Summer vacations are the best time to laze,“ drawled Din Din.

“But how much can you laze around,” complained Dazel. “I want some excitement!”

“Oh no!” groaned Delma. “Not again! I’m so tired of your urges to find adventure and get into trouble.”

Dazel blushed. “Just hear me out. I have been reading mystery stories this summer. I go to the Aviary School library which is open in the mornings and have gone through all the mystery stories there.”

When she saw that her friends were actually listening to her, Dazel was encouraged and continued. “Do you know there are mysteries everywhere? Let’s go mystery hunting.”

“Mysteries? In D’Land?” exclaimed Din Din. “That is hard to believe,” the dinosaur said with a laugh. “D’Land is one of the simplest and most wholesome places in the world. What unsolved mysteries lurk here?”

“Do you think I’m joking?” remarked Dazel in a wounded tone.

Delma and Din Din exchanged an amused smile.

“Okay then! I will prove to you that there are mysteries in D’Land!” Dazel said affronted. And with a flap of her wings she flew away.

“Uh-oh!” said Delma, “This seems like de-ja-vu. I wonder what Dazel is going to do next.”

Not one to be laughed at, Dazel returned to the lakeside the next evening.

“Aha!” she exclaimed triumphantly. Delma and Din Din were puzzled.

“What’s the `Aha’ for?” Din Din asked.

“I found a mystery in D’Land!” the duck cried.

Her friends waited expectantly for her to continue.

“The butterflies in the Dark Forest have disappeared!” Dazel declared dramatically.

“What?” Din Din jumped up in alarm. “What do you mean disappeared? I met them last week! I visited the Dark Forest before my birthday — you know I’ve always loved that place. I chatted with the butterflies myself.”

“Hmmm…” replied Dazel. “Well, in my quest for a mystery, I flew around D’Land yesterday. I decided to go to the Dark Forest first because it’s always been a mysterious place — dark, shady and forbidding! I remember Din Din telling me that the creatures there are not dangerous at all — they just like their privacy. But yesterday everyone in the forest was talking about how the butterflies haven’t been seen since the last few days. They have simply vanished!”

“What about the caterpillars? Are they still in their habitat in the forest?” asked Delma with concern.

“No! Even the caterpillars are nowhere to be seen!” answered Dazel. “Well, I’m going to solve the mystery of the disappearing butterflies!”

“I’m coming with you,” said Din Din. “The butterflies are my very dear friends. I’m very anxious about what’s happened to them.”

“Do tell me what you find out,” cried Delma from the water as her friends departed.

Din Din knew his way inside the forest like the back of his hand. Dazel followed him in low flight. They soon reached the caves surrounded by the willow trees where the butterflies lived. Usually lively due to their colourful presence it was strange to see the spot isolated. One of the bear cubs ventured towards Din Din and Dazel. “Hello Grizzly!” Din Din greeted the bear.

“Grizzly! Were you close friends with the butterflies. When did you last see them?” questioned Dazel in a detective-like manner.

“Actually, all of us in the Dark Forest keep to ourselves. That is the reason we live here in the dark, secluded forest — to avoid interruption and involvement from other creatures,” Grizzly replied. “We respect that about each other. But I used to spot the butterflies daily as they flitted from flower to flower. I last saw them four days ago. Since then no one in this region has seen them. That’s not like them at all.”

“This calls for a plan! Din Din you go and speak to the animals and birds who live in the forest. I’ll search this area for any clues,” Dazel said.

Soon Dazel had scoured the cave. The butterflies were flying insects so they had left behind no footprints. As she peered with her piece of convex lens, which she used as a magnifying glass, she spotted a yellow-coloured powder leading inside the cave near the willows.

Once inside the shadowy interior she saw the powder tracks end at the cave wall. Din Din appeared from behind. “Have you found anything?”

“As a matter of fact, this pollen which must have fallen from the wings of the butterflies leads inside this cave but ends abruptly at the cave wall,” Dazel explained.

Suddenly Dazel’s webbed foot got caught in a wedge between the cave wall and the rocky floor. “Owwvvw,” the duck yelped in pain.

“Dazel! Are you okay?” Din Din cried trying to pull her foot out from the wedge.

“Wait. Wait,” hissed Dazel.

“It’s not a wedge in the wall, there’s something down there.” With those words Dazel wriggled into the wedge and disappeared.

Din Din panicked! But in the next few seconds Dazel popped her head up and cried, “Din Din! There’s a whole new land below this cave.”

“What!” cried Din Din.

“And guess where your butterfly friends are? Right underground! “Dazel revealed in glee. “Mystery solved!”

“I want to see too,” the dinosaur said.

“There’s not enough space for you to squeeze inside this wedge. This seems to be the only opening which leads there!” Dazel explained.

Just then some butterflies fluttered out from the wedge in the ground. “Hello Din Din!” they greeted.

“Where have you all been?” Din Din exclaimed. “Everyone has been so worried!”

“We are sorry! We lost track of time. Four days ago we discovered a land below this cave. It seems to be a part of ancient D’Land! The tornado seems to have rocked the trees and ground in the Dark Forest and opened up this tiny crevice leading to this buried land,” one of the butterflies revealed in excitement. “The flowers below are some which we have never seen before! The wilderness is breath-taking! But we have one request to make: we would like to keep this a secret! The land below is so pure and untouched since decades—let’s leave it like that!”

Din Din and Dazel nodded their agreement.

The butterflies soon came out from their secret land and told the rest of the Dark Forest creatures that they had gone out of the forest for a few days, “To hunt for new species of flowers…” they replied evasively.

Din Din and Dazel grinned at each other, hugging their secret to themselves.

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