Page 116 - Blue Feather Book 1

girl, and I am only a little mouse who has eaten all your supper. But there is one thing I can do for you, and that is to tell you to take care, for you are in danger. The woman in the hut is the sister of the terrible Baba Yaga, the bony-legged witch with the iron teeth. If your stepmother ever sends you to your aunt, come and tell me right away.”
“Thank you,” the little girl said. Just then, she heard her stepmother calling, “Clean up the tea things! Tidy the house! Brush out the floor! Clean everybody’s boots!” So off she had to go.
The very next morning, the girl’s father went off to visit some friends of his in the next village. The stepmother told the girl, “Today you will go to your dear, sweet aunt in the forest and ask her for a needle and thread to mend a shirt.”
“But here is a needle and thread,” the little girl said.
“Hold your tongue!” the stepmother said, and she gnashed her teeth so that they made a noise like clattering tongs. “Didn’t I tell you to go today to your dear, sweet aunt in the forest to mend a shirt? Do not make me tell you again!”
“How will I find my aunt’s house?” the little girl asked.
The stepmother took hold of the little girl’s nose and pinched it. “That is your nose. Can you feel it? Walk along the road in the forest until you come to a fallen tree. Then, turn to your left and follow your nose. You will know your aunt when you see her. Now, be off, you lazy one. Here is some food to eat along the way.” She gave the little girl a bundle wrapped up in a towel.
The little girl wanted to go to the shed to talk to the mouse, but her stepmother was watching her with fierce eyes. So, she had to go straight on. She walked along the road through the forest until she came to the fallen tree. She turned left, following her nose, which was still hurting where the stepmother had pinched it. Just then, she heard a noise under the fallen tree: Scratch, scratch. Out jumped the mouse!
“Oh mouse, I am glad to see you,” the girl said. “My stepmother has sent
Baba Yaga And The Little Girl 115 With The Kind Heart
by Arthur Ransome