chapter4-page_68-86

Chapter 4. Mary woke up late the next morning. After breakfast she put her hat on and went

to Colin's room.

"'I'm glad you came,' he said. "'I have a headache, and I'm very tired. Are you going

somewhere?'

"'I won't be long,' said Mary. "'I'm going to Dickon, but I'll come back. It's about

the garden.'

Colin was happy and excited.

"'Oh, is it,' he cried out.

"'I'll lie here and think about the garden until you come back.'

Mary met Dickon in their garden. She told him about Colin.

"'We must get that poor boy out here in the garden,' said Dickon.

"'He must smell the fresh air and get some sunshine. We must do it soon.'

"'Yes,' said Mary.

"'When I go back to the house, I'll talk to him.'

"'You can come and see him tomorrow morning. You'll push him in his wheelchair, and we'll

bring him here. We'll show him everything.'

That afternoon Mary went to see Colin. She told him about Dickon and the fox and the crow

and the pony. She told him that Dickon could speak to the animals.

"'Mary, I'm sorry I said I'd send Dickon away,' said Colin.

"'I hated you when you said he was like an angel. I would like to meet him.

"'I'm glad you said that,' said Mary. She paused.

"'Can you keep a secret, Colin?' she asked.

"'Yes, yes.'

"'Well, Dickon will come to see you tomorrow morning, and he'll bring his animals too.'

"'Oh, oh!'

"'But that's not all,' said Mary.

"'I found the door to the secret garden. It's under the ivy on the wall.'

"'Oh, Mary!' cried out Colin happily.

"'Will I live long enough to see it?'

"'Of course you'll see it,' said Mary. Don't be silly.'

They both laughed.

Mary told him all about the secret garden and he listened excitedly.

The next morning Colin and Mary had breakfast together.

They opened the window and breathed in the fresh spring air.

The wonderful smells and the songs of the birds came in through the window.

"'You will get fat and healthy just like me,' said Mary.

"'I was hungry this morning,' said Colin.

"'Perhaps it's the fresh air. When do you think Dickon will come?'

He could not wait to meet Dickon.

Ten minutes later, Martha came in.

She told them that Dickon and his animals had come.

Dickon came in smiling his nicest big smile.

He had a newborn lamb in his arms,

and the little red fox walked by his side.

The crow sat on his shoulders,

and the two squirrels were looking out of his pockets.

Colin slowly sat up in bed.

He stared at Dickon.

He had never talked to a boy before.

He was curious and excited.

But Dickon was not shy.

He walked over to Colin and put the lamb on his lap.

It started rubbing its nose on Colin's dressing gown.

"'What is it doing?' asked Colin nervously.

"'It's hungry,' said Dickon smiling.

He took a feeding bottle from his pocket

and put it in the little lamb's mouth.

The lamb drank the milk and fell asleep on Colin's lap.

Mary and Colin asked many questions about the lamb.

Dickon told them that he had found the lamb on the moor.

Its mother had died, and it was hungry,

so he had brought it home.

Then the children looked at the pictures in the gardening books.

They talked about the flowers growing in the secret garden.

"'I'm going to see them,' cried Colin.

"'I'm going to see them.'

"'Yes, you are,' said Mary.

"'And you are going to see them soon.'

But the children had to wait for more than a week.

The next few days were very windy,

and they did not want Colin to catch a cold.

They were busy with the plans to take Colin to the garden.

They had to be very careful.

They did not want anyone to see them going into the secret garden.

At last the day they had been waiting for came.

A man -servant carried Colin downstairs

and put him in his wheelchair.

Dickon was waiting outside.

He started pushing the wheelchair slowly.

Mary walked beside it.

Colin lifted his face to the sky.

He breathed in the fresh air and listened to the sounds of spring.

Finally they arrived at the wall.

"'This is where I found the key,' whispered Mary.

"'And this is the door.'

She opened the door and Dickon pushed him in.

Colin had covered his eyes with his hands.

When the wheelchair stopped he uncovered his eyes and looked around.

He saw the bright green leaves on the trees

and the green grass growing on the ground.

There were gold, purple, pink and white flowers everywhere.

All around them birds were flying.

The sun fell on Colin's face.

Mary and Dickon stared at him in surprise because he looked different.

"'I will get well, I will get well,' he cried out.

"'Mary Dickon, I will get well, and I will live forever and ever and ever.'"

They pulled Colin's wheelchair under the plumb tree.

Mary and Dickon worked in the garden as Colin watched them.

They brought him things to look at.

Dickon pushed the chair slowly around the garden.

He told Colin about the flowers and the trees.

The children talked in whispers and laughed.

The afternoon was full of new things.

"'I don't want this afternoon to end,' said Colin.

"'But I will come back tomorrow and the next day and the next day.

"'I'm going to get fresh air and I'm going to see everything grow.

"'I'm going to grow here myself.

"'You will,' said Dickon.

"'You will be walking around digging here like us very soon.'"

"'Do you think I'll be able to walk and dig,' cried Colin.

"'His face went red.'"

"'Of course you will,' said Dickon.

"'You've got legs like us.

"'My legs are very thin and weak.

"'I'm afraid to stand on them because they shake so much.

"'When you stop being afraid, you'll be able to stand on them,' said Dickon cheerfully.

"'They were all quiet for a little while.

"'The sun was going down.

"'Even the animals stopped moving.'"

Suddenly Colin lifted his head and said in a loud whisper,

"'Who is that man?'"

Mary and Dickon looked up.

Ben Weatherstaff was looking at them angrily over the wall.

He was standing on top of a ladder.

"'What are you doing there?' he shouted.

"'He was looking at Mary.

"'I always thought you were a bad child, asking so many questions.

"'How did you get in there?'"

Ben Weatherstaff, Mary called out.

"'The robin showed me the way.'"

"'You're a bad one, blaming the robin.'"

Suddenly Ben stopped shouting.

His mouth dropped open.

He had seen Dickon pushing Colin in the wheelchair.

"'Do you know who I am?' asked Colin.

"'Ben stared and stared.

"'He could not talk.

"'He rubbed his eyes.

"'Yes, I know who you are,' he said at last.

"'His voice was shaking.

"'You've got your mother's eyes.

"'You're the poor boy with the crooked back.'"

Colin's face went red.

He sat up.

"'My back is not crooked,' he cried out.

"'Ben stared.

"'And you don't have crooked legs?' he asked.

"'It was too much for Colin.

"'His anger made him forget everything.

"'He felt stronger than he had ever been.

"'Come here,' he shouted to Dickon.

"'He threw off his blanket.

"'Dickon was by Colin's side in a second.

"'Mary took a deep breath.

"'He can do it.

"'He can do it.

"'He can.'

"'She said to herself.

"'Dickon held Colin's arm.

"'His thin legs were out and his feet were on the grass.'

"'Then Colin stood up.

"'He looked strangely tall.

"'He held his head high.

"'Look at me,' he shouted at Ben.

"'Just look at me.

"'He's as straight as I am,' cried Dickon.

"'Tiers were running down Ben's face.

"'Oh, it was all lies,' he said.

"'You're not crooked.

"'You'll be a fine man one day.'

"'This is my garden,' said Colin.

"'Don't tell anyone about it.

"'Now get down from the ladder.

"'Miss Mary will meet you there and bring you here.

"'I want to talk to you.'

"'Yes, sir,' said Ben.

"'And he went down the ladder.'

"'Mary ran to the door under the ivy to meet Ben.

"'I can stand,' said Colin, looking at Dickon.

"'His cheeks were red.

"'I told you that you could stand when you stopped being afraid,' said Dickon.

"'Yes, I've stopped being afraid,' said Colin.

"'I'm going to walk to that tree,' he said.

"'He pointed to a tree.

"'He walked to the tree.

"'Dickon held his arm, but he walked without stopping.

"'When Ben came through the door, he saw him standing there.

"'Look at me,' said Colin.

"'Look at me.

"'Have I got a crooked back?

"'Have I got crooked legs?'

"'No, not at all,' said Ben.

"'He looked at Colin.

"'Sit down on the rug, young master.

"'Tell me what to do.'

"'They sat down.

"'What work do you do?'

"'Colin,' asked Ben.

"'Anything they ask me to do,' said old Ben.

"'They keep me here because she liked me.'

"'My mother,' said Colin,

"'This was her garden, wasn't it?'

"'Yes, it was.

"'She loved it.'

"'It is my garden now,' said Colin.

"'I like it.

"'I'll come here every day.'

"'But it will be a secret.

"'No one must know that we come here.'

"'Dickon and my cousin Mary have worked and made it come alive.

"'We will ask you to come and help sometimes.

"'But you must come secretly.

"'I've come here secretly before,' said Ben, smiling.

"'Your mother loved it.

"'She told me to take care of it if anything happened to her.

"'When she died, I came over the wall and did some work.

"'But I haven't been here in two years because of my legs.

"'I'm glad you did it, Ben,' said Colin.

"'There was a trowel lying on the ground.

"'Colin reached out and took it up.

"'He started digging the earth.

"'You can do it.

"'You can do it,' said Mary to herself.

"'You said that I could walk like other people,' said Colin.

"'And you said that I could dig.

"'This is only the first day, and now I am digging.

"'Would you like to plant something?' asked Ben.

"'I can bring a rose in a pot.

"'Go and get it, please,' said Colin.

"'Quick, quick, quick.'

Ben went to bring the rose.

Dickon took his spade and helped Colin dig a deep hole.

Mary went to bring a watering can.

Ben brought the rose in its pot from the greenhouse.

Colin put the rose into the hole.

Ben and Dickon helped him fill the rose in and press it down.

"'It's planted,' said Colin at last.

"'Help me up, Dickon.

"'I want to stand up and watch the sun go down.'

Dickon helped him up.

It was a lovely afternoon.

Colin was standing on his two feet, laughing.

The several months that followed were wonderful.

They all went to the secret garden every day.

Sometimes Ben Weatherstaff came too.

Together they watched the garden change.

First the green things came out.

Then colorful blossoms started to appear.

Flowers of all colors were everywhere in every little corner.

The seeds that Dickon and Mary had planted grew.

The roses covered the garden.

They covered the tree trunks and climbed up the walls.

Colin saw it all.

He watched each change.

He would lie on the grass and watch things growing.

He observed the insects that ran around.

He learned about ants, beetles, bees, frogs and birds.

Dickon told him about foxes, rabbits, squirrels and fish.

One day Colin spoke to the others.

"'There is some kind of magic,' he said.

"'It makes things grow and change.'"

When Mary found this garden, it was dead.

But then it came alive.

The magic in this garden has made me stand up and walk.

If I believe in it, the magic will make me stronger.

I want to be strong like Dickon.

So every morning they came together under the plum tree.

Then Colin always did his walking exercise.

Slowly he walked around the garden with Mary and Dickon by his side.

He grew stronger every day and could walk better.

"'I'm getting stronger, I can feel it,' said Colin.

"'What will Dr. Craven say?' asked Mary.

"'He won't know,' Colin answered.

"'This is going to be the biggest secret of all.

"'No one will know anything about it until I grow strong enough.

"'I want to walk and run like any other boy.

"'No one will know.

"'I don't want my father to hear about it until I succeed.

"'Then when he comes back home, I will just walk into his study.

"'I will say, here I am, I am well and I won't die.

"'He won't believe his eyes,' said Mary.

"'But it was not easy for the children to keep a secret.'

Colin grew stronger and healthier each day.

So the children decided to tell Dickon's mother their secret.

They agreed that she would not tell anyone.

So one evening Dickon told Mrs. Sowerby the whole story.

He told her about the buried key, the robin, the garden,

and about Master Colin getting stronger.

Mrs. Sowerby listened to him in surprise.

"'My word,' she said.

"'It was a good thing that the little girl came to the house.

"'It's been good for her and it saved Master Colin.

"'I'm happy to hear that he can stand on his feet.

"'What do they think of it at the house?

"'They don't understand it,' said Dickon.

"'He looks better every day.

"'But Master Colin keeps it a secret.

"'He doesn't want them to write and tell Mr. Craven.

"'He wants to tell him himself.

"'So he pretends that he's still ill.

"'Sometimes he cries and complains.

"'Mrs. Sowerby laughed.

"'But Miss Mary and Master Colin are getting fatter,

"'and they're always hungry.

"'And they can't ask for more food because the servants

"'won't believe Master Colin is still ill.

"'I know what we can do, son,' said Mrs. Sowerby.

"'You can take them some fresh milk,

"'and I'll bake them some bread.

"'They can eat it in the garden.'"

"'Oh, Mother,' said Dickon.

"'You are wonderful.

"'You always know what to do.'"

The next morning, while the children were working in the garden,

Dickon brought out a bucket of fresh milk and some fresh bread.

Mary and Colin were very happy.

Mrs. Sowerby was such a kind and clever woman.

The bread was so good.

And the fresh milk was so delicious.

One afternoon they were all working in the garden.

Suddenly the door in the wall opened and a woman came in.

She was wearing a long blue coat.

She had a nice face and wonderful loving eyes.

The children looked up and saw her.

Its mother cried Dickon and ran across the grass to meet her.

I knew that you wanted to see her,

so I told her where the door was.

Colin began to move toward her too,

and Mary went with him.

They were both very excited.

Colin held out his hand shyly.

"'I've wanted to see you for a very long time,' he said.

Mrs. Sowerby's face changed.

She had tears in her eyes.

"'Oh, my dear boy,' she whispered,

"'You are so like your mother.

You made my heart jump.'

"'Do you think that will make my father like me?' asked Colin.

"'Yes, I'm sure it will, my dear boy,' she answered.

"'He must come home. He must see you.'

"'Sousin' Sowerby,' said Ben Weatherstaff as he approached her.

"'Look at the boy's legs.'

"'He has strong and healthy legs now.'

"'Mrs. Sowerby laughed.

"'Yes,' she said.

"'Playing and working in the garden,

and eating good food and drinking milk has made him strong.'

Then she put her hands on Mary's shoulders

and looked at her little face in her motherly way.

"'And you too,' she said.

"'You have grown up.

I'm sure you are like your mother too.'

Mrs. Medlock said that she was a pretty woman.

"'You will be like her when you grow up, my girl.'

Mrs. Sowerby went around the garden with them.

They told her all about it and showed her every flower and tree.

Colin walked on one side of her and Mary on the other.

"'Do you believe in magic?' asked Colin.

"'I do,' she answered.

"'Everybody gives it a different name.

"'It makes the sun shine and the seeds grow.'

"'They sat down under the plum tree together.'

Mrs. Sowerby had brought a basket full of food.

The children ate it up hungrily.

She made them laugh at all kinds of silly things.

She told them stories and taught them new words.

It was time for Mrs. Sowerby to leave.

She got up.

Colin stood close to her and held her hand.

"'I wish you were my mother,' he said.

Mrs. Sowerby put her arms around him.

"'My dear boy,' she said.

"'Your mother is in this garden with you,

and your father will come back to you.

While the secret garden was coming alive

and the two children were coming alive with it,

a man was travelling around Europe.

For ten years he had had a broken heart.

He had been very sad.

He had forgotten his home and his duties.

Everywhere he went he carried his dark thoughts.

People he met thought that he must be half mad

or a man who had done a terrible crime.

He was a tall man with crooked shoulders.

His name was Archibald Craven.

But one day a strange thing happened.

He was in a wonderful valley sitting by a mountain stream.

It was a clear little stream that made a soft sound.

He saw birds come and drink from it.

It seemed alive.

As he sat looking into the clear water,

Archibald Craven felt strangely calm.

He looked at the tiny blue flowers growing beside the stream.

Suddenly he remembered seeing such lovely flowers

in a garden many years ago.

He sat there for some time.

He felt different.

What is it?

He whispered to himself.

I almost feel alive again.

As the weeks passed he changed.

He was sleeping better and his dreams were not bad dreams.

He began to think about his son and about home.

One night in late summer he was sitting beside a lovely lake.

The moon was high in the sky.

He breathed in the wonderful smells of the night.

He felt the strange calmness again.

He grew calmer and calmer, and at last he fell asleep.

As he slept he had a dream that seemed very real.

He heard a voice calling him.

It was sweet and happy and far away.

Archie, Archie, Archie, the voice said.

It was the voice of his young wife.

Lilius, lilius, he cried out, where are you?

In the garden she said, in the garden.

And then the dream ended.

But he did not wake up.

He slept all through the night.

When he woke up in the morning a servant was standing beside him.

He was holding a letter.

Mr Craven took it.

Mr Craven sat for a few minutes holding the letter.

He felt different.

He remembered his dream.

In the garden he said,

But the door is locked and the key is buried deep.

The letter was from Yorkshire.

He opened and read it.

Dear sir, I am Susan Sauerby, Martha's mother.

I spoke to you about Miss Mary when I met you in Thwaite.

I would like to tell you something else.

Sir, please come home.

I think you will be pleased to come.

And I think your wife would ask you to come if she was here.

Kind regards Susan Sauerby.

Mr Craven read the letter twice.

He kept thinking about the dream.

I will go back to Misslethwaite, he said.

A few days later Mr Craven was in Yorkshire again.

On the long journey back home he thought about Colin.

He remembered the dark days.

His wife was dead and his son was alive.

He did not want to see his son.

He did not want to be a bad father.

He brought doctors and nurses, but he could not look at his son's eyes.

They were so like his wife's eyes.

After that he only saw Colin when he was asleep.

Perhaps I have been wrong for ten years, he said to himself.

Susan Sauerby thinks I should go home.

Perhaps she thinks I can help him.

He kept remembering the voice in his dream.

In the garden, in the garden, I will try to find the key and open the door, he said to himself.

When Mr Craven finally arrived home, he found Mrs Medlock.

How is Master Colin?

He asked.

Well sir, he's different, she answered.

We don't understand.

He looks better, but sometimes he eats nothing.

He is strange.

He used to hate going outside, but now he spends all his time there with Miss Mary

and Susan Sauerby's son Dickon.

He's in the garden now.

In the garden, he said, in the garden.

He went out and walked towards the garden.

It was not easy for him to go back there.

He walked slowly and his eyes were on the path.

He came to the door.

He stopped and stood still, looking around.

As he stood there, he heard some sounds coming from inside the garden.

They were sounds of running feet and happy cries.

It seemed like the quiet laughter of children.

Am I dreaming?

Am I going mad?

He asked himself.

And then suddenly the door in the wall was opened wide, and a boy ran out.

He did not see the man standing outside and ran into his arms.

Mr. Craven held the boy and looked at him.

He was amazed.

He was a tall and handsome boy.

His eyes were full of laughter.

Who?

What?

Who?

He cried.

This was not how Colin had planned to meet his father.

He had come running out of the garden because he had won a race.

But perhaps this was the best way to meet him.

Mary had been running with him and had come out of the door too.

Father, he said, I'm Colin.

You can't believe it.

I can't believe it myself.

It was the garden and Mary and Dickon and the magic that made me well.

We kept it a secret.

He was a healthy boy.

His face was full of color and life.

Mr. Craven shook with happiness.

Aren't you happy, Father?

Colin said, I'm going to live forever and ever and ever.

Mr. Craven put his hands on Colin's shoulders.

He could not speak for a moment.

Take me into the garden, my boy, he said at last.

And tell me all about it.

They went into the garden together.

It was full of autumn, gold, purple and red.

Late roses climbed and hung on the yellow trees.

Mr. Craven stood silently and looked around.

I thought it would be dead, he said.

At first Mary thought it was dead, said Colin.

But it came alive.

Then they sat down under the tree.

The children told Mr. Craven their story.

They told him about their strange midnight meeting,

the coming of spring and the big secret.

Mr. Craven listened and laughed until tears came to his eyes.

Now said Colin at the end of the story.

It doesn't have to be a secret anymore.

I will never get into the wheelchair again.

I will walk back to the house with you, Father.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Medlock was looking out of the window.

She gave a little cry and all the servants in the house ran to the window.

They could not believe their eyes.

Mr. Craven was walking across the garden towards the house.

He looked happier than they had ever seen him.

And by his side walked a boy with his head up in the air and his eyes full of laughter.

It was Master Colin.