Esperanza is questing! Episode 1/25

In a land far, far away, a popular annual event was the Duck Race. It wasn’t really a race, but a special prize would be award­ed to the duck who travelled the furthest over the event week­end. Then all the ducks would be transport­ed safely back to their homes.

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News spread far and wide about a disturb­ing mishap in the race!
Rangers combed the area trying to find the missing ducks.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 3/25

The ducks in question had been swept off course by a freak wave, and were now follow­ing the wrong river.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 4/25

The twelve bravely kept on their course, thank­ful for each other's company, and hoping they would eventually meet up with the rest of the group.
But we know where all rivers lead to ...

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The ducks were alarm­ed at having been swept out to sea, but were grate­­ful to have ended up on a small island, giving them a chance to rest and regroup.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 6/25

Meanwhile, in PnF Land, Esperanza encountered her friends, Chomp and BobbleHat. "Hey, how are you both doing?" called Esperanza. "Isn't it a worry about those twelve ducks? I do hope they're all right."
"There's safety in numbers, Esperanza. I'm sure they're okay and will be back home for Easter. That reminds me, did you hear that this year's egg hunt has been cancelled? The Chair­pet of the Hunt Committee fell out with all the other members, saying they were in­efficient and un­fit for purpose. They were all hugely offended and washed their paws of the whole thing! So the Chairpet cancelled the event."
"Goodness!" remarked Esperanza. "That's a great shame."
"I match these flowers," remarked Chomp inconsequently.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 7/25

Meanwhile, back in Paradise—­or what would be Paradise indeed if it wasn't so far from home—­the desperate dozen had enlisted the help of sympa­thetic passing sea creatures, an octopus, a cuttle­fish and a squid, in utilising the materials of an old, decrepit ranger's tower to construct a raft, on which they planned to escape their tiny foot­hold in the sea! By sail­ing instead of swimming, the aim was to save getting exhausted on what could be a long journey.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 8/25

All started well. The twelve ducks kept their spirits up by imagining every­pet's surprise and delight when they turn­ed back up. They even fell to wonder­ing which of their comrades had won the event!

Esperanza is questing! Episode 9/25

Suddenly, to their great alarm, they felt the whole raft being lifted up out of the sea! They realised that they and their vessel were now perch­ed on a whale’s tail! To add to their consternation, the mast had been dis­lodged and was now float­ing far away. Fortunately the whale realised what had happened and gently lower­ed his tail to let them continue sailing. Breath­ing a collect­ive sigh of relief, the daring dozen continued on their way.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 10/25

Most of the ducks were dozing, lulled to sleep by the gentle rock­ing of their raft. At dawn they were woken by the strident squawk of "Land ahoy!" by the duck who had the middle watch. Excited, they all eager­ly looked around, trying to make out what land mass was ahead. But there was imminent danger!

Esperanza is questing! Episode 11/25

Oh no! Disaster struck as the raft and its twelve feathered passengers tipped over the edge of a water­fall and went plunging and whirling into a mael­strom of cold, frothy sea!

Esperanza is questing! Episode 12/25

Heartily tired of their struggles to reach safety, but buoyed by the sight of land ahead, the dripping dozen rested on a large rock for a while before striking out again.

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Imagine the delight of the daring dozen when the first creature they encountered on land was a mallard with her brood of young­sters! They clustered round happily. "What place is this?" asked Milly, the yellow duck.
"It's PnF Land," responded Mrs Mallard.
Milly struck a pose and declaimed: "Take us to your leader!" (then spoilt the effect by giggling).
Mrs Mallard was bemused. "We don't really have a ... well, there's Edgar, I suppose, but he's not really in our good books after the Easter egg hunt thing. These little ones had really been look­ing for­ward to that. It would have been their first time."
This made little sense to her auditors but they thanked her kindly and moved on.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 14/25

The group came across a lake and agreed that PnF Land was a beautiful place to live! Just then Esperanza happened to come by, and realised in a flash who the daunt­less dozen were!
"My goodness!" she exclaimed. "You're safe! I must go and tell everyone! Have you any idea how many hundreds of miles you've come?"

Esperanza is questing! Episode 15/25

The whole PnF community rallied round to take care of the ex­patriated ducks. A warm, cosy barn was provided for them with a beautiful lake nearby.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 16/25

The deserving dozen spent their first evening enjoy­ing the lake and chatting to Esperanza. "Tell us about the egg hunt," said Milly. "We're not quite clear what happened."
Nothing loth, Esperanza launched into a full account of the cancelled hunt and the wide­spread dis­appointment this had caused. Milly became very thoughtful.

Esperanza is questing! Episode 17/25

The ducks spent a quiet night recovering from their alarm­ing experiences. Early next morning, Milly threw open the barn window. She had decided that the best way to show their gratitude to all the pets in this amazing land who had shown such kind­ness, would be to organise a huge Easter egg hunt!

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Unwilling to cause ruffled feathers amongst the Hunt Committee, the ducks approached its formidable Chair­pet and represent­ed to him that they wished to utilise the on­going media interest in the Duck Race story to show the world how welcom­ing and generous the pets in PnF Land had been to them in their plight. How would he, Mr Chairpet, feel about it if they, the ducks, organised an egg hunt with press and TV cover­age on Easter Sunday? The Chairpet, secretly relieved to have a way out of his cancellation of the original egg hunt (which, to be fair, he now regretted, particularly as his young nephew had been very disappointed) gave gracious consent.

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The hunt was on! Milly and her colleagues spent hours planning and organising their surprise. Milly donned bunny ears and with the aid of Esperanza, she and the other ducks hid decorated choco­late eggs all over PnF Land. It was great fun!

Esperanza is questing! Episode 20/25

Esperanza entered into her role with great enthusiasm, going out of her way to find ingenious hiding places for the chocolate treats!

Esperanza is questing! Episode 21/25

Esperanza encountered a sweet young duck­ling and gave him an extra-special egg. Whilst chatting, Esperanza found out that the duck­ling had been orphan­ed a few days previously! "Oh, petal, come with me," she said. "I know a whole bunch of ducks who would be very happy to look after you." This indeed proved to be the case.

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The ducks all gathered in their barn and viewed the hunt prizes, extra-large versions of each of the delicious eggs!

Esperanza is questing! Episode 23/25

Milly had had a simply splendid time organising the egg hunt on such a beautiful day. She had even managed to bring about a reconciliation between the Hunt Committee Chair­pet and the committee members.
A lot of pets had asked if she and the other ducks planned to stay in PnF Land. Milly felt there was plenty of time to think about that but she person­ally would be very happy to remain here.

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There was one further prize—a gorgeous arrange­ment of spring flowers!

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Milly presented Esperanza with a very special egg to thank her for her kind help with the Egg Hunt!
Esperanza has found all the eggs she can carry! Please select another pet as visitor, so it can find some more!