Daisy Meadows - Poppy Muddlepup’s Daring Rescue

Light snow had just started to fall as Lily Hart spotted her best friend, Jess Forester, coming out of her house across the lane. She ran down the frosty path to meet her.

“I hope you’re coming to help in the wildlife hospital!” she called, covering her short dark hair with a woolly hat.

Jess laughed as she pulled her earmuffs over her blond curls. “Of course I am,” she said, checking that the road was clear. “You know I’d come every day if I could!”

The girls lived across the road from each other in the village of Brightley. Jess, her dad, and Pixie the kitten shared a cottage, while Lily and her parents had a house with a large barn at the bottom of the yard. Mr. and Mrs. Hart had converted the barn into the Helping Paw Wildlife Hospital for sick and injured animals. Lily and Jess helped to care for the animals until they could be released back into the wild.

“We just rescued some baby woodpeckers!” Lily said, taking Jess past the barn to a new aviary. It was a special enclosure, with room for birds to fly around inside. Mr. Hart was filling a nest box with wood chips, and Mrs. Hart was crouched inside the aviary with a big basket.

She blew a strand of dark hair away from her eyes and grinned at them. “Hello, you two. These woodpecker chicks have hatched very late in the year. We’re taking care of them until they’re grown. Would you like to introduce them to their cozy new nest box?”

“Yes, please!” Lily and Jess said eagerly. They peered into the basket.

The chicks flapped their black-and-white wings, chirping, “Kwick! Kwick!”

“ Brrr , I’m going to make some hot chocolate,” said Mrs. Hart, standing up. “Come up to the house when you’ve settled them. You’ll need warming up.”

Once the nest box was ready, Jess and Lily gently lifted the tiny woodpecker chicks inside.

“Kwick, kwick!” they chattered.

“Can we watch them for a bit, Dad?” asked Lily. “We’ll be very quiet.”

“Of course,” he replied. “Pop the lid back on when you’re done. We don’t want them getting snowed on!” He waved good-bye as he followed Mrs. Hart back to the house.

The chicks used their long, pointed beaks to poke about in the wood chips.

“They’re trying to make a cozy hole to sit in,” said Lily. “Aren’t they sweet?”

Suddenly, Jess heard barking. “It sounds like there’s a dog in the road,” she said. “I wonder who it belongs to?”

Lily closed the nest-box lid and the two girls ran to peer over the hedge. A small brown dog was standing underneath a pine tree. Its leash was trailing behind it and it was barking at something up in the branches.

Jess pointed down the road. A boy she recognized from their class at school was calling, “Barney! Here, boy!”

“It’s Ollie!” she said. “Let’s catch Barney for him.”

They quietly crept up behind the runaway dog. He was so busy staring into the tree that he didn’t notice them. Lily grabbed the leash and Jess ruffled Barney’s soft brown ears.

Ollie came running up to them. “Thanks, you two,” he panted. “Barney, you’re so much trouble.” He tickled the dog’s chin. “Home time for you.” As they went off, Barney left neat puppy paw prints in the newly fallen snow alongside Ollie’s boot-sized ones.

Jess started back to the wildlife hospital, but stopped when she realized Lily was still looking up into the pine tree. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I was wondering why Barney was barking at the tree,” said Lily. “Then I thought I saw a flash of gold... Yes, look!” she cried, pointing up to where a beautiful green-eyed cat stepped lightly along a branch toward her. “It’s Goldie!”

The cat leaped into her arms, purring and rubbing her head against Lily’s chin. The girls knew Goldie well. She was a magical cat who lived in Friendship Forest, a secret world full of talking animals! Goldie had taken the girls on four adventures there.

“We haven’t seen you in so long, Goldie!” Lily said. “We missed you.”

Jess stroked the cat’s golden fur. “I wonder why she’s come back here today? Maybe Friendship Forest is in danger again!”

Lily shuddered. “I hope not!”

The girls had worked with Goldie to stop a nasty witch named Grizelda from taking over the forest. At the end of their last adventure, the girls had made a new home in the swamp for Grizelda’s helpers, the Boggits. This had convinced the creatures to stop helping the witch with her plan to drive the animals out of their forest.

The cat jumped out of Lily’s arms and turned toward the Harts’ garden, meowing loudly.

“She wants us to follow her,” Jess realized. “She must be taking us back to Friendship Forest!”

Excitement fluttered inside the girls as they hurried after Goldie. She led them past the wildlife hospital, then toward Brightley Stream, which flowed at the bottom of the yard. The girls stepped carefully on the stones, which were slippery with snow.

In the middle of the frosty meadow stood an oak tree. It looked bare and lifeless, but as they drew near, something magical started to happen...

Suddenly, dark-green leaves sprang from every branch, and scarlet berries gleamed in the winter sun. Red-breasted robins swooped from all directions to chirp sweetly in the high branches.

“Wow!” gasped Lily. “We’ve never seen it like this before, have we? There are snowflakes drifting around it, instead of butterflies and bees.”

“It’s as if it’s put on a winter coat!” exclaimed Jess.

The purring cat stretched up a paw to touch the words that had magically appeared on the tree trunk.

“Ready?” Jess asked her friend.

Lily nodded, and together they read the words aloud. “Friend... ship... For... est!”

A door, as high as the girls’ shoulders, appeared in the trunk. In the center was a leaf-shaped handle. When Jess opened the door, golden light poured out, and Goldie sprang inside. Jess took Lily’s hand and they ducked through into the shimmering, magical glow.

Both girls felt a familiar tingle, and knew that they were shrinking. When the glow faded, they found themselves in a sunlit forest clearing. Tall trees rustled in the warm breeze, and the familiar scent of cotton candy flowers filled the air.