Willa talked about her forest fairy friends, and how she couldn’t wait for them to see Topaz in the dress after all their hard work.
“Then let’s not wait a moment longer!” said Topaz, quickly blowing her nails to make sure they were dry. She zipped off into the bathroom with the dress, and Willa sat waiting on the peacock-feather bed.
When Topaz opened the door again, Willa’s eyes welled up with tears. Her fairy friend looked so very beautiful, and the dress fitted her perfectly. “You look wonderful, Topaz.” Willa held out the necklace and tiara. “Let me help you with these.”
Willa nestled the emerald-nut tiara in Topaz’s hair and fastened the veil. She clasped the diamond-daisy necklace around Topaz’s dainty neck.
“There! All ready!” Willa said.
“Not quite!” said Topaz. Willa looked around, panicking. What have we forgotten?
Topaz fluttered over to the dressing table, taking care not to trip on her long train, and picked up a shiny turquoise gift box. “This is for you, Willa, to say thank you for being the best flower girl ever.”
Willa pushed back the lid. “Oh wow,” she muttered. Inside was a gorgeous, sparkling turquoise flower. “Thank you!”
“It’s made of topaz – to remind you of being my flower girl. Here, let me fasten it in your hair.” Topaz clipped it into Willa’s beautiful long dark hair. “Now we’re ready,” she announced. She took Willa’s hand and fluttered to the door. “It’s time for me to get married!”
When Willa and Topaz came out of the Tree Palace entrance, Willa stopped in shock. On one of the delicate drawbridges stood a stunning unicorn. Willa pinched herself to check she wasn’t dreaming. No – it was real! She’d never seen a unicorn before, although she knew some lived in Star Valley. Its coat gleamed a silvery-white, and magic seemed to sparkle around its horn.
Topaz fluttered towards the beautiful creature. “I always wanted to travel to my wedding on a unicorn, ever since I was a little girl.” She grinned and stroked its shining coat. “But, Willa, I have a question to ask… Will you fly behind me to hold my train?”
Willa jumped up in excitement. “Oh yes, of course I will!” The thought of flying behind Topaz and the unicorn on the way to the wedding was almost too much to bear – Willa had never done anything quite so special.
Moments later, Topaz was perched on the great white creature, its wings flapping powerfully. Willa flew behind, holding the end of the train tight in both hands. She had to flutter her own wings very quickly to keep up with the unicorn. As they travelled through the forest above the skyways and sparkling trees, they passed fairies and creatures making their way to the wedding, all dressed up in their finest forest-leaf clothes. Everyone waved and called out to them, making Willa feel like royalty.
“Ooh, look, there’s the fairy bride on a unicorn!” said a pink tree squirrel.
“Aaah, and her flower girl’s behind her. They both look so pretty!” said a chestnut-haired fairy.
Willa smiled so hard her face ached, although she couldn’t wave back – she had to keep a firm grip on the wedding dress!
Soon they were heading down towards the forest floor and the unicorn flew through the trees carefully. It landed just outside the clearing. Topaz reached forward to the unicorn’s neck and gave it a gentle kiss.
“Thank you,” she said. “That was amazing.”
As Topaz fluttered down from the unicorn, Willa listened to the chatter of forest fairies and creatures in the clearing, all eager for the wedding to begin. She and Topaz kept out of sight, waiting for the band to begin playing the special Jewel Forest sacred song – which would be Topaz’s cue to walk down the aisle.
“Willa, thank you again for everything you’ve done,” said Topaz. “I couldn’t have had this wedding without you!”
Willa smiled at her friend and gave her a gentle hug. Then her pointy forest-fairy ears pricked up. The first bars of the sacred song were playing. “Are you ready?” she asked Topaz.
“Yes – I can’t wait!” Topaz turned towards the beautiful clearing and Willa carefully picked up the diamond-covered train. As they walked forward slowly, Willa shook with excitement. The clearing looked even more stunning than yesterday. The silver-willow trees sparkled like stars in the bright sunshine, the petal carpet shimmered and rustled, and pretty butterflies and fireflies danced about around them. Multicoloured dandelion seeds floated in the air like the most delicate confetti. Willa knew at that moment that if she ever got married, this was what she wanted it to be like.
Topaz emerged into the clearing and everyone turned to look, all with giant smiles on their faces. Hundreds of tingles shot up Willa’s spine as she tiptoed forward, holding out Topaz’s beautiful train. When they arrived at the front of the altar, Topaz joined her fairy groom, who was dressed in a holly-leaf top hat and smart suit. He looked very handsome. Willa gave her friend a kiss on the cheek and took a seat in the front row of toadstools.
Topaz and her groom exchanged woven clover rings and said the words of the Forest Fairy For Ever poem to each other. Willa took out a moss-stitch handkerchief and wiped her eyes – they were filled with tears of joy. She was so happy for her friend! Then everyone began applauding loudly, and Topaz and her groom fluttered back down the aisle, grinning from pointy ear to ear. All the guests gathered handfuls of rose petals to throw over them as they passed, and cheers rang out around the clearing.
The rest of the forest wedding was one giant party. First, the bride and groom cut the beautiful cake, which looked even better than Blossom’s drawing. The peppermint-cream leaves glistened and the edible flowers sparkled. Even the chocolate-cake tree trunk shone with delicious chocolate-butter icing. It was the most beautiful cake Blossom had ever made – and it tasted amazing. Light, soft and sweet. Yum!
As everyone munched on the delicious cake, the sun began to dip in the sky, and Willa worried that it might become too dark. But then the flower-shaped lanterns began to glow, one by one, in beautiful rainbow colours. What’s more, sparkling jewel moths darted back and forth, shining flashes of multicoloured light everywhere. Now the clearing looked like a true fairy wonderland.
“Come on, everyone!” Pip called through the bellflower microphone as the band switched to a fast-tempo rhythm. “It’s time to get dancing!” Nutmeg tapped the drums while the trumpets tooted and the birds tweeted in time.
Willa felt herself being suddenly whisked away – it was Topaz, pulling her to the dance floor. “I want to make sure I get at least one dance with my extra-special flower girl!” she said as she twirled Willa around. Willa loved to dance, and was soon spinning and fluttering across the grove with Topaz.
“Are you having fun?” Willa asked during a pause in the music.
Topaz spun Willa around once more. “Oh yes, everything is perfect. And just look – I’ve never seen the forest so happy!”
Willa took in the hundreds of smiling fairies, the grinning tree squirrels and the fluttering butterflies, moths and birds. The whole forest was buzzing with excitement at such a magical day. Willa had to agree – it really was the most perfect woodland wedding ever.
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“Oh, Primrose! Your room looks beautiful,” said Fluff Tail as she hopped into Princess Primrose’s bedroom. “Thank you so much for inviting me to stay!”
“Not at all, Fluff Tail,” said Primrose, putting her arm around the excited bunny rabbit. “Thank you for coming! Nutmeg and I just love sleepovers. We are going to have so much fun.”
Fluff Tail hadn’t been to a sleepover at the Tree Palace before and she was very excited. The palace was built into an ancient diamond-nut tree in the heart of the magical Jewel Forest. It was where the king and queen of the forest fairies lived with their two beautiful daughters, Princess Primrose and Nutmeg. Fluff Tail had been to parties in the trunk of the Tree Palace but had never been up into the branches, where the royal bedrooms could be found.
Primrose’s bedroom was in a branch close to the top of the tree. It had beautiful polished wooden walls and lots of large leaf-shaped windows that looked out on to Jewel Forest. Fluff Tail hopped over to one of the windows and peered out on to the glittering trees below.
“My goodness!” said Fluff Tail. “I’ve never seen the forest from this high up. I think I might even be able to see my lovely little house if the clouds weren’t quite so low.”
“Not quite,” said Primrose, laughing and tucking her glossy nut-brown plait neatly between her glittering yellow wings, “but you can certainly see a long way.”
“What was that?” said Fluff Tail, looking hard into the darkening forest. “And another one… I think I just saw a raindrop. They look very different from up here, don’t they? It must be starting to rain.”
“Oh, I do hope so!” said Primrose, fluttering to her bunny friend’s side. “I love to look out of the window when it rains, especially at night when the moonlight glints through the raindrops and makes them glow like milky-white gemstones.”
“That sounds beautiful,” said Fluff Tail, smiling.
“It is,” said Primrose excitedly, “and it’s even better when the wind blows, too! It rushes through the branches and around the trunk, making a beautiful whistling sound, like lots of forest fairy flutes playing all at once. It’s magical and—”
Primrose stopped as her bedroom door swung open and an enormous tray, piled high with delicious sleepover treats, entered the room. Fluttering behind, and almost hidden by the huge tray she was carrying, was a small fairy with choppy nut-brown hair and glittering orange wings, who was wearing leaf-patterned pyjamas with fluffy slippers. It was Primrose’s little sister, Nutmeg.
“Hello, Fluff Tail! I’m so glad you came,” said Nutmeg, placing the rose-coloured wooden tray on Primrose’s bed. “I asked the palace kitchen to make your favourite carrot cupcakes.”
“I hope you didn’t go to any trouble, Nutmeg,” said Fluff Tail, hopping over to the bed and eyeing the tray of yummy-looking cakes hungrily.
“No trouble at all!” said Nutmeg, smiling and popping one of the orange-frosted cakes into her mouth. “Primrose and I love them, too.”
“Ooh, is that a bottle of forest fizz?” asked Primrose, pointing at a glittery glass bottle. “I do hope it’s ruby-currant flavour.”
“It is!” said Nutmeg, handing her a cup.
“My favourite!” said Primrose. “Fluff Tail, have you tried it before?”
“It’s delicious!” said Fluff Tail, giggling and twitching her little pink nose. “And I love the way the bubbles make my nose tickle.”
When they had finished the delicious tray of goodies, the full-up fairies flopped back on to Primrose’s bed, and Fluff Tail let out a groan, looking at the empty plates.
“I’m so full,” she said, rubbing her round tummy with her soft silvery paws.
“Me, too!” said Primrose, laughing. “I suppose we won’t be needing a midnight feast after all.”
“Mmm, no. . .” said Nutmeg, smiling sleepily.
“Good thing, too,” said Fluff Tail. “My cousins Eloise and Silver are coming to stay with me at my burrow tomorrow, and I want to be home early to get everything ready for them.”
Fluff Tail lived in a burrow called Sapphire Lodge. It was dug into the roots of a beautiful sapphire tree a short walk from the Tree Palace.
“Listen to the rain now,” said Primrose. “It sounds like there might be a storm. We’d better close the shutters on the windows before we go to sleep.”
“I hope it’s a storm,” said Nutmeg. “There’s nothing nicer than being all tucked up and cosy, listening to the wind howling outside. It’s so exciting.”
“Don’t you get a bit scared, being this high up when the wind is blowing so hard?” asked Fluff Tail.
“Not at all,” said Nutmeg. “This tree has been here for ever! It’ll take more than a little storm to blow it— Eeeeek! What was that?”
Nutmeg wrapped her slim freckled arms around the bunny’s soft body, startled by a sudden crashing sound outside.
“Nutmeg!” said Primrose, laughing gently at her funny little sister. “That was just a bit of thunder.”
“I know that,” said Nutmeg, blushing, a little embarrassed for having made such a fuss.
Primrose walked over and held her sister’s hand. “Perhaps you’d better sleep in here with us tonight,” she said gently.
“Oh yes! Please can I?” said Nutmeg, cheering up instantly. “Not because I’m scared, of course, but I do hate missing out on all the fun. I’ll go and get the hammocks!”
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2014
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd 2014
Text copyright © Scholastic Ltd, 2014
Cover copyright © Pixie Potts, Beehive Illustration Agency, 2014
Inside illustration copyright © David Shephard, The Bright Agency, 2014
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eISBN 978 1407 14600 3
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Willa in Jewel Forest Page 3
