“Ogres,” said Nurse, “heaps of them. I hate passing their way, but it’s a short cut. That red country we passed just now was where the Dragons live. They’re even worse, nasty ill-bred creatures! However, we’ve passed them all now, and here we come down.”
They were right above a cleared space in a big black wood, and at a signal from Nurse, all the Fairies paused, and, half folding their wings, floated down amongst the trees. Peggy did so too, and balanced on a large branch, closing her wings up neatly as she saw the others doing.
“Now, each take a tree and begin,” called Nurse, who was flying about looking happier than ever, “and after that we’ll have some games!”
Then Peggy noticed what extraordinary trees they were all perched upon. For from every twig were hanging by silver strings the most fascinating little tiny sugar animals and birds of every colour and kind—blue elephants, mauve dogs, scarlet mice, yellow nightingales, and everything else you can think of. And all through the wood she could hear the Fairies calling and laughing to each other as they fluttered up and down the trees and ate the pretty things.
“May I?” asked Peggy, her fingers closing round a purple sparrow, and looking at Nurse who she hardly dared believe would be so changed as to allow her to eat as many sweets as she liked!
“Of course,” said Nurse smiling—and Peggy had never realised before how very nicely Nurse could smile. She also longed to tell her how pretty she looked with her golden hair all flying loose in the air. But she didn’t dare. “I advise you to try that pink cow just behind you,” went on Nurse. “No, not that one, the very big one by the trunk. That’s it. Now, isn’t that good?”
It was certainly too lovely for words. It had the delicious taste that a strawberry ice has before you’ve eaten too many at a party, and it was also rather like pineapples and pear-drops and Tangerine oranges, and yet it was far better than any of them.
Peggy soon got quite good at half fluttering, half balancing along the branches like the others were doing, and trying each different sweet by turn.
(I’m afraid this sounds rather a greedy adventure of Peggy’s, but it wasn’t really, as it happened in Fairy-land, and there were enough sweets for everyone, and no one felt sick when they’d eaten too many.)
She had just bitten a pink sugar rabbit in half, and found it tasted just like meringues, when she remembered the Giant.