Fairy in Danger (4 page)

Swooping down, Twink circled the house until she found an open window on the first floor, just as Shadow had described. Her heart thumping, Twink landed on the sill and peered into the room.

From the soft glow of a night light, she could see a bed with a sleeping human boy in it. His blond hair was tousled, and Twink smiled, remembering the human girl she'd once made friends with. Lindsay had had blonde hair, too.

Twink flew into the room. A parade of toys lined the shelves, and there was a lamp shaped like a racing car on the bedside table. Landing beside it, Twink suddenly saw that she'd touched down on a handwritten note. She squinted to make out the faint letters.

.

Dear Tooth Fairy,

Please would you collect my tooth, which I have left under my pillow for you. Thank you very, very much.

Yours sincerely,

Timmy Hopkins

Twink felt warm as she read it. What a nice, polite boy!

Looking more closely at the sleeping Timmy, she saw that he was wearing blue pyjamas, and cuddling a teddy bear to his chest.

Twink gazed at his pillow, wondering again why the teeth were left in such an awkward place. It wouldn't be very easy for her to get to it.

‘Tradition,' Shadow had said when she'd asked. ‘You'll be fine – just crawl under the pillow, grab the tooth, and away you go.' She'd made it sound very simple, but looking now at the large, soft pillow, Twink wasn't so sure. Still, she supposed she had to try.

She flitted over to the bed and touched down beside the pillow. Timmy's sleeping head loomed above her. He snored softly, ruffling her pink hair in the breeze.

The mattress felt spongy under her feet as Twink made her way to the edge of the pillow.
Well – here goes
,
she thought. Dropping to her knees, she took a deep breath and crawled underneath it.

.

Chapter Four

It was worse than being underground! Twink held her breath as she inched along, hating the feeling of the pillow pressing so closely around her. Finally her groping fingers brushed against something cool and smooth.

Twink pulled the coin from her bag and placed it on the sheet. Grabbing hold of the tooth she backed quickly out again, pulling it along with her. She gasped in relief as she came out into the open. She'd done it!

Carefully, Twink tucked the tooth into the bag. Adjusting the strap so that it lay securely across her chest, she stretched her wings and took off towards the open window.

BOING!

‘AAARRGGHHH!' screamed Twink as she hurtled backwards through the air. Struggling to right herself, she shrieked again as she saw that Timmy wasn't asleep after all. He was standing up on his bed, tugging on a thread – and it was attached to her pouch!

The tooth!
There had been a thread tied around it to trap her! Twink fumbled wildly with the bag, straining to get rid of it – but it was too late. Timmy had reeled in the last bit of thread, and suddenly Twink found herself dangling from his fingertips.

‘Got ya!' he said triumphantly.

‘Let me go!' gasped Twink, twisting and kicking in his grasp.

Whipping out a jar from under the covers, Timmy popped Twink into it. She landed with a hard
thump
on the glass floor, and gaped in disbelief as he screwed a lid on to the top.

Fluttering frantically, she beat on the smooth walls with both hands. ‘Let me
go
,'
she repeated. Her voice echoed faintly around her.

Timmy leered in at her, his face like a giant moon. ‘No way!' he chortled. ‘You're the ninth fairy in my collection. You look different from the others, though,' he added. Carrying her over to the night light, his eyes widened. ‘Wow, you've got pink hair!'

‘You horrid, horrid boy!' yelled Twink. She kicked the side of the jar as hard as she could. ‘I thought you were
nice
!'

Timmy sniggered. ‘Yeah, the note's ace, isn't it? Lures you lot in every time!' Taking a pair of scissors from his desk, he neatly snipped off the thread that still hung outside the jar. Twink struggled to stay upright as he carried her across the room.

‘Where are you taking me?' she cried. ‘Put me
down
!'

Timmy ignored her as he opened his wardrobe door. Climbing up on to a chair, he moved a shoebox on a shelf, shoved Twink's jar behind it, and then put the shoebox back into place.

‘Stop!' shouted Twink, banging on the glass. ‘What are you doing? You can't just
leave
me here.'

‘Welcome to your new home,' sang Timmy. His voice was fading slightly, and she realised he was climbing down from the chair again. ‘You'll love it, I promise. Just like all the others!'

The wardrobe door shut with a click . . . and the world went black around her. ‘Wait!' screeched Twink, banging the glass with her fist. ‘Wait!'

There was no response. Distantly, Twink heard Timmy get back into bed . . . and then a few minutes later came the sound of his snores. The horrible little boy had actually gone to sleep!

Defeated, Twink sank back on to her haunches. What on earth was she going to do now? She was trapped in here, alone in the dark.

All at once she straightened as hope tingled through her. What was it that Timmy had said? Something about ‘the others' – and that she was the ‘ninth fairy in his collection'! Could it be that she wasn't by herself after all?

‘Is – is anybody there?' Twink whispered hesitantly.

‘Yes,' answered a gloomy female voice.

Twink let out a relieved breath. Though she wouldn't have wished for anyone else to be trapped like she had been, she wasn't sorry to have some company in here! ‘Are there really eight of you, like he said?' she asked.

‘I suppose so,' said the voice. ‘We've never bothered to count.'

Twink's eyes widened in surprise. How could they not know how many of them had been captured? ‘Well – are you all tooth fairies?' she pressed.

‘Yes,' came the reply. ‘Aren't
you
?'

Twink sighed, and sat down on the hard glass floor. She didn't really want to talk about it very much – she felt silly enough already. ‘No, I was just doing someone a favour,' she said. ‘Anyway, I'm Twink. What's your name?'

‘Midnight,' said the other fairy. ‘It's nice that you've come,' she added politely. ‘We were all getting very bored, just talking to each other. Do you know any good stories?'

Twink felt her jaw drop. Midnight spoke as if she planned on spending the rest of her life here! ‘No, I don't,' she snapped. ‘Midnight, what about
escaping
?
What have you and the other fairies tried?'

‘Escaping?' echoed the other fairy. ‘Oh. Well, it's difficult, you see – the lids are always screwed on so tightly. But at least we have air holes. And Timmy brings us food every day. I suppose it's not
so
bad here . . .'

As Twink's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could just make out another jar beside hers. She stared at it in disbelief. ‘Not so bad?' she repeated. ‘Are you mad? It's
awful
! What does he want with us, anyway?'

‘I don't know. I think he just likes collecting things,' said Midnight.

‘Haven't you ever
asked
?'
said Twink in amazement.

There was a pause.

‘Er . . . no,' said Midnight finally. ‘Should we have?'

Twink gave up. What was wrong with these fairies, anyway? It was as if they were too dismal to even care. Maybe Shadow was a bit prickly, but at least she had some life to her!

‘Well, I'm going to go to sleep now,' she said crossly.

‘Goodnight,' said Midnight's voice. ‘And do have a think about the stories, won't you, Twink? It would be lovely to hear some new ones.'

Twink didn't answer. She curled up on the hard glass floor, tucking her lavender wings tightly around her. Though she was trying not to feel too sorry for herself, it wasn't easy. If the other fairies were anything like Midnight, then having them here was almost worse than being alone!

It'll be all right
,
she told herself, staring out into the darkness.
When I don't come back, Bimi and Sooze will realise something's gone wrong, and they'll come looking for me.

And poor Shadow! She'd probably feel dreadful when she found out what had happened. Twink yawned, beginning to feel sleepy despite her uncomfortable bed. Yes, someone would be coming after her soon . . . she was sure of it.

‘The Brave One sensed there was a tooth that needed collecting – but then her heart sank as she realised whose tooth it was. What was she to do? She had to collect the tooth, but knew only too well the danger that awaited her!'

Twink cracked one eye open grumpily. Who was telling stories so late at night? For a confused moment she couldn't remember where she was, and then it all came flooding back. She groaned as she sat up, straining to see in the dim light.

‘Yes, be afraid!' continued the voice to its audience. ‘For it was a name to inspire dread in all tooth fairies . . .
the Terrible Timmy
.'

Twink's eyes widened. Had the tooth fairies
known
that Timmy was going to try and capture them? But why on earth would they still come to his house, in that case?

‘The Brave One had escaped the Terrible Timmy once before, but could she do it again? Stealthily, she crept into his room . . .'

Twink's thoughts spun. Could
Shadow
have been aware that Twink was flying into danger? But no, that couldn't
be right!
No one could be so horrid to someone who was only trying to help them – could they?

‘The Brave One found the tooth, cut the thread that was tied around it . . . and then the Terrible Timmy pounced!'

Though the story had the feel of one that had been told many times before, a horrified gasp echoed about the wardrobe shelf. Twink craned her pointed ears, listening intently.

‘The Brave One flew this way, she flew that way! Finally, she managed to escape with the tooth . . . but she vowed that she would never return to the Terrible Timmy's house again, if she could help it.'

The audience sighed with satisfaction. Suddenly a horrible suspicion came to Twink, and she leapt to her feet. ‘Hang on!' she cried. ‘Who's this
Brave One
you keep going on about?'

There was a startled pause. ‘She is called Shadow,' said the storyteller finally, her voice hushed with respect. ‘She's the only one of us to have escaped the Terrible Timmy.'

Oh!
Twink's wings felt on fire with anger. ‘Well, I don't think Shadow's brave at all!' she burst out. ‘She
tricked
me into coming here, and never even told me to be careful! She –'

‘Oh, Twink, tell us the story!' broke in Midnight's voice eagerly.

‘Yes, please!' echoed several others.

Twink could have kicked her jar in frustration. Were stories all that these stupid fairies cared about? Fine – she'd tell them one they'd never forget!

She plunged into her tale, beginning from when she'd first noticed the little branch at the top of Glitterwings. The tooth fairies hardly breathed as she described her journey up to it, the strange carvings on the shelf – and then meeting Shadow herself.

‘So
that's
where the Brave One lives,' whispered an awestruck voice in the darkness. ‘I've often wondered. And you say she
carves
things? How strange!'

Murmurs of agreement came from all directions. Twink gritted her teeth and carried on, describing Shadow's hurt wing – if it had really
been hurt at all, that is – and how she and Sooze had offered to help.

‘And Shadow never even told me to be careful,' she finished up indignantly, after describing her capture by Timmy. ‘She knew perfectly well that I was flying into a trap, but she never warned me!'

There was silence on the darkened shelf. Finally the same fairy whose story had woken Twink up spoke. ‘You must be mistaken,' she said.