Milly swallowed hard. She had to admit it had been rather odd, and there was the mysterious heave that something had given her when she found she could not climb back into the punt.
‘I suppose it might have been the sea serpent I imagined,’ she said to herself, looking nervously over the side.
She pushed a strand of dripping hair out of her eyes and said, ‘Let’s pretend the punt will take us back to the landing stage of its own accord.’
At once the punt began to move, not very fast, it is true, and certainly not fast enough to explain the curious splashing in its wake. The two girls sat up, still and silent, as it glided on, but the minute the Swallow touched the steps they leaped out. Dossy raced up the sloping grass to the house faster than she had ever run before. John heard her diminishing cries of ‘Mummy! Mummy!’ as she disappeared. Milly followed more slowly.
When they had gone, he tied up the punt, climbed wearily up the steps on to the terrace and flung himself on the ground.
23
Milly
For a few minutes John lay panting on the flagstones. They were still warm, although the sun was no longer shining on them. It had been hard work heaving two well-grown girls out of the water, and pushing the punt back to its moorings immediately afterward had taken all his strength. Suddenly he felt a small rasping tongue lick his cheek. It was Calidor. The kitten could see where John lay by the shape of the rapidly growing puddle beneath him.
‘You must have got your paws wet!’ said Calidor sympathetically.
‘Hello, Calidor!’ said John, opening his eyes. ‘Have they left you behind?’
Calidor sniffed.
‘One minute they can’t leave me alone, and the next I might be an old punt cushion for all they care about me!’
John sat up.
‘What a stroke of luck!’ he said. ‘Now’s our chance to get away. But talking of punt cushions, I suppose it was all my fault. I think I ought to salvage what I can before we go. I can’t get much wetter.’
Calidor watched with interest the growing chain of wet footmarks – the only sign of John’s progress back to the edge of the lake. He listened to the splash of John’s dive, and then turned his attention to washing his ruffled black coat.
It took John longer than he expected to collect the floating properties of the royal barge. One of the cushions had foundered, and he had to give up his search, but three others, the chair and King Solomon’s turban he left to dry on the terrace. Then he went into the boathouse to look for a towel with which to dry himself as much as possible before starting home. He felt very tired, rather cold in his wet clothes and extremely hungry, but the knowledge that Calidor was as good as recovered made it all worth while. He was in the boathouse giving himself a hard rub down and wondering how on earth they were going to get back to Fallowhithe, when Calidor, who was sitting beside him, suddenly said, ‘Look out! Here’s one of ’em back again!’
It was Milly, wearing one of Dossy’s old frocks. It looked uncomfortably tight.
‘Pussy!’ she called. ‘Puss! puss! puss!’
Calidor backed into a corner of the boathouse, but the movement attracted her attention.
‘Oh, there you are! Come along, pusskin!’
She advanced toward the kitten with her hand held out, and, I am sorry to say, Calidor spat. Milly laughed and knelt down so that he was penned into the corner.
‘It’s no good being cross, because you’re mine now, darling! Dossy says she’s tired of you. Come along. Mr Dawson is waiting to take us home. Everybody is so cross already that I don’t think we’d better keep him waiting!’
She picked up Calidor.
‘Help!’ he mewed. ‘Help, help!’
John’s heart sank. To be on the brink of success only to find the kitten being carried off by another owner!
Milly was leaving the boathouse with the kitten in her arms. There was no time to think of any plan.
‘Milly!’ called John in desperation. ‘Don’t go!’
She turned around in surprise. Standing outside in the bright summer evening she could see nothing but shadows inside the boathouse, so that the fact she could not distinguish the speaker did not surprise her.
‘Who’s there?’ she asked.
‘John, but you wouldn’t know me. I want your help. No, don’t come in. I, I’ve got no clothes on. I’m drying. I’ve just fished all the cushions and the chair out of the lake.’
‘Gosh, thanks awfully!’ said Milly.
‘I’ve hung King Solomon’s turban on the stone seat to dry.’
‘How do you know about King Solomon?’ asked Milly curiously.
‘Because I was in the royal barge as well, when Dossy was being the Queen of Sheba. It was me that pushed off,’ he went on, regardless of grammar. ‘I’m sorry about that. But I did heave you both back into the punt again, and bring it back to the steps.’
Milly opened her eyes very wide. ‘Then it wasn’t my pretending come true! Thank goodness! It was horrible thinking that every time I said “Let’s pretend”, it would really happen. You can’t think how bothered I’ve been. But look here, you couldn’t have done it. I should have seen you!’
‘That’s the trouble,’ said John. ‘Now don’t go having hysterics or anything, but I’m invisible.’
‘Not really!’ said Milly with deep interest. She peered into the boathouse, but she could see nobody there. ‘You’re hiding!’ she said at last.
‘No, I’m not!’ said a voice in the empty air beside her.
Milly jumped so violently that she dropped Calidor.
‘You’ll soon get used to the idea,’ said the voice, this time from the other side. ‘It’s the kitten I’ve come for. He really belongs to me and my friend Rosemary. Someone stole him and sold him to a pet shop, and when Dossy bought him I got in the car and came with them. If you don’t believe I’m invisible, look at the kitten. I’m going to pick him up.’
Milly watched enthralled while Calidor rose gently in the air, his furry body hanging limply, as it might over a lifting hand. She rubbed her eyes.
‘It’s no good. I don’t know what’s pretend and what isn’t. Anything could happen this afternoon. I almost think I do believe you. You said you wanted me to help you. What shall I do?’
‘Give me the kitten!’ said John.
‘Is that all!’ said Milly with relief. ‘As a matter of fact I’d be rather glad. When Dossy said would I like him, I quite forgot Mother said she couldn’t put up with one single more pet. The boys and I have so many, and I was wondering what she’d say when I turned up with this one. Besides, you did save us both this afternoon. But look here. Mr Dawson is taking me home in the car. I live at Fiddleworth. Daddy is rector of St Mary’s Church.
‘You will have to come in the car with us and as soon as Mr Dawson has gone I’ll hand the kitten over again.’
They walked back up the sloping lawn, Calidor purring happily and thrusting the top of his small, sleek head against John’s chin.
‘What’s happened to Dossy?’ asked John.
‘Bed,’ said Milly shortly, ‘with hot water bottles and aspirins. She was still moaning when I left.’
‘Were they very angry?’
‘Mrs Dawson was, especially about the new dress. Mr Dawson was wonderful. He laughed, and said we had overdone it a bit this time, but that Dossy needed a bit of shaking up. All the same, I don’t think I shall be asked to play again somehow.’
John was inclined to agree.
24
The Counter-Spell
It must have been about midnight when Rosemary was woken up by someone shaking her shoulder.
‘Wake up, Rosie!’ whispered an urgent voice. ‘Wake up!’