by Gail Herman
If anything happened here at the beach, she’d be the only one in danger.
She slept fitfully. She meant to wake up early to search for another good-luck charm. Even though finding one seemed impossible, she wanted to keep trying. But her deepest sleep came after sunrise. And she was so tired from flying and searching. She didn’t stir until she heard a voice.
“Good morning, darling.”
Silvermist opened her eyes. Vidia was sitting next to her on the sand.
“You seem to have overslept,” Vidia continued. “Good thing I decided to be your own personal wake-up fairy. I would never want you to miss an important event like the waterball contest.”
Silvermist sat up. She rubbed her eyes.
“The tournament begins in ten minutes, sweetie. Everyone is expecting you,” said Vidia.
“I don’t think anyone wants me there. Fairies fly in the other direction when they see me coming now.”
“That may be. Really, who could blame them?” Vidia paused. “But Queen Clarion announced at breakfast that she expects the game to go on as planned, with you playing, darling. It seems she wants life in Pixie Hollow to continue as if nothing’s changed.”
Silvermist took a deep breath. If Queen Clarion needed her to be there, she’d be there. Besides, she had told everyone she’d be in the contest. And she always kept her word.
“I’m ready,” she said.
“Good.” Vidia brushed the sand from her leggings. “This is one event I wouldn’t want to miss.”
BY THE TIME Silvermist got to the contest field, everything was already in place. Hem and the other sewing talents had finished a beautiful new gown for Queen Clarion. Celebration setup fairies had carefully moved the spiderweb target to one end of the field. And fairies from all talents had come to watch.
Queen Clarion sat on a large colorful mat near the targets. The other fairies and sparrow men milled about, talking and laughing.
As Silvermist walked past, Hem drew in her breath. “She’s here,” Hem hissed to another sewing talent. “Hold on to your pins!”
Heads turned. Wings fluttered. One by one, the fairies edged away from Silvermist.
But Fira made her way over. “It will be okay,” she told her friend. “Maybe your luck is turning.”
“I don’t think so,” Silvermist said quietly. On the way to the contest, she’d picked up a leftover muffin from the tearoom. Before she could take one bite, she’d dropped it in a mud puddle.
“Fairies and sparrow men!” Queen Clarion said, clapping her hands. The crowd quieted. “Water talents, take your places behind the marked line. Everyone else, be seated. The competition is about to begin!”
Fira hurried off to join the other light talents. Silvermist walked slowly toward the water fairies, who were forming a line. Maybe no one would notice her if she stayed at the back.
Queen Clarion reminded everyone of the rules. “Each water talent will get five tries to hit the target. Those who do best will go on to the next set of targets.”
Rani stood at a line drawn in the dirt. She stared at the spiderweb target and the bull’s-eye circle in its center. Then she dipped her hand into a bucket of water. She patted the water into a smooth ball. Winding up her arm, she pitched the waterball at the target.
The ball hit the spiderweb, close to the bull’s-eye. The crowd cheered.
Water talent after water talent tried the game, until only Silvermist was left.
Hesitantly, she stepped forward. She scooped up the water, then stole a glance at Vidia. Silvermist wound up and made the throw.
The waterball soared through the air. It went up, up, up, then down, down, down.
Silvermist held her breath. The waterball was going toward the target. It was heading right for it. It was going to hit—
The waterball hit Queen Clarion full in the face.
Everyone gasped. Queen Clarion was soaked from head to toe. Water dripped from her hair and her dress. A puddle formed by her feet. Helper fairies hurried over with moss towels.
Silvermist could barely look. What had she done? And what would the queen do now?
To Silvermist’s amazement, Queen Clarion…laughed!
“Well, that cooled me off!” said the queen. She wrung out her hair. Water drops flew everywhere, sprinkling the nearby fairies.
The queen laughed harder. Then Prilla clapped her hands and giggled. Tinker Bell chuckled. Soon everyone was laughing—everyone but Silvermist.
Queen Clarion took off one shoe and turned it over. A stream of water poured out.
Finally, Silvermist began to laugh. And the longer she laughed, the harder she laughed. Queen Clarion pouring water out of her shoe! The idea of it!
“Oh, oh.” Silvermist laughed so hard her stomach hurt. She bent over, her arms hugging her sides.
And then she saw a five-leaf clover, right by her feet. A lucky clover.
“Rosetta!” Silvermist called. “Come see this! Fira! Tink! Everyone! Look!”
Fairies crowded around Silvermist. The clover was beautiful, slender but strong. Silvermist felt stronger too. Finally, she’d found a good-luck charm.
“Is it all right to pick it?” she asked.
Iris rushed over, her plant book already open. “‘Five-leaf clovers are meant to be picked,’” she read out loud. “‘Their magic keeps them alive forever.’”
“They’re magic—and lucky!” Fira added.
Gently, Silvermist tugged the clover from the ground. She held it in her hand, examining it carefully.
“This isn’t a flower show,” Vidia said with a yawn. “It’s still your turn, Silvermist.”
The contest! Silvermist had forgotten all about it. She tucked the clover behind her ear.
“Don’t get rattled now, darling,” Vidia called from her seat on a branch. Her voice was syrupy. “Finding a clover is all well and good. But how can it compete with a powerful curse?”
Silvermist gazed steadily at Vidia. Rattled, she thought. That’s exactly what Vidia wants me to be. Ever since Vidia fell in the water, she’s wanted to get back at me. Every chance she’s gotten, she’s tried to upset me.
So was that what the accidents had been about? Not a curse…or even bad luck. Just Silvermist making mistakes because she had felt flustered and unsure?
I don’t know! she thought. But did it matter?
For the first time in a long while, Silvermist was thinking clearly. And that was when she remembered something else—the seashell she’d lost, the one she’d thought had fallen out of her dress.
She remembered now. She’d put it in the fold at her waist. She put her hand in that fold of her dress. And there it was! The special seashell.
“Take your time, Silvermist.” Vidia tossed her hair. “It’s not as if anyone’s waiting.”
“I was just thinking,” Silvermist said in her old calm way. “And now, before I throw the ball, I have something to say.”
The fairies and sparrow men gazed at her intently.
“I’m not sure if I had bad luck or just a few bad days. I’m not sure about these old superstitions at all. But there is one thing I do know. If you believe you’ll have bad luck, then you’ll have bad luck.”
That was why it didn’t make a difference if the curse was real or all in her mind.
Silvermist turned to leave the contest. She didn’t care about winning or losing or proving anything to anybody.
“Poor, sweet Silvermist,” Vidia said. “She can’t go on. She’s lost her nerve.”
Well, thought Silvermist, maybe I have to prove something to one fast-flying fairy.
She turned her back to the target. Then she tossed the waterball over her shoulder. It soared through the air. Silvermist heard it hit and splash all over. All around her, fairies gasped in shock.
“Bull’s-eye!” cried Fira.
Silvermist grinned. Had that been a lucky shot? She didn’t know. And she didn’t care.
il Herman, Disney Fairies: Silvermist and the Ladybug Curse
