Daisy the Deer

by Lily Small

  Daisy dived after him, laughing, then chased him all the way across the meadows and dells. As they swung around a clump of bushes, she spotted something dangling in the moonlight.

  “Herbie!” she called. “Come back here!”

  Herbie did a somersault in the air to turn around.

  “You said you were hungry, didn’t you?” asked Daisy.

  “Yes, I’m starving!” Herbie said, zooming up.

  “And I think you said that you love hazelnuts?”

  “Ooooh, yes,” Herbie cried. “They’re my favorite. Why, have you found some?”

  “A whole bush of them,” said Daisy. “And they’re just ripe enough to eat!”

  Quickly, they gathered a little pile of nuts, and Daisy helped Herbie crack them open with a stamp of her hoof. Herbie chomped his way through half of them, and then stopped.

  “I’m full now,” he sighed, rubbing his tummy. “But I could really use a drink.”

  “No problem,” Daisy said, launching herself into the air again. “We’re not far from the pond now.”

  Above Moonshine Pond, the Moonbeam Moles were still hard at work, gathering moonbeams as fast as they could. While Herbie swooped down to the banks of the pond to slurp the crystal-clear water, Daisy looked around for her friend Maddy. She flew over the pond, weaving in and out of all the busy moles, but there was no sign of her.

  “That’s strange,” muttered Daisy. “Where has Maddy gone? Surely she’s still here catching moonbeams?”

  And then, just as Herbie flew up to join her again, she spotted Maddy—all alone on the banks of the pond, standing by a clump of bullrushes.

  “There’s my friend,” she told Herbie. “Let’s go and talk to her!”

  As they fluttered down to land beside Maddy, Daisy’s heart gave a little thud. She could tell right away that something was wrong. Maddy was looking very gloomy. Her silver-gray wings were drooping and her velvety fur looked flat.

  “Maddy, what’s wrong?” asked Daisy.

  Maddy gave a loud sniff. “There’s been a disaster,” she said in a trembly voice. “A total disaster, in fact!”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Lost Moonbeams

  “A disaster!” Daisy exclaimed. “What’s happened?” Then she noticed something was missing. “Maddy, where’s your net?”

  “That’s the disaster,” said Maddy, a tear trickling down her nose. “I was just chasing a lovely big moonbeam when the wind came along and blew my net away—whoooosh!”

  “Oh no!” Daisy felt so sorry for her friend. Maddy had been working really hard.

  “It was nearly full, too.” Maddy sat down and buried her face in her paws.

  “But that’s not so bad, is it?” Herbie asked, looking puzzled. “Can’t you get another net?”

  Maddy gave a little sob. “Yes, but—but not tonight. Not in time to win the competition.” She quickly explained the rules to Herbie. “And I was so close! I almost had a hundred moonbeams and now they’re all lost!” A tear rolled down her face, and she wiped it way with her paw.

  “Oh, Maddy, please don’t cry. We’ll help you look for it,” Daisy said kindly. “It can’t have gone too far. Herbie here will help, won’t you, Herbie?”

  “Of course I will.” Herbie gave a little skip of excitement. “I love hunting for things. Hide-and-seek is my most favorite game ever.”

  Maddy peeked at them from between her paws. She was looking a teeny bit hopeful now. “Would you?” she asked.

  “Yes! Come on, let’s go—there’s no time to lose!” cried Daisy.

  Herbie was already up in the air with his wings spread, riding circles on the wind. “Let’s look in trees first!” he yelled.

  He shot off at full speed with Daisy and Maddy just behind. The branches of the trees were swinging, their leaves jostling and rustling, but there was no sign of Maddy’s net. So they flew on toward some small bushes on the other side of Moonshine Pond. Herbie dived under them and whizzed over them, but there was still no sign of the net.

  “Now where can we look?” wailed Maddy. “I’ll never find it. And I’ll never win the contest and get my brambleberry crumble!”

  But then Herbie glanced up. “What’s that?” he cried, his prickles on end. He looked at Daisy, his eyes wide with fear. “Is it—is it—the Hedgehog Gobbler?”

  Daisy followed his gaze and gasped. There was something very strange among the stars! A mysterious glowing light, traveling quickly across the sky.

  “No, no, no, that’s not the Hedgehog Gobbler,” she reassured him.

  “Yes, it is,” Herbie said, flying around in fright. “Those are his big scary eyes, glowing at us.”

  “I told you, there’s no such thing as the Hedgehog Gobbler,” Daisy said firmly. “Shall we go and see what it really is?”

  “Only if you go first,” Herbie said fearfully.

  “Okay, come on, then!” Daisy called. She launched off with Maddy and Herbie on her tail.

  Up, up, up they flew, over the trees and high above the Heart of Misty Wood. The glowing object was still ahead of them, whirling and dancing in the wind. Daisy beat her wings even harder, until finally she got close enough to see what it was. And when she did, she couldn’t believe her eyes!

  “Maddy, it’s your net!” she called. “It’s glowing because it’s so full of moonbeams!”

  Daisy rushed after it, but Maddy and Herbie were struggling to keep up. Their little wings were whirring, and they were out of breath already!

  “Please … can … you … catch it … Daisy?” Maddy gasped. “Your wings … are bigger … than ours.”

  “I’ll do my best!” Daisy cried.

  She surged forward after the net. The wind whipped through her pale blue fur and made her brown eyes water, but she tucked her head down and flew faster, faster, faster—faster than she’d ever flown before! Maddy’s net spun and twisted through the air, turning cartwheels as it shot over the dark trees of the wood. Daisy swished this way and that, following the net as it flew above the treetops and headed toward Dewdrop Spring.

  Daisy beat her wings even faster. Now she was close enough to see all the different moonbeams glistening inside the net. She hoped none of them had fallen out.

  “One more push!” she said to herself.

  Closer … closer … closer! She reached out with her long neck, trying to catch the net between her teeth. But just as she was about to catch it, the wind snatched it and sent it spiraling toward Dewdrop Spring.

  “Oh no! It mustn’t land in the water!” Daisy cried. “We’ll never get the moonbeams back if it does.”

  She dived down, swooping toward the surface of the spring. The wind suddenly dropped, and the net began to fall down … down … down.…

  “I’m going to be too late!” Daisy puffed.

  She flapped her wings as hard as she could and zoomed after it. She wouldn’t give up! As she opened her mouth to grab the net with her teeth, she heard a big SPLASH. She’d gotten it! But what was that splash? Had the moonbeams fallen out?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  A Special Visitor

  Daisy rose up away from Dewdrop Spring and circled around to find Maddy and Herbie, who were just catching up.

  “You did it!” Maddy cheered.

  “Yes,” said Daisy, passing her the net. “But I’m really sorry—I think I lost some of your moonbeams. I heard them splashing into the water.”

  “No, no,” squealed Herbie. “We saw it all. It wasn’t the moonbeams that splashed into the water—it was your hooves!”

  Daisy felt her heart leap. She was so relieved!

  “Thank you, thank you!” Maddy squeaked, fluttering around Daisy. “Now I’d better go and make up for lost time. Maybe I can still win the competition!”

  “Yes, yes, go go go!” Daisy exclaimed. “And good luck!”

  As Maddy raced off, Daisy looked down. Her legs and hoofs were dripping with water, so she shook them one by one to dry them, then turned to Herbie.

&
nbsp; “You must be tired by now, Herbie,” she said. “That was a lot of flying, wasn’t it?”

  Herbie’s eyes were beginning to droop. He put one paw up to his mouth to hide a yawn. “Yes, it was. But I’m not tired.” He blinked, then tried to open his eyes wide. “Not even a tiny bit.”

  “Are you sure?” Daisy asked gently. “Wouldn’t you like to snuggle down to sleep?”

  “No! I told you—I’m never going to sleep again,” Herbie insisted, hiding another yawn.

  Daisy gave her fur one last shake, and smiled. “Oh yes, you did say that. Well, we’d better do something else, then. How about we go back to Heather Hill?”

  Herbie looked at her suspiciously. “But that’s where I usually go to sleep for the night,” he said. “You’re not going to make me go to bed, are you?”

  “No, no, of course not,” Daisy said soothingly. “I need to find some more fairy animals to deliver dreams to, that’s all. You can help me do that.”

  Herbie nodded. “All right, then.”

  Daisy sniffed the cool air and fluttered her wings. It was her favorite time of night. The stars were twinkling merrily, and the moon was at its brightest. It was when she felt her most lively—but she could see that poor Herbie was struggling. As they took off once more, his wings would only beat very slowly—so slowly that he could hardly stay in the air!

  “It’s not too far,” Daisy said. “We’ll fly back up past Golden Meadow, and you can have a rest every now and then if you want.”

  “I … don’t … need … to … rest,” said Herbie, but even his voice sounded slow.

  Daisy felt so sorry for him. She wished he would believe that there was no such thing as a Hedgehog Gobbler, but he was much too frightened. What could she do?

  They flew up the valley, past tall, waving poplar trees, gnarled old oaks, and blossoming hedgerows. They were about halfway up when Daisy thought she heard a strange whooshing sound. She glanced at Herbie. Could it be his tired wings making a funny noise?

  But then Herbie heard it, too. “What’s that noise?” he demanded. “Is it the Hedgehog Gobbler?”

  The whooshing was getting louder, and louder, and LOUDER!

  “It is!” Herbie yelled. “It really is the Gobbler this time!”

  Daisy didn’t know what to say. The whooshing sound was definitely very strange and scary, and she didn’t know what it could be. She gestured at Herbie to fly down to the ground.

  “Here it comes!” shrieked Herbie, making Daisy jump.

  They cowered as a huge creature flew toward them. It had massive dark wings and enormous eyes. Even Daisy was frightened this time—it definitely wasn’t a tree or a net of flying moonbeams!

  “Who are you?” she called out bravely.

  The creature swooped past them and landed on the branch of a sycamore tree. “I am the Wise Wishing Owl,” it hooted. “And tell me, whoooooooo are yoooooou?”

  Daisy and Herbie heaved a sigh of relief, then looked at each other in amazement. The Wise Wishing Owl? She was the oldest, wisest creature in all of Misty Wood, and the fairy animals rarely saw her!

  “I thought you were the Hedgehog Gobbler!” exclaimed Herbie. “I’m so glad you’re not.”

  The Wise Wishing Owl ruffled her feathers. “The Hedgehog what?” she hooted.

  “The Hedgehog Gobbler,” said Herbie, fluttering up toward the beautiful owl. “It’s really big, even bigger than you, and ten times scarier,” he explained breathlessly. “It’s got huge teeth and a ginormous belly, and it comes out at night to find hedgehogs who are curled up fast asleep. And then it gobbles them up whole!”

  “Is that so?” the Wise Wishing Owl said, gazing at him with her big round eyes.

  “Yes! Yes!” said Herbie. “We’ve been trying to escape from it all night!”

  “Oh, dear.” The Wise Wishing Owl looked at Herbie gravely. “Tell me something, young hedgehog. I have lived in Misty Wood longer than any other creature, but I have never, ever heard of or seen a Hedgehog Gobbler. So how do you explain that?”

  “I don’t know.” Herbie frowned. “But I do know that he’s out there and that I mustn’t ever go to sleep again.”

  The Wise Wishing Owl gave a soft chuckle. “All right,” she said. “Tell me something else. Who told you about the Hedgehog Gobbler?”

  “My big brother, Horace,” said Herbie.

  The Wise Wishing Owl nodded. “I thought it might be someone like that. Now, does Horace ever play tricks on you?”

  “Oh yes,” said Herbie. “We play tricks on each other all the time. He loves hiding my breakfast or jumping out at me from behind a tree, so then I pretend to be a spiny dragon to scare him or…” Suddenly, his eyes opened wide. “Do you—do you think the story about the Hedgehog Gobbler is one of his tricks?”

  The Wise Wishing Owl smiled and nodded. “Yes, from what I know about big brothers, I think it most certainly is. Now, what do you think he’d say if he knew you’d stayed up all night worrying about it?”

  Herbie’s cheeks went pink. “Oh! He’d really laugh.” He looked at Daisy, then the owl, then back to Daisy. “He’d better not find out.”

  “That’s right,” agreed the Wise Wishing Owl, winking at Daisy. Daisy smiled and nodded.

  “In that case, I’d better get back to Heather Hill as fast as possible,” said Herbie. “I’ve got a lot of sleeping to do!”

  “Thank you, Wise Wishing Owl,” said Daisy. “I’m so glad we’ve sorted out the mystery of the Hedgehog Gobbler at last!”

  She and Herbie waved good-bye to the beautiful owl and rose up into the starry sky. Herbie managed to find one last burst of energy, and he sailed along on the breeze singing to himself.

  “There’s no Hedgehog Gobbler,” he warbled. “There’s nooo Hedgehog Gobbler!”

  Daisy chased after him, chuckling to herself, until Heather Hill was in sight. They swooped down to the old oak tree—the very same tree that she had found Herbie beside at the beginning of the night.

  Herbie landed among the roots and snuggled down. He curled into a ball, then looked up at Daisy with his eyelids drooping. “Thank you, Daisy,” he said drowsily. “You’ve been a really good friend to me tonight.”

  “Oh, that’s all right,” said Daisy. “You’ve been a big help to me, too. Perhaps we could have another adventure together one day.”

  But Herbie didn’t reply. He had tucked his nose between his paws, and he was already fast asleep!

  CHAPTER SIX

  The Best Dream Ever

  Daisy smiled to herself. “Now it’s Herbie’s turn for the best dream ever,” she murmured. “Let’s see…”

  Daisy thought of all the things she had learned about Herbie. She leaned close to his tiny ear and began. “You’re out in the woods with your friends,” she whispered. “You’re all having loads of fun doing your special job, collecting leaves with your prickles to make Misty Wood nice and tidy. While you’re working, you play hide-and-seek, and you hide so cleverly that no one can find you for the longest time!”

  Daisy gazed down at Herbie and saw a happy smile curling up the corners of his mouth.

  “And then, tucked into your hiding place, you spot something really tasty,” she went on. “It’s a big pile of shiny brown hazelnuts. When your friends find you at last, you show them what you’ve found and you all decide to have a hazelnut party!”

  Herbie gave a tiny squeak of excitement and twitched his nose in his sleep.

  “You share all your hazelnuts with your friends and, to say thank you, they sing you a song. And then you all begin to dance.”

  As Herbie wriggled happily in his sleep, Daisy fetched some leaves to cover him so that he was even cozier than before. Then she slipped away quietly into the night, leaving him to his lovely dream.

  With the moon beginning to dip down in the sky, she knew she had no time to waste—she wanted to go and see how Maddy was doing.

  Daisy flew back down the valley toward Moonshine Pond. As she went, she realized t
hat the wind had finally dropped, and the trees and hedgerows lay still and silent under the sparkling stars.

  At least Maddy won’t lose her net now, Daisy thought. Maybe she’ll have managed to catch her final moonbeams just in time.

  By the time she arrived at the pond, all the moles had finished work for the night. They were gathering on the banks by the willow trees, holding their moonbeam nets. The competition must be over already! Daisy rushed forward to see what was happening. Where was Maddy? And who had won?

  And then she spotted her friend. She was standing right at the top of the bank by a fallen tree trunk. Meredith, the oldest Moonbeam Mole of Misty Wood, was standing on the trunk as if it were a stage—and she was making an announcement.

  “And the winner of our special brambleberry crumble competition is … Maddy!” she exclaimed. “Maddy, please step forward to show everyone your net!”

  Maddy looked as though she would burst with pride. She hopped onto the tree trunk and waved her net, which was bulging with all her moonbeams.

  “Well done, Maddy. You were the first mole to collect one hundred moonbeams,” Meredith said, smiling at her. “And now here’s your special prize.”

  Daisy and all the moles clapped and cheered. Maddy bowed to everyone before accepting the delicious dessert. The smell of the crumble wafted over to Daisy, and her mouth began to water. She was so happy for her friend.

  “Now, I know that Maddy will be dying to taste her prize,” said Meredith. “But first, there’s an important job to do. We have all worked very, very hard tonight collecting our moonbeams. And now it’s time to place them where they belong—in Moonshine Pond. So, Maddy, as our winner, would you please lead the way?”

  Maddy nodded eagerly. She put her crumble down on the tree-trunk stage to keep it safe, then fluttered up and above the water with her net. She tilted the net and tipped out the moonbeams. They rippled gently into the water, lighting it up with a soft pearly glow. All the other Moonbeam Moles did the same, until Moonshine Pond glistened and shimmered more beautifully than Daisy had ever seen before in her life. It looked amazing!