CHAPTER VI
_The Black Leaf_
"What dreadful things the Pumpkin must do," said Molly, "to make everyone so frightened of him."
"He does do dreadful things," said old Nancy.
"What a mean revenge--on innocent people," Jack commented.
"And the worst part of it is," Old Nancy continued, "that no one knowshow much evil power he has, nor what he can do to them if he likes.He evidently has his limits, for there seem to be some things that hecannot do: for instance, he cannot roll along quickly--he always movesat the same slow pace; and he cannot climb up walls or trees, though hecan roll up hills. So as long as you keep out of his reach he cannothurt you."
"If he never comes out of the Pumpkin--the little Dwarf--what does hedo when he catches any one?" inquired Molly.
"Just rolls up to them and touches them--bumps against themsoftly--and then--something queer happens to them. Perhaps they arechanged into some strange animal, or maybe they shrink until they areonly a few inches high, or suddenly they find they have lost theirnose or their eyesight--or worse things than these may happen. Themisery caused by the Pumpkin is unthinkable; and more often thannot--incurable."
"Oh," shuddered Molly. "Well, however did you manage to get rid ofhim?--to send him into our World?"
"I was just going to tell you about that," said Old Nancy. There was amoment's pause, then, "I am a kind of magician, you know," she went on.The children glanced quickly up at her, startled at her words, but hergentle face reassured them as she smiled kindly down. "And being a kindof magician I discovered a spell that would send the Pumpkin out of ourcountry into the Impossible World. So I turned him into a pincushion, agrey pincushion, and transported him into your World, where I thoughthe could do no harm; and you know what happened there. I believed wewere rid of him for ever, and we would have been--but for me. It waspart of the spell that every evening at sunset I should stand with myface turned to the sinking sun, and, making a certain sign with my armsoutstretched, should repeat some magic words. As long as I did thiseach evening the Pumpkin could not come back, and our country was safe.But I knew that if I chanced to be a minute after sunset any eveningthe spell which bound the Pumpkin would break, and he would return tous." A sorrowful look came over Old Nancy's face. "And to-night," shesaid, "I failed to say the magic words at sunset--and he has come back.I am certain it is one of the Pumpkin's followers who has foiled me;though how--I do not know."
"Can't you use the spell and turn him into a pincushion again?" askedJack.
"No," said Old Nancy, shaking her head. "That spell could only be usedonce, and once only; and I know no others."
"Then however can we----" began Jack.
"Patience," said Old Nancy. "There is one way of thwarting the Pumpkinwhich everybody in our country knows of. But they can't do it, becausethey can't find the Black Leaf.... You must know that when the littledwarf was thrust into the Pumpkin, the plant in the dwarf's garden onwhich the Pumpkin had grown, immediately turned black. For thirteendays it remained so, bearing one solitary giant leaf--then, all at onceit vanished! And now, each year it comes up in a different part of thecountry--just this one immense Black Leaf--and it remains for thirteendays, and then it disappears again. We have not looked for it theselast few years--there has been no need: still, some people have seenit. But now we want it badly. For if you can find the Black Leaf, andpluck it, you have but to turn your face to the West and say some words(which I can tell you) and wherever the Pumpkin is he will be compelledto come to you: then you must touch him with the Leaf and--you have himin your power. We were in despair before, when no one could find theBlack Leaf, until I discovered that spell. And now, as I know no otherspell we shall be in despair till someone does find the Black Leaf.And that is what I want you both to stay and help us do. Strangers areoften lucky."
"Oh, we _must_ stay and help," cried Jack, impulsively, "mustn't we,Molly?"
"I should love to," said Molly, "but couldn't we just let Mother knowso that she wouldn't be anxious?"
"If you decide to stay," said Old Nancy, "I will take care that yourMother is not worried in any way by your absence. I will send a messageto her."
"Then we'll stay," decided both children at once.
"I am so glad," Old Nancy said simply. "And now, if either of youshould be lucky enough to find the Black Leaf remember what to do.Pluck it immediately, and stand with your face toward the West, andsay: 'Come to me, Grey Pumpkin! I command you by the Black Leaf!' ...You can remember that?"
Jack and Molly repeated it to make sure, and then Old Nancy went on,
"When the Pumpkin appears--as he must appear--rolling toward you, touchhim with the Leaf, quickly, before he can touch you. Then he cannotharm you, but will be compelled to follow you wherever you lead him."
"And where should we lead him?" asked Molly.
"Bring him to me," said Old Nancy grimly.
"There was something I wanted to ask you," said Jack, "and I can'tthink what it was now.... Oh, I know.... Does the Pumpkin know wherethe Black Leaf is?"
"We are not quite sure about that, but even if he does, it is evidentlyof no use to him; I mean, he dare not _touch_ it--that would be fatalto him. But he can guard it, if he knows where it is, and try toprevent you getting it: and this is what he will try to do whether heknows where it is or not; he is sure to try to delay you or trap you,as soon as he discovers that you are searching for the Leaf. And hewill soon know what you are trying to do--one of his followers willtell him, you may be sure. So, beware of the Pumpkin and his littleband of people. You are in less danger of being caught by the Pumpkinthan you are by one of his band, because you will know the Pumpkinwhen you see him, but you won't know which are his decoys, his spies,and which are not. And I can't help you about this, you must simplybe very, very careful, and do not trust anyone until you are sure. Ofcourse, people like Glan and his father, or anyone inside the City, arequite all right--because nobody will be allowed within the City Gatesnow without a pass; and they cannot get a pass, if they are one of thePumpkin's people."
"Mightn't one of the Pumpkin's people find the Leaf?" inquired Jack.
"They dare not touch it either, even if they do know where it is,"replied Old Nancy. "But they can guard it--as the Pumpkin can."
"If the Black Leaf only appears for thirteen days each year, how do youknow which thirteen days they are?" asked Molly, thoughtfully.
"Because the thirteen days start on the anniversary of the day on whichthe little dwarf was put inside the Pumpkin," said Old Nancy. "And, asfate decrees, it was the anniversary yesterday, _so the Black Leaf issomewhere above ground now_.... Oh, I do hope and trust you will besuccessful, my dears." Old Nancy clasped her hands together nervously."And don't be ashamed to _run_ if the Pumpkin tries to catch you beforethe Leaf is found. You are powerless against him and his magic--untilyou have the Leaf. But he can only use his magic and hurt you if hetouches you, remember. So don't let him touch you!"
"We'll _run_ all right, if we see him coming," said Jack. "Or elsewe'll climb up a tree or something."
"Well, that's a good idea, too," said Old Nancy.
"I suppose it's really a rather--dangerous sort of work we're going todo," said Molly.
"It is dangerous, and very brave of you to attempt it," Old Nancy said."It needs courage and perseverance. I think you both have pluck, andyou both have perseverance; somehow I think one--but only _one_ of youwill be successful."
"Which one?" cried Jack and Molly eagerly.
"Ah!" Old Nancy replied, and shook her head mysteriously. "Icannot tell you any more than that.... But now we must get to workimmediately. There is no time to be lost. Wait here for a moment."
She rose, and smiling at the children, made her way across the firelitroom and passed out through a doorway at the far end of the room.
Jack and Molly sat still and gazed silently round the shadowy room.They could never afterward describe the feeling that came over them,alone in that room--even to themsel
ves. They were not afraid. A curiousfeeling crept over them, and they both felt sure that there wassomething or someone in the room with them, although they felt equallysure there was no one. There was an air of mystery and secrecy in theroom. No shadows danced on walls quite in the way that they danced inOld Nancy's room; no smoke curled in such weird and fantastic shapesas the smoke that curled up the wide chimney in front of them; whileit almost seemed ridiculous to say that the chairs were empty when the_something_ in the room crowded into each of them.
"'I am a kind of magician, you know,'" repeated Molly softly, noddingher head at Jack. "Do you know I can _feel_ that she is."
"So can I," whispered Jack, hoarsely. The children looked at each otherseriously for a few seconds, then they turned their heads, and saw thatOld Nancy was standing in the doorway watching them. She came forwardinto the firelight, and they saw that she carried two small satchelsin her hands. They were something like the children's school satchels,only they were smaller and stronger in appearance, being made of softblack leather; they had long straps attached to them, to pass over theshoulders.
"These are your knapsacks," said Old Nancy, smiling. "You will findthem useful on your journey. This is yours," she said to Molly, "andthis is yours," to Jack. "Now if you will open them and take out whatis inside, I will explain what they are meant for."
The children thanked her and eagerly unbuckled their satchels and feltinside. The contents of each were the same: a sealed envelope, a box ofmatches, and a little packet of square, brown things that looked likecaramels.
"Inside the envelopes are your Passes into the City. Give them upat the City Gates. Take care of them, without them they would notlet you in. The matches in those two boxes are not quite ordinarymatches--though they look like ordinary ones. I think they'll help youover one or two difficulties. Use them carefully as there are not manymatches in each box. Whatever you do don't light them in the daytime,but light them when you are in the dark and want to see."
"Do we strike them just in the ordinary way?" asked Molly.
"Just in the ordinary way," said old Nancy. "And the little brownsquares in the packets are for you to eat, should you be veryhungry, and unable to obtain food. You will find them wonderfullyrefreshing--it is something I make specially.... And here," shecontinued, turning to Jack, and holding something out to him, "isanother shoe for you. I see you have only got one on."
"Why, so I have," cried Jack, noticing for the first time that one ofhis slippers was missing. "Now wherever did I lose that, I wonder!"(Poor little slipper, it takes no part in these adventures, as it isleft behind in the Impossible World. It is lying by the fence at thebottom of the children's garden, you remember.) "I never noticed itbefore. Thanks awfully, though. This slipper fits splendidly. How didyou know my size?"
"Oh, I knew," Old Nancy laughed, and would say no more.
She helped the children buckle on their satchels, telling them thatonce they were inside the City they would learn what plans were beingmade for the search. "I wish I could give you some magic charm todefend you against the Pumpkin," she said. "But that is impossible.The Black Leaf is the only thing that can harm him, and save us all.Be very careful, dear children.... Ah!" she broke off with a sharpexclamation.
"What is it? What's the matter?" cried Jack and Molly, as Old Nancystood gazing at her left hand which she held out in front of her.
"So that's how it was done," she cried. "Look! Look!" and she held herhand toward them. A dark grey mark stained the middle finger from baseto tip.
"What is it?" Molly repeated.
"The stain," whispered Old Nancy excitedly, "do you see? It's grey! TheGrey Pumpkin's mark! It _was_ one of his spies then, who made me sleepthrough the sunset hour. But why to-day should they have been ableto do this, when they have been powerless for so long?" she mutteredto herself. "Could anything have happened to the Pumpkin in--in yourworld, that enabled him to exert his evil magic all the way into ourworld, and so the spies were able to begin their black magic again? Canyou think of anything that happened?" she asked Molly eagerly.
Molly tried hard to think of something. "Of course, as it was apincushion--I stuck a pin in it," she said presently.
Old Nancy gazed at her strangely. "In the moonlight?" she asked. "Wasthe moonlight shining on it when you stuck the pin in?"
"Yes," said Molly, nervously. "Oh, did that do it? Oh, I am sodreadfully sorry--then it is all my fault that the Pumpkin hasreturned?"
"No, no," said Old Nancy, "you are not to blame. How were you to know?It was my fault for not being more careful, then they could not havedrugged me." She crossed quickly to the window. "Yes--see--here--hereon the sill. There's a trace of grey powder. I know what has happened.When I went out of this room earlier in the evening--I did for a fewminutes, I remember--yes, just before sunset time--someone must haveopened the window and scattered the powder on the sill, hoping that Ishould go to the window at sunset and that I should put my hand on thesill and touch the powder. And I did. And the powder must have beenmagic and made me go to sleep. I wonder I never noticed it.... Butnever mind now, never mind now.... It is too late. We must get to workat once to remedy the evil."
But Molly still had a feeling that it was partly her fault and she wasglad that she and Jack had decided to stay. She felt it was the leastthey could do--to try to find the Black Leaf.
As Glan had not returned they decided to start out, for the hourwas getting late, and Old Nancy thought it would be wiser for themto be inside the City as soon as possible. She told them that theywere almost sure to meet Glan on the hill--he had evidently beendelayed--they couldn't miss him.
"Good-bye, dears, good-bye," said Old Nancy. "My thoughts will beconstantly with you till we meet again. Good luck go with you both."
Leaving Old Nancy standing in the doorway, with the firelight glowingwarmly in the room behind her, the two children started out in the duskand began to ascend the hill.