CHAPTER TWO

ACROSS THE MOORS

When Mary woke up she was hungry. Luckily, Mrs Medlock had a basket of food with her. They had some cold chicken, bread and butter, and some hot tea. Afterwards Mrs Medlock fell asleep. Mary stared out the window at the rain. Would it ever stop? She wished she had a book to read. Finally she fell asleep again.

Mrs Medlock woke her up. It was night time. "It's time to get off the train!" she said. "We're at Thwaite Station. We've still got a long way to travel before we reach Misselthwaite Manor."

They found their carriage. The carriage driver and Mrs Medlock knew each other a little.

"I see you've returned!" said the driver to Mrs Medlock, "and you've brought the child with you."

"Yes, that's her," said Mrs Medlock. "How's your wife?"

"She's all right. Well, let's go."

Mary and Mrs Medlock got into the carriage. Mary stared out the window into the darkness. She wished she could see the countryside. She wasn't an easily frightened child. But she couldn't help wondering what was going to happen.

"What does the moor look like? I want to see it," said Mary to Mrs Medlock.

"Look out the window in about ten minutes. You'll see it then," said Mrs Medlock. "You won't see much, because it's dark, but you'll see something."

When Mary looked outside she saw a large, open space. There was long grass and hills. The grass moved in the wind. There were no trees or bushes. The wind made a strange sound as it moved through the grass.

"Now we're on the moors," said Mrs Medlock. "The moor is many miles of wild grass land. No trees or bushes grow here. Nothing lives on it but wild ponies and sheep."

Mary frowned. "It's not the ocean, is it?" she asked. "The wind makes a strange sound in the grass. It sounds just like water. I don't like it," she said.

"I don't like it, either," said Mrs Medlock. "But in spring, I suppose it's nice enough. Plenty of people love the moors."

Finally, after about two hours they arrived at Misselthwaite Manor. It was a very large, long house. There were very large oak trees all around it. Pitcher, Mr Craven's servant, met them at the door. Mary and Mrs Medlock had a cup of tea in the kitchen.

When they had finished Pitcher said, "Mrs Medlock, take the child to her room now. Mr Craven is going to London in the morning. He doesn't want to see her."

"All right, Mr Pitcher," said Mrs Medlock. "As long as I know what's expected of me, I'll be all right."

"Just make sure he's not disturbed," said Pitcher. "Make sure he doesn't see what he doesn't want to see."

So in this strange way Mary Lennox came to live at Misselthwaite Manor. She had never felt so unpleasant in all of her life!

(end of section)