by Holly Bell
Matilda’s Lost and Found
published in 2013 by
Chirpy Bird, an imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont
Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.
eISBN: 9781743580301
Text and design copyright © 2013 Hardie Grant Egmont
Illustration copyright © 2013 Forever Clover Pty Ltd
With thanks to Damian Davis.
Illustrations by Elizabeth Botté
Design by Julie Thompson
Text design and typesetting by Ektavo
Forever Clover is a registered trademark of Forever Clover Pty Ltd.
www.foreverclover.com.au
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Late one Friday afternoon, Matilda and Abbey were watching the clock in their classroom. It was 3.19 p.m. There were just seconds to go until the weekend began!
Matilda grinned at Abbey, and then the two best friends started mouthing the countdown. ‘Five. Four. Three. Two …’
Brrrring!
At the bell, they grabbed their bags and ran out to the bike sheds.
‘Race you to the quarry!’ Abbey said as they jumped on their bikes.
Matilda began pedalling as fast as she could, but Abbey raced past her.
‘OK, you win again!’ Matilda laughed as she drew up behind Abbey. ‘You’re just better at riding bikes than I am.’
Abbey gave her a cheeky grin. ‘Yup. But I bet you’d win if we were riding horses! In fact, I think Quest is calling you.’
Matilda giggled. Even from there, she could hear her horse neighing at the farm.
Matilda loved horses. And cows. And sheep. And dogs and birds and caterpillars. She loved all animals. She even wanted to be a vet when she grew up. Matilda was so distracted by Quest’s neighing that she didn’t notice Abbey speeding off again.
‘Hurry up,’ yelled Abbey. She was flying along the bumpy track into the quarry.
The quarry was an old abandoned mine next to Matilda’s farm. It used to be where miners dug out the stone to build the houses in the town. Now it was covered in flowers, trees and lots of clovers.
One hot day, Matilda, Abbey and their friends had found a rare four-leaf clover. Finding one made the girls feel lucky, so they all decided to wear a four-leaf clover charm as a symbol of their friendship. After all, best friends are like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have!
The girls often joked about who had seen the four-leaf clover first. But Matilda knew for sure it had been her.
Soon after, they’d found an old miners’ shed that was carved into the quarry wall. It was hidden from view behind hanging trees and overgrown bushes.
Matilda, Abbey, Olivia, Maddie, Kate and Emma were the only people who knew it was there. It became their very own secret clubhouse.
‘What’s the rush?’ Matilda called after Abbey. But her bestie had already gone down the path that led to their clubhouse.
Matilda caught up with Abbey just as she went through the clubhouse door. Abbey was doing a little dance.
‘Why are you so excited?’ Matilda laughed.
‘Because it’s the weekend now!’ Abbey beamed.
Then Matilda remembered that she’d promised to paint the henhouse this weekend for her mum. ‘Are you free tomorrow?’ she asked. ‘Because I have a surprise! It’s something we can do with all the Forever Clover girls.’
‘What is it?’ Abbey begged, jiggling even more. ‘Tell me, tell me!’
Matilda laughed. ‘As soon as the others get here, I will.’
She knew her friends would be happy to come over. They loved hanging out at her farm and doing arty projects together.
Just then, Emma, Maddie, Olivia and Kate burst through the door. The clubhouse was filled with laughter and chatter.
Without skipping a beat, Abbey bounced around, yelling, ‘Sit down, Matilda has a surprise! Sit down!’
The girls turned to Matilda, who nodded happily. ‘I have a craft project for us this weekend,’ she said. ‘Mum said we can paint and decorate the henhouse!’
Everyone cheered. ‘Bella is going to be so happy,’ Abbey said, clapping. Bella was Matilda’s favourite chicken.
‘Yes!’ squealed Emma, who loved doing arts and craft. ‘We’ll make it look amazing.’
Matilda grinned at her friends. ‘Thanks, guys,’ she said. ‘You’re the best friends ever. I’ll ask Mum if you can stay for a sleepover, too!’
The girls all buzzed with excitement. It was going to be an awesome weekend!
On Saturday morning, Matilda got up really early. She put on the old shorts, T-shirt and jumper that she always wore when she was working on the farm.
Matilda’s family farm was at the end of a dirt road, a little way from Davey’s Bay. It was small, but it provided almost everything that Matilda and her family ate. There was a vegie garden, chooks for eggs and cows for milk.
Her horse Quest lived in the far paddock with their other horses. Matilda’s family loved animals, so they had lots of pets! There was a guinea pig, a budgie, two cats, three dogs and even some turtles in the little dam.
Matilda was playing with one of the dogs at the front of the house when her friends came bounding down the dirt road. They were all dressed in their scruffiest clothes, ready to start painting.
Once they’d dropped their sleepover stuff in the house, the girls walked across the lush green paddocks to the chicken coop at the bottom of the farm.
Matilda’s dad had built the henhouse out of the wood from the old barn. It had two storeys and a big caged-off grassy area outside where the chickens could play and scrabble about.
Bella, Matilda’s favourite chicken, was standing next to the cage door. Matilda picked her up for a cuddle.
Then Matilda walked inside the hens’ garden, closing the cage door behind her. She found four warm brown eggs in the henhouse, and brought them out to show the girls.
‘More eggs?’ asked Matilda’s mum as she walked towards them, carrying tins of paint. ‘Your dad will be pleased. He’s making a leek quiche for lunch.’
Her mum laid out paintbrushes for all the girls to use, and some big tins of paint. Then she turned around and called out, ‘Nicola, come and help the girls paint the shed!’
Matilda was horrified. ‘Mum!’ she said. ‘We don’t want Nicola to help us! She’ll just get in the way.’
Matilda’s sister Nicola was a couple of years younger. Even though she was sweet, she could be annoying sometimes, too.
Her mum gave her a look. ‘Come on, Matilda,’ she said. ‘Nicola loves playing with you girls. Be a nice big sister.’
Matilda sighed. ‘Fine. But if she gets annoying, she has to go.’
Her mum shook her head. ‘I need you to keep an eye on her while I’m working, please.’ Then she turned to take the eggs inside. ‘Have fun, girls!’
Behind her, Nicola came running up. ‘Yay!’ she said. ‘I’m a Forever Clover girl now!’
Matilda rolled her eyes, but not so her friends or Nicola could see. She’d have to try not to get annoyed at her little sister.
Then Matilda turned to her friends,
who were waiting eagerly with their paintbrushes. ‘Let’s get started,’ she said. ‘Emma, you’re the tallest, so why don’t you paint the roof?’
Emma picked up the pink paint and gave her a salute. Kate skipped over, saying, ‘I’ll help!’
‘Why don’t you guys paint the frame blue?’ Matilda said to Maddie and Olivia. ‘Abbey and I can do the door in yellow.’
Nicola bounced up and down. ‘I want to help too!’
Matilda set her up to paint the bottom panel green. It was the easiest job, and low enough for Nicola to reach.
‘Be careful, OK?’ Matilda said, hoping she wouldn’t make too much of a mess.
Then the Forever Clover girls all dipped their brushes in the coloured paints and got started. They swept their brushes up and down, up and down, across the wood of the henhouse.
Matilda had just started painting the door with Abbey when Nicola leapt up, almost tipping over her paint tin. ‘Tilda, can you hear that?’
Matilda sighed. She knew she had to be patient, but her sister was already getting in the way! ‘Nicola, watch out for the paint.’
Nicola tugged on her sleeve. ‘But can’t you hear that noise?’
‘Nope,’ Matilda said, shooing her back around the side. ‘Come on, just keeping painting.’
Within five minutes, Nicola had knocked over her tin of paint. Matilda set it right again, biting her tongue. Then she took a deep breath and got back to painting.
It was hard work, but Matilda was amazed at how quickly the pretty colours had started appearing all over the henhouse.
‘We’ll have this done in no time!’ she said, as Bella clucked at her feet.
The aroma of her dad’s cooking wafted down the hill from the farmhouse kitchen. The girls couldn’t wait to eat the quiche.
‘I didn’t realise how hungry painting makes you,’ said Maddie, as they finished the first coat of paint. ‘I’m starving!’
Matilda put her brush in the bucket of water. ‘Let’s go eat,’ she said. ‘We can do the second coat after lunch.’
Nicola threw her brush in the bucket too. The water splashed all over the freshly painted wall and dribbled onto the grass.
Matilda suppressed a groan. ‘Come on, Nicola. I’ll fix that later.’
The girls walked back to the house. Nicola skipped ahead, singing to herself.
‘Nicola is so cute,’ Maddie said to Matilda. ‘I wish I could have a little sister, instead of being one.’
Matilda was about to disagree, but then an odd noise caught her attention. It sounded like a faint mooing. She cocked her head to one side. ‘Can you guys hear that?’ she said. ‘I think Nicola was right – there is a noise coming from somewhere.’
They all listened and, sure enough, there was a faint mooing. It was coming from just over the other side of the hedge.
‘That sounds like a newborn calf!’ Matilda said, raising her eyebrows.
‘Cool! I’ve never seen one before,’ said Olivia. ‘Can we have a look?’
Matilda climbed over the nearby gate and led her friends into the paddock that the cows lived in. Sure enough, there was a little newborn calf under the cow shelter! It was very thin and gangly and it was all on its own, lying in some hay.
The calf was mooing like it was calling for its mum. ‘She’s a girl calf,’ Matilda told the others as they went over. ‘I wonder where her mum is?’
The girls looked around. There were no other cows to be seen.
‘She must be off in the far paddock,’ Matilda said worriedly. ‘But this calf will need some milk soon or she won’t survive. We have to help her!’
Matilda saw a rope hanging on a post of the cow shelter. Thinking quickly, she made a loop with it and slipped it around the calf’s neck. Then she and the girls carefully led the wobbly calf up the hill.
When they got near the farmhouse, Matilda’s dad came out to meet them.
‘What do we have here?’ he asked, squatting down. He examined the calf carefully and then looked up at Matilda. ‘She doesn’t look well, does she? Let’s put her in the front yard and find her some food.’
The calf was curled up on the ground now, with her eyes closed. Matilda bit her lip. Hang in there, baby cow!
Matilda and her dad went inside the farmhouse, leaving the other girls to look after the calf.
‘It’s lucky you found her,’ said her dad once they were inside. ‘The poor thing needs to eat!’
Matilda grabbed her animal handbook. Then she looked up the recipe for feeding calves. It said to mix up some milk, water, castor oil and an egg.
Matilda watched as her mum made the mixture and then poured it into a bottle with a teat cap. Then they went back into the front yard and Matilda put the bottle near the calf’s mouth.
‘Please take it, little baby cow,’ Matilda said. ‘It’ll make you feel better.’
She stroked the calf’s head. The calf had a little sniff, then touched the bottle’s teat with her big tongue.
‘Go on, pretty girl. You can do it,’ she said softly. She pushed the teat against the calf’s mouth again.
Suddenly, the calf took it and started sucking.
‘You’re a natural with her, Matilda,’ her mum said.
Matilda grinned. ‘I think we should call her Lucky,’ she said.
The other girls nodded happily.
Lucky guzzled the mixture down, sucking so hard that Matilda had to hold the bottle with both hands.
‘It’s the perfect name,’ her mum said. ‘She’s hungry as well as lucky, though. She’ll need another bottle after that one!’
‘It’s unusual for a mother cow to leave her calf,’ said Matilda’s dad as her mum walked back to the farmouse. ‘I’d better go look for her around the farm.’
Matilda’s arm was starting to ache from holding the bottle so tightly. When the new bottle was ready, she let the Forever Clover girls take turns feeding her.
‘Can I have a go too?’ Nicola whined.
‘In a minute,’ Matilda said. ‘Let Abbey finish her go first.’
But after Lucky had sucked down two bottles, she was full.
‘She looks a lot happier now,’ Matilda said, as Nicola crossed her arms grumpily.
Lucky lifted her head. To everyone’s surprise, she gave a long, loud burp! The girls cracked up, and even Nicola giggled.
‘She’s sounding a lot happier too,’ Kate laughed.
‘It’s time for the rest of us to eat now,’ said Matilda’s mum. ‘Let’s go back inside.’
The kitchen table was covered with quiche, salads and jugs of fresh orange juice and milk. Matilda’s two brothers appeared from nowhere and leapt into their chairs. Matilda picked up her baby sister Georgia and placed her in the highchair.
Lunch was noisy, as everyone chatted cheerfully around the big kitchen table. They took turns checking on Lucky, who seemed better now she had a full tummy.
‘I suppose we better go finish the hen-house,’ Matilda said when they were done.
‘Why don’t some of you stay in the front yard to look after Lucky?’ suggested her mum.
‘I will!’ the five friends all shouted at once, waving their hands in the air.
Matilda laughed. ‘Well, I can play with animals anytime, so I’ll keep painting.’ She tried not to feel too disappointed as she glanced out the window at the sleepy Lucky.
‘I’ll help,’ said Abbey. ‘I love painting.’
After several rounds of rock paper scissors, it was decided that Olivia and Maddie would stay with Lucky. So the girls all went outside, and Emma and Kate reluctantly followed Matilda and Abbey to the henhouse.
‘Don’t worry,’ Matilda said as they walked off. ‘The sooner we finish painting, the sooner we can come back!’
The girls got straight onto the second coat of the henhouse. They all wanted to go back and play with Lucky!
Nicola might have spent all morning with the Forever Clover girls, but she was as excitable as ever. Matilda groaned as Nicola ran a
round, splattering paint all around her and talking at the top of her voice.
Matilda shook her head and tried to concentrate on her painting. She was just starting on a tricky corner when Nicola ran into her, making her botch the paint.
‘Nicola,’ Matilda snapped, spinning around. ‘Stop messing around!’
Then she realised that there was more paint on Nicola’s clothes than the whole henhouse.
‘Oh my gosh,’ Matilda muttered. She decided to find her little sister some easy jobs that would keep her out the way.
When Nicola wasn’t looking, Matilda tipped out the bucket in the garden. Then she called out for her sister. ‘Nicola, can you get some more water for the brushes, from the tap near Nanna’s place?’
‘OK,’ said Nicola as she picked up the small bucket and bounced off.
Abbey giggled. ‘Good job, big sister!’
With Nicola gone, the girls made great progress. Matilda quickly tidied up Nicola’s wall to get rid of the uneven patches and drips.
‘What do you think happened to Lucky’s mum?’ asked Emma as they painted.
‘I don’t know,’ said Matilda. ‘Sometimes the cows get startled by a loud noise and panic, or they go off looking for food. But they don’t usually leave their babies behind. That’s why Dad’s really worried …’
The girls fell silent while they finished the second coat. Once the final brushstroke had been applied, they stood back and admired their handiwork.
‘It looks great,’ said Emma. ‘And see how happy Bella is!’
Standing in the middle of the hut, Bella clucked proudly, as though she’d painted the henhouse herself.
‘Let’s clean up and go play with Lucky,’ said Matilda.
‘Where’s Nicola?’ asked Kate. ‘Did she come back with the water?’
Matilda looked around irritably. It had been ages since Nicola had gone off for the water. The girls started calling out to Nicola, but there was no reply.
Matilda shrugged. ‘Come on, let’s go back to the house,’ she said. ‘I bet she’s gone to see Lucky too.’