by Asia Citro
The caterfly rubbed its face against my wrist and purred lightly. “It’s OK, Zoey. You rescued our eggs. Besides, a few plants still look healthy. That might be enough for our caterpillars once they hatch.”
I looked over the field of catnip plants. About half of them were damaged. I shook my head. It didn’t look like enough.
Mom put her arm around my shoulder.
“We need more catnip plants,” I said. “I don’t think what’s left will be enough to feed the baby caterpillars.”
Mom nodded. “What do you think we should do?”
I reached into my backpack and popped on my Thinking Goggles. We needed more plants . . . more plants . . . hmmmm. The first word that popped into my head was seeds. But there weren’t any flowers yet and seeds take an awfully long time to grow. The next word was my friend Sophie. Sophie? Really, Thinking Goggles? I mean, it would be fun to play with her later, but . . . OH!
“The African violets!” I practically shouted.
Mom smiled.
Before I got distracted by the snow, I’d been working on a surprise for my friends in our greenhouse. My mom showed me a trick where I could clip leaves from our African violet plant and plant the stems in the soil. The stems of that plant can grow roots, which is super weird. And amazing. After the leaves grow into plants, I can give them to my friends at the end of the year. “Can catnip stems grow roots, too? Could we clip off leaves from the catnip and plant them in soil to make new plants in our greenhouse?”
“That sounds like an excellent plan! And you’re right. Herbs like catnip can do exactly what the African violets do—grow new plants from part of the original plant.”
I raised the caterfly on my wrist up to my face. “How would you feel about moving to our greenhouse for a few weeks?”
“A greenhouse? Does it have a Sassafras?” the caterfly asked.
“It does have a Sassafras. And it’s nice and warm.” With one finger, I gently petted the head of the caterfly.
“Warm! And a Sassafras! Yes!” exclaimed the caterfly.
“Then let’s get to work,” Mom said. She walked to a healthy catnip plant and waved me over. “Zoey, you’ll need to clip off the ends of the plants here,” she said, pointing to the tip of a stem with about five new leaves unfurling, “and put them in this bag.”
Once I’d collected the clippings, we headed back to the greenhouse, caterflies and all.
MAGIC?
CHARTER 12
Mom set out several pots, a bag of potting soil, a watering can, and the bag full of my catnip clippings. I planted the stems just like I’d done with the African violet leaves for my friends. As we worked, Mom explained that not all plants grow well from pieces—only certain kinds, like aloe or herbs. I felt pretty lucky that catnip was one of those plants!
When I was done, I stood back to admire my work. “Will this be enough, Mom? Won’t the caterflies need to eat these?”
A caterfly landed on my wrist. “Silly Zoey. We don’t eat plants. Blech! Only caterpillars like the taste of them. We drink delicious nectar from flowers. Like butterflies!”
“Ooooooh, nectar!” several caterflies purred.
I looked around the greenhouse. “But we don’t have any flowering plants. How will you eat?”
“Well, we usually drink nectar from the forest flowers, but we know a trick.” The caterflies giggled. “If we want to try different nectar, we sneak into garden stores. It doesn’t hurt the flowers. There’s plenty of food there. And it’s warm inside!” purred the caterfly on my wrist. Then it popped into the air and flew to the greenhouse roof. “We can come and go through here. It’s useful to be small sometimes!”
The caterfly fluttered back to Sassafras, who was thrilled at the attention from the tiny creatures. Mom and I worked together to add the catnip stems to the different pots. When we finished, we stepped back and grinned. Sassafras had curled up on the workbench and was snoring lightly. And so were the dozen caterflies on his back. Mom tenderly placed the eggs at the bottom of a new catnip plant, and we tiptoed out of the greenhouse.
IT’S TIME
CHAPTER 13
Sassafras and I laughed as we ran through the green grass in our yard. The sun shone down on our faces, and the caterflies flitted happily through the warm spring air while we played another game of tag. The caterflies were really fast so it wasn’t a fair game (they always won), but we enjoyed it anyway.
I flopped on the ground to catch my breath, and Sassafras jumped on my stomach. A pile of giggling caterflies soon joined him. I closed my eyes and smiled as the sun warmed my face, when Sassafras let out a meow.
“What is it, buddy?” I asked, ruffling his fur. I peeked with one eye and saw my mom coming over. She had a bucket and her gardening clothes on.
I propped myself up on my elbows.
“It’s time,” she said.
I knew this was coming. “Are you sure they can’t stay a little bit longer?” I whined.
“We need to replant the catnip plants. They’re getting too big for their pots. Plus, the caterfly eggs are due to hatch any day now. You don’t want the caterpillars growing up inside a greenhouse, do you? Not when they could grow up seeing this beautiful sky every day?” Mom lifted her arms out, tilted her head back, and smiled with eyes closed toward the sun.
She had a point. It was beautiful out here.
“You can still visit them, you know,” she added.
I sighed and hauled myself up. The caterflies fluttered around my head. “It’s time! It’s time!” they chirped. They were so excited. I tried my best to be happy for them as I followed my mom back to the greenhouse.
After we filled the wagon with supplies, I ran into the house and grabbed my backpack with my camera and science journal. I couldn’t keep the caterflies, but I could at least take a photo of them.
I led the way to the catnip field, and Sassafras trotted behind, carrying a load of happy caterflies on his fur. Poor Sassafras would be lonely without those caterfly cuddles!
“You dig up the dead plants and a good bit of the soil around them as well,” Mom instructed. “All the thawing snow and rain we had a few weeks ago helped flush out most of the salt, but it’s best to be safe. I’ll add some fresh soil around each of the new catnip plants.” Mom nodded her head toward the huge bag of potting soil we’d hauled in the wagon.
We worked and worked, and finally I patted the soil around the last baby catnip plant and sat down to admire our work.
“Don’t you think Sassafras is doing a good job not drooling on the catnip?” I asked. I looked around for Sassafras. “Wait. Where is Sassafras?”
Mom and I scanned the area and found Sassafras sitting completely still in front of a new plant.
“What is he doing?” I asked. As I got closer to investigate, I saw that he was cross-eyed. Staring at his nose.
I almost fell over laughing. Smack in the middle of Sassafras’ nose was a tiny purring caterpillar. It was kneading his nose with its tiny caterpillar legs.
“They hatched!” I exclaimed to my mom. She rushed over and laughed when she saw poor Sassafras frozen in place.
“Wait!” I exclaimed, and Mom stopped in her tracks. I rummaged through my backpack. Ta-da! My camera. This would be the perfect photo! I had to hold my breath so the camera would stop shaking from my giggles. I took the photo and then coaxed the baby caterpillar onto my finger.
Sassafras let out a sigh of relief once his nose was caterpillar-free.
“He’s so tiny!” I cooed. I rubbed his furry back and he purred. “Oh my gosh! He’s soooo cute!”
I let Mom have a turn holding him, and after we set him on a catnip leaf, we watched in awe as he gobbled one leaf, then another, and another.
“Wow. They really eat a lot, don’t they?” I asked Mom.
“Yep! It’s a good thing we had the greenhouse to get the new catnip plants growing quickly.”
“How can he fit so much food in that tiny little body?” I muttered as
I squinted down at him.
“Ah, he can’t. So he’ll shed his skin several times, and each time, he’ll get remarkably bigger. Just like a regular caterpillar.”
“And like mayfly nymphs?” I asked. My mind wandered back to the merhorses we helped last summer. We needed to visit them now that the weather was warming up!
“Yes, just like the mayfly nymphs.”
I shivered. “I’m glad I just grow. Shedding my skin to get bigger would be super gross.”
Mom laughed. “Well, then it’s a good thing you aren’t an insect! Once they’re big enough, the caterpillars will form chrysalises and their body parts will reorganize inside to form caterflies.”
I made a face. Reorganizing body parts? Ew.
“All that talk about shedding skin and whatnot has probably made you hungry.” Mom winked at me mischievously. “Let’s get cleaned up for dinner.”
We said a quick good-bye to the caterflies, who fluttered around the baby caterpillars to make sure they were safe and well-fed. Sassafras looked longingly back at the caterflies, and the catnip, and then joined us on the path toward home.
A KNOCK?
CHAPTER 14
Sassafras watched me check on my African violet babies at the dining room table from the safety of my lap. I carefully brushed the soil away from the leaf stem I’d planted in the dirt and lifted the leaf out. Yes! I could see tiny little nubs starting to grow at the bottom of the stems.
I dangled the leaf in front of Sassafras’ face. “Look! Baby roots! My friends are going to freak out when I show them that I made a leaf grow into a new plant.”
Sassafras blinked in agreement, then whipped his head to the side, and pointed his ears toward the kitchen.
“Meow?”
“Do you hear something, Sass?” I strained my ears. I didn’t hear anything.
Sassafras leaped out of my lap and ran for the back door.
I followed, still straining to hear any noise.
Sassafras meowed impatiently and stretched his front legs up to the doorknob.
“Maybe someday you’ll be able to open doors. But for now, how about I help you?” I grinned at him and twisted the doorknob.
There on the doorstep was a bundle of catnip. With a teeny tiny note attached. I picked it up and took a look:
A big smile spread across my face. “I believe these are for you, Sassafras,” I said, bending down.
Sassafras took a step toward the catnip. “Meow?” He looked up at me.
“Yes, go ahead! It’s yours!” I waved him on.
He dissolved into a writhing, purring, drooling mess of happiness.
I looked again at the miniature note and saw a tiny paw print. That was sweet of the caterflies—I couldn’t believe they had so much catnip to spare. Unless . . . unless . . .
“Sassafras!” I shouted.
He looked up at me. Some drool and crumpled catnip leaves were smeared down one side of his face.
“The caterpillars! They must have made their chrysalises! That’s why they don’t need the catnip anymore. We’ve got to see them!”
“Meooow!” Sassafras cried and pawed at the pile of wet catnip.
“OK, two more minutes. Then I really want to go see.” I looked at the note one more time and realized I should add it to my science journal before it got lost. It was just too cute.
I went to my room and glued it next to my entry on caterflies, across from that silly photo of Sassafras with the tiny caterpillar on his nose. I leaned in close to the photo and could barely make out the faint purrs of the caterpillar. I couldn’t wait to see the chrysalises they’d made! I leaped up and rushed past my desk. The whoosh of air flipped my journal open to a new page.
A blank page, just waiting for whatever creature we’d help next . . .
GLOSSARY
Camouflage: When the natural coloring of an animal blends into its surroundings, which makes it harder for predators to find them.
Chrysalis: A life stage that comes after a caterpillar but before a butterfly or moth.
Freezing point: When a liquid turns to a solid. The freezing point for water is 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius): that’s when water turns to ice.
Host plant: Where a mother butterfly lays her eggs, and where the baby caterpillars eat. Different butterflies and moths have different host plants.
Nymph: A kind of baby insect.
Predator: A living thing that eats other living things for food.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
ASIA CITRO used to be a science teacher, but now she plays at home with her two kids and writes books. When she was little, she had a cat just like Sassafras. He loved to eat bugs and always made her laugh (his favorite toy was a plastic human nose that he carried everywhere). Asia has also written three activity books: 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids, The Curious Kid’s Science Book, and A Little Bit of Dirt. She has yet to find a baby dragon in her backyard, but she always keeps an eye out, just in case.
MARION LINDSAY is a children’s book illustrator who loves stories and knows a good one when she reads it. She likes to draw anything and everything but does spend a completely unfair amount of time drawing cats. Sometimes she has to draw dogs just to make up for it. She illustrates picture books and chapter books as well as painting paintings and designing patterns. Like Asia, Marion is always on the lookout for dragons and sometimes thinks there might be a small one living in the airing cupboard.
for activities and more visit
ZOEYANDSASSAFRAS.COM