"Well it certainly wasn't my fault," Laurel declared as they stood watching the basket float away down Bywater Brook.
"Yes it was! If you hadn't tried to take the basket away, we would still have our lunch!" Lalia shouted back. "Now we have to go back home, and I doubt mama will give us another basket."
They glared at each other for a moment, then a thought came into Laurel's head. They weren't at all far from Bindbale Wood, and she knew of at least one big blackberry patch hidden within. Taking off in the direction the basket had gone, she followed the brook downstream.
"Laurel! Where are you going?" Lalia called after her. "Come back!"
But it was no use. Annoyed, but slightly curious, Lalia ran after Laurel. The farther she ran, the more curious she became. Then, she saw her sister cut to the right, down the road that led into Bindbale.
'Whatever could be in there?' she asked herself as she slowly caught up to her sister. When it seem that Laurel would stop anytime soon, she began to wonder what had gotten into her sister. Then, Laurel cut to the left, off the road and into the trees.
Lalia stopped and watched her go while she caught her breath. Laurel did not go very far. She ran into what looked like a group of small hedges. Once she caught her breath, Lalia ran to meet her sister. When she got closer to the hedges, she noticed little black spots, which only meant one thing. Blackberries!
"Laurel, when did you find these?" Lalia asked her, as she kneeled down beside her sister and began picking the ripe berries.
"Last week," Laurel said rather nonchalantly and shrugged. "I thought these would make as good a lunch as any."
Lalia smiled at her older sister, the basket forgotten. They laughed and picked berries, feeding themselves and laughing at the stains that began appearing on their hands and mouths. When all they ate the berries from one bush, they moved to the next. It was then that Lalia discovered something else. Something that was almost as good as blackberries.
"Mushrooms!" Lalia cried out as she quickly got to her feet.
"Mushrooms? Where?" Laurel asked excitedly as she too got to her feet. Lalia pointed first, then ran out of the blackberry patch to the mushrooms. There, the sisters found that the mushrooms were indeed edible, and they sat among them eating until they had their fill. Leaning back against a pair of trees, Lalia and Laurel sighed contentedly.
"Should we tell Amaranth and Halfred about the blackberries and mushrooms?" Laurel said, breaking the silence.
"Why? Let them find their own!" Lalia said.
"Then how are we going to explain the stains?"
Lalia thought for a moment, then looked over at her sister. "Well, if they ask then I guess we should tell them. But why don't we take some back to them. Maybe they won't ask."
Laurel agreed and they gathered up mushrooms and blackberries in their aprons. They walked back to the road and went out of the wood. Suddenly, Lalia stopped short.
"What is it?" Laurel asked.
"What about the basket?"
"If we tell mama the truth, I don't think she'll be too angry with us. Besides, she has a lot of baskets."
"Perhaps you're right," Lalia agreed and the two sisters continued down the road. When they came from Farmer Mungo's field and got to their house, they were met by Amaranth and Halfred. They dumped out the berries and mushrooms and shared them with their brother and sister.
"Where did you find these, Lalia?" Amaranth asked.
"In the woods," both Lalia and Laurel answered, each with a mysterious smile and a mischievous glint in their eyes.