A Garden of Lilies Read online

  To make toast, cut even slices, rather more than a quarter of an inch in thickness, from a loaf of household bread. Thread each slice onto a toasting fork and hold before a nice, bright fire. Do not allow the bread to blacken, as this spoils both the appearance and the taste. Spread the slices with good butter, cut them into neat pieces and pile them onto a warmed plate.

  For children, tea should be weakened with milk and water, and rich food like hot toast with butter should be avoided. A small piece of plain, two-day-old bread is more wholesome and more easily digested.

  Yaxley

  axley worked in a factory that made boot blacking. He swept the floor and ran errands and pasted the labels onto the jars. One day, he was slow at his work, so he had to stay behind. When at last he finished, it was very late.

  He hurried home along the deserted streets. Everything looked different at night. The dark houses loomed up out of the mist, tall and jagged and unfamiliar. Yaxley stopped and looked around. He realised that he had gone the wrong way. He was lost, and he needed to find his way back.

  Suddenly, a coach appeared out of the darkness. It swept along the street and came to a halt beside him. The horses’ hooves and the coach wheels made no sound on the cobblestones, as if they were somehow made only of shadows. The horses were as black as night and had funeral plumes on their heads.

  The coachman’s hat was pulled down, and Yaxley could not see his face.

  The door of the coach opened silently, and a gloved hand beckoned from within. ‘Climb inside, boy.’ The voice was as ancient as stone and as cold as the wind. ‘I will take you where you should go.’

  Yaxley knew he should not climb up into the coach, but he did all the same.

  The coach drove off silently into the mist and the darkness, and Yaxley was never seen again.

  Moral

  If you travel with a stranger,

  You place yourself in mortal danger.

  General Advice on Avoiding Accidents

  Do not stand near a tree, lead spout, iron gate or palisade in times of lightning.

  Do not sleep out of doors, particularly if it is snowing.

  Before entering a confined place, such as a tunnel or vault, which may contain bad air or dangerous miasmas, ensure that a lighted candle will burn. Where a candle cannot burn, animal life cannot exist.

  When crossing a road, always go behind a cart or carriage, never in front of it.

  Never neglect to write the word ‘POISON’ in large letters upon anything poisonous.

  Never meddle with gunpowder by candlelight.

  Have your horses’ shoes roughed directly when there are indications of frost.

  Keep matches within their boxes. Never fling them about.

  Do not read in bed at night. Besides the danger of an accident, it is injurious to the eyes.

  Avoid snakes and other poisonous reptiles.

  Never throw pieces of orange peel or broken glass bottles into the street.

  Endeavour to acquire the power of swimming, in case of shipwreck.

  Zenobia

  enobia refused to do as she was told. She stamped her feet and answered back and sulked. Her governess, Miss MacVinty, spanked her and made her stand in the corner for hours. But Zenobia was as bad as ever.

  One rainy, stormy day, Miss MacVinty said, ‘Zenobia! Balance this book on your head to improve your posture.’

  ‘I will not,’ said Zenobia, and she snatched the book and flung it through the window with a smash.

  Immediately, a waterspout spun in through the broken windowpane. It lurched around the room, flinging books and ornaments and water everywhere.

  It sucked up Zenobia and whirled her away into the storm, and that was the end of her.

  Moral

  Disaster comes to every child,

  Headstrong, wilful, rude or wild.

  About the Authors

  PRUDENCE A GOODCHILD was, for many years, the Matron at St Euphrasia’s Charity School for the Daughters of Impoverished Gentlemen, where she is remembered for her strict principles and firmness of character. Her previous publications include Instructions for Young Ladies, Correct Conduct in Every Situation and One Thousand and One Needlework Patterns (fully illustrated).

  JUDITH ROSSELL is an award-winning writer and illustrator of children’s books. When she is not working, she practises the pianoforte and constructs tasteful and elegant arrangements of sea-weeds, snail shells and dried moss. Her previous publications include Withering-by-Sea and Wormwood Mire. Visit her at www.judithrossell.com

  Copyright

  The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia.

  First published in Australia in 2017

  by HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks

  a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

  ABN 36 009 913 517

  harpercollins.com.au

  Copyright © Judith Rossell 2017

  The right of Judith Rossell to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  HarperCollinsPublishers

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  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

  Rossell, Judith, author.

  A garden of lilies: improving tales for young minds by Prudence A Goodchild / Judith Rossell, author and illustrator.

  ISBN: 978 0 7333 3822 9 (hardback)

  ISBN: 978 1 4607 0819 4 (ebook)

  Rossell, Judith. Stella Montgomery, Book 0.

  For children.

  Fantasy fiction.

  Adventure stories.

  Cover design by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio

  Cover and internal illustrations by Judith Rossell