“But what is it?” Calvin demanded. “We know that it’s evil, but what is it?”
“Yyouu hhave ssaidd itti” Mrs. Which’s voice rang out. “Itt iss EeviII. Itt iss thee Ppowers of Ddarrkknesss!”
“But what’s going to happen?” Meg’s voice trembled. “Oh, please, Mrs. Which, tell us what’s going to happen!”
“Wee wwill cconnttinnue ttoffightt!”
Something in Mrs. Which’s voice made all three of the children stand straighter, throwing back their shoulders with determination, looking at the glimmer that was Mrs. Which with pride and confidence.
“And we’re not alone, you know, children,” came Mrs. Whatsit, the comforter. “All through the universe it’s being fought, all through the cosmos, and my, but it’s a grand and exciting battle. I know it’s hard for you to understand about size, how there’s very little difference in the size of tlie tiniest microbe and the greatest galaxy. You think about that, and maybe it won’t seem strange to you that some of our very best fighters have come right from your own planet, and it’s a little planet, dears, out on the edge of a little galaxy. You can be proud that it’s done so well.”
“Who have our fighters been?” Calvin asked.
“Oh, you must know them, dear,” Mrs. Whatsit said.
Mrs. Who’s spectacles shone out at them triumphantly, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
“Jesus!” Charles Wallace said. “Why of course, Jesusl”
“Of course!” Mrs. Whatsit said. “Co on, Charles, love. There were others. All your great artists. They’ve been lights for us to see by.”
“Leonardo da Vinci?” Calvin suggested tentatively. “And Michelangelo?”
“And Shakespeare,” Charles Wallace called out, “and Bach! And Pasteur and Madame Curie and Einstein!”
Now Calvin’s voice rang with confidence. “And Schweitzer and Gandhi and Buddha and Beethoven and Rembrandt and St. Francis!”
“Now you, Meg,” Mrs. Whatsit ordered.
“Oh, Euclid, I suppose.” Meg was in such an agony of impatience that her voice grated irritably. “And Copernicus. But what about Father? Please, what about Father?”
“Wee aarre ggoingg tto yourr ffatherr,” Mrs. Which said.
“But where is he?” Meg went over to Mrs. Which and stamped as though she were as young as Charles Wallace.
Mrs. Whatsit answered in a voice that was low but quite firm. “On a planet that has given in. So you must prepare to be very strong.”
All traces of cheer had left the Happy Medium’s face.
She sat holding the great ball, looking down at the shadowed earth, and a slow tear coursed down her cheek. “I can’t stand it any longer,” she sobbed. “Watch now, children, watch!”
Chapter 6 — The Happy Medium
AGAIN they focused their eyes on the crystal ball. The earth with its fearful covering of dark shadow swam out of view and they moved rapidly through the Milky Way. And there was the Thing again.
“Watch!” the Medium told them.
The Darkness seemed to seethe and writhe. Was this meant to comfort them?
Suddenly there was a great burst of light through the Darkness. The light spread out and where it touched the Darkness the Darkness disappeared. The light spread until the patch of Dark Thing had vanished, and there was only a gentle shining, and through the shining came the stars, clear and pure. Then, slowly, the shining dwindled until it, too, was gone, and there was nothing but stars and starlight. No shadows. No fear. Only the stars and the clear darkness of space, quite different from the fearful darkness of the Thing.
“You see!” the Medium cried, smiling happily. “It can be overcome? It is being overcome all the time!”
Mrs. Whatsit sighed, a sigh so sad that Meg wanted to put her arms around her and comfort her.
“Tell us exactly what happened, then, please,” Charles Wallace said in a small voice.
“It was a star,” Mrs. Whatsit said sadly. “A star giving up its life in battle with the Thing. It won, oh, yes, my children, it won. But it lost its life in the winning.”
Mrs. Which spoke again. Her voice sounded tired, and they knew that speaking was a tremendous effort for her. “Itt wass nnott sso Uongg aggo fforr yyou, wwass itt?” she asked gently.
Mrs. Whatsit shook her head.
Charles Wallace went up to Mrs. Whatsit. “I see. Now I understand. You were a star, once, weren’t you?”
Mrs. Whatsit covered her face with her hands as though she were embarrassed, and nodded.
“And you did-you did what that star just did?”
With her face still covered, Mrs. Whatsit nodded again.
Charles Wallace looked at her, very solemnly. “I should like to kiss you.”
Mrs. Whatsit took her hands down from her face and pulled Charles Wallace to her in a quick embrace. He put his arms about her neck, pressed his cheek against hers, and then kissed her.
Meg felt that she would have liked to kiss Mrs. Whatsit, too, but that after Charles Wallace, anything that she or Calvin did or said would be anticlimax. She contented herself with looking at Mrs. Whatsit. Even though she was used to Mrs. Whatsit’s odd getup (and the very oddness of it was what made her seem so comforting), she realized with a fresh shock that it was not Mrs. Whatsit herself that she was seeing at all. The complete, the true Mrs. Whatsit, Meg realized, was beyond human understanding. What she saw was only the game Mrs. Whatsit was playing; it was an amusing and charming game, a game full of both laughter and comfort, but it was only the tiniest facet of all the things Mrs. Whatsit could be. ,.
“I didn’t mean to tell you,” Mrs. Whatsit faltered. “I didn’t mean ever to let you know. But, oh, my dears, I did so love being a star!”
“Yyouu arre sstill verry yyoungg,” Mrs. Which said, her voice faintly chiding.
The Medium sat looking happily at the star-filled sky in her ball, smiling and nodding and chuckling gently. But Meg noticed that her eyes were drooping, and suddenly her head fell forward and she gave a faint snore.
“Poor thing,” Mrs. Whatsit said, “we’ve worn her out. It’s very hard work for her.”
“Please, Mrs. Whatsit,” Meg asked, “what happens now? Why are we here? What do we do next? Where is Father? When are we going to him?” She clasped her hands pleadingly.
“One thing at a time, love!” Mrs. Whatsit said.
Mrs. Who cut in. “As paredes tern ouvidos. That’s Portuguese. Walls have ears.”
“Yes, let us go outside,” Mrs. Whatsit said. “Come, well let her sleep.”
But as they turned to go, the Medium Jerked her head up and smiled at them radiantly. “You weren’t going to go without saying good-by to me, were you?” she asked.
“We thought we’d just let you sleep, dear.” Mrs. Whatsit patted the Medium’s shoulder. “We worked you terribly hard and we know you must be very tired.”
“But I was going to give you some ambrosia or nectar or at least some tea-”
At this Meg realized that she was hungry. How much time had passed since they had had their bowls of stew? she wondered.
But Mrs. Whatsit said, “Oh, thank you, dear, but I think we’d better be going.”
“They don’t need to eat, you know,” Charles Wallace whispered to Meg. “At least not food, the way we do. Eating’s just a game with them. As soon as we get organized again I’d better remind them that they II have to feed us sooner or later.”
The Medium smiled and nodded. “It does seem as though I should be able to do something nice for you, after having had to show those poor children such horrid things. Would they like to see their mother before they go?”
“Could we see Father?” Meg asked eagerly.
“Nno,” Mrs. Which said. “Wwee aare ggoingg tto yourr ffatherr, Mmegg. Doo nnott bbee immpatientt.”
“But she could see her mother, couldn’t she?” the Medium wheedled.
“Oh, why not,” Mrs. Whatsit put in. “It won’t take long and it can’t do any harm.”
“And Calvin, too?” Meg asked. “Could he see his mother, too?”
Calvin touched Meg in a quick gesture, and whether it was of thanks or apprehension she was not sure.
“I tthinkk itt iss a misstake.” Mrs. Which was disapproving. “Bbutt ssince yyou hhave menttionedd itt I ssupposse yyouu musstt ggo aheadd.”
“I hate it when she gets cross,” Mrs. Whatsit said, glancing over at Mrs. Which, “and the trouble is, she always seems to be right. But I really don’t see how it could hurt, and it might make you all feel better. Go on. Medium dear.”
The Medium, smiling and humming softly, turned the crystal ball a little between her hands. Stars, comets, planets, flashed across the sky, and then the earth came into view again, the darkened earth, closer, closer, till it filled the globe, and they had somehow gone through the darkness until the soft white of clouds and the gentle outline of continents shone clearly.