2

Running Late

Today was the first time that Daisy had been invited to join her dad in the healing grove. He was the most gifted and gentle Healer in the forest. Even the shyest animals would come to him for help. Daisy had been so excited when he had asked her to help him, it seemed impossible that she could have forgotten!

She was going to be late if she didn’t get there soon. She wasn’t supposed to use magic for frivolous things. As Nen always said, ‘Use magic when you don’t need to and you might not have it when you do.’ Like the golden hair on her head, Daisy’s magic was a part of her and, when left alone, it continued to grow. Using her magic was like having a haircut, though it took days instead of seasons to regrow.

And so usually, Daisy tried to save her magic. But today, she decided to make an exception . . .

She drew her wand from the velvety sheath that hung at her waist. Like every other fairy, Daisy had been presented with her wand on her fifth birthday. Daisy’s wand had been created from the fallen branch of a scribbly gum, with a paper daisy pattern above the handgrip. It was the instrument through which her magic could flow.

Choosing two deep-green gum leaves and some slivers of bark, Daisy pointed her wand and chanted, ‘This fairy has no time to lose, turn bark and leaf into magic shoes.’

The leaves began to curve upwards, becoming a sturdy pair of green boots. The bark slid beneath the boots to form thick brown soles, and a few tiny threads of bark wove in and out as laces.

Daisy shrieked with delight as she gathered the boots to her and quickly slid them on. They fit her tiny feet perfectly. But would they work . . .?

She took a small step and moved the distance of a giant leap!

Laughing, she began to run, the long grasses and wild stems whipping past her as she moved beneath a tall stand of gum trees that reached endlessly for the sky.

She reached the healing grove in no time at all and found her dad crouched down beside a young, black field cricket. He was examining a long gash on the cricket’s back leg. Looking at the gash made Daisy feel queasy, but her dad didn’t seem bothered at all.

‘Hush now, Simi,’ he soothed. ‘It’s just a graze, we’ll soon set you right.’

It was his kindness that Daisy most loved about her dad. When she was little and hurt herself, it was him that she always ran to. With his calm voice and gentle hands, he always made Daisy feel as though everything would be all right.

Though most fairies called him Efa, her dad’s real name was Leaf, which Daisy thought was just right. With his brown leaf wings, floppy green hair and scruffy clothes, Efa was like a patch of leaf litter come to life.

Daisy averted her eyes as Efa smoothed a poultice on the cricket’s leg and then pressed the down from a bulrush seed against it as a dressing. Taking out his wand, he chanted, ‘Protect from harm and form a seal. Allow this creature’s wound to heal.’ The fluffy down wove tightly together and bonded to the cricket’s leg.

‘There you go,’ Efa said, rubbing the cricket’s back. ‘That will protect it from dirt and germs as it heals.’

Efa turned and smiled. ‘So, my long-lost wanderers have finally arrived. Sit for a minute.’ He gestured towards a row of mushrooms just behind where Daisy was standing. ‘I won’t be long.’

Daisy had begun to feel a little dizzy so was very glad of the seat. She watched as Efa spoke earnestly to the cricket.

‘There you go, Simi. Take it easy for a few days. And keep those leaps low.’

With a nod of thanks, the cricket leapt into the air, quickly disappearing into the bush. ‘I said low leaps!’ Efa shouted after the cricket. ‘They never listen,’ he muttered, shaking his head.

Standing and stretching the kinks out of his legs, Efa walked over to sit beside Daisy. ‘So,’ he said, ‘are you ready to learn the secrets of healing? It could be your Calling, you know.’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Daisy. ‘You said my Calling would make me feel uplifted, like it was always meant to be a part of me. Healing just makes me feel queasy.’

‘Maybe not then,’ Efa conceded.

‘Nen says I’ll have my wings soon,’ said Daisy, changing the subject.

‘She’s usually right about these things. Let me see.’ Efa placed his hands on Daisy’s shoulders, feeling the bones underneath. ‘Oh, yes, definitely strong enough to hold up wings. I’d say they’ll be here sooner than you think.’

At that moment, an injured blue-and-brown fairy wren hopped into the clearing. Vu chittered a challenge before diving under Daisy’s hair as the bright-eyed bird turned his head in their direction. Fairy wrens were insect eaters, and although Vu liked to think himself tough, it was better not to take chances with carnivores. Even injured ones.

Efa rushed over to the fairy wren, his voice soft and soothing as he lay gentle hands on the wing that hung limply by its side.

One look at the injured wing and Daisy’s world began to spin. Black spots appeared before her eyes and her legs seemed to lose their strength. The next thing she knew, she was sliding off the mushroom and onto the ground below.