Adventures of the Wishing-Chair by Enid Blyton Read Free Book Online Page B

can’t go wrong!”
    “Sh!” said Chinky, pointing to a large house in the distance. “That’s Kirri-Kirri’s house.”
    They had left the station behind and had come up into the open air again. The moonlight was bright enough to show them the road, and they could see everything very clearly indeed.
    They slipped inside the witch’s wicket-gate. “You go to that end of the house and I’ll go to the other,” said Chinky. So Peter and Mollie crept to one end and began to scratch against the wall with bits of stick, whilst Chinky did the same the other end. Then they squeaked as high as they could, exactly like mice.
    They heard a window being thrown up, and saw the witch’s head outlined against the lamplight.
    “Mice again!” she grumbled. “Hie, Whiskers, come here! Catch them, catch them!”
    Whiskers jumped down into the garden. The witch slammed down the window and drew the blind. Mollie made a dash for the big black cat and lifted her into her arms. Whiskers purred nineteen to the dozen and rubbed her soft head against Mollie’s hand. Chinky and Peter came up in delight.
    “The plan worked beautifully!” said Peter. “Come on—let’s go to the station!”
    And then a most unfortunate thing happened! Peter fell over a bush and came down with a clatter on the path! At once the window flew up again and Kirri-Kirri looked out. She shouted a very magic word and slammed the window down again.
    “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!” groaned Chinky at once.
    “What’s the matter?” asked Mollie, scared.
    “She’s put a spell round the garden!” said the pixie. “We can’t get out! She’ll find us here in the morning!”
    “Can’t get out!” said Peter, going to the gate. “What nonsense! I’m going, anyway!”
    But although he. opened the gate he couldn’t walk out. It was as if there was an invisible wall all round the garden! The children couldn’t get out anywhere. They forced their way through the hedge—but still the invisible wall seemed to be just beyond, and there was no way of getting out at all!
    “Whatever shall we do?” asked Mollie.
    “We can’t do anything,” said Chinky gloomily. “Peter was an awful silly to go and fall over like that, just when we had done everything so well.”
    “I’m terribly sorry,” said poor Peter. “I do wish I hadn’t. I didn’t mean to.”
    “Well, we’d better go and sit down in the porch,” said Chinky, who was shivering. “It’s warmer there.”
    They sat huddled together in the porch and Mollie took Whiskers on her knee, saying she would make a nice hot-water bottle.
    They were nodding off to sleep, for they were all very tired, when Whiskers suddenly began to snarl and spit. The children and Chinky woke up in a fright. They saw something flying round the garden, like a big black bird! Mollie stared—and then she leapt up and whispered as loudly as she dared— “It isn’t a bird! It’s the dear old wishing-chair! It’s come to find us!”
    Chinky gave a chuckle of delight. He ran to the chair and took hold of it.

    “Come on!” he said to the others. “The only way out of this bewitched garden is by flying up and up. We can’t get out any other way! The wishing-chair is just what we want!”
    They all got into the chair. Whiskers was on Mollie’s knee. The chair flapped its wings, rose up into the air and flew almost to the clouds!
    “What will old Kirri-Kirri say in the morning when she finds no-one in her garden, not even Whiskers!” giggled Chinky. “She’ll think she’s been dreaming! I wish I could see her face!”
    The chair flew to the playroom. The children said good-night to Chinky, and, with Whiskers in her arms, Mollie ran with Peter up the path to their house. They were soon in bed and asleep. As for Whiskers, you may be sure she never went to sleep in the wishing-chair again!

The Disappearing Island
    IT happened once that the children and Chinky had a most unpleasant adventure, and it was all Mollie’s