Last Term at Malory Towers

  They dragged the big jolly man across the field and through the hedge into their garden. Chinky was just as excited as everyone else. They all went into the playroom and Chinky lighted the lamp.

  "There you are," he said proudly, holding the lamp over the old wishing-chair. "There's the wonderful chair. And look! It's grown its wings all ready to take you, Santa. It might have known you were coming."

  Santa stared at the rose-red wings that were slowly flapping to and fro on the legs of the chair. His eyes shone in the lamplight.

  "Yes," he said. "Yes. The very thing. I didn't know

  there was a wishing-chair in the world nowadays. May I l/^yfh Vvl'JjjwFStT rea% borrow it, children?" fV^AK, mm "Yes," said Mollie.

  "On one condition," said Peter suddenly.

  "What's that?" asked Santa Claus, putting his great bag over his shoulder.

  "Take us with you in the chair for just a little while, so that we can see how you slip down the chimneys and into the bedrooms," begged Peter. "Oh do!"

  "But will the chair hold all of us?" said Santa doubtfully. "I'm rather heavy, you know."

  "Oh, the chair is as strong as ten horses," said Chinky eagerly. "You don't know the adventures it has had, Santa. Get in, and we'll go."

  Santa sat down in the chair. He filled it right up. He took Mollie on his knee. Chinky climbed to the back of the chair, where he always sat - and Peter sat on the sack of toys. The chair gave a creak, flapped its wings fast, and rose into the air.

  "We're off!" cried Mollie, in excitement. "Oh, who would have thought that we'd be flying to the house-tops

  1 12

  with Santa Claus tonight. What a fine adventure we'll have!"

  The wishing-chair rose high into the air once it got out-of-doors. Mollie shivered, for the air was frosty. Santa Claus covered her up with part of his wide coat. They passed the elm tree where the sleigh and the reindeer had got caught. "Look," said Peter. "There are your men freeing the reindeer from the branches, Santa Claus."

  "Good!" said Santa. "They will be quite all right now. Hallo, the chair is flying down to this roof. Who lives here, children?"

  "Watch me slip dozen!" he said - and in a second he zvas gone!

  "Fanny and Tommy Dawson," said Peter. "Oh, have you got presents for their stocking, Santa? They are such nice, kind children."

  "Yes, I know," said Santa, looking at a big notebook where many names were written down. "Ah! Fannv wants two twin dolls and a puzzle, and Tommy wants a

  train and some lines. Put your hand into the sack, Peter, please, and take them out."

  Peter put his hand into the enormous sack, and the first things he felt were the dolls, the puzzle, and the train with lines! He pulled them out.

  "You might see if there are any oranges and nuts there too," said Santa. "I always like to give a little extra something to good children."

  Peter put his hand into the sack again and felt a handful of nuts, apples, and oranges. He gave them to Santa. The chair flew down to a flat piece of roof just by a big chimney. Santa put Mollie off his knee and stood up.

  "Watch me slip down this chimney!" he said - and in a second he was gone! It was astonishing how such a big man could get down the chimney.

  "Quick!" said Chinky, patting the chair. "Get in, Mollie. We'll fly the chair down to Fanny's window and peep in to see what Santa Claus does there. He won't mind."

  The chair rose off the roof and flew down to a little window. It put two of its legs there and balanced itself most unsafely, flapping its wings all the time so that it wouldn't fall. Chinky and the children peered in at the window.

  Fanny and Tommy always had a night-light, and they could see the room quite clearly. Fanny was asleep in her cot, and Tommy was asleep in his small bed.

  "Look! There's Santa's feet coming out of the fireplace!" said Chinky excitedly. "Don't they look funny! And now there's his knees - and his waist - and all of him. It's funny he doesn't get black!"

  So the chair flew dozen to the window-sill and tried to balance itself.

  Santa Claus slipped right out of the fireplace and tiptoed to Fanny's bed. There was a stocking hanging at the end. Santa put the oranges, apples, and nuts at the bottom, and then stuffed in the puzzle and the twin dolls.

  Fanny didn't stir! She was quite sound asleep. Santa Claus went to Tommy next and filled his stocking too. Then he tiptoed back to the chimney, put his head up, and was soon lost to sight. The wishing-chair flew back to the roof and waited there for Santa. Up he came, puffing and blowing.

  "/ saw you peeping in at the window!" he said. "You gave me quite a fright at first. Come along now - to the next house where there are children!"

  It was not far off, for Harry and Ronald, two big boys, lived next door! Santa looked them up in

  his notebook and found that they were good, clever boys. Neither of them had asked for anything in their stockings. They had just left it to Santa Claus to choose for them.

  "Now, let me see," said Santa. "Clever boys, my notebook says. What about a book on aeroplanes for Harry, and a big meccano set - and a book on ships for Ronald, and a really difficult puzzle? Put your hand in the sack, Peter, and see what you can find."

  Peter slipped in his hand - and, of course, he found the books, the meccano, and the puzzle at once! It almost seemed as if the toys arranged themselves just right for Santa Claus! It was part of his magic, Peter supposed.

  He handed the things out to Santa Claus, and then took apples, nuts, oranges, and a few crackers from the sack too. Santa Claus got off the chair and went down the chimney again.

  "Come on, chair," said Mollie. "Let's go and peep in at the window again!"

  So the chair flew down to the window-sill and tried to balance itself. Harry and Ronald had no night-light, but the moon shone well in at their window, and the children and Chinky could easily see what was happening inside.

  They saw Santa creep out of the chimney, and go to Harry's stocking - and then, just as Santa was turning to go to Ronald's bed, the wishing-chair fell off the window-sill! The sill was very narrow indeed, and the chair simply couldn't stay there!

  The children gave a small squeal, for they were frightened when the chair fell. Of course, it at once rose up again to the roof, flapping its strong wings. Rut the noise had awakened Ronald, and he sat up!

  The children didn't see what happened, but Santa Claus told them when he at last came up the chimney once more.

  "You shouldn't have made such a noise," he said. "You woke Ronald, and I had to hide behind a chair till he lay- down and went to sleep again! I might have had to wait for an hour!"

  "We're very sorry," said Chinky. "The chair slipped and we thought we were falling! Perhaps we'd better not peep in at the windows any more."

  "I suppose we couldn't come down a chimney with you, could we?" asked Mollie longingly. "I've always wanted to do that."

  " Yes, you can if you like," said Santa; "but you mustn't make any noise. Now who's next on the list? Oh, Joy Brown, seven years old."

  Nobody said anything, but Mollie and Peter thought a lot. Joy was not a bit like her name - she was a spiteful, unkind child, who didn't bring joy to anyone. Mollie was surprised that Santa Claus should take presents to Joy.

  But he wasn't going to! He read a few lines out loud and then pursed up his mouth. "Dear, dear! Joy seems to be a bad girl. Listen to this! 'Joy Brown - unkind, selfish, and never gives any happiness to any one. Does not deserve any toys this Christmas.' Well, well, well - we must miss her out, I'm afraid."

  So the wishing-chair flew past Joy's house. There was nothing in that naughty little girl's stocking the next morning!

  "This is George's house," said Peter eagerly, as the chair flew down on to a sloping roof. It was so sloping that they all had to hold on to the nearest chimney.

  "Can't we go down with you, Santa?"

  Santa nodded, so Mollie tried to get into the chimney. But she stuck fast and couldn't go down! Then Peter tried, but he stuck
fast too, and so did Chinky. Santa Claus laughed softly.

  "Ah! You don't know my trick! I could never get down some of these narrow chimneys if I didn't use some magic oil to make the chimney slippery! In the old days chimneys were very wide and there was no difficulty, but nowadays the chimneys are narrow and small. Stand back, Chinky, and I'll pour a little of my oil down."

  Santa Claus tipped a small bottle up, and a few drops fell down the chimney. "Now try, Mollie," said Santa.

  So Mollie tried again, and this time she slid down the chimney quite easily, and crept out of the bottom into George's bedroom! It did seem queer! There was George in bed, and he was snoring very gently, so Mollie knew he must be asleep.

  "Yes, he's a fine boy" said Peter, and he took the books, the fruit, and the box of small motor-ears.

  Then Peter slid down, then Chinky, and last ot all Santa Claus. "You can fill George's stocking if you like," he whispered to Peter. "You're a friend of George's, aren't you? I know you like him very much."

  "Yes, he's a fine boy," said Peter, and he took the books, the fruit, and the box of small motor-cars that Santa gave him. Soon George's stocking was full to the top!

  "It's fun playing at being Santa Claus!" said Peter. Then they all crept up the chimney again, but Chinky had a dreadful time trying not to sneeze, because the soot got up his nose and tickled it.

  "A-tishoo!" he said, when he stood on the roof again, holding firmly to a chimney. "A-tishoo!"

  "Sh!" said Santa in alarm. "Don't do that!"

  "A-tishoo!" said poor Chinky. "I can't help it. A-tishoo!"

  Santa Claus bundled him into the chair and they all

  flew off to another house. "Now this must be the last house you visit with me," said Santa Claus, seeing Mollie yawning and rubbing her eyes. "You must be fresh and lively on Christmas Day, or people will wonder what is the matter with you. You may come down the chimney here, and then I shall fly back to your own house with you, and go on my journey by myself!"

  The children and Chinky were disappointed, but they knew Santa was right. They really were beginning to feel very sleepy. They slipped down that chimney with Santa, and Mollie filled Angela's stocking herself with all kinds of exciting things. Mollie wondered what Angela would say if she knew that she, Mollie, had filled her stocking and not Santa Claus. It wouldn't be any use telling her, for she wouldn't believe it!

  Then Santa Claus told the wishing-chair to fly back to the playroom, and very soon it was there, standing on the floor.

  "Good-bye, dear old Santa!" said Mollie, and she gave the jolly old man a hug. So did Peter. Chinky shook hands with him very solemnly. Then they watched him fly off in their chair to fill hundreds more stockings. He waved to them as he went out of sight.

  "Oh, I'm so sleepy!" said Mollie. "Good-night, Chinky dear - see you tomorrow!"

  They ran up the garden, crept into the house, and were soon fast asleep. And in the morning, what a wonderful surprise!

  Santa Claus had come back at the end of his journey, and his last visit had been to Mollie and Peter. He must have climbed down their chimney whilst they slept, and he had filled their stockings from top to toe! Thev were almost bursting with good things! The presents had even overflowed on to the floor!

  "Oh, here's just what I wanted!" cried Mollie, picking up a book. "Mr. Galliano's Circusl And here's a doll that opens and shuts its eyes - and a toy typewriter - and a doll's bathroom - and, oh look, Peter, you've got six different kinds of aeroplanes!"

  Peter had plenty of other things beside those. The two children were very happy indeed. Mother was most astonished when she saw all their toys.

  "Why, anyone would think you were great friends of Santa Claus, by the way he has spoilt you with so many presents!" she said.

  "We are friends of his!" said Mollie happily.

  "Oh, here's just what I wanted!" cried Mollie.

  After breakfast they went down to the playroom to wish Chinky a merry Christmas - and do you know, he had as many things as they had, too! So you can guess what a fine Christmas morning they had, playing with everything.

  "Good old Santa Claus, and good old wishing-chair!" said Peter, patting the chair, which was safely back in its place. "I do hope Santa Claus is having as good a Christmas as we are!"

  Well, I expect he was, don't you?

  XVI

  MORE ABOUT THE WISHING-CHAIR

  YOU remember the wishing-chair, don't you, that Mollie and Peter had, with Chinky the pixie?

  Well, Mollie and Peter went to boarding-school, and Chinky took the chair home to his mother until the holidays came. And you can guess that the very first day of the holidays Mollie and Peter rushed down to the playroom at the bottom of the garden to see if Chinky was there!

  "Chinky's not here!" said Mollie, in disappointment. "Nor is the chair!" said Peter,

  But just at that very moment there came a whizzing noise, and in at the door flew the good old wishing-chair, with Chinky sitting as usual on the back, grinning all over his merry pixie face.

  "Chinky! Oh, Chinky!" yelled Mollie and Peter, in delight. Chinky leapt off the chair and ran to the two children. They flung their arms round one another and hugged like bears.

  "Oh, it's good to see you again, Chinky," said Mollie happily.

  "You don't know how I've missed you and Peter!" said Chinky. "Now we'll have some more adventures!"

  "Well, first of all, tell us any news you have," said Peter. But Chinky pointed to the wishing-chair.

  It was flapping its red wings as hard as ever it could, making quite a draught.

  "The chair's glad to see you, too!" said Chinky, laughing. "And it badly wants to take us somewhere. Come on - let's get in and go whilst the chair has its wings."

  Mollie and Peter sat on the seat as they always used to do, and Chinky sat on the back. The chair flapped its wings, rose into the air, and flew off.

  "Oh," said Mollie. "What fun it is to fly off in the wishing-chair again! I do so like it!"

  The children leaned over and looked at the towns and villages they were flying over. They knew exactly when they came to the borders of Fairyland, for Fairy-land always had a soft blue mist hanging around it.

  "Where are we going?" asked Peter.

  "Don't know," said Chinky. "This is the first time the chair has had a fly since you went to school. It's been a proper well-behaved, ordinary chair in my mother's

  house for weeks - now it's enjoying a good fly!"

  The chair flew on and on. The children watched the towers of Giantland pass - the blue seas of Pixieland - the hills of the Red Goblins - and still the chair flew on.

  At last it flew downwards. The children felt excited. Chinky looked down to see where they were going.

  "I've never been here before," he said. "I don't even know the name of the land."

  The chair came to rest in a little town. The children jumped off, but Chinky still sat on the back of the chair, trying to think where they had come to.

  A lot of little folk came running up. They had very wide-open eyes, long ears, long noses and no chin at all. Mollie wasn't sure that she liked the look of them.

  "What is this land?" asked Chinky.

  "It's Disappearing Land," said one of the little folk, smiling. "You'll have to be careful you don't vanish."

  Mollie remembered the Disappearing Island. It had disappeared suddenly just as they were going to land on it. Would this country disappear suddenly too? She asked Chinky.

  "No," said Chinky. "But zue may disappear if we don't look out! I think we'd better go off again. I don't want to vanish somewhere!"

  The children sat down in the wishing-chair once more. But its wings had gone. It wouldn't fly at all.

  "Oh!" said Chinky. "First disappearing trick! I suppose they've done that to keep us here. Now, hold hands, all of us then if one of us vanishes the others can still feel him and take him along. We may as well have a look round whilst we are here. We'll remember where the chair is just by that ye
llow lamp-post. Come on!"

  They went down the little, winding street. The strange little folk hurried everywhere, nodding and smiling. There was a market nearby, and the children and Chinky went to see what was being sold.

  It was a strange village. Mollie was looking at a crooked little house with twisty chimneys when it quite suddenly disappeared and she was staring at nothing. It gave her such a shock.

  Peter got a shock too. A dog with big pointed ears came running up to him and licked his fingers. Peter bent down to pat it - and found he was patting air! The dog had vanished under his very nose!

  Even Chinky got caught too - and he was used to strange things! He went to buy three rosy apples off a stall. He gave the old dame there three pennies - but just as he took the apples from her they disappeared into nothing! There was Chinky, his three pennies given to the old dame, and his hands trying to take hold of three

  There teas Chinky trying to lake hold of three apples that had disappeared.

  apples that had disappeared!

  "I want my money back," he said to the old woman, who was grinning widely. "I haven't got my apples."

  "Well, I gave them to you," said the old woman. "They are not here! You can't have your money back."

  Chinky was angry. He stalked off down the street with Peter and Mollie. He kicked crossly at the kerb. At once it disappeared!

  "I say! Don't do that," said Peter, in alarm. "You might kick the whole street away!"

  Chinky was pleased to find he could kick things away. He kicked very hard indeed at a lamp-post. But that didn't disappear! It just stood there, as solid as ever - and Chinky gave a loud yell and hopped about holding his poor toe!

  Mollie and Peter couldn't help laughing. Peter leaned against a shop window and roared at Chinky - and then, very suddenly, the window behind him vanished and he fell over backwards! The whole shop had disappeared!