After a good deal of hard thinking, they finally decided to station a certain number of their members at different points along the route, somewhere near the places at which it was believed the birds that drew the carriages would have to stop and rest.
As it chanced, at the third stopping place, the carriage that contained the Princess and her father King Acacia, had somehow become separated from the others which were carrying Queen Cootamundra [[78]]and her daughters. This was an opportunity not to be missed, and in order to prevent the carriage from again rising into the air, they tried to blind the driver with little gusts of gritty sand. Had they succeeded in doing this, it was their intention to rush in, seize the Princess Wattle Blossom, and compel her to go with them. But the driver was happily able to defeat them in their object by using a fine silk handkerchief to protect his eyes and face.
Finding themselves foiled in this endeavour, they then sought to overset the carriage by bringing up a blustery wind to rush against it from the side. Again they failed. Hastily changing their tactics, just as the carriage was rising into the air, they sent the wind beneath it in a wild attempt to tip it over on its face; but as before, their efforts proved resultless. Very much disheartened, there was nothing left for them to do but to sulkily stand and watch the flying carriage speeding on its way.
From this time onward, everything would have gone well but for something which the Princess asked the driver to do. They were then within about half an hour of the Fairy City, and getting along famously. All at once the Princess espied a sight the like of which she had never seen before. Looking down upon the earth she saw amid the dreary wastes of sand a splendid patch of green plentifully splashed with red. Rather excitedly calling the driver’s attention to it, she asked him to descend in order that she might examine it more closely. This he did, stopping right beside a very large number of plants that are known as Sturt’s Desert Pea, all in a flaming riot of glorious blossoms. The Princess was enchanted; and very incautiously stepping out of the carriage, she delightedly proceeded to gather an armful of the truly beautiful flowers.
“They suddenly rushed from their hiding places and started pushing and dragging her over the sandy desert.”
Meantime, quite a number of the vicious Desert Fairies, hoping that some such thing would happen, had hidden themselves among the plants. As they hate the Garden Fairies and all their works, it was their intention to destroy the blossoms in any case; but believing that they would prove attractive to the Princess, they simply bided their time. Seeing her walking along the edge of the desert peas, absorbed in picking the deep red clustering blooms, they suddenly rushed out from their hiding places, seized her by the hands and arms, [[81]]and started pushing and dragging her over the sandy desert. Her startled cries awoke her father, who, tired with travelling, had fallen asleep in his seat. The driver did not need to be wakened. Watching the Princess plucking the flowers, he had seen what had taken place. In a flash he realised the danger she was in, and without an instant’s hesitation he sent an S.O.S. message to the Prince at Fairy Island. And it was well that he did; for the very next moment, some of the Desert Fairies who had been left behind to prevent him going to the assistance of the Princess, dashed a swirling, blinding cloud of dust full into his face. They then retreated as fast as they could, throwing up a regular wall of sand and dust behind them as they went. This device prevented the driver from seeing in which direction the Princess was being taken, and left him almost helpless.
To make matters worse, when King Acacia realised that the Princess was being stolen, he was almost distracted, and nothing the driver could say or do made any impression on his mind. He was so distraught, so full of anger, that he appeared to be unable to listen, and stamped up and down in utter helplessness.
The driver tried to get him back into the carriage so that they might at least follow and attempt to rescue his daughter. But it was all to no purpose; and as he dared not leave the King behind, he also was compelled to remain inactive and to do nothing. And all the time, despite her pitiful struggles, the Princess was being taken further and further away. The situation was indeed desperate, and it wrung the driver’s heart to think that like a ninny he must stand about in stupid idleness. Oh, how he prayed that the message he had sent the Prince might safely reach him!
Very fortunately it did! And still more fortunately, the Prince had contemplated going out to meet the Princess and her father as they neared the City, and so was ready with his famous team of blue kingfishers to make an immediate start. Pausing only to give instructions for a band of Shower Fairies to follow after him as hard as they could, he leaped into his flying-carriage, and almost in the twinkling of an eye, was off to save the Princess from an awful fate.