Chapter 8.
Something in the Ivy Mary put the key in her pocket.
She decided to keep it with her whenever she went outside, in case she found the hidden door to the garden.
She wouldn't ask for permission to go in, either.
She imagined making a special place just for herself.
As she thought, she stared at the ivy walls.
It's very silly, she said tartly.
I'm so near the garden, but there's no way in.
The next morning, Martha returned from her day off with lots to tell Mary.
I told my family about you, Martha said cheerfully.
They wanted to hear all about the little girl from India who had been waited on her whole life.
Mary said, I'll tell you more before your next day off.
Your brothers and sisters might like to hear about riding on elephants and camels and hunting tigers.
My word, Martha exclaimed with delight.
That would be as good as the wild animal shows.
Then she put her hand into her apron pocket.
I've brought you a present, Martha said.
She took out a strange object of rope with a striped handle at each end.
Mary was mystified.
She'd never seen one and asked what it was for.
It's a skipping rope, Martha explained.
Mother bought it from a peddler.
Just watch.
Martha went into the middle of the room and began to skip.
She counted to a hundred.
When she stopped, her cheeks glowed and her eyes sparkled.
Her breath came in little pants.
"'I could already skip to five hundred when I was twelve,' Martha said breathlessly.
She handed the rope to Mary.
Now, you try, she said.
It does take practice, but Mother says there's no better toy.
She says that skipping rope will stretch your limbs and make you stronger.
Mary wasn't very good at skipping.
Still, she liked trying and didn't want to stop.
Go skip outside, Martha says.
Mother says you should be outdoors as much as you can.
Mary got into her coat and slung her new toy over her arm.
She was about to leave when she turned back to Martha.
It was your wages that bought this rope, wasn't it?
Thank you, Martha.
She said it so stiffly because she wasn't used to thanking people.
Then she held out her hand.
Martha shook it.
The handshake was a little formal but Martha understood that Mary wasn't used to showing her feelings.
Outside, Mary began to skip rope while counting.
She skipped around the fountain, then into the kitchen garden.
Ben Weatherstaff was there with the robin.
'Well', he declared, 'perhaps you are a youngster, not an old lady with sour buttermilk in her veins'.
I can only skip to twenty, Mary said, but I'm getting better.
You keep on going, Ben said.
That Robin will want to see you, I'm sure.
So Mary skipped into the orchard.
She wasn't used to so much exercise, but the more she skipped, the easier it became.
At last, she reached the path beside the ivy wall.
The robin was perched on a long branch in the thickest part of the ivy, chirping overhead.
Mary laughed at him.
You showed me the key yesterday, she called out, but I don't believe you can find the door.
Then something happened that could only have been magic.
A gust of wind blew down the path.
It was pleasant and strong.
It blew some of the ivy branches away from the wall.
They stirred like window curtains in a breeze.
Mary grabbed the loose ivy.
She had seen something in the wall, a round doorknob hidden by the vines.
Her heart thumped in her chest.
She held the ivy away from the door.
Touching the door with her fingers, she felt a small hole, a keyhole.
Trembling, she took the rusty old key from her pocket where she had been hiding it.
She put it in the keyhole.
She had used both hands to turn it, but somehow it did turn.
She glanced up and down the path.
No one was coming, so she took a deep breath and pushed.
Very slowly and quickly, the door opened.
She slipped inside and shut the door behind her.
She was now inside the secret.
