5

Magical Messages

Daisy woke early the following morning, a mixture of excitement and worry tumbling around inside her. As the sun started to rise, Daisy wandered to the nearby frog pond. Her hand played with her Quest-ready locket as she wondered if today was the day . . .

Lazy ripples flowed across the frog pond as Daisy sat on the shore, dipping her toes in the water. Yesterday she’d felt so confident about the Fairy Quest, but this morning the doubt was beginning to creep back in. What if I fail? she worried.

Daisy lay down on a night-chilled stone and held up the magic locket, filled with her Questing Things. She wondered if she’d ever get to use them.

The sun chose that moment to peep over the treetops. Its rays reflected off the silver locket, causing it to sparkle and shine. Daisy smiled. Catching the first rays of morning meant good things to come. She wondered what those good things would be.

A nervous chitter from Vu shattered her daydream. Tiny claws tickled Daisy’s ear as he burrowed into the safety of her hair. Sitting up, Daisy searched for the source of her friend’s distress. It took only a moment to find it.

A striped marsh frog sat patiently waiting by Daisy’s feet. Though young, he was already as big as Daisy. No wonder Vu was hiding. While beetles were not the marsh frogs’ favourite food, they weren’t fussy eaters and had been known to eat them. Thankfully, they had a much better relationship with fairies.

With a friendly tok of greeting, the marsh frog opened his mouth wide, revealing the smooth, black form of an acacia seed nestled on his tongue. Dropping the seed on the ground near Daisy’s knee, he nosed it towards her hand. Then, with the satisfied tok of a job well done, he leapt into the pond, disappearing beneath the water.

Daisy reached out to touch the seed, her confusion etched into her creased forehead. The dark seed warmed beneath her hand and began to glow a hazy white light, like early-morning fog rising off the water. She snatched her hand back as the light became a beacon, shining a message in pure white letters against the trunk of a nearby gum tree.

Your Quest is to seek the magic

For fluttering through the sky.

Let Mother Wattle lead you

To a helpful butterfly.

Daisy didn’t know whether to cheer or panic. Prepared or not, the chance to earn her wings had finally arrived.

‘Vu,’ she called. ‘It’s happened! The Fairy Quest has begun.’

Crawling out from his hiding place, Vu chittered with delight.

With trembling hands, Daisy opened her locket and took out the tiny magic shoes.

‘I think the message is telling us to go to Mother Wattle,’ Daisy said as she placed the shoes on the ground, ‘and look for a butterfly there who’ll help with my Quest.’ She tapped the shoes with her wand and shouted in excitement, ‘Undo.’ The shoes sprang back to their original size. ‘You will come with me, won’t you, Vu?’ Daisy asked as she slipped the shoes onto her feet. When Vu chittered his agreement, Daisy set off running through the forest. Vu clung to her shoulder, trying not to fall off.

Past the fern gully and through the banksia grove she ran, around the sleeping wombat rock and up the hill beyond, where Daisy caught a glimpse of Mother Wattle’s bright-yellow boughs.

Mother Wattle was the oldest, most beautiful tree in the forest. Nen, Daisy and Maggie would always visit Mother Wattle on special occasions – her blossoms would fill their home with the sweetest smell, and the celebratory cakes would always be more delicious made with Mother Wattle’s seeds.

At the top of the hill, Daisy stopped to catch her breath. Butterflies were easily startled, and if one was waiting for her, she didn’t want to scare it away. Daisy slipped off her travelling shoes and silently crept closer to the ancient tree.

From behind a tuft of grass, Daisy stared at Mother Wattle. She was smothered in golden blossoms. A troop of native bees wove through her branches, gathering pollen and filling the air with their buzzing.

At first, Daisy couldn’t see any butterflies. And then she spotted her, a beautiful orange Monarch camouflaged against the leaf litter on the ground below Mother Wattle.

‘Wish me luck, Vu,’ she whispered.

Vu chittered encouragement and flew to a nearby grevillea branch to watch. Breathing deeply to calm her nerves, Daisy crept forward. She was halfway there when the Monarch twitched her wings, as though preparing to take off.

Daisy froze. Close enough now to see the white spots that dotted the edges of the Monarch’s wings, Daisy noticed something else, something she’d never seen before. The Monarch’s proboscis – the long, straw-like appendage that it used to drink – was curled around a sealed, brown tube.

Daisy took another step.

The Monarch reared up onto her back legs, ready to take flight.

She’s not being very helpful so far, thought Daisy, afraid to move. She’d have to ease the Monarch’s fear if she was going to gain her trust.

Daisy slowly took out her wand.

The butterfly watched her every move. With the merest breath of a whisper, Daisy chanted, ‘I wish this butterfly to charm, to let her see I mean no harm.’ A grey puff of mist emerged from the tip of Daisy’s wand, floating gently forward to dissipate around the butterfly’s head. The anxious look left the Monarch’s eyes, and her body relaxed.

Taking small, slow steps, Daisy advanced, holding out her hand. She was just about to touch the soft fur that covered the Monarch’s body, when something came zigzagging through Mother Wattle’s branches.

Blossoms and leaves tumbled all around them and the spell on the Monarch was broken. Her wings twitched and fluttered, and she launched herself into the air.

‘No!’ Daisy cried after her. ‘Come back!’

But the Monarch flew higher and higher, utterly spooked. There was nothing that would bring her back now.