Enid Blyton (4 page)

They all went into Moon-Face
’
s exciting house.
I
t was really rather extraordinary. In the very
middle was a large hole, with a pile of coloured
cushions
by it. Round the hole was Moon-
Face
’
s
furniture, all curved to fi
t the roundness of the
tree-trunk. There was a curious curved bed, a
curved sofa, and a curved stove and chairs, all set
round the trunk inside the tree.

"It
’
s
very exciting," said Connie, looking round.
"What
’
s that hole in the middle?"

Nobody answered her. They were too busy
looking at the lovely tea that Moon-Face had put
ready on the curved table. They wanted to know
what the Hot-Cold Goodies were like. They knew
Pop Biscuits and Google Buns—but they didn
’
t
know Hot-Cold Goodies.

"What
’
s this
ho
le
?" demanded Connie again,
but no one bothered about her. She felt so curious
that she went to the edge of the strange hole, and
put her foot in it to see if there were steps down.
She suddenly lost her balance, and stepped right
into th
e hole! She sat down with a bum
p—and
then, oh my goodness!
S
he began to slide away at
top spe
ed down the hole that ran from the top of
the tree to the bottom!

"Where
’
s Connie?" said
Jo
, suddenly, looking
round.

"Not here. That
’
s good!" said Saucepan.

"She must have fallen down the Slippery-Slip!"
said Silky. "Oh, poor Connie—she
’
ll be at the
bottom of the tree by now! We
’
ll have to go down
and fetch her!"

IV

Connie was frightened when she found herself
slipping down the hole in the tree. Usually people
who used the Slippery-Slip had a cushion to sit
on, but Connie hadn
’
t. She slid down and down
and round and round, faster and faster. She gasped,
and her hair fl
ew out behind her.

She came to the bottom of the tree, and her
feet touched a little trapdoor set in the side there.
It flew open and Connie shot out, landing on a
soft tuft of moss, which the little folk grew there
especially, so that anyone using the Tree-slide
might land softly.

Connie landed on the moss and sat there,
panting and frightened. She was at the bottom of
the tree! The others were all at the top! They
w
ould be having tea together, laughing and
jo
king.
They wouldn
’
t miss her. She would have to stay
at the bottom of the tree till they came down
again, and that might not be for ages.

"If I knew the way home I
’
d go," thought
Connie. "But I don
’
t. Oh—what
’
s
that?"

It was a red squirrel, dressed in an old jersey.
He came out of a hole in the trunk, where he lived.
He bounded over to Connie.

"Where
’
s
your cushion, please?" he said.

"What cushion?" said Connie.

"The one you slid down on," said the squirrel.

"I didn
’
t slide down on one," said Connie.

"You must have," said the red squirrel, looking
all round for a cushion. "People always do.
Where have you put it? Don
’
t be a naughty girl
now. Let me have it. I always have to take them
back to Moon-Face."

"I tell you I didn
’
t have a cushion," said Connie,
beginning to feel annoyed. "I just slid down on
myself, and I got pretty warm."

She stood up. The squirrel looked at the back
of her. "My! You
’
ve worn out the back of your
frock, sliding down without a cushion," he said.
"It
’
s all in rags. Your petticoat is showing."

"Oh! This is a horrid afternoon!" said poor
Connie. "I
’
ve been splashed with ink and soaked
with soapy water, and now I
’
ve worn out the back
of my frock."

The trap-door suddenly shot open again and out
flew Moon-Face on one of his cushions. He
shouted to Connie.

"I say! Didn
’
t you like my party? Why did you
rush off so quickly?"

"I fell down that silly hole," said Connie.
"Look at the back of my frock."

"There
’
s nothing to look at. You
’
ve worn it
out,
slipping down without a cushion," said
Moon-
Face. "Come on, I
’
ll take you back. Look
out
—here comes a basket. It
’
s one of Dame
Washalot
’
s biggest ones. I borrowed it from her
to go back in. All right, red squirrel, don
’
t take
my cushion. I
’
ll put it in the basket to sit on."

The red squirrel said good
bye and popped
back into his hole.
Moon-Face caught the big
basket that came swinging down on a stout rope
and threw his yellow cushion into it. He helped
Connie in, tugged at the rope, and then up they
swung between the branches of the tree. Up and
up and up
—past the Angry Pixie
’
s, past the Owl
’
s
home, past Mister Watzisname, still snoring, past
Dame Washalot, and right up to Moon-Face
’
s
own house.

"Here we are!" he called to
Jo
and the Saucepan
Man, who were busy tugging at the rope, to
bring up the basket. "Thanks so much."

Everyone was amused to see that the bottom
part of poor Connie
’
s dress was gone. "She
’
s
ragged now as well as dirty," said Saucepan,
sounding quite pleased. He didn
’
t like Connie. "I
wonder what will happen to her next."

"Nothing, I hope," said Connie, scowling at
him.

"Soap? Yes, you do look as if you want a bit of
soap," said Saucepan, mis-
hearing as usual.
"And a needle and cotton too."

"Now, stop it, Saucepan!" said Silky. "I
’
ve
never known you so quarrelsome. Come and eat
the Hot-
Cold Goodies. Nobody
’
s
had any yet."

They went into Moon-Face
’
s curved home, and
sat down again. Connie tried not to go near
the
hole. She was very much afraid of falling down it
again. She took a Hot-Cold Goodie. It was like
a very, very big chocolate.

Hot-Cold Goodies were peculiar. You put them
into your mouth and sucked. As soon as you had
sucked the chocolate part off, you came to what
seemed like a layer of ice-cream."

"Oooh! Ice-cream!" said
Jo
, sucking hard.
"Cold as can be. Golly, it
’
s
too cold to bear! It
’
s
getting colder and colder. Moon-Face, I
’
ll have to
spit out my goodie, it
’
s too cold for me."

But just as he said that the Hot-Cold Goodie
stoppe
d being cold and got hot. At f
irst it was
pleasantly warm, and then it got very hot.

"It
’
s almost burning me!" said Bessie. "Oh—now it
’
s gone ice-cold again. Moon-Face, what
extraordinary things. Wherever did you get them?"

"I bought them from a witch who popped down
from the Land of Marvels
today
," said Moon-Face, grinning. "Funny, aren
’
t they?"

"Yes
—awfully exciting, and delicious to taste,
once you get used to them changing from cold to
hot and hot to cold," said Bessie. "I
’
ll have
another."

"What land did you say was at the top of the
Tree today?" asked Silky. "The Land of Marvels?
Oh yes
—I went there last year, I remember."

"What was it like?" asked Fanny.

"Marve
l
lous," said Silky. "All wonders and
marvels. There
’
s a ladder that hasn
’
t any top—you
go on and on climbing up it, and you never reach
the top—and a tree that sings whenever the wind
blows—a cat that tells your fortune—and a silver
bell that takes you all round the world and back
in the wink of an eye—well, I can
’
t tell you all
the marvels there are."

“I
’
d like to go and see them," said
Jo
.

"You can
’
t," said Silky. "The Land moves on
today. It would be dangerous to go there now
because it might move on at any moment. Then
you
’
d be
stuck in the Land of Marvels."

"I don
’
t believe a word of it," said Connie.

"She doesn
’
t believe in anything magic,"
explained
Jo
, seeing that Silky looked rather
surprised. "Don
’
t take any notice of her, Silky.
She
’
ll believe all right soon."

“I shall
not
," said Connie. "I
’
m beginning to
thin
k this is all a horrid dream."

“Well, go home and go to bed and dream your
dream there," said Jo
, getting tired of Connie.

"I will," said Connie, getting up, offended. "I
’
ll
climb down the tree myself, and ask that kind red
squirrel to see me home. This is a horrid party."

The silly girl went to the door, opened it, went
out and banged it shut. The others stared at one
another.

"Is she always like that?" asked Moon-Face.

"Yes," said
Jo
. "She
’
s an only child, and very
spoilt, you know. Wants her own way always, and
turns up her nose at everything. I
’
d better fetch
her back."

"No, don
’
t," said Moon-Face. "She can
’
t come
to any harm. Let her climb down the tree if she
wants to. I only hope she peeps in at
the Angry
Pixie
’
s again. When I went past in the basket he
was writing a letter again, but with red ink this
time."

"Then Connie will probably get
red
spots on
her dress now!" said Fanny.

But Connie hadn
’
t gone down the Tree. She
stood outside on a branch, sulking. She looked
down the tree and saw Dame Washalot busy
washing again. Silly old woman! Connie didn
’
t
feel as if she wanted to go near her, in case she
got water all over her again. She looked upwards.

She was nearly at the top of the tree. She thought
it would be fun to climb right up to the top, and
look down on the forest. What a long way she
would see!

She climbed upwards. She came to the top of
the tree—and to her great astonishment the last
branch of all touched the clouds! Yes—it went
straight up into a vast white cloud that hung,
floating, over the top of the Tree.

"Queer," said Connie, looking up into the
purple hole made by the
tree-branch in the cloud.
"Shall I go up there—into the cloud? Yes—I will."

She went up the last branch—and to her still
greater amazement there was a little ladder
leading through the thickness of the cloud from
the branch. A ladder!

Connie was full of great curiosity. She could
hardly bear to wait to see what was at the top of
the ladder. She climbed it—and suddenly her
head poked right through the cloud, and into a
new and different Land altogether!

"Well!" said Connie, in surprise. "So the
children told the truth. There
is
a Land at the
top of the Faraway Tree
—
and can I really be
dreaming?"

She climbed up into the Land. It was queer.
There was a curious humming noise in the air.
Strange people walked quickly past, some looking
like witches, and some like goblins. They
took
no notice of Connie.

"The Land is moving on!" cried one goblin to
another. "It
’
s
on the move again. Where shall we
go to next?"

And then the Land of Marvels moved away
from the top of the Tree
—
and took poor Connie
with it!