CHAPTER XIII
_Timothy Gives Them a Clue_
Miss Marigold was in the garden tying up the sunflowers as Jack andMolly passed her cottage, which was the fourth one along the villagestreet. Such a quaint little village street it was, with cobbledstones, and grass growing in the roadway, and bunchy white cottageswith thatched roofs. The children did not know the name of the ladyin the garden, of course, and were just wondering where Miss Marigoldlived, when they saw a card hanging in the window, on which was printed:
MISS MARIGOLD _Teas Provided. Apartments._
They stopped. Miss Marigold looked up from her flowers and saw twotired little faces looking at her over the gate. Miss Marigold was talland thin and looked neither old nor young, but between the two. Herthick hair, which was of a pale yellow colour, was neatly braided roundher head; she was dressed in a dark green dress with snow-white collarand cuffs. She looked kind when she smiled, and as she smiled when shesaw the children they made up their minds to stay there if they could.So they opened the gate and entered her garden.
She listened while they told her who they were and what they wanted.
"I shall be pleased to give you accommodation," she said in her gentle,stiff little manner. "And you would like a cup of hot tea and sometoasted muffins at once, I'm sure."
Jack and Molly felt that there was nothing they would like more thantea and muffins, but they told Miss Marigold that they had no moneywith them, and asked her what they could do for her to earn their tea,bed, and breakfast.
"Nothing at all. You are searching for the Black Leaf--that is enough.You will have done more for me, and for the whole country, than canever be repaid, if you find it," said Miss Marigold, and led the wayinto her cottage, which was quaint and old-fashioned, with low,oak-beamed ceilings and sloping floors.
The children had a refreshing wash, then sat down to a well-spreadtable--hot tea, and toasted muffins and eggs, and brown bread andbutter, and honey, and fresh fruit. Over tea they told Miss Marigoldabout their search, and the latest doings of the Pumpkin. Miss Marigoldhad never actually seen the Pumpkin, but she had heard much about him,of course, and was very interested in the children's account.
"We have only just received news, in the village here, that the Pumpkinhas returned. One of the villagers, who went to the city, came ridingback over the Goblin's Heath with the news," she told the children.
While they were talking they heard footsteps on the garden path outsidethe window, and then came a tap at the door. Jack and Molly started.But Miss Marigold rose leisurely saying, with a shake of her head, "Itold him not to stay as late as this." Then she opened the door. "Ah!come in, Timothy," she said.
Timothy came in. Catching sight of strangers in the room, he paused,hesitating on the mat, nervously twisting his cap in his hands.Timothy was a fat, awkward-looking boy, about twelve years old, withpuffy cheeks, and round eyes, and a simple expression. Miss Marigoldintroduced him as her nephew, much to the children's surprise, as hewas utterly unlike his aunt in every way--in looks especially, exceptfor the hair, which was the same pale yellow colour.
"Timothy has been out to a tea-party to-day," said Miss Marigold to thechildren. "Haven't you, Timothy?"
"Umth," lisped Timothy, in a thick voice, nodding his head.
"I hope you enjoyed yourself," said Molly, politely.
"Perapths," replied Timothy, sitting down on the extreme edge of achair.
Molly looked puzzled, but he seemed well-meaning, and she felt sorryfor him as he appeared to be so nervous.
"What kept you so late?" asked his aunt. "You ought to have been homean hour ago--you know I don't like you being out after dusk."
Timothy blushed and began a jerky, stammering sort of explanation. Hisaunt frowned a little and looked at him suspiciously.
"You haven't been on the Goblin's Heath, have you?" Miss Marigold asked.
"No, ma'm," replied Timothy, promptly. "Where have you come from?" heasked Jack suddenly.
"We've just come from the Goblin's Heath," replied Jack; and atTimothy's eager request to be told about their adventures, Jack startedto tell him about their search. Timothy appeared to listen intently,until presently his aunt got up and went out of the room to prepare thebedrooms. Immediately he leant across the table and interrupted.
"Here!" he exclaimed suddenly.
Jack stopped speaking, and stared at Timothy, who was obviously in avery excited state.
"Here, I thay! What do you thig?" said Timothy.
"What? What is it? What's the matter?" asked Jack.
"I theen _it_," said Timothy, and exploded with laughter.
Jack and Molly exchanged bewildered glances, while Timothy rolled androcked in his chair with laughter till the tears ran down his fat whitecheeks. He continued to gasp and laugh until Molly grew quite concernedabout him, and jumping off her chair she ran to the door to call hisaunt. This sobered him immediately and he sprang up waving his hand tostop her.
"Don't, don't," he managed to gasp. "I alwayth laugh when ... he! he!he!... when I exthited ... don't call aunt ... I tell you ... he! he!he! he!... in a minute."
When he had quieted down a bit he said:
"Aunt muthn't know, becauth 'e thig I been out to tea--well, Ihaven't--and I been where 'e told me not to go, and I _theen_ it!" Hewas getting fearfully excited again.
"Seen what? Oh, do tell us," said Molly.
"The ... he! he! he!..." Timothy giggled. "The ... Black Leaf!"
"Oh," cried Jack and Molly together, their questions tumbling over eachother in their eagerness. "Where is it? Where did you see it? Did youpick it? What did you do with it?"
"I didn't pick it--I couldn't get near it," Timothy answered. "But Iknow where it ith...." He leant toward them and whispered hoarsely, hiseyes round and bulging. "... In the Orange Wood."
Timothy went on to tell them how he had happened to see it. It seemedthat he had been forbidden by his aunt to go on to the Goblin's Heath,or into the Orange Wood, because it was rumoured that the Pumpkin'sspies were in hiding in both these places--it was even said by somethat the Pumpkin himself had been seen on the Heath yesterday. AlthoughTimothy didn't believe this, he said, he longed to explore both thewood and the heath, and to-day he had deceived his aunt, pretending hewas going to tea with a friend and instead had slipped into the wood,which lay just beyond the village, and had wandered about there. He hadcome across Mr Papingay's house in the wood--which he had often heardabout, but never seen before. (Mr Papingay! Jack and Molly recognisedthe name, of course; it was Glan's relation.) He was a funny old man,was Mr Papingay, said Timothy; and it was a funny house. And the BlackLeaf was growing in a plant-pot, in the house! Only don't tell his aunthe'd been in the wood, he pleaded, she would be angry with him, andperhaps send him away home to his father: and he didn't want to go homeyet.
"Wait till you've got the Leaf--then it won't matter," said Timothy.
He seemed so distressed at the idea of his aunt knowing of hisdisobedience (although she didn't seem the kind of aunt to be toosevere, Molly thought) that the children promised they would saynothing about it.
"Couldn't you come with us, to-morrow, and show us the way?" said Jack.
But Timothy shook his head. "I rather you tell me about it afterwarth,"he said. "I had enough of the wood. Ith too full of crackly noith. Iran all the way home," he confessed. "Oh, and thereth one thig. Don'tlet Mr Papingay know you've come for the Leaf. He'th a funny old man,perapth he wouldn't let you have it. Wait till you thee it. It wath onthe kitchen window thill--inthide--when I thaw it."
The children thanked Timothy, and were discussing eagerly to-morrow'splans, when Miss Marigold looked in to say all was ready upstairs.
"I heard you laughing a lot just now, Timothy," she remarked. "Thattea-party made you very excited, I'm afraid."
"Umth," agreed Timothy, meekly.
The children were very tired that night, and in spite of theirexcitement they slept soundly in the comfortable, warm bed
s MissMarigold had prepared for them.
Their first waking thoughts were of the plant-pot in Mr Papingay'shouse: they longed to be off to the Orange Wood without delay. But theydiscovered, on arriving downstairs, that the village had made otherplans for them. Somehow the news had spread that two people from theImpossible World had come to search the village for the Black Leaf,and the villagers meant to welcome them handsomely and give them allthe help they could. During breakfast the children noticed that peoplekept stopping and peering in through the window at them, and fromremarks dropped by Miss Marigold they understood that they would creategreat disappointment, if not give real offence, unless they searchedthe village thoroughly that day--and in sight of the people. Jack andMolly began to feel as if they were a sort of show or entertainment.However, they talked things over together, and calculating that thevillage ought not to take more than a few hours to do--as it was verysmall--they decided that perhaps they had better search it first, andthen in the afternoon start off into the Orange Wood. After all Timothymight have made a mistake, and the Leaf might be in the village afterall; it would never do to pass it by.
So they set to work immediately after breakfast, much refreshed bytheir long sleep and the wholesome, good food that Miss Marigold hadset before them. They thanked her warmly and said good-bye to Timothy,then stepped out into another day of sunshine.
But they had reckoned their time without the villagers. So insistentand eager were they to help the children that they hindered and delayedthem in every way. Children and men and women suggested likely placeswhere the Black Leaf might be growing, and insisted on taking Jack andMolly to the places; but each search proved in vain.
They searched a field by special request of the man who owned it, andwho expressed great surprise when told that the Leaf was not there.(Although he knew very well that the Leaf was not there as he hadalready gone over the field himself. Still he felt he couldn't have hisground neglected when all his neighbours' fields were being searched.)
And one old lady insisted on digging up her window box to show themthat the Leaf wasn't there, conscious of the importance she was gainingin the eyes of her neighbours while the children stayed about her place.
The attention they received made the children rather uncomfortable.However, every garden, every yard of roadway, every field and laneand paddock, and even every plant-pot, having been searched to thevillagers' (and the children's) satisfaction, Jack and Molly at lengthsaid good-bye to the village and turned eagerly toward the Orange Wood.
The afternoon was well advanced by this time, and the sun gleamingthrough the trees in the wood turned the gold and brown leaves on thebranches to a mass of flaming colour.