CHAPTER FIFTEEN

TROUBLE IN THE NIGHT

Mary had been up very early that morning, so she went to sleep early. However, she was wakened in the night by horrible sounds. She jumped out of bed. What was it? The next second she knew. It was Colin. Doors were opening, and people were running up and down the halls. He was screaming and crying in a horrible way. It sounded like he was dying, or going crazy.

"It's got to stop!" said Mary. She put her hands over her ears. "It has to! How awful it sounds." Mary understood why everyone gave Colin what he wanted. They didn't want to hear him. The terrible sounds frightened her, but they also made her angry. How dare Colin act this way!

"He should be stopped! Someone ought to beat him until he stops!" she cried.

Suddenly the door opened and Colin's nurse ran into the room. "Can you make him stop, Miss Mary?" she cried. "He'll hurt himself, screaming and crying this way. He'll make himself sick. He likes you. Please come and try, like a good girl."

Mary didn't waste any time. She ran down the hall to Colin's room. The louder the screams got, the angrier Mary became. By the time she threw open Colin's door, she was ready for a fight!

She ran over to his bed.

"Stop it!" she shouted. "Stop it right now! I hate you! Everyone hates you! Everyone should leave this house and let you scream until you die! I wish you would!"

Now, a nice, ordinary child would never have said these things. But Mary was not a nice, ordinary girl. Fortunately, the shock of hearing someone shouting at him was enough to make Colin stop. His face looked terrible, it was white and red. But Mary did not care.

"If you scream one more time, I'll scream too. I can scream louder than you can, and I'll frighten you!" she said.

"I can't stop! I can't!" he cried.

"You can!" shouted Mary. "The only thing wrong with you is your temper. You're not sick! Just be quiet!"

"I felt the lump in my back!" cried Colin. "I knew it would come. I'm going to be a hunchback and then I'll die!"

"You did not feel a lump!" said Mary. "That's only your imagination. There's nothing wrong with your horrible back. You let me look at it. Nurse! Come here and show me his back this minute!"

The nurse, Mrs Medlock, and Martha had been listening outside. The nurse entered. She was very afraid.

"I don't think he'll let me!" she said.

"Show her! She'll see then!" cried Colin.

The nurse turned Colin over, and Mary looked at his back. It was a very thin back. You could see all the bones. But there wasn't anything wrong with it.

"Ha! There's no lump on your silly back. It's just thin, so you can feel your bones. My back used to look like that, until I became fatter. If you say there is a lump again, I'll laugh at you!"

Truthfully, this was the best thing for Colin to hear. He hadn't told anyone about his fears. But if he had talked to his doctor or his nurses, he would have discovered that most of his illnesses and fears were created by himself. Now, an angry little girl from India was telling him that his fears were silly. He hoped she was right.

"I didn't know the boy thought he had a lump on his back. I could have told him it was fine," said the nurse. "It's just weak, because he won't exercise it."

"Do you ... think I'll live to grow up?" asked Colin.

"Yes, if you take care of yourself and get plenty of fresh air. You must watch your temper, too," said the nurse.

Tears ran down Colin's face, but they were tears of relief Seeing this, Mary's anger went away. Colin put out his hand and she touched it. It was a sort of apology.

"I'll go outside with you, Mary. I would like to see Dickon and his animals," said Colin. He remembered not to mention the secret garden.

After everyone else had left Mary said to Colin, "Do you want me to sing you that Indian song?"

"Thank you, Mary. That would be nice," said Colin softly. "Before, you said you had nice things to tell me. Do you think you have found a way into the secret garden?"

Mary looked at Colin's poor tired face and she decided to tell him.

"Yes, I think I have. If you will go to sleep I'll tell you all about it tomorrow," she said.

"Oh, Mary!" whispered Colin. "If I could go into the secret garden, I think I would live to grow up. I would be so much better."

Then she sang to him a little, and soon Colin was asleep.

(end of section)