“You can’t?” Fawn sounded confused. “Why not?”
Rosetta looked at the beetle and the worms. Oooh, they were so icky! But she didn’t want to tell Fawn the truth. Fawn probably thought that worms and beetles weren’t gross at all.
She’ll just tell me not to be afraid, like she did with the spider, Rosetta thought. Or she’ll laugh again. “I—I can’t reach you,” Rosetta said.
“You can if you lean into the hole a little,” Fawn said.
Rosetta shook her head.
Fawn looked at her friend for a moment. “Is it because of the worms?” she asked.
Rosetta wanted to say No, no, of course not. But she just couldn’t lie to Fawn. “Yes!” she wailed, bursting into tears.
“It’s okay, Rosetta,” Fawn said. “I understand.”
Rosetta was so surprised that she stopped crying. “You do?”
“Sure I do,” Fawn said. “We’re friends, aren’t we? Don’t worry, Rosetta. I’m not afraid of worms. I’ll be fine here in the hole for a while. Why don’t you just go get one of the other animal-talent fairies? Beck could help me out of here.”
Rosetta heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Great idea!” she said. “I’ll fly like the wind!”
“I’ll be waiting,” Fawn said.
Rosetta scrambled to her feet and shot into the air—then she stopped. She looked down at the mole hole. She could see Fawn’s small face looking up at her.
Wait a minute, Rosetta thought. What am I doing? Fawn is my friend! I can’t just leave her alone in a dark, wormy hole.
Can I?
Rosetta dropped back to the ground and kneeled at the edge. “Shoo!” she said, waving at the beetle. Once it had waddled off, she stuck her face near the hole. “Okay, Fawn. I’m going to help you out!”
“You don’t have to do this,” Fawn called. “You can just fly for help, like you did with the squirrel.”
“That was different,” Rosetta told her. “I’m not an animal talent. I couldn’t even talk to him! Besides, you’re not a squirrel. You’re my friend.”
Taking a deep breath, Rosetta stuck her hand into the hole. She whimpered as her fingers touched a slimy worm. It wriggled under her hand, and Rosetta’s whimper turned into a moan.
Don’t think about it, she told herself.
Slowly, she forced her hand deeper into the hole. Don’t think about how gross it is! Now she could feel worms all along the length of her arm.
Ooh, but it’s so gross, she thought.
“Almost there!” Fawn called.
Rosetta closed her hand on something that felt like Fawn’s hand—until it squirmed. Rosetta’s neck went cold. She wanted to run away. Instead, she forced herself to reach farther.
“Got it!” Fawn cried.
Rosetta felt Fawn’s strong hand in hers.
“Now pull!” Fawn called.
Rosetta strained her wings and used both arms to try to drag Fawn out of the hole. Nothing happened.
Rosetta pulled harder. She flapped with all her might. Finally, Fawn broke free. She popped out of the hole so suddenly that both fairies tumbled backward. They landed in a bed of soft moss.
Fawn propped herself up on her arms and looked at her friend. “Are you okay?”
Rosetta blinked twice. “I think so,” she said. Then she started to giggle. “I saved you from the worms!”
Fawn laughed, too. “You did! I can’t believe it, but you did.”
Rosetta sat up and put her arm around Fawn’s shoulders. “That’s what friends are for,” she said.
“AHH,” ROSETTA SAID. She stepped into a fresh rose-petal dress. “That’s better.” She raked a comb through her damp hair and smiled at herself in the mirror.
When she had first stepped into the bath, Rosetta had been sure that she’d never be able to wash away the feel of the slimy worms. But the moment she scrubbed the last bit of dirt from between her toes, she felt like a whole new fairy.
Outside her window, the sky glowed purple behind red and gold clouds. The sun was about to dip below the horizon.
As she slipped her foot into a dainty mole-fur slipper, a birch-bark butterfly flew up to her window. She held out her hand. The butterfly landed, unfolding into a card.
Rosetta read the invitation. “Queen Clarion wants to see me right away?” she cried. “But I don’t even have time to put on a fancy gown!” She groaned and cast a glance at the sunset outside her window. Just when this horrible day was almost over, she thought.
Rosetta grimaced and fluttered out of her room. She didn’t want to see anyone—not even the queen.
When Rosetta got to the queen’s quarters, Fawn was already there. It looked like she was trying not to grin.
“Ah, Rosetta,” Queen Clarion said, “come have a cup of tea with us.”
Rosetta felt a stab of envy. Fawn was having tea with the queen? Still, Rosetta made her way over to the table. It was set with white linens of the finest spider silk. Plates were heaped with poppy puff rolls, tiny cucumber-seed sandwiches, and sweet honey cakes.
“Have one of these,” Fawn said. She held out a plate of small strawberry tarts. “They’re made with the wild strawberry we picked today!”
“They are?” Rosetta bit into the crumbly tart. It was even more delicious than she had imagined it would be.
“Fawn has been telling me the most exciting story,” Queen Clarion said. She paused to take a sip of rose hip tea.
“Really?” Rosetta tried to sound interested. She hoped she wouldn’t have to sit and listen to another story about Fawn riding a turtle or a groundhog or a bat. Why would Queen Clarion invite me here for that? she wondered.
“She tells me that you rescued her,” the queen said. Her lips curved into a smile.
“What?” Rosetta’s teacup clattered against her saucer. “No, no—she fell into a hole and I helped her out, that’s all.”
“She made it sound much more dangerous than that,” the queen said.
“It was a very deep hole,” Fawn said quickly. “And it was full of worms.”
“That must have been very frightening,” Queen Clarion said to Rosetta.
“Well, it was,” Rosetta admitted. “But most fairies wouldn’t have been afraid of a few worms.”
“The question is not what other fairies would be afraid of,” the queen said reasonably. “The question is what you were afraid of, and how brave you managed to be for your friend.”
Rosetta was quiet. She looked down at her hands. How could she have been brave when she had been terribly scared the whole time?
“Therefore, because you were so brave, I would like to give you this.” Queen Clarion reached into a blue silk bag and pulled out a silver necklace. It was just like the one Fawn wore around her neck.
“It’s beautiful,” Rosetta said as the queen held it up.
“You’ve earned it, Rosetta,” the queen said. She placed her teacup on the table and fluttered over to help Rosetta with the clasp. “There’s something else I’d like to show you.” Queen Clarion beckoned Rosetta to the window.
Rosetta gasped at what she saw. Fairies—hundreds of them—were gathered below. When they saw Rosetta, they cheered.
“We didn’t have time to prepare dinner in Buttercup Canyon,” the queen explained. “But I’ve asked the cooking-talent fairies to serve dinner in the courtyard. And you’ll be the guest of honor, Rosetta.”
Rosetta looked at Fawn, who smiled a little sheepishly. “I wanted to make sure that your special dinner happened today, before sundown,” Fawn said. “I know our adventure wasn’t very much fun for you. I thought dinner would make up for it.”
“Why?” Rosetta asked.
“Well, I wanted you to have as much fun today as I had yesterday,” Fawn said.
“But I didn’t do anything as brave as what you did,” Rosetta told her friend.
“That isn’t true. What you did was very brave,” Fawn said. “Everyone has different fears.”
“You’re not afrai
d of anything,” Rosetta pointed out.
“Sure I am! I’m afraid of dandelion dresses and perfume and fancy dinners,” Fawn said. She squeezed Rosetta’s hand. “I’m afraid of tearing spider-silk stockings and of having my braid fall into the soup. That dinner was terrifying!”
Rosetta thought about that. For Fawn, putting out the fire had been easy…as easy as slipping into a new dress was for Rosetta. It was strange to think that they could be so different and still be such good friends.
“Don’t worry, Fawn,” Rosetta said. “I’ll always help you with dresses and dinners and things like that.”
“And worms?” Fawn asked.
Rosetta shuddered. “Maybe you should ask Beck to handle the worms from now on.”
“Shall we go to dinner?” Queen Clarion suggested.
Rosetta and Fawn followed Queen Clarion to the courtyard. How things had changed in a few hours! It had been a truly horrible day. Rosetta thought about her ruined shoes, her muddy dress, the scary spider, and the creepy worms. But there had been some lovely parts, too. She’d never forget how pretty Havendish Stream looked from the back of a frog. Or how wonderful a wild strawberry tasted when you picked it yourself.
She fingered the silver necklace around her neck. Could the worst day of a fairy’s life also be the best? I never knew that a horrible day could become so nice, she thought. But it just did.
Disney Fairies: Rosetta's Daring Day Page 4
