Everyone shook their heads—even the Muddlepup dog family, who were excellent gardeners.
“I’ve never seen one in our garden,” Mr. Muddlepup said. “I wish we could help.”
Everyone sighed with disappointment. But then Mrs. Featherbill waved a wing. “I remember now! I saw one once!”
“Where was it?” Lily asked excitedly.
“You won’t find a shower flower today,” said Mrs. Featherbill. “It’s too sunny. Whenever it rains, the shower flower grows at the spot where the first raindrop falls. But it disappears when the sun shines again.”
Goldie looked at the sky. “It’ll be dark soon,” she said, “but there are no clouds, so it won’t rain. Grizelda won’t find a shower flower today, either.”
Lily nodded. “Since it’s almost nighttime, we should probably go home now.”
Jess grinned. “Or we could have a sleepover with Goldie and look for the shower flower tomorrow! No time passes in our world while we’re away. We can stay and help for as long as we need to.”
“We won’t let mean old Grizelda ruin our fun!” Lily cheered.
“Can I go, Mom?” Amelia asked.
“Of course!” Mrs. Sparklepaw agreed.
“Me, too! Me, too!” lots of the other animals called out.
“Everyone can stay,” laughed Goldie. “It’ll be a birthday sleepover!”
Goldie handed out slices of her birthday cake, while the girls helped arrange soft piles of cushions and blankets for the animals to sleep on.
Amelia curled up in the middle with her brothers, purring contentedly as her eyes drifted closed.
Once everyone was comfy, the girls settled beside Goldie and gave her the card they’d made before her party started.
“Oh, thank you! It’s the nicest card I’ve ever gotten,” Goldie told them. She smiled happily. “Grizelda tried to ruin my birthday, but it’s still been very special—because you’re here, Lily and Jess.”
There was a sleepy mew. “And me,” purred Amelia.
Everyone laughed!
“Especially you!” said Goldie.
She turned to Jess and Lily and whispered, “All I need now is to stop Grizelda from ruining our forest—then I’ll be the happiest cat ever!”
Story Three: Greedy Gobbler
Chapter One
Mr. Cleverfeather’s Inventing Shed
Lily and Jess woke up in a nest of blankets and cushions in Goldie’s grotto. Morning sunshine streamed through the G-shaped window in the door and shone on the sleeping animals curled up all around them.
Jess stretched her arms and sat up. “I’m so glad we found Goldie,” she said, whispering so she wouldn’t wake the others.
“But we still have to stop Grizelda,” Lily said seriously.
The witch had kidnapped Goldie from her own birthday party. The girls and Amelia Sparklepaw, their kitten friend, had rescued her, but Grizelda was now planning to make a potion. Lily and Jess didn’t know what the potion was for, but they knew it would be something horrible!
Goldie and Amelia stretched and yawned. Then they curled up again, so close that their whiskers were touching.
“Wakey wakey!” said Jess, gently shaking them. “We have to stop Grizelda from finding a shower flower and completing her potion, remember?”
Amelia’s blue eyes flew open. “Ooh, yes,” she said eagerly.
Goldie got up. “Don’t worry. We’ve beaten Grizelda before. We’ll do it again.”
As all of the animals started to wake up, Goldie opened the door and sunlight flooded in. The girls looked outside.
“Oh, dear. It won’t rain today,” said Lily.
“It might,” said Jess. She pointed up at some gray clouds floating high above the trees. “Hopefully a shower flower will grow somewhere!”
Goldie made everyone a breakfast of toasted sunflower seed buns and whipped up banana and honey smoothies in the blender Mr. Cleverfeather had given her for her birthday. While they ate, Goldie said, “If a shower flower does grow today, how can we find it before Grizelda does?”
“I know!” said Lily, looking at the blender. “Let’s ask Mr. Cleverfeather if he has an invention that can help.”
Mr. Cleverfeather the owl hadn’t stayed for the sleepover, so after saying good-bye to everyone, the girls, Goldie, and Amelia set off to his tree. Lily and Jess watched the sky anxiously.
Goldie pressed the trunk of Mr. Cleverfeather’s tree with her paw. The rough surface rippled and twisted, and a winding staircase appeared.
Amelia’s eyes widened. “Wow!”
Lily and Jess grinned. The girls had seen Mr. Cleverfeather’s home before, but they still found it amazing!
Amelia scampered up the stairs and the girls and Goldie followed. At the top was a shed, with Mr. Cleverfeather standing in the open doorway. He was wearing his usual waistcoat and monocle and hooted happily when he saw them.
“Come in!” he said. “How can I help you?”
Once he’d heard what the problem was, he rummaged through his inventions. Soon he tossed out an object with a propeller and a basket hanging underneath.
“Hovering Apple-Picker—that never worked,” he muttered. “What’s this?”
A set of wheels with a board fixed on top rolled out. “Hmm, that surfboard was supposed to work on sand and lea,” he said. “I mean, land and sea. But it sinks.”
Then, hooting with glee, he produced a contraption kind of like a watering can. He pressed a button and a red-and-blue-striped umbrella shot out of the top.
“My Dropper Spotter!” said Mr. Cleverfeather. “It detects drainrops—I mean, raindrops. It’s useful when you’re planning a picnic.”
Goldie, Amelia, and the girls cheered.
“Hooray!” said Lily. “Now we can find the exact place where the shower flower will grow.”
Jess picked up the Dropper Spotter. “I just hope we find it before Grizelda does. If she manages to make her potion, I’m sure something terrible will happen to Friendship Forest...”
Chapter Two
The Dropper Spotter
“You just bess that prutton,” Mr. Cleverfeather explained to Jess. “I mean, press that button. Then off you go!”
“Thanks, Mr. Cleverfeather!” said Jess.
They waved good-bye to the owl and went back down the magical staircase. Jess put the Dropper Spotter on the ground and pressed the start button.
The umbrella began to turn. Soon it was spinning so fast that the red and blue stripes became a blur of purple. The Dropper Spotter rose until it was level with Jess’s head, and took off through the forest, zooming around the trees.
Lily picked Amelia up, and they all hurried after it.
As they pushed through the bushes, the kitten’s ears twitched and she gave a sudden cry. “Stop! There’s someone calling nearby!”
They waited a moment, watching the Dropper Spotter anxiously in case it flew out of sight.
“Oh! I can’t hear anything now...” said Amelia.
“Maybe it was the wind blowing in the bushes,” Lily suggested.
“Yes,” said Amelia. “Maybe.”
They hurried on. When the Dropper Spotter whizzed around a group of nut trees, Amelia stopped and put a paw to her ear.
“There it is again!” she said. “I can definitely hear a voice—it came from behind those jellyberry bushes!”