Page 30 - Secret Garden

Once a month, Martha had a day off. She walked two hours across the moor to spend time with her family. Of course, she told her mother all about the rich little girl from India: no mother, no father, no manners,
no prettiness and nothing to play with. Mrs Sowerby (who was as wise as
an owl and kind as a spring morning) sent Martha back with a present. Martha drew it out from under her apron – the wonderful surprise. “What is it?” asked Mary.
“A skipping rope, of course! Did tha’ never see a skipping rope afore?”
And she unwound the rope then and there, and skipped herself breathless.
Mary vowed to master the wonder of skipping. It was harder than it looked, but she was not one to give up. Soon she, too, could skip.
So, instead of walking through the gardens, she skipped instead. The more
she skipped, the better she got at it, until she skipped
triumphantly everywhere. Ben Weatherstaff was
startled next time he saw her. The thin,
sickly-looking child he had met before
looked almost pretty with her rosy cheeks and smile.