Like Gobbolino, he had watched the sun moving across the sky and he knew that by midday Sootica was likely to have reached the river, and would therefore be safe from recapture by the witch.
He did not approve of her behaviour in the least, but he could understand the tender heart of a brother for his sister’s distress, if, in fact, the witch’s cat were really as distressed as she made herself out to be.
He saw the sun touch the midday crag, and pass on slowly across the jagged peaks of the mountain. At any moment he expected to see Gobbolino come flying down the mountainside, but Gobbolino did not come.
After an hour or two the little horse began to grow anxious. He did not want to be stranded in the middle of the plain when the sun went down. There was no shelter out there, while in the forest they could pass the night under a tree.
He trotted out of the cave and looked up towards the summit, but there was nothing to be seen of Gobbolino.
He waited while another hour crawled by, and then began very slowly to descend towards the bats, who were restlessly flying about below, and waiting to take possession of the caves at the foot of the mountain. They were in a very testy frame of mind, due to sleeping in rabbit holes and having nothing much to eat.
They took very little notice of the wooden horse, flying around in crazy circles and alighting on the rocks, only to dash around again like a crowd of mad mosquitoes. Not one of them volunteered to go up to the top of the mountain and remind Gobbolino that it was high time he started down the path to begin his journey home across the plain. They were afraid of being caught by the witch, and either having to stay in the cavern under her command, or being banished back to the rabbit holes again. Finally he persuaded a very young and dashing bat to go up the mountain.
“Just tell my friend Gobbolino that we should leave immediately,” the little wooden horse said, “that is, if we want to travel safely across the plain before dark. Tell him I am waiting for him down here, and I shall not set out until he comes.”
The bat whirred off in the direction of the summit. The wooden horse waited impatiently below.
It was some while before the bat came back, appearing like a small black fly against the sky above, soon to be lost in the darkness of the crags. The little wooden horse lost sight of it in craning for a glimpse of Gobbolino, but the path remained empty, and there was no sign of his friend.
Suddenly the bat flopped down at his feet, panting.
“I waited and waited,” it squeaked, “but it was no good— he won’t come!”
[Êàðòèíêà: i_023.jpg]
“Just tell my friend… that we should leave…”
“He won’t come?” the little wooden horse repeated in dismay. “Is the witch awake, then? Has she put a spell on him?”
“Not that I could notice,” said the little bat. “I think the witch is asleep, because she is snoring a little.. and your friend Gobbolino is fast asleep too, on her lap.”
“On her lap?” the little wooden horse cried out, in horror. “Onher lap?”
“Why, yes!” said the bat. “He is snuggled up on her knees, underneath her heart, and his white paw is folded round her wrist. It is quite a touching picture to see a poor old lady being comforted by her cat!”
“Old lady? Comforted?” repeated the little wooden horse.
“She looked very sad!” said the bat. “There were tears on her cheeks as if she had been crying, and the cat’s fur was quite damp in patches. I felt quite sorry for her!”
“But did you speak to Gobbolino?” pleaded the little wooden horse.
“Oh, I did! I did!” the bat said. “I flew round him a number of times, woke him up, and gave him your message, but he only shook his head. And when he moved the witch clutched him so tightly in her sleep that he could not have got away if he had tried.”
Panic seized the heart of the little wooden horse.
He hardly heard the bat’s plea to occupy the caves now that its mission was done. He left the busy little creatures surging out of the rabbit holes and taking possession of their new homes, while he galloped up the path to the summit as fast as he could go.
12 THE WITCH FINDS OUT [Êàðòèíêà: i_024.jpg]
By THE TIME HE arrived at the entrance to the witch’s cave the afternoon was nearly over, and the little wooden horse knew it was already too late to begin their journey before nightfall. But in his busy mind a plan was forming. They would go as far as the church in the village that night, and ask the old priest to let them shelter there till dawn. He did not believe the witch would follow them inside the church, and they would wait till she went back to the mountain before they made a run for the stream.
It all depended on rescuing Gobbolino as quickly as possible. He did not believe the bat’s tale that his friend did not want to leave the witch. He was afraid Gobbolino must be under some kind of enchantment, and what it was he would make it his business to find out as fast as he could.
He did not trouble to quieten the noise of his wheels, but galloped up the rough path, kicking stones to left and to right as he ran.
Sure enough, Gobbolino was sitting on the witch’s lap, but unlike the witch, he was not asleep. His blue eyes were wide open to welcome the little wooden horse, and a smile of pure joy and surprise spread across his whiskers.
“Oh, my friend! My own true and loyal friend!” Gobbolino purred, with tears of joy in his beautiful blue eyes.
He leapt gently to the floor, and licked the little wooden horse all over with a pink and grateful tongue. The sleeping witch made a feeble grab at him, moaned a little and sank into a deeper sleep.
“Come along! Come this instant!. We must leave immediately!” said the little wooden horse, for it seemed as if there was nothing to prevent Gobbolino from making his escape that very minute.
“No! No!” said Gobbolino. “You don’t understand, my kind little friend! The poor old lady is breaking her heart at the loss of her own cat, my sister Sootica.
[Êàðòèíêà: i_025.jpg]
…Gobbolino was sitting on the witch’s lap…
If you could have seen her tears you would understand that I can’t possibly run away and leave her all alone!”
“So sheknows?” said the little wooden horse.
“Indeed she does!” said Gobbolino. “In fact, she recognized me quite quickly, and although she knows I am no good as a witch’s cat I think I was able to give her a little comfort in her grief. If she woke up and found me gone as well I really think she might die of sorrow. She has become so old and frail. She told me herself that she can no longer make any real spells without my sister’s help. There is no harm in staying just a short while to comfort her until she gets used to the idea of living without Sootica.You go back, my dear friend, and tell my family that I am coming, but that I have had to postpone it for a few days. And if you can find a black cat who is willing to keep a poor old woman company for the rest of her life, then I can leave her with a quiet conscience.”
The little wooden horse’s heart was touched, but then he remembered the two anxious homes waiting for them far away in the forest. Uncle Peder would be waking each day with the hope that his little friend would arrive before dark, and the children at the farm would be going to bed in tears every night, because their beloved Gobbolino had neither come back nor sent them any message.
The little wooden horse was standing with bowed head in the middle of the floor when he heard an exclamation, and there was the witch sitting bolt upright on her stool and staring at him.
“And what in the name of all wonders can you be?” she exclaimed in astonishment. “Did you bring it with you, Gobbolino?”
“Yes, ma’am!.. No, ma’am!.. This is my friend, ma’am!” said Gobbolino in some agitation, for he was not at all sure how the witch would receive the little wooden horse. She might immediately turn him into something dreadful, or simply throw him down the mountainside on to the terrible rocks below.