Milly-Molly-Mandy’s Spring Read online

  Contents

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Motoring

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets a Clean Frock

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Writes Letters

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Has a New Dress

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Gets Locked In

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Gives a Party

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Goes Motoring

  Once upon a time Milly-Molly-Mandy had a lovely invitation.

  The little girl Jessamine, who lived in the Big House with the iron railings by the cross-roads, came round to the nice white cottage with the thatched roof one Saturday morning to see Milly-Molly-Mandy.

  She walked up the path and knocked at the door, and when Milly-Molly-Mandy (who had seen her through the window) ran to open it the little girl Jessamine said, “Hullo, Milly-Molly-Mandy! Mother and I are going in the car to have a picnic on the Downs this afternoon, and Mother says would you like to come too?”

  Milly-Molly-Mandy was pleased.

  She ran to ask Mother if she might go, and then she ran back to the little girl Jessamine and said, “Mother says thank you very much, I’d love to come!”

  So the little girl Jessamine said they would fetch her about two o’clock that afternoon. And then she went back home with a basket of sweet juicy yellow gooseberries, which Father picked for her from his best gooseberry bushes.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy was so excited that she wouldn’t have bothered to eat any dinner at dinner-time, only Mother said she must, so she did. And then she put on her hat and coat, and Aunty lent her a nice woolly scarf, and Mother saw that her hair was tidy and that she had a clean handkerchief. And then just when she was ready she looked out of the window and saw the big motor-car drive up to the gate.

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy, in a great hurry, kissed Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty good-bye (she did so wish they could have been going for a motor-ride too), and then she ran down the path to the car. And Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty all came to the door and waved, and Milly-Molly-Mandy and Mrs Green and the little girl Jessamine all waved back from the car.

  And then the car went whizzing off, and the nice white cottage with the thatched roof was out of sight in a twinkling.

  It was such fun to be going to the Downs! Milly-Molly-Mandy had been taken there once before by Mrs Green (with little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt this time), and she had thought it was just the best place in the whole world for a picnic, so it was very nice to be going there again.

  The little girl Jessamine and Milly-Molly-Mandy sat close together in the front seat beside Mrs Green (who drove beautifully), so that they could all see everything and talk about it together.

  And they kept on seeing things all the way along. Once a partridge flew out from behind a hedge; and once a rabbit ran along in front of the car for quite a way; and once, when they were going very slowly because it was such a pretty lane with so much to see, they saw a little brown moor-hen taking her baby chicks over the road ahead of them! Mrs Green quietly stopped the car so that they could watch, and the little mother moor-hen hurried across with three babies, and then two more followed her; and, after quite a long pause, another little fluffy ball went scurrying across the road in a great hurry, and they all went through a gap in the hedge out of sight.

  “He nearly got left behind, didn’t he?” said Mrs Green, starting the car again; and they went on, all talking about the little moor-hen family out for a walk, and wondering where they were going.

  Then presently in the road ahead they saw a bus (not the red bus that passed their village, though). And standing in the road or sitting on the grass by the side of the road were a lot of school-children (but none that Milly-Molly-Mandy knew). So Mrs Green had to slow down while they got out of the way.

  As they passed they saw that the bus driver was under the bus doing something to the machinery, and the children were looking rather disappointed, and a lady who seemed to be their teacher (but not one from Milly-Molly-Mandy’s school) was looking rather worried.

  So Mrs Green stopped and called back, “Can we help at all?”

  And the lady who seemed to be their teacher (she was their teacher) came to the side of the car, while all the children crowded round and looked on.

  And the lady who was their teacher said they had all been invited to a garden-party, but the bus hired to take them kept on stopping and now it wouldn’t move at all, and the lady who was their teacher didn’t know quite what to do.

  And then one little girl with a little pigtail said in a high little voice, “We’ve all got our best dresses on for the garden-party, and now we shan’t be able to go-o-o!”

  It did seem a pity.

  Mrs Green said, “How many are there of you?”

  And the lady who was their teacher said, “Sixteen, including myself.”

  Then Mrs Green got out and looked at her car and at all the children, and considered things. And Milly-Molly-Mandy and the little girl Jessamine sat and looked at Mrs Green and at all the children, and wondered what could be done about it. And all the children stood and looked at Mrs Green and at each other, and thought that something would be done about it, somehow.

  Then Mrs Green turned to Milly-Molly-Mandy and the little girl Jessamine and said, “Shall we have our tea on the Downs or see if we can take these children to their garden-party?”

  And Milly-Molly-Mandy and the little girl Jessamine of course said (both together), “Take them to the garden-party!”

  So Mrs Green said, “I don’t know if we can manage it, but let’s see if we can all pack in!”

  So everybody in great excitement tried to make themselves as small as possible, and clambered in and squeezed and shifted and sat in each other’s laps and stood on each other’s toes. But still it didn’t seem possible for the last two to get into the car.

  All the children crowded round and looked on

  Mrs Green said, “This won’t do!” and she got out again and thought a bit.

  And then she picked out the two smallest children and lifted them up and into the folded hood at the back of the car, and she and the lady who was their teacher tied them safely in with the belt of a coat and a stout piece of string. And there they sat above all the other children, with toes together, like babes in a cradle!

  And it was Milly-Molly-Mandy and the little girl with the little pigtail who were the smallest children (and weren’t they just glad!).

  So everybody was in, and Mrs Green slowly drove the laden car away; and Milly-Molly-Mandy and the little girl with the little pigtail waved from their high seat to the bus driver, who stood smiling at them and wiping his oily hands on an oily rag.

  Mrs Green drove very slowly and carefully until they came to the big house where the garden-party was to be. And then everybody got out, except Milly-Molly-Mandy and the little girl with the little pigtail, who had to wait to be lifted down.

  The lady who was giving the garden-party was very grateful that they had been brought, as she had prepared such a lot of good things for them. And all the children were so grateful too that they stood and cheered and cheered and cheered as the car drove off with just Mrs Green and the little girl Jessamine and Milly-Molly-Mandy inside.

  “Wasn’t that fun!” said Mrs Green.

  “Won’t they enjoy their garden-party!” said the little girl Jessamine.

  “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all have ridden in the hood?” said Milly-Molly-Mandy.

  There wasn’t time now to go to the Downs for their picnic, but they found a field and spread it out there in the sunshine (and there was a cherry cake with lots of cherries in it!).

  And they had such a good time. Milly-Molly-Mandy thou
ght that field must be the best place in the world, after all, for a picnic; so it was very nice indeed that they had gone there.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy Has a Clean Frock

  Once upon a time, one beautiful, fine morning, Milly-Molly-Mandy came out in a nice clean frock. (Not for any special reason; only, of course, you have to have a clean frock sometimes, and a beautiful, fine morning seems a good enough reason).

  It was a Monday morning, so Mother was busy with the washing. Milly-Molly-Mandy helped her to get out the tin baths, and put up the washing-lines in the garden, and find the clothes-pegs. For with Father and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty and Milly-Molly-Mandy and herself to wash for, Mother always had quite a busy time on Monday mornings.

  “Well, now I think that will do, thank you, Milly-Molly-Mandy,” said Mother at last. “You can run off and play now”.

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy called Toby the dog, and they went skipping off together in the beautiful sunshine, down the road with the hedges each side, to see if little-friend-Susan or Billy Blunt were coming out to play. She had only gone as far as the big meadow gate when whom did she see but Billy Blunt (in a nice clean shirt), coming walking along up from the village. So Milly-Molly-Mandy waved hard and called out:

  “Hullo, Billy! Where are you going?”

  Billy Blunt just came walking on till he got near enough (so that he needn’t bother to shout), and then he held up an empty jam-jar he was carrying and said:

  “Tadpoles.”

  “Oh!” said Milly-Molly-Mandy. “Where are you going to get them? What are you going to do with them? Can I come and help you?”

  Billy Blunt said:

  “I want to watch them turn into frogs in our water-butt.”

  Milly-Molly-Mandy said:

  “There’s tadpoles sometimes in the pond where the cows drink.”

  “I know,” said Billy Blunt. “That’s where I’m going. Come on.”

  So they climbed over the top bar of the big meadow gate, and Toby the dog squeezed under the bottom bar, and they walked along a narrow little path till they came to the pond where the cows drank.

  Toby the dog ran off at once to the steep part to look for water-rats. Billy Blunt and Milly-Molly-Mandy walked round to the shallow part to look for tadpoles. But the pond was getting very low, and it was very muddy and trampled there. They couldn’t get close without mud coming right over their shoes.

  After a while they heard Toby the dog barking excitedly, because he had found a rat-hole and wanted the owner to come out and be caught. (As if any sensible rat would!) But presently the barking turned to a splashing and yelping, so Milly-Molly-Mandy and Billy Blunt ran along the bank to see what had happened.

  And – goodness me! – somehow or other Toby the dog must have slipped over the edge, for there he was, right in the pond. And he was in a mess! – all covered with mud and weedy stuff.

  “He can’t climb out there – it’s too steep,” said Billy Blunt. And he called, “Come on, Toby!” and tried to lead him along to where the bank was lower.

  But Toby the dog just kept trying to scramble out where he had slipped in.

  “He can’t swim through that mud and weedy stuff, that’s why,” said Milly-Molly-Mandy. And she reached down to try to pull him out. But she just couldn’t get him, so she reached over farther.

  And then – goodness me! – somehow or other she must have reached over too far, for next moment there was Milly-Molly-Mandy in the pond too. And she was in a mess! – all covered with moss and weedy stuff.

  Billy Blunt said: “Well! Of all the cuckoos!” And he reached down to try to pull her out.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy said: “Let’s get Toby out first.”

  So they got Toby the dog out on to the bank. And directly he found himself there Toby the dog shook himself violently, and mud and weedy stuff flew out all round, right over Billy Blunt’s clean shirt.

  Billy Blunt stepped back in a hurry.

  And then – goodness me! – somehow or other he must have stepped over the edge of the bank, for next moment there was Billy Blunt in the pond now (nearly on top of Milly-Molly-Mandy ). And he was in a mess! – all covered with mud and weedy stuff.

  (Milly-Molly-Mandy might have said: “Well! Of all the cuckoos!” But she was really too busy just then.)

  The pond wasn’t deep, and they were able to scramble out all right. But – goodness me! – you NEVER did see such a mess as Milly-Molly-Mandy and Billy Blunt and Toby the dog were in! – all covered with mud and weedy stuff.

  “Oh, dear!” said Milly-Molly-Mandy. “Now what shall we do?”

  “Umm,” said Billy Blunt. “What will my mother say?”

  “Will she be very cross?” asked Milly-Molly-Mandy. “You couldn’t help it.”

  Billy Blunt only said: “It was a clean shirt.” And he tried to squeeze the water out of it.

  Milly-Molly-Mandy said: “My dress was clean too.” And she tried to squeeze the water out of it.

  But the more they squeezed the worse things seemed to get.

  “We’d better go home,” said Billy Blunt at last.

  “Let’s go to my home first,” said Milly-Molly-Mandy. “P’raps Mother will know what to do before your mother sees you.”

  Billy Blunt said: “Well – I suppose I’d better see you get home all right, anyhow.”

  So they went across the fields and through two hedges, instead of by the road (so that nobody should see them). And they crept through the back gate into the garden of the nice white cottage with the thatched roof (where Milly-Molly-Mandy lived).

  Mother was busy hanging sheets out on the line, and she didn’t notice them at first.

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy said: “Mother,” (but not very loudly).

  And Mother turned round. And she saw them standing there, Milly-Molly-Mandy, and Billy Blunt, and Toby the dog, all covered with mud and weedy stuff.

  “OH!” said Mother.

  “We fell in the cow-pond,” said Milly-Molly-Mandy in a small voice. “Toby fell in first and I tried to get him out and I fell in and Billy tried to get me out and he fell in and – we’re very sorry, Mother.”

  And Billy Blunt nodded.

  “Oh!” said Mother again.

  And then she said: “Stay there!”

  And she went indoors.

  So Milly-Molly-Mandy and Billy Blunt and Toby the dog stayed there, wondering what Mother meant to do with them, and if she were very cross. Milly-Molly-Mandy wanted to wipe the mud off her face, but her hand was too dirty. Billy Blunt wanted to blow his nose, but his handkerchief was too wet. Toby the dog rolled in the dust to dry himself. (But it didn’t make him look better.)

  When Mother came out again she was carrying the tin bath she used for the washing, and after her came Aunty carrying the tin bath used for the rinsing, and they set them down on the grass. Then they went indoors and came out again, Mother with a big kettle and some soapflakes, Aunty with a big bucket and some towels. When they had put warm water in the two tin baths, Mother emptied the whole packet of soapflakes in and swished around with her hand in each till the bubbles rose up, and up, and UP.

  Then Mother took Milly-Molly-Mandy, and Aunty took Billy Blunt, and they peeled the clothes off them and plopped them into the two tin baths then and there! “Now!” said Mother. “Get busy and clean yourselves.”

  And she gathered up the dirty clothes into the bucket and pumped water over them at the pump.

  So there were Milly-Molly-Mandy and Billy Blunt that beautiful fine morning, each in a bathful of warm bubbles nearly up to their necks, with the sheets flapping round them, and the sun shining, and the birds singing . . .

  Then they got busy, swishing about in their baths, making more and yet more bubbles. They lathered their heads till they looked as if they had curly white hair and beards. They blew great coloured bubbles between their hands and watched them float off into the sky. They threw handfuls of bubbles at Toby the dog, which he tried to catch as the wind carried them awa
y between the clothes that Mother and Aunty were pegging up on the clotheslines.

  Soon Milly-Molly-Mandy and Billy Blunt were really enjoying themselves like anything, laughing and shouting, with Toby the dog barking and the sun shining and the birds singing.

  Goodness me! Those were nice baths!

  And you can’t think how clean they both felt when at last Mother made Milly-Molly-Mandy get out into a big towel and hurried her indoors to put something dry on, and Billy Blunt got out into another big towel and Mother lent him some pyjamas of Father’s to put on.

  Goodness me! Those were nice baths

  Then Mother washed their clothes in one of the baths and Aunty caught Toby the dog and washed him in the other. And then they threw the water out and washed the baths!

  Then Milly-Molly-Mandy came out in a dressing-gown (because both her dresses were in the wash), and she and Billy Blunt, in big pyjamas, sat in the sun together, drying their hair and eating biscuits while their clothes flapped on the line and Toby the dog rolled in dust to get the cleanness off him. (He was the only one who didn’t enjoy his bath.)

  Mother quickly ironed up Billy Blunt’s shirt and shorts and Milly-Molly-Mandy’s pink-and-white striped frock. And when they put them on again you would never dream what they had been up to that beautiful, fine morning.

  “Well,” said Milly-Molly-Mandy, “I am sorry we got so dirty, Mother, but I did like that bubble-bath!”

  “Yes,” said Billy Blunt. “I wouldn’t care if I had to have a bubble-bath every day!”

  But Mother said:

  “Now listen, you two. Maybe you couldn’t help it this time. But if you come home like that again you won’t have bubble-baths! I shall put you in the cow-trough and turn the pump on you! This has been the biggest washing-day I’ve had, and I don’t want another like it.”