The Magic Meadow (3 page)

“But—but isn't Belleview condemned?” Brick asked.

She chuckled. “It was condemned five years ago, but it's still creaking along.” She paused a moment, then asked quietly, “Brick, have you remembered what you saw before that covey of quail scared you?”

“Well, sort of.”

“What do you mean, ‘sort of'?”

“Well, I remember what it looked like, but I don't know what it was.”

“Oh, tell us!” Princess whispered excitedly. “Tell us all about it!”

“There's not much to tell. It was over on the other hill, on the edge of the trees, and I only saw it for a second before it was blotted out in the mist. At first I thought it was a wall, a high stone wall. I mean, that was the impression I got before the mist covered it. But it could have been some sort of building, a long low one. Or it might have been a shed, or even a fence made of wood. I—I just don't know. Anyway, I'm sure going back for a better look at it.”

He raised up on his elbows and glanced at their dim faces on either side. “How about it? Do you all want to try it again and see if we can make it together?”

They tried it, and they tried hard, but it was no use. The hour was far too late, and they were exhausted. Brick was sure he almost made it, for there was a brief moment when he felt the sun's warmth on his face. But it faded on the instant, and when he opened his tired eyes he found he was still in his bed in Ward Nine. Nurse Jackson had left, and by the sound of their breathing he knew the others had fallen to sleep.

Disappointed, he drifted wearily away into a series of troubled dreams in which he seemed to be trying desperately to open a locked door. It was terribly important that he open it, but though he tried dozens and dozens of keys, none of them would fit.

When he opened his eyes again it was morning and almost time for breakfast.

Everything was strangely late that morning. Instead of one of the ever-hurried day nurses finally coming to take care of them, it was Nurse Jackson herself.

“What's happened?” Brick asked worriedly, knowing instinctively that something was wrong. “Why are you still on duty?”

“Oh, we're a little shorthanded,” she said easily. “I just offered to help out. After all, you folks are my special family.”

But there was more to it than that, and Brick was very much aware of it. The others were too. Usually after breakfast they were wheeled to the therapy room and given exercise and a massage. Today, however, no one came for them, and even lunch was more than an hour late. When Nurse Jackson at last managed to bring it, Brick was surprised to see that it was only a tray of sandwiches which she divided among them on paper napkins.

“The kitchen's closed down for a while,” she told them. “I'm sure they'll have it working by tomorrow, but in the meantime it looks like sandwiches for all of us.”

When she had gone, Brick said, “There's something awfully funny going on. She's really worried.”

“She's worried about us,” Princess said. “I got that much without even trying to tune in.”

“Maybe we all ought to tune in together and find out what's happening,” he suggested. “How about it, gang?”

“Yeah,” said Charlie Pill. “I think we'd better.”

The others agreed. No one wanted to do it, but they decided they must, so they closed their eyes and pretended they were radio receivers tuning in on all the main thoughts being silently broadcast throughout Belleview. It was much easier than playing the traveling game, and in the beginning they'd had a lot of fun with it among themselves. But it was no fun at all when they tuned in on the people beyond Ward Nine. For ugly old Belleview was a place of pain and poverty and misery, and even those who worked here hated it.

Brick wasn't surprised when he suddenly heard Lily Rose crying. In some ways she was the most sensitive of them, more so even than Princess, who was the most imaginative. “I—I just can't stand it,” Lily Rose said tearfully. “All those poor people!”

“Aw, they're no poorer than anybody,” Brick said practically. “You tuned in on those old drunks—they're all broken-down from drinking, and now they're feeling sorry for themselves because they're not allowed to have any liquor. What'd you pick up, Charlie?”

“People are being moved out fast,” Charlie Pill told him. “A lot faster than they'd planned. But I don't know why.”

“I—I know why,” Diz Dobie said.

“Let's have it,” Brick ordered impatiently. The brown boy had them all beat when it came to tuning in, but he sure wasn't much on talk.

“Well,” Diz Dobie answered slowly, “this building, it's been condemned. They're gonna tear it down.”

“Aw, we know all that,” Brick muttered. “It's ancient history. But the place is still here, and I'll bet it'll keep on being here for a long time to come.”

“No, it won't. It—it's been re-condemned. They—they got orders first thing this morning to hurry to get everybody out of here by tomorrow night. Then they're gonna start wrecking the place immediately.”

“Oh, lordy!”

Shock held them silent a moment. Then Brick said, “All I could get was that the kitchen is closed down, and that the people who work in it have either quit or gone over to the new building. And I think some of the nurses want to go on strike because of poor pay. But I didn't pick up a thing about us.”

“I did,” Princess said quietly. “It's just as Nurse Jackson said. Somebody goofed on the plans, and now they can't find room for us anywhere. They want us out, but they don't know what to do with us. And—and Nurse Jackson's worried sick about us because anything can happen, and we'll probably be separated.”

“Oh, no!” Lily Rose wailed. “We can't let them do that to us!”

“I don't know how we can stop 'em,” Charlie Pill grumbled.

Brick said, “We ought to be able to think of something.”

They were silent a moment. Then suddenly Princess exclaimed, “I've got it! It's the most
wonderful
idea!”

Charlie Pill turned his head and looked at her sourly. “Yeah? I know what you're thinking, and it's crazy. You're thinking we should all join hands, close our eyes, say ‘Presto,' and go zipping over to that place of Brick's. Sure, and what d'you expect us to do when we get there? Spend the rest of our lives flopping around on those goofy flowers?” He gave a derisive snort. “Now I ask you, who's gonna take care of us and feed us?”

“Stupid, we'll take Nurse Jackson with us, of course!”

“Yeah? And what about our beds, and maybe a tent to keep off the rain, and a truck full of food …”

“Charlie Pill, you're in
suf
ferable! Why, you haven't a bit of imagination. Once we get over there, I just know we can work things out. Don't you think so, Brick?”

Brick didn't answer at once. He'd suddenly found he could wiggle his toes, and it was such an amazing discovery that it left him momentarily speechless. He hadn't had a bit of feeling in his body since that long-ago day at the orphanage when one of the big guys had pushed him down the stairs. But now, incredibly, feeling was coming back. Why? Could his trip to the dandelion place have had anything to do with it? It had to be that. Come to think of it, just before the birds scared him over there, he'd somehow felt he could wiggle his toes if he tried. The act of teleporting must have re-connected something that had long been torn apart.

If going to the dandelion place could make him well again, wouldn't it do the same for the others?

“Brick!” Princess was saying. “What's the matter with you? I asked you a question. Didn't you hear me?”

“I—I heard you,” he said slowly. “And I—I think you've got a great idea. It's the answer to everything.”

Charlie Pill gaped at him. “Have you lost your ever-loving mind?”

Brick laughed. “Watch!” he said.

He thrust the bedcovers aside. It took far more effort than he'd thought, but he managed to raise one foot and to move it a little. The others gaped at him, and a tired Nurse Jackson, entering the ward at that moment, almost dropped the evening tray of sandwiches that she was carrying.

“Brick!” she gasped. “What are you
doing?
”

He laughed again and explained what he believed had happened to him by going to the dandelion place. “If it helped me,” he told her, “it ought to help us all. As soon as we've eaten I'm going back—and I want everyone to try to come with me.”

Nurse Jackson gave a sad little sigh. “I sure wish you'd known about this weeks ago. Have you heard what's going on here?”

Princess said gaily, “Oh, we heard all about it, but it doesn't matter now. If they want everybody out by tomorrow night, we'll just fool 'em and vanish—and we'll take you with us and never come back. You—you'll come with us, won't you?”

The nurse rolled her eyes. “Of course I'd come with you if I could. My man's dead, and my poor boy was killed in the last war. So you're the only family I've got. But honey—” She shook her head wearily and began distributing the sandwiches. “Honey, you just don't understand. You've been in bed so long, you haven't learned about the practical side of life. You can't go to a strange place empty-handed and expect to live. Why, old Danny Boone himself would think twice before he tried it!”

Brick stammered, “But—but it won't hurt to scout it out first. We'd have to do that. Please, will you roll our beds closer together so we can hold hands?”

“Hold hands for what?”

Charlie Pill said, “Ha! They've got the crazy idea it'll be easier to go to that place together if we all hold hands.”

“Well, maybe it would,” Nurse Jackson admitted. She thrust the beds together and said, “If I had better sense, I'd talk you out of it. But I'm just too beat. I've had only an hour's sleep since last night, so I'm going back to my cot to get some more. If you need me, just press the call button and I'll wake right up.”

Brick did not think to study the clock as he prepared for the scouting trip. The early dark had come, and falling snow was muffling the eternal roar of traffic outside. He was hardly aware of it. Though the narrow beds had been thrust as closely together as possible, the service tables between them kept them apart, and it was all he could do to touch the outstretched hands on either side. He was forced to shift to the right so that small Princess could reach him and keep a tight grip on one of his fingers, but this made it harder for Charlie Pill.

Charlie Pill muttered, “I still think this is crazy. I don't see how holding hands—”

“Stop thinking how crazy it is,” Brick ordered, “and keep your mind on the dandelion place.”

Diz Dobie said, “It oughta work if we hang on. It's like—like hooking up batteries.”

“That's right,” said Brick. “Only they're mental batteries. Now everybody concentrate.…”

“How—how long do you think it will take?” Lily Rose whispered.

“I don't know. Maybe an hour.”

“I can't hang on for an hour,” said Charlie Pill.

“Then hang on for as long as you can. Now
concentrate!
”

Time surely passed, though for long it seemed to be standing still. Brick wasn't aware of the exact moment when Ward Nine vanished and there was a change, but all at once he realized he was somewhere else, and at the same moment he heard Princess cry out in fright.

He opened his eyes and gasped.

Something had gone very wrong.

3

THE CURIOUS BUILDING

He seemed to be lying on the grass as before, but instead of that wonderfully bright sun overhead to warm him, the sky was dark, and a chill breeze was cutting through his pajamas. Worse, the ground about him was damp and cold. He could feel the coldness seeping straight into his backbone. He'd lost contact with everyone, though he was aware of Princess somewhere on his right.

“Brick?” he heard her cry tremulously. “Brick? Where are you?”

“I'm right here.”

He stretched out his arm as far as he could reach, and instantly a small searching hand clasped his and clung to it for comfort.

“Oh, thank goodness! I'm so glad I found you! Where are we, Brick? Oh, this is awful! Wha-what's happened?”

“I—I don't know.” Then he called, “Charlie? Diz? Lily Rose? Hey, where is everybody?”

There was no answer. He fought down the fear clutching at him and managed to say, “We—we must have left 'em all behind. I—I just can't figure …”

“I—I'm so c-cold, Brick. And I—I'm scared. I'd rather be back in Ward Nine than in this horrible p-place!”

“Okay. I'll take you back. But wait just a minute.…”

In spite of the dark and the cold, something about the spot where he was lying had a familiar feel. He was on a slope just as before, and close on his left there was the same pleasant music of running water. There were some strange sounds, like those curious tick-tockings and peepings somewhere below him, but he could hear a few birds in the distance. Their sleepy twitterings made him wonder if they could just be waking up.

Was it nearly dawn here? And could it be possible that this was the same place he'd come to before? All at once he knew it had to be. But what had gone wrong?

Suddenly he realized what had happened.

“Hey!” he cried, as he struggled up on his elbows. “This is the right place after all! We just came too early.”

“I—I don't understand,” Princess said uncertainly.

“But it's simple. I forgot the difference in time. You see, when I first came here, it was after midday—but it was after midnight back at Ward Nine. That means there's about twelve hours difference between where we are and where we were. Do you get it?”

“I think so. If—if we left there at five o'clock in the evening, it would be about five in the morning here.”