During the summer months this was the only chance Peter had of seeing other boys and girls. For the rest of the time, goats were his only companions. He spent very little time at home with his mother and his old blind grandmother who lived with them. He used to leave the hut very early, after bolting his breakfast of a piece of bread and a mug of milk, and he always stayed as long as possible with the children in Dörfli, so he only got back in time to gobble his supper and tumble straight into bed. His father had been the goatherd before him, but he had been killed several years ago, when felling a tree. His mother’s name was Bridget, but she was seldom called anything but ‘the goatherd’s mother’, and his grandmother was just Grannie to everyone, old and young alike.
For several minutes after Barbie had left her, Detie looked anxiously about for the two children with the goats, but there was no sign of them. She climbed a little farther up the path to get a better view and then stopped to look again. She was getting very impatient.
The children had strayed far away from the path, for Peter always went his own way up the mountain. What mattered was where his goats would find the best bushes and shrubs to nibble. At first Heidi had scrambled up after him, puffing and panting, for her load of clothes made climbing hard, hot work. She did not complain, but she looked enviously at Peter, running about so freely on bare feet, in comfortable trousers; and at the goats whose nimble little legs carried them so lightly up the steep slopes and over bushes and stones. Then suddenly she sat down and pulled off her boots and stockings. She unwound the thick red scarf and quickly unbuttoned her best dress, which Detie had made her wear on top of her everyday one, to save carrying it. She took off both dresses and stood there in nothing but a little petticoat, waving her bare arms in the air with delight. Then she laid all the clothes together in a neat pile and danced off to catch up with Peter and the goats. He had not noticed what she was doing, and when he caught sight of her running towards him like that, he smiled broadly. He looked back and saw the pile of clothing she had left on the grass, and grinned from ear to ear, but he said nothing. Heidi felt much happier, and free as air, and began to chatter away, asking him a string of questions. He had to tell her how many goats he had, where he was taking them, and what he was going to do when he got there. Presently they reached the hut and came within Detie’s view. As soon as she spotted them she called out shrilly:
‘What on earth have you been doing, Heidi? What a sight you look! What have you done with your frocks? And the scarf? And those good new boots I bought you to come up here in, and the stockings I knitted for you? Wherever have you left them all?’
Heidi calmly pointed to the place where she had undressed. ‘There they are,’ she said. Her aunt could see something lying there, with a red spot on top, which was the scarf.
‘Oh, you naughty little thing!’ she cried crossly. ‘What on earth made you take your clothes off like that? What’s the meaning of it?’
‘I didn’t need them,’ replied Heidi, as if that were quite sufficient explanation.
‘You stupid child, haven’t you any sense at all?’ scolded Detie. ‘And who do you think is going down to fetch them for you now? It would take me a good half hour. Peter, you run back and get them for me, and be quick about it. Don’t stand there gaping, as if you were rooted to the ground.’
‘I’m late as it is,’ said Peter. He made no attempt to move but stood with his hands in his pockets as he had done all the time Detie had been shouting at Heidi.
‘Well, you won’t get very far, if you just stand there, staring,’ said Detie. ‘Look here’s something for you.’ She made her tone more persuasive, and held out a bright new coin. The sight of this stirred him to action, and he dashed off with giant strides down the steep slope. He snatched up the pile of clothes and was back with them in no time. Detie had to admit that he had earned his reward. He tucked the coin away, deep down in his pocket, with a very broad grin, for such riches did not often come his way.
‘Now you carry the things up to Uncle’s for me. You’re going that way I know.’ And Detie began to climb the steep path behind the goatherd’s hut.
Peter was quite willing and followed on her heels, holding the bundle under his left arm and swinging the stick he used for the goats in his right hand. It took nearly an hour to reach the high pasture where Uncle Alp’s hut stood on a little plateau. The little house was exposed to every wind that blew, but it also caught all the sunlight and commanded a glorious view right down the valley. Three old fir trees with huge branches stood behind it. Beyond them the ground rose steeply to the top of the mountain. There was rich grazing land immediately above the hut, but then came a mass of tangled under‐growth, leading to bare and rugged peaks.
Uncle Alp had made a wooden seat and fixed it to the side of the hut looking over the valley. Here he was sitting peacefully, with his pipe in his mouth and his hands on his knees as the little party approached. Peter and Heidi ran ahead of Detie for the last part of the way, and Heidi was actually the first to reach the old man. She went straight up to him and held out her hand. ‘Hallo, Grandfather,’ she said.
‘Hey, what’s that?’ he exclaimed gruffly, staring searchingly at her as he took her hand. She stared back, fascinated by the strange‐looking old man, with his long beard and bushy grey eyebrows. Meanwhile Detie came towards them, while Peter stood watching to see what would happen.
‘Good morning, Uncle,’ said Detie. ‘I’ve brought you Tobias’s daughter. I don’t suppose you recognize her as you haven’t seen her since she was a year old.’
‘Why have you brought her here?’ he demanded roughly. ‘And you be off with your goats,’ he added to Peter. ‘You’re late, and don’t forget mine.’ The old man gave him such a look that Peter disappeared at once.
‘She’s come to stay with you, Uncle,’ Detie told him, coming straight to the point. ‘I’ve done all I can for her these four years. Now it’s your turn.’
‘My turn, is it?’ snapped the old man, glaring at her. ‘And when she starts to cry and fret for you, as she’s sure to do, what am I supposed to do then?’
‘That’s your affair,’ retorted Detie. ‘Nobody told me how to set about it when she was left on my hands, a baby barely a year old. Goodness knows I had enough to do already, looking after Mother and myself. But now I’ve got to go away to a job. You’re the child’s nearest relative. If you can’t have her here, do what you like with her. But you’ll have to answer for it if she comes to any harm, and I shouldn’t think you’d want anything more on your conscience.’
Detie was really far from easy in her mind about what she was doing, which was why she spoke so disagreeably, and she had already said more than she meant to.
The old man got up at her last words. She was quite frightened by the way he looked at her, and took a few steps backward.
‘Go back where you came from and don’t come here again in a hurry,’ he said angrily, raising his arm.
Detie didn’t wait to be told twice. ‘Goodbye, then,’ she said quickly. ‘Goodbye, Heidi,’ and she ran off down the mountain, not stopping till she came to Dörfli. Here even more people called out to her than before, wanting to know what she had done with the child, whom they all knew.
‘Where’s Heidi? What have you done with Heidi?’ they cried from their doorways and windows.