Through the dark forest

by Kiki Thorpe

  When it was gone, Rosetta flew back up to Magnus.

  “Oh, thank you.” The tree sighed with relief. “That itch has been keeping me awake for days.” His eyes focused on her. “You spark, but you have no flame. What kind of fire are you?”

  “My name is Rosetta,” she told him. “And I’m not a fire. I’m a fairy.”

  “You are a friend to the Great Ones,” Magnus said.

  Rosetta nodded. “I’m a friend to all things that grow from the earth.”

  Magnus sighed again but said nothing more. Rosetta sat down on his nearest branch. They were silent together for a while. A low half-moon cast its light over the forest, turning the tops of the trees silver.

  “It must be tiring, standing here for seven hundred years,” Rosetta said after a time.

  “It is,” the tree said.

  “But you must be very wise,” Rosetta added. “I’ll bet you know everything about the forest.”

  Magnus was quiet for a moment. “I used to,” he said at last. “When I was a sapling, I watched everything. I celebrated each egg in every nest. But the eggs hatched, and the hatchlings grew up and flew away. More came, and those left, too. After many years, I stopped paying attention. Everything comes and goes. The only things that remain the same are the sun, the moon, and the mountains. We Great Ones make the forest,” he added, “but we know little of it.”

  “It sounds lonely,” said Rosetta.

  “I suppose,” Magnus replied.

  “Don’t you talk to the other trees?”

  “Sometimes,” the tree replied. “But after hundreds of years, there’s not much to say anymore. Mostly I just rest and dream.”

  “What do you dream about?” Rosetta asked.

  Magnus gazed beyond the treetops. “Flying,” he said.

  They sat in silence for a while longer. Rosetta wasn’t sure if the tree was thinking or if he’d gone back to sleep. She rose and kissed him on his bark cheek. Then she started back down to her friends.

  Rosetta flew slowly. The feeling of unease she’d had since they entered the forest was gone. Now she felt only a gentle sadness.

  Poor tree, Rosetta thought. He was the greatest being in the forest. Yet he dreamed of what he couldn’t have. What a long, lonely life. No wonder the trees seemed so gruff.

  Mia jolted awake. She’d dreamed she was falling again. She woke up just before she hit the ground.

  She sat up, shivering. Gray light seeped through the trees. Lainey was still asleep next to her. Her mouth was open. A small white feather was stuck in one of her pigtails.

  Mia gave her a shake to rouse her. Lainey sat up, fumbled for her glasses, and put them on. Then she took them off, polished them on her shirt, and put them on again. She blinked at Mia.

  “What’s going on?”

  “It’s morning. We’d better get back to the village,” Mia said. “Everyone will be worried about us. Where’s Rosetta?”

  They looked all around the nest. “She’s not here,” Lainey said.

  At once, terrible thoughts flooded Mia’s mind. Had the trees somehow found Rosetta while they were sleeping? Or had some other creature snatched her? Maybe whatever had built the nest? But how had it gotten Rosetta without waking them?

  Why had she ever thought it was a good idea to sleep here? And, why, oh why did they keep losing fairies?

  “What should we do?” Lainey asked.

  I don’t know! Mia wanted to shout. Can’t you see I don’t know? Every decision she made seemed worse than the last. She wished Kate were there. Kate would know what to do.

  As she scanned the forest, she saw a far-off pinprick of light. It was so faint that at first Mia thought she might be imagining it. But the light grew brighter and brighter. A tiny winged shape came into view.

  “Rosetta!” the girls shouted with relief as the fairy landed on the edge of the nest.

  “Quick, put on your hood! Before they see you,” Mia urged. Rosetta’s cloak had fallen back, and her glow shone radiantly.

  But Rosetta hardly seemed to notice. Her face was lit up with excitement. “I’ve been talking with Magnus.”

  The girls gasped. “By yourself?” Lainey asked.

  “They’re not as terrible as they seem. They’re just old and set in their ways. You might say their bark is worse than their bite.” Rosetta laughed at her joke.

  Then she told the girls about her nighttime adventure. “I’ve been thinking,” Rosetta said. “The Great Ones have a problem—beetles. If the Low Ones could keep the pests away, they could really help the trees.”

  “But why would they?” Lainey asked. “The Great Ones haven’t done anything for them.”

  “That’s the part I haven’t figured out,” Rosetta admitted. “We can tell the trees that not every light is a fire, but I don’t think it will make a difference. They’ve kept themselves safe for hundreds of years by extinguishing every spark they see. I don’t think they’d be willing to take any chances.”

  “So we haven’t solved anything,” Mia said with a sigh. “We’d better go give the sprites the bad news.”

  She stretched, feeling stiff from her night cramped in the nest. As she did, a slanted beam of sunlight came through the trees. It lay like a stripe across her arm. Mia stared at it. If only more sunlight could reach the ground, she thought, the Low Ones would be so much better off.

  Mia dropped her arms. “That’s it!” she exclaimed.

  The others looked at her. “What?” Lainey asked.

  It was so simple, Mia wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. “The trees can move to let the light through!”

  “Trees can’t move,” Rosetta said.

  “They can’t move their roots,” Mia said. “But they can move their branches. Remember how they swung them around when they got upset? And I’m almost sure a tree moved its branch to catch me when I fell.”

  “Why would it do that?” Lainey asked. “The Great Ones didn’t seem to like us at all.”

  “Maybe they’re nicer than we think,” Mia said.

  Rosetta nodded. “That’s what I’ve been telling you. They’re not unkind—they’re just afraid, even though they don’t seem it at first.”

  “So if the Low Ones keep the beetles away, the Great Ones will move their branches to give them more sunlight,” Lainey said. “Do you think they’ll both agree?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.” Mia stood and looked at the treetops. It was such a long, long way up. And a long way down, Mia thought, remembering her fall.

  She sat back down. “I can’t go back up there.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” asked Lainey.

  “I’m afraid,” Mia admitted.

  “Of the Great Ones?” Rosetta asked.

  “Of flying.” There. She’d said it. What would they think of her now?

  “I know,” Lainey told her.

  Mia blinked. “You do?”

  “Me too,” Rosetta said.

  “How?” Mia asked in astonishment. She thought she’d been so good at pretending.

  “You get this super-scared look on your face right when we take off,” Lainey told her.

  “And when we’re flying, you always ask ‘How much farther?’ ” Rosetta added.

  Mia burned with embarrassment. “Does Kate know, too? And Gabby? And the other fairies?”

  Lainey shrugged. “Probably. It’s not like we talk about it or anything. I always thought you were so brave.”

  “That’s just it. I’m not brave,” Mia said. “I’m a great big chicken.”

  Rosetta fluttered down and landed on her shoulder. “Everyone is scared of something—even the Great Ones. I don’t think you’re a chicken at all.”

  “No?” Mia asked.

  “No,” Rosetta said. “You’re scared and yet you keep trying—that it
self is courageous.”

  Mia thought about that. Was it possible she wasn’t as cowardly as she thought?

  She sighed and stood up. “Okay. Let’s go make a deal.”

  As soon as the Great Ones spotted the trio, an ominous rustling rippled through their boughs.

  “Spark,” they murmured. “The spark is back!”

  Uh-oh, Mia thought. “Get ready to bolt,” she whispered to her friends.

  But then the giant tree Magnus spoke up. “Quiet your limbs,” he told the other trees. “She is a flameless spark.”

  “A spark with no flame?” a nearby tree rumbled. “How can that be?”

  Rosetta removed the cloak so her glow could be fully seen. “Because I’m a fairy,” she said. “A garden-talent fairy. We want to help you.”

  “Let us hear what she has to say,” Magnus said.

  A few trees grumbled, but their branches stopped shaking.

  “We know you have a problem with beetles,” Rosetta said.

  At the mention of beetles, a few of the trees groaned.

  “We told you about the Low Ones who live below,” Mia spoke up. “We think they can help you. They will guard you against beetles. In return you must give them light.”

  “How?” asked Magnus.

  “Easy,” said Lainey. “If you part your branches a little, the sunlight can reach the ground.”

  The trees were silent for a long time. Are they speaking to one another through their roots? Mia wondered.

  Finally, Magnus sighed. “All right,” he said. “We agree.”

  Lainey gave Mia’s hand a squeeze. They’d done it! “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go tell the Low Ones.”

  “Wait,” Mia said. Her heart was beating fast. Did she dare push her luck with the Great Ones? She turned back to Magnus. “First, show us that you can do it.”

  There was another long silence. She heard wood creaking. Then, ever so slowly, the trees’ branches began to rise.

  Inch by inch, little by little, the branches parted. As they did, shafts of sunlight fell through to the forest floor.

  They stayed like that for a long time.

  “Okay,” Mia said with a nod. “That will do.”

  Back in the sprites’ village, they found Kate, Gabby, and Iridessa waiting in the old tree stump with Ersa and several sprites. Kate looked much better than she had the day before. When she saw them, she jumped up, exclaiming, “Where have you been?”

  “We were up all night worrying!” Iridessa added.

  Mia, Lainey, and Rosetta told them what had happened. When they got to the part where the trees spoke, Kate couldn’t keep quiet.

  “Talking trees!” she interrupted. “I can’t believe I missed that.”

  Gabby squeezed Mia’s hand. “Was it scary?”

  “At first,” Mia said. “But the trees turned out to be not so scary after all.”

  They told Ersa and the sprites about the deal they’d come up with. “Do you think the Low Ones could keep the beetles away?” Rosetta asked.

  Ersa lifted her chin proudly, taking in the shafts of sunlight that had already begun to shine through. “The Low Ones are great warriors. Tell the Great Ones we will accept their offer.”

  “No,” Mia said.

  Everyone looked at her. “No?” said Ersa.

  “Tell them yourself,” Mia said.

  The sprite looked flustered. “Us? Talk to the Great Ones?”

  Mia smiled. “I’m the world’s biggest scaredy-cat. If I can do it, so can you.”

  “Are you sure this is safe?” Ersa asked. The sprite was sitting in Mia’s cupped palm. Clinging tightly to her thumb, she peered over the edge of Mia’s hand.

  “Trust me,” Mia told her. “I do it all the time. But one piece of advice,” she added as the ground receded behind them. “Don’t look down.”

  As they flew toward the tree canopy, Mia glanced over at Kate. Two sprites were riding on each of Kate’s shoulders. Mia laughed. “Not to worry you,” she told her, “but you have Low Ones coming out of your ears.”

  Kate grinned back. Her eyes were bright and her face had regained its normal color. The only sign that she’d been injured was a small purple bruise on her forehead.

  Lainey and Gabby were both carrying sprites, too. The girls had decided that since the Great Ones would never be able to come down to the ground, the only way they would ever meet was to bring the sprites to them.

  The fairies had come along, too. Rosetta led the way. Mia had the feeling she was looking forward to talking with the Great Ones again.

  When they reached the treetops, Mia wondered if they’d made a mistake. The trees regarded them with their usual scowls. But a second later, they broke into gentle smiles.

  “So, it’s you again,” Magnus said.

  “We brought some friends to meet you,” Rosetta told him. She gave them a nod.

  Mia flew forward. She held Ersa up so Magnus could see her. “This is Ersa and her friends.” She gestured to the other sprites. “They are the ones who will help you.”

  Magnus and Ersa gazed at each other with curiosity. “Hello, Little One,” the tree said in his slow, deep voice.

  Ersa bowed. “Greetings, Great One. We thank you for giving light back to us.”

  Magnus looked abashed. “I didn’t realize I had ever taken it.”

  Nearby, other sprites were talking to other trees. Mia heard them talking about the forest and the different ways they saw it, from above and below. When it was time for the sprites to return home, they said good-bye with real fondness.

  “He was a good Great One,” Ersa said as they flew back down.

  “I think so, too,” Mia said.

  When they landed in the sprites’ village, it was still bathed in sunlight.

  “Soon there will be flowers,” Ersa said. “Our village will be bright, like yours.”

  “We’re glad to help,” Rosetta replied.

  “But now you must tell us about our friend Tinker Bell,” Mia reminded her.

  Ersa nodded. “I told you the truth when I said I hadn’t seen her.”

  Mia’s heart sank. Had they gone to all that trouble for nothing?

  “But,” the sprite went on, “not two days ago some of our scouts saw a light moving through the forest. It was gone before they could reach it. But it looked like one of you.”

  Gabby clapped her hands. “That must have been Tink!”

  “Which way was she going?” Iridessa asked.

  “East.” Ersa pointed. But among the tall trees, every direction looked the same.

  “Can you show us?” Kate asked.

  Ersa spoke to some of the sprites. Three with spotted caps and asparagus spears stepped forward. “They will take you as far as the edge of the woods,” Ersa told the girls and fairies.

  They said good-bye to Ersa, who wished them well on their journey.

  As they followed the trio of sprites, Mia noticed that although the forest surrounding the village was still dark, it didn’t seem nearly as scary as it had the day before.

  Soon the trees began to grow farther apart. When they came to a point where they could see open sky, the sprites stopped. The girls and fairies stopped, too. They’d reached the end of the forest.

  “What’s out there?” Iridessa wondered. She turned to ask the sprites. But they were already gone.

  “So much for saying good-bye,” Kate said.

  “Oh, look!” Gabby cried suddenly.

  A bright spot of light hovered among the trees. It hung there uncertainly, as if it was trying to decide whether to enter the forest.

  Mia’s breath caught. It was the size and shape of a fairy. Could it be…?

  A second light joined it. The two lights came closer.

  “Fawn! Silvermist!” everyone exclaimed.
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  “I can’t believe we finally found you!” Silvermist cried. “We’ve been looking everywhere.”

  “How did you get here?” Rosetta asked in astonishment. “We lost you in the storm!”

  “When you disappeared, we followed you,” Fawn told them. “But that’s not important right now. Listen, we saw something—”

  Silvermist buzzed in excited circles, exclaiming, “We think we know where to find Tink!”

  Mercedes McAndrew

  KIKI THORPE spent much of her childhood reading, daydreaming, and searching for fairies in the forests of Idaho—pastimes that were good training for writing children’s books. She is the author of several books for young readers, including the New York Times bestselling Never Girls series. She lives with her husband and their two children in Denver.

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