by Elise Allen
“Aww, Spring.” Autumn pulled her sister close, and Winter and Summer joined the hug.
“Ain’t that sweet?” a raspy voice said. It was Thunderbolt, and he quickly added, “Don’t even dream of grabbin’ those scepters. You do, and our bear, Butchie, gets it. Look and see, but keep your arms all wrapped around one another so you don’t do nothing crazy.”
Winter scolded herself. How could she and her sisters be so careless? They knew the Weeds were close when they jumped. They should have paid more attention.
With no other choice, the Sparkles obeyed Thunderbolt’s order and remained in their hug while they turned to look at the boys. Both Thunderbolt and Quake wore snowshoes cobbled from branches and twigs. Flurry stood between them. Quake had his wand pointed right at the Sparkle Sisters, while Thunderbolt’s wand dug into Flurry’s side.
“You hurt that bear, Thunderbolt,” Winter said, “and I will destroy you.”
“Good luck with that,” the Weed taunted her. “We’ve got you all right where we want you.”
“Lilies and lilacs!” Spring suddenly gasped. “My scepter! I must have dropped it when we jumped—it’s gone!”
The minute she said it, she clamped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late. The boys had heard her, and hungrily scanned the landscape.
“You mean this scepter?” Thunderbolt crowed as he ran across the snow and plucked it from the low branches of a pine.
“No!” Spring wailed.
“That’s not yours, Thunderbolt! Give it back!” Summer demanded.
“It’s mine now.” Thunderbolt laughed and tossed the scepter from one hand to the other.
“Please don’t throw that,” Spring begged. “I don’t want it to get hurt.”
“Oh, me neither,” Thunderbolt said. “In fact, I’d like to see how it works.” He pointed the scepter at the Sparkles and shouted his own Weed-y spell.
“ZZPZZSSSLLLTTT!”
Black glittery magic shot out of the scepter and disappeared into the snow behind the sisters, but nothing else happened.
“Nice try, Thunderbolt,” Winter said, “but Spring’s scepter doesn’t speak Weed.”
Yet even as she said it, a loud rumble filled the air. The snow behind the sisters melted, and the ground bubbled and sparked. Thick, angry plant roots that glowed and snapped with electric energy pushed through the soil and snaked their way toward the Sparkles.
“We need to get out of here,” Summer warned. “Now.”
It was almost as if the electrified roots heard her, because right away, they raced toward the Sparkles at lightning speed and lashed themselves tightly around the girls’ ankles, wrists, and waists. The sisters could barely move, and when they did struggle, electric jolts zapped their bodies.
Thunderbolt laughed.
“You make things grow, and I make lightning,” he chortled to Spring. “Who knew our powers would mix so perfectly?”
“These roots aren’t perfect,” Spring said. “They’re wicked and horrible!”
“They’re also coming this way!” Quake shouted.
It was true. The long electrified roots had trapped the Sparkles, but they didn’t stop there. They wanted more victims, and sizzled and snapped their way toward Flurry and the Weeds.
“Hey, that’s not cool!” Thunderbolt squealed. He paled and backed feverishly away as Quake and Flurry took cover behind him, but the roots kept coming. “What are you doing hiding behind me?” Thunderbolt cried to his brother and the bear.
“You’ve got the scepter!” Quake wailed. “Use it!”
“Oh, right.” Frantically, Thunderbolt flicked Spring’s scepter at the roots and screamed spell after spell, but nothing worked. In seconds the Weeds and bear were surrounded by snapping, sizzling tentacles. Flurry whined and hid his face in his paws. Quake cowered behind his brother. “You gotta do something!” he screamed. “We’re gonna get wrapped up like the Sparkles!”
“Not if I can help it,” Thunderbolt growled. He stopped shouting spells and smacked Spring’s scepter into the roots again and again.
“Stop!” Spring cried. “You’ll hurt it!”
“I don’t care!” Thunderbolt yelled. And as the roots closed in, he smashed Spring’s scepter against them as hard as he possibly could.
The scepter’s orb cracked.
The roots froze in place.
“NO!” cried Spring.
Winter’s heart stopped. A scepter broke! “You’ll pay for this, Thunderbolt!” she screamed, and lunged for the Weed, but the roots wrapped around her shocked her back into place.
Thunderbolt laughed. He picked his way around the frozen roots and swaggered toward the Sparkles, Quake and Flurry right behind him. “Nice try,” he said. “The roots stopped growing, but they still pack a shock. You’re trapped. Which means we can take all your scepters. Quake?”
“Me?” Quake asked. “I don’t wanna get close to those electrified thingies. What if I touch one and get an owie?”
“QUAKE!” Thunderbolt roared.
“Okay, okay,” Quake agreed. He gingerly maneuvered his way around the girls’ thick root prison and pulled Summer’s, Winter’s, and Autumn’s scepters from their holsters. The girls could only grit their teeth and watch.
“Got ’em!” Quake crowed. “Bluster’s gonna love these!”
“He’ll never see them,” Winter retorted. “We’ll get out of this and stop you long before that.”
“Not if our bear can help it,” Thunderbolt said. He turned to Flurry. “Now’s your chance, Butchie. Get back at Winter and her sisters. Pick up this bunch of Sparkles, roots and all, and throw ’em back to our moat in the Barrens.”
He acted out what he meant as he said it. Flurry seemed to understand. He stood tall and towered over the Sparkles.
“He won’t really do it, will he?” Spring whispered to Winter.
Winter couldn’t answer. She had no idea what her bear was thinking. Was he so hurt he’d follow Thunderbolt’s orders?
“What’s it gonna be, Butchie?” Thunderbolt asked. “Us, or the Sparkle who dumped you when something better came along?”
Flurry set his jaw, then wrapped his arms around the entire tangle of roots encasing the Sparkles. He twisted until it snapped off the ground. A million tiny shocks nipped into each sister’s skin as Flurry rose tall on his hind legs and lifted the knot of Sparkles above his head.
“Winter, say something to him,” Summer urged.
“On it,” Winter whispered. Then she raised her voice and declared, “Flurry, if you want to throw us away, you should.”
“Winter, say something else to him,” Summer hissed.
“I messed up,” Winter continued. “You felt like I replaced you, and that’s my fault, and I’m sorry. But Flurry, I could never replace you. Ever. You’re my best friend in the world. Nothing and no one can ever change that. But if you don’t feel the same way … then go ahead and throw me away, because I don’t want to be here if I have to be here without you.”
Endless moments passed as Winter and Flurry stared into each other’s eyes. Autumn, Spring, and Summer watched anxiously, barely daring to breathe.
Then Flurry roared. He cocked his arms back behind his head, ready to hurl the Sparkles as far as he could.
Winter and her sisters closed their eyes and waited for the worst.
CRUNCH!
Flurry squeezed the electrified roots between his paws, crumbling them to stinging bits. The Sparkles fell to the snowy ground, but Winter leaped up immediately and hugged Flurry tight.
“I love you, Flurry!” Winter cried. “I knew you wouldn’t give up on us.”
“Touching,” Quake said, and they all spun to see the three unbroken Sparkle scepters pointed right at them. “Just stay where you are, understand? I don’t want to use these, but I will if I have to. Hey, Thunderbolt,” he called to his brother, “how’s that getaway cloud coming?”
“Almost here,” Thunderbolt replied. He stood behind Quake and used his o
wn wand to guide a storm cloud down from the sky.
“What do we do?” Winter asked her sisters.
“Tackle them,” Summer said.
“Done,” Winter said. “Flurry will help.”
“No,” Autumn said, “no tackling. If we move, Quake will use the scepters. His powers mixed with all three of ours? We have no idea what could happen.”
“So we just let them take our scepters away?” Spring asked.
No one answered. There was nothing to say.
Then Flurry dropped down to all fours and grumbled curiously.
“What do you mean?” Winter asked. Flurry nodded his head, and Winter followed his gaze to see Snowball, the baby fox. Winter hadn’t even felt him climb out of her hood, but now he was trotting toward Quake and Thunderbolt.
He barked and wagged his tail.
“Shut it!” Thunderbolt snapped. “I’m tryin’ to concentrate here!” His storm cloud was very close to the ground. Another minute, and he and Quake could hop on and zoom away with the scepters.
Snowball barked again. He did one backflip, then another.
Quake had his eye on the Sparkles, but he couldn’t help but notice the pup’s performance. “Hey, Thunderbolt, you gotta see this.”
Winter smiled. She wrapped an arm around Flurry’s neck and leaned close to his ear. “I’ve got a good feeling about this,” she said. “Get ready.”
Snowball yipped, did two more backward flips, two forward flips, then rolled over. Quake was only half paying attention to the Sparkles now, and Thunderbolt was so impressed that he turned away from his storm cloud to watch.
“That’s pretty good!” he said. “Hey, foxie, you wanna come live with us?”
“Yeah!” Quake said. “We’ll call you Butchie Two!”
Snowball rolled onto his back and waved his paws in the air.
“Awwww!” chorused Quake and Thunderbolt. Both boys knelt down and dropped everything in their hands so they could rub Snowball’s belly.
“Now, Flurry,” Winter whispered.
In a flash, Flurry tucked two claws through the backs of Quake’s and Thunderbolt’s collars, then stood to his full height. The boys kicked and twisted in the air while the Sparkles scrambled to pick up their scepters.
“HEY!” Thunderbolt shouted. “Not fair!”
“Yeah,” Quake agreed. “Put us down!”
“Done,” Winter declared. “Flurry, put them down … in the Barrens.”
The boys shouted their objections, but Flurry didn’t hesitate. He drew back his paws and hurled the Weeds far out of sight. Winter wasn’t worried for them. She knew her bear had a kind heart and great aim. The two boys would land somewhere safe and sound but very far away. She picked up their wands and handed them to Flurry. “Here,” she said. “Send these after them.”
“Hold up,” Summer objected. “Shouldn’t we keep the wands? They’d keep ours.”
“Exactly,” Winter said. “But we’re not them. Right, Flurry?”
The bear answered by hurling the wands after the Weeds. Then he dropped back to all fours and rubbed up against Winter so energetically he almost knocked her over. Winter didn’t mind at all.
“Bark!”
Winter and Flurry both looked down to see Snowball prancing at their feet. Winter smiled at the pup, then looked nervously to Flurry. “So, about Snowball here …”
Flurry crouched down low, nose-to-nose with the baby fox. He glared.
Snowball whimpered.
“Dahlias and daffodils,” Spring whispered nervously. “Will Flurry hurt him?”
Just then Flurry pounced … and gave Snowball a giant tongue-lick kiss that soaked the tiny pup from head to toe. Snowball shook himself dry, then leaped onto Flurry’s head, where he cuddled into the bear’s snowy fur. Flurry smiled and swayed side to side, rocking the baby to sleep.
“I don’t believe it,” Winter said. “I think Flurry wants to keep him.”
“He’s not the only one,” Summer said. “Look!”
She pointed to a group of trees, from which a family of two grown-up foxes and two babies had emerged. An adult fox barked, and Snowball bolted upright. He leaped off Flurry’s head and ran to his family, barking excitedly. Soon all five were cuddling, leaping, and rolling together in the snow.
“Awwww,” Spring cooed. “Snowball’s family is so happy to see him! They’ve been looking for him since the blizzard, and they have so much to tell him. Cousin Lucy caught a cold, and Snowball’s brother and sister went ice-sliding with penguins, and … really!”
Spring barked, yipped, and growled at the fox family. All except Snowball stared at her a moment, as if stunned she spoke their language. Then they all crowded around her, barking, yipping, and growling excitedly. Spring went wide-eyed as she took in the conversation. “No, he didn’t … he couldn’t … he did? That’s so sweet!” Spring turned to her sisters. “The foxes say thank you for taking such good care of Snowball. They hope we can all play again soon.”
“What do you think, Flurry?” Winter asked. “Can we all play again soon?”
Flurry frowned and plopped sulkily down into the snow.
“Let me guess,” Winter said, “you’d rather we all play now?”
Flurry leaped to his feet and did a booty-shaking dance. Snowball joined in, and the Sparkles laughed out loud.
Suddenly the sound of wind chimes filled the air. A warm breeze blew, and everything smelled like a mix of apples, ocean air, pine needles, and flowers. A thrill ran through Winter, and she locked eyes with each of her sisters. They all knew who was coming, and Winter knew their hearts were beating faster just like hers. Soon a wide column of millions of tiny rainbow-colored crystals appeared in front of them. The crystals danced in shimmering swirls, and everything in Winter’s Sparkledom seemed to lean toward them. Even Winter leaned forward, and the closer she got, the happier she felt.
With a poof! of rainbow-colored smoke, the crystals vanished. In their place stood the Sparkles’ mom, Mother Nature.
“Mother!” Winter cried.
Winter, Summer, and Autumn all raced to her and wrapped their arms around her. Mother hugged all three of them equally, so no one felt left out.
“Hmmm,” she said. “Something’s missing from this Sparkle hug. Spring?”
Spring kept her sad eyes on the ground. With a shaking hand, she held out her cracked scepter.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Winter told Mother.
“Thunderbolt did it,” Summer added.
“And Spring was so brave,” Autumn added. “We met a monster in the Barrens and—”
“Sammy,” Mother said. “Yes, he and I just had a lovely visit. Pink Dolphin Lagoon was an excellent choice. He’ll be very happy there. As for this …”
Mother bent down to examine Spring’s scepter orb. It was always a beautiful violet, or shaded by the silver mist that signaled the season’s end, but now it had no color at all.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” Spring said in barely a whisper.
Mother put a finger under Spring’s chin and lifted it. “You don’t have to be,” she said. “Sometimes, despite our best intentions, things go wrong and things crack. But in many cases, if it’s something you truly love—like perhaps a friendship—you’ll find it can always be repaired.”
Mother leaned so close to Spring that the gem in Mother’s tiara touched the gem in Spring’s headband. Rainbow sparkles glowed in the spot where the two gems met, then flowed down the side of Spring’s head, along her arm, and into her scepter. When the sparkles reached Spring’s scepter orb, they flashed so brightly that all the sisters had to look away.
When they looked back, the scepter wasn’t cracked at all, and it glowed a beautiful violet once more.
“Thank you, Mother!” Spring hurled herself into her arms.
“You’re very welcome,” Mother replied. Then she turned to Winter with a smile. “So am I wrong, or is your kitchen baking gingerbread?”
“You’re right. I smell it to
o!” Winter said. “Which makes it the perfect time for a gingerbread party at my house! We’ll celebrate friends—old friends and new ones too.”
“I thought you might say that,” Mother said, “which is why I extended another invitation.”
A gurgling roar pierced the air and everyone looked up to see …
“Sammy!”
The monster landed gently, and although Flurry and the foxes were startled by him at first, Sammy quickly won them over by taking mouthfuls of snow and shooting them out of his blowhole to make flurries—an impressive trick the Sparkles had never seen before.
As they all trooped together to Winter’s home, Winter felt warmer inside than a mug of hot chocolate. Just a few hours ago she thought she had lost her best friend, but now she knew the truth: real friendship can work through anything and come out stronger than ever before.
Winter looked around at everyone she loved. She felt perfectly happy and was positive she’d never appreciated her friends and family more than she did right now.
She promised herself she always would.
About the Authors
Elise Allen is the author of the young adult novel Populazzi and the chapter book Anna’s Icy Adventure, based on Disney’s Frozen. She cowrote the New York Times best-selling Elixir trilogy with Hilary Duff, and the Autumn Falls series with Bella Thorne. A longtime collaborator with the Jim Henson Company, she’s written for Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train.
www.eliseallen.com
Halle Stanford, an eight-time Emmy-nominated children’s television producer, is in charge of creating children’s entertainment at the Jim Henson Company. She currently serves as the executive producer on the award-winning series Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train, Pajanimals, and Doozers.
Paige Pooler is an artist who loves to draw pictures for girls. You can find Paige’s artwork in American Girl magazine and the Liberty Porter, Trading Faces, and My Sister the Vampire middle grade series.
