Free The Rainbow Opal by Paula Harrison Page A

What’s that?”
    “It’s a brush-tailed possum,” Summer told her. “There’s a whole family of them living in here.”
    The little possum poked its pink nose out of the middle of a bush and its whiskers quivered. Rosalind bent down to look. “I like him. He’s cute,” she decided.

    “I know an animal that’s even cuter,” said Summer. “Come and see!”
    With Kanga still riding on her shoulder, she went over to a tall tree with a pale trunk and blue-grey leaves. “See that furry, grey animal halfway up? That’s a mother koala with her baby on her back. We call the baby a joey.”
    At the sound of Summer’s voice, the baby koala turned its head and looked down at the girls with big black eyes.
    “He’s gorgeous!” cried Maya. “Look at his beautiful fur and fluffy ears!”
    Rosalind folded her arms. “I still like the possum best.”
    “I’ve always wanted to see a koala,” said Lottie. “I didn’t know they carried their babies on their backs like that.”
    “They only do that once the joey’s old enough to live outside his mother’s pouch.” Summer saw their puzzled facesand added, “The pouch is like a furry pocket on her tummy.”
    “Is the baby koala all right?” said Maya suddenly. “I thought I saw him drop one arm, as if he was going to let go.”
    Summer looked up, shading her eyes. “Don’t worry. He’ll be used to riding on his mother’s back.”
    As they watched, the mother koala pulled a bunch of leaves off the tree and began eating them. Then a rumbling noise started up in the distance. It quickly grew into the deafening growl of a motorbike. Kanga ruffled his feathers and looked alarmed as the sound came closer. Then suddenly it stopped.
    Summer frowned. “That sounds like a motorbike. I wonder who it is.”
    “I want to find more koalas.” Lottie ran to the next tree. “They’re my new favourite animal!”
    “Why don’t we go further into the woods—” began Summer, but she broke off as she heard her mum’s voice. “Oh no! My mum’s calling me. I bet the sound of the motorbike was the photographer arriving. Now I have to go and have my photo taken.” She pulled a face.
    “What’s wrong?” said Rosalind. “Don’t you like having your picture taken?”
    “I don’t usually mind,” replied Summer. “But this isn’t a normal photo. It’s something much worse! In our kingdom, every prince or princess has a special picture taken after their tenth birthday. Everyone in the kingdom sees it and it even gets shown on TV!”
    Just then, the Queen of Mirrania appeared at the edge of the trees. Her face was pink and her crown had slipped sideways on her neat hair. “Summer, why are you taking so long? Bill Fleck hasarrived and he’s setting up his camera right now.”
    Kanga gave a loud squawk and flew away to the top of the highest tree.
    Summer sighed. “I’ve got to go,” she told the other princesses. “Stay here and watch the animals if you like. You can still have fun even if I can’t!”

Chapter Two
The Royal Photo
    Summer reluctantly followed her mum into the palace drawing room. Dark-red sofas stood at one side of the room and velvet curtains hung at the windows.
    The photographer, who had a bristly moustache and a smart bow tie, had already set up the camera on its stand. He was busily polishing the camera lens with a small yellow cloth.
    “My dear princess!” The photographer bowed low and his yellow cloth swept thefloor. “I’m Bill Fleck and I’m absolutely delighted to meet you. It’s like a dream come true!”
    “Er … thanks.” Summer curtsied back. She hoped he would take the photo really quickly. Then she could go back outside with her friends. “Where shall I go? Over here by the sofa?”
    “Just a moment, Summer.” The queen hurried forwards. “We need to organise this carefully. After all, this is a very important photo.”
    “Yes, that’s right!” Bill nodded. “It’s your tenth birthday picture. So it’ll be