by Kiki Thorpe
Vidia watched her, amused. She’d felt the same way when she was a new fairy. In fact, she still felt that way.
Wisp spread her arms wide, as if to hug the sky. Then, suddenly, her eyes closed and she tipped backward. Her wings stopped fluttering. She dropped like a stone toward the ground.
It happened so quickly that Vidia barely had time to react. Had Wisp just fainted? Had the race been too much for her?
Then, just as suddenly, Wisp opened her wings. She caught herself a few inches above the ground. “Now, that was fast!” she called up to Vidia.
Vidia blinked. She couldn’t believe it. Wisp had fallen…for fun?
Wisp zipped back up to Vidia. “So, what do you say? Want to race again?” she asked.
A smile slowly stretched across Vidia’s face. Wisp was turning out to be one of the strangest fairies she had ever met—and one of the most interesting.
“Let’s go,” she said.
IN THE DAYS that followed, Vidia and Wisp raced many more times. Their flying was so fast that they created a gust of wind wherever they went—much to the annoyance of the other fairies.
They blew all the clothes off the laundry lines. They scared a herd of woolly caterpillars. And one day, they caused such a breeze that it tipped over all the leaf boats on Havendish Stream. Queen Clarion was so angry, she grounded them for a whole day.
Vidia didn’t care. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun.
One morning, a week after Wisp had arrived, Vidia awoke in her feather bed. The light coming in the window was thin and grayish. Through her spiderweb curtains, she could see dawn turning the sky pink.
Vidia sat up and stretched. Her shoulders felt sore, but in a good way. The day before, she and Wisp had flown all the way around Pixie Hollow. Wisp had shown off by trying to race a hornet. She’d almost gotten stung!
Vidia laughed, thinking about it. She wondered where they’d race today.
Vidia climbed out of her bed. Then she reached under it and pulled out her box of special fairy dust—the dust made from Mother Dove’s feathers. It was the first thing she did every morning.
The box was locked with six padlocks. Vidia checked each one. When she was sure they were locked tight, she put the box back under the bed. Vidia didn’t use the special dust often. Terence sprinkled each fairy every day with a cup of regular fairy dust. That was enough to keep her flying fast. But she stored a pinch of special dust in a pouch at her waist, in case she needed it. She liked to know that she could be even faster whenever she wanted to be.
Vidia had just stood up when she heard a knock on her door. “Who could that be?” she said with a scowl. She did-n’t like visitors.
She unbolted the door and opened it a hair. Wisp was standing on the twig outside. “Ready to race?” she asked.
“Dear child, it’s the crack of dawn. I haven’t even had tea,” Vidia said.
“I can wait while you get ready,” said Wisp. Her gaze slipped past Vidia into her house.
Vidia hesitated. She almost never let anyone inside. Then again, Wisp was her friend. At least, she was the closest thing to a friend Vidia had ever had.
With a sigh, she opened the door wider. “Don’t touch anything,” she grumbled as Wisp flew inside.
Wisp’s eyes darted around. While Vidia had a whole tree to herself, she lived mostly in one room. But what an amazing room it was! The ceiling soared high overhead. The walls were painted to look like the sky. Windows gave her a view in every direction. Even when she was indoors, Vidia liked to feel as if she were flying.
“This is so much better than my room in the Home Tree!” exclaimed Wisp. She reached out toward one of Vidia’s bedposts. “Are these—”
“Hawk feathers. I said, don’t touch anything,” Vidia snapped.
“Hawk feathers,” Wisp repeated. Her voice was full of awe. “Have you flown with a hawk?”
Vidia rolled her eyes. “Of course not. Hawks eat fairies. Or didn’t you know that?”
Secretly, Vidia longed to fly alongside a hawk. Hawks were powerful and regal—they owned the sky. But she didn’t dare. She’d taken the feathers from a hawk’s nest while its owner was off hunting.
“Oh,” Wisp said. “I thought you might have.” She no longer looked impressed.
“I did pluck a feather from the Golden Hawk once,” Vidia said quickly. She didn’t want Wisp to think she was a coward.
“Really?” Wisp’s eyes lit up. She looked around the room. “Where is it?”
“I don’t have it,” said Vidia. “We were taking it to Kyto the dragon in exchange for his help saving Pixie Hollow. But it was lost on the way.”
“You were going to give it away?” Wisp asked in disbelief. “I’d have kept it.”
Vidia had never thought of keeping the Golden Hawk’s feather. But now she wished she had. She, Prilla, and Rani had needed the feather to give to Kyto, but in the end it had been lost anyway. She might as well have kept it.
For the first time, Vidia felt she had been cheated out of her feather.
Wisp was still fluttering around the room. She examined Vidia’s collection of feathers so closely that her breath ruffled them. She poked into bowls on the shelves and tried to peek through the cracked door of a cupboard. After a few minutes Vidia began to get annoyed. Wisp was awfully nosy.
“Did you really pluck feathers from Mother Dove?” Wisp asked suddenly.
“What?” Vidia was startled. Most fairies were too embarrassed to mention Mother Dove’s feathers to her. But even more surprising than the question was the way Wisp had asked it. She didn’t sound angry or scornful. Just curious.
Wisp waited for an answer.
“I did,” Vidia said. “Because it was…necessary.” This wasn’t exactly true. It hadn’t been necessary to hurt Mother Dove. But it was easier for Vidia to tell herself that it was.
Wisp nodded, as if this answer made perfect sense to her.
“Shall we go now?” Vidia asked. She was tired of talking about feathers and plucking.
“Don’t you want your tea?” Wisp asked.
Vidia gave her a tight-lipped smile. “I guess I’m not thirsty after all,” she said.
Outside, Vidia and Wisp crisscrossed Havendish Stream, looking for a place to race.
“How about a sprint from the mill to the dairy barn?” Vidia suggested.
“Nah.” Wisp shook her head.
They flew by the gardens. Rosetta was carefully digging up a dandelion that had gone to seed. Vidia whipped past her, spreading the seeds all over Rosetta’s garden.
“Vidia!” Rosetta yelled. She shook her fist at her.
Vidia laughed. She flew back to Wisp. “Let’s race over all the gardens. We’d drive those silly garden talents crazy,” she said.
Wisp sighed. “Boring.”
Vidia was starting to lose patience. “Well, where do you want to race?” she snapped.
“I’m not sure,” said Wisp. “I just want to do something different.” She stared into the distance.
All at once, a gleam came into Wisp’s eyes. “Do you think you could fly faster than a wave?” she asked Vidia.
“A wave?” Vidia followed Wisp’s gaze. Beyond Pixie Hollow, she could see the blue waters of the Mermaid Lagoon.
Vidia studied the waves. They rolled lazily to the shore and gently broke on the sand.
“Of course I can,” she told Wisp.
Wisp grinned. “Come on. Prove it!” she said. She took off for the lagoon. Vidia followed.
When they got there, the two fairies flew out over the ocean. The waves looked much bigger here than they had from Pixie Hollow. And they were traveling much faster.
“So we’ll pick a wave and race it in,” Vidia said. “Right?”
There was no answer. Vidia turned. Wisp was diving straight toward the water.
Vidia dove after her. “What are you doing?” she asked Wisp. They were now just inches above the surf.
“It’s more exciting
down here,” Wisp told her.
“Are you out of your mind? If a wave catches you, you’ll drown!” Vidia said.
“All the more reason to fly fast,” Wisp replied.
Before Vidia could think of an answer, a huge wave rose behind them.
Vidia gasped. “Fly!” she screamed.
She took off toward the shore. The wave was like an enormous beast. She could feel it bearing down on her. Its foamy crest curled over her head, as if it were trying to grab her.
She beat her wings as hard as she could. But with each flap they seemed to feel heavier. With a sense of dread, she realized that her wings were getting heavier. Spray from the wave was soaking them, making it hard to fly.
Vidia’s heart was in her throat. Any second now, the wave would swallow her!
The wave broke with a deafening roar. With her last bit of strength, Vidia pulled ahead of it. She threw herself onto the dry sand. The thin, white edge of the water lapped at her feet before pulling back into the ocean.
Vidia lay in the sand, panting. She knew she couldn’t stay there for long. The next wave might be even bigger. As soon as she’d caught her breath, she flew farther up the beach.
It was only then that she remembered Wisp. Vidia looked around.
Down the beach, she spotted something jumping around. It was Wisp—she was trying to fly, but she was covered from head to toe in sand from the crash landing.
Hopping and flapping like a baby chicken, Wisp made her way over to Vidia. “Wasn’t that fun?” she exclaimed.
Vidia’s mouth fell open. “Fun? Dear child, we were almost killed!”
“That’s what made it so exciting!” Wisp said. “We wouldn’t have flown so fast, otherwise. I think it was our best race yet.” She jumped around, trying to shake the sand from her wings.
She’s absolutely fearless, thought Vidia. She felt a twinge of envy.
“What’s wrong?” Wisp asked when she saw Vidia’s face. “Didn’t you have fun?”
“It was…” Vidia stopped herself from saying “terrifying.” She couldn’t allow Wisp to think she had been afraid. “Thrilling,” she finished.
As soon as the words were out, Vidia realized they were true. It had been thrilling. The most thrilling race ever.
“And we learned something,” Wisp said.
“What is that?” asked Vidia.
Wisp grinned. “Now we know we can fly faster than a wave,” she said.
THE NEXT MORNING, Vidia was eager to race again. When Wisp didn’t show up at her door, Vidia flew to the Home Tree to look for her. Finally, Vidia spotted her. Wisp was she perched on a far branch of the Home Tree. She was talking to a group of keyhole-talent fairies.
Keyhole-talent fairies? Why would Wisp bother with them? Vidia wondered. She watched as the keyhole talents laughed at something Wisp had said.
Vidia had just started to fly over to them when she heard someone call her name. She turned and saw Tinker Bell.
“Vidia, wait!” Tinker Bell cried. She was flapping her wings furiously to try to catch up.
Vidia was surprised. She and Tinker Bell weren’t exactly friends. In fact, they usually avoided each other. She wondered why Tink was so anxious to see her now.
Tink drew up next to her. She was huffing and puffing. A few blond hairs had fallen loose from her ponytail. “I’ve been looking all over for you,” she told Vidia.
“And now you’ve found me. What a shame,” Vidia said. She liked to try to rile Tink up. Tink was known for having a short temper.
But she didn’t rise to the bait this time. “Listen, Vidia,” she said. “A phoenix flower caught fire near Spring Meadow. The pots-and-pans talents are filling buckets at the stream to help stop the blaze. But we can’t carry water there fast enough. We need help.”
“Help?” Vidia drawled. She raised an eyebrow. “But darling, you’re the great inventor. Why don’t you just invent some thingy and save the day?”
“There isn’t time!” Tink told her. “We need fast fliers. Will you help us?”
“Me?” Vidia laughed. “Dearest, you might like to get muddy with the water talents. But I have better things to do.”
“You mean racing with Wisp?” Tink asked scornfully.
“Maybe,” Vidia said with a shrug.
“I saw you racing in the Mermaid Lagoon yesterday,” Tink told her. “It was foolish to fly so close to the water. You could have drowned.”
“But we didn’t, did we?” Vidia said. She didn’t think it was any of Tink’s business where she flew.
Just then, a loud cheer went up from the keyhole-talent fairies. Vidia and Tink looked over and saw Wisp showing off. She had jumped off the branch with one wing tied behind her back.
They watched as Wisp fluttered unevenly to the ground like a broken maple seed. She barely managed to avoid landing on her head.
Tink frowned. “Wisp does stupid things,” she said. “Dangerous, stupid things. I don’t know why you fly with her. I guess you want to prove you’re faster than she is, don’t you?”
“How sweet of you to be concerned, Tink, darling,” Vidia said. “But I already know that I’m faster than she is. I fly with Wisp because she’s the only interesting fairy in Pixie Hollow. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Tink’s round cheeks flushed with anger. “You are so selfish!” she snapped. “If Pixie Hollow burns, you can blame yourself.”
“Phoenix flowers have caught fire before, darling,” Vidia said with a wave of her hand. “I’m sure you’ll all be able to deal with it.”
As Vidia flew off, a feeling of annoyance crept over her. Why had Tink tried to warn her about Wisp? It should be the other way around, Vidia thought. After all, everyone knows I’m the dangerous fairy.
“I thought we could race in the forest today,” Vidia said as she and Wisp flew away from the Home Tree.
“That sounds fun. I haven’t been there before,” Wisp said.
Vidia was relieved that Wisp didn’t want to race in the lagoon again. Her shoulders ached from their race the day before. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to outfly another wave.
Vidia led Wisp toward the tall trees beyond Pixie Hollow. As they passed over Spring Meadow, Vidia smelled smoke. “Slow down,” she told Wisp.
Wisp frowned. “Slow down? Why?”
They flew over a small hill and saw the fire. It spread across one edge of the meadow.
“What’s going on?” Wisp asked.
“A phoenix flower has flared up,” Vidia explained. “It happens every few years. The plant bursts into flame. Then it has to burn all the way to the ground before it can grow again. Unfortunately, it sets all the plants around it on fire, too.”
Vidia had slowed her pace to a crawl. This fire was bigger than usual, she noticed. Even from a distance, she could hear it crackle and feel its heat. But she could also see fairies carrying pots and buckets of water from the stream. It looked as though they had it under control.
Wisp had already lost interest in the fire. She fidgeted. She sighed. Her toes tapped the air.
Finally, she turned to Vidia and asked, “Why are we flying so slowly?”
“Our wings send up a breeze,” Vidia said. “If we fly too fast, we’ll fan the flames.” She might not be helping to put out the fire, but she didn’t want to burn down Pixie Hollow, either.
After a few minutes—and several more impatient sighs from Wisp—they left the meadow behind. “It should be all right now,” Vidia told her.
With a gasp of relief, Wisp shot ahead. Vidia chased her all the way to the forest.
Compared to the bright light and heat of the meadow, the forest was cool and dim. Wisp flitted from tree to tree.
“This is a great place to race!” she said.
“We can fly around these pinecones like an obstacle course,” Vidia suggested. She began to plot their path through the branches of the pine tree. “We’ll start here, then loop here—”
Wisp cut her off. “What’s that?” she as
ked.
“What’s what?” asked Vidia.
“That sound.”
Vidia listened. She heard a dull thunk, like something hitting wood. It was followed by shrill squawks and gobbles.
“It’s just the Lost Boys,” Vidia said with a shrug.
“What are Lost Boys?” Wisp asked.
“Clumsy brats,” said Vidia. “They’re Peter Pan’s friends. They’re probably out hunting in the forest with their bows and arrows. Though it sounds like they’re hitting more trees than squirrels,” she observed.
“Let’s go find them!” said Wisp. She started to dart ahead.
Vidia grabbed Wisp’s shoulder and pulled her back. “Find them? Whatever for? They’ll only try to catch you with their grubby hands,” she said.
Wisp hopped onto a tree branch. She perched there, listening as the Lost Boys sent up another ruckus. “They make such funny sounds. Are they fast?” she asked Vidia.
“They’re the slowest, clumsiest creatures in all of Never Land,” Vidia told her.
“Oh. Well, I still want to see them.” Wisp flew off in the direction of the sound. This time, Vidia sighed and followed her.
VIDIA AND WISP flew through the forest until they came to a clearing. A pack of boys dressed in dirty fur suits stood in the middle of it. They all held bows and arrows.
“Ready!” shouted the Lost Boy named Slightly. The boys raised their bows to their shoulders.
“Aim!” shouted Slightly. “Fire!”
A volley of arrows flew through the air. Vidia saw that the boys weren’t hunting. They were shooting at a target painted onto a tree trunk.
With a thunk, one arrow hit the bull’s-eye. The rest landed all over the tree. One flew into the bushes.
“I win!” squealed Slightly.
“You do not! I win,” said Nibs. He jabbed his thumb at his chest. “Was my arrow that hit the bull’s-eye.”
“Was not. Was mine!” Slightly ran over and yanked the arrow from the target. “See? It’s got red-tailed hawk feathers on it.”
