Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

back. Silky
handed a bag round. "Have a Toffee Shock?" she said.
     
   
Now, all the children except Dick had had Toffee Shocks before, and, providing
you knew, what the toffee did it was all right. But if you didn't, it was rather
alarming.
     
   
A Toffee Shock gets bigger and bigger and bigger as you suck it, instead of smaller
and smaller -and when it is so big that there is hardly room for it in your mouth
it suddenly explodes-and goes to nothing. Jo, Bessie and Fanny watched Dick as
he sucked his Toffee Shock, nudging one another and giggling.
     
   
Dick took a big Toffee Shock, for he was rather a greedy boy. He popped it into
his mouth and sucked hard. It tasted most delicious. But it seemed to get bigger
and bigger.
     
   
Dick tried to tell the others this, for it surprised him very much. But the Toffee
Shock was now so big that he could hardly talk.
"Ooble, ooble, ooble!" he said.
     
   
"What language are you talking, Dick?' asked Moon-Face, with a giggle.
     
   
Dick looked really alarmed. His toffee was now so enormous that he could hardly
find room in his mouth for it. And then suddenly it exploded -and his mouth was
quite empty.
     
   
"Ooooh!" said Dick, opening and shutting his mouth like a goldfish.
"Oooh!"
"Don't you like your sweet?" said Silky, trying not to giggle. "Well,
spit it out if you like, and have another."
"It's gone!" said Dick. Then he saw the others laughing, and he guessed
that Toffee Shocks were not quite the usual kind of sweets. He began to laugh,
too. "Goodness, that did frighten me!" he said. "I say, wouldn't
I like to give the master at my old school a Toffee Shock!"
Moon-Face looked at his clock. "Old Saucepan is a long time," he said.
"It's half-past three now, and he promised to be really quick."
"Hallo-here's somebody coming now," said Moon-Face, hearing footsteps
on the ladder that led up through the cloud. "Perhaps if s old Saucepan.
But I can't hear his kettles clanking!"
Down the ladder came a wooden soldier. He saluted as he went past.
     
   
"Hie, hie!" shouted Moon-Face suddenly. "Wait a minute! How is
it that you live in the Land of Goodies?"
"I don't," said the wooden soldier, in surprise. "I live in the
Land of Toys."
"What! Is the Land of Toys up there now?" cried Moon-Face, standing
up in astonishment.
     
   
"Of course!" said the soldier. "The Land of Goodies doesn't arrive
till next week."
"Goodness!" groaned Moon-Face, as the soldier disappeared down the tree.
"Old Saucepan has made a mistake. He's gone to the Land of Toys instead of
to the Land of Goodies. I expect he is hunting everywhere for nice things to bring
down to us-he's such a dear old stupid that he wouldn't know it wasn't the right
land."
"We'd better go and tell him," said Silky. "You children can stay
here till we come back, and then we'll have a nice tea of Pop Biscuits and Google
Buns. Help yourself to Toffee Shocks whilst we are gone."
"We'll come too," said Bessie, jumping up. "The Land of Toys sounds
exciting. I wish we'd brought Peronel, our doll. She would have loved to visit
the Land of Toys."
"I suppose it isn't at all a dangerous land!"' said Jo. "Just toys
come alive?"
"Of course it's not dangerous," said Silky.
     
   
They all went up the ladder. They were very anxious to see what the Land of Toys
was like. It was exactly as they imagined it!
Dolls' houses, toy sweet shops, toy forts, toy railway stations stood about everywhere,
but much bigger than proper toys. Golliwogs, teddy bears, dolls of all kinds,
stuffed animals and clockwork toys ran or walked about, talking and laughing.
     
   
"I say! This is fun!" said Bessie. "Oh, look at those wooden soldiers
all walking in a row!"
The children stared round, but Moon-Face pulled their arms.
     
   
"Come on," he said. "We've got to find out where the old Saucepan
Man has got to! I can't see him anywhere."
The six of them wandered about the Land of Toys.