Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR THE RAINBOW They sat down to have their supper. It was a lovely summer's evening, still quite light. As they sat by the doorway, munching big slices of jam sponge, a purple cloud blew up. Big drops of rain fell, and yet the sun still shone brightly, for it was not covered by the cloud. 'There's a rainbow, look!' said Mollie, and they all gazed at the lovely, shimmering rainbow that suddenly shone out in the sky.

'I do wish the chair would grow its wings, because I'd love to go to the rainbow and see if I could find a crock of gold where it touches the ground.'

'Yes, I'd like that, too,' said Binky. 'I don't believe anyone has ever found the crock of gold. They say you have to slide right down the rainbow itself and land with a bump on the patch of ground where the crock is hidden.' 'Let's go right into the garden and see if we can spot where the rainbow-end touches, said Mollie. So out they went, but as the end of the rainbow disappeared behind some high trees they couldn't make up their minds where it touched.

'It's miles away, anyhow,' said Peter. 'Isn't it a lovely thing? It's like a bridge of many colours.'

They heard a sudden little scuffling sound and turned quickly. 'Was that that tiresome brownie again?' said Binky, frowning. 'Anybody seen him?' Nobody had. Nobody had spied him scuttling into the playroom. Nobody saw where he went. Peter felt uneasy. 'I believe he's slipped into the playroom, he said. 'We'd better look.'

They went in and hunted round. They looked into every corner, and Mollie even looked inside the dolls' house because she thought he might have been able to squeeze himself in at the door.