Philippa Fisher and the Dream-Maker's Daughter by Liz Kessler Read Free Book Online Page A

again and nodded quickly.
    “And you can’t tell me what it is?”
    “No.”
    “But that was what you came to me as?”
    Daisy nodded. “Listen, I can’t tell you any more. I’m sorry. The consequences in this department are really strict. I’ve been hearing of some terrible things that have happened to fairies in Triple D.”
    “Triple D?” I said. “What’s that?”
    Daisy flushed bright red. “Oh, no!” she said. “Look, I didn’t mean to say that. You didn’t hear that, OK? Please, promise me — don’t tell anyone!” Her voice shook. She was looking really scared now.
    “Don’t worry,” I said. “How can I tell anyone if I don’t even know what it means?”
    Daisy let out a breath. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I
want
to tell you all about it. Just I’ll get into such trouble.”
    “What’s it to do with? Give me a clue! Twenty questions,” I begged, trying to lighten the situation up a bit. I’d never seen Daisy look scared like that.
    She laughed nervously. “I can’t tell you. It’s not like last time. There are lots of us in Triple D, and it’s pretty intense. I only get a little time off each night. I really wanted to see you, though. I tried last night, but the window was closed.”
    The window! The dream! Had Daisy had something to do with —
    “Look, I have to go,” she said.
    “I’m so glad you came!” I said. She gave me a quick hug and headed for the window. “Go back to sleep,” she said. “Don’t tell anyone you’ve seen me.”
    “Of course I won’t!”
    And with that, she lifted the latch, jumped up onto the windowsill, climbed out into the darkness, and disappeared into the black night.
    I woke early. It was just beginning to get light. A grainy gray light filtered in through the window and across the room.
    I felt as though I’d been dredged up from the bottom of the ocean, or from the center of the earth. My whole body sagged with heaviness. I wasn’t ready to be awake yet.
    And then I remembered what had happened last night!
    Daisy had really been here, in this room. I’d seen her with my own eyes, even talked to her. Would she come back? Or would that be all I’d see of her for another six months?
    I was wide awake now, my mind spinning with thoughts and questions.
    I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. It wasn’t even six o’clock. Mom and Dad would sleep for hours.
    But I couldn’t stay in my room any longer, couldn’t even stay inside. I had to get out of here. I got out of bed and bent down to look out my window. The sky was just waking up, growing from black to smudgy deep blue, with a couple of wispy pink clouds hovering in the distance.
    I pulled on my clothes from yesterday and crept backward down the wooden steps. Stopping to listen outside Mom and Dad’s room, I heard their matching soft snores. That decided it. They were fast asleep. I was getting out of here.
    Gently closing the gate behind me, I set off into the woods and along a path that led directly from the garden into the forest.
    My feet squished into the soft ground as I dodged puddles that yesterday’s rain had left behind. The slurp of my feet was the only sound — apart from the birds, who seemed to be just waking up, too. At first, there was just a tweet or two, as though one of the birds was on lookout duty, telling the others, “Come on, time to get up. Someone’s coming!”
    As I got deeper into the forest, the birdsong magnified. Soon, there were birds singing everywhere. Long, tuneful riffs repeated over and over; sharp bursts of tinny trills; beep-beeps like car alarms. The forest was a feathered orchestra!
    The songs, the thin scrapings of pink clouds high above the trees growing into a promise of sunshine, the trees stretching high into the sky all around me, the damp dewy smell of bark — all of it soaked into me and lifted my spirits till I wanted to laugh with pleasure. And I’d gotten Daisy back, too! Life was great!
    I took deep breaths and swung my