The Rainbow Opal Read Online Free PDF Page A

stronger. The trees branches trembled overhead.
    The wind gave a sudden gust and Kanga, who was perching nearby, squawked in alarm. Summer was knocked sideways by the wind. She stumbled, dropping the necklace intothe water.
    “Oh no!” she cried. “Come back!” She crouched on the riverbank and thrust her arm into the swirling water. But her hand came out empty.
    Lottie and Rosalind ran to her side. “Careful! Don’t fall in,” said Rosalind. “Rivers can be dangerous, especially after a storm.”
    “But I dropped the jewel!” said Summer, tears coming to her eyes. “The wind pushed me over and now the rainbow opal is gone!”
    “It’s really bad luck,” said Lottie. “I can’t see the jewel at all. I thought something would change when it went under the water.”
    The three girls stared at the place where the necklace had sunk but nothing happened.
    Maya called to them from the top ofthe bank. “Custard seems cold and he’s shivering more than ever.” She hugged the little koala. “I wish we hadn’t brought him outside. I think we should go back.”
    Summer climbed miserably back up the riverbank. She hoped the rainbow opal wasn’t their only chance of helping Custard. The jewel had probably sunk to the bottom of the river and it was all her fault.

Chapter Seven
The Ruined Dress
    Another rain shower started as the princesses walked back to the palace. Rain trickled off their dresses and their shoes squelched with water. Custard sneezed and clung tightly to Maya.
    The queen met them at the front door and her eyes widened in horror. “Oh my goodness, look at the state of you! Come inside quickly.”
    The girls ran in and dripped water on to the palace floor.
    “Summer, what on earth have you been doing?” cried the queen. “Just look at your new dress! I expected you to be more careful – you know very well I wanted you to wear that outfit for the photo.”
    Summer’s dress was a patchwork of mud stains. A large rip ran across the material and one of the frills was hanging on by a thread.
    “I’m sorry, Mum. It got caught on a bramble,” said Summer, too worried about Custard to feel glad about the ruined dress.
    The queen shook her head and muttered something about stain treatments being no use. Then she sent one of the maids to fetch towels and told the king to get a fire going in the drawing room.
    Kanga gave a low squawk and hopped along the stair rail. Then he shookrainwater off his wings. Custard gave a little whimper.
    “The poor little animal,” said the queen. “Give him to me and I’ll dry him.” She took Custard and wrapped him up in a towel. Then she sent the princesses upstairs to get dry and change into warm pyjamas. “And don’t forget to dry your hair!” she called after them.
    By the time the girls came back down, a fire was burning brightly in the fireplace and Custard had gone to sleep inside his towel.
    The princesses sat down on the sofa in their fluffy pyjamas and ate delicious tomato soup with warm buttered rolls.
    The queen fussed over them. “Eat up now! You need some good hot food after getting soaked like that. I know you wanted to find the koala’s mother but going out in the rain was just silly!”
    Summer didn’t want to mention the rainbow opal and she cast a warning look at the others so that they didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry!” she told her mum. “The soup tastes great. Can we have some more?”
    After dinner, Lottie made a fresh bottle of milk for Custard and put some drops of medicine into it. Summer gently pressed the bottle to the baby koala’s mouth. He only drank a little and gazed at her with big, dark eyes.
    “Please get better,” she whispered, stroking the pale fur on his tummy
    Custard gave a tiny squeak. Summer was worried about how quiet and still he’d become. She took him to her room that night and he settled down on her pillow. She watched him for a while before going to sleep, wondering what she was going to do.

    Summer