Free A Wrinkle in Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle Page B

time she was prepared for the sudden and complete dissolution of her body.When she felt the tingling coming back to her fingertips she knew that this journey was almost over and she could feel again thepressure of Calvin’s hand about hers.
    Without warning, coming as a complete and unexpected shock, she felt a pressure she had never imagined, as though she were being completely flattened out by an enormous steam roller. This was far worse than the nothingness had been; while she was nothing there was no need to breathe, but now her lungs were squeezed together so that although she was dyingfor want of air there was no way for her lungs to expand and contract, to take in the air that she must have to stay alive. This was completely different from the thinning of atmosphere when they flew up the mountain and she had had to put the flowers to her face to breathe. She tried to gasp, but a paper doll can’t gasp. She thought she was trying to think, but her flattened-out mind was as unableto function as her lungs; her thoughts were squashed along with the rest of her. Her heart tried to beat; it gave a knifelike, sidewise movement, but it could not expand.
    But then she seemed to hear a voice, or if not a voice, at least words, words flattened out like printed words on paper, “Oh, no! We can’t stop here! This is a
two
-dimensional planet and the children can’t manage here!”
    Shewas whizzed into nothingness again, and nothingness was wonderful. She did not mind that she could not feel Calvin’s hand, that she could not see or feel or be. The relief from the intolerable pressure was all she needed.
    Then the tingling began to come back to her fingers, her toes; she could feel Calvin holding her tightly. Herheart beat regularly; blood coursed through her veins. Whateverhad happened, whatever mistake had been made, it was over now. She thought she heard Charles Wallace saying, his words round and full as spoken words ought to be, “
Really
, Mrs Which, you might have killed us!”
    This time she was pushed out of the frightening fifth dimension with a sudden, immediate jerk. There she was, herself again, standing with Calvin beside her, holding onto her hand for dearlife, and Charles Wallace in front of her, looking indignant. Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which were not visible, but she knew that they were there; the fact of their presence was strong about her.
    “Cchilldrenn, I appolloggize,” came Mrs Which’s voice.
    “Now, Charles, calm down,” Mrs Whatsit said, appearing not as the great and beautiful beast she had been when they last saw her, but in herfamiliar wild garb of shawls and scarves and the old tramp’s coat and hat. “You know how difficult it is for her to materialize. If you are not substantial yourself it’s
very
difficult to realize how limiting protoplasm is.”
    “I
ammm
ssorry,” Mrs Which’s voice came again; but there was more than a hint of amusement in it.
    “It is
not
funny.” Charles Wallace gave a childish stamp of his foot.
    Mrs Who’s glasses shone out, and the rest of her appeared more slowly behind them.
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”
She smiled broadly. “Prospero in
The Tempest
. I
do
like that play.”
    “You didn’t do it on
purpose?
” Charles demanded.
    “Oh, my darling, of course not,” Mrs Whatsit said quickly. “It was just a very understandable mistake. It’s very difficult for Mrs Which to think in a corporealway. She wouldn’t hurt you deliberately; you know that. And it’s really a very pleasant little planet, and rather amusing to be flat. We always enjoy our visits there.”
    “Where are we now, then?” Charles Wallace demanded. “And why?”
    “In Orion’s belt. We have a friend here, and we want you to have a look at your own planet.”
    “When are we going home?” Meg asked anxiously. “What about Mother? Whatabout the twins? They’ll be terribly worried about us. When we didn’t come in at bedtime—well, Mother must be