7

Painted Ladies

Above a tangled patch of thick green stalks, golden paper daisies reached for the sunshine. Daisy tilted her head back to watch the delicately spotted Painted Ladies flit from flower to flower. They were drinking the flowers’ sweet nectar and collecting pollen on their legs and feet.

Squinting in the dappled sunlight, Daisy realised that the butterflies weren’t going to come to her – if she wanted to speak to the butterflies, she’d need to go to them. ‘It looks like we have some climbing to do,’ she sighed.

With a buzz of his wings, Vu took off, flying up into the flower canopy.

‘You’re not climbing with me, Vu?’ Daisy called, getting a huff of disdain in return. Daisy chuckled. If all goes well, she thought, this might be the last climbing I do, too.

Tucking the Telling Tube into her belt, Daisy stepped over to the nearest flower stalk. Long, thin leaves ran the length of the stalk, providing perfect hand- and foot-holds. Placing her left foot on the lowest leaf, Daisy reached with her right hand to grab a higher one and hauled herself up.

One leaf at a time, Daisy climbed up and up, and she was soon near the top, the ground a long drop below. She stopped in the shelter of the flower’s papery bracts. Getting onto the flower head was going to be the tricky bit.

The flower bracts jutted out above her head like an overhanging rock. As Daisy looked at them, a sense of panic set in and her own set of butterflies took flight in her tummy. If those tummy butterflies could open the Telling Tube, I wouldn’t be in this predicament, she thought.

With pointed determination, Daisy focused on the task at hand. The hairy flower stem prickled her legs as she wrapped them around it. Leaning backwards, she stretched out and reached upwards with both hands, getting a firm grip on the paper daisy’s stiff bracts. The flower head drooped down with her weight as, in one swift movement, Daisy unwrapped her legs from the stem and swung herself up onto the flower head. Daisy held on tightly as it swayed dangerously from side to side.

Once the flower was steady again, Daisy sat up. The butterflies in her belly disappeared as she stared in awe at the beauty surrounding her.

The paper daisies formed a meadow of golden blooms, the sun sparkling off their shiny petal-shaped bracts. A kaleidoscope of butterflies danced on the breeze, fluttering from flower to flower to drink and then take off again.

Daisy was mesmerised. But Vu brought her back to the task at hand, landing with a bump on her shoulder. He huffed about how snooty the Painted Ladies were with their faces turned up to the sky.

‘Oh, Vu,’ said Daisy, ‘I’m sure they don’t mean to be rude. They can’t help how they look. Let’s try to get their attention, shall we?’

But as Daisy raised her arms to wave them over, the flower head began to sway, forcing her to hold on tight or risk falling off.

‘How can I get their attention if I can barely move? Vu, could you go and get one for me?’ she pleaded.

Vu huffed that he didn’t like them and he didn’t want to.

‘Please, Vu,’ Daisy wheedled. ‘I can’t do this without you.’

At first there was no answer, but a few moments later Daisy felt a breathy kiss against her cheek. She gave Vu a quick scratch on the head, sighing with relief, then pointed out a butterfly that had just come to land.

‘Quick, Vu, while she’s drinking.’

Vu flitted over to the butterfly, catching her attention with a goofy aerial dance. Daisy stifled a giggle. While Vu was usually the sensible one, who stopped Daisy from getting into trouble, it was his silly side that she loved best.

Keeping the butterfly’s interest with a series of acrobatic moves, Vu manoeuvred his way closer to Daisy before landing with one last flip in her lap.

The butterfly twitched in surprise as Daisy held up the Telling Tube. Curious, the Painted Lady flitted to the flower beside them, bending down to take a closer look. Daisy rolled the Telling Tube until the engraving came into view.

‘My name is Daisy,’ she said. ‘I’m on a Quest to gain my wings and I think the message inside this will help me. Will you show me how to open it?’

The butterfly stared at Daisy. Then, reaching out with one foreleg, she gently stroked along the side of the telling tube. With an almost silent hiss, it split apart, revealing a rolled-up piece of paperbark.

Daisy’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. The butterfly nodded then flew off to rejoin her colony. With shaking fingers, Daisy reached inside the Telling Tube, uncurled the piece of paperbark and read:

The waterfall is where you’ll go

For this part of your Quest.

The sky would like a necklace,

A rainbow would be best.

‘A rainbow over the waterfall!’ exclaimed Daisy. ‘I think we’ll need magic for this one.’ She tucked the message safely into her belt. ‘You did a good job, Vu. I’m so proud of you.’

Vu huffed with pleasure, buzzing into the air as Daisy began the long and tricky climb down.