Poppy Muddlepup’s Daring Rescue

Chapter One A Mysterious Girl

It was midafternoon in Friendship Forest. Lily Hart and Jess Forester were sitting on a fallen tree trunk, deep in thought. Poppy Muddlepup the puppy was flopped beside them on a heap of crisp, dry beech leaves. The three friends had already collected the tiny feather they needed for the Rise and Shine potion that would wake Poppy’s twin brother Patch from his magical sleep. But they still needed to find some jewel water—and they didn’t even know what the third ingredient was.

They only had until sunset to succeed. Otherwise, Grizelda the witch would take over Garden Grove from the Muddlepup family, and use the magical flowers there to make nasty potions.

“We’ve been hunting for jewel water forever,” said Jess, “but it’s no use. I don’t even know what it’s supposed to be!”

Poppy’s ears drooped sadly.

Lily frowned. “Come on. It’s got to be here somewhere. We’ve seen jewels once before in Friendship Forest, haven’t we? I think we saw some during our adventure with Bella Tabbypaw.”

Poppy’s ears pricked up. “Where? What happened?” she asked.

Lily explained that Grizelda’s smelly helpers, the Boggits, had taken Bella to a cavern beneath Toadstool Glade. When Lily, Jess, and Goldie had followed them, they had seen jewels in the roof.

“But Lily,” said Jess, “there wasn’t any water in the cavern. I don’t see how there could be any jewel water there.”

Poppy’s ears drooped again.

“But if there are jewels in the cavern under Toadstool Glade,” Lily said slowly, “maybe there are jewels somewhere around the glade itself, too. There are little streams all over the forest, aren’t there?”

“So maybe jewel water comes from a stream that has jewels lying inside it,” finished Jess, her eyes shining. “Yes, it’s worth a try. Let’s go!”

They hurried off toward Toadstool Glade, Poppy trotting beside them.

“We should move as quietly as possible,” Jess said as they drew near, “so we can listen for running water.”

She led the way along a narrow path. On either side, tall trees loomed over nut bushes and clumps of curly ferns.

“Stop!” Poppy whispered suddenly. “I heard a voice.” Her ears were pricked up, listening. “Someone’s singing.”

Lily and Jess cautiously rounded a large shrub and almost bumped into a girl about their age. She had a sweet, smiling face and wore a pink flowery dress and strappy pink sandals. She had long wavy red hair.

“Um, hello!” said Jess, shocked. She glanced at Lily. Goldie had told them that they were the only humans who visited Friendship Forest!

“Hello,” said the girl. “You look nice. And what a dear little doggie.” She bent to pat Poppy. “Oh, you cute little puppy!”

Poppy glanced up at Jess and Lily. She seemed unsure, so Jess said, “Don’t be shy.”

The puppy’s tail gave a small wag.

Lily asked the girl, “Excuse me, but—are you human? Like us? We didn’t think anyone else came here.”

“Mmm,” said the girl. “I live not far away.” She waved her arm vaguely. “I’m visiting the pretty forest, too.”

“I’m Jess, and this is Lily,” said Jess. “And this is Poppy Muddlepup, our friend. What’s your name?”

“Oh, um, my name’s... Gretchen,” said the girl. “Gretchen, that’s it.” She moved closer. “I couldn’t help overhearing you say you’re looking for jewel water.”

“Oh?” said Lily eagerly. “Do you know where some is?”

“Yes,” said Gretchen. “I’ll take you there. On the way you can tell me why you want it. Come on!”

Jess and Lily looked at each other, thrilled. They were going to have everything they needed to break Grizelda’s spell in no time!

“That’s great, Gretchen, thanks,” said Lily. “It was lucky we bumped into you!”

“Yes, it was, wasn’t it?” said Gretchen. She looked very pleased, too.

Poppy bounced around impatiently. “Let’s go!” she said.

Gretchen skipped ahead and the others followed. Everyone was feeling much more cheerful. Now there were four of them working to save Patch!

Chapter Two A Thorny Trick

As they hurried along, Lily explained about the witch’s spell.

“We have to make the Rise and Shine potion, and give it to Patch before sunset,” said Jess, “otherwise the poor little thing will sleep forever.”

“Oh, that’s so sad,” said Gretchen, stopping for a moment.

“We’ve already got one ingredient,” said Poppy happily.

Gretchen smiled. “That’s interesting, puppykins,” she said. “Very interesting indeed. Where is it?”

“In Jess’s pocket,” said Poppy, dashing ahead impatiently. “Can we go on now?”

Gretchen skipped ahead, singing, “I love the flowers, I love the bees, I love butterflies with dusty knees...”

Lily and Jess grinned. “I think she loves the forest even more than we do,” Lily whispered to her best friend.

“I wish she’d go faster,” said Poppy, as Gretchen stopped by a ring of thick bushes covered in pale blue blossoms. “Oh, no, she’s smelling more flowers now. We’ll never find that jewel water!”

But then Gretchen beckoned to them. “Come on, everyone.” She pointed to the middle of the circle of bushes. “You’ll find what you want in there. Go on,” she said, “go on in.”

“Thanks, Gretchen!” cried Jess, dashing into the center. Lily and Poppy followed, then all three stood, looking and listening for the sound of water.

Jess turned to speak to Gretchen, who had stayed outside the flowery ring. Why isn’t she following us? she wondered.

Lily was puzzled, too. “Gretchen, can you show—?” she began, then stopped as she realized Gretchen was speaking. No, not speaking—she was chanting!

“Branches twist in thorny curls,

Make a cage for nasty girls!”

At once, the bushes sent out hundreds of thin, spidery branches that sprouted sharp thorns as long as sewing needles. The branches twisted, curled, and knotted until they were too dense to see through.

In no time at all, Jess, Lily, and Poppy were surrounded by a thick, prickly cage!

“We’re trapped!” cried Lily. “But why?”

“Gretchen, what have you done?” asked Jess, horrified.

The pretty face appeared above the spiky cage. Gretchen seemed to have grown taller. Then, to the girls’ horror, yellow-green sparks crackled around her. The wavy red hair turned green, and the pretty dress became a swirling black cloak.

“It’s Grizelda!” cried Lily. “Gretchen was the witch in disguise. She tricked us!”

Grizelda’s awful cackle echoed round the forest. “Haa haaa haaaa! You fools! You’re always visiting Toadstool Glade, so I knew that if I waited there you’d show up before long. And now you’ve told me exactly what you’re up to!”

Jess and Lily stared at her in horror.

The witch laughed again. “You won’t find the jewel water, and you’ll never find the Sunrise Berries. Even if you did, you’d never dare try to reach them. Haaa!”

She snapped her fingers and disappeared in a shower of evil-smelling yellow sparks.

Jess and Lily turned to comfort Poppy. The little puppy’s eyes were brimming with tears. “We can’t save Patch,” she whimpered, “and we’re trapped here. I’ll never see my family again.”

Lily picked her up and pressed her cheek against Poppy’s. “Don’t you worry,” she said. “We’ve beaten Grizelda before and we’ll do it again. We’ll think of something,” she added. “Won’t we, Jess?”

Her friend put on a big smile. “Of course we will,” she said.

But the girls exchanged nervous glances. It looked like Grizelda really had beaten them this time.

Chapter Three Desperate for Help

“I should have guessed there was something funny about Gretchen,” Lily said with a sigh. “Goldie always said we’re the only humans who can visit Friendship Forest. We should have been more careful.”

Poppy put a paw into her hand. “It’s not your fault,” she said.

“There is one good thing,” Jess realized suddenly. “Grizelda told us what the third ingredient is!”

“Sunrise Berries,” said Lily. She glared at the thorny cage. “We could keep on searching, if we could just get out of here.”

“But how?” Jess asked. “We don’t have scissors or—”

“Ssh!” said Poppy. Her ears pricked up.

“What can you hear?” asked Jess.

“Rustling,” said Poppy. “Very close by.”

Jess clenched her fists. “Not that witch again,” she muttered.

“No,” said Poppy. “It sounds like paws pattering... and squeaks...” She listened again, head to one side. “Mice!” she cried. “Maybe they can help!”

The girls leaped to their feet.

“Hey!” called Jess.

“Yap! Over here!” called Poppy.

“Behind the thorny bushes!” shouted Lily. She lay down on the ground and peered beneath the branches. “It’s Molly Twinkletail!” she cried. “She must be on her way home from the Flower Festival.” Lily cupped her hands to her mouth. “Molly! Over here!”

Jess bent down, too. “Her brothers and sisters are with her,” she said. “Molly! We’re trapped!”

Molly darted over and peered beneath the bushes, then gasped in horror as she saw the girls in the thorny cage.

“Please can you find someone to help get us out?” asked Jess.

Molly didn’t reply. Instead, she looked thoughtful for a moment, then scampered to one of the twisted branches and bit it, hard. “No problem!” she said cheerily, and turned to her family. “Remember how Lily and Jess saved me when I was stuck behind that waterfall? Now we’re going to save them! Come on, everyone. Nibble and bite for all you’re worth!”

The mouse family set to work, using their sharp teeth to gnaw the branches. Nibble and bite, nibble and bite...

To their delight, Jess, Lily, and Poppy watched a gap gradually begin to appear in the prickly cage. Soon, it was big enough for Poppy to squeeze through and escape. Not long after, Lily and Jess were free, too!

“Hooray!” cheered the Twinkletails.

Jess and Lily quickly explained about Patch and how they needed to make the Rise and Shine potion before sunset, otherwise he would sleep forever, or the Muddlepups would have to give up Garden Grove and its healing plants to Grizelda so she could use them in her terrible spells.

“We need to find jewel water,” said Lily. “We think it’s from a stream with jewels inside it.”

The mice looked mystified. “I’ve never seen anything like that in the forest,” Molly said sadly.

One of Molly’s brothers, Nifty, said shyly, “The plants here are big and lush and very green, which usually means there’s water nearby. If we can find the water that makes these plants grow, we might find the jewel water, too.”

“Oh, Nifty, you’re so clever!” said Lily, blowing him a kiss.

His pink ears blushed bright red and he smiled happily.

Jess suggested they fan out in a circle to search. “Yell if you find water,” she said.

Only minutes later, there was an excited squeak from Nifty at the edge of Toadstool Glade. He was spinning round and round, trying to grab his tail. Everyone ran over, wondering what he was doing.

Eventually, Nifty caught the end of his tail. “Look!” he squeaked.

Jess and Lily peered closely.

“Water,” said Jess. “Water droplets on Nifty’s tail!” She felt the grass. It was damp.

Then Poppy sniffed and padded to a patch of soft green ferns. “Here!” she cried, bouncing in excitement. “Water! Over here! We’ve found it!”

Chapter Four Bottle Blooms

Lily ran to hold the ferns aside. A silvery spring bubbled up from the earth into a trickle no wider than her hand. There, glittering in the sparkling little stream, were brightly colored jewels. The water flowing over them sparkled with all the colors of the rainbow.

Lily scooped some up into her hands and it twinkled in her palms.

“Jewel water!” cried Jess, leaning over her shoulder. “It definitely looks magical, doesn’t it?”

Lily let it run through her fingers, then she and Jess grabbed each other and jumped up and down, with Poppy bounding around them.

“It’s the second ingredient!” Lily cried. “Good job, Poppy!” She turned to the mouse family. “Thank you, Twinkletails. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your sharp teeth—and Nifty’s tail!”

The little mice scampered around their feet, squeaking happily.

Once they had recovered from their excitement, Jess said, “We have to take the water to Patch. But we don’t have a bucket. How can we carry it?”

Poppy’s tail started wagging. “Bottle blooms!” she cried, and began searching inside her flower bag. She pulled out a bunch of pale, bottle-shaped blue flowers. “They never spill a drop,” Poppy explained. “We can use them to carry the jewel water.”

Lily and Jess held the bottle blooms steady while the Twinkletails filled their baskets from the spring, then carefully poured the shimmering water into the flowers. Poppy showed the girls how to twist the tiny petals at the top of the flowers to seal them closed.

“Thank goodness for your flower bag, Poppy,” said Lily, as she and Jess tucked the bottle blooms safely into their pockets.

“Now to find the Sunrise Berries,” said Jess. “Molly, have you ever seen them on the menu at the Toadstool Café?”

Molly and her family shook their heads. “I’ve never seen them on the Treasure Tree, either,” said Nifty. “That’s where most of our food comes from.”

“It’s really tall, though,” said Molly, “the tallest tree in the forest. I don’t think anyone has explored all of it.”

Jess noticed that Lily was frowning slightly. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I was thinking,” said Lily, “that maybe the clue is in the name. Sunrise Berries. Anything growing right at the top of the Treasure Tree would be first to see the sunrise. Maybe that’s where we’ll find them.”

Jess gave a whoop of delight. “I bet you’re right,” she cried. “Thanks, Twinkletails. We’re off to explore the Treasure Tree!”

Chapter Five The Treasure Tree

The Treasure Tree was huge—so big that when Lily looked up, it seemed to fill the sky. Food hung from its branches and long vines dangled around the trunk. Poppy told the girls to each tie a vine around their waist. Then she clambered up onto Lily’s back.

“Now pull the vines,” said Poppy.

Lily and Jess gave them a tug. To their amazement, they were lifted off the ground!

The vines pulled them gently up through the branches. Poppy held tight, ducking whenever a melon or a bunch of bananas threatened to bump into her.

They passed clumps of every sort of nut, even coconuts, and they could smell the sweet strawberry branch long before they reached it.

Jess’s mouth watered when she saw fat purple plums. She was just about to pick one, when she heard a voice above her.

“Ssh!” she whispered to the others. “Someone’s singing up there.”

Lily felt her tummy tighten. “Not Gretchen, I hope,” she whispered. She stretched upward to look, and jumped as a furry tail swished by.

The voice sang, “Nuts, nuts, I’m nuts about nuts...”

“It’s Woody Flufftail!” cried Poppy. “Hey, Woody!”

Lily and Jess gave their vines another tug to make them stop, and stepped onto one of the branches. The squirrel’s cute little face peeped between two golden pineapples.

“Hello, Poppy! Hello, Jess and Lily!” he chattered. “Wasn’t the Flower Festival fun? I’m collecting apricots for a pie. What are you looking for?”

“Sunrise Berries,” said Poppy. She explained about Patch and the potion. “We think the berries might grow at the top of the Treasure Tree, and we really need them.”

“They could be up there,” agreed Woody, “but I’ve heard they’re very rare.” He leaped onto the trunk. “Follow me,” he cried. “If there are any Sunrise Berries up there, I’ll find them!”

He bounded up through the branches, his fluffy tail rippling. The others followed on their vines. When they reached the top, Lily, Jess, and Poppy stared in wonder at the great forest spread out beneath them.

“What an amazing sight,” said Lily.

“Forget the view,” said Jess. “Let’s look for Sunrise Berries.”

They scanned the topmost branches. Tucked among the tree’s thick green leaves were peanuts and peaches, lemons and limes, gooseberries and grapefruits, but no Sunrise Berries.

“Sorry, everyone,” Woody said sadly. “I wish I could have helped you.”

Lily sat down on a branch, hugging the tearful Poppy. “We must have got it wrong,” the puppy wailed, “thinking the berries would grow at the top of the tallest tree.”

“No, it was a good idea,” said Woody. “They do grow high up. It’s just unlucky that the Treasure Tree doesn’t have any growing right now.”

“But there’s no taller tree in the forest than this one,” said Lily. “So where else could they be?”

Jess felt a chill as she glanced around again, this time looking even farther than the forest’s edge.

Far off, across dark water, stood a cold, forbidding tower. Gray clouds hung above it, and Jess jumped as a bolt of lightning lit up the building’s roof. She squinted and could just about make out the shape of a woman at the window—a woman with tendrils of long, green hair.

“Grizelda!” Jess gasped. “That scary tower must be her home.” She shivered. “Remember what she said—that we’d never dare try to reach the berries?”

Lily felt her heart sink as she nodded. “Maybe the berries are high up. But instead of being up a tree...”

“... they’re at the top of Grizelda’s tower,” finished Jess grimly. “I’m afraid it makes sense.”

Lily felt close to tears as she stroked Poppy. “Let’s go back down,” she said.

They said good-bye to Woody and the vines gently lowered them back through the branches. Poppy clung onto Lily’s back, paws around her neck.

On the ground, poor Poppy’s ears drooped miserably. Her eyes were wet with tears. “We’ll never save Patch,” she sobbed. “Not if the Sunrise Berries are at the top of the witch’s tower. No one would dare to go there.”

Lily and Jess looked at each other.

“We dare,” said Jess in the bravest voice she could muster.

“That’s right,” said Lily. “It’ll be okay, Poppy. Think about what we’ve done already! We found out about the potion, we escaped from that awful cage, and we’ve found the first two ingredients. And we couldn’t have done all that without you!”

“Exactly,” said Jess. “Now we’re going to the witch’s tower and we’re going to get those berries.”

Poppy’s tail started to wag. “And then we’ll save Patch!” she said.

“We will,” said Jess firmly.

The girls shared a smile. They didn’t know if they’d manage to beat Grizelda, but they were sure of one thing—they would never stop trying!