The Magic Faraway Tree

1. Rick comes to stay

Once, there were three children, Joe, Beth and Frannie. They lived with their mum and dad in a little house in the country. They had to help their parents in the house and in the garden, there was lots to do!

One day, their mum had a letter. she didn't often have letters, so the children wondered what it was about.

"Listen!" She said. "This is something quite exciting for you. Your cousin Rick is staying with us!" "Ooh!" Said all the children, pleased. Rick was about the same age as Joe. He was a happy boy, but sometimes naughty, and it would be so much fun to have him.

"He can sleep with me in my bedroom!" Said Joe. "Oh mum, what fun! When is he coming?" "Tomorrow," said mum. "You can put up a little bed for him, and you must make room for his things in your cupboard. He is going to stay quite a long time, because his mum is sick and cannot look after him." 

The three children ran upstairs to get Joe's room ready for Rick  as well.

"Hey! What will Rick say when we tell him about the enchanted wood and the faraway tree?" Asked Joe. "And what will he say when we show him our friends there like Silky, and Old Moon Face, dear old Saucepan Man and everyone!" Said Beth. "He will get a surprise!" Said Frannie.

They got everything ready for Rick. They put up a little camp-bed for him, and found some blankets. They made room in Joe's cupboard and bedside cabinet for Rick's clothes. Then they looked out of the window. It looked on to a dark, thick wood, whose trees waved in the wind, not far from the bottom of the garden.

"The enchanted wood." Said Beth softly. "What great adventures we had there. Maybe Rick will have some, too."

Rick arrived the next day. He had travelled in the delivery van from the village shop, with a small bag of clothes. He jumped down and hugged the children's mother.

"Hello aunt Polly!" He said. "Thankyou for having me. Hello, Joe! I say, aren't Beth and Frannie big now? It's good to be with you all again."

The children took him up to his room. They helped him unpack his bag and put his things into the cupboard and the bedside cabinet. They showed him the bed he will sleep on.

"I expect I should find it very dull here after living in the city," said Rick, putting his washing things on top of the bedside cabinet. "It seems so quite. I will miss the noise of buses and cars."

"You won't find it dull!" Shouted Joe. "We've had more adventures since we've been here than we ever had when we lived in town."

"What sort of adventures?" Asked Rick surprised. "It seems such a quiet place that I would not have thought of even a small adventure to be found!"

The children took Rick to the window. "Look Rick, do you see that thick dark forest over there, backing on to the lane at the bottom of our garden?" Asked Rick.

"Yes," answered Rick. "It seems quite normal to me, except that the leaves of the trees seem like a darker green than usual."

"Well, listen, Rick that's the Enchanted Wood!" Said Beth.

Rick's eyes opened wide. He stared at the wood. "You're making fun of me!" He said at last.

"No we're not," said Frannie. "We mean what we say. It's called the Enchanted Wood because it is enchanted. And Rick, in the middle of it is the most wonderful tree in the world!"

"What sort of tree?" Asked Rick, feeling quite excited.

"It's a really enormous tree," said Joe. "It's top goes up into the clouds and oh, Rick, at the top of it is always som strange land. You can go there by climbing up the top of the branch of the Faraway Tree, going up a little ladder through a hole in the big cloud that always lies on the top of the tree and there you are in some strange land!"

"I don't believe you, you're making it all up." Said Rick.

"Rick! We'll take you there and show you what we mean! Yelled Beth. "It's all true. We've had such amazing adventures at the top of the faraway tree. We've been to the rocking land, and the birthday land."

"And the land of take-what-you-want and the land of the snowman," said Frannie. "You just can't imagine how exciting it all is."

"Rick, all kinds of old folk live in the trunk of the faraway tree," said Joe. "We've lots of good friends there. We'll take you to them one day. There's a dear little fairy called Silky, because she has such a mop of silky golden hair."

"And there's funny old Mister Watzisname," said Frannie.

"What's his real name?" Asked Rick in surprise.

"Nobody knows, not even himself," said Joe. "So everyone calls him Mister Watzisname. Oh, and there is the old Saucepan Man. He's always covered with kettles and saucepans and things, and he's so deaf that he always hears everything wrong!"

Rick's eyes began to shine. "Take me there," he begged. "Quick, take me! I can't wait to see all these exciting people." 

"We can't go until our mum says she doesn't need us in the house," said Beth. "But, we will take you of course we will."

"And Rick, there's a slippery-slip, a slide that goes right down the inside of the tree from the top to the bottom," said Frannie. "It belongs to Moon-Face. He lends people cushions to slide on."

"I do want to go down that slide," said Rick, getting really impatient. "Why do you tell me these things when you can't take me to see them now?! I'll never be able to sleep tonight! Geez! My head feels dizzy already to think of the Faraway tree and Moon-Face and Silky and the slippery-slip."

"Rick, we'll take you there as soon as we can," promised Joe. "There's no hurry. The faraway tree is always there. We never know what land is going to be at the top. We have to be careful sometimes because, there might be a dangerous land, on that we can't get away from!"

A voice came from downstairs. "Children! Are you going to stay up there all day? I suppose you don't want anything to eat? What a pity because, I have made some new bread and put out some honey!" 

The children raced downstairs. New bread and honey! They weren't going to miss those. Good old mother! She was always thinking of some little treat for them.

"Joe, your dad wants you to dig up potatoes for him later, Rick can help you." Said mum. "Beth and Frannie, I need you pr help, because I have to take some clothes to Mrs Harris, and she lives such a long way away."

The children had been hoping to take Rick to the enchanted wood. They looked disappointed. But they said nothing. Mother saw their disappointed faces and smiled. "I suppose you want to take Rick to see those peculiar friends of yours," she said. "Well listen, if you are good children today, and do the jobs you have to do, I'll give you a whole day off tomorrow! Then you can take your lunch and dinner and go visit any friends you like. How would you like that?"

"Oh, mum Thankyou!" Cried the children in delight.

"A whole day!" Said Beth. "Why Rick, we can show you everything!"

"And maybe let you peep into whatever land is at the top of the faraway tree," whispered Frannie. "Oh, what fun!"

So they did their work well that afternoon and looked forward to the next day. Rick dug hard, Joe was pleased with him. It was going to be fun to have a cousin with them, able to work and play and enjoy everything too!

When they went to bed that night they left the doors of their bedrooms open so that they might call, to each other.

"Sleep well, Rick!" Called Beth. "I hope it's fine tomorrow! What fun we'll have!"

"Goodnight Beth! Called back Rick. "I can tell you how I'm so excited for tomorrow. I know I shouldn't be able to sleep tonight!"

But he did and so did all the others. When mother came up at ten o'clock she peeped in at the children, and not even one was awake.

Joe woke up first. He sat up and looked out of the window. The sunlight came in, warm and bright. Joe's heart thumped with joy. He leaned over to Rick's bed and shook him.

"Wake up!" He said. "It's tomorrow now and we're going to the enchanted wood!"