Suddenly, she heard voices coming from the other side of the window; she got up, drew the curtain open and could hardly believe what she saw next. Right in front of her, on the window ledge, were two little fairies no more than three inches in height. One of them was a very pretty, teenage girl, with hazel eyes, chestnut-colored hair, and lots of freckles on her nose. She was standing with her hands on her hips, talking to a younger boy fairy, with curly auburn hair and bright green eyes. He was sitting on the edge of the windowsill, looking glum, and swinging his legs.
Kristina stood quietly, hoping that they wouldn’t notice her. They were the most fascinating creatures she had ever seen. The window was cracked open slightly so she could hear them conversing. “Why do you always complain when you don’t get your way?” the girl said.
The boy frowned at her. “You know that I’ve been waiting for this event all year, but do I get to go? No! Instead, I get to come here and miss all the fun stuff.” He crossed his arms abruptly.
“Stop being such a baby!” The girl moved toward the boy, intending to push him off the window ledge.
Kristina sneezed, startling the girl and causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards off the window ledge. Quickly, the fairy flapped her wings so she didn’t hit the ground.
Seeing the girl fall, the boy couldn’t help from laughing, which in turn almost caused him to fall off the ledge as well. Kristina found it quite funny also, and she, too, began to laugh along with the boy.
The girl fairy looked flabbergasted. “Do you always go sneaking up on fairies’ conversations to try and cause accidents?” she snapped at Kristina.
Kristina, taken by surprise, stopped laughing and stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to answer.
“Well, maybe you were right, Looper. This does seem to be a waste of our time,” the girl said to the boy, who was still sitting on the window ledge, chuckling.
The boy wiped the laughter tears from his eyes. “What did I tell you?” he said. “Let’s get out of here. I can still catch up with my friends if we leave now.”
Kristina didn’t want them to leave, so she tried to think of a way to make them stay. She turned and looked around the room and saw that the chocolate cake from the night before was sitting on the coffee table under a glass dome. “Could I offer you some chocolate cake?” she asked quickly.
The girl fairy seemed about to snap at her again, but instead, she pondered what Kristina had said and answered, “I guess we could accept your offer, seeing what trouble you have put us through.”
Kristina quickly went to the coffee table, removed the glass dome topping the cake, cut a large piece of cake, and laid it on the plate. “Would you like to come in and eat it? It might be easier than setting the plate on the ledge.”
The girl looked at the boy and then back at Kristina. “I suppose so,” she said.
The fairies crawled through the crack in the window, the boy first and then the girl. As the girl was crawling through she got her wing stuck and, without thinking, Kristina reached out with her finger to help pull her wing through. The fairy pushed her away abruptly. “Well, you sure aren’t very smart now, are you? Don’t you know that if you touch a fairy’s wing you can prevent the fairy from ever flying again?”
Kristina looked dumbfounded and didn’t know what to say.
The boy looked at Kristina, sympathetically, and then he looked at the girl. “Come on; give her a break. She is trying to be nice to us,” he said.
“Okay. I guess I should have let you know about the wing bit. Let’s just forget it,” the girl fairy said.
The fairies flew over to where the plate of chocolate cake was sitting on the coffee table and landed on top of it. They scooped the cake up with their tiny hands and then stuffed their mouths full of it. “Rumalock does know how to make great chocolate cake,” the boy fairy said with his mouth still full.
The fairies were enjoying the cake so much that they seemed to forget that Kristina was sitting on the couch. She cleared her throat to get their attention. They looked up at her, and the boy, whose face was covered with chocolate, said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess we should formally introduce ourselves.” He stuck out his tiny hand, covered in chocolate. “My name’s Looper.” Then he pointed to the girl fairy. “And that’s my grumpy sister, Clover.”
Kristina took his tiny hand between her fingers and gently shook it. Clover didn’t offer her hand.
“I’m Kristina,” Kristina said.
“Pleased to meet you, Kristina,” Looper said in a muted voice, his mouth so full of cake.
Clover didn’t respond but only focused on trying to eat without getting chocolate frosting all over her hands and mouth.
The fairies ate only about a quarter of the slice of cake, and when they were done, they flew back to the window ledge. There was a crack in the wood that had some dew in it, and they dipped their tiny hands in it to wash the chocolate off. Once cleaned, Looper stretched his arms in the air and yawned. “I sure could go for a nap right about now.” He sat down, leaned against the windowpane, and closed his eyes.
Clover grabbed her brother by his arm. “There’s no time for lazing around. We’ve got to get the human child to the Indra River before nightfall,” she said sternly.
Looper jumped up suddenly and shook his head to get his wits back. “Well come on, Kristina, let’s get going,” he said.
Kristina crossed her arms across her chest. “What do you mean; take me to the Indra River?” she said.
“We must get you and the Warble to the Indra River before nightfall, because Queen Sentiz will be sending out her wicked zelbocks to find you. They’re probably in the forest right now, and believe me; they’d love to capture you for the queen. So the sooner we get you on your way, the better chance you have of not getting caught,” Looper said.
“Hey, hold on a minute! This all sounds too weird. I’m not sure I’m cut out for all this adventure stuff. Is it possible to just zap me back to my world?”
The fairies looked at each other as if Kristina was crazy, and then, in unison, said, “No!”
“Actually, the only way you can go home, is you must first place the Warble in its resting place,” Looper said.
“Kristina, go and get the Warble. We can’t waste any more time,” Clover said impatiently.
“It’s right here in my pocket.” Kristina pulled it out and held it on the palm of her hand. “Wow, how cool! Its color is different again. This time it changed from light purple to dark purple!”
“It won’t be so ‘cool’ if we don’t get a move on,” Clover said.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go!” Kristina said. Then she pushed up the window and crawled through it, following the fairies.
6
Clover and Looper were suspended in midair as they waited for Kristina to crawl through the window. Their wings were fluttering so fast that if anyone were to glance quickly at them, they might be mistaken for hummingbirds.
As soon as Kristina landed on the soft, green grass, Looper pointed to a trail leading to the forest. “Let’s head that way,” he said and made a few loops in the air and began heading toward the trail.
“Wait a minute! I haven’t had a chance to thank Rumalock or even say good bye to him,” Kristina said.
“It’s okay. He had to leave very early this morning to gather fairy blossoms,” Looper replied. “Besides, he didn’t want to wake you, knowing you had such a long journey ahead of you.”
“Speaking of Rumalock, he had mentioned that the fairy blossoms are rare and hard to come by. I would think that they grow like weeds in a lush forest like this,” Kristina said while following the fairies.
“They used to grow like weeds, but ever since Queen Sentiz had her zelbocks destroy most of the healing herb, it’s now very hard to come by. She has had her zelbocks plant thorn bushes in their place; even so, there are still small amounts of the fairy blossom growing on the lower mountain regions. The problem is, not too many of the dwarfs or gnomes ca
n travel that far, especially the old ones,” Looper said.
“But why would the queen want to destroy the blossoms?” Kristina asked.
“She hates the dwarfs, gnomes and almost every other creature that lives in Bernovem,” Clover said.
“And she has total control over everything,” Looper added.
“I don’t get it. How would she control the dwarfs and gnomes by destroying the fairy blossom?” Kristina asked.
“Well, you see, Kristina, before Queen Sentiz took over the rule of Bernovem, the dwarfs and gnomes were able to harvest the fairy blossom, and they could pick as much of it as they pleased. It is what kept them youthful, because when they made tea of it or used it as a flavor enhancer in their food, they would hardly age at all. They could stay youthful indefinitely, but without it, they age more rapidly.” Looper suddenly looked sad.
Kristina found this fascinating. “Go on,” she said.
“Without it, they become very weak and they can die.”
“Oh.” Kristina felt slightly awkward. “I’m sad to hear it,” she said softly.
She continued following the fairies for what seemed hours, and her legs grew very tired. The sun was starting to set and fog was beginning to roll in, making it hard for them to see. “How much longer until we get to this river?” she asked.
“Sh-h-h! You mustn’t talk louder than a whisper. We have already fallen behind schedule, due to your nonstop gabbing,” Clover said.
“Queen Sentiz’s zelbocks are surely out in the forest, searching for anyone suspicious who may have…” Looper flew very close to Kristina’s ear, and in a low whisper said, “the Warble.”
Kristina reached into her pocket for the Warble, but stopped when Looper nervously glanced about the forest. Then he flew to a nearby tree and landed on one of its branches. He looked all about the forest. Kristina wondered what he was doing and was about to ask Clover, but then he turned around and whispered, “Quick! Take cover!”
As quick as a flash of light, Clover flew off to a nearby tree stump. Then Kristina looked around to see where she could hide.
“Over here!” Clover called out to her. Clover was sitting with her knees curled up, inside a knothole of a stump. Kristina ran, jumped over the stump, and hid behind it. “Hey! Watch out!” Clover snapped at her.
Kristina was about to snap back, but then she heard something coming toward them. She poked her head over the stump and saw a horrible creature, slightly taller than a dwarf but very ugly. Its face was covered in warts. It had a crooked nose, and its back was hunched over. It stood very near Kristina and Clover, and with a suspicious, evil look on its face, it sniffed the air like a dog.
Kristina dared not make a move in case the ugly creatures see her. She glanced up at the tree where Looper was standing, straight as a pin, against its trunk, not moving a muscle. The horrible creature couldn’t see anything, so it started to leave. But then a branch Kristina was sitting on snapped. She gasped, and the creature turned around to face her. It stared directly into her eyes and grinned from ear to ear. Drool dripped out of the corner of its mouth, and it rubbed its large, gnarled hands together.
Kristina looked at Looper, who was now motioning for her to run to the tree he was in. Then she looked over at Clover. “Hurry! Run to the tree and climb it!” Clover said franticly.
The creature started toward Kristina, so she ran as fast as she could toward the tree.
“Quick, Kristina, jump and pull yourself up,” Looper said.
The branch was much higher than the top of Kristina’s head, but she gave it her best shot. She jumped once but failed to reach it. The creature was right behind her.
“Don’t give up, Kristina! You must reach it,” Looper said fearfully.
She jumped again, and this time caught hold of the branch. Then she swung her legs upward, just as the creature lunged up underneath her, scratching her back with its long, grimy fingernails. She got her legs around the branch, and then pulled herself up to sit on it.
“Give me the Warble,” the creature hissed.
Kristina was barely balanced on the small branch; she felt her heart pounding very fast in her chest. Then, to make matters worse, the Warble slipped out of her pocket and fell to the ground. Looper swooped down out of the tree to try to lift it. He strained with all his might to pick it up and managed to get it a few inches off the ground, but it was too heavy, and he dropped it. The creature dived toward the Warble but while in midair, an arrow hit the creature in the middle of its back. It let out a shrill screech as it fell, and then landed, face down, inches from the Warble. It dug its grimy nails into the ground trying with all its strength to reach the Warble, but when it was about an inch away from it, its body went limp.
A boy—Kristina thought he looked like he must be in his early to mid-teens—came running toward the horrible creature. His breathing was labored as he approached its lifeless body. He put his foot on its back and pulled the arrow out of it. Then he turned around and looked up at Kristina, who was still in the tree.
He’s cute! Kristina thought.
He wiped the blood off his arrow, and said, “What do you think you’re doing, wandering these parts of the forest? Stupid girl!”
Cute alright, but a jerk! Kristina frowned at the boy and then jumped down out of the tree. She went to where the Warble had fallen to the ground. The boy was putting his arrow back in his quiver and wasn’t paying attention when she picked it up and put it back in her pocket.
Looper flew over to the boy and landed on a rock in front of him. Then Clover pushed herself out of the knothole in the stump, wiped the dirt from herself, and flew to Looper.
Looper knelt down on one knee and bowed before the boy. Clover gave a little curtsy. “Thank you, Your Highness, for saving us from a most certain death,” Clover said to the boy.
7
Kristina wondered what the bowing was all about, and as she stood watching, Clover flew over to her and whispered in her ear, “Don’t you have any respect? Bow!”
“Thanks, guys, but no need for the formalities,” the boy said.
“But the respect is due to you, Prince Werrien,” Clover said.
“Not as long as that villainous queen—oh, excuse me, Her Majesty, is in power.”
Looper made the introductions. “Prince Werrien, this is Kristina. Kristina, this is Prince Werrien.”
Kristina looked at the boy shyly. “Are you really a prince?” she asked warily.
The boy’s blue-green eyes gave her a fleeting glance as he slung his quiver and bow across his shoulder. “I guess you could say that, but the way things are now, I just go by Werrien.” There was silence for a moment, and then Werrien continued, “Well, it’s been a pleasure, but I’d best be off. I’ve got plenty of things to do.” He turned to leave.
“Wait!” Looper said, in a slightly anxious tone.
Werrien turned around.
“There’s something you ought to know.”
“Oh? What is it?” Werrien asked.
Looper flew up to his ear and whispered, “We are in the presence of the chosen one.”
Werrien turned to look at Kristina. “Let me guess—this little girl?” he asked.
Kristina marched over to Werrien. “Little girl? If you haven’t noticed, you’re not really much taller than me.” She stared up at Werrien, who was about a head and a half taller than she was.
“Oh, I get it. You’re the one who has come to save Bernovem from all its troubles.” Werrien swung his sandy blond hair out of his eyes and stared right back at her.
Looper landed on the rock again and tried to stand taller than he really was. “As a matter of fact...” he began; then swallowed anxiously and continued, “Yes, I mean, that is the reason she came here.”
Werrien’s eye brows rose and he shook his head in disbelief. He turned around, and proceeded to walk away. “You can usually find me in these woods, so let me know when she’s done saving Bernovem. We’ll have a big celebration.”
Just as Werrien turned around in response, she tossed the Warble to him. He caught it, and looked curiously at it. “What’s this?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m not quite sure, but I’ve been told it’s called the Warble!” Kristina said haughtily.
“What? This colored ball?” Werrien tossed it up in the air. When it landed in his hand, it was so hot that he had to drop it.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Kristina said smiling, feeling a bit of satisfaction.
Werrien bent down and cautiously picked it up. It was no longer hot but just a little warm. He looked up at Kristina; she could see the shock in his blue-green eyes. “You really are the one.” He looked bewildered. “Well, I was hoping this day would get better. Whoo-hoo!” he hollered with joy. He went over to Clover, who was still standing on the rock, and lifted her by her tiny hand and spun her around in the air. Then he placed her back down on the rock. Clover blushed as she straightened her skirt and tried to find her balance. “Wow! I can hardly believe that the Warble is really here in Bernovem.” He rolled it around on the palm of his hand, still in awe of it. Then he tossed it back to Kristina and grinned at her in a way that made her feel self-conscious, and the odd thing was that she had never really felt that way before when other kids teased her.
Looper could see how she was feeling, so he said, “We really need to get to the Indra River before we run into another one of the queen’s zelbocks.”
“Mind if I go with you?” Werrien asked.
“Would you?” Clover promptly replied, her eyes lighting up. “I mean, if it’s not too much trouble, we could always use your protection.” Her freckled cheeks blushed red.
“I thought that you had plenty to do already,” Kristina said, still feeling annoyed with Werrien.
“Look, I’m sorry for treating you the way I did. It’s just that I would never have thought that the Warble would be returned by a...”
“A dumb little girl?” Kristina said, finishing his sentence.
The Warble Page 3
