Jess nodded. “It’s worth a try.”
Goldie’s whiskers twitched. “But there are so many trees,” she pointed out. “How do we know where she’d be?”
“Oh, I know!” said Emily. “She’d be up the tallest tree in the forest. That’s the Treasure Tree!”
“Of course!” said Jess, remembering that they’d climbed the tree on one of their adventures. “Your family is lucky you’re so smart, Emily. We’ll track Dusty down in no time. Let’s go!”
Chapter Six
A Cleverfeather Invention!
The Treasure Tree towered above them, its leaves shimmering in the sunlight. There were all sorts of colorful fruits and nuts growing along its branches. Normally, it was busy with animals gathering food, but today everyone was at the river and the Treasure Tree was deserted.
Jess peered into the branches. Was Dusty up there somewhere, sunning herself on the highest branch? Magical vines hung around the trunk to help animals climb the tree safely. Jess ran to grab one but almost fell when she stubbed her foot on something hard.
It was a grapefruit, but it was made of stone!
“Dusty must have done this!” she cried, showing the others. “She’s definitely here!”
“Goodness,” said a voice nearby. “A pone stair—I mean a stone pear! This isn’t right. Not right at all!”
Jess grinned. She knew that voice. It was Mr. Cleverfeather the owl. Sure enough, when they looked behind the broad tree trunk, there he was with one of his inventions.
“Goldie!” he cried. “And Less and Jilly—I mean, Jess and Lily. Oh, dear, I do get my words muddled. Are you picking fruit? Would you like to borrow my invention? It’s a ticking pool.”
“A ticking pool?” said Emily, peeping out from Jess’s pocket.
“He means a picking tool.” Lily giggled. She jumped back as a stone coconut hit the ground with a thump.
Jess told Mr. Cleverfeather about Dusty. “So you see,” she finished, “we have to get her to take the spell off the other Pricklebacks. If we don’t, Willowtree River will be gone forever.”
“There!” whispered Lily excitedly. “To the left of those bananas, above the coconuts. It’s Dusty’s tail!”
Sure enough, there was a yellow tail swinging lazily back and forth.
“Watch out!” cried Emily. “Pineapple!”
They leaped aside as a stone pineapple smashed through the branches, hitting the ground with a thud and shattering into tiny pieces.
There was a giggle from above. “Heeheehee!”
“Dusty must think it’s funny to turn fruit to stone while she sunbathes,” Jess said angrily.
“Look out!” said Goldie, dodging as a stone walnut fell from the tree.
“Now that we’ve dotted Spusty—I mean, spotted Dusty,” said Mr. Cleverfeather, “we must think of a way to get her down.”
“If we can’t,” Emily said anxiously, “we’ll never get her to reverse that spell.”
They all thought hard.
“If only Dusty knew how much fun water could be,” Lily said, thinking about the Rushy River Race and the lovely day they had planned.
Emily looked thoughtful. “It’s like a puzzle,” she said. “There must be something we can do...” Suddenly, she gave an excited squeak. “I know! Do you remember what the Featherbills were doing while everyone was waiting for the race to start?”
A grin spread over Jess’s face as she realized what Emily meant. “They were having a water balloon fight!” she said.
“Emily, that’s so smart!” said Lily. “Everyone loves water balloon fights.”
“Even dragons?” Jess asked.
“Let’s hope so,” Goldie said, crossing her paws tightly.
Every inch of Mr. Cleverfeather’s inventing shed was crammed with tools and gadgets. Lily, Jess, Goldie, and Emily peered around curiously. Jess grinned as she looked at the plans for a Cake Creator, which were spread out on the wise old owl’s desk.
“My next invention,” said Mr. Cleverfeather, sweeping the plans aside. “But that’s not what knee weed. I mean, we need.” He rummaged around. “Banana peeler for the parrots... no. Automatic ear wash for rabbits... no. Ah!” he cried. “Here we are.” He opened a large box.
Jess and Lily peered into it. “Water balloons!” they cried.
Mr. Cleverfeather chuckled. “Ah, these aren’t ordinary balloons,” he said. “They’re Hi-Soak Balloons, just like the ones the Featherbills were using. I invented them so we could all have water fights on hot days. What fun!”
“Perfect,” said Goldie. “Hopefully, Dusty will think it’s fun, too.”
Mr. Cleverfeather passed Jess a full watering can. Lily held a red balloon steady while Jess filled it. Then she knotted it and batted it into the air with her hand.
“Catch, Emily!” she said.
The little hedgehog tried to catch it, but she missed, and it landed on her prickly head and burst.Pop!
It showered her with water.
Splosh!
Emily fell backward in surprise, giggling so much that her tiara fell off.
Jess helped Emily to her feet. “But how will we fill up the balloons?” she wondered. “The river’s gone.”
“There’s just enough water in the watering can to fill these ones,” said Lily.
“And if our plan works, we’ll get the river back soon!”
While Mr. Cleverfeather, Jess, and Goldie filled as many balloons as they could, Lily used her skirt to pat Emily dry, then popped her back in Jess’s pocket.
“Just one more thing,” said Lily, “how can we throw them at Dusty? She’s much too high up.”
“Don’t worry,” said Goldie. “I’m sure our bird friends will help us make a very soggy delivery—of Hi-Soak Balloons!”
Chapter Seven
Attack!
Captain Ace flew above the treetops, towing his beautiful patchwork hot air balloon through the sky behind him.
Lily, Jess, and Goldie were inside the basket hanging beneath the balloon, with a huge pile of filled water balloons at their feet. Emily perched on the side of the basket, with Lily’s arm around her to stop her from falling off.
Captain Ace pulled on a rope.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Bubbles streamed up into the balloon. Then they burst, filling it with hot air.
Lily looked to the left and waved to Mrs. Taptree the woodpecker and her chicks, Dig and Tipper, who were flying alongside.
They gave muffled chirps. “Quick! Quick!”
Jess waved to the Blueflash family, who called, “Chee-kee! Chee-kee!” Their voices were muffled, too, because each bird had a bunch of water balloons dangling from its beak. Even tiny Jenny Littlefeather the wren was carrying one. Her wings beat twice as fast as the other birds’ as she struggled to keep up.
Lily tightened her arm around Emily and said to Jess, “Aren’t we lucky to have so many wonderful friends?”
Jess nodded happily. “Look!” she cried, as they drew near the Treasure Tree. “There’s Dusty!”
The dragon was lying on her back on the highest branch, her eyes closed and her wings outspread.
“Captain Ace,” whispered Goldie, “can we go a little closer?”