school, but she didn’t like to mention it, for fear of making him sad. “Personally, I should like to put off growing up as long as possible,” she said. She kicked at a stone. “When you grow up, you have to do what people expect you to do, whether you like it or not.”
And if you didn’t do what was expected of you, you made other people unhappy, as well as yourself. Her father, for instance, had refused to become an English gentleman and do the things Grandmama wanted him to do, so he had run away to New Zealand to be a sheep farmer, which hadn’t made him very happy, either. Caroline had given this a great deal of thought lately, for she was beginning to realize that Grandmama expected certain things of her, as well, all in the name of growing up and becoming a lady. She had the feeling she wasn’t going to like doing those things any more than her father had, but she didn’t think she’d have the courage to run away, as he did. And where would she go? The sheep station had been sold and there was nobody left in New Zealand.
Jeremy chuckled. “That makes two of us, then,” he said, “having to grow up and do things we don’t want to do. So we shall just have to put off growing up as long as we can. Maybe we can do that by believing in fairies.” Now very serious, he leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “And when we see a fairy, we can make a wish and he’s bound to grant it.”
“Is he?” Caroline asked dubiously. “I hadn’t heard that.” Jeremy straightened and gave her a crooked grin. “That’s because I just made it up.”
“But it sounds as if it must be true,” Caroline said, to comfort him. “I’m sure it’s true, Jeremy. I’ll think of a wish for me, and you think of a wish for you, and we’ll find a fairy to grant both of them.” Which was silliness, of course. But she wasn’t going to say that out loud and spoil things.
“It’s a bargain,” Jeremy said. “But I don’t have to think very hard.”
“Neither do I,” said Caroline. She had meant to wish that she would not have to be a lady—at least, not the kind her grandmother intended—but she had changed her mind.
She would wish that Jeremy could have his wish. That Jeremy could go to school.
10
Jeremy Discusses the Situation with Rascal
Jeremy and Caroline came to the place where they always said goodbye, and Jeremy watched as Caroline crossed the beck at the gravel ford and walked up the path to Tidmarsh Manor, which reminded Jeremy of a stone fortress. The sight of it always made him feel sorry for Caroline, for the forbidding old place was built of chilly gray stone, with a gray slate roof and narrow windows—not a bright and happy place for a young girl. And behind the manor, climbing the steep slopes of Claife Heights, rose the mysterious wilderness of Cuckoo Brow Wood.
Jeremy regarded the woods thoughtfully. He’d heard it said that the Fairy Folk had lived there once. They made their homes in Cuckoo Brow Wood, well beyond the open woodlands of larch and ash, up near the top of Claife Heights, hidden in secret places among the ancient oaks, where the dim forest floor was hummocked with mosses, thick and plush as green velvet. There was a path, although he’d never taken it very far. They—he and Caroline and Deirdre—could start at the gate on Saturday afternoon.
“Jeremy, Jeremy!”
A flurry of barks startled Jeremy out of his imaginings, and he turned. “Hullo, Rascal!” he exclaimed, as a small brown dog came hurtling toward him. He knelt down and opened his arms. “What have you been up to this afternoon?”
“I’ve spent an absolutely ripping day at Oatmeal Crag, digging out rabbits and chasing squirrels!” Rascal enthused, putting his paws on the boy’s shoulders and licking him enthusiastically on the chin.
The little Jack Russell terrier, who lived at Belle Green with Mr. and Mrs. Crook, often went along with Jeremy as he tramped through the moors and up the fells, looking
And if you didn’t do what was expected of you, you made other people unhappy, as well as yourself. Her father, for instance, had refused to become an English gentleman and do the things Grandmama wanted him to do, so he had run away to New Zealand to be a sheep farmer, which hadn’t made him very happy, either. Caroline had given this a great deal of thought lately, for she was beginning to realize that Grandmama expected certain things of her, as well, all in the name of growing up and becoming a lady. She had the feeling she wasn’t going to like doing those things any more than her father had, but she didn’t think she’d have the courage to run away, as he did. And where would she go? The sheep station had been sold and there was nobody left in New Zealand.
Jeremy chuckled. “That makes two of us, then,” he said, “having to grow up and do things we don’t want to do. So we shall just have to put off growing up as long as we can. Maybe we can do that by believing in fairies.” Now very serious, he leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “And when we see a fairy, we can make a wish and he’s bound to grant it.”
“Is he?” Caroline asked dubiously. “I hadn’t heard that.” Jeremy straightened and gave her a crooked grin. “That’s because I just made it up.”
“But it sounds as if it must be true,” Caroline said, to comfort him. “I’m sure it’s true, Jeremy. I’ll think of a wish for me, and you think of a wish for you, and we’ll find a fairy to grant both of them.” Which was silliness, of course. But she wasn’t going to say that out loud and spoil things.
“It’s a bargain,” Jeremy said. “But I don’t have to think very hard.”
“Neither do I,” said Caroline. She had meant to wish that she would not have to be a lady—at least, not the kind her grandmother intended—but she had changed her mind.
She would wish that Jeremy could have his wish. That Jeremy could go to school.
10
Jeremy Discusses the Situation with Rascal
Jeremy and Caroline came to the place where they always said goodbye, and Jeremy watched as Caroline crossed the beck at the gravel ford and walked up the path to Tidmarsh Manor, which reminded Jeremy of a stone fortress. The sight of it always made him feel sorry for Caroline, for the forbidding old place was built of chilly gray stone, with a gray slate roof and narrow windows—not a bright and happy place for a young girl. And behind the manor, climbing the steep slopes of Claife Heights, rose the mysterious wilderness of Cuckoo Brow Wood.
Jeremy regarded the woods thoughtfully. He’d heard it said that the Fairy Folk had lived there once. They made their homes in Cuckoo Brow Wood, well beyond the open woodlands of larch and ash, up near the top of Claife Heights, hidden in secret places among the ancient oaks, where the dim forest floor was hummocked with mosses, thick and plush as green velvet. There was a path, although he’d never taken it very far. They—he and Caroline and Deirdre—could start at the gate on Saturday afternoon.
“Jeremy, Jeremy!”
A flurry of barks startled Jeremy out of his imaginings, and he turned. “Hullo, Rascal!” he exclaimed, as a small brown dog came hurtling toward him. He knelt down and opened his arms. “What have you been up to this afternoon?”
“I’ve spent an absolutely ripping day at Oatmeal Crag, digging out rabbits and chasing squirrels!” Rascal enthused, putting his paws on the boy’s shoulders and licking him enthusiastically on the chin.
The little Jack Russell terrier, who lived at Belle Green with Mr. and Mrs. Crook, often went along with Jeremy as he tramped through the moors and up the fells, looking
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