4

Questing Things

Daisy flung open the door of her family’s home in the hollow base of a gum tree. She breathed in the homely smells, capturing just a lingering whiff of fresh damper left over from breakfast.

With Vu hovering around her ear, Daisy ran up the wooden ramp that curved around the inside of the tree. Past the lounge room and the study, past her parents’ bedroom and her sister’s room until she reached her own special place.

‘So what do you take on a Fairy Quest?’ Daisy wondered as she came to a stop before her hammock.

She turned a slow circle, scanning her possessions for anything she might need.

Her favourite bandana, deep green and patterned with paper daisies, was hanging on the wall. Bubbling with excitement, Daisy lifted it off its hook and lay it on the floor. With the corners tied together, it would make a perfect carrying bag for her Questing Things.

Draped across her hammock was the silvery spiderweb quilt that Daisy’s Aunt Acacia had given her last Summer’s End. It was light but warm, and would come in handy if she had to sleep outside. Daisy bundled it into a tight ball and placed it in the centre of her bandana.

‘Well, that’s a start. What else should we take, Vu?’ she asked.

Vu flew over to a jumbled mess of mementos and outgrown toys that had been dumped into a deep alcove in the wall. Landing on top of the messy pile, he crawled down into it, disappearing from view. The things on top rose and fell as he made his way beneath them.

After a few moments, a creamy object lifted up to the surface. With a shove from beneath, it flew up into the air and landed with a thud on the floor.

‘A beeswax candle!’ exclaimed Daisy as she picked it up and placed it next to her quilt. ‘You’re a clever beetle.’ She reached over to scratch Vu on the head. ‘My magic wouldn’t last long if I had to use it for light.’

With a satisfied look on his face, Vu climbed back up and perched himself on top of the pile.

Daisy rummaged through the carved wooden chest that Efa had made for her eighth birthday, tossing things onto her bandana as she found them. ‘I’ll need some rope for climbing, a spare change of clothes and my magic shoes, of course.’ The pile on the bandana had grown considerably. Daisy looked at it and frowned.

‘What a lot to carry! That should be more than enough, don’t you think, Vu?’

Vu flew over to inspect the bundle on the floor. Hovering above, he considered each item. Then, with a decisive chitter of disagreement, he clasped a corner of the bandana in his claws, as though to pick it up, and looked at Daisy pointedly.

‘Alright,’ said Daisy, ‘no need to get bossy.’ She gathered the four corners of the bandana and scrunched the fabric together in a tight grip, so that the contents were held firmly within it.

‘Now what?’ she asked Vu as she swung the heavy load over her shoulder.

Vu chittered for Daisy to follow as he flew out of her bedroom and down the long hallway, all the way to the kitchen, where he landed with a bump on the table.

Daisy followed after him.

Vu chittered that you couldn’t go on a Quest without something to eat.

‘Oh, Vu, of course you’re right,’ said Daisy. ‘What would I do without you?’

Dumping the bandana on the table, Daisy started rummaging through the pantry. ‘Now, what’s a good travelling food for a Fairy Quest?’

Daisy’s hand rested on a parcel wrapped in leaves. She held it up to her nose. ‘Smells good!’ she grinned. Placing the parcel on the table, Daisy carefully unwrapped it. Inside was the final slice of a bulrush pollen cake. Breaking off a bitesized piece, Daisy popped it into her mouth. ‘Delicious,’ she mumbled between bites. ‘Want some, Vu?’

Vu shook his head in disgust.

‘Just kidding,’ laughed Daisy. ‘I know what you like.’

Reaching to the very back of the pantry, she pulled out a small, brown sack. ‘Shredded hackberry leaves!’

Vu chittered excitedly. Native hackberry leaves were his favourite. With a buzz of his wings, he flew over and landed on the sack.

‘Off you get,’ said Daisy, but Vu clung on. ‘I can’t open the sack with you clinging to it, Vu. Back to the table with you.’

Vu buzzed back to the table with an indignant chirp and opened his mouth expectantly. Reaching into the sack, Daisy pulled out a handful of shiny leaves that had been chopped into tiny pieces.

She placed one in Vu’s open mouth and the rest beside him on the table. Unfolding the corners of her bandana, she then placed the sack of remaining leaf pieces inside.

Daisy folded the leaves back around the cake, and placed it beside the sack of hackberry leaves on her bandana.

‘Now, something to drink,’ Daisy said, standing on tiptoes to reach a shelf above her head. ‘I’m pretty sure . . . yes, here it is. Lemon myrtle cordial!’ She poured some of the cordial into a wooden flask and carefully filled it with just enough water so that it was not too weak and not too strong – exactly the way she liked it. She added the small wooden bottle to her pile of Questing Things.

With Vu still happily munching away, Daisy once more gathered the four ends of her bandana, and this time tied them into a knot. She lifted the makeshift bag off the table. It was far too heavy for carrying on a Quest!

Having finished his last leaf, Vu flew up to snuggle on Daisy’s shoulder. ‘Oh, Vu, if only this bag were as light as you.’

Wait a minute, thought Daisy. There’s an idea. She put the bandana bag back on the table and pulled a thread of gymea lily fibre from her pocket. She had been planning on turning it into a bracelet, but now she had a much better use for it. Placing the thread on the table beside the bag, Daisy pulled her wand from the sheath at her belt.

‘Small enough to fit my pocket, change your form into a locket.’

With a soft whooshing sound, the bandana bag seemed to cave in on itself, becoming smaller and smaller until it was as small as Daisy’s thumb. Shimmering with magic like sunlight on water, the gymea lily thread slithered across the table towards the locket. One end threaded through the top of the locket to form a silver necklace.

‘Perfect,’ said Daisy as she reached down to pick it up. A shimmery, silver version of her bandana bag, it was decorated on each side by a paper daisy in a deep green circle. Gently, she flicked the catch to open the locket. Inside were tiny versions of each of her Questing Things. Satisfied with her work, Daisy closed the locket and slipped the silver chain over her head.

‘Now, Vu, we’re ready for anything.’