4 tassie and button
certainly castle hill was a very lonely place, for, after they had explored it, there seemed to beonly their cottage on it, tassie’s tumble-down home, and a farm some way off, where they gottheir eggs and milk. the village lay in the valley below.
but although the great hill was almost empty of people, it was full of wildlife: birds for jack,and animals of all kinds for philip. squirrels ran everywhere, rabbits popped up wherever theywalked, and red foxes slunk by, not seeming at all scared.
‘golly! i wish i could get a baby fox, a little cub!’ said philip. ‘i’ve always wanted one. they’relike small and lively puppies, you know.’
tassie was with them when he said this. she often joined up with them now, and was quiteinvaluable because she always knew the way home. it seemed very easy to get lost on the vast hill,but tassie could always show them a short cut.
she was an odd girl. sometimes she would not come near them but hovered about, some yardsoff, looking at kiki with fascinated eyes. sometimes she walked close to them, and listened totheir talk, though she never said very much herself.
she looked with admiration and envy on the simple clothes of the two girls. sometimes she tookthe stuff they were made of between her fingers and felt it. she never wore anything but a raggedfrock that looked as if it had been made from a dirty sack. her wild, curly hair was in a tangle, andshe was always barefoot.
‘i don’t mind her being barefoot, but she’s rather dirty,’ said lucy-ann to dinah. ‘i don’tbelieve she ever has a bath.’
‘well, she’s probably not seen a bath in her life,’ said dinah. ‘she looks awfully healthythough, doesn’t she? i’ve never seen anyone with such bright eyes and pink cheeks and whiteteeth. yet i bet she never cleans her teeth.’
on enquiry, it was found that tassie didn’t know what a bath was. dinah took her into springcottage and showed her the big tin bath they all used. her mother was there and looked at the wildgirl in amazement.
‘whoever is that dirty little girl?’ she asked lucy-ann in a low voice. ‘she’d better have abath.’
lucy-ann knew mrs mannering would say that. mothers thought a lot about people beingclean. but when dinah explained to tassie what having a bath meant, tassie looked scared. sheshrank back in horror at the thought of sitting down in water.
‘now you listen to me,’ said mrs mannering firmly. ‘if you like to let me give you a bath andscrub you well, i’ll find a cotton frock of dinah’s for you, and a ribbon for your hair.’
the thought of this finery thrilled tassie to such an extent that she consented to have a bath. soshe was shut up in the kitchen with dinah’s mother, a bath of hot water and plenty of soap.
after a bit such agonised shrieks came from the kitchen that the children in the garden outsidewondered what could be happening. then they heard mrs mannering’s firm voice.
‘sit down properly. get wet all over. now don’t be silly, tassie. think of that pretty blue cottonfrock over there.’
more shrieks. evidently tassie had sat down but didn’t like it. there came the sound ofscrubbing.
‘your mother’s doing the job thoroughly,’ said jack, with a grin. ‘pooh, what a smell ofcarbolic!’
in half an hour’s time tassie came out of the kitchen, looking quite different. her tanned faceand arms were now only dark with sunburn, not with dirt. her hair was washed and brushed, andtied back with a blue ribbon. she wore a blue cotton frock of dinah’s and on her feet she actuallyhad a pair of old rubber shoes!
‘oh, tassie – you look fine!’ said lucy-ann, and tassie looked pleased. she fancied herselfvery much indeed in her new clothes, and kept stroking the blue frock as if it was a cat.
‘i smell nice,’ she said, evidently liking the smell of carbolic soap better than the others did.
‘but that bath was dreadful. how often do you have a bath? once a year?’
tassie was extraordinary. she could not read or write, and yet, like a red indian, she could readthe signs in the woods and fields in a way that really astonished the children. she was more like avery intelligent animal than a little girl. she attached herself to philip and also to kiki, and plainlythought that he and the parrot were the most admirable members of the party.
the day after her bath, she came down to the cottage and looked in at the window. she heldsomething in her arms and the others wondered what it was.
‘there’s tassie,’ said lucy-ann. ‘she’s got her blue frock on. but her hair’s all in a tangleagain. and whatever has she got round her neck?’
‘her shoes!’ said philip with a grin. ‘i knew she wouldn’t wear those long! she’s so used tobeing barefooted that shoes would hurt her. but she can’t bear to part with them, so she’s strungthem round her neck.’
‘what has she got in her arms?’ said dinah curiously. ‘tassie, come in and show us whatyou’ve got.’
tassie grinned, showing all her even white teeth, and went round to the back door. sheappeared in the kitchen, and philip gave a yell.
‘it’s a fox cub! oh, the pretty little thing! tassie, where did you get it?’
‘from its den,’ said tassie. ‘i knew where a fox family lived, you see.’
philip took the little cub in his arms. it was the prettiest thing imaginable, with its sharp littlenose, its small brush-tail and its thick red coat. it lay quivering in philip’s arms, looking up at him.
before many seconds had passed the spell that philip seemed to put on all animals fell upon thefox cub. it crept up to his neck and licked him. it cuddled against him. it showed him in every wayit could that it loved him.
‘you’ve got a wonderful way with animals,’ said his mother. ‘just like your father had. what adear little cub, philip! where are you going to keep it? you will have to keep it in some sort ofcage, won’t you, or it will run off.’
‘of course not, mother!’ said philip scornfully. ‘i shall train it to run to heel, like a puppy. itwill soon learn.’
‘well, but foxes are such wild creatures,’ said his mother doubtfully. but no creature was wildwith philip. before two hours had gone by the cub was scampering at philip’s heels, begging to betaken into his arms whenever the boy stopped.
philip’s liking for the little wild girl increased very much after that. he found that she knew anamazing amount about animals and their ways.
‘she’s like philip’s dog, always following him about,’ said dinah. ‘fancy anyone wanting tofollow philip!’
dinah was not feeling very fond of her brother at that moment. he had four beetles just then,which he said he was training to be obedient to certain commands. he kept them in his bedroom,but they wandered about in a manner that was most terrifying to poor dinah.
kiki disliked philip’s fox cub very much and scolded it vigorously whenever she saw it. buttassie she loved, and flew to her shoulder as soon as she saw her, murmuring nonsense into herear. tassie, of course, was delighted about this, and felt enormously proud when kiki came to her.
‘you may think tassie simply adores you but you come second to kiki, all the same!’ dinahtold philip with a laugh.
‘i wish kiki would leave button alone,’ said philip. button was the name he had given to thelittle fox cub, which, like tassie, followed him about whenever it could. ‘kiki is really behavingbadly about button. i suppose she’s jealous.’
‘how many times have i told you to wipe your feet?’ kiki demanded of button. ‘where’s yourhandkerchief? god save the weasel! pop goes the queen!’
the children yelled with laughter. it was always funny when kiki got mixed up in hersentences. kiki regarded them solemnly, head on one side.
‘attention, please! open your book at page six.’
‘shut up, kiki! you remind me of school!’ said jack. ‘i say, you others – i saw that eagle againtoday. it was soaring over the hill-top, and its wing spread was terrific. i’m sure it’s got a nest upthere.’
‘well, let’s go up and find it,’ said dinah. ‘i’m longing to have a squint at that old castle,anyway. even if we can’t go up the road that has landslided – or is it land-slid? – we can get asclose to it as possible and see what it’s like.’
‘yes – let’s do something exciting,’ said lucy-ann. ‘let’s take our tea out, and go up the hill asfar as we can. you can look for eagles’ nests, jack, and we’ll have a look at the old castle. it looksso strange and mysterious up there, frowning down at the valley, as if it had some secret to hide.’
‘it’s empty, you know,’ said philip. ‘probably full of mice and spiders and bats, but otherwiseempty.’
‘oooh, don’t let’s go inside then,’ said dinah at once. ‘i’d rather find an eagle’s nest than getmixed up with bats inside the old castle!’
