On the Trail

by Kiki Thorpe

  “Oh!” said Beck. “The Never bird! So she did find you!”

  “What do you mean?” Myka asked in surprise.

  “I sent her to get help,” Beck said. “I told her to go to the first fairies she saw and tell them I was in the cave. She wasn’t attacking you. She was trying to bring you here!”

  “Well, she sure fooled us,” Mia grumbled. “I thought she was going to kill Myka.”

  “I suppose it didn’t cross my mind that the first fairy she saw might not be able to understand her,” Beck admitted.

  The Never bird was in her nest as they came out of Skull Rock. Beck called to her, and the bird called back, but she didn’t move from her egg. All the same, Myka flew a little faster as they went by.

  As they flew back to shore, the wind was with them, so the going was much easier. On the way, Beck told them how she had come to be in Skull Rock.

  “I was with Dandelion in the meadow this morning,” she explained, “when I saw the fawn stuck in the bog. She was really struggling. I knew I couldn’t keep chasing after Dandelion when the fawn needed help.”

  That explains the marks in the mud, Myka thought. Beck had been involved in a struggle. But she wasn’t fighting with an animal—she’d been trying to help!

  “I couldn’t get her out on my own,” Beck went on. “When I saw the Never bird passing overhead, I called to her. Never birds have such powerful wings, I thought maybe she could pull the fawn out.

  “I made a lasso from my rope, and we got the fawn to safe ground. But it sent her into such a panic. Rather than waiting for her mama to return, she took off through the woods. Nothing I said could calm her down.” Beck sighed. “I’m afraid the Never bird made it worse. She meant to help, but she ended up scaring the fawn right into the water.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Kate said.

  “Thankfully, fawns can swim,” Beck told them. “A current carried her out to Skull Rock, and I followed. Then she was so scared, I didn’t want to leave her alone. So I sent for help. But I was starting to think no one would come.”

  “Wow,” said Lainey. “Poor little deer.”

  “But how did you find us?” Beck asked. “You still haven’t told me.”

  “It wasn’t easy. We’ve been on your trail all day!” Mia said.

  Talking over one another, the girls explained how they’d followed the clues, from Elixa’s workshop to finding Beck’s bag in the mud to the muddy lasso and the Never bird feather.

  “But we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if it weren’t for Myka,” Mia said. “It was her sixth sense that told us to check Skull Rock.”

  “Myka is the best scout,” Beck agreed.

  Myka’s glow turned pink as she blushed. The land was just in front of them. With a sigh, Myka finally allowed herself to relax. Her job was done.

  They had reached the shore. And just in time, Mia thought. She could see that Lainey’s arms were starting to wear out. Lainey gently set the fawn down at the edge of the woods. For the first time since they’d found it, the fawn stood up on its spindly legs.

  “Ohhhh,” they sighed in unison. Mia thought she’d never seen anything so sweet.

  The fawn paused for a moment. Then it bounded away. Within seconds it had disappeared into the trees.

  “Will she be all right?” Lainey asked.

  “She will,” said Beck.

  “Shouldn’t we follow her, just to make sure?” asked Kate.

  “No,” Myka said. “Look.” She pointed. A short distance away, a doe was watching them. “It’s the doe we saw in the forest.”

  “She’s waiting until we leave to go to her baby,” Beck told the girls. “She doesn’t want to lead people to her fawn.”

  “Then we should go,” Mia said.

  “Bye, little deer,” Lainey whispered. “I won’t forget you.”

  They took to the air again, this time flying toward Pixie Hollow. About halfway there, Beck suddenly gave a start. “Oh, Mia!” she exclaimed. “I almost forgot! I missed your tea party! How was it?”

  “Exciting!” Gabby said.

  “Though maybe not quite the way I’d hoped,” Mia added.

  “Well,” said Beck, “I’m still sorry I missed it.”

  Mia smiled. A new idea was taking shape in her head. “That’s okay,” she said. “Because my next tea party is going to be even better.”

  A few days later, the woods around Pixie Hollow buzzed with excitement. Fairies zipped this way and that, following the clues that Mia had written on tiny slips of paper.

  The light fairy Iridessa flew past Mia, reading her note aloud. “‘Look around a mossy tree to find a pot that’s fit for tea.’ Come on, Fira! There’s an old moss-covered tree this way!” she exclaimed. “Let’s look over there.” The two fairies darted away.

  Other fairies were looking for teacups that were hidden like tiny Easter eggs amid patches of flowers. “I found the cake thingy!” Tinker Bell declared. With Terence’s help, she pulled the silver cake server from the hollow of a tree.

  Mia and her friends sat on a blanket in the fairy circle, watching the action. As soon as their fairy friends had found all the cups and plates and saucers, the tea party could begin.

  Dulcie flew over to Mia. “You’ve outdone yourself this time,” she said. “This treasure hunt tea party was a wonderful idea. How did you think of it?”

  “From following all those clues to find Beck,” Mia said. “But this time I thought the clues should lead to something fun.”

  “Fun—and tasty,” Dulcie said, eyeing the cake on the blanket in front of Mia. “Is it the same recipe as last time?”

  “Almost,” Mia said. She had made her grandmother’s “Light as Air” angel food cake again. But this time she’d left out the fairy dust. Some recipes were perfect just the way they were.

  As Dulcie flew off, Mia saw Queen Clarion approaching. All the girls sat up a little straighter as the fairy queen landed next to them.

  “Myka told me how hard you all worked to help find Beck,” the queen said. “We’re all grateful.”

  “That’s okay,” said Kate. “It was fun! I mean, except for when Mia fell into that bog.”

  “And when we thought there was a bear in the woods,” Gabby reminded her.

  “And when the Never bird attacked us,” Lainey added.

  “And when we had to go inside Skull Rock,” Mia said. But she knew what Kate meant. She wouldn’t have traded their adventures together in Never Land for anything.

  The queen smiled as if she understood, too. “You’ve shown your true fairy spirit,” she said to them.

  A warm glow spread through Mia. She thought she’d never felt prouder.

  “Now,” said Queen Clarion, “I must be off. I have a”—she checked the note in her hand—“sugar bowl to find.”

  The girls watched her fly away. “I can’t believe the queen of the Never fairies is looking for a sugar bowl for your tea party,” Kate said to Mia.

  Mia laughed. “I know. But that’s how it is here, isn’t it?” she said. “You never know what’s going to happen in Never Land.”

  Mia, Kate, Lainey, and Gabby sat on the floor of the Vasquezes’ living room. They were trying to play a game of Go Fish, but no one could concentrate. Mia and Gabby’s aunt and uncle and their favorite cousin, Angie, were arriving for the holidays that afternoon. Every time a car went by, Gabby interrupted the game by running to the window.

  “It couldn’t be them,” Mia said when Gabby had jumped up a fourth time. “Mami said they’ll be late because of the weather.” But she got up and joined her sister at the window anyway. Fat snowflakes drifted down, covering the street in a soft white blanket. Mia watched another car slowly approach. It rolled past their house without stopping. She sighed and sat back down.

  “When was the last time you saw Angie?” Lainey asked. She was shuffling the cards for another game.

  “Almost two years ago,” Mia said. Angie and her parents came for a week Christmas. Mi
a looked forward to it every year. She’d been crushed when they’d canceled their trip the year before because they’d all come down with the flu.

  “It’s going to be so much fun to see her again,” Kate said. “Remember that time we built a snow fort?”

  “How could I forget?” Mia said, laughing. “We couldn’t figure out how to make a roof, so we used the blankets from our beds. Mami was so mad when she found them in the snow.”

  Kate and Lainey laughed, too. “We should have told her it was a snow-pillow fort!” Lainey said.

  “How come I don’t remember that?” Gabby asked.

  “Mami kept you inside because you had an earache,” Mia said. “Also, it was two years ago. Maybe you were too little to remember.”

  “Was that the time Angie saw a fairy?” Gabby said.

  “Oh my gosh!” Mia exclaimed. “I forgot about that!”

  “What fairy?” Kate and Lainey asked in unison.

  “A few years ago, around Christmastime, Angie saw a fairy right here in this room,” Mia explained. “She said it flew around and knocked an ornament off the Christmas tree. When my aunt came in, it flew out the window—that’s what Angie said. But Aunt Lara thought she made it up so she wouldn’t get in trouble for breaking the ornament.”

  “How come you never told us that before?” Kate asked.

  Mia shrugged. “It happened so long ago, I guess I forgot. Anyway, I never saw the fairy. I only heard about her from Angie.”

  “Angie said she had a pretty smile and a yellow glow,” Gabby added.

  Mia looked at her in amazement. “I can’t believe you remember that. You must have been only two or three.”

  “Angie told me that if I always believed in fairies and kept my eyes open, I would see them,” Gabby said. “And she was right!”

  “Do you think the fairy could have been Prilla?” Lainey asked.

  “I wonder,” Mia said thoughtfully. There was something she’d been wondering about, but she’d been afraid to bring it up until now. “You guys, do you think maybe we could bring Angie with us? To Pixie Hollow, I mean?”

  The other girls stared at her. They’d never taken anyone else to Never Land with them. It had always been their secret.

  “Angie loves fairies,” Mia went on quickly, before her friends could say no. “And she’d never tell anyone. She’s good at keeping secrets.”

  “I think it’s a great idea,” Kate said.

  “So do I,” agreed Lainey.

  “Yay!” Gabby clapped her hands. “The fairies are going to love her!”

  “I knew you’d think so.” Mia grinned. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever!”

  Outside, a car door slammed. Gabby leaped up and ran to the window again. “They’re here!” she shouted.

  The girls scrambled to their feet. Mia ran for the front door, but Gabby got there first. She threw it open, shouting, “Merry Christmas!”

  “Ho, ho, ho!” Uncle Jack boomed, scooping Gabby into a bear hug. “Merry Christmas yourself!”

  Aunt Lara came through the door behind him, smiling her big smile. And finally…was that Angie? Mia stared. The girl who stood in the doorway stamping the snow from her boots looked nothing like the cousin she remembered. Angie had always been small, with short, messy hair. But now she was almost as tall as Aunt Lara. Snowflakes were melting into her shiny black hair, which fell past her shoulders. She wore a trim wool coat and leather boots and…was that lip gloss?

  She looks so sophisticated, Mia thought. Suddenly, she felt self-conscious standing there in her old rainbow socks with the hole in one toe.

  But then Angie grinned, and her smile looked exactly the same as it always had. She threw her arms around Mia, exclaiming, “I missed you!” and Mia’s self-consciousness vanished.

  Angie hugged Gabby, too, admiring her costume fairy wings. “They’re perfect,” she said. “They look just right on you.” Gabby turned pink with delight.

  When Mia and Gabby’s parents came into the room, there was another round of hugs.

  “My gosh. Look at you, Angie. You’re all grown up!” Mia’s mother said.

  Angie smiled and tucked a strand of long hair behind her ear. “I go by Angelica now,” she replied.

  Angelica! Mia thought. Even her name sounded sophisticated.

  “Well, Angelica is a beautiful name. I can see why you want to use it,” Mrs. Vasquez replied.

  Gabby grabbed her cousin’s hand and began to pull her toward the stairs. “You have to come to my room right now!” she exclaimed. “We have something to show you.”

  Their parents laughed. “She just got here, Gabby,” her father said. “At least give her a chance to take off her coat.”

  Gabby danced impatiently as Angelica removed her coat. “Now can she come to my room?” she asked as soon as the coat was hanging in the closet.

  “All right, all right,” Mr. Vasquez said. “You girls go have fun.”

  “Come on!” Gabby yanked Angelica upstairs. Mia, Kate, and Lainey followed on their heels.

  “What do you want to show me, Gabby?” Angelica asked as they entered her room. “Is it a new toy?”

  “Nope,” Gabby said. “You’ll see.” She hurried over to the closet. But as she was about to open the door, Mia stopped her.

  “Wait! Angie—I mean, Angelica should go first,” Mia said. It would be even better that way.

  “Into the closet?” Angelica asked with a little laugh.

  “You have to,” Gabby told her. “It’s the only way to get to the fairies.”

  Angelica sighed. “Oh, Gabby. I’m not really in the mood to play make-believe right now.”

  The other girls looked at one another. Who said anything about make-believe? Mia thought. “Just trust us,” she said.

  Angelica glanced from one girl to the other. “All right.” She shrugged, and stepped into the closet. The others crowded in behind her—first Gabby, then Kate, followed by Lainey. Mia went in last, pulling the door closed behind her.

  In the darkness, Mia smiled to herself. Any second now she’d hear her cousin’s cry of surprise as she stepped out into—

  “What now?” Angelica’s voice was close in the dark. “What’s the big surprise?”

  “Ow! Gabby, you’re standing on my feet!” Kate exclaimed.

  “Someone’s pushing!” Gabby cried back. There was a scuffling movement. The closet seemed stuffy and crowded. Where was the breeze? Mia wondered.

  “Go forward!” Mia cried.

  “There’s nowhere to go,” Angelica said. “I’m right up against the wall.”

  “The wall?” Mia said, confused. What was going on? Where was Never Land? She opened the closet door and they all spilled out, back into Gabby’s room.

  “Phew!” Angelica said as she exited, smoothing her hair. “I don’t get it. Was that the game?”

  Mia didn’t answer. Through the open door of the closet, she could see beyond Gabby’s hanging clothes to the smooth blank wall. There was no warm breeze, no window of light. The hole to Pixie Hollow was gone.

  Excerpt from A Fairy’s Gift copyright © 2015 by Disney Enterprises, Inc. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  KIKI THORPE spent much of her childhood reading, daydreaming, and searching for fairies in the forests of Idaho—pastimes that were good training for writing children’s books. She is the author of several books for young readers, including the New York Times bestselling Never Girls series. She lives with her husband, Greg, and their two children in San Francisco.

 

 

 
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