THE SECRET GARDEN

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

CHAPTER I: THERE IS NO ONE LEFT

Mary Lennox went to live at Misselthwaite Manor.
Misselthwaite was her uncle's big house.
Everyone said Mary looked cross.
It was true.

Mary was thin. Her hair was thin too.
Her face looked yellow.
She was born in India.
She was often sick.

Mary's father worked for the English government.
He was busy. He was often sick too.
Mary's mother was very pretty.
She liked parties. She did not want a little girl.

A nurse named an Ayah took care of baby Mary.
The Ayah kept Mary away from her mother.
This made Mary's mother happy.

Mary grew up seeing only her Ayah and other servants.
They always did what Mary wanted.
By six years old, Mary was very bossy. She was very selfish.

A teacher came to teach Mary to read.
The teacher did not like Mary.
She left after three months.
Other teachers came. They left fast too.
Mary did learn to read a little, because she wanted to.

One very hot morning, Mary woke up cross.
A strange woman stood by her bed. It was not her Ayah.

"Where is my Ayah?" Mary said. "Send her to me!"

The woman looked scared.
She said the Ayah could not come.
Mary got angry. She kicked and hit the woman.
Still, the Ayah did not come.

Something strange was happening that day.
Servants looked scared. Some servants were gone.
No one would tell Mary why.

Mary went outside to play alone.
She made a little flower garden with big red flowers.
She got angrier and angrier.
She said mean words about her missing Ayah.

Then Mary heard her mother talking outside.
A young man was with her.
Mary stared at her pretty mother.
Her mother's clothes had lots of lace.
But today her mother's eyes looked scared.

"Is it very bad?" her mother asked the young man.

"Very bad," he said. "You should have left two weeks ago."

Just then, loud crying came from the servants' homes.
"What is that?" her mother cried.

"Someone has died," the young man said.
"A sickness is here. It kills fast."

Mary's mother ran inside, scared.

The sickness was called cholera.
Cholera made many people very sick. Many people died.
The Ayah had died in the night.
That is why the servants cried.
More servants died. Others ran away, afraid.

Everyone forgot about Mary.
Nobody came to take care of her.
Mary cried. Mary slept. Time passed.

She found an empty dining room.
Food was still on the table.
She ate some fruit and crackers.
She drank a glass of wine, not knowing it was strong.
It made her very sleepy.
She went to her bed and slept a long time.

Many things happened while she slept.
She did not hear the sad sounds outside.

When she woke up, the house was silent.
She had never heard it so quiet.
No voices. No footsteps.

Mary wondered if everyone got well.
She wondered who would take care of her now.
She was not sad about her Ayah. She did not love easily.

She saw a little snake on the floor.
It was not scary. It moved under the door and left.

"How quiet it is," Mary said.
"It's like only me and the snake are here."

Then she heard footsteps.
Men came into the house.
They looked in every room.

"What sadness," one man said. "That pretty woman is gone.
I think the child died too. No one ever saw her much."

Then they opened Mary's door.
They were shocked to see her standing there.

"There's a child here!" one man said. "Alone! Who is she?"

"I am Mary Lennox," she said. "Why has no one come for me?"

"She was forgotten!" the man said, very surprised.

Mary stamped her foot. "Why was I forgotten?"

The young man named Barney looked very sad.

"Poor little girl," he said. "There is no one left to come."

That is how Mary learned the truth.
Her mother and father had died.
They had been carried away in the night.
The other servants had run off too.
Everyone forgot little Mary.
That is why the house was so quiet.
Only Mary and the little snake were left.

CHAPTER II: MISTRESS MARY QUITE CONTRARY

Mary liked to look at her pretty mother from far away.
But she did not know her mother well.
She did not miss her much.

Mary only thought about herself.
She was young. She always had someone take care of her.
So she believed someone always would.

She wondered where she would go next.
She hoped for kind people who would let her do what she wanted.

First, she went to stay with an English church leader.
She did not want to stay there...