The Dolls’ House
Page 9
‘Shall we let them have a little music?’ asked Emily and she wound up the musical box. It went ‘tinkle, tinkle’ and Darner stirred in his dreams.
Mr Plantaganet could not tell one of its tunes from the other. ‘I have to have words,’ said Mr Plantaganet. ‘Words help me to know what it is. Like those carols, Tottie. Do you remember them?’ And he began to hum ‘God Bless the Master of This House’. ‘Do you remember them, Tottie?’
‘I remember everything,’ said Tottie, listening to the music.
‘Yes, I suppose you must, and for so long,’ said Mr Plantaganet. ‘Such a long time, Tottie.’
‘Yes,’ said Tottie.
‘Things come and things pass,’ said little Mr Plantaganet.
‘Everything, from trees to dolls,’ said Tottie.
‘Even for small things like us, even for dolls. Good things and bad things, but the good things have come back, haven’t they, Tottie?’ asked Mr Plantaganet anxiously.
‘Of course they have,’ said Tottie in her kind wooden voice.
‘Good things and bad. They were very bad,’ said Mr Plantaganet.
‘But they come and pass, so let us be happy now,’ said Tottie.
‘Without Birdie?’ asked Mr Plantaganet, his voice trembling.
‘Birdie would be happy. She couldn’t help it,’ said Tottie.
And Birdie’s bright tinkling music went on in the dolls’ house and, on her hat that still hung in the hall, and on her feather broom, and on her bird and on her parasol, the colours and patterns were still bright.
RUMER GODDEN was born in England but brought up mainly in India. She became one of the UK’s most distinguished and successful authors and wrote many well-known and much-loved books for both adults and children, including The Story of Holly and Ivy. The Diddakoi won the Whitbread Children’s Book Award in 1972.
She was awarded the OBE in 1993 and died in 1998, aged ninety.
CHRISTIAN BIRMINGHAM studied illustration at Exeter College of Art. Since his graduation in 1991 he has established himself as one of the most outstanding children’s book illustrators of his generation. He has been shortlisted for the Mother Goose Award, the Kurt Maschler Award, the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Smarties Book Prize. Among his highly acclaimed picture books are The Night Before Christmas, Sleeping Beauty and The Classic Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. His line illustrations are well-known from many best-selling novels by Michael Morpurgo.
Also by Rumer Godden
and published by Macmillan
The Diddakoi
The Story of Holly & Ivy
Miss Happiness and Miss Flower
The Fairy Doll
Little Plum
For older readers
The Peacock Spring
The Greengage Summer
With thanks to the Lilliput Museum of Antique Dolls and
Toys, Brading, Isle of Wight – C.B.
First published 1947 by Michael Joseph
This edition published 2006 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2011 by Macmillan Children’s Books
a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-447-20634-7 EPUB
Copyright © Rumer Godden 1947, 1962
Illustrations copyright © Christian Birmingham 2005
The right of Rumer Godden and Christian Birmingham to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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