Daisy's Secret Read online

  Tea-trees are found on the east coast of New South Wales, most often in shallow soils that have developed from sandstone.

  They are very pretty to look at with glossy green leaves that bend in the middle and often end in a point like love hearts. Being evergreen their leaves don’t fall, staying beautiful all year round.

  Tea-tree blossoms have five round petals. The ones on Queen Jasmine’s Tea-Tree House are white but they can also be pale pink or lavender in colour. Some flower in spring, others in summer.

  The flowers are loved by nectar feeding birds. Bees also use the nectar to make honey which is delicious as well as useful for its antibacterial and antifungal properties. At least that’s what Efa tells me.

  Efa also said the leaves are high in Vitamin C. He boils them in water to make a delicious, healthy tea.

  Which is why we call them tea-trees!

  Guardian Hide’s book was protected by a spell in a secret code. At first I only saw jumbled letters but later I saw that there was a pattern. Can you work out the pattern in the coded sentence below?

  Dyasi adn hre fyalmi aer wsisledner fsaeiir.

  Did you notice anything special about the first letter in each word? What about the second letter? Let’s break down how the code works and then if you haven’t worked out the answer you can use the pattern to work it out.

  To use this code we take the letters in a word and move them into this order:

  1st letter, last letter, 2nd letter, 2nd last letter, and so on, moving inwards until you reach the middle letter.

  Let’s look at the word ‘forest’ to see how it works. When spelled correctly the letters are in these places:

  F O R E S T

  1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

  In Guardian Hide’s code, the letters would move to these places:

  F O R E S T

  1st 3rd 5th 6th 4th 2nd

  So when we write the word ‘forest’ in code, it looks like this:

  F T O S R E

  Use Hide’s code or make up one of your own so you and your friends can send each other messages that no one else can read.

  I’m going to send one to Pea.

  Ula, Pru and Yi are Eastern Water Skinks. Their scientific name is Eulamprus quouii. They are a lovely golden-green with a wide black stripe and white spots down each side and pale whitish-grey underbellies. Growing up to 30cm long, they are found in forests and parks near rivers, streams and ponds. Lucky they are good swimmers.

  Eastern Water Skinks are omnivorous reptiles. They like native fruits like lilli pilli berries but prefer smaller animals that live near the water like aquatic insects and spiders, tadpoles, fish and even smaller lizards. No wonder Vu was scared!

  For my writing buddies, Pat, Elizabeth, Sharon, Natalie and Sarah. Thanks for everything. JW-S

  For my Mum, Joan Thompson – who taught me the best stuff. KM

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  First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2014

  Text copyright © Jodie Wells-Slowgrove 2014

  Illustrations copyright © Kerry Millard 2014

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  ISBN: 978-1-74253-728-3

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