, laughing. "Think it's a dream, if you like—it will be just as exciting, either way!"

The bus stopped at the end of the children's street, and they got out, yawning. "Thank you very much, Mr. Pink-Whistle," began Jimmy, but Mr. Pink-Whistle was gone—and so was the bus.

"Was it a dream, do you think? said Margery to Jimmy.  "I wish I knew!"

"Well, all I can say is that I'm jolly glad I helped you, Margery," said Jimmy. "I'd never have had this lovely adventure if I hadn't!"