Robin Redbreast They drove 07 through the darkness, until at last Mary saw jight in the distance. Mrs Medlock saw it at the same time. 0 “We're nearly there now, she said. At last the carriage pulled up in front of a long, low-built house. Most of it was in darkness, but there was a light in one of the upstairs rooms. Mary followed Mrs Medlock through the large wooden front door into the hall. It was a very large room, and the walls were covered with paintings of people who had lived a long time ago. But it was so dark in the hall that Mary found it quite frightening to look at the paintings. She suddenly felt very small and lost. ‘YI take you to your room now,’ said Mrs Medlock. She led Mary up some stairs, down a long corridor”, up some more stairs and along two more corridors. Then she opened a door into a room. There was a fire burning in the room, and there was some dinner on the table. ‘Here you are,’ said Mrs Medlock. ‘You will live here, and in the room next door. And you must stay in these rooms. Don’t forget that!” And that is how Mary began her life at Misselthwaite Manor. 2 Robin Redbreast” Ws Mary opened her eyes in the morning, there was a young servant girl cleaning out the fireplace in her Toom. Mary lay and watched her for a few moments and then. looked around the room. It was not like a child’s room at all. was strange and gloomy, and there were no toys oF books. Escaneado con CamScannerand through it Mary could see a indow, Cate distance. There were no Mer ae i: into the Dee purple sea. huge area of land cli trees on it, and it looked like an endless, ‘What is that?” Mary asked, pointing out of the window. ‘That's the moor, said Martha, the young servant gitl, standing up and looking out. ‘Do you like it” ‘No,’ answered Mary. ‘I hate it.’ ‘That's because you're not used to it,’ Martha said cheerfully, turning back to her work. ‘Wait till spring and summer, when the gorse and heather are in flower. Then it smells like honey. The sky looks so high, and the bees and the birds make such a noise humming” and singing. Then you'll like it.’ : Pee round, ted-cheeked, cheerful-looking person. eed a oe Yorkshire accent’, and Mary listened prise. She was not at all like the servants Mary had 12 Escaneado con CamScannerRobin Redbreast had in India. They always did everything Mary wanted and if they disobeyed her she hit them in the face. Martha did not talk to Mary like she was an important person, But Martha was eaeta strong-looking girl and Mary thought that if she hit Martha, Martha might possibly hit her back. ‘Are you going to be my servant?’ Mary asked Martha, in her proud, unfriendly way. ‘’m Mrs Medlock’s servant,’ said Martha. ‘But I shall clean your room, and bring you your meals.’ ‘Who is going to dress me?’ asked Mary. Martha sat up and stared at Mary. ‘Can’t you dress yourself” she asked, amazed. ‘No,’ answered Mary, crossly. ‘I’ve never dressed myself. My servants always did it.’ ‘Well,’ said Martha. ‘It’s time you learnt to do it yourself.’ Mary began to feel horribly lonely and very far away from everything she knew. Suddenly she threw herself down on the bed and started to cry so loudly that Martha felt a little frightened. She also felt quite sorry for Mary. She went to the bed and stood next to her. ‘Eh, you mustn’t cry like that,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, Miss. Do stop crying.’ Mary slowly stopped crying and became quiet. Martha looked relieved. ‘It’s time for you to get up now,’ the maid said. ‘Your breakfast is ready next door. If you get out of bed, I’ll help you Put your clothes on.’ Martha chattered?? away as she helped Mary to get dressed. Mary listened coldly at first, but slowly she began to be interested, ‘There are twelve children in our house, and there’s never enough food for all of them,’ said Martha. ‘They run and play on the moor all day. Mother says the fresh ait of the moor 13 Escaneado con CamScannery Robin Redbreast thinks they must eat grass, just like th he’s twelve years old and he’s found : to play with.’ . Tee did he get it?” asked Mary. ‘He found it on the moor with its mother when it was little, Martha told her. ‘He started to make friends with it and give jt bits of bread. And now it follows him around and lets him get on its back. Dickon’s a kind boy and the animals like him.’ Mary had always thought it would be nice to have a pet animal. So she started to feel a little interested in Dickon, And that was a strange feeling for her. She had only ever been interested in herself before. When Mary went into the room next door, there was a large breakfast laid out on the table. But she had never eaten much, and when Martha put a plate in front of her she pushed it away. {don’t want it,’ she said. ‘Don’t want it? cried Martha, shocked. ‘If our children were here, they'd eat all this up in five minutes.’ ‘Why? asked Mary coldly. ‘Why? repeated Martha. ‘Because they’ve never had full stomachs in their lives. They're as hungry as foxes’*.’ Mary didn’t know what it was like to be hungry. She drank some tea and ate a little bit of toast. ‘Now put some warm clothes on and go out and play,” said Martha. ‘It’ll be good for you.’ ‘Who will go with me?’ Mary asked. Martha stared at her. ‘You'll go by yourself,’ she answered. ‘You'll have to learn {© play by yourself, like other children. Our Dickon goes off on page himself for hours and hours. That’s how he made e pony. There are sheep on the moor that know him, and birds come and i a a bit of bread for them? eat out of his hand. He always sav Escaneado con CamScannerRobin Redbreast ry thought for a moment. There wouldn't be a a in the garden, but there might be birds. jive would probably be different from the ones in India. It might he interesting to look at them. And there was certainly nothing to do indoors. Martha found Mary’s coat and hat and a pair of little boots and showed her the way downstairs. , ‘If you go that way, you'll come to the gardens,’ she said, pointing to a gate. ‘There are lots of flowers there in the summer, but they’re rather bare” right now.’ After a moment, she added, ‘One of the gardens is locked up. No one has been in it for ten years.’ ‘Why? asked Mary. Normally she didn’t like to show that she was interested. But this sounded very strange. ‘Mr Craven had it shut when his wife died so suddenly. He won’t let anyone go inside. It was her garden. He locked the door and buried* the key.’ At that moment, they heard a bell ring. “Mrs Medlock’s calling me,’ said Martha, and she went inside. After Martha had gone, Mary went out into the gardens. There were wide lawns*, trees and flower beds, and a large pool with an old grey fountain” in the middle. But the flower beds were bare, and the fountain was not playing. Mary could not stop thinking about the locked garden. ‘What would it look like now? she wondered. ‘Would the flowers still be alive” At the end of the path Mary was following, she saw a long wall with a green door in it. She went through the door and found herself in a walled garden. There were some fruit trees gtowing against the wall, and a few beds of winter vegetables, but otherwise it was bare. A doorway led from there into another walled garden, and there were several more beyond. Mary walked through the gardens until she came to an orchard® ~a garden full of fruit trees. The walls seemed to go beyond the orchard, as if there was a garden on the other side. But there 15 Escaneado con CamScannerRobin Redbreast door in the orchard wall. Mary could see the tops of no he toy trees above the wall. As she looked up she saw a bird with g bright red breast sittiny started to sing his winter song, was calling to her. on top of one of the trees. Suddenly he as if he had just noticed her and The bird’s cheerful little song gave Mary a pleasant feeling. The big closed house and bare moor had made Mary feel as if she was all alone in this world. But this little bird almost made her smile. She listened to him until he flew away. Then she started to walk back towards the first walled garden. She kept thinking about the locked garden, probably because she had nothing else to do. Then she thought of the little bird with the red breast, and suddenly she stopped. ‘I think he was on a tree in the secret garden,’ she said to herself. ‘I'm sure he was. There was a wall around the place; and there was no door,’ Escaneado con CamScannerRobin Redbreast She had reached the door to the first walled garden by now. As she came into it, she noticed that an old man nal now digging” in the corner. He looked up as she came in, and nodded at her. He had an unfriendly face, and did not look pleased to see her. She walked over and stood watching him in her cold little way. He did not look up again, so at last she spoke to him. J can’t find the door into the other garden,” she said. ‘What garden” the man said in a rough voice. He stopped digging for a moment. ‘The one behind the orchard,’ answered Mary. ‘There were trees there. I saw the tops of them. A bird with a red breast was sitting on one of them, and he sang.” To Mary’s surprise, the gardener suddenly smiled. He turned around and whistled® softly. Then a wonderful thing happened. The bird with the red breast came flying over to them, and landed on the earth near the gardener’s foot. ‘Here he is,’ laughed the old man. ‘Where have you been, you cheeky thing” The bird looked up at him with his soft black eye. He didn’t seem at all frightened. He hopped” about, looking for insects. “What kind of bird is he? Mary asked. ‘Don’t you know? the old man replied. ‘He’s a robin tedbreast. They're the friendliest birds of all. I’ve known this one since he was a baby. His brothers and sisters flew away, and he was lonely.’ Mary went a little nearer to the robin and looked at him very hard. ‘Tm lonely,’ she said. She suddenly realized’? that this was one of the things that made her feel so cross all the time. The old gardener stared at her for a minute. ‘Are you the little girl from India?” he asked. Mary nodded. ‘What is your name?” she asked. ‘Ben Weatherstaff, he answered. Then he said, with a little 17 Escaneado con CamScannerRobin Redbreast robin’s the only friend I’ve gor. 0. That py. tall,’ said Mary. I've never Playeg ”, ely to laugh, Tn a friends a {don’t have any ith anyone. wi eute probably 2 little Weatherstaff. ‘Neither of us are B00 as cross as We look. I expect you've Pro 8 like me, too.” are had ever talked to Mary like that before. ‘Do I really look as cross as Ben Weatherstaff? she thought to herself. ‘And do I have a horrible temper” She felt rather ncomfortable. . Suddenly they both looked up. The robin had flown onto an apple tree close to Mary, and had started singing. Ben Weatherstaff laughed. ‘He’s decided to make friends with you,’ said Ben. ‘He likes bit like me,’ said old Ben d-looking. And we’re both bably got a horrible you!’ Mary moved carefully towards the tree, and looked up. ‘Would you make friends with me” she asked the robin. But she did not say it in her hard little voice. She spoke softly and gently. At that moment, the robin stopped singing, shook his wings and flew away. ‘He has flown over the wall!” cried Mary, watching him. ‘He has flown across the orchard into the locked garden.’ ‘He lives there,’ said old Ben. ‘He lives there, among the Tose-trees.’ . ‘Are there rose-trees? I'd like to see them,’ said Maty- Where is the door to the garden?” I pen suddenly became cold and unfriendly once more- ago but then 4 a door, he said roughly. ‘There was ten yeas up his spade” and walked away. He didn't e alked away. He ven look at Mary or say goodbye. * Escaneado con CamScanner