Дейзи Медоус: Lucy Longwhiskers Gets Lost

Jess rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t believe what they were seeing!

The golden cat was rubbing around the tree trunk, pawing at some strange marks.

Jess kneeled to stroke her silky fur. “I know this sounds crazy, but I think the cat has something to do with this!”

Lily nodded, her eyes wide. “Look! There’s writing carved into the trunk.”

Jess crawled around the tree, reading the letters. “Friend... ship... For... est...”

The cat meowed and pawed at the letters once more.

“Maybe she wants us to say it louder?” Jess guessed. “FRIENDSHIP FOREST!” she shouted.

But the cat just meowed again. She first rubbed Lily’s leg, then Jess’s, and pawed at the letters.

“I know!” cried Lily. “She wants us to read it together!”

Both girls said, “Friendship Forest!”

Instantly, a small door appeared in the trunk! It was as high as the girls’ shoulders and in the center was a handle shaped like a leaf.

“Wow!” said Jess. Her eyes shone as she gripped the handle.

Lily reached toward it, too, then hesitated. “Do you think we should open it?” she asked warily. “We don’t know what’s on the other side.”

“Exactly!” said Jess with a grin. “Let’s find out!”

Lily twisted the handle, and the little door swung open. A shimmering golden light poured out of the tree.

The cat looked up at the girls. Her green eyes seemed to beg them to follow, then she bounded inside the tree.

Jess held out her hand to Lily. “Ready?” she asked with a smile.

Lily grinned and took Jess’s hand. “Let’s go!”

Taking a deep breath, they bent down. As they squeezed through the door, their skin tingled all over.

The girls blinked as the golden glow faded. They were standing in a clearing in the middle of a sunlit forest.

The leaves on the tall trees shimmered, and flowers nodded their colorful heads in the gentle breeze. The ground was covered in soft, springy moss.

“This is impossible,” Jess said. “How can all this fit inside a tree trunk?”

Lily took Jess’s hand again. She was trembling with excitement. “There is an explanation for all this...”

Jess nodded. Together, both girls cried, “Magic!”

“This is amazing!” Jess said, grinning. “But why did the cat bring us here?” She glanced around. “Where’d she go?”

Lily peered behind some pink flowers with petals like tissue paper, hoping to catch a glimpse of golden fur. A familiar scent drifted up from the blooms.

“These smell like cotton candy!” she exclaimed. “Even the flowers are magical!” Then something odd caught her eye.

Inside a hollowed-out tree trunk stood a little cottage.

“Look!” Lily cried.

“Sweet!” said Jess. “But what’s a playhouse doing here?”

A curtain at one of the windows twitched. Jess shook her head. Surely there couldn’t be anyone inside the cottage... Could there?

As the girls gazed around, their eyes widened. More little cottages were dotted around the clearing. Some were nestled among tree roots, and one was half underground, with a mossy roof. Tables and chairs as high as the girls’ knees stood outside a wooden cabin with white spots on the roof. A sign said TOADSTOOL CAFÉ.

A door at the side of the café suddenly slammed shut. From inside came the sound of worried voices.

Lily gasped. “Someone’s living in these little buildings,” she said. “But who?”

“They’re the animals of Friendship Forest,” said a voice.

The girls turned around, trying to work out where the voice had come from. To their astonishment, they saw that the golden cat had reappeared. Standing upright on her hind legs, she reached almost to the girls’ shoulders—and she was smiling at them! Jess noticed that she had a glittery scarf looped around her neck, too.

After a few moments, Jess found her voice. “You can talk,” she said, shaking her head in amazement. “And you’ve grown!”

The cat laughed, her green eyes sparkling. “Actually, you two have shrunk! You became smaller when you stepped through the door in the tree,” she said.

“Oh, so that’s what the tingling feeling was!” said Jess.

The cat nodded. “My name’s Goldie. Welcome to Friendship Forest, Jess and Lily!”

Lily gasped. “You know our names!”

Goldie nodded. “I couldn’t talk to you in your world,” she explained, “but I understood what you were saying. All the animals here walk upright and talk, just like me.”

The girls gazed around in delight. “A forest full of talking animals,” said Lily. “This is amazing!”

Goldie put her paws to her mouth and called, “Come out, everyone! Meet Jess and Lily!”

A little door between two tree roots opened and a mole peeked out. From another door came a squirrel wearing a bowtie. His tail swished as he hopped over to the girls. Door after door opened and more animals appeared, gathering around Lily and Jess.

“I’m Harry Prickleback,” said a little hedgehog as he waddled out from a clump of cotton candy flowers.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” said Lily, bending down to tickle Harry’s nose and making him giggle. She could hardly believe she was talking to a hedgehog!

A kitten wearing a backpack scampered over. “I’m Bella Tabbypaw,” she said. “What kind of animal are you? You’re too tall to be a rabbit and you haven’t got any wings, so I don’t think you’re birds...”

“We’re girls!” Jess stroked Bella under her soft chin. She could feel the rumble of her purr.

“None of the animals have seen people before,” Goldie explained. “That’s why they were hiding.”

A bird almost as tall as the girls flapped down from a tree. “Captain Ace, at your service,” he said. He wore a flying helmet with a badge reading ACE AIR TRAVEL and raised one wing in a salute.

“He’s a stork!” Lily whispered to Jess. Jess saluted Ace back.

Two rabbits came out of the Toadstool Café, one in a waiter’s jacket and one brushing flour from her apron. “Well, I say, how lovely to meet you!” said the waiter. “We’re Mr. and Mrs. Longwhiskers.”

Running out behind them came a young rabbit with a purple ribbon around her neck. She was so small that Lily thought she’d fit in the palm of one hand.

“I’m Lucy Longwhiskers,” the rabbit said in a rush. “You’re really tall. How old are you? Do you live in Friendship Forest like me? How—”

Goldie interrupted her with a laugh. “This is Lily and Jess’s first visit to Friendship Forest. Would you like to help me show them around?”