CHAPTER ONE

THE CHILD WHO WAS LEFT BEHIND

When Mary Lennox left India to live in England, no one was sad to see her go. She was the most terrible little girl they knew. Mary was not pretty, and she was not nice either. She was very thin. She had thin yellow hair, and her face always had a mean, angry expression. Her parents were very busy people. They did not pay attention to Mary. Mary's father worked for the English Government in India. Her mother was very beautiful and went to lots of parties. Mary's parents had not wanted a child. When Mary was born they gave the baby to an Indian Ayi. They told the Ayi to keep her out of their sight.

As Mary grew up, she spent all her time with the Ayi and the other servants. These people let Mary do whatever she wanted, and they gave her everything she wanted. This was because they knew that if Mary cried, she would disturb her parents. Then her parents would become angry with the servants. So Mary became a very selfish, angry, and lonely girl. She did not have any friends. All the teachers who came to teach Mary how to read and write left, because Mary did not behave well. Fortunately, she was intelligent, so she learned how to read and write anyway.

However, in a few short days Mary's life was changed. She woke up one morning to discover that her parents had died in the night of a terrible disease called cholera. Many of the servants had died, too. An officer came to the house to search for survivors, and found Mary there, alone. For some reason the child hadn't become ill.

Mary had liked to look at her mother, because she was so young and pretty. But Mary had not known her mother, or her father. So she did not feel very sad that they were dead. Mary was a very selfish child, and she only thought about herself. She wondered who would take care of her now. She hoped that they would be polite to her. She wanted them to give her whatever she wanted, like her Ayi had.

Mary was taken to the house of an English man named Mr Crawford. She was going to stay there for a while. Mary did not like the man's family. He had five children. At first the children tried to be nice to Mary. However, she was so unkind to them that no one would play with her. They called her names, which made her very angry. Basil, the little boy, called her "Mistress Mary Quite Contrary".

After Mary had been there for two weeks, Basil said to Mary, "I heard that you're going home at the end of the week. I'm glad. I don't like you."

"I'm glad, too. And I don't like you, either!" said Mary. "Where is home?"

"You're going to your uncle's house, in England," said Basil. "I heard my parents talking about it. You'll be very unhappy there. Your uncle's a hunchback!"

"What is a hunchback?" said Mary.

"It's a man who has a large hump on his back. Just like a camel. Your uncle is a horrible monster!" said Basil. "He lives in a large house in the country. No one ever goes there. He won't let them, because he hates people."

"Go away. I don't believe you," said Mary. She put her fingers in her ears.

But Mary thought about what Basil had told her. When Mrs Crawford told Mary that she was going to live in England with her uncle, Archibald Craven, Mary said nothing. She looked as if she didn't care. Basil's parents did not know what to think of this strange child.

A few days later Mary got on a large boat, and traveled to England. She traveled with an English woman. The woman was very busy with her own children, and did not pay much attention to her. When the boat reached London, a woman named Mrs Medlock was waiting for Mary. Mrs Medlock was Archibald Craven's housekeeper. She was strong and fat looking. She had grey hair, red cheeks, and large black eyes. She did not think well of Mary.

"She's rather ugly, isn't she?" Mrs Medlock said to the English woman. "We heard her mother was beautiful. The child did not receive her mother's looks!"

"Oh, I think she'll be prettier when she's older," said the other woman kindly. "She's just very thin. The weather in India is not good for young children."

"Well, there's nothing for children at Misselthwaite Manor," said Mrs Medlock. Misselthwaite Manor was Mr Archibald Craven's house.

The women thought Mary was not listening, but she was. She was looking at all the sights and sounds of London. She wondered what her uncle would be like. Was he really a hunchback? She had never seen a hunchback. Maybe India didn't have them.

Since she had been living with the Crawfords, Mary had felt lonely. She thought about the Crawford children. They seemed to belong with their parents, who loved them. She felt that her parents hadn't loved her. None of the servants had loved her, either. She did not know that this was because she was an unpleasant child. No one had ever taught her to be kind. Mary did not even know that she was unpleasant. She often thought that others were unpleasant. But she did not know that she was unpleasant, herself.

The next day Mary and Mrs Medlock began the journey to Yorkshire, where Misselthwaite Manor was. Mary sat in the train and did not speak. Mrs Medlock looked at Mary's face. It looked very sour, just like a lemon! She thought. "I've never seen an unhappier child in my life." Mrs Medlock did not really like children. But she decided to tell Mary about her new home, anyway.

"Did your parents ever tell you about your uncle?" she asked Mary.

"No," said Mary.

"Well, you are going to a very strange place. Misselthwaite Manor is over six hundred years old. The house has more than a hundred rooms, but most of them are locked. The house is on the edge of the moor. The moor is a large, flat land with grass and hills. The house has many gardens. But there's nothing else," she said.

Mary tried to pretend she didn't care. The woman looked at her curiously. "You're like an old woman, not a child," she said. "Don't you care?"

"It doesn't matter whether I care or not," said Mary.

"You're right!" said Mrs Medlock. "You have to live at Misselthwaite whether you like it or not. It's the easiest thing. Your uncle isn't going to see you. He doesn't see anyone. Oh, yes, I forgot something. Your uncle has a bad back. It made him an angry person, even though he had lots of money and a large house. He was a sour young man. He didn't become happy until he met his wife."

Mary was curious now. She didn't think a hunchback would be married.

Mrs Medlock saw that Mary was listening, so she continued her story. "Mr Craven's wife was a sweet, pretty woman. She loved nature, and she loved gardens and flowers. Mr Craven would have done anything for her. No one thought she would marry a man like him. People thought she married him for his money. But she didn't!" said Mrs Medlock firmly. "When she died—"

"Oh! Did she die?" cried Mary. She thought of a children's story she had read once. The story was about a beautiful princess and an ugly man. She suddenly felt sorry for her uncle.

"Yes, she died," said Mrs Medlock. "Then Mr Craven became stranger than ever. He won't let anyone see him. He hates people. He won't leave his rooms. He only has one old servant to care for him."

Mary thought it sounded like something in a fairy tale. A dark, old house with a hundred rooms. A mysterious hunchback with a sad story. She stared out the window at the rain. England had very gray skies. It rained a lot. In India it had always been hot and sunny.

"Don't think that you'll see your uncle. You won't. He doesn't want to see you," said Mrs Medlock. "There aren't any other children at the house, either. You'll have to play and take care of yourself. I will show you what rooms you can enter. There are many rooms you must stay away from. There are gardens outside for you to play in. But when you're in the house, you cannot wander around. This is very important. Mr Craven won't allow it."

"I don't want to see his horrible house," said sour little Mary. She stared out the window. She didn't feel sorry for Mr Craven anymore. He probably deserved all the bad things that happened to him.

She turned towards the window and stared at the rain. She stared at it for so long that she fell asleep.

(end of section)