High in the sunny eucalyptus branches, Marlow reached for a fresh leaf.
Then Mother lifted a tiny baby joey into the sunny branch fork. "Shh," she whispered. "The baby is sleeping."
Marlow went still. A leaf slipped from his paw. He climbed to a higher branch to watch.
The baby stayed curled close to Mother. Marlow watched the branch fork glow in the sun and thought, I can help.
He snapped off the biggest leaf cluster he could find and carried it over.
But Mother was patting the baby. "Set it here, please," she said.
Plop. Marlow kicked at the flaky bark. Cockatoos screeched across the bright blue sky. He wanted to do something even more impressive.
Marlow climbed onto a bendy branch and shook it like a grand stage.
Leaves rained down for the baby. Then a sleepy kookaburra burst from the foliage with a wild cackle!
Boing! The branch bounced hard. Mother grabbed it. The baby squeaked. Marlow scrambled back, cheeks hot.
Everything grew quiet again. Then the baby gave a small, fussy cry.
The baby's gum leaf spinner tumbled from the nest and drifted toward open air.
Before Mother could move, Marlow lunged down the trunk.
He caught the spinner on a knobby branch and climbed back through the rustling wind.
The baby grabbed the spinner and quieted at once. Mother looked at Marlow and said, "My helper."
Marlow settled beside them. He tore soft leaf bits and showed the baby how to pat the spinner so it twirled.
Tap-tap. The baby copied him and let out a squeaky giggle.
Soon the branch held three shadows instead of two, rocking gently in the warm afternoon breeze.
