SWEETS AND FAIRIES
“And if you don’t get muddy, but pick your way nicely, we’ll go to the
village shop and buy a pennyworth of sweets,” said Nurse the next day,
when they started out for their walk.
“May I pick some primroses if I see them?” asked Peggy, dancing along.
There never were any on the high road, where Nurse generally chose to
walk, but still there was always the chance there _might_ be one day,
and it was well to get permission beforehand.
“Yes, if you like,” said Nurse absentmindedly. She was very busy trying
to see into a cab that had just passed, and didn’t really hear. Not
that it mattered. There never were any primroses.
“There’s one--at least I _fink_ there is!” said Peggy suddenly, when
they had nearly reached the village. She stood on the edge of the ditch
and peered up into the hedge. “Or is it a Fairy, perhaps? _Do_ look,
Nannie, it’s all white and shiny!”
“A Fairy indeed!” said Nurse, looking up too. “It’s an old bit of paper
blown up there. Be careful, or you’ll be in the ditch!”
But she was too late, for Peggy lost her balance--or the side of the
ditch gave way--and the next moment the two little gaitered legs were
half hidden in dark brown muddy water!
“_Very_ good!” said Nurse in a terrible voice. Then she dragged Peggy
out, and walked her back along the road towards home, saying nothing in
her most alarming manner.
Peggy really felt quite frightened.
“Nannie, you’re hurting my arm!” she said at last, trying to drag
her hand away. She hated the dry feel of Nurse’s black cotton gloves
pinched around her cold fingers. “Aren’t we going to buy any sweets
after all?” she went on.
There was no answer.
“Do you hear?” shouted Peggy desperately, and pulling harder.
“You should learn to do as you’re told,” said Nurse, taking a firmer
grip, and walking faster still.
Peggy pulled harder still. She was beginning to feel really naughty.
Besides, she knew it had been a Fairy, and who could think of stupid
old ditches then? Nurse _never_ understood.
“What _have_ you got on your thumb?” asked Nurse, suddenly stopping,
and dropping Peggy’s hand very quickly.
Peggy looked down, and there was the Fairy Ring sending out great
sparkles of green light all over the muddy road! She could scarcely
believe her eyes, and Nurse looked rather frightened.
Peggy felt there was not a second to lose.
“O Giant, I wish you’d take me away somewhere--and make Nurse nicer!”
she whispered in a great hurry.
* * * * *
“You _are_ a oner, you are!” said the Giant admiringly. “You nearly
always ask for two things in one wish--but it never seems to
matter--you get ’em! Now come along, we’ve got to hurry.”
Peggy and the Giant were walking along a wide silver road. The hedges,
the gates, the trees, the flowers, even the birds that flew over their
heads, were silver, all sparkling and gleaming in the light of a big
silver moon in a blue sky. Peggy had never seen anything so beautiful,
and she looked up at the Giant with very happy eyes as she danced along
the road by his side.
“I shall always leave you to think of lovely places,” she said. “I
should never have thought of coming here!”
“It’s the Ring as well,” said the Giant modestly. “But we aren’t there
yet. Sit on my hand; we shall get there quicker that way.”
“Why, where are we going?” asked Peggy, jumping up and holding on to
his thumb.
“To Fairy-land,” said the Giant, stepping out briskly, “or at least to
one little bit of it. It’s only as a great treat, because you couldn’t
find a primrose, and never got your sweets. By the way, that _was_ a
Fairy in the hedge,” he added.
“I _knew_ it was,” said Peggy. “But Nannie _won’t_ see things
sometimes. Oh, look! what _is_ this coming?”
They had turned a corner, and saw far away above the hills something
that appeared to be a great blue cloud edged with gold, advancing
with a humming sound. As it came nearer Peggy discovered to her great
excitement that it was really a multitude of Fairies all dressed in
the palest blue dresses, their golden hair flowing out around them,
and on their heads silver crowns studded with bright blue stones; and
the humming sound was the rustle of their great blue wings which were
bearing them along at a tremendous rate.
They made straight for Peggy, led by a tall, beautiful Fairy, whose
blue dress was simply covered with sparkling stones. And there was
something in her pretty smiling face which reminded Peggy of someone,
but she couldn’t remember who. The next moment the Fairy was just above
the Giant’s head; then she dropped suddenly, and catching Peggy up by
the hand she and all the rest of the Fairies rose high in the air again
and flew off by the way they had come.
Peggy clutched the Fairy’s hand very tightly for some time, for they
were all going so fast that the rush of air made her feel quite
breathless. But when she was rather more used to it, she turned her
head to look at the Fairies following, and suddenly saw that she had
grown a magnificent pair of blue wings too!
She at once tried to flap them, and found she could do so quite well,
though rather jerkily at first, and the Giant--who was striding along
in the air just below her--looked up with a wide grin on his round face.
“Capital, capital!” he called out. “Well, how do you like flying?”
“It’s _lovely_!” shouted back Peggy. “You _do_ think of splendid
things! And so do you!” she added, looking up gratefully into the
Fairy’s face.
And then she gave a great start, for, of course, she saw now who the
Fairy was. She was Nurse!
Peggy gasped, and very nearly dropped right down. It was certainly
Nurse, but Nurse looking happy, Nurse looking pleased with Peggy, Nurse
seeming as though for once she was actually enjoying herself! It really
seemed too good to be true, and Peggy darted another glance of great
thankfulness down at the Giant.
“I’m glad you think it fun,” said Nurse, in a sweet, clear voice. “But
you needn’t flap quite so hard. Look, give long, steady sweeps like
this,” and she sprang forward even quicker into the air, and then
showed Peggy exactly how it was done, till she had learnt perfectly.
The land was changing below them, or they were much higher up. It was
sometimes bright and coloured like a rainbow, sometimes as red as fire,
and sometimes so dark that they could see nothing below them. Once a
terrible smell of smoke rose up, and Nurse called to everyone to mount
higher.
“What a dreadful place that was,” said Peggy, when they once more saw
the pretty rainbow land below them again. “Who lives there?”
“Ogres,” said Nurse, “heaps of them. I hate passing their way, but it’s
a short cut. That red country we passed just now was where the Dragons
live. They’re even worse, nasty ill-bred creatures! However, we’ve
passed them all now, and here we come down.”
They were right above a cleared space in a big black wood, and at a
signal from Nurse, all the Fairies paused, and, half folding their
wings, floated down amongst the trees. Peggy did so too, and balanced
on a large branch, closing her wings up neatly as she saw the others
doing.
“Now, each take a tree and begin,” called Nurse, who was flying about
looking happier than ever, “and after that we’ll have some games!”
Then Peggy noticed what extraordinary trees they were all perched upon.
For from every twig were hanging by silver strings the most fascinating
little tiny sugar animals and birds of every colour and kind--blue
elephants, mauve dogs, scarlet mice, yellow nightingales, and
everything else you can think of. And all through the wood she could
hear the Fairies calling and laughing to each other as they fluttered
up and down the trees and ate the pretty things.
“May I?” asked Peggy, her fingers closing round a purple sparrow, and
looking at Nurse who she hardly dared believe would be so changed as to
allow her to eat as many sweets as she liked!
“Of course,” said Nurse smiling--and Peggy had never realised before
how very nicely Nurse could smile. She also longed to tell her how
pretty she looked with her golden hair all flying loose in the air. But
she didn’t dare. “I advise you to try that pink cow just behind you,”
went on Nurse. “No, not that one, the very big one by the trunk. That’s
it. Now, _isn’t_ that good?”
It was certainly too lovely for words. It had the delicious taste that
a strawberry ice has before you’ve eaten too many at a party, and it
was also rather like pineapples and pear-drops and Tangerine oranges,
and yet it was far better than any of them.
Peggy soon got quite good at half fluttering, half balancing along the
branches like the others were doing, and trying each different sweet by
turn.
(I’m afraid this sounds rather a greedy adventure of Peggy’s, but it
wasn’t really, as it happened in Fairy-land, and there were enough
sweets for everyone, and no one felt sick when they’d eaten too many.)
She had just bitten a pink sugar rabbit in half, and found it tasted
just like meringues, when she remembered the Giant.
“Oh dear,” she cried, “where is the Giant? I’d quite forgotten him!”