CHAPTER ONE
Poppy Needs a Friend
It was a lovely bright morning in Misty Wood. On top of Sundown Hill, a little pony called Poppy was grazing beside her mom.
Sundown Hill was the sunniest place in the whole wood. The yellow primroses that grew there shone like sunbeams, and there was plenty of lush green grass, too. Poppy liked the grass very much.
“Yum, yum!” she whinnied as she nibbled the juicy stems. She was nearly full now, but the grass was so tasty she couldn’t stop eating.
“That’s right, Poppy!” neighed her mom. “We’ve got lots of work to do today, so you need a big breakfast.”
Poppy was a Petal Pony— one of the fairy animals of Misty Wood. Her gleaming coat was the same pale yellow as the primroses and her silky mane and tail were as white as swan feathers. It was the Petal Ponies’ special job to swish their glossy tails and waft the beautiful scent of the flowers through the wood. The sweet smells made all the other animals feel happy.
“Woof, woof!” Loud barking rang out across the hill.
Poppy stopped chewing and turned to see who it was.
“Let’s have a race!” a voice called. “I bet I win. Woof!”
Poppy heard the patter of paws on the ground. Lots of paws! Her long legs started to tremble as a pack of Pollen Puppies came scampering through the tall grass.
“Woof!” they barked as they charged along with their tails wagging. “Hello, Petal Pony. Woof, woof!”
But instead of answering, all Poppy could think was Help!
You see, Poppy was a very shy pony, and she found it hard to talk to fairy animals she didn’t know. Quick as a flash, she unfurled her sky-blue wings and flew behind her mom to hide.
“Hey, Petal Pony!” barked one of the puppies. “Where did you go?” He peeped through the silky fronds of Poppy’s mom’s long tail. When he saw Poppy hiding, he trotted around to speak to her.
“There you are,” he said with a grin. “We’re having a race to Honeydew Meadow. Would you like to come with us?”
Poppy shook her head.
“Why don’t you, Poppy?” said her mom. “You’re really good at galloping.”
“Yes, you could win the race,” barked the puppy. “Come on!”
Poppy hid her face in her long white mane. She felt so shy, she didn’t know what to do.
Poppy’s mom looked at her kindly. “It’ll be fun,” she said.
Poppy thought for a moment. Her legs were a lot longer than a puppy’s. And she did love to gallop fast.…
“Poppy?” Her mom gave her a nudge with her velvety nose. “What do you say?”
Poppy took a deep breath. She wanted to say, “Yes, please. I’d love to!” But her throat went tight and all that came out was a little snuffling noise that sounded like: “Hm-hm-hm.”
The puppy wagged his tail. “What did you say? Are you coming?”
Poppy hung her head. She was so embarrassed she felt hot all over.
Poppy’s mom looked at her, waiting for her to say something, but Poppy’s voice had completely disappeared.
“Maybe not today,” Poppy’s mom told the puppy. “But thank you very much for asking.”
“That’s okay! Poppy can play anytime.” The puppy waved a paw at Poppy to say good-bye. “Come on, puppies, let’s go!”
The puppies scampered away over the hill, barking happily.
“I wish I could have gone with them,” Poppy sighed. “But I’m so shy I can’t even speak to anybody.”
Her mom nuzzled her neck. “You have to try to be a bit braver, Poppy. How will the other animals know that you want to be friends if you don’t talk to them?” She lifted her head and gazed down the hill at the rest of Misty Wood. “Never mind now—it’s time to start work,” she said. “The sun’s shining and all the flowers are blooming.”
Poppy’s face brightened. She loved swishing the lovely flower smells around the wood.
Her mom looked thoughtful for a second. “Why don’t we split up and go to different places today?” she said. “I’ll go to Bluebell Glade. You could start at Heather Hill. There’ll be lots of gorgeous heather blossoms there.”
“I’d rather be with you,” Poppy said, her tail drooping. She’d never gone without her mom before.
“You’ll be fine,” her mom told her gently. “And maybe other fairy animals will come and talk to you. You might make a friend.”
“Maybe,” said Poppy, but she didn’t think so. How could she make a friend if all she managed to say was hm-hm-hm?
“Just give it a try!” her mom said. “Have a lovely day and I’ll see you at supper.” She nuzzled Poppy with her nose and then galloped off a little way before opening her wings and soaring into the sky.
Poppy felt a bit lonely, left behind on Sundown Hill. But the sun was shining and she had lots of work to do, so she shook out her white mane, fluttered her wings, and headed off.
Misty Wood looked beautiful as she flew over it. When she arrived at Heather Hill, she heard a loud buzzing. Hundreds of bumblebees were hovering over the purple heather flowers.
Poppy landed in a quiet spot at the side of the hill and began flicking her snowy-white tail over the flowers. A wonderful sweet smell like honey filled the air.
“Mmmmm!” droned the bumblebees. They flew up and began swirling in a huge cloud. Then they zoomed down to collect pollen, buzzing even more loudly.
Poppy smiled as she listened. The bees sounded really happy, and it was all because of her!
It was time to move on and find some more flowers.
Poppy cantered down Heather Hill and into the trees. They formed a beautiful green archway for her to run through. Thin fingers of sunlight beamed through the leaves above her, making a pretty golden pattern on the floor.
Poppy felt very content as she raced along. But then, just as she reached a clearing, she saw three large fairy animals with stripy faces and silver wings.
Bark Badgers! Poppy skidded to a halt. They mustn’t see her, or they might want to come over and talk. Luckily, she spotted a big honeysuckle bush that she could hide behind. She trotted over to it as quietly as she could.
Poppy peeped through the leaves. The badgers were busy doing their special job, decorating the tree bark.
Poppy watched as one badger scraped his claws over the bark, making a flowing line that looked just like a pony’s tail. Another was scratching swirly shapes that made Poppy think of a rushing stream. The smallest badger was making a circle with lots of marks inside. When he’d finished, it looked as if a face was smiling out from the tree trunk.
That’s so clever! thought Poppy.She noticed that the honeysuckle bush she was hiding behind was covered in white flowers with long yellow stems. She sniffed. The flowers smelled so lovely—even sweeter than the heather blossoms. Careful not to make a sound, she slowly swung her tail back and forth and the scent began to drift toward the badgers. The smallest one looked around.
“Mmmm,” he murmured, “something smells nice!”
Poppy stopped swishing her tail and kept very still. After a minute, the badger turned back to his tree trunk and began to draw a new pattern with his claws.
“Phew!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t seen her.
The badgers smiled as they sniffed the honeysuckle perfume. One by one, they began carving beautiful pictures of flowers on their trees. They looked so happy. Poppy’s work was done.
She started creeping away from the clearing … but the smallest badger looked around again. And this time he spotted her!
“Hello,” he called, twirling his silver whiskers in greeting.
Poppy wanted to hide, but she was so shy she couldn’t move an inch.
The badger smiled. “You’re a Petal Pony.”
Poppy nodded. She tried to say something, but nothing came out. It was as if all the words inside her had run away.
“Thank you for making everything smell so good,” the badger said.
Poppy swallowed. She had to say something!
“You’re welcome,” she whispered very quietly.
The badger waited, but Poppy couldn’t say anything else.
“Well—thanks again,” he said with a friendly wave of his paw, and he turned back to his friends.
Poppy’s head fell. The three badgers were having so much fun, chatting and laughing as they made their beautiful patterns. If only she could go and join in.
“I’ll never, ever be able to make a friend,” she whispered to herself. A silvery tear ran down her primrose cheek and dripped off the end of her velvety nose.
Text copyright © 2014 by Houthouse Fiction Ltd
Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Kirsteen Harris Jones
