我的秘密花园

Chapter Six: Wet Weather

Next morning, Mary told Martha that she had found Colin.

Martha was very upset. She thought that she could lose her job for allowing Mary to find the young boy.

'Don't worry,' said Mary. 'Colin was pleased to see me. He wants to see me every day.'

'You must have bewitched him,' said Martha.

'What's the matter with him?' Mary asked.

Martha told Mary that Colin had never been allowed to walk. His father thought that his back was weak. Even though a famous doctor had examined him, and said that he would get strong if less fuss was made of him, Colin was still spoiled and allowed to do everything that he wanted.

'Colin thinks he will die,' said Mary.

'Mother says that he has no reason to live if he's closed up in his room all the time,' said Martha.

'It's good for me to be outside,' said Mary. 'Do you think that it would help Colin?'

'Oh, I don't know,' Martha said. 'He had a bad temper tantrum when he was taken into the garden. He was upset because he thought one of the gardeners was looking at him. Be cried until be felt ill.'

'If he ever gets angry with me, I won't go to see him again,' said Mary.

When Mary next went to see Colin, she told him about Dickson.

'He's not like anyone else,' she said. 'All the animals on the moor love him.

When he plays his pipe, they come to listen.'

'The moor must be a wonderful place,' said Colin. 'But I can't go there. I'm going to die.'

'How do you know that?' Mary asked. She felt a little cross with Colin.

He seemed to be pleased with the thought that he could die.

'Because everyone says I will die,' Colin replied. 'I think that my father will be pleased when I'm dead.'

'I don't believe that,' Mary said. 'The famous doctor was right. They should make much less fuss of you, and allow you to go out. If you could see Dickson, you'd want to get well.'

Then Mary told Colin about Dickson's family, who had no money but were all healthy and cheerful.

It rained for a week, so Mary could not visit the garden. Because the weather was so bad, she spent most of her time with Colin. They read books and talked together, and for the first time Mary heard Colin laugh. Colin often spoke about the secret garden, and wondered what was in it. Mary felt that she could not tell him her secret yet, so she still did not tell him that she knew where the mysterious garden was.

'I'll wait until the rain stops before I decide what to do,' thought Mary.

On the day that the rain finished, Mary woke up early to find that the sunlight was streaming through her windows. She went quickly to the secret garden, and she found that Dickson was already there.

'I couldn't stay in bed on a morning like this,' he said.

'Look at the garden.' The rain and sunshine had made the new plants start to come through the earth. There were some purple, orange and gold crocuses. Mary was very pleased to see them and she kissed them. The robin was building a nest.

'We mustn't watch too closely,' Dickson said. 'He'll stay here with us if we don't frighten him.'

A whole week had gone by since Mary had seen Dickson. She told him that she had found Colin.

'If he comes out here in the garden, he'll forget that he's ill,' Dickson said.

'He'll be another child, looking at the flowers and animals, like us.'

When Mary went back to the house at the end of the day, Martha told her that Colin was angry because she had not been to see him.

'I won't allow that boy to come here if you stay with him instead of me,' Colin said.

'If you send Dickson away, I'll never come into this room again!' Mary replied.

'You're selfish!' Colin raged .

'What about you?' Mary replied furiously. 'You're the most selfish boy I know.'

'Well, I'm going to die!' Colin said.

'No, you're not!' Mary replied. 'You just say that to make people feel sorry for you. But they don't feel sorry. You're too nasty !'

Mary marched to the door and then said angrily, 'I was going to tell you all about Dickson and his fox and crow, but I won't now!'

She slammed the door behind her.

Later, when Mary remembered how lonely Colin was, she felt sorry for him.

'I'll go and see him tomorrow,' she thought. 'I'll go and sit with him.'

Later that night, Mary was awakened by the sound of screaming and crying. 'It's Colin having one of his tempers,' she thought.

She put her hands over her ears, but she could not block out the terrible noise.

'Someone should stop him!' she cried. 'He deserves to be punished for being so selfish. He's woken everyone in the house.'

She ran into Colin's room and shouted at him, 'Stop! I hate you! Everyone hates you! You'll scream until you die, and I hope that you do.'