Poppy Muddlepup's Daring Rescue

by Daisy Meadows

  Jess bent down, too. “Her brothers and sisters are with her,” she said. “Molly! We’re trapped!”

  Molly darted over and peered beneath the bushes, then gasped in horror as she saw the girls in the thorny cage.

  “Please can you find someone to help get us out?” asked Jess.

  Molly didn’t reply. Instead, she looked thoughtful for a moment, then scampered to one of the twisted branches and bit it, hard. “No problem!” she said cheerily, and turned to her family. “Remember how Lily and Jess saved me when I was stuck behind that waterfall? Now we’re going to save them! Come on, everyone. Nibble and bite for all you’re worth!”

  The mouse family set to work, using their sharp teeth to gnaw the branches. Nibble and bite, nibble and bite …

  To their delight, Jess, Lily, and Poppy watched a gap gradually begin to appear in the prickly cage. Soon, it was big enough for Poppy to squeeze through and escape. Not long after, Lily and Jess were free, too!

  “Hooray!” cheered the Twinkletails.

  Jess and Lily quickly explained about Patch and how they needed to make the Rise and Shine potion before sunset, otherwise he would sleep forever, or the Muddlepups would have to give up Garden Grove and its healing plants to Grizelda so she could use them in her terrible spells.

  “We need to find jewel water,” said Lily. “We think it’s from a stream with jewels inside it.”

  The mice looked mystified. “I’ve never seen anything like that in the forest,” Molly said sadly.

  One of Molly’s brothers, Nifty, said shyly, “The plants here are big and lush and very green, which usually means there’s water nearby. If we can find the water that makes these plants grow, we might find the jewel water, too.”

  “Oh, Nifty, you’re so clever!” said Lily, blowing him a kiss.

  His pink ears blushed bright red and he smiled happily.

  Jess suggested they fan out in a circle to search. “Yell if you find water,” she said.

  Only minutes later, there was an excited squeak from Nifty at the edge of Toadstool Glade. He was spinning round and round, trying to grab his tail. Everyone ran over, wondering what he was doing.

  Eventually, Nifty caught the end of his tail. “Look!” he squeaked.

  Jess and Lily peered closely.

  “Water,” said Jess. “Water droplets on Nifty’s tail!” She felt the grass. It was damp.

  Then Poppy sniffed and padded to a patch of soft green ferns. “Here!” she cried, bouncing in excitement. “Water! Over here! We’ve found it!”

  Lily ran to hold the ferns aside. A silvery spring bubbled up from the earth into a trickle no wider than her hand. There, glittering in the sparkling little stream, were brightly colored jewels. The water flowing over them sparkled with all the colors of the rainbow.

  Lily scooped some up into her hands and it twinkled in her palms.

  “Jewel water!” cried Jess, leaning over her shoulder. “It definitely looks magical, doesn’t it?”

  Lily let it run through her fingers, then she and Jess grabbed each other and jumped up and down, with Poppy bounding around them.

  “It’s the second ingredient!” Lily cried. “Good job, Poppy!” She turned to the mouse family. “Thank you, Twinkletails. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your sharp teeth—and Nifty’s tail!”

  The little mice scampered around their feet, squeaking happily.

  Once they had recovered from their excitement, Jess said, “We have to take the water to Patch. But we don’t have a bucket. How can we carry it?”

  Poppy’s tail started wagging. “Bottle blooms!” she cried, and began searching inside her flower bag. She pulled out a bunch of pale, bottle-shaped blue flowers. “They never spill a drop,” Poppy explained. “We can use them to carry the jewel water.”

  Lily and Jess held the bottle blooms steady while the Twinkletails filled their baskets from the spring, then carefully poured the shimmering water into the flowers. Poppy showed the girls how to twist the tiny petals at the top of the flowers to seal them closed.

  “Thank goodness for your flower bag, Poppy,” said Lily, as she and Jess tucked the bottle blooms safely into their pockets.

  “Now to find the Sunrise Berries,” said Jess. “Molly, have you ever seen them on the menu at the Toadstool Café?”

  Molly and her family shook their heads. “I’ve never seen them on the Treasure Tree, either,” said Nifty. “That’s where most of our food comes from.”

  “It’s really tall, though,” said Molly, “the tallest tree in the forest. I don’t think anyone has explored all of it.”

  Jess noticed that Lily was frowning slightly. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I was thinking,” said Lily, “that maybe the clue is in the name. Sunrise Berries. Anything growing right at the top of the Treasure Tree would be first to see the sunrise. Maybe that’s where we’ll find them.”

  Jess gave a whoop of delight. “I bet you’re right,” she cried. “Thanks, Twinkletails. We’re off to explore the Treasure Tree!”

  The Treasure Tree was huge—so big that when Lily looked up, it seemed to fill the sky. Food hung from its branches and long vines dangled around the trunk. Poppy told the girls to each tie a vine around their waist. Then she clambered up onto Lily’s back.

  “Now pull the vines,” said Poppy.

  Lily and Jess gave them a tug. To their amazement, they were lifted off the ground!

  The vines pulled them gently up through the branches. Poppy held tight, ducking whenever a melon or a bunch of bananas threatened to bump into her.

  They passed clumps of every sort of nut, even coconuts, and they could smell the sweet strawberry branch long before they reached it.

  Jess’s mouth watered when she saw fat purple plums. She was just about to pick one, when she heard a voice above her.

  “Ssh!” she whispered to the others. “Someone’s singing up there.”

  Lily felt her tummy tighten. “Not Gretchen, I hope,” she whispered. She stretched upward to look, and jumped as a furry tail swished by.

  The voice sang, “Nuts, nuts, I’m nuts about nuts …”

  “It’s Woody Flufftail!” cried Poppy. “Hey, Woody!”

  Lily and Jess gave their vines another tug to make them stop, and stepped onto one of the branches. The squirrel’s cute little face peeped between two golden pineapples.

  “Hello, Poppy! Hello, Jess and Lily!” he chattered. “Wasn’t the Flower Festival fun? I’m collecting apricots for a pie. What are you looking for?”

  “Sunrise Berries,” said Poppy. She explained about Patch and the potion. “We think the berries might grow at the top of the Treasure Tree, and we really need them.”

  “They could be up there,” agreed Woody, “but I’ve heard they’re very rare.” He leaped onto the trunk. “Follow me,” he cried. “If there are any Sunrise Berries up there, I’ll find them!”

  He bounded up through the branches, his fluffy tail rippling. The others followed on their vines. When they reached the top, Lily, Jess, and Poppy stared in wonder at the great forest spread out beneath them.

  “What an amazing sight,” said Lily.

  “Forget the view,” said Jess. “Let’s look for Sunrise Berries.”

  They scanned the topmost branches. Tucked among the tree’s thick green leaves were peanuts and peaches, lemons and limes, gooseberries and grapefruits, but no Sunrise Berries.

  “Sorry, everyone,” Woody said sadly. “I wish I could have helped you.”

  Lily sat down on a branch, hugging the tearful Poppy. “We must have got it wrong,” the puppy wailed, “thinking the berries would grow at the top of the tallest tree.”

  “No, it was a good idea,” said Woody. “They do grow high up. It’s just unlucky that the Treasure Tree doesn’t have any growing right now.”

  “But there’s no taller tree in the forest than this one,” said Lily. “So where else could they be?”

  Jess felt a chill as she glanced
around again, this time looking even farther than the forest’s edge.

  Far off, across dark water, stood a cold, forbidding tower. Gray clouds hung above it, and Jess jumped as a bolt of lightning lit up the building’s roof. She squinted and could just about make out the shape of a woman at the window—a woman with tendrils of long, green hair.

  “Grizelda!” Jess gasped. “That scary tower must be her home.” She shivered. “Remember what she said—that we’d never dare try to reach the berries?”

  Lily felt her heart sink as she nodded. “Maybe the berries are high up. But instead of being up a tree …”

  “… they’re at the top of Grizelda’s tower,” finished Jess grimly. “I’m afraid it makes sense.”

  Lily felt close to tears as she stroked Poppy. “Let’s go back down,” she said.

  They said good-bye to Woody and the vines gently lowered them back through the branches. Poppy clung onto Lily’s back, paws around her neck.

  On the ground, poor Poppy’s ears drooped miserably. Her eyes were wet with tears. “We’ll never save Patch,” she sobbed. “Not if the Sunrise Berries are at the top of the witch’s tower. No one would dare to go there.”

  Lily and Jess looked at each other.

  “We dare,” said Jess in the bravest voice she could muster.

  “That’s right,” said Lily. “It’ll be okay, Poppy. Think about what we’ve done already! We found out about the potion, we escaped from that awful cage, and we’ve found the first two ingredients. And we couldn’t have done all that without you!”

  “Exactly,” said Jess. “Now we’re going to the witch’s tower and we’re going to get those berries.”

  Poppy’s tail started to wag. “And then we’ll save Patch!” she said.

  “We will,” said Jess firmly.

  The girls shared a smile. They didn’t know if they’d manage to beat Grizelda, but they were sure of one thing—they would never stop trying!

  The sun was already low in the sky by the time Lily Hart, Jess Forester, and Poppy Muddlepup the puppy made it to the other side of Friendship Forest. The three friends stood by a stretch of still, dark water at the forest’s edge, staring at the witch Grizelda’s stone tower on the far side. It stood on ground that was strangely rocky and gray, and studded with bare, black bushes. The tower loomed over the water, tall and creepy-looking. Yellow-green sparks shot out of the top.

  They had already collected two of the ingredients they needed for the Rise and Shine potion—a tiny feather and some jewel water. The final ingredient was Sunrise Berries. They had until sunset to find them and then mix up the potion to wake Poppy’s brother Patch from his enchanted sleep. If they failed, Grizelda would wake him, but only in return for keeping all the magical flowers in the Muddlepups’ Garden Grove for herself. These plants were needed to heal all the sick animals in Friendship Forest, and the Muddlepup family were their special guardians.

  “The berries must be at the top of the tower somewhere,” said Jess, summoning all her courage. I hope those sparks don’t mean Grizelda is practicing her witchy magic, she thought nervously to herself.

  “So let’s go and get them!” said Lily, setting off. But then she groaned. “Oh, no! How are we going to get across the water?”

  “Maybe there’s a bridge or stepping stones,” Poppy suggested. “Or even a boat. Let’s look!”

  They began searching along the bank. Poppy raced ahead, but after a minute or two there was a sharp “Yap!” and she bounded back. Her tail wagged so fast it was a blur, just like Honey Needlenose’s hummingbird wings.

  “There are some frogs just up ahead,” said Poppy. “They say they’ll help us. Come on!”

  Jess and Lily followed, wondering how on earth frogs could help them cross the water. But when they reached them, they could see at once! The frogs were sitting on huge, round lily pads, the biggest and flattest the girls had ever seen. They floated on the water like giant tea trays. In the middle of each lily pad was a little hut, and outside each hut were frogs of all shapes and sizes.

  The biggest frog, who carried a fishing net on a stick, called, “Hello, we’re the Greenhop family. Poppy says you need help, so hop, hop, hop aboard!” He turned to his family. “Grab your oars, everyone. To the horrible witch’s tower!”

  Lily, Jess, and Poppy each chose a lily pad and carefully stepped onto it. It felt very wobbly. Water trickled over the edges, so the girls sat right in the middle, hugging their knees. Poppy climbed onto Mr. Greenhop’s lily pad, then put her head down with her paws over her eyes and her tail pointing straight up in the air.

  The frogs got out their oars, and off they rowed, gliding over the dark water. Mr. Greenhop swung his net in the air every so often.

  “I’m catching flies,” he explained. “Lots of flies around the witch’s home.”

  Soon they reached the far bank. Lily shivered as she looked at the tower.

  “Hop, hop, hop ashore,” whispered Mr. Greenhop. “I don’t want to stay on this side for too long—we’re far too close to that witch for my liking!”

  Lily, Jess, and Poppy thanked the Greenhops for their help and stepped onto the bank. Now they knew why they were shivering, and why the ground was gray. On Grizelda’s side of the water, it was winter! Snow lay on the ground, but not crisp and white, like it was in Brightley. This was dirty gray and slushy.

  “Everything about Grizelda’s tower is horrible,” muttered Jess. “Even the snow.”

  “I wish we had our jackets and scarves back,” Lily said with a shiver.

  “Wait!” said Poppy. She pulled three red flowers with sparkling centers from her bag. “Winter warmers,” she explained. “If you have one of these on you, it keeps you nice and toasty warm.”

  Lily and Jess each tucked a winter warmer into their hair, where the twisting twirls were before, while Poppy looped hers through her bandanna.

  “Wow,” gasped Lily as she felt a lovely heat surround her. “Your flowers really are magical, Poppy!”

  Jess led the way between spiteful-looking thorn bushes, which seemed to reach out and snatch at their clothes. A big, ugly, warty toad waddled out in front of Poppy and swelled up, making the poor puppy jump. Lily flapped her hands at the toad, then picked Poppy up.

  “This place smells mean and nasty,” said the puppy, wrinkling her nose.

  As they reached the tower, Lily gazed upward. “Wow! It’s so tall,” she said.

  The walls were black and crumbling in places, and the narrow windows were as dark and cold as the witch’s eyes.

  Jess gasped and pointed. A black vine had wound its way around the very top of the tower. Growing on it was something bright, sparkling, and orange. “Sunrise Berries!” she said.

  Poppy wriggled in excitement.

  “See?” said Lily. “Everything will be fine. We’re going to save Patch.”

  “There’s only one problem,” Jess muttered. “We have to get to the top of the tower—without being spotted by Grizelda!”

  Jess found a door in the tower wall. It was big and solid, and had a knocker shaped like a scary monster face. Lily and Poppy kept close behind her as she reached for the iron doorknob. Everyone held their breath nervously …

  But it wouldn’t turn.

  “It’s locked,” said Jess. “Now what?”

  “Keep looking for a way in,” said Lily.

  They tiptoed around the outside of the tower, then Poppy gave a little yap. “There’s an open window,” she said, “but it’s too high up, even for you girls.”

  Jess groaned, but Lily had an idea.

  “Keep watch, Poppy,” said Lily. “Jess and I will find something to stand on.”

  Poppy sat beneath the window, her ears pricked, watching for danger. Lily and Jess soon found what they needed—a rotten tree stump that had been ripped from the ground. They dragged it to the wall and stood it in the gray slush beneath the window.

  Jess climbed onto the stump and reached up to the window. In moments she had hauled
herself over the sill and inside. She looked out. “Pass Poppy up to me,” she told Lily.

  Once the puppy was lifted through the open window, she immediately sneezed. “Ooh, it’s dusty,” she complained, rubbing her nose with a paw.

  “Let’s be as quiet as we can!” Jess whispered. “Lily, your turn now. Stand on the stump and stretch your arms. Grab my wrists!”

  Seconds later, Lily stood beside Jess, brushing down her dress.

  “Careful,” Poppy whispered. “All this dust is very sneezy.”

  They found themselves in a damp, dark hallway. It smelled of mold and musty, stale air. In the corner was a stone spiral staircase. When they stood at the bottom and looked up, it seemed to go all the way up through the tower.

  “Come on,” said Jess, leading the way up the stairs. Cobwebs brushed their hair, and each footstep stirred more dust. Poppy was right. It was very sneezy!

  The puppy’s ears suddenly pricked up. “Listen!” she said.

  “What is it?” asked Lily.

  “Footsteps,” whispered Poppy. “Grizelda’s coming!”

  “Oh, no,” said Lily. “Hide! Quick!”

  Jess spotted a door covered in sagging spiderwebs. She wrenched it open and saw it was a closet, full of huge old iron cauldrons.

  Jess, Lily, and Poppy darted inside, shutting the door softly behind them. And not a moment too soon! Seconds later, through the gaps in the wood, they saw Grizelda climbing down the stairs. She was carrying a lantern and crowing to herself.

  “It’ll soon be sunset, haa haa!” she said. “Those interfering girls will never be able to make the potion in time, even if they do find all the ingredients. The magic plants will be mine—all of them. Haaaaaa, haaaa, haaa!”