by Alexa Pearl
“It’s a magical map,” said Caleb.
“A map of where?” Sasha had never
seen this kind of color and beauty
around here.
“Someplace far away,” said Caleb.
“Sapphire gave it to me. She said to
first go through the big trees, and then
follow the map to where she lives.”
“Does the map work?” asked Sasha.
“I’ve never found out,” said Caleb.
“You didn’t go look for Sapphire?”
Sasha was surprised.
“I tried once.” Caleb snorted angrily.
“I couldn’t get through the big trees,
because they were pushed together to
make a wall. They wouldn’t let me pass.”
Sasha’s stomach twisted. This was
terrible news. “How can I find Sapphire
if I can’t walk through the trees?” she
asked.
“You’re not from our valley. You
weren’t born here. Maybe the trees will
let you through,” said Caleb.
Sasha felt hopeful. “Will you come
with me?”
“The trees wouldn’t let me in,” Caleb
reminded her.
“Maybe they’ll let us go
together. Please?” begged
Sasha.
Caleb didn’t answer right
away. Instead, he lifted
the tiny bell and rang it.
Whoosh! The flute stopped
playing. The floating
pictures disappeared. The
golden fabric shrunk and
wrapped itself back around
the stem of the blue feather.
Caleb hooked
the chain to keep
the magical map in
place. He tucked
the feather behind
Sasha’s left ear.
“We’re going to
need this map later,”
he said.
“We?” asked Sasha. Her heart beat
quickly.
“Yes.” Caleb shook his head, as if he
couldn’t believe he was doing this. “I’ll
meet you tomorrow at sunrise.”
“We’re going to find Sapphire!” Sasha
did a little dance. “Thank you!”
“Don’t thank me yet,” warned Caleb.
“First, we’ll need to make it through the
trees.”
CHAPTER
5
Through the Trees
Sasha nuzzled her mom early the next
morning as the first rays of sun broke
through the darkness. Her sisters slept
nearby. Her dad was already out looking
for grazing pastures for the herd.
“Come home soon,” whispered her
mother. She slicked back Sasha’s forelock
with her tongue. “I’ll be waiting for you.
We all will. We love you.”
“I love you too.” Sasha nuzzled closer.
For a moment, she thought about staying
under the cottonwood tree with her
family. Then she felt Sapphire’s feather
tucked behind her ear. This was her big
chance to find other flying horses. I have
to be brave, she thought.
Sasha set off across the field. The
grass was damp with morning dew. No
horses were grazing this early.
Sasha spotted Caleb up ahead. Then
she stopped. Who was standing next to
Caleb? She trotted closer.
“Wyatt!” she cried. “What are you
doing here?”
“Poppy told me what you’re up to.
My dad said I could go too,” said Wyatt.
“Best friends always have adventures
together.”
“That’s true!” Sasha was glad Wyatt
was coming with them.
“Are you ready?” Caleb asked them.
“Yeah!” cried Wyatt.
Sasha nodded. She didn’t want to tell
them that she felt a little scared.
Caleb walked forward. Wyatt walked
behind him. Sasha walked behind Wyatt.
Leaves and twigs crunched under their
hooves. Sunlight peeked through the
branches overhead. Birds sang in the
treetops. Sasha hummed along. They
walked for a long time.
Suddenly, it became quiet. The birds
had stopped singing. The sky turned
dark.
Sasha looked up and gasped. The
branches stretched toward one another,
blocking the sun. “G-g-guys, the trees
are moving!” cried Sasha.
The tree trunks lined up side by side.
They made a wall.
Caleb tried to walk
forward, but he was
pushed back. He tried
again and again. “I can’t
do it.” Sweat dripped into
his eyes. “You need to
try, Sasha.”
Sasha shivered. She
took a tiny step forward.
“Keep going!” called
Wyatt.
Sasha took another step. Then
another and another. The sun began
to shine again. The birds began to sing
again.
She was doing it! The trees were
parting. They were letting her through!
“I see the way. Grab on to my tail,”
she called to Wyatt and Caleb. “I can
lead us.”
“I can’t go,” said Caleb.
Sasha whirled around. “What’s
wrong?”
“My knees hurt. I’m tired,” he
said. “I will only slow you down.”
“No way! I need you,” cried
Sasha.
Caleb shook his head. “Not
anymore. The trees opened for
you. You have Wyatt. You have
the map. I’ll rest here. You will
be fine.”
Sasha’s heart pounded. She’d never
gone anywhere on her own. She didn’t
even understand how the map worked.
Wyatt nudged her forward. “I’d bet
Sapphire is right on the other side of
the trees.”
Sasha felt her white patch itch. It only
did that when her body wanted to go.
Did that mean the flying horses really
were near?
She made up her mind. “We can do
this,” she told Wyatt. Wyatt held on to
her tail with his teeth. Together, they
walked toward the trees.
CHAPTER
6
Help Is on
the Way
The trees moved to let them pass.
“We’re doing it!” Sasha called to
Wyatt.
Wyatt didn’t answer. He didn’t dare
let go of her tail.
Sasha walked faster. She wanted
to get them out of the creepy woods
quickly. Finally, they stepped into a field
of wildflowers.
“It’s beautiful!” cried Sasha. The
flowers pulsed with neon colors that
were almost too bright for her eyes.
“It’s delicious!” cried Wyatt. He began
to munch. Wyatt loved to eat flowers.
Sasha danced in and out of the electric
flowers. She bent down to smell them.
“Wyatt!” she cried. “The red flowers
smell like cherry. The yellow flowers
smell like lemon. The pink flowers smell
like cotton candy.”
“They taste like how they smell,”
called Wyatt. His mouth was full of
flowers.
“We need to find Sapphire,” Sasha
said to remind Wyatt. She pulled the
blue feather from behind her ear. She
opened the chain, and the tiny bell rang.
The golden map magically unwrapped
in the air.
“What do you see?” called Wyatt.
Sasha puzzled over the picture
shimmering in front of her. “It’s blue and
moving. I see waves. It must be water.”
“It’s a lake.” Wyatt came over. “There’s
an arrow on the lake. That arrow means
we need to go across the lake.”
Sasha turned in a circle. “What lake?”
“Over there.” Wyatt pointed to a
lake at the end of the flower field. “Race
you. On your mark, get set—”
“Go!” Sasha took off.
Wyatt was fast, but she was faster.
They galloped to the shore of a big lake.
Wyatt dipped his hoof into the warm
water. “This lake is huge. We can’t swim
across.”
“I could try to fly across,” said Sasha.
“What about me?” asked Wyatt.
“Could I hold on to your tail and fly
too?”
“I don’t think so.” Trying to fly with
Wyatt sounded hard. She’d surely crash.
“I won’t leave you behind,” she promised.
Then she sighed. “We’re stuck.”
“We need help,” agreed Wyatt.
“Help is on the way!”
“Who said that?” asked Wyatt.
Sasha pointed. Something was moving
across the lake toward them.
Wyatt squinted. “It looks like a huge
raft.”
“It’s a raft made out of tree trunks,”
said Sasha.
They watched the raft move closer
and closer. Three beavers stood on the
raft. They paddled it up to the shore.
“Ahoy!” called a beaver wearing a
navy captain’s hat. “Are you here for
the noon crossing?”
“Is it noon?” asked Sasha. She had
never been good at telling time.
“The sun is high. It’s time to sail,”
said the captain. “Be quick. Hop on.”
Sasha turned to Wyatt. “Should we?”
“Let’s do it!” Wyatt stepped onto the
raft.
“Why not?” Sasha joined him.
“Onward!” called the captain. All
three beavers began to paddle, and the
raft glided across the lake.
CHAPTER
7
Eyes on Me
“Did Sapphire send you?” Sasha asked
the captain hopefully.
“No one sent me,” he said. “The ferry
is on a schedule. It goes every hour.
Sometimes every two hours. Sometimes
I take a nap. Then it doesn’t go.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good
schedule,” said Sasha.
“I’m glad it wasn’t nap time,” Wyatt
pointed out. “Sasha wanted to fly, but
I can’t.”
The captain poked Sasha with his
paddle. “You’re a winged one!”
“You’ve seen them!” cried Sasha. That
was a good sign. “Where are they?”
“I’m a water-and-wood guy. I don’t
know what happens in the sky.” He
began to paddle again.
“Row, row, row, your boat,” he sang.
The other beavers joined in. Their oars
pushed through the water as they sang.
When the song ended, the captain
steered the raft to a dock. He hurried
Sasha and Wyatt off. A family of foxes
got on.
“Wait!” called Sasha. The captain
hadn’t told her where to go.
“Ticktock!” called the captain. “No
time to chat.” The three beavers paddled
the raft away.
“I hope the flying horses are close
by,” Sasha told Wyatt. “Let’s check the
map.”
She unhooked the chain. The bell
rang, and the magic map opened. Sasha
reared back. Hundreds of eyes swirled
before them! Blinking. Winking. Staring.
Eyes were everywhere.
Wyatt squeezed his eyes shut. “I don’t
like all those eyes looking at me. Maybe
we should try to go back.”
Sasha was surprised. Wyatt had never
acted scared before.
“I can’t give up now,” she said. The
thought of the flying horses nearby
had made her feel braver. She rang the
tiny bell and the map rolled up again.
The eyes went away. “We need to find
eyes,” she told Wyatt. “I need your eyes
to look for eyes.”
Wyatt opened one eye and then
the other. Then he followed Sasha. She
walked in front.
They passed three rabbits playing
hopscotch.
They passed two flamingos on a
tightrope.
They passed a turtle flying a kite.
“I knew beyond the trees would be
special,” said Sasha.
“This place is nothing like home,” said
Wyatt.
Suddenly, she stopped short. Wyatt
tumbled into her.
“All eyes on me!” cried a bright blue
peacock. He strutted before them. “Do
you see what I see?”
“What does
he see?” Sasha
whispered to
Wyatt.
“You need
more eyes to see
what I see,” said
the large bird.
“More eyes?” Wyatt didn’t
like the sound of that.
The peacock lifted his tail and opened
a huge fan of emerald-green feathers.
Each feather had an eye-shaped spot in
the middle.
“He has eyes on his feathers!” cried
Wyatt. “The map wanted us to find this
peacock.”
“Do you know where Sapphire is?”
asked Sasha.
“Look and see.” The peacock grinned.
“A bird’s-eye view is always best.”
“Everything is a riddle here,” Wyatt
said with a grumble.
Sasha looked closely. Every feather
looked the same—except one. One
feather was bright blue, not green. It
didn’t have an eye-shaped spot. It looked
exactly like the feather Sapphire had
given Caleb.
“That feather isn’t yours,” she told
the peacock. “That feather comes from
the wing of a flying horse!”
CHAPTER
8
Behind the
Gold Door
Sasha plucked the blue feather from the
peacock’s tail. It had a square stem.
“Follow the feather to the winged
horses,” said the peacock. Then he
strutted away.
“There isn’t a map on this feather,”
said Wyatt. “How do we follow it?”
Suddenly, a strong breeze blew the
feather from Sasha’s mouth. The feather
twirled in crazy circles. Then it zoomed
forward.
Then she remembered the peacock’s
words. “Follow the feather!” cried Sasha.
She raced after it.
“Wait for me!” yelled Wyatt.
The feather flew to a beach. They
galloped down the hot sand after it.
Finally, the feather fluttered to the
ground. Sasha and Wyatt stopped too.
They stood in a clearing surrounded
by rock walls. The sand glittered with
rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and other
jewels.
“Wow! My sisters would love it here,”
said Sasha.
Wyatt pointed to a shiny gold door
in one of the rock walls. “What’s that?”
Sasha walked over to it and knocked.
No answer.
She knocked harder.
Still no answer.
She pushed against it. “It’s locked,”
she told Wyatt.
Wyatt looked at the sky. “The sun is
going down. We should go home.”
“Go home? Now?” Sasha couldn’t
believe it. “We’ve made it through the
big trees, crossed a huge lake, and now
we’re here. Maybe Sapphire and the
flying horses are on the other side of
this door. I can’t go home now!”
She unhooked the magic map and
watched it unroll. A picture of an old-
fashioned key floated before them. “We
need to find a key,” said Sasha. “A key
will open the door.”
Wyatt paced back and forth. “It’ll be
dark soon. Do you think the ferry is still
running? Do you think Caleb is still by
the trees?”