Chapter 14: The Queen

We waited on the windowsill and waited for the dream to take effect. Then dawn came and the sun shone through the roofs of Victoria Station, and it warmed our backs.

In the distance, we heard a church clock striking. I counted the strikes and it was seven in the morning.

What if it doesn't work? What if the Queen doesn't believe us? What if we get thrown out? What if we're sent to prison or back to my orphanage? It couldn't get worse. The Queen maybe shocked to see us, but we must be patient and wait to see what happens.

Then we heard the Queen talking in her sleep

"Oh no!" she cried out. "No! Don't - Someone stop them! - Don't let them do it! – I can't bear it! – Oh please stop them! – It's horrible! – Oh, it's ghastly! – No! No! No!..."

It looked like the dream was working, I felt happy, but very guilty at the same time. It must be scary and I felt sorry. But it was the only way and it must be done.

The sun then rose into the sky and we looked back at the garden to see if the watchman and his dog spotted us. But the garden was empty, with a pale summer mist hanging over it like smoke. The garden was really enormous and it had a really big lake with ducks swimming in the water.

I now heard footsteps coming to the Queen's bedroom, and I immediately closed the curtains so Sophie and I didn't get caught. Then there was a knocking and the door opened.

"Good morning your Majesty," a middle aged woman came in, she was one of the maids in the Palace. There was a pause and then a slight rattle of china and silver.

"Oh Mary! Something dreadful has just happened!" This really was the voice Sophie and I heard many times on the radio and television, especially on Christmas Day. It was a very well-known voice.

"Whatever it is ma'am?"

"I just had the most frightful dream! It was a nightmare! It was awful!"

"Oh, I am sorry ma'am. But don't be distressed. You're awake now and it will go away. I was only a dream ma'am."

"Do you know what I dreamt Mary? I dreamt that girls and boys were being snatched out of their beds at boarding-school and were being eaten by the most ghastly giants! The giants were putting their arms through the dormitory windows and plucking the children out with their fingers. One lot from a girls' school and another from a boys' school! It was all so…. Vivid Mary! It was so real!"

The room was filled with silence, and Sophie and I waited. But why was there silence? Why didn't either one, even the maid, why didn't she say anything?

"What on earth's the matter, Mary?" the famous voice of the Queen asked.

There was still silence.

"Mary! You've gone as white as a sheet! Are you feeling ill?"

Suddenly there was a crash and a clatter of crockery, which meant that Mary dropped the tray holding the Queen's breakfast.

"Mary!" the Queen's voice was as sharp as ice. "I think you'd better sit down at once! You look as though you're going to faint! You really mustn't take it so hard just because I have an awful dream."

"That… that … that isn't the reason, ma'am." Mary's voice was filled with fright.

"Then for heaven's sake what is the reason?"

"I'm very sorry about the tray, ma'am."

"Oh, don't worry about the tray. But what on earth was it that made you drop it? Why did you go white as a ghost all of a sudden?"

"You haven't seen the papers yet, have you ma'am?"

"No, what do they say?"

We heard the rustling of a newspaper as it was handed over to the Queen.

"It's like the very dream you had in the night ma'am."

"Rubbish, Mary. Where is it?"

"On the front page, ma'am. It's the big headlines."

"Great Scott!" the Queen exclaimed. "Eighteen girls vanish mysteriously from their beds at Roedean School! Fourteen boys disappeared from Eton! Bones are found underneath dormitory windows!"

We dreaded at the thought of those poor children being eaten by the giants last night. The famous voice gasped in disgust as the newspaper proved that the dream we gave her may have been real.

"Oh, how ghastly!" the voice of the Queen cried out. "It's absolutely frightful! Bones under the windows! What can have happened? Oh, those poor children!"

"But ma'am… don't you see, ma'am…?"

"See what, Mary?"

"Those children were taken away almost exactly as you dreamt it ma'am!"

"Not by giants, Mary."

"No ma'am," said Mary. "But the bit of the girls and boys disappearing from their dormitories, you dreamt it so clearly and then it actually happened. That's why I came over all queer, ma'am."

"I'm coming myself over queer, Mary."

"It gives me the shakes, ma'am, when something like that happens, it really does."

"I don't blame you, Mary."

"I shall get you some more breakfast, ma'am, and have this mess cleaned up."

"No! Don't go, Mary! Stay here a moment!"

I looked at Sophie and she wanted to see the inside of the room. But we can't touch the curtains or we'll be thrown out.

"I really did dream of those children, Mary. It was clear as a crystal."

"I know you did, ma'am."

"I don't know how giants got into it. That was rubbish."

"Shall I draw the curtains ma'am? Then we shall all feel better. It's a lovely day."

"Please do."

We were trapped as the footsteps came closer, I held Sophie's hand and held my breath.

When the green curtains pulled apart, the maid screamed. Sophie and I froze like marble statues.

The Queen sitting in her bed looked up from reading The Times newspaper and the color drained from her face, and she didn't scream when she saw us. She realized that there were two girls sitting on the windowsill in their nightgowns.

We were petrified. Even the Queen was petrified too; we thought she would be surprised, but for her sake she remained calm, but scared.

Mary, the maid was a middle-aged woman with a funny white cap on her head immediately recovered from her shock.

"What in the name of heaven do you think you're both doing in here?" she shouted angrily to us.

"We can explain," I said.

The Queen's eyes were as big as saucers and her jaw dropped opened, and her lovely face was filled with disbelief.

"Now listen here, young ladies," Mary was angry. "How on earth did you get into this room?"

"I don't believe it," the Queen was murmuring. "I simply don't believe it."

"I'll take them out ma'am, at once," said the maid.

"No, Mary! No, don't do that!" The Queen spoke sharply as the maid was shocked.

"Are you all right ma'am?"

"Tell me, Mary," she whispered. "Tell me quite truthfully, is there really a little girl and a young lady sitting on my window-sill or am I still dreaming?"

"They are sitting there all right, ma'am!" Mary said. "As clear as daylight, but heaven only knows how they got there! Your Majesty is certainly not dreaming at this time!"

"That's exactly what I just dreamt!" the Queen exclaimed. "I really did dream it! I dreamed that a little girl and a young lady would be sitting on my window-sill in their nightgowns and they would talk to me!"

Mary was filled with disbelief and she placed her hands to her starched white bosom. She was indeed lost. She had not been trained to cope with this kind of madness.

We slowly got off of the window still and stood still.

"Little girl, and young lady," the Queen said. "Come here please."

Sophie and I walked towards the Queen and we both curtsied.

"Are you real?" the Queen asked us.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sophie said murmuring as I nodded.

"What are your names?"

"Sophie, Your Majesty."

"Joanna, ma'am."

"And how did you two get up on to my window-sill? No! Don't answer that! Hang on a moment! I dreamed that a giant put you there!"

"He did, Your Majesty," Sophie said.

"That's right, ma'am," I said.

The maid gave a howl of anguish and clasped her hands over her face.

"Control yourself, Mary," the Queen said sharply. Then to us she said, "You are not serious about the giant, are you?"

"Oh yes, Your Majesty," Sophie said. "He's out in the garden now."

"Is he indeed," the Queen said. The sheer absurdity of it all was helping her regaining her composure. "So he's in the garden, is he?" she said, smiling a little.

"Yes, he is, Your Majesty," I said. "He's not like the other giants."

"He is a good giant, Your Majesty," Sophie said. "You need not be frightened of him."

"I'm delighted to hear that," the Queen said, still smiling.

"He is our best friend, Your Majesty," I said. "He's harmless too."

"How nice," the Queen said.

"He's a lovely giant, Your Majesty," Sophie said.

"I'm quite sure he is," the Queen said. "But why have you two and this giant have come to see me?"

"I think you may have dreamed that part of it too, You Majesty," I said calmly.

That pulled the smile right off of the Queen's face.

She was totally convinced that the end of the dream of the Big Guy and us was proof that she did remember that we came to warn her of the nine man-eating giants.

"You did dream that, didn't you, Your Majesty?" Sophie asked.

The maid felt like that we were out of our blooming minds.

"Yes," the Queen murmured. "Yes, now you come to mention it, I did. But how do you know what I dreamed?"

"Oh it's a long story, Your Majesty," I said. "Would you like us to call the Big Friendly Giant?"

The Queen stared at us, and we looked straight back at the Queen, her face was open and quite serious.

"Shall Joanna and I call him for you?" Sophie asked. "You'll like him very much."

The Queen took a deep breath. She looked glad that no one except her faithful old maid Mary was here to see what was going on.

"Very well," she said. "You may call your giant. No, wait a moment. Mary, pull yourself together and give me my dressing gown and slippers."

The maid did as she was told. The Queen got out of bed and put on a pale pink dressing gown and slippers.

"You may call him now," the Queen said. We were about to turn away, but we turned back to the Queen and gave her a curtsy. We headed back to the window and we called out to him.

"BFG! Her Majesty would like to see you!" Sophie called.

"Don't worry Big Guy, Her Majesty, means no harm and is very interested," I called.

The Queen crossed over to the window and stood beside Sophie.

"Come down off that ledge," she said. "You two are going to fall backwards any moment."

Sophie and I jumped down into the room and we stood by the Queen at the open window. Mary, the maid, stood behind us, with her hands planted at her hips and she still did not believe us.

"I want no part of this fiasco," I gave her a glare.

"I don't see any Giant," the Queen said.

"Please wait," Sophie said.

"He'll be out very soon," I said.

"Shall I take them away now ma'am?" Mary asked. I glared at her again and took a deep breath to control my temper.

"Take them downstairs and give them some breakfast," the Queen said.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes beside the lake and out came the BFG. He walked gracefully like a nobleman with his cloak flowing in the wind with his trumpet in his hand. He glided across the lawn.

The maid screamed in horror and fainted.

The Queen gasped, but Sophie and I waved and smiled.

The BFG took his time, and he had a dignified look in his approach. He came to the window where the four of us were standing. He stopped and gave a slow bow and he straightened up to us eye level with us.

"Your Majester," the BFG said. "I is your humbug servant."

"We are very pleased to meet you," the Queen was astonished and impressed for meeting the Giant for the first time. But she did not scream and remained calm and self-composed.

I looked down below to see the gardener walking on the lawn with a wheelbarrow. He caught sight of the BFG's long legs over to his left, he looked up to the height of the BFG's enormous body. He gripped the handles of the BFG and he then fell over and fainted. But the Queen, the BFG, and Sophie did not notice the gardener fainting.

"Oh Majester!" the BFG cried. Oh, Queen! Oh Monarcher! Oh, Golden Sovereign! Oh, Ruler! Oh, Ruler of Straight Lines! Oh, Sultana! I is coming here with my little friends Sophie and Joanna…. To give you a…." The BFG hesitated, searching for the right word?

"To give me what?" the Queen asked.

"A sistance," the BFG said beaming.

The Queen looked puzzled.

"He sometimes speaks a bit funny, You Majesty," Sophie said. "He never went to school."

"But we think his speech is good," I said.

"Then we must sent him to school," the Queen said. "We have some very good schools in this country."

"I has great secrets to tell Your Majester," the Big Guy said.

"I should be delighted to hear them," the Queen said. "But not in my dressing gown."

Mary regained consciousness

"Shall you wish to get dressed, ma'am?" Mary asked.

"Have either of you had breakfast?" the Queen asked.

"No, ma'am," I said.

"Oh, could we?" Sophie cried. "Oh, please! I haven't eaten a thing since yesterday!"

"I was about to have mine," the Queen said. "But Mary dropped it."

The maid gulped.

"I imagine we have more food in the Palace," the Queen, speaking to the BFG. "Perhaps you and you little friends would care to join me?"

"Will it be repulsant snozzcumbers, Majester?" the BFG asked.

"Will it be what?" the Queen asked.

"Stinky snozzcumbers."

"What is he talking about?" the Queen said. "It sounds like a rude word to me."

"No, no, no, Big Guy," I said scolding him. "Remember that human don't grow them, it'll be something better than those snozzcumbers. Forgive us ma'am," I said turning to her.

"Mary," the Queen asked the maid. "Ask them to serve breakfast for four, I mean five in the… I think it had better be in the Ballroom. That has the highest ceiling. Please invite the Prime Minister to join us." To the BFG she said. "I'm afraid you will have to go through the door on your hands and knees. I shall send someone to show you the way."

The BFG reached up and lifted up Sophie and I out of the window. "You two and I is leaving her Majester alone to get dressed," he said.

"No, leave the girls here with me," the Queen said. "We'll have to find something for them to, they both can't have breakfast in their nighties."

The BFG returned Sophie and I to the bedroom and we walked to the Queen.

"Can we have sausages, Your Majesty?" Sophie said. "And bacon and fried eggs?"

"How about some tea please?" I asked.

"I think that will be managed," the Queen answered smiling.

"Just wait till you taste it!" Sophie said to the BFG. "No more snozzcumbers from now on!"

"It'll be way better!" I said.