Christmas-Tree Land Page 7

  CHAPTER VII.

  A WINDING STAIR AND A SCAMPER.

  'But children, to whom all is play, And something new each hour must bring, Find everything so strange, that they Are not surprised at anything.'

  _The Fairies' Nest._

  Godmother's voice stopped. For a moment or two there was silence.

  'I hope it _was_ true,' said Maia, the first to find her tongue. 'PoorHalbert, I think he deserved to be happy at the end. I think Aureole wasrather--rather--_cross_, don't you, Silva?'

  Silva considered. 'No,' she said. 'I can't bear people that are cruel tolittle animals. Oh!' and she clasped her hands, 'if only Rollo and Maiacould see some of our friends in the wood! May they not, godmother?'

  'All in good time,' said godmother, rather mysteriously.

  Maia looked at her. 'Godmother,' she said, 'how funny you are! I believeyou like puzzling people better than anything. There are such a lot ofthings I want to ask you about the story. Who was it lived in theforest? _Was_ it a wizard? I think that would be much nicer thaninvisible spirits, even though it is rather frightening. And who was itmade Aureole's breakfast and shut the door, and all that? I am sure youknow, godmother. I believe you've been in the enchanted forest yourself._Have_ you?'

  Godmother smiled. 'Perhaps,' she said. But when Maia went onquestioning, she would not say any more. 'Keep something to puzzleabout,' she said. 'Remember that that is half the pleasure.'

  And then she took Maia up on her knee and gave her such a sweet kissthat the child could not grumble.

  'You are _very_ funny, godmother,' she repeated.

  Suddenly Rollo started.

  'Maia,' he exclaimed, 'I am afraid we are forgetting about going homeand meeting Nanni and everything. It must be getting very late. It is soqueer,' he added with a sigh, glancing round the dear little kitchen, 'Iseemed to have forgotten that _this_ isn't our home, and yet we haveonly been here an hour or two, and----'

  'Yes,' said Maia, 'I feel just the same. Indeed Aureole and her petsseem far more real to me now than Lady Venelda and the white castle.'

  'And the old doctor and all the lessons you have to do,' said godmother;and somehow the children no longer felt surprised at her knowing allabout everything. 'But you are right, my boy, good boy,' she went on,turning to Rollo. 'There is a time for all things, and now it is time togo back to your other life. Say good-bye to each other, my children,'and when they had done so--very reluctantly, you may be sure--she tookRollo by one hand and Maia by the other, Waldo and Silva standing at thecottage-door to see them off, and led them across the little clearing,away into the now darkening alleys of the wood.

  'Are you going with us to where Nanni is?' asked Maia.

  'Not to where you left her. I will take you by a short cut,' saidgodmother, who, since they had left the cottage, had seemed to grow intojust an ordinary-looking old peasant woman, very bent and small, for anyone at least who did not peep far enough inside her queer hood to seeher wonderful eyes and gleaming hair, and whom no one would havesuspected of the marvellous crimson dress under the long dark cloak.Maia kept peeping up at her with a strange look in her face.

  'What is it, my child?' said godmother.

  'I don't quite know,' Maia replied. 'I'm not quite sure, godmother, ifI'm not a little--a very little--frightened of you. You change so. Inthe cottage you seemed a sort of a young fairy godmother--and now----'she hesitated.

  'And now do I seem very old?'

  '_Rather_,' said Maia.

  'Well, listen now. I'll tell you the real truth, strange as it may seem.I am _very_ old--older than you can even fancy, and yet I am and Ialways shall be young.'

  'In fairyland--in the other country, do you mean?' asked Rollo.

  Godmother turned her bright eyes full upon him. 'Not only there, myboy,' she said. 'Here, too--everywhere--I am both old and young.'

  Maia gave a little sigh.

  'You are very nice, godmother,' she said, 'but you are _very_ puzzling.'But she had no time to say more, for just then godmother stopped.

  'See, children,' she said, pointing down a little path among the trees,'I have brought you a short cut, as I said I would. At the end of thatalley you will find your faithful Nanni. And that will not be the end ofthe short cut. Twenty paces straight on in the same direction you willcome out of the wood. Cross the little bridge across the brook and youwill only have to climb a tiny hill to find yourselves at the backentrance of the castle. All will be right--and now good-bye, my dears,till your next holiday. Have you your flowers?'

  'Oh, yes,' exclaimed both, holding up the pretty bunches as they spoke;'but how are we to----'

  'Don't trouble about how you are to see me again,' she interrupted,smiling. 'It will come--you will see,' and then before they had time towonder any more, she turned from them, waving her hand in farewell, anddisappeared.

  'Rollo,' said Maia, rubbing her eyes as if she had just awakened,'Rollo, is it all _real_? Don't you feel as if you had been dreaming?'

  'No,' said Rollo. 'I feel as if _it_'--and he nodded his head backwardsin the direction of the cottage--'were all real, and the castle and ourcousin and Nanni and all _not_ real. You said so too.'

  'Yes,' said Maia meditatively, 'while I was there with them, I feltlike that. But now I don't. It seems not real, and I don't want to beginto forget them.'

  'Suppose you scent your flowers,' said Rollo; 'perhaps that's whygodmother gave them to us.'

  Maia thought it a good idea.

  'Yes,' she said, poking her little nose as far as it would go in amongthe fragrant blossoms, 'yes, Rollo, it comes back to me when I scent theflowers. I think it is because godmother's red dress was scented thesame way. Oh, yes!' shutting her eyes, 'I can _feel_ her soft dress now,and I can hear her voice, and I can see Waldo and Silva and the dearlittle kitchen. How glad I am you thought of the flowers, Rollo!'

  'But we must run on,' said Rollo, and so they did. But they had not runmany steps before the substantial figure of Nanni appeared; she waslooking very comfortable and contented.

  'You have not stayed very long, Master Rollo and Miss Maia,' she said,'but I suppose it is getting time to be turning home.'

  'And have you spent a pleasant afternoon, Nanni?' asked Rollo quietly.'How many stockings have you knitted?'

  'How many!' repeated Nanni; 'come, Master Rollo, you're joking. You'venot been gone more than an hour at the most, but it is queer--it must bethe smell of the fir-trees--as soon as ever I sit down in this wood, offI go to sleep! I hadn't done more than two rounds when my head begannodding, so I had to put my knitting away for fear of running theneedles into my eyes. And I had such pleasant dreams.'

  'About the beautiful lady again?' asked Maia.

  'I think so, but I can't be sure,' said Nanni. 'It was about all sortsof pretty things mixed up together. Flowers and birds, and I don't knowwhat. And the flowers smelt, for all the world, just like the rosesround the windows of my mother's little cottage at home. I could havebelieved I was there.'

  Rollo and Maia looked at each other. It was all godmother's doing, theyfelt sure. How clever of her to know just what Nanni would like to dreamof.

  By this time they were out of the wood. The light was brighter thanamong the trees, but still it was easy to see that more than Nanni's'hour' must have passed since they left her.

  'Dear me,' she exclaimed, growing rather frightened, 'it looks laterthan I thought! And we've a long way to go yet,' she went on, lookinground; 'indeed,' and her rosy face grew pale, 'I don't seem to knowexactly where we are. We must have come another way out of the wood--oh,dear, dear----'

  'Don't get into such a fright, Nanni,' said Rollo; 'follow me.'

  He sprang up the hilly path that godmother had told them of, Maia andNanni following. It turned and twisted about a little, but when they gotto the top, there, close before them, gleamed the white walls of thecastle, and a few steps more brought them to a back entrance to theterrace by which they often came out and in.

&n
bsp; 'Well, to be sure!' exclaimed Nanni, 'you are a clever boy, MasterRollo. Who ever would have guessed there was such a short cut, andindeed I can't make it out at all which way we've come back. But so longas we're here all in good time, and no fear of a scolding, I'm sure I'monly too pleased, however we've got here.'

  As they were passing along the terrace the old doctor met them.

  'Have you had a pleasant holiday?' he asked.

  'Oh, _very_,' answered both Rollo and Maia, looking up in his face,where, as they expected, they saw the half-mysterious, half-playfulexpression they had learnt to know, and which seemed to tell that theirold friend understood much more than he chose to say.

  'Did you find any pretty flowers?' he asked, with a smile, 'though it israther early in the year yet--especially for scented ones--is it not?'

  'But we _have_ got some,' said Maia quickly, and glancing round to seeif Nanni were still by them. She had gone on, so Maia drew out herbunch, and held them up. '_Aren't_ they sweet?' she said.

  The old man pressed them to his face almost as lovingly as Maia herself.'Ah, how _very_ sweet!' he murmured. 'How much they bring back! Cherishthem, my child. You know how?'

  'Yes, _she_ told us,' said Maia. 'You know whom I mean, don't you, Mr.Doctor?'

  The old doctor smiled again. Maia drew two or three flowers out of herbunch, and Rollo did the same. Then they put them together and offeredthem to their old friend.

  'Thank you, my children,' he said; 'I shall add the thought of you tomany others, when I perceive their sweet scent.'

  'And even when they're withered and dried up, Mr. Doctor, you know,'said Maia eagerly, 'the scent, _she_ says, is even sweeter.'

  'I know,' said the doctor, nodding his head. 'Sweeter, I truly think,but bringing sadness with it too; very often, alas!' he added in a lowervoice, so low that the children could not clearly catch the words.

  'We must go in, Maia,' said Rollo; 'it must be nearly supper-time.'

  'Yes,' said Maia; 'but first, Mr. Doctor, I want to know when are we tohave another holiday? Lady Venelda will do any way you tell her, youknow.'

  'All in good time,' replied the doctor, at which Maia pouted a little.

  'I don't like all in good time,' she said.

  'But you have never known me to forget,' said the old doctor.

  'No, indeed,' said Rollo eagerly, and then Maia looked a little ashamedof herself, and ran off smiling and waving her hand to the doctor.

  Lady Venelda asked them no questions, and made no remarks beyond sayingshe was glad they had had so fine a day for their ramble in the woods.She seemed quite pleased so long as the children were well and sat upstraight in their chairs without speaking at meal-times, and there wereno complaints from their teachers. That was the way _she_ had beenbrought up, and she thought it had answered very well in her case. Butshe was really kind, and the children no longer felt so lonely or dull,now that they had the visits to the wood to look forward to. Indeed,they had brought back with them a fund of amusement, for now theirfavourite play was to act the story which godmother had told them, andas they had no other pets, they managed to make friends with the castlecat, a very dignified person, who had to play the parts of Fido andLello and the rabbit all in one; while the birds were represented bybunches of feathers they picked up in the poultry-yard, and the greatfurry rug with which they had travelled turned Rollo into the unhappymonster. It was very amusing, but after a few days they began to wishfor other companions.

  'If Silva and Waldo were here,' said Rollo, 'what fun we could have! Iwonder what they do all day, Maia.'

  'They work pretty hard, I fancy,' said Maia. 'Waldo goes to cut downtrees in the forest a good way off, I know, and Silva has all the houseto take care of, and everything to cook and wash, and all that. But _I_should call that play-work, not like lessons.'

  'And _I_ should think cutting down trees the best fun in the world,'said Rollo. 'That kind of work can't be as tiring as lessons.'

  'Lessons, lessons! What is all this talk about lessons? Are you soterribly overworked, my poor children? What should you say to a ramblein the woods with me for a change?' said a voice beside them, which madethe children start.

  It was the doctor. He had come round the corner of the wall withouttheir seeing him, for they were playing on the terrace for half an hourbetween their French lesson with Mademoiselle and their history with thechaplain.

  'A walk with you, Mr. Doctor!' exclaimed Maia. 'Oh, yes, it _would_ benice. But it isn't a holiday, and----'

  'How do _you_ know it isn't a holiday, my dear young lady,' interruptedthe doctor. 'How do you know that I have not represented to yourrespected cousin that her young charges had been working very hard oflate, and would be the better for a ramble? If you cannot believe me,run in and ask Lady Venelda herself; if you are satisfied without doingso, why then, let us start at once!'

  'Of course we are satisfied,' exclaimed Rollo and Maia together; 'butwe must go in to get our thick boots and jackets, and our nicer hats,'added Maia, preparing to start off.

  'Not a bit of it,' said the doctor, stopping her. 'You are quite rightas you are. Come along;' and without giving the children time for evenanother 'but,' off he strode.

  To their amazement, however, he turned towards the house, which heentered by a side door that the children had never before noticed, andwhich he opened with a small key.

  'Doctor,' began Maia, but he only shook his head without speaking, andstalked on, Rollo and his sister following. He led them some way along arather narrow passage, where they had never been before, then, opening adoor, signed to them to pass in in front of him, and when they had doneso, he too came in, and shut the door behind him. It was a queer littleroom--the doctor's study evidently, for one end was completely filledwith books, and at one side, through the glass doors of high cupboardsin the wall, all kinds of mysterious instruments, chemical tubes andglobes, high bottles filled with different-coloured liquids, and ever somany things the children had but time to glance at, were to beperceived. But the doctor had evidently not brought them there to payhim a visit. He touched a spring at the side of the book-shelves, and asmall door opened.

  'Come, children,' he said, speaking at last, 'this is another short cut.Have no fear, but follow me.'

  Full of curiosity, Rollo and Maia pressed forward. The doctor hadalready disappeared--all but his head, that is to say--for a windingstaircase led downwards from the little door, and Rollo first, thenMaia, were soon following their old friend step by step, holding by onehand to a thick cord which supplied the place of a handrail. It wasalmost quite dark, but they were not frightened. They had perfect trustin the old doctor, and all they had seen and heard since they came tothe white castle had increased their love of adventure, withoutlessening their courage.

  'Dear me,' said Maia, after a while, for it was never easy for her tokeep silent for very long together, 'it isn't a _very_ short cut! Weseem to have been going down and down for a good while. My head isbeginning to feel rather turning with going round and round so often.How much farther are we to go before we come out, Mr. Doctor?'

  But there was no answer, only a slight exclamation from Rollo just infront of her, and then all of a sudden a rush of light into thedarkness made Maia blink her eyes and for a moment shut them to escapethe dazzling rays.

  'Good-bye,' said a voice which she knew to be the doctor's; 'I hope youwill enjoy yourselves.'

  Maia opened her eyes. She had felt Rollo take her hand and draw herforwards a little. She opened her eyes, but half shut them again inastonishment.

  '_Rollo!_' she exclaimed.

  'And you said it was not much of a short cut,' replied Rollo, laughing.

  No wonder Maia was astonished. They were standing a few paces from thecottage door! The sun was shining brightly on the little garden andpeeping through the trees, just in front of which the children foundthemselves.

  'Where have we come from?' said Maia, looking round her confusedly.

  'Out of here, I think,' said R
ollo, tapping the trunk of a great treeclose beside him. 'I think we must have come out of a door hidden inthis tree.'

  'But we kept coming _down_,' said Maia.

  'At first; but the last part of the time it seemed to me we were goingup; we must have come down the inside of the hill and then climbed up alittle way into the tree.'

  'Oh, I am sure we weren't going _up_,' said Maia. 'I certainly wasgetting quite giddy with going round and round, but I'm _sure_ I couldhave told if we'd been going up.'

  'Well, never mind. If godmother is a witch, I fancy the doctor's awizard. But any way we're here, and that's the principal thing. Come on,quick, Maia, aren't you in a hurry to know if Waldo and Silva are athome?'

  He ran on to the cottage and Maia after him. The door was shut. Rolloknocked, but there was no answer.

  'Oh, what a pity it will be if they are not in!' said Maia. 'Knockagain, Rollo, louder.'

  Rollo did so. Still there was no answer.

  'What shall we do?' said the children to each other. 'It would be toohorrid to have to go home and miss our chance of a holiday.'

  'We might stay in the woods by ourselves,' suggested Rollo.

  'It would be very dull,' said Maia disconsolately. 'I don't think theold doctor should have brought us without knowing if they would be here.If he knows so much he might have found that out.'

  Suddenly Rollo gave an exclamation. He had been standing fumbling at thelatch.

  'What do you say?' asked Maia.

  'The door isn't locked. Suppose we go in? It would be no harm. Theyweren't a bit vexed with us for having gone in and drunk the milk thefirst time.'

  'Of course not,' said Maia; 'they wouldn't be the least vexed. I quitethought the door was locked all this time. Open it, Rollo. I can't reachso high or I would have found out long ago it wasn't locked.'

  With a little difficulty Rollo opened the door.

  Everything in the tiny kitchen looked as they had last seen it, only, ifthat were possible, still neater and cleaner. Maia stared round as ifhalf expecting to see Waldo or Silva jump out from under the chairs orbehind the cupboard, but suddenly she darted forward. A white object onthe table had caught her attention. It was a sheet of paper, on whichwas written in round clear letters:

  'Godmother will be here in a quarter of an hour.'

  'See, Rollo,' exclaimed Maia triumphantly, 'this must be meant for _us_.What a good thing we came in! I don't mind waiting a quarter of anhour.'

  'But that paper may have been here all day. It may have been sent forWaldo and Silva,' said Rollo. 'You know they told us godmother onlycomes sometimes to see them.'

  'I don't care,' said Maia, seating herself on one of the high-backedchairs. 'I'm going to wait a quarter of an hour, and just _see_.Godmother doesn't do things like other people, and I'm sure this messageis for us.'

  Rollo said no more, but followed Maia's example. There they sat, liketwo little statues, the only distraction being the tick-tack of theclock, and watching the long hand creep slowly down the three divisionsof its broad face which showed a quarter of an hour. It seemed a verylong quarter of an hour. Maia was so little used to sitting still,except when she was busy with lessons, to which she was obliged to giveher attention, that after a few minutes her head began to nod and atlast gave such a jerk that she woke up with a start.

  'Dear me, isn't it a quarter of an hour _yet_?' she exclaimed.

  'No, it's hardly five minutes,' said Rollo, rather grumpily, for hethought this was a very dull way of spending a holiday, and he wouldrather have gone out into the woods than sit there waiting. Maia leanther head again on the back of her chair.

  'Suppose we count ten times up to sixty,' she said. 'That would be tenminutes if we go by the ticks of the clock, and if she isn't here then,I won't ask you to wait any longer.'

  'We can see the time,' said Rollo; 'I don't see the use of counting itloud out.'

  Maia said nothing more. Whether she took another little nap; whetherRollo himself did not do so also I cannot say. All I know is that justexactly as the hand of the clock had got to fourteen minutes from thetime they had begun watching it, both children started to their feet andlooked at each other.

  'Do you hear?' said Maia.

  'It's a carriage,' exclaimed Rollo.

  'How could a carriage come through the wood? There's no path wideenough.'

  'But it _is_ a carriage;' and to settle the point both ran to the doorto see.

  It came swiftly along, in and out among the trees without difficulty, sosmall was it. The two tiny piebald ponies that drew it shook their wavymanes as they danced along, the little bells on their necks ringingsoftly. A funny idea struck Maia as she watched it. It looked just likea toy meant for some giant's child which had dropped off one of thehuge Christmas-trees, waiting there to be decked for Santa Claus'sfestival! But the queerest part of the sight for them was when thecarriage came near enough for them to see that godmother herself wasdriving it. She did look so comical, perched up on the little seat andchirrupping and wo-wohing to her steeds, and she seemed to have grown sosmall, oh, so small! Otherwise how could she ever have got into acarriage really not much too large for a baby of two years old?

  On she drove, and drew up in grand style just in front of where thechildren were standing.

  'Jump in,' she said, nodding off-handedly, but without any othergreeting.

  'But how----?' began Maia. 'How can Rollo and I possibly get into thattiny carriage?' were the words on her lips, but somehow before she beganto say them, they melted away, and almost without knowing how, she foundherself getting into the back seat of the little phaeton, with Rollobeside her, and in another moment--crack! went godmother's whip, and offthey set.

  They went so fast, oh, so fast! There did not seem time to considerwhether they were comfortable or not, or how it was they fitted so wellinto the carriage, small as it was, or anything but just the deliciousfeeling of flying along, which shows that they must have been verycomfortable, does it not? In and out among the great looming pine-treestheir strange coachman made her way, without once hesitating orwavering, so that the children felt no fear of striking against themassive trunks, even though it grew darker and gloomier and theChristmas-trees had certainly never looked anything like so enormous.

  'Or _can_ it be that we have really grown smaller?' thought Maia; buther thoughts were quickly interrupted by a merry cry from godmother,'Hold fast, children, we're going to have a leap.'

  Godmother was certainly in a very comical humour. But for her voice andher bright eyes when they peeped out from under her hood the childrenwould scarcely have known her. She was like a little mischievous oldsprite instead of the soft, tender, mysterious being who had petted themso sweetly and told them the quiet story of gentle Aureole the otherday. In a different kind of way Maia felt again almost a _very_ littlebit afraid of her, but Rollo's spirits rose with the fun, his cheeksgrew rosier and his eyes brighter, though he was very kind to Maia too,and put his arm round her to keep her steady in preparation forgodmother's flying leap, over they knew not what. But it wasbeautifully managed; not only the ponies, but the carriage too, seemedto acquire wings for the occasion, and there was not the slightest jaror shock, only a strange lifting feeling, and then softly down again,and on, on, through trees and brushwood, faster and faster, as surely noponies ever galloped before.

  'Are you frightened, Rollo?' whispered Maia.

  'Not a bit. Why should I be? Godmother can take care of us, and even ifshe wasn't there, one couldn't be frightened flying along with thosesplendid little ponies.'

  'What was it we jumped over?' asked Maia.

  Godmother heard her and turned round.

  'We jumped over the brook,' she said. 'Don't you remember the littlebrook that runs through the wood?'

  'The brook that Rollo and I go over by the stepping stones? It's a verylittle brook, godmother. I should think the carriage might have drivenover without jumping.'

  'Hush!' said godmother, 'we're getting into the middle of
the wood and Imust drive carefully.'

  But she did not go any more slowly; it got darker and darker as thetrees grew more closely together. The children saw, as they lookedround, that they had never been so far in the forest before.

  'I wonder when we shall see Silva and Waldo,' thought Maia, and somehowthe thought seemed to bring its answer, for just as it passed throughher mind, a clear bright voice called out from among the trees:

  'Godmother, godmother, don't drive too far. Here we are waiting foryou.'

  'Waldo and Silva!' exclaimed the children. The ponies suddenly stopped,and out jumped or tumbled into the arms of their friends Rollo and Maia.

  'Oh, Waldo! oh, Silva!' they exclaimed. 'We've had _such_ a drive!Godmother has brought us along like the wind.'

  Silva nodded her head. 'I know,' she said, smiling. 'There is no one sofunny as godmother when she is in a wild humour. You may be glad you arehere all right. She would have thought nothing of driving on to----'Silva stopped, at a loss what place to name.

  'To where?' said the children.

  'Oh, to the moon, or the stars, or down to the bottom of the sea, oranywhere that came into her head!' said Silva, laughing. 'For, you know,she can go _anywhere_.'

  '_Can_ she?' exclaimed Maia. 'Oh, what wonderful stories we can make hertell us, then! Godmother, godmother, do you hear what Silva says?' shewent on, turning round to where she thought the carriage and ponies andgodmother were standing. But----