"Now the thing is—where's the door gone?" said Chinky. "We've gone so small that the room is simply enormous, and the wall where the door is seems miles away. We'd better begin walking right round the walls till we come to the door!"
But Mr. Spells knew where the door was. Car¬rying the Wishing-Chair, which had gone small, too, he led them for what seemed miles over the floor, and they at last come to where the door was fitted into the wall. A draught blew at them as they came near to the enormous door.
"That's the draught blowing under the bottom of the door," explained Mr. Spells. "Now—I'm go¬ing to squeeze under first to see that everything is safe. Be ready to follow me when you hear me call."
He disappeared under the door, bending him¬self double. Soon they heard his voice. "Yes— come along—It's all right."
One by one they squeezed under the door, and found themselves in what they supposed must be the room outside—but now, of course, it seemed a very vast dark place indeed. "Shall I make us our right size again—or shall I keep us small?" won¬dered Mr. Spells. "On the whole, 1 think I'll keep us small."
He led them across the room and down a pas¬sage making them all keep very close to the bot¬tom of the wall. It was a very good thing he did, too because round the corner they heard the sound of tremendous footsteps that shook the floor and made it tremble—the giant coming along the pas¬sage!
In a trice Mr. Spells pulled them all into what appeared to be some kind of mouse-hole—it seemed as large as a cave to the children! They crouched there till the thundering footsteps had gone by. Then out they went as fast as they could.
"I want to find the front door if I can," said Mr. Spells. "We can easily slip under that. I must be at the end of this passage."
But before they reached it a thunderous noise made them all jump nearly out of their skins.
BANG-BANG-THUD-RAT-TAT-TAT!
"What is it?" cried Mollie, and caught hold of Mr. Spells. "What can it be?"
Mr. Spells laughed. "I think 1 can guess what it is," he said. "It's Chinky's cousin, Sleep-Alone. He's got tired of waiting for the castle, and he's knocking at the door to see what's happened! Oh dear—now I don't know what will happen!"
Plenty happened. When the knocker banged again on the door, an answering roar came from inside the castle, and Twisty the giant came pound¬ing along the passage in a fine temper.
"Who's that knocking at my door? How dare you make this noise?"
The door was swung open and a wind blew down the passage at once, almost blowing the five tiny people over. Sleep-Alone stood outside, a small figure compared with the giant, but seeming like a giant now to the tiny children!
"Quick!" said Mr. Spells, "they are going to have a quarrel. Now's our chance to escape out of the door—but keep away from their feet. We're so small that neither of them will notice us."
The children ran with Chinky and Winks out of the door, keeping well to the side. But they couldn't possibly go any further than the top step because the drop down to the second step seemed like a cliff to them!
"I'll have to take a chance now and change us back to our right size," said Mr. Spells. "Other¬wise we'll have to stand on this top step and sooner or later be trampled on. Shut your eyes, please, take hands, and keep together. I haven't got time to draw chalk circles, so this spell will happen very quickly. As soon as you're the right size, run down the steps as quickly as ever you can, and go to that tree over there. I'll bring the Wishing-Chair, and we'll soon be off and away!"
"What about Sleep-Alone?" said Chinky. "We promised he could have the castle."
"He'll look after that all right," said Mr. Spells, with a laugh. "Sleep-Alone is bolder than I thought he was! Now—eyes shut, please, and hold hands hard."
They all obeyed. Mr. Spells said the words that undid the Go-Small spell, and allowed them to shoot up to their right size again - but, as he had said, it happened very suddenly indeed, and all five of them gasped, felt giddy and fell over.
"Quick—get up—he's seen us!" shouted Mr. Spells. He picked up the Wishing-Chair which had also gone back to its right size, and ran down the steps with it. Everyone followed.
Sleep-Alone and the giant had been having a real rough and tumble. The giant was stronger and bigger than Sleep-Alone—but Chinky's cousin had got in so many sly jabs and punches that the giant had completely lost his temper.
He lashed out at Sleep-Alone, who ducked but the blow just caught him on the top of his head. He stumbled—and that would have been the end of him if the giant hadn't, at that very moment, caught sight of the five prisoners tearing down his steps!
He was so tremendously astonished that he for¬got all about Sleep-Alone and simply stood there, staring out of his saucer-like eyes!
Then, with a bellow, he was after them. "How did you escape?" he roared. "Come back—or I'll throw you all up to the moon!"
Mr. Spells put down the Wishing-Chair. He sat in it quickly and pulled Peter and Mollie on his knee. Winks and Chinky sat on the back. "Home, Chair," ordered Mr. Spells, and at once the obedi¬ent Wishing-Chair rose into the air.
The giant made at grab at it, but the chair dodged, and Mr. Spells hit the giant smartly on his outstretched hand. The giant yelped.
"Good-bye!" called Chinky, waving his hand.
Meanwhile what had happened to Sleep-Alone? Plenty! When he saw the giant rushing after the others, he stood and stared for a moment. Then he hopped into Wandering Castle and shut the door very quietly.
And when Twisty turned round to go back and finish his quarrel with Sleep-Alone, there was no castle there! It had gone on its wanderings again!
"Oh dear—I wish we could stay and see the gi¬ant looking for his castle," said Mollie. "What a shock he's having! His prisoners all escaping, the Wishing-chair gone—and his castle wandering away in the forest with Sleep-Alone in charge. Won't your cousin be thrilled to have such a fine place to sleep in, Chinky?"
The Wishing-Chair didn't go back to the play¬room—it went to Mrs. Spell's room.
They went in to see Mrs. Spells, and told her their extraordinary adventures. To their surprise, Cinders was there and produced some excellent fruit buns that Mrs. Spells said he had just made. He really was a most remarkable cat.
Mollie glanced out of the window that looked out on the sea. "Oh, look!" she cried, "there's our ship! The Molliel I wondered what would happen to her. She's come back, Mr. Spells." "Cinders brought her back," said Mrs. Spells. "He knew the ship wouldn't be needed again."
"It was a grand adventure," said Mollie. "I was scared at times, you know—but somehow I knew everything would be all right with Mr. Spells there. Thank you, Mr. Spells, for being such a good friend."
"Delighted," said the enchanter. "Now it's time you went home."
The children went to find the Wishing-Chair, which was still in the back yard. They climbed into it with Winks and Chinky.
"Take us home, Chair!" cried Peter—and up into the air it rose, flapping its big wings—and in five minutes' time they were all back in the play¬room once more.
XXII
WINKS AND CHINKY ARE SILLY
The Wishing-Chair seemed tired with all its ad¬ventures. It stood in its place for ten whole days and didn't grow its wings.
"We've only got a week and two days left be¬fore we go back to school," said Mollie, who was a bit worried. "1 do hope we have another adven¬ture before we have to say good-bye to you, Chinky. Where's Winks?"
"I don't know. He was here last night, lookingvery mysterious," said Chinky. "You know, the way he looks when he's up to some kind of mischief. I just hope he won't get into trouble."
"You know he lost my doll's gloves on the last adventure? He says he dropped them into the sea," said Mollie. "Now his hands show up again—that awful blue colour!"
"I know. The things he loses!" said Chinky. "He came in without his shoes the other day, and said he'd lost them. 1 said: 'Well, where did you take them off, Winks?' And he said he'd lost them with¬out even tak
ing them off. How could anyone do that?"
"Sh! Here he is!" said Mollie. "Oh, Winks! Your hands aren't blue any more! They're the right colour! How did you manage that?"
"Aha-ha-ha!" said Winks. "I've got a secret."
"What is it?" asked Chinky at once.
"Well, it won't be a secret if I tell it," said Winks annoyingly.
"Have you been to see Mr. Spells?" said Mollie.
"No. I went to see Witch Wendle," said Winks. "I borrowed her wand—it's got very good magic in it."
"Do you mean to say old Witch Wendle lent you her wand?" said Chinky disbelievingly. "Why, it was only last week you told me you put her chim¬ney pot upside down so that her smoke blew down into her kitchen. I don't believe you!"
"All right, then—but here's the wand, see?" said Winks, and he suddenly produced the wand from under his coat. It was a small, neat wand, not long and slender like Chinky's. He waved it about.
Mollie and Peter stared in surprise—and Chinky jumped up in alarm.
"WINKS! You took it without asking? 1 know you did. Witch Wendle would never lend her wand to you—why, look, it's absolutely full of magic!"
So it was. All wands glitter and shine and gleam and shimmer when they are full of magic, and this one was quite dazzling.
"I just borrowed it for a little while," said Winks. "The witch has gone to call on her sister. She won't miss it. I'll take it back soon. I wished my hands the right colour again—wasn't I pleased when they came all right!"
"You're a very bad, naughty brownie," said Chinky. "You ought to go back to Mister Grim's school. I've a good mind to make you go back!"
"Don't you talk like that to me, or I shall lose my temper," said Winks, crossly, and he poked the wand at Chinky.
"Stop it," said Chinky. "You should never poke people with wands. Surely you know that? And let me tell you this—I shall talk to you how I like. You take that wand back to Witch Wendle AT ONCE!"
"I don't like you, Chinky," said Winks, looking suddenly cross. "I shall wish for a Maggle-Mig to 159
chase you!"
He waved his wand in the air —and goodness gracious, whatever was this extraordinary creature running in at the door?
It was rather like a small giraffe, but it had feath¬ers, and it wore shoes on its four feet. It galloped round the room after Chinky. The children fled to a cupboard. If this was a Maggle-mig, they didn't like it! Winks sat down on the sofa and roared with laughter. Chinky was furious.
He rushed to the toy cupboard and felt about for his wand. He waved it in the air. "Maggle- mig, change to a Snickeroo and chase Winks!" he cried. And at once the little giraffe-like creature changed to a thing like a small crocodile with horns. It ran at Winks, who leapt off the sofa in a hurry.
Winks waved his wand at the Snickeroo and it ran into the fireplace and completely vanished. Winks pointed the wand at Chinky.
"Horrid Chinky! Grow a long nose!"
And poor Chinky did! It was so long that he almost fell over it! Winks took hold of it and pulled it.
Chinky hit out at Winks with his own wand. "Grow a tail!" he yelled.
And, hey presto! Winks grew a tail—one like a cow's, with a tuft at the end. It swung to and fro, and Winks looked down at it in alarm. He tried to run away from the swinging tail, but you can't leave a tail that's growing on you, of course, and the tail followed him, swinging to and fro.
"Ha, ha!" said Chinky. "A brownie with a tail!"
Winks was crying now. He picked up his wand, 160
which he had dropped. He and Chinky hit out at each other at the same moment.
"I'll change you into a puff of smoke!" shouted Winks.
"I'll change you into a horrid smell!" cried Chinky.
And then they both disappeared! Mollie and Peter stared in the utmost dismay. A little puff of green smoke blew across the room and disappeared out of the door. A horrid smell drifted about the room for a few minutes and then that went, too.
Mollie burst into tears. "Now look what's hap¬pened!" she sobbed. "We've lost both Chinky and Winks."
Peter saw that the two wands were on the floor. He picked up Chinky's and put it into the toy cup¬board. Then he picked up the one Winks had taken from Witch Wendle's and looked at it. Mollie gave a cry.
"Don't meddle with it, Peter. Don't!"
"I'm not going to," said Peter. "I'm just won¬dering what to do about all this. It's very serious. I think we ought to take this wand back to Witch Wendle."
"Oh, let's take it back quickly then," said Mollie. "And perhaps if we do she'll tell us what to do about Chinky and Winks. How shall we find the way?"
"We might ask Mr. Spells, began Peter, and then suddenly stopped in delight. He pointed behind Mollie.
She turned and saw that the Wishing-Chair was growing its wings again! The buds on its four legs burst into feathers, and soon the big green and yel¬low wings were waving gently in the air.
"Oh! What a bit of luck!" cried Mollie. "Now we can get in the Wishing-Chair and just tell it to go to Witch Wendle's!"
Peter sat in the chair and pulled Mollie down beside him. He had the witch's wand in his hand.
"Wishing-Chair, we want to go to Witch Wendle's," he said. "Go at once!"
The chair rose into the air, and made for the door. Out it went and up into the cloudy sky. It made for an opening in the clouds and shot through it. Now the children were in the sunshine above.
They flew for a long way. and then Mollie shouted in surprise, and pointed. "Look! What's that? It's a castle in the clouds!"
Both children stared. It was a very surprising sight indeed. A big purple could loomed ahead, thick and gloomy. Set in its depths was what looked exactly like a castle, with towers and turrets. The chair flew straight to the cloud and stopped. It hovered just above the cloud, and the children couldn't get down.
"Go lower, Chair!" cried Peter. But the chair didn't. A head popped out of a window of the castle.
"Wait! I'll get you cloud-shoes! If you walk on the cloud without them you'll fall."
The head disappeared. Then out of the castle came Witch Wendle, a bright star glinting at the top of her pointed hat. She carried what looked like snowshoes, big flat things, to fasten to their feet.
"Here you all!" she said. "Put these on your feet and you will be able to walk easily on the clouds. That's why your Wishing-Chair wouldn't land—it knew it would be dangerous for you with¬out cloud-shoes.'
"Oh, thank you," said Mollie. She liked Witch Wendle very much, because her face smiled and her eyes twinkled. The children put on the cloud- shoes and then stepped down on the cloud. Ah, they could get along quite well now—it felt rather as if they were sliding on very, very soft snow.
"What a strange home you have, set high in the clouds," said Peter.
"Oh, people often build these," said the witch. "Have you never heard of people building castles in the air? Well, this is one of them. They don't last very long, but they are very comfortable. I've had this one about two months now."
She led the way to her curious castle. "We've come to bring you your wand," said Peter. "I must tell you all that happened."
So he did, and the witch listened in silence. "That tiresome Winks!" she said. "He should never have left Mister Grim's school."
"What can we do about Chinky and Winks," said Mollie, "now that they are a puff of smoke and a horrid smell? Where have they gone?"
"To the Land of Spells," said the witch. "We'll have to get your Wishing-Chair to go there—come along!"
XXIII
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LAND OF SPELLS
The witch led the way to where the Wishing-Chair stood waiting patiently on the edge of the cloud, its wings flapping gently.
"That's a really wonderful chair of yours," she said. "I only wish I had one like it!"
They all sat in it. "To the Land of Spells!" com¬manded the witch, and the chair at once rose into the air. It left the cloud and the curious castle built in the air, and flew stea
dily to the north.
"I'm very glad to have back my wand," said Witch Wendle. "Luckily it is only my third best one. If it had been my best one, the magic would have been so powerful that it would have shriv¬elled Winks up as soon as he touched it."
Mollie and Peter at once made up their minds that they would never, never touch any wand be¬longing to a witch or wizard. Goodness—what a blessing that it had been the witch's third best wand and not her best one!
The chair flew on for a long while and the witch pointed out the interesting places they passed— the Village of Stupids, the Country of No-Goods, the Land of Try-Again, and all kinds of places the children had never heard of before. They stared down at them in interest.
"What's the Land of Spells like?" asked Mollie.
"It's a strange land, really," said the witch. "All
kinds of spells wander about, and bump into you— Invisible Spells to make you invisible, Tall Spells to make you tall, Laughter Spells to make you laugh—they've only got to touch you to affect you at once."
"Oh dear," said Mollie in alarm. "I don't like the sound of that at all."
"You needn't worry," said Witch Wendle. "They only affect you whilst they bump into you— as soon as they drift away you're all right again. We shall have to look for a puff of smoke and detect a horrid smell—then we shall know we've got Winks and Chinky and I must do my best to put them right for you."
The Chair flew rapidly downwards, and landed in a very peculiar place. It was full of a blue-green mist and queer sounds went on all the time— sounds of rumbling, sounds of music, of bells, and of the wind blowing strongly.
They got off the chair. "Now take hands," said the witch. "And keep together, please. You're all right so long as you're with me, because I am a mistress of all spells—but don't slip away for goodness' sake, or you may get changed into a white butterfly or a blue beetle, and I would find it difficult to know you again."
Mollie and Peter held hands very hard indeed, and Mollie took the witch's hand, too. And then all kinds of extraordinary things began to happen.
A little trail of yellow bubbles bumped into Mollie—and, to Peter's great alarm, Mollie's neck grew alarmingly long, and shot up almost as tall as a tree! She was very alarmed, too.