Fira and the Full Moon (2 page)

F
IRA DID DOUBLE DUTY
that night. She directed light-talent fairies to all corners of the Home Tree. She guided others to locations around Pixie Hollow: the dairy barn, the fairy-dust mill, and the fairy circle, where celebration-setup fairies were preparing for the Fairy Dance.

The next day, Fira slept until midafternoon.

“I can’t remember ever sleeping so late!” she said out loud. Usually, she woke with the dawning sun. “But I worked so hard last night. I must have been exhausted,” she added.

Fira felt a little dazed.
Maybe some food will help,
she thought.
I hope there are some leftovers from lunch.
She was ravenous!

A few minutes later, she flew into the tearoom. Sunlight streamed through floor-to-ceiling windows. Just looking at the sunshine made Fira feel better. She stood for a moment in a bright spot, drawing strength from a sunbeam.

The large room was empty of fairies. Dining tables stood bare, without any food in sight.

“Looks like I’ll have to wait for dinner.” Fira sighed. She hadn’t had anything to eat since dinner the night before.
Maybe I’ll just sit right here,
she thought.
No use leaving and coming back.

Then she smiled. One by one, other light-talent fairies straggled into the tearoom. They walked slowly, rubbing their eyes.

A cooking-talent fairy stuck her head out the kitchen door. “They’re here!” she announced. “The light-talent fairies are here!” Serving-talent fairies hurried out, carrying trays of steaming hot acorn soup and poppy puff rolls.

“They’ve been waiting for us!” Luna said. She sat next to Fira. “How nice!”

At a nearby table, Iridessa yawned. Then her mouth stretched into a grin. She sipped the soup happily. “I’m really waking up now!” she exclaimed.

“Me too,” Fira agreed. She took a bite of a roll. “Thank you!” she called to the cooking- and serving-talent fairies.

Fira looked around at the other light-talent fairies. They were perking up but still seemed tired. The night before had taken its toll.

“All right,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about tonight.”

“Tonight?” Luna groaned. “I just woke up. Can’t we relax for an hour?”

Fira shook her head. “There’s too much work to do.” She counted on her fingers. “We have to check on the fireflies. We have to figure out new lighting spots. Havendish Stream was much too dark last night. But I have another plan.”

“
I
have a headache just thinking about doing it all again!” Iridessa put in.

“I know it’s hard,” Fira admitted, “but—”

“Everyone!” Spring, the message-talent fairy, darted into the tearoom. “A laugh is coming. It’s almost here!”

A laugh! Fira drew a quick breath. She knew what Spring meant. Everyone did. A baby Clumsy—a human baby—had laughed for the very first time. And the laugh was so strong, so magical, it was coming to Never Land, where it would become a Never fairy.

“There’s going to be an arrival!” Luna cried.

Fira couldn’t hold in her excitement.

She jumped up quickly. An arrival!

And what if the arrival was a light-talent fairy? Another fairy to help light Pixie Hollow! Fira hardly dared to hope. It would be so wonderful.

Of course, there were so many talents. So many fairy groups deserved to have another member. What were the chances?

“Do you know where it’s going to land?” she asked Spring.

“In the orchard!” the messenger said over her shoulder. She was already flying off to deliver the news elsewhere.

Fira grabbed Luna’s and Iridessa’s hands. “Let’s go!”

A
S THE THREE LIGHT-TALENT
fairies flew to the orchard, they were joined by more and more fairies. Beck drew up beside Fira. “Moth, have you heard? This laugh is supposed to be special.”

“Aren’t they all special?” Vidia said snidely. She was always poking her wings into other fairies’ business, trying to stir up trouble.

Beck blushed. “Of course.”

Prilla appeared beside them, grinning widely. Prilla had an unusual talent. In the blink of an eye, she could travel to the mainland, the world of Clumsies. Fira had seen her do it. She’d get a strange, glassy-eyed look and wouldn’t seem to see anything or anyone. Then, all at once, she’d snap back to Pixie Hollow, with tales of the children she had just visited.

“I just saw this baby!” Prilla told the other fairies. “It’s the jolliest Clumsy, so happy and always smiling. Everyone’s been waiting for her to laugh. She’s been saving it, though, for weeks and weeks. But she finally did it! She laughed! It’s sure to be something extraordinary!”

“Hmmm,” said Vidia as the fairies landed in the orchard. “Then the new arrival must be a fast-flying fairy. Everyone knows we have the most extraordinary talent.”

“With you being the most extraordinary of all?” Fira retorted. Oops! She bit her lip. That snippy comment had just slipped out. Fira usually tried to think before she spoke. She tried not to say or do things in such a hurry that they came out wrong. But it wasn’t always easy.

Dozens of fairies and sparrow men hovered eagerly in the orchard. Fira waved to Tinker Bell, a pots-and-pans-talent fairy; to Lily, a garden-talent fairy; and to Orren, a mining-talent sparrow man.

It seemed as if every talent had come.

And each fairy hoped that this new arrival would belong to his or her talent group.

Then, suddenly, they all felt it: a slight shifting of the air. Everyone stopped. A wavery shimmer floated above their heads.

A murmur went through the crowd. “The laugh! The laugh!”

The laugh hung above the leafy tree branches for a moment. Then it flew down and settled on the soft green grass.

The shimmer burst apart. And there, before them, sat the arrival.

She rose to her feet, quick and sure. The leftover shimmer of laughter fell around her. It turned into her arrival garment, a soft-as-mist dress.

Fira squeezed Luna’s hand tightly. This was it! The arrival was going to make her Announcement. She would tell everyone her talent.

“I’m a light-talent fairy.” The young fairy spoke loudly and clearly. “My name is Sparkle.”

A sigh went through the crowd. Fira hugged Luna and Iridessa. A new light-talent fairy! What luck!

“Fira! Look!” Luna said urgently.

There, above their heads, a second shimmery light hovered in the air.

“Two arrivals!” Fira gasped. She turned to Prilla. “Are they from the same laugh?”

Prilla nodded. “I told you this laugh was amazing.”

All around Prilla, fairies and sparrow men whispered excitedly.

The laugh broke apart, and a sparrow man stood before them. He had long golden curls, just like his sister, Sparkle. “My talent is light,” he announced. He smoothed a stray hair back into place.

“And my name is Helios,” he added.

Two light talents! Fira clapped her hands with joy. This was double the luck!

Vidia shook her head. “I’m so happy for you, light-talent fairies,” she said. “You need all the help you can get.”

Prilla nudged Fira, her eyes shining with wonder. “Look over there!”

Fira gazed into the distance. Then she saw it. A brightening. A soft twinkle. The air pulsed with energy.

Prilla laughed out loud.

Fira thought,
It can’t be!

But it was. The crowd of fairies and sparrow men stood in stunned silence as the laugh exploded in a shower of light. In its place, a young fairy sprawled on the ground. She stretched her wings in an awkward way, knocking into Vidia, who had leaned in for a better look.

“Watch it!” said Vidia, jumping back.

Fira chuckled.

But then the new fairy found her footing and rose. “My name is Glory,” she said.

Fira held her breath.

“I am a light-talent fairy!” Glory told them.

A cheer rose through the crowd. Luna and Iridessa danced with joy. Fira stood for a moment, not moving. Three arrivals, all light talents. This was truly unheard of.

Vidia flapped her wings and took off. “Three young fairies to train,” she called out to Fira. “Triplets! I don’t envy you one bit.”

Fira laughed. She didn’t believe that for a second.

The triplets stood close together. They gazed around, taking in everything.

“Just look at them!” Fira told her friends. “They’re so well behaved.”

They weren’t trying to fly before they were able. They weren’t testing their new wings.

Fira remembered her own arrival. She hadn’t been able to stop spinning around and around, fluttering her wings. She kept trying to get off the ground before she even had her magic.

Terence, a dust-talent sparrow man, flew over to the triplets. He sprinkled a teacup of fairy dust on each one.

That will do it,
thought Fira.
They have their magic now!

The triplets began to glow lemon yellow, edged with gold.

“Their glows are very bright,” Prilla said.

“And strong, too,” added Beck. It was good fairy manners to compliment the new arrivals.

Still, the young fairies didn’t move. The crowd whispered, growing nervous. But Fira grinned. They were taking their time, being careful with their magic.
Good for them,
she thought. They were thinking things through.

Then, with a whoop, the three fairies shot high into the air. Everyone cheered.

The triplets zipped. They zoomed. They somersaulted and cartwheeled.

The cheers faded as the triplets flew faster and faster, chasing each other. “
I’m
flying here. You go over there!” Sparkle ordered the other two.

She darted into the leaves of a goldenrod plant. “But, Sparkle!” Helios followed her. “I want to play in the flowers, too. See how they match my hair?”

Glory trailed behind, her flying bumpy and uneven. Helios and Sparkle laughed. “Look at the baby. She can’t keep up!” they teased.

Glory burst into tears. She wailed so loudly, Beck clapped her hands over her ears.

Then all three fairies were pushing and bumping one another, yelling as loudly as they could.

“What a racket!” said Prilla.

“Uh-oh,” Fira murmured.

The triplets were out of control.

The crowd of fairies and sparrow men broke up. Some went over to Fira and the other light-talent fairies. They shook their heads with pity and patted them on the back. A few said, “Congratulations.” But Fira thought they really meant “Good luck.”

If somebody didn’t do something, the triplets would be fighting all day. Fira took a deep breath. She tried to smile at Luna and Iridessa. She would take charge. “I’ll bring them to the Home Tree and show them around,” she offered.

The other light-talent fairies nodded quickly. “Let us know if you need any help,” said Luna. She hurried off with Iridessa.

“I will,” Fira said, but they were already too far away to hear.

She turned to the triplets. “I’m Fira,” she told them. “I’ll take you to your rooms.”

“Fly with you!” they cried in unison, offering the fairy greeting. They crowded around Fira. Each one tried to get closer than the others.

“This way,” Fira said. She squeezed between Sparkle and Helios. Rising into the air, she set out toward the Home Tree.

She smiled at the arrivals flying beside her. They’d be such a help to the light talents. Sure, they seemed a bit wild. But it was nothing she couldn’t manage.

Fira felt sure of it.