書蟲5級《園會》娃娃屋

The doll's house

When dear old Mrs Hay went home after staying with the Burnells, she sent the children a doll's house. It was so big that Pat, the hired man, could only just lift it, and they had to leave it outside in the garden. It was all right there; it was summer. And perhaps the smell of paint would go before they had to take it indoors. Really, the smell of paint (so sweet of dear, generous Mrs Hay!) — but the smell of paint was so strong that it was enough to make anyone seriously ill, or so Aunt Beryl thought. You could smell the paint even when it was wrapped up. And when they unwrapped it...

There it stood, a doll's house, painted a thick, dark, oily green. Its two solid little chimneys were painted red and white, and it had a bright yellow door and real glass windows.

It was perfect! Who cared about the smell? It was part of the wonder of the doll's house, part of the newness.

Open it quickly, someone!'

The fastening at the side was stuck fast, and Pat had to use his knife to get it open. But then... the whole front of the house swung back and—you could see everything! The sitting-room, the kitchen, the two bedrooms. That is the way for a house to open! Why don't all houses do that? How exciting, to be able to see everything you want to see, all at once!

Oh—oh!' The Burnell children were quite unable to speak. It was too wonderful. They had never seen anything like it in their lives. There was paper on the walls, and pictures, just like in real houses. There was red carpet on the floors, except in the kitchen; red and green chairs, beds with real covers on them, tiny plates and cups.

But what Kezia liked more than anything, what she liked most awfully, was the lamp. It stood in the middle of the table, a beautiful little gold and white lamp, all ready to be lit. Of course, you couldn't really light it, but there was something inside it that looked like oil and moved when you shook it.

The mother and father dolls sitting stiffly in their chairs and their two little children in bed upstairs were really too big for the doll's house. They didn't look quite right. But the lamp was perfect. It seemed to smile at Kezia, to say, 'I live here.' The lamp was real.

*　　*　　*

The Burnell children could not walk to school fast enough the next morning. They burned to tell everybody about the doll's house.

I shall describe it,' said Isabel, 'because I'm the eldest. You two can join in, but I must speak first.'

Lottie and Kezia said nothing. Isabel was bossy, but she was always right.

And I shall choose who's going to come and see it first,' Isabel said. 'Mother said I could.'

Their mother had told them that they could ask the girls at school, two at a time, to come and see the doll's house. Of course, they were not invited to tea, or to come into the house, but they could come into the garden and stand there quietly, while Isabel showed them all the lovely things in the doll's house.

It was too bad that they arrived at school just as the bell was ringing, and they had no time to talk to anyone. Never mind! Isabel looked very important and mysterious, and whispered to some of her friends, 'I've got something to tell you at play-time!'

When play-time came, everyone wanted to be near Isabel. The little girls almost fought to put their arms around her, to walk beside her and be her special friend. Laughing and pushing one another, they gathered closely around her. The only two who stayed outside the circle were the two who were always outside—the Kelveys. They knew they were not wanted.

To be perfectly honest, the school the Burnell children went to was not the kind of school their parents really wanted for them. But they had no choice. It was the only school for miles. And because of this, all the children in the area, the Judge's little girls, the doctor's daughters and all the children of milkmen and farmers, were forced to mix together. And there were plenty of rude, rough little boys, too. But worst of all, there were the Kelveys. The Burnell children were not allowed to speak to them. They walked past the Kelveys with their heads in the air. And because others followed where the Burnells led, nobody spoke to the Kelveys. Even the teacher had a special voice for them, and a special smile for the other children when Lil Kelvey came up to her desk to give her some very tired-looking flowers she had picked by the side of the road.

They were the daughters of a neat, hard-working little woman, who went from house to house, doing people's washing for them. This was awful enough. But where was Mr Kelvey? Nobody knew. But everybody said he was in prison. So they were the daughters of a woman who washed people's clothes and a man who was in prison. Very nice companions for other people's children!

Then there was the way they looked. It was hard to understand why Mrs Kelvey dressed them in such an odd way. The truth was, she made their clothes from old bits and pieces which were given to her by the people she worked for. Lil, for example, who was a solid, plain child, came to school in a dress made out of an old green tablecloth of the Burnells, and a red curtain that had belonged to the Logans. Her hat came from Miss Lecky at the post office, and had a long red feather stuck in it. What a sight she looked! It was impossible not to laugh.

And her little sister, 'our Else', as Lil always called her, wore a long white dress that looked like a night-dress, and a pair of boy's boots. But our Else would have looked strange in any clothes. She was a tiny white creature with huge eyes—just like a little bird. Nobody had ever seen her smile; she hardly ever spoke. Everywhere Lil went, our Else followed, holding a piece of Lil's skirt in her hand. In the playground or on the road to or from school, you could always see Lil, with our Else close behind her. When she wanted something, our Else pulled on Lil's skirt, and Lil stopped and turned around. The Kelveys always under stood one another.

Now they stood at the edge of the circle, outside the group of friends. You couldn't stop them listening. When the little girls turned round and gave them angry looks, Lil, as usual, smiled all over her silly red face, but our Else just stared and said nothing.

Isabel talked on, in a proud voice. She described the car pet, the beds with real covers, the kitchen with its tiny cups and plates.

When she finished, Kezia said, 'You've forgotten the lamp, Isabel.'

Oh yes,' said Isabel. 'There's a lovely little lamp on the table. It's just like a real one.'

The lamp's best of all,' cried Kezia. She wanted Isabel to talk for longer about the lamp, to let everyone know how special it was. But nobody was listening to Kezia. Isabel was choosing the first two who were going to come and see the doll's house. She chose Emmie Cole and Lena Logan. But all the others knew that they would have a chance to see it another day. They all wanted to be nice to Isabel. They all had a secret to whisper to her. 'Isabel's my friend.'

Only the little Kelveys were forgotten. There was nothing more for them to hear.

*　　*　　*

Days passed, and more and more children were taken to see the doll's house. It was the one thing they talked about. 'Have you seen the Burnells' doll's house? Oh, isn't it lovely? Haven't you seen it yet? Oh, dear!'

The little girls talked about the doll's house at dinner-time, as they sat under the trees in the school playground, eating their thick meat sandwiches and buttered cake. The little Kelveys listened, while they ate their bread and butter out of a piece of newspaper.

Mother,' said Kezia, 'please can I ask the Kelveys, just once?'

Of course not, Kezia.'

But why not?'

Run away, Kezia. You know why not.'

*　　*　　*

At last the day came when everyone except the Kelveys had seen the doll's house. That day, there was less to talk about. It was dinner-time. The little girls sat together under the trees, and suddenly, as they looked at the Kelveys eating out of their piece of newspaper, they wanted to be unkind to them.

Emmie Cole started it. 'Lil Kelvey's going to be a servant when she grows up,' she whispered.

Oh, how awful!' said Isabel Burnell.

Emmie looked at Isabel in a way she had seen her mother look, when she was talking about things like this.

It's true,' she said.

Then Lena Logan joined in. 'Shall I ask her?' she said.

You don't dare,' said Jessie May.

Oh, I'm not frightened,' said Lena. She laughed and did a little dance in front of the other girls. 'Watch! Watch me now!' she said, and she danced right over to the Kelveys.

Lil looked up from her bread and butter. Our Else stopped eating. What was coming now?

Is it true that you're going to be a servant when you grow up, Lil Kelvey?' Lena screamed at her.

Silence. Lil gave no answer, but she smiled her silly, red-faced smile. She didn't seem to mind the question at all. Poor Lena! The other girls began to laugh at her.

Lena didn't like that. She stepped right up to Lil 'Yah, your father's in prison!' she shouted in her face.

This was so wonderful to hear that all the little girls rushed away together, deeply excited by what Lena had done. How fast they ran, how high they jumped, how wild and free they felt that morning!

In the afternoon, Pat came to take the Burnell children home. There were visitors. Isabel and Lottie, who liked visitors, went upstairs to change their dresses, but Kezia slipped quietly out into the garden. There was nobody there. She began to swing on the big white garden gate. Then, looking down the road, she saw two little figures coming towards her, one in front, the other close behind. It was the Kelveys. She got down from the gate. For a moment she thought about running away. The Kelveys came nearer. Then Kezia climbed back up on the gate. She had decided what she must do. She started swinging on the gate again.

Hello,' she said to the Kelveys.

They were so surprised that they stopped. Lil gave her silly smile. Our Else stared.

You can come and see our doll's house if you want to,' Kezia said.

Lil turned red. She shook her head.

Why not?' asked Kezia.

Your ma told our ma you mustn't speak to us.'

Oh, well,' said Kezia. She didn't know what to say. 'It doesn't matter. But you can still come and see our doll's house. Come on. Nobody's looking.'

But Lil shook her head again.

Don't you want to?' asked Kezia.

Suddenly, there was a pull on Lil's skirt. She turned round. Our Else was looking at her with big, desperate eyes. She wanted to see the doll's house. Lil looked at her very doubtfully. But then our Else pulled her skirt again. Lil stepped forwards. Like two little lost cats, they followed Kezia across the garden to where the doll's house stood.

There it is,' said Kezia.

They said nothing. Lil breathed loudly. Our Else was as still as stone.

I'll open it for you,' said Kezia kindly. 'Look, here's the sitting-room and the kitchen, and that's the—'

Kezia!'

Oh, how they jumped!

Kezia!'

It was Aunt Beryl's voice. They turned round. She was standing at the back door, staring at them. Aunt Beryl just couldn't believe her eyes.

How dare you bring the little Kelveys into our garden!' she said to Kezia, in a cold, angry voice. 'You know as well as I do that you aren't allowed to talk to them.'

Run away, children, run away and don't come back!' she said to the Kelveys. 'Off you go immediately!'

She did not have to tell them twice. They were out of the garden in a moment, Lil red-faced and ashamed, with our Else hanging onto her skirt.

Bad, disobedient little girl!' Aunt Beryl said bitterly to Kezia, and she closed the doll's house with a bang.

Aunt Beryl had been having a terrible day, but now that she had got rid of those little animals the Kelveys and shouted at Kezia, she felt a lot better. She went back into the house singing.

When the Kelveys were far away from the Burnells' house, they stopped and sat down by the side of the road. Lil's face was still burning, and she took off her hat. They stared across the fields, where the Logans' cows were eating grass. What were the little Kelveys thinking?

Our Else moved closer to her sister. She had already forgotten the angry lady. She put out a finger and touched the feather on Lil's hat. She smiled her rare smile.

I seen the little lamp,' she said softly.

Then both were silent once more.