A Wrinkle in Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle Page A

such interest to whatMrs Whatsit was saying that she hardly noticed when theywent into the cave; the transition from the grayness of outside to the grayness of inside was almost unnoticeable. She saw a flickering light ahead of them, ahead and down, and it was toward this that they went. As they drew closer she realized that it was a fire.
    “It gets very cold in here,” Mrs Whatsit said, “so we asked her to have agood bonfire going for you.”
    As they approached the fire they could see a dark shadow against it, and as they went closer still they could see that the shadow was a woman. She wore a turban of beautiful pale mauve silk, and a long, flowing, purple satin gown. In her hands was a crystal ball into which she was gazing raptly. She did not appear to see the children, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and MrsWhich, but continued to stare into the crystal ball; and as she stared she began to laugh; and she laughed and laughed at whatever it was that she was seeing.
    Mrs Which’s voice rang out clear and strong, echoing against the walls of the cavern, and the words fell with a sonorous clang.
    “W WEE ARRE H HERRE !”
    The woman looked up from the ball, and when she saw them she got up and curtsied deeply.Mrs Whatsit and Mrs Who dropped small curtsies in return, and the shimmer seemed to bow slightly.
    “Oh, Medium, dear,” Mrs Whatsit said, “these are the children. Charles Wallace Murry.” Charles Wallace bowed. “Margaret Murry.” Meg felt that if Mrs Whatsit and Mrs Who had curtsied, she ought to, also; so she did, rather awkwardly. “And Calvin O’Keefe.” Calvin bobbed his head. “We want them to seetheir home planet,” Mrs Whatsit said.
    The Medium lost the delighted smile she had worn till then. “Oh,
why
must you make me look at unpleasant things when there are so many delightful ones to see?”
    Again Mrs Which’s voice reverberated through the cave. “Therre willl nno llonggerr bee sso manyy pplleasanntt thinggss too llookk att iff rressponssible ppeoplle ddo nnott ddoo ssomethingg abbouttthee unnppleassanntt oness.”
    The Medium sighed and held the ball high.
    “Look, children,” Mrs Whatsit said. “Look into it well.”
    “Que la terre est petite à qui la voit des cieux!
Delille.
How small is the earth to him who looks from heaven,”
Mrs Who intoned musically.
    Meg looked into the crystal ball, at first with caution, then with increasing eagerness, as she seemed to see an enormous sweepof dark and empty space, and then galaxies swinging across it. Finally they seemed to move in closer on one of the galaxies.
    “Your own Milky Way,” Mrs Whatsit whispered to Meg.
    They were headed directly toward the center of the galaxy; then they moved off to one side; stars seemed to be rushing at them. Meg flung her arm up over her face as though to ward off the blow.
    “Llookk!” Mrs Which commanded.

    Meg dropped her arm. They seemed to be moving in toward a planet. She thought she could make out polar ice caps. Everything seemed sparkling clear.
    “No, no, Medium dear, that’s Mars,” Mrs Whatsit reproved gently.
    “Do I
have
to?” the Medium asked.
    “N NOWW !” Mrs Which commanded.
    The bright planet moved out of their vision. For a momentthere was the darkness of space; then another planet. Theoutlines of this planet were not clean and clear. It seemed to be covered with a smoky haze. Through the haze Meg thought she could make out the familiar outlines of continents like pictures in her Social Studies books.
    “Is it because of our atmosphere that we can’t see properly?” she asked anxiously.
    “Nno, Mmegg, yyou knnoww thatt itt iss nnott tthee attmosspheeere,” Mrs Which said. “Yyou mmussttbee brrave.”
    “It’s the Thing!” Charles Wallace cried. “It’s the Dark Thing we saw from the mountain peak on Uriel when we were riding on Mrs Whatsit’s back!”
    “Did it just come?” Meg asked in agony, unable to take her eyes from the sickness of the shadow which darkened the