Mr. and Mrs. Featherbill were thrilled to have Ellie back. Her brothers and sisters waddled happily around her and nuzzled her with their bills.
“Tell us about your adventure,” they begged.
Ellie’s parents thanked the girls and Goldie for saving Willowtree River. “I don’t know what we’d have done if Grizelda’s plan had succeeded,” said Mrs. Featherbill. “But thank you most of all for rescuing Ellie.” She gave them each a warm feathery hug.
Mr. Featherbill held out his wingtip to shake hands, but changed his mind and got a big hug, too.
“Now,” said his wife, “there’s still time for Ellie to have a birthday party, so let’s get the barge ready for some fun!”
Lily, Jess, and Goldie helped clean up and prepare the food, and Mr. Featherbill flew off to tell all Ellie’s friends there would be a party after all. When they’d finished tidying up, Lily and Jess slipped away and found a beautiful rosebush in a meadow. Together, they made a new flowery birthday crown, which they took back to the barge and placed on Ellie’s head.
“Thank you, Lily and Jess!” Ellie said happily.
It wasn’t long before everyone was sitting at a big table on the riverbank next to the barge. Lots of Ellie’s animal friends had arrived. Bertie the badger was there and Molly Twinkletail—and Mr. Cleverfeather, of course.
The Flippershell family turned up in rainbow formation and floated on their backs in the river, with teacups balanced on their tummies.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the side of the barge. They looked over the edge to see Silvia and her sisters knocking with their strong beaks.
“Welcome to my party!” cried Ellie.
When everyone was full of honey buns, hazelnut and cranberry cookies, mushroom patties, and minty lemon soda, Mrs. Featherbill brought out a tray of birthday cupcakes. Each was topped with rosebuds made of creamy icing.
“I decorated the cupcakes myself,” Ellie whispered shyly to Jess and Lily. “I’m glad the Boggits didn’t find them.” She touched each of the girls with a soft wingtip. “Thank you for saving me,” she said, “and for keeping the river safe!”
“You’re very welcome,” Lily told her. “Happy birthday, Ellie!”
Soon it was time to go. Jess and Lily said good-bye to everyone and followed Goldie back through the forest to the magical tree with golden leaves. The cat touched a paw to the trunk and a door appeared.
“Grizelda will be angry that her plan failed,” she told the girls. “She’s sure to come up with a new way to try to make all the animals leave.”
“Come and find us when she does,” said Jess. “We’ll do our best to stop her!”
Goldie hugged them both good-bye. Lily opened the door in the tree and the girls stepped into the shimmering golden light. When the glow faded, they found themselves once more in Brightley Meadow.
“Wow,” said Jess, rubbing her eyes. “A barge of ducks, the Mystery Maze, and a Feather Finder... That was an amazing adventure!”
They ran to the stream and giggled as they skipped across the stepping-stones, thinking of the Flippershells.
A little farther along, they saw Jess’s dad kneeling on the bank, feeding cake crumbs to the baby ducklings.
“Hello, you two,” he said. “Lily’s dad told me these little fellows had just been released, so I thought I’d bring them a treat.” He laughed. “It’s like a ducks’ tea party!”
The girls grinned at each other. They knew what a ducks’ tea party was really like!
The End