Mary Sue Slater is not very happy right now, for she is staying with her Aunt Betsy and very spoiled cousin Albert for a few days.

     Mary Sue understood why she had to live here for a little while. Her family had to move to a new town because her father was starting a new job.  Her mother had to find a new house.  Mary Sue had to stay with Aunt Betsy.  Mary Sue also understood that in different houses there are different rules.  

      But understanding it and liking it were two different things. Mary Sue did not like it at all. . . . .

       "I'm going to take Puff for a walk," she said.

       "Dinner will be at six o'clock, Mary Sue."

       "I'll be on time!"

     Aunt Betsy frowned. "I would hope so!"   At Aunt Betsy's house, everything was on time.   Or else! 

 

Down by the muddy little creek, Mary Sue finds a strange ladder in a tree trunk.  With Puff in her arms she climbs down it and finds herself in a beautiful green land.

 

         Mary Sue heard a click and a flop.  Startled, she spun around.

      Standing by the tree was an ordinary man dressed in a suit of purple velvet.  His Alpine hat was purple with a long purple  plume.  His tie was a purple satin bow.  His shoes were shiny purple leather.

       The man in purple folded up a tiny silver ladder and slipped it into his pocket.  Mary Sue looked back at the tree hollow.  The long silver ladder she had climbed down was gone. Puzzled, Mary Sue turned back to the man in purple to ask about that ladder.

       "Bless my stars!" the man exclaimed.  He shuffled a dance step, tipped his purple hat, and clapped his hands.  "It's Mary the Marvelous!"

       Mary Sue looked around.  The  man was talking to her, all right.

       "I'm Mary Sue Slater.  I just came from up there."  She pointed to the tree.

      "Of course you did!" exclaimed the man.  "Bless my stars!  And bless a rainbow, too!  I was wishing you'd come, but sometimes wishing isn't enough.  Mary the Marvelous!  Just the person we need!"

      Mary Sue didn't know what to say.  No one ever called her marvelous.  Well, her mother had said "Marvelous!" the time Mary Sue brought home an A in English and an A in Science.  But the man in the purple suit couldn't know that.         

        The man did another dance step and tipped his hat at Puff. 

       "And there's Perfect Pooch!  This is a holiday indeed!  A day for whistling tunes and eating cream puffs whenever we wish." 

       "Yap!  Yap!"  To Mary Sue's surprise, Puff ran over to the man and let herself be petted. 

       "You will help us, won't you?" asked the man.  "You wouldn't disappoint the King!"

             "I don't know any king," said Mary Sue.

            "Only because you haven't met him yet."

            "If I haven't met him," asked Mary Sue,  "how can he know me?"

      The man in purple laughed.  "Why, everyone knows Mary the Marvelous!"

       They went through the pretty countryside, past the Song Leaf Trees past the Paint Pot trees and in what seemed just a trifle of time, they came to a small city.

 

       They stopped in front of a plain white house, the only house on that block.  It was flat on top with stingy little windows.  The garden had only one flower bed.  Three boys in velvet overalls were pulling weeds. 

         "Who lives here?" asked Mary Sue.

       "Why, the King!" exclaimed Mr. Tom.  "Who else lives in a castle?"

       Now Mary Sue had read a number of books, so she knew something about castles.  This did not look like much of a castle to her. 

       The plain metal door was opened by a young man in a long black robe with a lavender flower.  On his head he wore a lavender wig.

       "Greetings, Mr. Tom.  Welcome to you, Mary the Marvelous and Perfect Pooch."         

       "I see you have brightened your robe, Last Councilor," said Mr. Tom as they walked down the narrow hall.

         The Last Councilor frowned  and pulled up the hem of his robe.  He was wearing lavender shoes and socks.  

        "It was King Dindy's idea.  He said we were too gloomy."

         "Very colorful," said Mr. Tom.

       The Last Councilor opened a door marked "Throne Room" and they went in.

       The room was empty except for one plain chair in the middle.  On the arm of the chair hung a crown.  In the chair sat a man in a purple robe that was too big for him.

       The man did not look much like a king to Mary Sue.  He could have been a grocer, or a salesman, or a flagman on the train.  He could have been anybody's uncle, or a school teacher tired of teaching.

       When the king saw he had visitors, he grabbed his crown and put it on his head. . . . .

      "Thank you!  Thank you for coming, Mary the Marvelous!  Last Councilor, bring some chairs."  He sighed as he climbed back on his throne.  "Why do I have to think of everything myself?"

    "Now, King Dindy," began Mr. Tom.  "Tell us about the Trouble."

     The Last Councilor came back with two metal folding chairs for the visitors.

       "I'll let my Councilors tell you," said King Dindy.  "They love telling bad news."

      He reached above his chair and pulled a string.  A cowbell rang.  

 

   The King's four other councilors come in and tell of the rumors that people have heard.   Mr. Tom suggests that they need facts, not just rumors.

 

     "I agree with Mr. Tom," said Mary Sue.  "You need information, not rumors."

      "There, you see?" cried King Dindy to his Councilors.  "It's time we had some positive thinking around here!  Mr. Tom agrees.  Mary the Marvelous agrees.  I agree.  I'm the king!"

       "We do have Mary the Marvelous here to help us," said the Last Councilor.

         No one asked Mary Sue if she would have time to go with Mr. Tom.

 

    Before they can make any plans, they find that a giant bant has attacked the garden and brought a message from evil Queen Bea.   She threatens war and signs herself Empress of the World. . . . .

 

       "Empress of the world!" cried the Councilors.

       "That seems rather pushy," said Mr. Tom.

       "War!"  King Dindy began to stomp around the room.  "We don't allow wars!"

         "You never have wars?" asked Mary Sue.

       "We refuse to have wars!" sniffed the First Councilor.  "Wars are Not Nice."

         "So you don't have an army," guessed Mary Sue.

          The Councilors shrugged.  "What for?"

         "What shall we do, Mary the Marvelous?" asked King Dindy. 

      They all looked at her, sure she would think of something.   So she thought a minute.    "Do your allies have armies?"

       "What are allies?" asked the Next-to-the-First Councilor. 

         Mary Sue sighed.  "People who fight on your side."

       "Fight!"  The Middle  Councilor covered his ears again with his pink curls.  "Ugly, ugly word!"

     "If Mary the Marvelous says we need allies," said the young Last Councilor, "we should find allies!"

       "I like positive thinking!" cried King Dindy.    "How do we find allies, Mary the Marvelous?"

        "Who are your neighbors?" asked Mary Sue.

       Everyone looked at each other again.  "We're all neighbors," said the Next-to-the-Last Councilor.  "We all live right here in town."

         Mary Sue shook her head.  "I mean, in other places."

       The First Councilor gave a small, embarrassed cough.  "We don't go to other places.  We're happy here."

       "I'm not happy," said King Dindy.

 

   Mary begins to get a little worried about getting home in time for dinner.

      "Don't worry!" said King Dindy with a royal wave of his hand.  "There'll be no six o'clock until it's convenient."

   

      So it is decided that Mary the Marvelous. Mr. Tom, and some of his friends will go in search of allies for King Dindy.