A Fairy's Gift

by Kiki Thorpe

  The girls laughed. “Like a starfish with wings!” Gabby said.

  “It fits you like a glove,” Kate joked.

  “You’ll be slower than a horsefly,” Vidia sniffed. “You won’t catch me in one of those.”

  “It’s very cold out,” Lainey warned.

  Vidia shrugged. “I’ll just fly faster.”

  A door opened, and Lainey’s mother came down the hall. Lainey shoved the drawer closed. Vidia fluttered up out of the way, but Fawn, who was standing on the edge of the drawer, toppled inside.

  “Hi, girls. What are you doing?” asked Mrs. Winters.

  “Just looking for some warm clothes,” Lainey told her.

  Her mother nodded. “You’ll need them. It’s cold out— Ouch!” She jumped, and rubbed her arm.

  “What’s the matter?” Lainey asked.

  “I could swear something pinched me,” her mother said. She shook her head and laughed. “I must be imagining things.”

  “Vidia!” Lainey snapped, when her mother had walked away. “Stop that!”

  The fast-flying fairy smirked. “Just doing my part for Belief, darlings.”

  “We need children to believe, not grown-ups!” Mia said.

  Vidia folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Well, I don’t see any other Clumsies around, do you?”

  They heard a tap-tap from inside the drawer. “Oh my gosh. Fawn! I’m sorry,” Lainey said, letting the fairy out.

  “You didn’t need to hide me. Your mother can’t see us, remember?” Fawn reminded her as she fluttered out of the drawer.

  “I know, I just panicked.” Lainey rubbed her forehead. Taking care of fairies was harder than she’d thought!

  “Vidia has a point,” Kate said. “We won’t do any good hanging around here. We need to find a place with a lot of kids.”

  “What about City Park?” Lainey suggested. The large park was only a few blocks away.

  “Good idea!” Kate said. “Let’s go.”

  As they walked, Fawn kept stopping to marvel at the winter landscape. She flew up and circled an icicle. Then she flew down to make tiny tracks in a snowdrift. “This is fun!” she exclaimed. “It hardly ever snows in Pixie Hollow.”

  “Watch me, Fawn!” Gabby said as they arrived at the park. She fell backward into the deep snow and made a snow angel.

  Fawn copied her. “Look!” Mia pointed to the imprint of Fawn’s wings in the snow. “Fawn makes perfect snow angels. And she doesn’t even have to use her arms.”

  Vidia winced. “You’ll freeze your wings. And then what good will you be to anyone?”

  “Oh, Vidia.” Fawn sighed and got up. She fluttered her wings, shaking off the snow. “Have a little fun, for once.”

  “I mean to, darling,” Vidia said. With that, she darted off so fast she was nothing but a purple streak. In a second, the girls lost sight of her.

  Fawn scowled. “She doesn’t care about helping. She only cares about flying fast. I knew she’d be useless. I can’t imagine why the queen sent her. Don’t worry,” she added, noticing Lainey’s concerned expression. “Vidia can take care of herself.”

  Despite the cold, the park was busy. People were jogging or walking their dogs. Little kids played in the snow. Older kids were sledding down the big hill in the middle of the park.

  “Let’s start with her,” Mia said, pointing to a small girl whose father was pulling her around on a sled.

  “What should I do?” Fawn asked.

  “When Prilla visits children, she flies up to them and says ‘Clap if you believe in fairies!’ ” Gabby told her.

  “That’s easy enough,” said Fawn. As the girls watched, she swooped over to the girl, hollering, “Clap if you believe in fairies!”

  The girl’s eyes widened. Then she burst into tears.

  Fawn quickly fluttered back to Lainey and her friends. “That wasn’t quite how I pictured it,” she told them.

  “I think the glove is the problem,” Mia said.

  “Yeah, you looked like you wanted to clap her,” Kate agreed.

  “Maybe we should try some bigger kids…,” Lainey started to say, when a snowball hit the back of her coat. She caught a glimpse of someone ducking behind a tree.

  Another snowball splattered Kate’s shoulder. Two boys stepped out from behind a tree, laughing. Lainey recognized them—James and Jed. They were a grade ahead of her at school.

  Uh-oh, Lainey thought. She knew Kate wouldn’t be able to resist a battle. Sure enough, Kate was already packing a snowball. She fired back, hitting James squarely in the chest.

  Mia threw one, too, just missing Jed’s head. Then Lainey and Gabby joined in. A moment later, snowballs were sailing back and forth between the boys and the girls.

  Fawn tried to join in. But her pebble-sized snowballs bounced away, unnoticed. She gave up and darted through the air, calling encouragement. “Nice one, Gabby! You too, Lainey! Ooh, Kate, that’s a— Oof!”

  A snowball knocked the fairy clean out of the air. She landed headfirst in the snow.

  “Oh my gosh! Fawn!” Mia cried.

  “Whoa! Time-out!” Kate yelled to the boys. The girls ran to the spot where Fawn had fallen. Lainey gently plucked her from the snow and set her upright.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, brushing the fairy off with her mitten.

  “I think so,” Fawn said, though she looked a bit stunned.

  Another round of snowballs pelted the girls’ backs. Kate spun around, furious. “I said time-out!” she yelled at the boys.

  “What for?” James asked.

  “Our fairy got hit!” Gabby told them.

  The boys looked at each other and snickered. “Yeah, right,” Jed said, rolling his eyes. “That’s a good one.”

  “You’re just stalling,” James said. He picked up another handful of snow.

  “They can’t see Fawn,” Mia whispered. “I don’t think they believe in fairies.”

  “A time-out is a time-out, all the same,” Kate said. She began to stomp toward the boys. “Hey, weren’t you listening? I said—”

  At that moment, Jed let the snowball fly. They could all see it was a perfect throw—the ball headed right for Kate’s forehead. Kate only had time to squeeze her eyes shut—

  Pfff! The snowball suddenly exploded in midair, inches from Kate’s nose.

  “What the—?” Jed looked startled.

  Kate opened her eyes. She looked surprised, too.

  Vidia was hovering in the air beside her. The fast-flying fairy shook snow from her wings. Her pale, thin face wore a satisfied smile.

  But the boys couldn’t see her. James threw another snowball. Vidia flew straight at it as it sailed through the air. When she hit it, the snowball smashed into bits.

  “What on earth?” James muttered. The boys began to throw more snowballs, faster and faster. Vidia flew to meet each one, so fast she was only a blur in the air. Her glow blazed brightly.

  No wonder Queen Clarion sent her, Lainey thought. Vidia could sometimes be a pain. But she was the strongest, fastest fairy in all of Pixie Hollow, and she wasn’t afraid of anything.

  Finally, the boys gave up, looking impressed. “How did you do that?” Jed asked the girls.

  The friends glanced at each other and laughed. “Don’t mess with us,” Mia warned him.

  “Yeah!” Gabby cried. “We’ve got fairy magic!”

  “Come on, guys. We have fairies to help,” Kate said. The girls linked arms and walked away, with Fawn and Vidia flying among them.

  “If they didn’t believe in fairies before, they sure do now,” Lainey said, giggling. “Vidia, that was really cool.”

  Vidia shrugged. But she accepted the tissue that Lainey held out to her, wrapping it around her shoulders like a blanket. Lainey could tell she was pleased.

  “Maybe Fawn and Vidia should burst snowballs for everyone in the park,” Kate said. “What do you say, Fawn?”

  Fawn didn’t answer. She seemed to be struggling to fly. Without warni
ng, the animal-talent fairy fell from the air.

  “Oh no!” Lainey cried, hurrying to pick her up. “Is it the Disbelief?” she asked, cradling the fairy in her mittens.

  “I don’t think so,” Fawn said. “I think my wings are too cold. If they freeze, they could be ruined.” Lainey could see icy crystals forming on Fawn’s wings.

  “I told you not to go rolling around in the snow,” Vidia said.

  “We’ll take you back to Pixie Hollow,” Lainey told Fawn. “The healing-talent fairies will know what to do.”

  “But our plans…,” Fawn protested.

  Lainey’s mind was made up. “I told Queen Clarion I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Oh no!” Mia said suddenly, clapping her hand over her mouth. “I forgot! I promised Mami we’d be home ages ago!”

  “You and Gabby go home, then,” Kate said. “Lainey and I can take Fawn to the portal, and Vidia can help her from there.”

  But just as they reached the edge of the park, Vidia shot away again without a word. “Vidia, come back!” Lainey cried.

  “Where did she go?” Kate asked. They scanned the park, but all they saw was a boy walking a dog.

  “Maybe she wanted to fly around the park again,” Fawn said.

  “Ugh, Vidia. Just when you think she’s okay, she does something selfish,” Kate complained.

  “Should we leave without her?” Lainey wondered.

  Suddenly, the boy with the dog gave a loud yelp. He stopped abruptly, yanking the leash so hard that the dog yelped, too. The boy rubbed his face as though he’d been stung.

  Vidia returned a moment later, grinning. “Where did you go?” Lainey asked.

  “Just doing my duty, dear one. Helping Clumsies to believe,” she said. And she gave Lainey’s cheek a hard pinch to show what she meant.

  As Mia and Gabby returned home from the park, stamping the snow from their boots, they heard their mother calling. “Mia, Gabby, come in here, please.”

  “Coming, Mami!” Mia yelled. She could tell by their mother’s voice that they were in trouble. The sisters quickly looked each other over. When they returned from their trips to Pixie Hollow, they were always careful to brush the fairy dust off their clothes and comb the petals from their hair.

  When she was sure there was no trace of Never Land on them, Mia took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen, with Gabby trailing behind her.

  Their mother was sitting alone at the table, addressing Christmas cards. “Where is everybody?” Mia asked.

  “Papi took Aunt Lara and Uncle Jack to visit some old friends. Angelica is upstairs.” Her mother put down her pen and gave them a stern look. “Where have you been, Mia? I expected you home over an hour ago. I called Lainey’s house. Her mother said you’d gone to the park.”

  Mia nodded. “I’m sorry Mami, I forgot to tell you. Something came up—”

  “Something important,” Gabby chimed in.

  Mia gave her a sharp look. “And we just lost track of the time,” she finished, before her little sister could start talking about Never Land.

  “I always need to know where you are. You know that,” their mother said. “But that’s not the only thing. You don’t get to see Angelica and Aunt Lara and Uncle Jack very often. I know how much you were looking forward to their visit. Mia, I don’t want you running off with your friends the whole time your cousin is here.”

  “We won’t,” Mia promised. “It was just this once.”

  “Good,” her mother said, nodding. “Angelica’s up in your room. She’s probably bored. I’m sure she’ll be glad you’re back.”

  As the girls headed upstairs, Gabby whispered, “Are we going to tell Angie about the fairies?”

  Mia nodded. “She always has really good ideas. I bet she’ll know how to help.”

  Angelica was lying on Mia’s bed, listening to music. Several pieces of colored string were laid out beside her, and she was twisting them into a complicated braid. When she saw Mia and Gabby, she sat up and took off her headphones. “Hey, guys! Did you have fun at Lainey’s?” she asked.

  “We went to Pixie Hollow,” Gabby said, jumping up on the bed next to her. “But it’s really sad. The fairies don’t have enough magic because kids don’t believe.”

  “Gosh, that does sound sad. I hope they’ll be okay,” Angelica said. She winked at Mia.

  Suddenly, Mia had an uneasy feeling. Something had been nagging at her all morning while they were in Pixie Hollow. She realized now what it was.

  Mia sat down next to her cousin on the bed. “Ang, do you remember when you saw a fairy?” she asked.

  “You mean, that time I broke the Christmas ornament?” Angelica said.

  “You didn’t break it,” Gabby reminded her. “The fairy did. She knocked it off the tree. Don’t you remember?”

  “Oh, Gabby, you didn’t really think that old story was true, did you?” Angelica asked.

  Gabby looked startled. But only for a second. “It could have been Prilla you saw, because she visits kids all over the world,” she said. “Maybe you did see her and that’s what gave you the idea to say a fairy broke the ornament.”

  Angelica smiled. She leaned over and kissed Gabby on the forehead. “Gabs, that’s what I love about you. You have a beautiful imagination and you never give up hope.”

  Gabby beamed, clearly pleased. But Mia’s nagging feeling grew stronger. Was it possible…that their cousin didn’t believe in fairies? Maybe she had never believed at all.

  No way! Mia argued with herself. Not Angie. She loves fairies!

  Gabby didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong. She leaned over, examining the braided strings. “What are you making?”

  “A friendship bracelet,” Angelica said. She held up the half-finished braid to show them.

  “It’s pretty,” Mia said, relieved to change the subject. Angelica had used several different shades of blue string. Twisted together, they reminded Mia of the ocean around Never Land.

  “My friends make even better ones.” Angelica pulled back her sleeve to reveal a stack of colorful bracelets.

  “Wow! You have a lot of friends!” Gabby said.

  “This one’s from Lily.” Angelica pointed to one of the bracelets. “She’s my best friend on the volleyball team. And these are from Chloe and Clarissa—we’re in choir together. And this one’s from Jules. We’re going to start a fashion blog someday—”

  “A fashion blog?” Mia asked.

  “When I get older I’m going to be a fashion blogger,” Angelica told her. “Or a heart surgeon. I haven’t decided which yet.”

  “Wow.” Mia hadn’t known her cousin cared that much about fashion—or hearts. “Do you have bracelets from all your friends?”

  “Most of them. We all gave each other friendship bracelets for Christmas.”

  “Oh,” Mia said. She planned to give Angelica a book of fairy tales for Christmas. But suddenly her gift seemed silly and babyish. A handmade bracelet was much cooler.

  “Want me to show you how to make them?” Angelica asked.

  Mia and Gabby both nodded.

  Angelica took several colored strings from a plastic bag. She taped the ends to a book, then showed the girls how to weave them in a pattern.

  “I can’t do it,” Gabby complained after a minute. “It keeps getting tangled.” She threw the strings down. “Can we play Cupcake Adventure instead?” Cupcake Adventure was Gabby’s favorite board game.

  Mia rolled her eyes. “That game is for little kids. Angelica doesn’t want to play that.”

  “I don’t mind,” Angelica said.

  “I’ll get it!” cried Gabby as she ran to find the game. Mia kept working on her bracelet.

  “You’re really good at this,” Angelica said, watching her. “It took me a lot longer to get the hang of it.”

  It’s like making flower chains with the garden fairies, Mia thought. But she didn’t feel like saying it to Angelica.

  “Why don’t we go shoppi
ng tomorrow?” Angelica suggested. “We’ll pick out string in the colors you like. We could go downtown and look in some stores and have lunch. You think your mom would let you?”

  “Yes!” Mia had never been shopping without her parents. But she loved the idea of spending a whole afternoon with her cousin. Mia was sure her mom would say yes.

  Gabby came running back with the board game. As they sat down to play, Mia thought, Tomorrow we’ll have the whole day to talk. Angie will remember how much she loves fairies, and then we can all go to Pixie Hollow together.

  Feeling better, Mia picked up the dice and rolled her turn.

  After breakfast the next morning, Gabby stood by the door. She watched as Mia buttoned her coat. “Why can’t I go, too?” she asked.

  “I told you,” Mia said. “We’re going shopping. You wouldn’t have fun.”

  “It sounds fun,” Gabby grumbled. She didn’t understand why she hadn’t been invited to go along with Mia and Angelica. Even her mother had sided with Mia this time.

  “We’ll play Cupcake Adventure again when we get back. Okay, Gabby?” Angelica promised as they headed out the door.

  Gabby watched from the window as the older girls walked to the bus stop. There was a lumpy feeling in her chest, like the time she’d swallowed a gummy bear and it had gotten stuck halfway down. She’d imagined all the fun things they would do now that Gabby was finally big enough to play with Mia and Angie. Only it seemed as if the game kept changing. It was as if the older girls kept running ahead of her and she couldn’t keep up.

  “But you’ll play with me. Won’t you, Bingo?” Gabby said to their cat, who was dozing on the couch. She scooped him up and nuzzled his head.

  Bingo meowed in protest. He twisted free from her arms and stalked off to find another patch of sunshine.

  Gabby sighed and shoved her hands into her sweater pockets. She felt something round and hard. When she pulled it out, she saw that it was the bell Tinker Bell had given her.