1. _In Which David Goes Mountain Climbing, and a
Mysterious Voice Is Overheard_ 9
2. _In Which David Meets the Phoenix, and There Is a
Change in Plans_ 19
3. _In Which It Is Decided that David Should Have an
Education, and an Experiment Is made_ 34
4. _In Which David and the Phoenix Go To Visit the
Gryffins, and a Great Danger Is Narrowly Averted_ 45
5. _In Which the Scientist Arrives in Pursuit of the
Phoenix, and There Are Alarums and Excursions by
Night_ 61
6. _In Which the Phoenix Has a Plan, and David and
the Phoenix Call On a Sea Monster_ 79
7. _In Which the Phoenix's Plan Is Carried Out, and
There Are More Alarums and Excursions in the Night_ 99
8. _In Which David and the Phoenix Visit a Banshee,
and a Surprise Is Planted in the Enemy's Camp_ 115
9. _In Which David and the Phoenix Call On a Faun,
and a Lovely Afternoon Comes to a Strange End_ 138
10. _In Which a Five Hundredth Birthday Is Celebrated,
and the Phoenix Bows to Tradition_ 156
* * * * *
_For Shirley and Josh_
* * * * *
1: _In Which David Goes Mountain Climbing, and a Mysterious Voice Is
Overheard_
[Illustration]
All the way there David had saved this moment for himself, struggling
not to peek until the proper time came. When the car finally stopped,
the rest of them got out stiffly and went into the new house. But
David walked slowly into the back yard with his eyes fixed on the
ground. For a whole minute he stood there, not daring to look up. Then
he took a deep breath, clenched his hands tightly, and lifted his
head.
There it was!--as Dad had described it, but infinitely more grand. It
swept upward from the valley floor, beautifully shaped and soaring, so
tall that its misty blue peak could surely talk face to face with the
stars. To David, who had never seen a mountain before, the sight was
almost too much to bear. He felt so tight and shivery inside that he
didn't know whether he wanted to laugh, or cry, or both. And the
really wonderful thing about the mountain was the way it _looked_ at
him. He was certain that it was smiling at him, like an old friend who
had been waiting for years to see him again. And when he closed his
eyes, he seemed to hear a voice which whispered, "Come along, then,
and climb."
It would be so easy to go! The back yard was hedged in (with part of
the hedge growing right across the toes of the mountain), but there
was a hole in the privet large enough to crawl through. And just
beyond the hedge the mountainside awaited him, going up and up in one
smooth sweep until the green and tawny faded into hazy heights of
rock. It was waiting for him. "Come and climb," it whispered, "come
and climb."
But there was a great deal to do first. They were going to move into
the new house. The moving van was standing out in front, the car must
be unloaded. David would be needed to carry things. Regretfully, he
waved his hand at the peak and whispered, "It shouldn't take
long--I'll be back as soon as I can." Then he went around to the front
door to see what could be done about speeding things up.
[Illustration]
Inside, everything was in confusion. Dad was pushing chairs and
tables around in an aimless way. Mother was saying, "They'll all have
to go out again; we forgot to put down the rug first." Aunt Amy was
making short dashes between the kitchen and the dining room, muttering
to herself. And Beckie was roaring in her crib because it was time for
her bottle. David asked, "Can I do anything?"--hoping that the answer
would be no.
"C'mere," Aunt Amy said, grabbing him by the arm. "Help me look for
that ironing board."
When the ironing board was finally located, Mother had something for
him to do. And when he was finished with that, Dad called for his
help. So the afternoon wore on without letup--and also without any
signs of progress in their moving. When David finally got a chance to
sneak out for a breathing spell, he felt his heart sink. Somehow, in
all the rush and confusion, the afternoon had disappeared. Already the
evening sun was throwing shadows across the side of the mountain and
touching its peak with a ruddy blaze. It was too late now. He would
have to wait until morning before he could climb.
As he gazed up miserably at the glowing summit, he thought he saw a
tiny speck soar out from it in a brief circle. Was it a bird of some
sort, or just one of those dots that swim before your eyes when you
stare too long at the sky? It almost seemed like the mountain waving
its hand, as if to say that it was quite all right for him to wait
until morning. He felt better then, and returned more cheerfully to
the moving.
It was long after dark before the moving van drove away. Beckie
crooned happily over her bottle, and the rest of them gathered in the
kitchen for a late supper of sandwiches and canned soup. But David
could not eat until he had found the courage to ask one question:
"May I climb the mountain tomorrow?"
Aunt Amy muttered something about landslides, which were firmly fixed
in her mind as the fate of people who climbed mountains. But Dad said,
"I don't see why not, do you?" and looked to Mother for agreement.
Mother said, "Well ... be very careful," in a doubtful tone, and that
was that.
* * * * *
You never know what you will find when you climb a mountain, even if
you have climbed them before--which, of course, David never had.
Looking up from the foot of the mountain, he had thought that it was a
smooth slope from bottom to top. But he was discovering as he climbed
that it was not smooth at all, but very much broken up. There were
terraces, ledges, knolls, ravines, and embankments, one after
another. The exciting part of it was that each feature concealed the
ones above it. At the top of a rise would be an outcropping of
strangely colored rock, invisible from below. Beyond the outcropping,
a small stand of aspens would quiver in the breeze, their quicksilver
leaves hiding a tiny meadow on the slope behind. And when the meadow
had been discovered, there would be a something else beyond. He was a
real explorer now. When he got to the top, he thought, he would build
a little tower of stones, the way explorers always do.
But at the end of two hours' steady climbing, he was ready to admit
that he would never reach the peak that day. It still rose above his
head, seeming as far distant as ever. But he did not care now. It had
been a glorious climb, and the distance he had already covered was a
considerable one. He looked back. The town looked like a model of a
town, with little toy houses and different-colored roofs among the
trees that made a darker patch on the pattern of the valley floor. The
mountains on the other side of the valley seemed like blue clouds
stretching out over the edge of the world. Even the peak could not
give him a better view than this.
David gazed up the face of a scarp which rose like a cliff above
him--a smooth, bare wall of rock that had halted his climb. Halfway
up the scarp was a dark horizontal line of bushes, something like a
hedge. Apparently there was a ledge or shelf there, and he decided to
climb up to it before he returned home. To scale the rock face itself
was impossible, however: there were no hand or foot holds. So he
turned and made his way through the grass until he reached the end of
the bare stone. Then he started upward again. It was hard work. Vines
clutched at his feet, and the close-set bushes seemed unwilling to let
him pass. He had one nasty slip, which might have been his last if he
had not grabbed a tough clump of weeds at the crucial instant.
But, oh! it was worth it. He felt like shouting when at last he
reached the ledge. Truly it was an enchanted place! It was a long,
level strip of ground, several yards wide, carpeted with short grass
and dandelions. Bushes grew along most of the outer edge. The inner
edge was bounded by a second scarp--a wall of red stone with sparkling
points of light imbedded in its smooth surface.
David threw himself on the grass and rolled in it. It was warm and
soft and sweet-smelling; it soothed away the hurt of his aching
muscles and the sting of his scratches. He rolled over on his back and
cushioned his head in his hands. The sky seemed to be slipping along
overhead like a broad blue river. The breeze ruffled his hair and
whispered, the bushes murmured and gossiped to each other. Even the
sunlight seemed to hum to him as it laid warm hands on his face.
But there was another sound, which now and then rose above these
murmurs. Then it would fade and be drowned out by the breeze. Hard to
say why, but it just did not seem to fit there. David propped himself
up on his elbows and listened more intently. The sound faded: he had
been imagining it. No, he had not been imagining it--there it was
again. He sat up. Now he noticed that the ledge was divided by a
thicket which grew from the inner side to the outer. The noise,
whatever it was, came from the other side of the thicket.
David's curiosity was aroused, but it occurred to him that it might be
wise to be cautious. The noise did not sound dangerous, but--well, he
had never been up a mountain before, and there was no telling what he
might find. He dropped into a crouch and crept silently up to the
tangle of bushes. His heart began to pound, and he swallowed to
relieve the dryness in his throat. The noise was much more distinct
now, and it sounded like--like--yes, not only sounded like, but
_was_--someone talking to himself.
Who could it possibly be? Well, there was only one way to find out.
He dropped down on his stomach and carefully began to worm his way
under the thicket. The branches grew very low, and the ground was full
of lumps and knobs which dug into him with every movement. There were
vines, too, and some prickly things like thistles, which had to be
pushed out of the way without allowing their leaves to rustle. He
progressed by inches, pushing with his toes, pulling with his finger
tips, wriggling with the rest of his body. At last he could see light
breaking through the foliage in front of him--he was nearing the other
side. A bunch of leaves hung before his face. He hesitated, then
pushed them aside gently, slowly--and peered out.
He thought his heart would stop.
[Illustration]