enchantments.
At last he went away and then Minnie whispered to Billy just what Sasha Sable had told her. âOh Min, whatever shall we do?â said Billy, and he began to cry, but Minnie had more sense than that. So when he stopped crying, they peeped out of the room and went creeping about the house, trying to find a way out. But all the doors and windows were fastened up by great heavy golden bars, that they couldnât begin to lift, and once or twice when they looked quietly round a corner, thereâd be someone standing with his back to them at the end of a corridor, and heâd have that nasty green light round his head and shoulders, the same as the chauffeur had.
Once they came into the room where the old witch was sitting, playing Patience beside a nice warm fire. But when they looked, they saw that it wasnât good Derby brights on the fire, but a heap of blackened bones that the pretty flames were dancing about among. And they saw it wasnât a pussy-cat on the hearth-rug, but a small tiger that was watching them. And they saw she wasnât playing Patience with ordinary cards, because the clubs were fac-toriesand rows of little houses, and the spades were acres of land, and the diamonds were stocks and shares, and the hearts were peopleâs lives, so whenever she discarded a heart it bled a little, and the blood dripped off the table, down its jade and ivory legs, and the cat that was really a tiger, only worse, lapped up the blood. And the witch looked up from her Patience and patted their heads, and seemed very satisfied, and then she told them to run along to bed.
So the dumb butler in the black coat took them to another beautiful room where there were two little beds with knobs of rubies and emeralds, and two little suits of pyjamas with a £ sign embroidered on the pocket. Neither of them had ever had a bed like that; it reminded Minnie of the week sheâd been in hospital with her bad leg, only it was even grander, and the sheets whiter, and the blankets softer. So they got into the pyjamas, which were like what theyâd seen in shop windows, and danced about in them a bit, only the embroidery on the pocket seemed to burn rather and gave them a pain over the heart. So they got into bed, but they were afraid to talk to one another, because they thought that the emerald and ruby knobs might be listening.
The next thing that happened was that they heard steps outside and in came the old witch to tuck them up and say good-night. She kissed Billy who was just lying staring at her, but Minnie was pretending to be asleep and had burrowed her face down under the blanket, so the witch couldnât get at her. When she went out, she put out all the lights, except for a little lamp that was made to look like a lighthouse, and on the very top of it was an old-fashioned golden sovereign, like I remember when I was a kid myself years and years ago, but you donât. And the horrid thing wasthat every now and then a pretty pale moth would come fluttering up and bang against the light, and burn its wings. Not that moths donât do that anywhere where thereâs a light, let alone in witchesâ houses, but somehow there were more moths in that room than thereâd any right to be in a city like Birmingham. And hearing the mothâs wings sizzle and the soft plopping down of their silly little bodies as they fell and died, was more than Minnie could stand. Sheâd been wondering hard how to do in the witch, remembering the way the children in the fairy tales used to manage it, tipping her up into her own oven and turning her into gingerbreadâonly there didnât seem to be any oven here and she didnât know what else would do. So now, what with lying awake, and watching the nasty little lighthouse lamp and the glitter on the ruby and emerald knobs, and hearing the sizzle and drop of the burnt moths, one after the other, she began to call in a whisper for Sasha
At last he went away and then Minnie whispered to Billy just what Sasha Sable had told her. âOh Min, whatever shall we do?â said Billy, and he began to cry, but Minnie had more sense than that. So when he stopped crying, they peeped out of the room and went creeping about the house, trying to find a way out. But all the doors and windows were fastened up by great heavy golden bars, that they couldnât begin to lift, and once or twice when they looked quietly round a corner, thereâd be someone standing with his back to them at the end of a corridor, and heâd have that nasty green light round his head and shoulders, the same as the chauffeur had.
Once they came into the room where the old witch was sitting, playing Patience beside a nice warm fire. But when they looked, they saw that it wasnât good Derby brights on the fire, but a heap of blackened bones that the pretty flames were dancing about among. And they saw it wasnât a pussy-cat on the hearth-rug, but a small tiger that was watching them. And they saw she wasnât playing Patience with ordinary cards, because the clubs were fac-toriesand rows of little houses, and the spades were acres of land, and the diamonds were stocks and shares, and the hearts were peopleâs lives, so whenever she discarded a heart it bled a little, and the blood dripped off the table, down its jade and ivory legs, and the cat that was really a tiger, only worse, lapped up the blood. And the witch looked up from her Patience and patted their heads, and seemed very satisfied, and then she told them to run along to bed.
So the dumb butler in the black coat took them to another beautiful room where there were two little beds with knobs of rubies and emeralds, and two little suits of pyjamas with a £ sign embroidered on the pocket. Neither of them had ever had a bed like that; it reminded Minnie of the week sheâd been in hospital with her bad leg, only it was even grander, and the sheets whiter, and the blankets softer. So they got into the pyjamas, which were like what theyâd seen in shop windows, and danced about in them a bit, only the embroidery on the pocket seemed to burn rather and gave them a pain over the heart. So they got into bed, but they were afraid to talk to one another, because they thought that the emerald and ruby knobs might be listening.
The next thing that happened was that they heard steps outside and in came the old witch to tuck them up and say good-night. She kissed Billy who was just lying staring at her, but Minnie was pretending to be asleep and had burrowed her face down under the blanket, so the witch couldnât get at her. When she went out, she put out all the lights, except for a little lamp that was made to look like a lighthouse, and on the very top of it was an old-fashioned golden sovereign, like I remember when I was a kid myself years and years ago, but you donât. And the horrid thing wasthat every now and then a pretty pale moth would come fluttering up and bang against the light, and burn its wings. Not that moths donât do that anywhere where thereâs a light, let alone in witchesâ houses, but somehow there were more moths in that room than thereâd any right to be in a city like Birmingham. And hearing the mothâs wings sizzle and the soft plopping down of their silly little bodies as they fell and died, was more than Minnie could stand. Sheâd been wondering hard how to do in the witch, remembering the way the children in the fairy tales used to manage it, tipping her up into her own oven and turning her into gingerbreadâonly there didnât seem to be any oven here and she didnât know what else would do. So now, what with lying awake, and watching the nasty little lighthouse lamp and the glitter on the ruby and emerald knobs, and hearing the sizzle and drop of the burnt moths, one after the other, she began to call in a whisper for Sasha
Similar Books
