The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones Read Free Book Online

opening her eyes. “You smashed my dollhouse.”
    â€œWhen I was five !” Great-Uncle Lester howled. “Sixty years ago, you dreadful old woman!”
    Dad leaned over the bed and demanded, “Are you ready to get up and walk now?”
    Gammer pretended not to hear him.
    â€œAll right !” Dad said fiercely. “Levitation again, everyone. I’m going to get her down to the Dell if it kills us all.”
    â€œOh, it will,” Gammer said sweetly.
    Marianne’s opinion was that the way they were all going to die was from embarrassment. They swung the bed up again and, jostling for a hand-hold and treading on one another’s heels, took it out through the gates and into the village street. There the Reverend Pinhoe, who had been standing in the churchyard, vaulted the wall and hurried over to help. “Dear, dear,” he said. “What avery strange thing for old Mrs. Pinhoe to do!”
    They wedged him in and jostled on, downhill through the village. As the hill got steeper, they were quite glad of the fact that the Reverend Pinhoe was no good at levitation. The bed went faster and faster and the vicar’s efforts were actually holding it back. Despite the way they were now going at a brisk trot, people who were not witches or not Pinhoes came out of the houses and trotted alongside to stare at Gammer and her roots. Others leaned out of windows to get a look, too. “I never knew a person could do that!” they all said. “Will she be like that permanently?”
    â€œ God knows!” Dad snarled, redder and shinier than ever.
    Gammer smiled. And it very soon appeared that she had at least one more thing she could do.
    There were frantic shouts from behind. They twisted their heads around and saw Great-Uncle Lester, with Uncle Arthur running in great limping leaps behind him, racing down the street toward them. No one understood what they were shouting, but the way they were waving the bed carriers to one side was quite clear.
    â€œEveryone go right,” Dad said.
    The bed and its crowd of carriers veered over toward the houses and, on Marianne’s side, began stumbling over doorsteps and barking shins on foot-scrapers, just as Dolly the donkey appeared, with her cart of furniture bounding behind her, apparently running for her life.
    â€œOh, no !” groaned Uncle Richard.
    The huge table from the kitchen in Woods House was chasing Dolly, gaining on her with every stride of its six massive wooden legs. Everyone else in the street screamed warnings and crowded to the sides. Uncle Arthur collapsed on the steps of the Pinhoe Arms. Great-Uncle Lester fled the other way into the grocer’s. Only Uncle Richard bravely let go of the bed and jumped forward to try to drag Dolly to safety. But Dolly, her eyes set with panic, swerved aside from him and pattered on frantically. Uncle Richard had to throw himself flat as the great table veered to charge at him, its six legs going like pistons. Gammer almost certainly meant the table to go for the bed and its carriers, but as it galloped near enough, Uncle Charles, Dad, Uncle Simeon, and the Reverend Pinhoe each put out a leg and kicked it hard in the side. Thatswung it back into the street again. It was after Dolly in a flash.
    Dolly had gained a little when the table swerved, but the table went so fast that it looked as if, unless Dolly could turn right at the bottom of the hill toward Furze Cottage in time, or left toward the Dell, she was going to be squashed against the Post Office wall. Everyone except Marianne held their breath. Marianne said angrily, “Gammer, if you’ve killed poor Dolly I’ll never forgive you!”
    Gammer opened one eye. Marianne thought the look from it was slightly ashamed.
    Dolly, seeing the wall coming up, uttered a braying scream. Somehow, no one knew how, she managed to throw herself and the cart sideways into Dell Lane. The cart rocked and shed a bird-cage, a small