Janet Reachfar and the Kelpie

C848857 Duncan Janet Reachfar and the kelpie 5

PUBLIC LIBRARY Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana ALLEN COUNTY EXTENSION DEPT.

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Al.LEN

COUNTY HU

3 1833 01507 8063

Janet Reachfar

and the Kelpie by JANE

by Mairi Hedderwick

pictures ©

1976 by Jane Duncan copyright 1976 by Mairi Hedderwick American Edition 1976

Text copyright Illustrations First

DUNCAN

©

Printed in Great Britain All rights reserved

X^

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Duncan, Jane. Janet Reachfar and the kelpie.

"A

Clarion book."

SUMMARY: Despite a warning to stay away from a dangerous well, Janet peeks in and

sees a terrible

kelpie monster staring back at her. [i. Fairies

— Fiction]

I.

Hedderwick, Mairi.

II. Title.

PZ7.D899jan3

ISBN

[E]

75-44166

0-8 1 64-3 1 69-8

A Clarion Book The Seabury Press New York

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In the Highlands of Scotland where Janet lived, people are often known not by their real names but by the names of their farms. So Janet was called Janet Reachfar because Reachfar was her home. a beautiful place,

on top of a

hill

above the

plenty of things to do. But on this

any of her usual they had

made

things.

in the

about her friends,

She was

sea,

summer day Janet was not doing

sitting

with her dog.

bottom of the haystack, having

Tom and George, who

were

at

Fly, in a cave

a think: a think

work

in the turnip

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was

and there were always

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Tom were

grownup men, but they were not like the other grownups at Reachfar. They were always telling stories and Janet never knew whether to believe them or not. They had told her some stories the Sunday before, when they and Janet had taken a George and

big

long walk around Reachfar.

Janet leaned back against the hay and pigtails.

chewed

She had two short sticking-out

the end of one of her

pigtails

with bows of blue

ribbon on their ends, and she chewed the bushy part just under the ribbon.

She remembered that walk on Sunday from

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start to finish.

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When

they came to the

Old Quarry, they

all

three stood behind

the fence and looked across the hollow at the big black

George

said,

"Mind you,

"That's right,"

you should never

want

to

eerie

person should never

come

cross the fence or at

go near the cave

the dark cave

echoing noise.

where

here alone."

"Why

in the cliff."

the water drip-dripped,

not?" she asked. She did not

go near the spooky cave but she wanted

should not go.

and

Tom agreed. "And even if there are several of you,

Janet looked across

making an

a

cliff,

to

know why

she

"In that cave," George said in a deep hollow voice, "Black Rory lives.

Come away

Tom

and Janet away up the path towards the moor.

"Black Rory fat

is

before he hears us talking about him."

a terrible fellow,"

George

and has long black whiskers and teeth

eats

as

said then.

big

And

"He

is

he led

big and

as tiger's teeth

and he

everything and every ^o^y that he can lay his big hairy hands on."

Janet looked back at the cave and suddenly

ran on ahead up the path to the

marigolds grew.

swampy

felt like

place

running. So she

where

the

marsh

Tom

and George caught up with her,

Tom

looked across

clumps of marigolds to the East Bog and

said,

"You know,

Whefn -the

George,

I

think the Whigmaleerie that lives in that

Bog

is

even worse

than Black Rory."

"Who

f^

"It

sort

the

Whigmaleerie?" Janet asked.

not a person

is

of

is

thing, a

went through

at all,"

Tom

gray misty thing the fence into

you and suck you down

its

like a great big

Bog

into the

it

mud

Janet looked through the fence felt like

said in a scary voice,

at

Bank where

.(^

the harebells

_2^

nodded

cobweb and

would wind

itself all

if

you

around

and smother you."

the black

running again. So she ran on

"more of a

till

she

mud

of the Bog and

came

to the Bluebell

in the breeze.

After

had

Tom

and George caught up with her, they

down and

a rest.

When it Avas the

all sat

moor

time to go

home

past the Reachfar Well.

the worst place

on

all

Reachfar."

for tea, they took the path

"Now," George

through

said, "that

Well

is

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The Well was fence around "It

is

round hole

in the

so that the sheep

and

risk that

ground and

would not

Tom

fall

it

in

had

a

barbed wire

and be drowned.

would not go near Kelpie catching me even if you paid me in

a terrible place indeed,"

that fence solid

it

a

agreed. "I

gold money."

"What Kelpie?" George and has long

Janet asked.

Tom

began

to whisper. "His

wobbly arms and wobbly fmgers

and queer spiky horns on reach out and pull

you

his head. If

into the

name

all

is

Sandy, and he

slippery like seaweed,

you go near

that fence

Well and drown you."

he will

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Janet had been glad to run

And

she

had been glad

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warm

I

to forget about

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Black Rory and the Whig-

now

the sun

cave in the haystack and she did not

Instead she

5

home and have tea in the bright kitchen.

maleerie and Sandy the Kelpie. But the

Iff 'Hi

'>

was shining feel like

into

running.

was thinking hard about the Old Quarry, the East Bog,

and the Well.

Now the Old Quarry and the East Bog were ugly, eerie places that no

sensible person

would want

place that sent sweet fresh water

to

visit.

down

But the Well was to the

a

good

house and the farm-

yard for the Reachfar people and animals to drink.

If this horrible

Kelpie lived in the Well, Janet thought, the water would not be fresh

and

clear as

At

this

it

always was.

very

moment

over the fence from the

/.

Betsy, the big field to take a

brown mare, put

her head

drink from the water-trough

in the farmyard. Horses are very clean, very fussy animals

and Janet

knew that Betsy would not drink water that tasted of seaweedy Kelpie.

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"There just a

is

not any Sandy in the Well!" Janet told Fly angrily. "It

pack of George and Tom's

Kelpies with horns

on

lies

is

about that Kelpie. There are no

their heads that pull people into wells

and

drown them." Fly blinked her golden eyes and cocked her ears as if she agreed.

am going up to that Well to see for myself if that Kelpie is in it," Janet said. And off she went with Fly following her. "I

She

began

felt

very disobedient, and

as she

came nearer

uncomfortable inside

to feel very

herself.

Mother was very

loving and gentle. She did not order people about did.

Granny could turn

Well she

This was because

her mother had asked her not to go near the Well.

mother

to the

as Janet's

into a very strict person

grand-

whom Tom

and George called "Herself," but Mother was always Mother. Herself

said,

said, "Janet,

because It

it is

was fun

fmding out fun to

tell

"Now I

am

don't

you

dare

go near

that

asking you, please, to stay

Well!" But Mother

away from

Well

dangerous." to disobey Herself if you could

that

it

was not fun

George and

Tom

to disobey

that she

manage

Mother.

had been

but Janet was

it,

Still, it

to the

a lot

of rubbish!"

And

so she

would be

Well and had

found no Kelpie. "You and your old Kelpie!" she would nothing but

the

walked on up

say. "It's

to the

moor.

It

was one of those summer days when the sun

moment and the clouds

cover

it

at the next.

is

bright at one

As Janet crawled through

the heather and under the barbed wire round the Well, the clouds

made

the sky quite dark. Flat

on her stomach, Janet pulled

towards the edge of the Well and Fly took the

hem ofJanet's

herself dress in

her strong white teeth. Fly was trying to pull her back but Janet held

on

to the

tough stems of the heather and went on pulling herself

forward. Her hands found the stone

at

the edge of the deep hole and

she pulled forward again and looked over.

^^1

Suddenly she statue.

felt as if

she

was turning into

a cold frozen stone

For there, just under the black surface of the water, was the

horrible face of the Kelpie, his

round eyes

staring

up and

his ghastly

horns sticking out from his head. Janet thought of his seaweedy arms

coming up

to catch her, but she could not

growling and wire

felt

move. Then she heard Fly

her tugging. Janet backed out under the barbed

as fast as she could,

stood up, and ran for her

life.

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Back home, she did not

tell

anyone about what she had done, or

about the horrible creature she had seen. She went to her room, and for the

In

first

time in her

summer,

life

she

in the Highlands

felt afraid

of Scotland,

F'

but Janet could not bear to look

7

beyond. She was sure that the Kelpie after

^

of being alone. it

stays

window would come

at the

Hght

till

midnight

or the bright sky in

by the window

dark to take her to the Well and drown her because she had

looked into

his secret place.

She dived into bed without even brush-

ing her hair, pulled the covers over her head, and sobbed herself to sleep.

—

Then

she

had

a nightmare.

She dreamed that she was back

Well and Sandy's slimy hands were reaching up, coming

at the

nearer,

nearer, nearer

"Mother! Granny!" Janet screamed.

He is

going to catch

"It's

me and drown me!"

the Kelpie in the Well!

Suddenly the nightmare was gone and Mother and Granny and !jj

Tom

[l|

George and

I

Granny turned

all

her family were standing round her bed.

into Herself and

became very

George and Tom, "You two


said to

Jl

these packs

of

lies

you

tell

people

!

blame

are to

There

tall

is

and stem

as she

for this, with

no Kelpie

all

in the Well,

Janet."

f;

^»

"There

^m'* Janet

tM\

and

I

is.

Granny!

I

saw him and

his

horns and everything,"

said.

The sun was

still

fcoming to get her

as

shining, but Janet

soon

was

as she w^as left

still

sure that

Sandy was

alone and darkness

fell.

"Get

at last.

"We are going up to

"No, Granny!" Janet screamed. "He'll catch

us! He'll dro^vn us!"

[out

of bed, and

(the

Well."

dress, Janet,"

Herself said

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^848857//'

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"He will no^," George said, "for he will have to drown me first and would just like to see him try." "And he will have to drown me too, besides," Tom said. Janet

times and tease

very

tall

"Be

you

until

George and

under that wire.

in the

tell lies

Well had looked quite

fetch the wire-cutters for /

And when we

are

all

am

quite

"Yes, Mistress," said George. say. Mistress," said

Tom.

small.

enough

Well you can

and join that wire again and that will teach you

you

some-

not going to crawl

finished at the

frightening people with your nonsense!"

"Just as

might

you two," Herself said. "You have made

Go and

stay there

Tom

you were hopping mad but they were both

and strong, and Sandy

quiet,

trouble.

frightened.

felt less

to

go

x-ai^ (as'5^

The whole Reachfar family walked up

to the

Well and George

cut the barbed wire.

"Come,

Janet,"

Mother

said.

She took one of Janet's hands and

Herself took the other. Janet shut her eyes, not wanting to see that horrible face again as they

"Open your

eyes,

went

close to the

edge of the Well.

bend over and look down, Janet!" Mother

in her soft voice.

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said

Janet trembled as she looked there, there

with the

down

into the dark water.

Down

was no hideous Kelpie. There was only her own

pigtails sticking

of ribbon looking

face

out Uke horns on either side and the bows

like spikes.

''AH that nonsense about kelpies!" Herself said sternly to

Tom

and George.

"But Janet

really did see

said in her gentle voice.

of a

something ugly

"What you

Well," Mother

saw, Janet, was the ugly face

who had done something that all her family do. Now run down to the house and go back

girl

not to

in the

began to run. "And remember after her.

to brush

had asked her to bed." Janet

your hair!" Mother

called

:

Janet did not

dream about

the Kelpie ever again.

And

she did not

ever again go through the wire round the Well either. But she a

poem

about

it,

and

this

In the

is it

Well was an ugly

face

I

did not like to

I

won't go to the Well again

see.

Because the face was me.

JU. '<

iU^i^,

made

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