But then she seemed to hear a voice, or if not a voice, at least words, words flattened out like printed words on paper. Oh, no! We cant stop here! This is a two-dimensional planet and the children cant manage here!
She was whizzed into nothingness again, and nothingness was wonderful. She did not mind that she could not feel Calvins hand, that she could not see or feel or be. The relief from the intolerable pressure was all she needed.
Then the tingling began to come back to her fingers, her toes; she could feel Calvin holding her tightly. Her heart beat regularly; blood coursed through her veins. Whatever had happened, whatever mistake had been made, it was over now. She thought she heard Charles Wallace saying, his words round and full as spoken words ought to be, Really, Mrs Which, you might have killed us!
This time she was pushed out of the frightening fifth dimension with a sudden, immediate jerk. There she was, herself again, standing with Calvin beside her, holding on to her hand for dear life, and Charles Wallace in front of her, looking indignant. Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which were not visible, but she knew that they were there; the fact of their presence was strong about her.
Cchilldrenn, I appolloggize, came Mrs Whichs voice.
Now, Charles, calm down, Mrs Whatsit said, appearing not as the beautiful creature she had been when they last saw her, but in her familiar wild garb of shawls and scarves and the old tramps coat and hat. You know how difficult it is for her to materialize. If you are not substantial yourself its very difficult to realize how limiting protoplasm is.
I ammm ssorry, Mrs Whichs voice came again; but there was more than a hint of amusement in it.
It is not funny. Charles Wallace gave a childish stamp of his foot.
Mrs Whos glasses shone out, and the rest of her appeared more slowly behind them. We are such stuff as dreams are made on. She smiled broadly. Prospero in The Tempest. I do like that play.
You didnt do it on purpose? Charles demanded.
Oh, my darling, of course not, Mrs Whatsit said quickly. It was just a very understandable mistake. Its very difficult for Mrs Which to think in a corporeal way. She wouldnt hurt you deliberately; you know that. And its really a very pleasant little planet, and rather amusing to be flat. We always enjoy our visits there.
Where are we now, then? Charles Wallace demanded. And why?
In Orions belt. We have a friend here, and we want you to have a look at your own planet.
When are we going home? Meg asked anxiously. What about mother? What about the twins? Theyll be terribly worried about us. When we didnt come in at bedtime well, mother must be frantic by now. She and the twins and Fort will have been looking and looking for us, and of course we arent there to be found!
Now, dont worry, my pet, Mrs Whatsit said cheerfully. We took care of that before we left. Your mother has had enough to worry her without our adding to her anxieties. We took a time wrinkle as well as a space wrinkle. Its very easy to do if you just know how.
What do you mean? Meg asked plaintively. Please, Mrs Whatsit, its all so confusing.
Just relax and dont worry over things that neednt trouble you, Mrs Whatsit said. We made a nice, tidy little time tesser, and unless something goes terribly wrong well have you back about five minutes before you left, so therell be time to spare and nobodyll ever need to know you were gone at all, though of course youll be telling your mother, dear lamb that she is. And if something goes terribly wrong it wont matter whether we ever get back at all.
Ddontt ffrightenn themm, Mrs Whichs voice came. Aare yyou llosingg ffaith?
Oh, no. No, Im not.
But Meg thought her voice sounded a little faint.
I hope this is a nice planet, Calvin said. We cant see much of it. Does it ever clear up?
Meg looked round her, realizing that she had been so breathless from the journey and the stop on the two-dimensional planet that she had not noticed her surroundings. And perhaps this was not very surprising, for the main thing about her surroundings was exactly that they were unnoticeable. They seemed to be standing on some kind of nondescript, flat surface. The air around them was grey. It was not exactly fog, but she could see nothing through it. Visibility was limited to the nicely definite bodies of Charles Wallace and Calvin, the rather unbelievable bodies of Mrs Whatsit and Mrs Who, and a faint occasional glimmer that was Mrs Which.
Come, children, Mrs Whatsit said. We dont have far to go, and we might as well walk. It will do you good to stretch your legs a little.
As they moved through the greyness Meg caught an occasional glimpse of slaglike rocks, but there were no traces of trees or bushes, nothing but flat ground under their feet, no sign of any vegetation at all.
Finally, ahead of them there loomed what seemed to be a hill of stone. As they approached it Meg could see that there was an entrance that led into a deep, dark cavern. Are we going in there? she asked nervously.
Dont be afraid, Mrs Whatsit said. Its easier for the Happy Medium to work within. Oh, youll like her, children. Shes very jolly. If ever I saw her looking unhappy I would be very depressed myself. As long as she can laugh Im sure everything is going to come out right in the end.
Whattsitt, came Mrs Whichs voice severely, jusstt beccause yyou arre verry youngg iss nno exxcuse forr tallkingg tooo muchh.
Mrs Whatsit looked hurt, but she subsided.
Just how old are you? Calvin asked her.
Just a moment, Mrs Whatsit murmured, and appeared to calculate rapidly upon her fingers. She nodded triumphantly. Exactly 2,379,152,497 years, 8 months and 3 days. That is according to your calendar, of course, which even you know isnt very accurate. She leant closer to Meg and Calvin and whispered, It was really a very great honour for me to be chosen for this mission. Its just because of my verbalizing and materializing so well, you know. But of course we cant take any credit for our talents. Its how we use them that counts. And I make far too many mistakes. Thats why Mrs Who and I enjoyed seeing Mrs Which make a mistake when she tried to land you on a two-dimensional planet. It was that we were laughing at, not at you. She was laughing at herself, you see. Shes really terribly nice to us younger ones.
Meg was listening with such interest to what Mrs Whatsit was saying that she hardly noticed when they went into the cave; the transition from the greyness of outside to the greyness of inside was almost unnoticeable. She saw a flickering light ahead of them, ahead and down, and it was towards this that they went. As they drew closer she realized that it was a fire.
It gets very cold in here, Mrs Whatsit said, so we asked her to have a good bonfire going for you.