■ 4 Bigger than the Baker's Boy

■ 3 Wings

The next day was very wet. It rained all day and the children could not go to see the Psammead. They stayed at home and wrote letters to their mother. But none of them told her about the Psammead. And the day after that， their Uncle Richard came and took them out， so they did not see the Psammead for two days. But Anthea spent a lot of time think-ing about what to wish for.

The next morning， while Martha was busy with Baby， the children left the house quietly and went to see the Psammead. On the way， Anthea said to the others， ' I know what we can ask for—— wings！ '

The others were silent for a minute， but then they all agreed that they too would like to have wings.

They found the Psammead easily. ' I wish we all had beauti-ful wings to fly with， 'Anthea said.

The Psammead made itself very big and then went small again. The children felt strange for a minute and when they looked， they saw that they had beautiful soft wings of many colours. They moved them about and jumped up and down， and soon they could see the green fields and sunny woodsbelow them and the blue sky above. They could fly！ It was wonderful， and they flew over the woods and trees， the townsand villages， for a long time. But they began to get hungry.

Just then they saw below them some trees full of large red plums. ' We mustn't steal， 'Cyril said.

' We've got wings， 'Jane answered quickly， ' so we're birds. It's all right for birds to take things. Birds can't steal. '

So they flew down onto the trees， and they ate as many of the plums as they could.

They were finishing the plums when they saw a very angry little fat man， who was hurrying through the trees. They were his plums and the poor man thought that boys from the village were stealing them. But when he saw that the children had wings， his mouth fell open and his face went green. Anthea did not want to steal anything， of course， so she flew down and pushed some money into his pocket.

'Don't be afraid， 'she said. ' We've had some of your plums. We thought that it wasn't stealing， but now I'm not so sure. So that was some money to pay for them. '

The little man sat there on the ground and looked up into the sky. 'Talking birds！ Children with wings！ This is a lesson for me. From now on， I'm going to live a better life， 'he said. And he went into the house and was very kind to his wife.

Plums are very nice， of course， but you soon feel hungry again. So the children stopped first at one house， then another， to ask for something to eat. They didn't get anything because everyone was afraid of them and screamed and ran away when they saw them. By four o'clock they were getting very tired and hungry， so they flew down onto the roof of a church， to think what to do.

' We can't possibly fly all the way home without something to eat， 'said Robert.

In the end they decided to take some food from the vicar's house next to the church.

' He's a good man. He'll understand. We'll leave some money for the food， 'Cyril said， 'and a note saying that we're sorry. '

Cyril got in through the window and gave the food to the others， who were outside. There was some cold meat， half a cold chicken， some bread and a bottle of soda-water. Then they all flew back up onto the church roof to eat it. They were very hungry， so they really enjoyed it. But when you are very hungry， and then you eat a big meal and sit in the hot sun on a roof， it is very easy to fall asleep. And so they did— while the sun slowly went down in the west.

They slept for a long time. When they woke up it was dark —and， of course， they had no wings.

' We must get home， 'Cyril said. ' There's a door over there. That's the way down. '

But when they tried the door， they found that it was locked from the other side. They were on top of the church and they had no wings！ How were they going to get down？

Anthea put her arm round Jane， who was beginning to cry. 'It will only be for one night， 'she said.

Then Cyril said， 'I know. Let's shout！ The lights are on inthe vicar's house. Someone will hear us and get us down. '

So they shouted and screamed as loudly as they could， and the people in the house heard them. The vicar ran out with his servant.

' Someone is murdering somebody in the church！ 'the vicar said， afraid. 'Perhaps it's the thief who stole the cold chicken and things. '

But they could not understand why the voices were coming from the sky. So the children shouted， ' We're up here —on top of the church！ '

The two men were still afraid， but， slowly and carefully， they went up the stairs inside the church. When they came to the top， the vicar shouted through the closed door， 'How many of you are there？ Have you got guns？ '

' There are four of us， and， no， we haven't got guns， 'Cyril answered.

Slowly， the vicar opened the door.

'Good Heavens！ 'he cried. 'They're children！ '

' Oh， please take us down， 'cried Jane.

So the vicar and his servant took them down and into the vicar's house. Of course， the vicar wanted to know why the children were on the church roof.

' We went up there because we wanted to see what it was like， 'said Cyril. 'But then we couldn't get down again be-cause the door was locked. 'He didn't say anything about the wings， of course.

' But who locked the door？ 'the vicar asked.

' We don't know， 'Jane answered. ' But we're not telling you everything. '

'Ah！ There's a friend in it， then， 'said the vicar's servant man， who was called Beale.

' Yes， but we can't tell you about him， ' said Anthea， think-ing of the Psammead. ' We really are very sorry， and please， can we go home now？ '

The vicar still did not understand， but he was a kind man， so he sent the children home in a carriage with his servant. Martha， of course， was very angry with them， but Mr Beale explained everything very well. He was a good-looking young man with a nice smile， and after a while Martha forgot to be angry.

So the day ended happily after all.

■ 4 Bigger than the Baker's Boy

The next morning Martha said that the children could not go out. ' You can stay in and be good， ' she said.

' There's something that we all want， ' said Robert. ' Can I just go out for half an hour to get it？ ' And Martha， who was really very kind， said that he could.

Of course， they all wanted the day's wish. So Robert hur-ried to the sand-pit.

The Psammead was waiting for him， but when Robert tried to think of a really good wish， he couldn't， and the others were not there to help him.

' Hurry up， 'the Psammead said. ' I can't wait all day. '

' Oh dear， 'Robert said. ' I wish that we didn't have to come here to get our wish… Oh， don't！ '

But it was too late. The Psammead was already making it-self big.

'There！ ' it said. ' That wasn't easy， but I've done it. You don't need to come here to have your wish. '

Robert thanked the Psammead and then hurried back to tell the other children. ' We must wish for something really good tomorrow， 'he said.

The next morning they thought and thought， but they couldn't think of a really good wish， so they decided to go to the gravel-pit. Suddenly they saw a baker's boy， who was coming along the road with his basket of bread， and they decided to play a game with him.

' Stop！ ' cried Cyril.

' Your money or your life！ 'shouted Robert.

And they stood on each side of the baker's boy.

The baker's boy， who was tall and large， was not very interested and he pushed them both away.

'Don't be stupid！ ' he said.

But Robert pushed him back and knocked him over. The bread fell out of the boy's basket and went all over the road. The baker's boy was very angry. He hit Robert and they began to fight. But the baker's boy was much bigger and stronger than Robert. He was also not a nice fighter— he pulled Robert's hair， kicked him in the leg， and hit him hard in the stomach. Then he picked up his bread， put it back in the basket， and went on his way.

Cyril wanted to help Robert， but the girls held his arms and stopped him. So Cyril was angry with the girls， and everybody was unhappy. They went along to the gravel-pit， and Robert began to kick the sand angrily. ' I'll teach that baker's boy a lesson one day， 'he said. 'I wish I was bigger than him！ '

Just then they saw that the Psammead was sitting behind them， and was watching them！

The next minute， Robert had his wish. He was bigger than the baker's boy！ Much， much bigger！ He was now more than three metres tall！ He was not pleased because he looked very strange next to the others， who were still small.

The others felt sorry for him then， and asked the Psammead for another wish. But the Psammead was very cross and un-helpful. 'Why don't you think before you wish？ 'it said. ' He's a wild， noisy boy， and he can stay like that for the day. It will do him good. Now go away and leave me alone！ '

The others turned back to their enormous brother. ' What are we going to do？ 'They asked.

'First， 'said Robert， ' I'm going to get that baker's boy！ 'And because he had very long legs， he arrived at the bottom of the hill long before the baker's boy， who was stopping at the houses along the road to leave the bread.

Robert hid behind a haystack and waited for the boy. When he saw the baker's boy coming， he jumped out from behind the haystack and the boy's mouth fell open in surprise. Then Robert took hold of him and put him on top of the haystack.

' Now get down from there， if you can！ ' Robert said.

It was very late when the baker's boy got back to the shop， and the baker was very angry！

Then Robert and the others went home， and down to the bottom of the garden. Anthea asked Martha to bring their lunch out there. She knew that Robert was too big to get into the house. Of course， Martha could not see that Robert was much bigger than before， and she only gave him as much meat and potatoes as usual— and no more. Poor Robert was very hungry.

The others were feeling unhappy too because there was a fair in town and they wanted to go to it. ' We can't go anywhere now， 'Cyril said. ' Not with Robert like this. '

Suddenly Jane cried， 'I know！ Let's take Robert to the fair！ Someone there will pay us to show him to people. We can make a lot of money. '

The others thought that this was a good plan， and they left at once. When they arrived， they asked to see the head man. His name was Bill， and when he saw Robert， he got very excited.

' How much do you want for him？ 'he asked.

' You can't buy me， 'said Robert， ' but I'll come and show myself this afternoon， if you give me fifteen pounds—and some food！ '

' Right！ 'Bill agreed.

So Bill took Robert inside one of the big fair tents and gave him something to eat. But while Robert was eating， Bill put men outside to stop him from escaping.

Then Bill stood outside the tent and began to shout to the crowds. ' Come and see the biggest man in the world！ 'he cried.

Very soon， people began to stop and listen. A young man and his girlfriend were the first to go and look at Robert. They paid their money to Bill and wnet in. The people outside heard a loud scream from the girl， and then they all wanted to go in too.

Soon Robert was the most exciting thing to see at the fair， and Bill was making a lot of money. ' Much more than fifteen pounds！ ' Cyril said to the girls.

Poor Robert got very bored. He had to shake hands with everybody and talk， to show that he was real. And how could he escape at the end of the day？ ' They'll kill us when I go small again， ' he said.

Cyril thought for a minute. Then he said， ' I've got a plan， 'and he went outside the tent to talk to Bill. 'Look here， ' he said， ' my brother must be alone when the sun goes down. He gets very strange and angry then. I don't know why， but you must leave him alone， or he'll hurt someone. '

Bill was not very happy about this， but he agreed， and when the sun went down， they left Robert alone. Robert quickly got out under the back wall of the tent， and no one knew who he was because he was just a small boy again.

The children ran all the way home— and we do not know what Bill said when he found that Robert was not there！

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