“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?”