Chapter Five: Xerces Blue and the Edge
Bea and her father waited anxiously by the SW3 stop. She had rushed through her breakfast so quickly that morning that she found she had gotten out the door a little sooner than she needed to. She knew that Cathy and Curtis would be arriving at any moment and she couldn't hold back her excitement. She had her wings out to their full size and was giving them a little shake now and again. She always tried to keep her wings down to their smallest size when she was around her friends since she knew that Cathy hadn't bloomed yet and Curtis, no matter how hard he wished, would never have wings of his own. She liked to have them out like this though to feel them behind her. Sometimes, when no one was looking, she would take little small trips of flight here and there. Luckily for her, her father didn't mind letting her have some moments to play around and test them out. Today was going to change things though. Today she was going to see Cathy's wings for the first time. Cathy had bloomed yesterday on her eighth birthday and Bea was going crazy waiting to see her friend's wings and to finally have someone to share her feelings with.
Bea peered down the Silver Line anxiously. She could see other pods on their way down the line to the school as well as the Hall. Two pods raced past her at the stop and then finally one pod snapped free of the line and gently floated down near Bea. Bea's anticipation was nearly making her sick as she stood on her tiptoes waiting for the pod door to open. Curtis took a little leap out first and Bea was ready to strangle him for not being his sister. Finally, Cathy took a small jump out of the pod with her wings out. She floated gently down the very short distance to the ground. She had a huge smile on her face as she stared at her friend.
"You have to have them out completely to really get a good float," suggested Bea as she ran towards her friend to get a better look at her wings. Cathy's wings just almost reached the top of her head and peaked out just below her hips. Bea shrank her own wings down to mimic the size of her friends' and then let them out again to their very large size, demonstrating to her as she spoke.
Cathy's smile faded and she mumbled under her breath, "This is as big as they get, Bea."
Bea hated it when her friend spoke so quietly. "What?" Bea shouted in aggravation. But she stopped short when she saw the expression on Curtis' face. He looked sad and was giving a knowing glance at Cathy's wings as if trying to warn Bea. Bea turned to her father to see if he could provide some insight into the situation but he was busy looking over the morning paper.
Bea was really getting annoyed. "What? What is wrong with you two? Come on Cathy, let me see your wings. Get them out, real big, you know?"
Curtis stomped over to his sister and grabbed her hand in his. He turned his face to Bea and gave his best defiant stare. Cathy had been staring at her feet the entire time and Bea was really beginning to feel that she had done something wrong, but what? It took Bea a moment of staring at her best friend, with her face down, her eyes filling with tears, for her to finally realize what was going on. Maybe this was as big as Cathy's wings got. Maybe Cathy's wings were considerably smaller than her own. Bea knew that everyone had different kinds of wings, different colors, and different sizes. But it never occurred to her that there could be as much difference as there was between her own and her friends'. Bea's had to be twice the size of Cathy's. Bea's were so colorful and from what Bea could see Cathy's were just brown. Bea's expression of excitement melted away into a genuine face of concern as she walked up to her friend and gave her a hug while Curtis kept hold of his sister's hand.
She then whispered, "Sorry," in her friend's ear as she circled around to get a good look at her friend's wings.
"Wow! Cathy! These things are beautiful!" Bea couldn't believe what she saw. Cathy's wings were the most gorgeous shade of blue she had ever seen, blue and purple and gray, like a sky she had seen in her dreams.
Cathy's face broke into a smile as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. The tension lifted and Curtis let his sister's hand go as he joined Bea in her excitement, "I know! It's so awesome how they trick you. I mean you have no idea that is what she is hiding back there, you know? I love them!"
Curtis' declaration had torn Mr. Featherstone away from his paper. He smiled at Cathy and said," Congratulations Cathy. They look beautiful. You two better not get into too much trouble now. Keep them in check for me, Curtis, OK?"
Cathy looked at her brother and her friend and smiled even more. "Listen, we should get going to school, you know." She took a small pod bubble from her pocket and handed it over to Mr. Featherstone.
"You guys ready to go?" Mr. Featherstone asked and gently tossed the bubble, shot a line of fairy dust and allowed the bubble to expand into the pod that would carry the three of them to school. "You all have a good day!"
Cathy, Curtis and Bea all got into the pod. Bea turned at once to her friend. She was worried how upset Cathy might be about Bea's incredibly tactless comment but was pleased to see that any signs of sadness had completely disappeared.
Bea jumped right into the million questions she had prepared in her mind all morning. "How was it for you?"
Cathy explained how the blooming had gone the previous morning and how elaborate her mother's decorations had been. Bea was in awe and incredibly jealous with each description. Mrs. Royce was so talented and clearly the Royces didn't have any problems with getting high-grade dust unlike Bea's family who opposed its use in the home. The conversation couldn't get very far because Curtis would not stop talking about the cake.
"It was so delicious. And pretty. The butterflies actually moved when you put them in your mouth. I wanted to wait to see if they would really fly away like they say they do, but we ate them all instead." Curtis was still talking about the cake and the different kinds of flowers that were on it when the pod arrived at school. They were all laughing and talking about the cake when they got off the pod just as they had done so many times before and it was only when they were heading towards their first class, nature class, that Bea realized that maybe Cathy had wanted to try floating out the pod when they arrived at school.
"No, I'm good Bea. I don't really like all the attention," Cathy smiled shyly as she looked over her shoulder. She made her wings smaller like Bea had done when they walked into school and Bea had a feeling her friend was happier being in a place where they had to all be the same size.
Curtis leaned in on the two girls' conversation and added with a mischievous grin, "Well, you don't want the same kind of attention that Bea had."
Bea forced a laugh, but the reminder stung. Curtis usually didn't make rude remarks like that; it was more like something her brother did. But when he did make a comment it just reinforced Bea's thinking that all boys had something in them that made them mean.
The three of them finally sat down in nature class. Bea still had so many questions for Cathy. She kept trying to whisper quick questions when Mr. Cedarland wasn't looking. It was finally lunch time, and then a short break after, when Bea had a real solid moment to talk to her friend about her visit to the Ancients. The three of them had found a quiet place in the garden outside to talk, away from the other fairies.
"So, what did the Ancients say? Your wings look so unusual to me. What kind are they?" Bea looked at her friend anxiously.
Curtis lit up with excitement as he gently nudged his sister, "Tell her, Cathy. Bea, this part is the coolest part. You won't believe what they told her. "
Cathy took a deep breath and began to tell Bea all about what had happened at the Great Hall. "Well, we arrived and went in to see them. The one male fairy in the green robe asked me my name. . . "
"Wasn't he nice? He just seemed so nice to me. Really helped me not feel so nervous," Bea interjected.
Cathy smiled, "Yeah, he was really nice. After I told them my name, he and the female fairy came next to me to look at my wings. The female fairy seemed really surprised. . . "
This time it was Curtis who interrupted, "Surprised! Yeah they were all surprise
d. You should have heard their reaction, Bea. They both kind of jumped back. The one guy, the fatter one, he practically fell onto his back he was so surprised. "
Cathy sighed. "Can I tell the story or are you two going to keep butting in?"
Both Curtis and Bea promised to keep their comments to themselves and so Cathy continued, "Well, the female fairy told me that my wings belong to the Xerces Blue butterfly."
"The what?" Bea asked.
Cathy didn't seem to be surprised that her friend had already broken her promise to let her continue, so she went on," The Xerces Blue butterfly. The taller ancient in the middle, he broke in right away when he heard that name. He said that the Xerces Blue had been extinct for nearly seventy years. It was the first butterfly to be made extinct by the humans. It was pretty obvious that they all thought it was pretty strange to see these wings again. So then the female Ancient and the nice one did the test on my wings."
Bea couldn't take it anymore. She had been waiting, in what she thought was, a very patient manner. But she wanted to talk to her friend about this experience that they both now shared. "The test, wasn't it weird?"
"Yeah, it was really weird, so cold. I couldn't handle it. I bet it was really hard for you since your wings are so much bigger than mine. I bet the test took longer for you."
This was the first time that Cathy had spoken so plainly about the difference in size between Bea's wings and Cathy's. Bea was a little surprised that she had been OK to make such an observation. Bea didn't want to make her friend feel bad so she just smiled and said, "Not so long really."
"Well, after the cold fairy dust reading," Cathy continued, "they all spent some time talking just the three of them. It took them a really long time but finally they separated and the middle Ancient in the dark blue robe told me about my wings. He said that since they were from such a unique and extinct butterfly it meant that I was going to do great things, things that would change life for the dream fairies."
Cathy tried to finish her last sentence strongly, but her voice had trailed just a little as her eyes jumped back and forth between her friend and her brother. Bea laughed to herself as she thought that this reaction was just perfect for Cathy. She was always so modest and shy, never wanting to admit to anyone that she was really good at something. Bea knew though that Cathy was not just good, but great and wasn't so surprised that the Ancients had seen this too.
Cathy's face seemed to darken as she looked up again and continued, "Yeah, and so, they said too that I won't be able to fly in missions. My wings are too small and won't handle those long trips. I mean I don't think I really wanted to ever fly the missions anyway, so it's no big deal." She forced a smile and Bea knew that her friend was not telling the truth.
"Flying missions isn't that cool. You will probably be like your mom, with super magic ability. I can't wait until we can start learning practical magic at school. Of course, I am pretty sure I will be terrible, like MY mom," Bea laughed as she said this and hoped that her comment had brought a bit of happiness to her friend's expression. She was pleased to see it had as Cathy's face broke into a smile.
Curtis was looking at both Bea and Cathy with a strange look of excitement as he said, "Well, you guys know what this means right?"
"What are you talking about Curtis?" Bea asked. She hadn't the slightest idea what he was hinting at.
"Cathy has wings now. She promised me when she turned eight that . . ." But Curtis didn't get a chance to finish as Bea had jumped up from her seat and started doing a small dance of joy.
"The Edge! We can go to the Edge now! Oh, you guys, it is going to be so cool! We have to go today. After school. It is perfect," Bea was already planning the event in her mind. Curtis had told Bea of his plan to go to the Edge when they all were eight when she first met him; each year that they got another year older he smiled more and more with the idea of finally getting to go to the Edge of the island. Bea knew that Cathy wasn't that excited and had only promised her brother to be nice. But Bea didn't let these thoughts interfere with her excitement at getting to go and see the Edge. Her brother, Steven, had of course already gone with some of his friends. They had gone when they had just started their second year. At the time Bea was only two and she had a vague recollection of how scared she was when he had returned home that day to tell the tales of his adventure. He seemed to slowly change, and add to, the story with each retelling. Bea knew he was lying, but she wasn't sure how much he was making up. Steven had always used this knowledge to point out how young and stupid his sister was in comparison to himself. Bea couldn't wait to know what he knew and be able to make him shut up the next time he tried to show off.
"After school, let's meet up and take the pod towards your guys' house. Then we can just make the short trip from there to the Edge," suggested Bea.
"Which stop would be better? The one behind the prep school or NE5?" Curtis had a point. The NE5 stop was out of the way. There would probably be no one around. Going to the Edge was always something that the grown-ups would tell kids not to do. Bea thought they never had a very good reason for saying this. Besides, all kids wound up going there eventually. She had never heard of anyone getting in trouble for going or of anyone being stopped. But it would be nice to have the entire Edge to themselves without anyone watching. Or would it? Bea thought about the pod stop behind the prep school. Steven went to the prep school. The basic school kids got out before the students at the prep school. They would probably have time to go to that stop, go to the Edge and be done with their experience just as the prep school was letting out. Bea saw a beautiful scene forming in her mind: Her brother coming out of school with his friends, Bea and her friends just coming from their visit to the Edge, Bea confronting her brother in front of his friends about all the lies he had always told her. Bea had made up her mind.
"Behind the prep school should be good," Bea said firmly.
Cathy's face was twisted up with anxiety. "What if someone sees us?"
Bea thought quickly, she knew her friend didn't really want to go at all, but having her on board for this would make everything go much smoother. "We may want someone to see us. You know, just in case we need help. If might be safer to be around other people. Don't you think?"
"Hmm, yeah, I guess that might be true," Cathy mumbled quietly.
"Then it's decided!" declared Bea.
"What's decided losers?" Bea, Cathy and Curtis all turned around suddenly to see who had just interrupted their discussion. It was Veronica. Veronica had changed a great deal in the last few months. Right after she bloomed she came to school with a completely different attitude. She still had her usual confidence, but she seemed determined to be mean to people and had taken control of the gang that she had always been a follower of before. Christina had melted away into the background and seemed only too willing to follow Veronica. Why did she have to show up now? She was getting really good at being around when Bea really didn't want her to be. It was almost as though she had a strange radar that sensed when to show up and make Bea and her friends most miserable. Bea wasn't about to let her ruin their plans to the Edge.
"None of your business, Veronica!" spat Bea and did her best to glare directly at Veronica in defiance.
"Like it matters with this group. None of you are really capable of doing anything." Veronica was ready to continue when her eyes caught sight of Cathy's wings. Bea and Curtis looked at each and shared a glance that confirmed that they had seen Veronica's intentions. They both immediately stepped closer to Cathy, flanking her on either side poised and ready for the attack that was sure to come.
"Well, looks like you finally bloomed, Cathy." Veronica had an amazing talent for making anyone’s' name sound terrible as she added a strange singsongy ring to it when she spoke. Veronica circled around the three of them and started flicking the tips of Cathy wings. "Why don't you let them out so we can see them?"
Cathy's face was bright red. Bea looked at her friend wondering what she was
going to do next. "We can't have our wings out at school," Cathy said clearly, but quietly as she stared at the ground.
Veronica laughed through her nose as she circled the three and turned to face them again. With a gentle rustle, Veronica's wings were fully out. Bea had forgotten how beautiful they were. Veronica's birthday had been in October and when she showed up at school after she had bloomed everyone was insanely jealous of her wings as she had made a graceful floating leap from the pod when it arrived at school that morning. Veronica's wings were not quite as big as Bea's. In some ways this was better, because the wings looked the perfect size for Veronica's body. Bea's, on the other hand, sometimes looked awkward and strange as they almost made Bea disappear. Veronica's wings were from the swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail. All the girls had wanted to have swallowtail wings; they had delicate tails on the hindwings and some even had scalloped edges. Veronica's were the envy of every classmate. They were a silvery gray with sparkling diamond-like spots along the scalloped edges. The hindwings had streaks of a misty blue that led to another row of spots; these were a brilliant yellow, like the sun. Right at the end of the trail of diamond spots on the inside of the hindwing was a single yellow spot. This yellow spot was more beautiful than the others above it and it sent out trails of sparkling fairy dust when Veronica would move her wings. Bea always had a strange sensation of awe and insane jealousy when she saw Veronica with her wings out. Even from a distance, when Bea had seen her out shopping, Bea could see their beauty.
Veronica cleared her throat and challenged Cathy, "Come on, Cathy. Let's see yours."
There were mumblings and voices of agreement pouring from Veronica's small gang. Bea definitely didn't like where this was going and she could tell that Cathy didn't either. Her face had changed from bright red to a strange pale green, like she was about to be sick. Curtis squeezed Cathy's hand and whispered something in her ear. His words must have worked because Cathy closed her eyes, wrinkled her forehead and let her wings out to their full size.
There was a brief moment of silence as Veronica's gang waited for her cue. Veronica let out a shrill, cackling laugh. It sent chills down Bea's spine and Bea could only imagine how much that laugh had hurt her friend.
"Is that all?" Veronica sneered. She moved again to see the back of Cathy's wings. A small, crooked smile spread across her face, "Well, at least you have something decent going on here. It makes up for the dirty mud we have to look at when we see the backs of your wings. I am assuming that the Ancients told you that you won't be able to even fly to get groceries with these things."
Curtis looked like he was ready to explode. "Shut up Veronica! Just leave us alone. We don't care what you have to say. Why don't you, and your stupid followers go somewhere else?" Curtis had screamed and Bea could tell that the fairies that were in that vicinity, just inside the school, had all stopped what they were doing when they had heard his voice.
Mr. Black poked his head around the archway that lead to the garden. "What's going on out here?" he asked as he stepped towards them. The moment Mr. Black's voice had rung out, Veronica and Cathy had shrunk their wings down to the proper size for school. Bea even wondered if he had seen the girls with their wings out at all, they had made them smaller so quickly. Mr. Black shook his head as if he was seeing things and made his way closer to the group. "Everything OK over here? Cathy, you look terrible. Are you feeling well?" He took Cathy by the shoulder and guided her away from the group. "Let's take you to the nurse."
The group of fairies stood frozen to the spot as they waited for Mr. Black and Cathy to be back inside school and on their way to the nurse. Bea tried counting to five in her mind to give herself enough time to make sure that they wouldn't be heard again. Then she stepped closer to Veronica and said in the most menacing voice she could muster, "Leave us alone Veronica."
"Huh, whatever. Have a nice day losers!" With that Veronica turned on her heels and marched out of the garden, back into school, with her small group of followers trailing behind her. As she walked away she looked over her should and gave an icy glare that froze Bea in her tracks. Something about Veronica's look made Bea confused. Veronica's eyes weren't dancing with the usual joy that she had seen in Christina's eyes when she had been at her peek of bullying. There was something else there, something almost like sadness. Bea shook her head and looked away. Certainly she was imagining things; Veronica couldn't really be feeling sad about hurting Cathy's feelings.
The rest of the day slowly passed. Cathy didn't come back from the nurse's for music class, but she was already sitting down in her seat waiting for class to begin for the last class of the day. Bea shot as many friendly smiles her way as she could without getting Mrs. Golden, their magic teacher, too upset. The moment class was dismissed at the end of the day Curtis and Bea rushed to Cathy's side and asked her if she was OK.
"Yeah, I'm fine now. Sorry I had to be taken to the nurse like that." Cathy always found a way to apologize for everything, Bea thought. Who apologizes for being sick after being harassed like Cathy had been?
The three of them headed out the door towards the pod stations. The school had a beautiful fountain in front and all along its' outermost edge was a narrow strip of shallow water that contained small pod bubbles floating and bobbing along. The students grabbed one on their way out of school and then handed one over to one of the teachers that were waiting at the stations. The teachers would toss the bubbles into the air for the students, shooting dust at them, and then see the students off for the day. Curtis grabbed a pod for them and they lined up behind some other students and waited for their turn to leave.
Curtis looked at Cathy and said, "Listen. Let's just forget about the whole plan for today, yeah?"
Bea hadn't thought about the Edge. She was a little angry with Curtis for suggesting that they abandon their plan. But she knew that it was the nice thing to suggest after the terrible day that Cathy had just had.
"No," Cathy said softly. Bea and Curtis both looked at her in surprise. "No, I want to go."
Bea couldn't believe her ears. Cathy hadn't wanted to go to the Edge this whole time. For years she had made it pretty clear that she was against the idea every time Curtis brought it up. Now, here she was, stating in a clear and determined voice, that she wanted to go?
"No, really, sis. Don't worry about it. You don't have to be all tough just for us. Let's re-schedule, OK?" Curtis suggested.
Cathy smiled at Curtis and Bea. "No. I want to go today."
Hearing it again seemed to make Curtis know that his sister's mind had been made up. A huge smile spread over his face and he started to do a little dance as they waited in line to leave in their pod. Bea was so excited she couldn't stand still and started hopping up and down. Cathy looked at the two of them and started to laugh, "You two are crazy, you know that don't you?"
It was finally their turn to leave and Curtis handed the bubble to Mrs. Golden. She tossed it into the air and the pod appeared. The three of them piled into the pod and Bea turned around to press the button on the panel inside for NW5, the stop directly behind the prep school. The pod doors closed and they were soon off.
The pod had only to circle halfway around the island before it stopped at NW5. The trip took less than 30 seconds and Bea was somewhat wishing that they had more time to ready themselves for their adventure. The pod snapped off the gold-line and as the doors opened it was Cathy that had her wings out as she gracefully leapt from the pod and floated down to the grass below. Bea wasn't even ready to do the same and instead left the pod with Curtis after it had landed. The large prep school was behind them. To Bea's relief there was no one around. She looked to her right and left and saw no one. The three of them turned to face the Edge of the island.
The Edge was hard to fathom. They were standing staring out into what looked like an endless horizon. The grassy lawn of the school yard extended out into the distance. Bea had looked at this horizon many times. It seemed to go on forever. Just pretty, gre
en, well-trimmed grass meeting up with a perfect weather-less blue sky. The island never had any weather. Every day was like those rare spring days that happened on earth below. Those days that had a warm sun shining down to make you feel content and happy. Those days that made humans stop in their crazy lives and smile briefly and think, "Today is really a nice day." That was what every day was like on the island. The sky did change sometimes. The magic used to keep the dome temperate allowed for different kinds of clouds to be sprinkled across the blue. Some days were cloudless, some days had wispy clouds, others had fluffy, billowy clouds. Today was a day with no clouds at all and that made the horizon even harder to take in. The three of them stared out into what they thought looked like forever.
The trick to walking to the Edge was ignoring what you saw. You had to persevere and keep walking into what your eyes were telling you was forever. The three friends looked at each and, without saying a word, turned to face this horizon, hand-in-hand. Cathy was in the middle, holding her brother's hand to her left and Bea's hand to her right. Bea's mind was racing. They were really going to do this. Maybe they should talk about it though first? Maybe they should make a plan? Bea wondered what her friends were thinking right now. Curtis had a ridiculous smile on his face. He was certainly ready for this. He was born ready. Curtis never had any fear it seemed. Bea secretly wished she had half of his courage at times. Cathy's face was oddly poised and calm. She obviously had made up her mind about this adventure. When Cathy reached a decision, like she had reached somewhere between lunch and now, she was impossible to stop. Bea seemed to always stop herself when she set out to do something. Or sometimes, things would get in her way. Bea wished she had half of Cathy's determination. Bea knew that it was too late to speak out and stop her friends now. They were ready. But was she? She knew she was excited. But she was also scared. Bea forced herself to stand up straight as she felt a gentle squeeze from Cathy's hand. With a subtle nod Bea's choice was made. The three friends took steady steps towards the horizon. One foot in front of the other, they marched towards nothing. They kept marching and marching still. The friends had kept their faces forward, but Bea found herself looking anxiously at the other two as they found themselves leaving the prep school behind them, the building getting smaller and smaller. How long were they going to walk? Bea was trying to be brave and cool, but she couldn't take it anymore. She broke their self-imposed silence and asked in a low whisper, "How long is this going to take?"
Curtis and Cathy both laughed in unison. "It does seem to go on forever, doesn't it?" Cathy said.
But as they took their next few steps the three felt something change. The best way to describe it was that they felt like they had suddenly stepped inside a tunnel, even though their surroundings had not changed. Bea looked around to see if her eyes would give her any clues.
"Do you guys feel like there is almost like a ceiling now above us?" asked Curtis as he let go of his sister's hand. All three of them tentatively held their hands out in front of them.
Cathy laughed. "I imagine we look pretty stupid, like we are walking around in the dark or something."
"Yeah, but if we are close I want to be ready for it. I don't want to just walk head first into it, you know?" Bea explained as she reached her fingertips out in front of her searching in the air for some sign of anything.
The air was slowly starting to grow cold around them as they kept walking, though their pace had slowed greatly. Bea really felt as though it had to be any second now. She didn't really know why she felt this way, but it seem that they were almost there. But perhaps they had slowed down too soon. Now they were just creeping along and not seeming to get anywhere.
Cathy, who was a fraction in the lead, suddenly jumped back. "Oh!" she cried softly as she drew back her hands. "You guys, I think we are there."
Bea looked at Curtis and Cathy. "You two ready for this?"
"Yes," they said together. Bea thought of mentioning some kind of plan in case someone got hurt or sucked into the Edge. Her mind was racing with all the stories she had heard from Steven and his friends. But each one of those stories seemed to melt away as she raised her hands in front of her to reach out and touch what was the Edge of the island. She closed her eyes thinking it might make the process easier. She stepped forward slowly and then she felt it. It was soft and warm. Her fingertips got stuck in it. It was like pushing through warm, fresh-baked bread. Bea opened her eyes and saw where her fingers had pierced the sky. The horizon was interrupted by a brilliant sparkle of fairy dust that surrounded her fingers and Bea pushed harder until her entire hand disappeared into the Edge. She couldn't see past the horizon at all. She turned to her friends and the three of them stared in awe at each other, just the sparkling of fairy dust around their wrists to mark where each of their hands had entered the sky.
"It feels so cool," Bea broke their silence as she turned her hands around inside the Edge.
"I wonder how far this goes," Curtis asked as he gently pushed his entire arm into the warm fluffiness.
Cathy looked at Bea and smiled before she suddenly pressed her face against the Edge. Cathy was quite a sight. Just her shoulders and body could be seen on the other side. Curtis quickly followed and Bea had no choice but to put any fear aside and dive her head into the Edge as well. She closed her eyes and pressed and felt the warmth take over her face. She willed herself to open her eyes and was surprised to find that she could see her friends, just their heads, next to her. All around Bea was the same kind of beautiful amorphous material that was used to make the Great Hall and the room where the Ancients were. There were the same pockets of brilliant sparkling rainbow-colored light all around them. The Edge was obviously made out of very high-grade dust and the effect was strange being that the walls and ceiling and floor, if they were even there, were everywhere and continuous. On this side of the Edge, the air felt thick, thick, but not heavy. Bea wondered to herself if she could breathe here, inside this strange atmosphere. She took a deep breath and was not only relieved to find that she could breathe, but that the air here was somehow more refreshing than on the island. Her heart was racing. She watched her friends' reactions for some kind of clue of what to do next.
"Should we try stepping all the way in?" Curtis suggested.
Bea thought. What if they couldn't get out though, what if you did get sucked in? But before she could vocalize her apprehension Cathy had taken a small hop and her entire body was in the Edge.
"Let's make sure we can still get out, you know? Try to pull out real quick. I will be waiting for you," Bea said as she pulled her head out of the Edge and back to the island. Bea was surprised by how cold the air was near the Edge when she pulled her head out. She stared at what she could guess was the Edge from where her own two hands were still stuck and waited impatiently for any signs of her friend's return. She wanted to get back in the Edge, but she wanted to make sure they were safe. Finally Cathy's head poked through the Edge and stood hovering against the endless sky. Bea laughed at the sight and was ready to jump back in when her friend stopped her.
"Wait!" Cathy screamed. "We need something to let us know where we got in at. Something that can mark where we came in at. If you weren't halfway in and halfway out I wouldn't have known where you were. "
Bea couldn't express how relieved she was to know that they had taken care to find out this part of their adventure. Imagine if they had all just ran like crazy into the Edge? They would have had a hard time finding their way out and would have wasted time wandering around until someone may have found them. Bea stepped all the way back inside the Edge and without even moving her feet a bit she placed her bag down on the creamy, fluffy ground. She gathered Curtis and Cathy's bags as well and was confident that they would know where to go back out again after their adventure.
"I wonder how wide this strip of the Edge is," Curtis asked as he started taking careful steps in a direction that he felt was directly straight from where he had just entered. Cathy and
Bea mimicked his movements and the three of them found that it only took eight steps before they were definitely at the end of this part of the inner Edge. They had met another wall the fairy dust.
Cathy looked at her brother and friend. "So, do you think everyone else always came this far in?"
"I don't know. Steven never said anything about it being like this. Of course, what he did say was always some crazy lie made up to scare me." Bea didn't think anyone had made it this far. She herself thought that Cathy and Curtis had been a little crazy when they had decided to just stick their heads inside the Edge, not knowing what was on other side. It was one thing to play around with your fingers and hands wriggling inside the warmth. It was quite another thing to take a little leap, bringing your entire body inside.
"Well, we've made it this far. Let's see what the real Edge is like." Cathy sounded so confident and brave. Bea was surprised at this new person standing where her shy and reserved friend used to be.
"OK, but don't go jumping through to the other side of this one. I have a feeling this one might really be the Edge of the island," Bea cautioned.
The three moved forward slowly with their hands outstretched once more. They immediately met with the wall of creamy, fluffy dust. They pushed their hands through and had just gotten their wrists in deep when Bea felt it. There was definitely something hard and cold impeding any further movement. It was so cold, like ice. Bea pressed the whole of her palm against the smooth surface. She wanted to see what it looked like, but she couldn't push aside the wall. She leaned in with her face, tentatively pushing through the shallow wall. It was nearly impossible to get her face pressed against this Edge without the fluffy dust interfering.
"Try cupping your hands on both sides of your face like this," Curtis suggested as he pressed both hands to either side like blinders.
Bea tried this, and to her delight it worked. She pressed in on the Edge, her face stinging from the cold. Her breath was taken from her as she was met with the most amazing view. All around her, up, down, to all sides was nothing but sky. Bea had always known that the dream fairies lived on islands that floated in the higher level of the atmosphere above the earth. But this was the first time she really got what that meant. She tried to stare down, thinking she might see the earth below, but was disappointed to find that only clouds could be seen.
Bea pulled back from her view and stared at her friends. The three of them were all red in the face from the cold Edge being pressed against their foreheads and noses. The adventure seemed to suddenly take its toll on them, as they collapsed onto the warm fluffy ground to rest and take in everything they had seen.
"This place is really cool," Cathy said as she looked around.
"It is pretty amazing," Curtis agreed.
"What made you change your mind about coming out here today, Cathy?" Bea asked her friend.
Cathy smiled as she straightened out the edge of her dress. "I think I have decided to be stronger. I don't need people like Veronica making me feel bad. I have wings now and I need to stop acting like a little child."
Bea looked at her friend and thought about what she had just said. Even though Bea was a little older than her, Cathy seemed to be years ahead of her, especially today.
"Sounds good to me. I'll try that too," Bea said as she smiled to herself. She really didn't like Veronica though and had a feeling that it might be easier said than done to ignore her evil behavior.
"And another thing, I don't think I really like the name, Cathy," Cathy said in her more usual sheepish tone.
Curtis gave a little laugh as he looked at his sister. "What do you want to be called then, Tinkerbell?"
"Ha ha, very funny. No, I was just thinking I like Catherine better. Do you guys mind calling me that from now on?" Cathy asked.
"Of course! You guys are all cool with not calling me Beatrice." Bea hated her name and only her parents would call her by her real name, especially when she was in trouble. "We can do the opposite for you and use your real name and not the shortened version, right Curtis?"
"Sure thing. Catherine. Sounds very grown up," Curtis said with a smile.
"Exactly." Catherine smiled in satisfaction.
Curtis looked at his watch and suddenly jumped up. "You guys, we probably should go home."
"Oh no! We have to leave now. What if mother finds out?" Cathy's calm demeanor immediately shifted as she walked quickly to the other side of the inner Edge. But before stepping out, back through the wall of fluff and to the island she stopped her brother and friend by the arms and said, "You guys, let's make this our secret, OK? You know, I mean we can say we came to Edge today, but we don't need to tell anyone about coming all the way in here, don't you think?"
Curtis started nodding his head in agreement and Bea replied, "Yeah, that will be cool. No one will know." The three of them placed their bags on their shoulders and stepped through the wall the Edge and back out into the island. The air was really cold here compared to the delightful warmth of the inner Edge. They started walking briskly back up towards the prep school. As they were walking up the grassy field, Bea saw, down along where the Edge would be, a boy walking the same way as they were back up to the prep school. He seemed to have just left the Edge as they had. It seemed rather odd since she hadn't seen him when they had set out on their adventure. He was a strange looking boy too. His clothes were weird. He wore a robe much like those worn by the workers at the Great Hall.
"Hey, who is that boy?" Bea asked her friends.
Curtis and Catherine both peered in the boy's direction. "Have no idea. He seems kind of strange though," Curtis said.
But they all lost their train of thought as they noticed that the prep school students had just finished their day and were slowly coming out of the school. The three of them ran up to the school and Bea started searching for her brother. Fairies started prep school when they were eleven. By age twelve they had enough magic ability to be able to use the bubbles for the pods on their own. There were a few teachers helping the students in their seventh year with their bubbles, but the other students were pairing off and setting their bubbles off one by one. Bea caught sight of her brother talking with a couple of his friends as they waited their turn to leave.
"Hey Steven!" Bea called out in a loud voice at her brother. She knew he hated being seen with his little sister and her surprise visit to him at school was going to drive him crazy. Sure enough Bea's brother's face turned red when he saw her waving at him.
"What do you want?" Steven asked as he spoke quietly to Bea when she was finally close enough to hear his strained whisper.
"Just wanted to let you know that we just got back from our visit to the Edge," Bea said in a clear voice that was loud enough for Steven's friends to hear but not so loud as to draw the attention of the few teachers standing nearby.
There was a small rumble of reaction from his friends at this news. Bea felt a little braver. "Yeah, it was so not a big deal. You are a big fat liar!" Bea said as she turned on her heel and grabbed Catherine and Curtis by the arm and led them away from the crowd of students surrounding Steven. Bea turned to smile at her friends. Today was definitely one of the best days of Bea's life so far.
The True Stories of Dream Fairies: Bloom Page 5
