“Not to-morrow,” said Aunt Mary, “because they are very busy, but it won’t be long now.”
Then Jane Ann had her lovely idea. If they were too busy to come to her, she would go to them.
She counted up all her money, and thought it would be just enough, if she walked all the way. And every day that week, when she went out with her Nurse, she bought something nourishing, like buns or chocolates, and put them in her special box. And every evening she looked inside the box, and then shut her eyes and thought very hard of her Father and Mother, and didn’t eat any of it. And when the box was full, it was Friday night, and to-morrow was the day.
She said good-bye to Rabbit that night. They all wanted to come, but Rabbit most. Rabbit had a special pink ribbon round his neck to come by, and he had never been to India before, so he was terribly excited. But Jane Ann said, No, he couldn’t, because India was full of fierce tigers, and tigers ate rabbits. Rabbit saw that it wouldn’t do to be eaten by a tiger, but he thought he could dodge them. He was very disappointed when Jane Ann told him that even dodgy rabbits got eaten by tigers in India. “Even very dodgy rabbits?” he asked wistfully. “Yes,” said Jane Ann, “even very dodgy rabbits.” But she felt so sorry for him when she said this that she took off his pink ribbon and hid it away in a drawer, in case she felt she couldn’t leave him behind in the morning.
They were all to see her off. She arranged them in the window—Horse and Cart, Horse, Ball and Rabbit—so that she would be able to wave to them for quite a long way. Of course, after you had gone a long way you had to turn to the right, and then you wouldn’t see them any more. That was when she would first open her box, because she would be feeling so lonely. It was wonderful how unlonely chocolate made you.
Looking out of the window next morning, Rabbit saw that it was raining.
“Perhaps she won’t go now,” he said, and he was very excited.
After breakfast Jane Ann looked out of the window, too.
“It will stop soon,” she said cheerfully.