by Gwyneth Rees
‘Yes,’ Queen Flora replied, smiling. ‘Thanks to you they are all quite safe.’
‘It’s thanks to Poppy really,’ Maddie said. ‘It was her idea that we could all escape on the starlings’ backs.’
‘Poppy has made me very proud,’ Queen Flora agreed. ‘And tonight she has gone to Tooth-fairy Land with Queen Eldora to try out a false wing.’
‘Oh, good,’ Maddie said. Then she frowned. ‘Queen Flora, I’ve been thinking about Ted. I mean, even though we stopped him this time – now that he knows the recipe for bird-lime, can’t he just go out and catch more fairies whenever he wants?’
‘He won’t be able to. The other fairy queens and I are going to pay him a visit tonight while he is sleeping. We shall sprinkle a special spell on him – one that makes a human who believes in fairies stop believing in them. So you see, he won’t have any reason to try to catch fairies again – here or anywhere else.’ She sounded very pleased by that thought. ‘And now I have an invitation to give you. We would like to invite you to a party tomorrow night in the fairy grove. The party will be in your honour since it’s your birthday.’
‘Wow!’ Then Maddie remembered what had happened the last time she had tried to go to a fairy party in the woods. ‘But what about my mum?’ she asked. ‘If she wakes up and finds I’ve gone, she’ll be really worried.’
‘Why don’t you bring her with you?’ the fairy queen suggested.
‘Really?’ Maddie paused for a moment. ‘But she’ll never come. Not in the middle of the night! She just won’t believe there is a party. Even if you sprinkle fairy dust to show us the way, she won’t see it because she doesn’t believe in fairies.’
Queen Flora thought for a moment. ‘What if we light the way to the party with human lanterns instead?’
‘Can you do that?’
‘Of course. I shall send my fairies to borrow some! But no other humans must know about this party – just you and your mother.’
‘I won’t tell anyone,’ Maddie promised. ‘But I’m still not certain Mum will agree to come – even if she sees the lanterns.’
‘Surely you can persuade her? She’ll be in a good mood because it’s your birthday, won’t she?’
‘Yes . . .’ Maddie began slowly, ‘but even though she’s mostly happy on my birthday, I think . . . I think she always gets a bit sad at the same time because . . . because it makes her remember my twin sister and how it should have been her birthday too.’
‘Poppy told me about your sister,’ Queen Flora said softly. She looked thoughtful for a few moments. ‘Maddie, there is something I’ve been wondering whether or not to share with you . . .’ She paused. ‘What exactly did Poppy tell you about how a fairy is made?’
‘She told me they come from bundles of joy that the doves bring,’ Maddie replied, ‘but she wouldn’t tell me where the bundles come from. She said that was a secret.’
‘It is a secret,’ Queen Flora said. ‘But very occasionally a fairy queen may tell it to a child who is trusted. You see, the bundles of joy are made in a way that is difficult to understand . . . a way that involves humans . . .’ She spoke very gently now, and the rhythm of her voice was so soft and mesmerizing that it made the little hairs on the back of Maddie’s neck stand on end. ‘What happens is this . . . whenever a human child dies anywhere in the world, all the happy energy that is contained within that child – all the energy that would have been used up during the child’s lifetime – becomes what we call a bundle of joy. The bundles of joy are invisible to the human eye, but the doves collect them and bring them to us. Then we look after the bundles in our fairy nurseries until the beginning magic turns them into fairies.’
Maddie was staring at the fairy queen, hardly able to believe what she was hearing.
‘There is one other thing you need to know, Maddie . . .’ Queen Flora went on. ‘A fairy can only live for as long as its special child is remembered by those that remain behind. Some fairies live for hundreds of years because memories of the human child are passed down from generation to generation.’
Maddie swallowed. ‘You mean . . .’
‘I mean that somewhere in fairyland – and only the white doves know where – there is a fairy who is living because you and your family are remembering your sister.’
Maddie was totally stunned. After a moment or two she whispered, ‘I’d really like to tell this to my mum.’
‘You may tell her,’ Queen Flora said softly, ‘but only when you are both at the fairy party. So come at midnight and we will be waiting for you.’
Now all Maddie had to do was persuade her mother to go with her to the party. As the following day was Maddie’s birthday she didn’t really get the chance to ask her mum, because she was kept so busy with all the things that had been arranged for her.
In the morning she had to open all her presents. Her gift from Aunt Rachel was a book called The Fairy-Spotter’s Guide. It had beautiful pictures of lots of different sorts of fairies and tips about where to find them, but the person who had written it didn’t seem to know about book fairies or dream fairies, Maddie noted.
At lunchtime Dad phoned to wish her happy birthday and they talked excitedly about all the things they would do when he came to spend the last fortnight of the holidays with them.
In the afternoon they went out for a lovely picnic tea, which was made extra-special by the fact that Grandma had made her a beautiful birthday cake with yellow icing and a sugar fairy sitting on the top. (Milo tried to eat the fairy but they stopped him just in time.)
To everyone’s surprise, Horace Hatter called by that evening, to wish her a happy birthday too and to give her a present. It was a box of chocolates, which Maddie decided she would take with her to the fairy party. Mr Hatter also mentioned that several of his garden lanterns seemed to have been stolen and that other people in the village had reported missing lanterns too.
‘Probably just kids mucking about,’ Grandpa said.
‘Or fairies,’ Maddie added, grinning.
Horace also brought the news that he’d met Jack in the village that day, and that Jack’s mother had finally ordered Ted to pack his bags and go back to his own home – which thankfully was quite far away. As Maddie walked Horace down the path to see him off he added in a low voice, ‘She also found the recipe for bird-lime and destroyed it – though doubtless Ted has memorized it by now.’
‘Don’t worry about that,’ Maddie whispered back. ‘The fairies have made sure he won’t ever want to use it again.’
At bed-time Maddie’s mum came and sat with her and asked her if she’d had a nice day. Maddie nodded and said it had been the best birthday ever. ‘And I can’t wait to see my new bicycle,’ she added. Her parents had given her a bicycle after all, which Dad was going to bring with him when he came to stay. And he had also promised to spend lots of time teaching Maddie how to ride it safely.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be very careful when I’m riding it,’ Maddie told her mum now.
‘I know you will, darling,’ Mum said, kissing the top of her head. ‘I know it seems like I’m nagging sometimes but—’
‘It’s not just because of my asthma, is it, Mum?’ Maddie interrupted her. ‘It’s because of Charlotte as well.’
‘Oh, Maddie . . . I don’t want to make you afraid to do things . . . It’s just that that night when you were rushed into intensive care, it felt like . . . like what happened when you and Charlotte were born was happening all over again. It made me feel very frightened, and I guess it’s taken me a while to stop feeling like that.’
‘But it wasn’t happening again, Mum,’ Maddie said fiercely, and she gave her mother a big hug.
Mum hugged her back very tightly. ‘I know. And I’m so proud of you, Maddie. I can hardly believe you’re nine already!’
Then Maddie remembered that she still hadn’t told Mum about the fairy party.
‘Mum, I’ve got an idea,’ she said, pulling back from her mother so she could see her face. ‘You
know how you told me that you and Aunt Rachel had lots of midnight feasts when you were little? Well, why don’t you and I have one tonight, in the garden?’
Mum laughed. ‘I think I’m a bit old for midnight feasts, Maddie.’
‘Yes, but I’m not and I can’t have one on my own, can I?’
Mum looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. ‘You know, you’re right. I guess I always had Rachel to do things like that with . . .’
‘So does that mean we can have one?’
Mum nodded. ‘But only if you get some sleep first. I’ll come and wake you up at midnight, and if you still want to have a midnight feast then, we will. How’s that?’
Maddie agreed excitedly, though she couldn’t help feeling a bit worried that Mum might not wake her up after all when the time came. So she secretly made up her mind to stay awake herself until midnight, just in case.
As it happened, she needn’t have worried. Just before midnight her mum came into her room and gently shook her awake, just as she’d promised. And it was just as well, because Maddie had fallen asleep an hour before, despite trying not to.
Maddie quickly dressed in the same party outfit she had worn the last time she’d tried to find the fairy party in the woods. She placed her sparkly shoes and the box of chocolates that Horace had given her into her bag, and all she had to do then was put on her sandals and comb her hair.
‘Goodness!’ Mum said, when she saw what Maddie was wearing. ‘You didn’t tell me we were dressing up for this midnight feast.’ Mum was still wearing her nightie and a thin cotton dressing-gown.
‘I want us to have our midnight feast right at the bottom of the garden,’ Maddie said. ‘You’ll need to get dressed and wear some proper shoes.’
‘Oh, Maddie,’ Mum said, stifling a yawn.
‘Please, Mum!’
‘Well, wait a minute then.’
‘I’ll meet you in the kitchen!’ Maddie quickly picked up her inhaler (which thankfully no longer contained shrinking dust) and put it into her bag before she could forget it.
As she headed downstairs she paused outside her grandparents’ bedroom. Milo was whining and scratching at the door as if he wanted to come to the party too, so very quietly Maddie opened the door to let him out. He burst out on to the landing wagging his tail excitedly, and Maddie had to tell him very sternly that if he wanted to come with them to see the fairies he would have to behave himself.
Maddie opened the back door while she waited for Mum to come downstairs and ran down to the bottom of the garden with Milo to see if she could see any lanterns. There was one hanging from a tree just on the other side of the garden gate. Maddie ran back to the house excitedly, leaving Milo sitting underneath the lantern.
‘Come on, Mum,’ she said, grabbing her hand as soon as she came into the kitchen. ‘Come outside – there’s something I want to show you.’
‘Wait a minute,’ Mum said, picking up Grandpa’s torch from the table.
‘It’s OK, Mum – we won’t need that.’
Maddie led her mother down to the bottom of the garden, where Milo was wagging his tail at them, eager to set off. When Mum saw the lantern hanging on the tree she assumed Maddie had put it there.
‘No, Mum, it wasn’t me. Let’s see if there are any more.’ Maddie led her mum through the gate and as soon as they were standing under the first lantern they saw the second one. Mum was curious now, Maddie could tell. The lanterns were leading them to the path they usually walked along with Milo, and when they reached it they both stared in amazement.
Lanterns had been placed along both sides of the path, making a walkway for them.
‘I can’t believe this,’ Mum murmured, sounding totally awed. ‘Who’s done all this?’
‘Come on, let’s follow it,’ Maddie whispered, and she led the way along the lantern-lit walkway which soon guided them off the main path and in among the trees. Milo was starting to yap with excitement now and Maddie had to tell him to be quiet.
‘The fairies must have borrowed hundreds of lanterns,’ Maddie exclaimed, when they had been walking for several minutes and the lantern pathway was still flickering ahead of them for as far as they could see.
‘The fairies?’ Mum sounded incredulous.
The lantern path led them all the way to the stream and when they got there the water was sparkling brightly. Mum looked like she was in a daze as they followed the lanterns along the edge of the water towards the fairy grove.
There Mum stopped abruptly and drew in her breath. In the little clearing, lanterns of all different colours had been hung from every tree. The ground was also sparkling with fairy dust (though Maddie guessed Mum couldn’t see that), and a large rug made from petals had been spread out in the middle of the grass.
Milo began to bark and suddenly a tree stump on the edge of the clearing began to glow and a second or two later the most magnificent rainbow shot out of it, stretching up through the trees into the night sky. Out of the base of the rainbow flew dozens of flower fairies, each one wearing a different brightly coloured petal dress.
‘That’s the entrance to fairyland!’ Maddie exclaimed.
Mum couldn’t see the fairies or the rainbow, but there were lots of different woodland animals gathering in the clearing now – birds of all kinds, rabbits, hedgehogs, squirrels, field mice, moles and even a badger – and Mum could clearly see those.
‘I must be dreaming,’ Mum murmured as she stared in total shock at the scene around her.
Milo clearly thought he was dreaming too, because instead of chasing the animals like he would normally do, he stood frozen to the spot, wagging his tail at them.
‘You’d better sit your mother down,’ a familiar fairy voice suddenly said from behind them. ‘She’ll fall asleep soon.’
Maddie turned and saw Poppy, only her fairy friend was actually flying! She was wearing a new poppy-petal dress with extra sparkles on it and her one real wing was sparkling now as it flapped behind her. Her new false wing was flapping too. ‘What do you think?’ she asked Maddie, giving a little twirl in mid-air. The false wing was larger and a bit more solid-looking than the other one, but it looked quite pretty just the same and it had red sparkles on it to match Poppy’s dress. ‘Queen Eldora has given it to me as a present for helping to rescue her tooth fairies.’
‘It looks great – but is it difficult to fly with?’ Maddie asked, because she knew that had been one of Poppy’s main fears.
‘Not really, though my own wing isn’t used to flapping so it’s quite weak still, whereas the new one flaps very strongly. I have to be a bit careful or I end up going round in circles. But I think it’s going to get easier the more I practise.’
Mum was sitting down on the petal rug now, looking sleepy.
‘Pretty soon she’ll fall asleep and then she’ll wake up and tell herself it was all a dream,’ Poppy said. ‘That’s what she did when she was a little girl too.’
‘I have to speak to her first,’ Maddie said, sitting down on the rug beside her mother.
‘I’m so tired,’ Mum mumbled, starting to close her eyes.
‘I know, Mum, but there’s something important I have to tell you before you go to sleep.’
Very gently she started to tell her mother what Queen Flora had told her about how fairies were made.
Mum listened, and as she did, her eyes began to glisten with tears. ‘Fairies are really our most precious memories then . . . the memories of our lost children . . . is that what you’re saying?’
‘Well . . .’ Maddie was taken aback. She wasn’t sure that that was what Queen Flora had meant, though she guessed it was sort of right since a fairy could only live for as long as someone still remembered that fairy’s special child.
‘That’s a very beautiful, comforting idea, darling,’ Mum added softly.
‘It’s not just an idea, Mum,’ Maddie said. ‘It’s what really happens. The fairies are all around you, if only you’d believe in them.’
But Mum�
�s head was resting on the rug now and her eyes were closed. ‘I’m glad you believe in them, Maddie,’ she murmured, just before she fell asleep.
Maddie looked up a few moments later to see Queen Flora flying towards her. ‘Don’t worry about your mother, Maddie. She will wake up in her own bed tomorrow morning – we will see to that.’
‘Then she really will think this has just been a dream,’ Maddie pointed out.
Queen Flora smiled. ‘With some grown-ups that can be the easiest thing,’ she replied. ‘Don’t worry – she did take in what you told her, but in her own way, that’s all. Now – let us get on with our party!’
‘Where’s Milo?’ Maddie asked, suddenly noticing he wasn’t with them.
‘He’s found the food,’ Queen Flora said, smiling.
As Maddie looked round she saw that several fairies were bringing plates of delicious-looking sparkly food to a cluster of round tables at one side of the clearing and that one of them was feeding titbits to a very happy Milo. Maddie went over to join them and saw that the tables were actually large toadstools.
There weren’t just flower fairies at the party, Maddie realized now. There were also tooth fairies, book fairies and dream fairies, and to her surprise there were boy fairies as well as girl ones.
Queen Celeste’s dream fairies had set up an orchestra under one of the trees and they were playing some music that didn’t sound at all lullaby-ish. Queen Flora flew off to speak to them and they stopped playing dance music and started to play ‘Happy Birthday to You!’ instead.
As all the fairies gathered round, Queen Flora and the other fairy queens appeared in the centre of the crowd, carrying a birthday cake that was just the right size for Maddie. The cake had rainbow-coloured icing that sparkled, nine pink candles and in the centre there was a fairy who looked very like the sugar fairy on Grandma’s cake except that she was sitting on a pink sugar throne, waving to everyone and singing ‘Happy Birthday to You!’ along with them.
