A Valentine's Surprise

by Helen Perelman

  As the fairies neared the front gate the castle guards came out to greet them. Quickly the guards took over and pulled Lyra through the gates into the Royal Gardens. They had been expecting the sick unicorn, and they were ready for her.

  Princess Lolli came out to the garden. “I knew you would get Lyra here,” she said to the fairies. She took a step back to admire the sled they had built. “This is extraordinary!”

  “We all worked together,” Raina spoke up. She turned to smile at Dash. “But this was Dash’s design.”

  Dash blushed. “Sure as sugar, it helped to have a Caramel, Gummy, Fruit, and Chocolate Fairy around,” she said.

  The fairy princess laughed. “Well done,” she said. “And we are all so grateful.” She waved her hand toward the large front door. “Come, let’s get Lyra inside. We have a special vanilla bath waiting for her.”

  “Will she be all right?” Raina asked. She watched as the sled was pulled inside the castle. “Her horn has turned black,” she said in a hushed voice.

  Princess Lolli put her arm around Raina. “Yes, I saw that,” she said gently. “I was worried that might happen. But now that Lyra is here, we’ll be able to help her. The vanilla bath will get rid of any trace of salt.” She smiled at Raina. “Lyra is going to be fine. Your getting her here quickly saved her.”

  Raina lowered her head. If only she had gotten to Fruit Chew Meadow earlier! She should have listened to Dash. If she had, they would have found Lyra sooner. And maybe the unicorn would not be this ill.

  “Raina, this isn’t your fault,” Berry whispered in her ear. She came up beside her friend when she saw the worried look on Raina’s face. “The important thing is that we got Lyra here to the castle. Now she can get help.”

  Hearing Berry say this to her made Raina feel worse. She should not have taken that nap after lunch. She and Dash could have been in the meadow to stop Mogu.

  Dash flew over to Raina and gently pulled her away from the others. “Mogu stirred up trouble long before we got to Fruit Chew Meadow,” she told her. “Berry is right. At least now Lyra is safe here at the castle.”

  “But I . . . ,” Raina started to say. Tears gathered in her eyes.

  Holding up her hand, Dash cut Raina off. “No one is more considerate of the animals in Sugar Valley than you,” she said firmly. “Please don’t be upset. If we’re going to get Fruit Chew Meadow back to normal, we have to get Mogu out of there tonight. We can do it.”

  “Thank you, Dash,” Raina said. She wiped away her tears and took a deep breath. “I guess the important thing now is to find a way to keep that salty troll out of the meadow.”

  “And those Chuchies,” Dash grumbled.

  “How about we fix the fence first?” Melli called over to her friends. “We have leftover caramel from the sled already at the meadow. We can use that to patch up the hole.”

  “If this is Mogu’s work,” Raina said, “a fence won’t keep him out. Fences don’t keep trolls out.” She sat down under a gummy tree in the Royal Gardens. “We need to find a way to trick Mogu—or at least teach him a lesson.”

  “I had a feeling she was going to say that,” Dash said, smiling. She sat down next to Raina.

  “He can’t keep bringing salt into the meadow,” Melli said. “You’d think that he’d notice the damage he’s done to the flowers and Lyra.”

  “Mogu only cares about himself,” Cocoa told her friends.

  “Too bad we don’t know another unicorn with a rainbow horn,” joked Berry. “That would make Mogu jump.”

  Raina flew straight up in the air. Her wings were moving as fast as the thoughts in her head. “I know how we can trick that salty troll!” Raina shouted. “First I need to get something from Gummy Forest. I’ll meet you all back at Fruit Chew Meadow at the end of Sun Dip.”

  Before her friends could ask any questions, Raina raced off to Gummy Forest. She hoped with all her heart that her plan to trick Mogu would work. She never wanted to see Lyra looking so sick again. And she had a few hours left to save Berry’s birthday—and Valentine’s Day!

  A Gummy Good Idea

  Raina sped through Gummy Forest. The sun was heading quickly toward the top of the Frosted Mountains. She didn’t have much time! Raina worked quickly and gathered all she needed for her plan. She had to get back to Fruit Chew Meadow before dark.

  This has to trick Mogu, she thought. If she could get Mogu and the Chuchies out of the meadow, the flowers would bounce back by morning and the meadow would be safe for Lyra. The fairies could celebrate Lyra’s return—and Berry’s birthday. This was a delicious plan!

  The gummy cubs and bunnies watched Raina work. They were curious about what the Gummy Fairy was doing and crowded around her.

  “Sweet sugar cubes!” Raina exclaimed. She looked over at the group of gummy animals. “What do you think?” A smile spread across her face as she held up her work.

  The animals were not sure what Raina was creating, but they sensed it was exactly what she had set out to make.

  “Oh, I hope this works,” Raina said to the animals. She reached over to pet a blue gummy bear on the head. “Be good, Blue Belle,” she said. “Look after the others for me. I will be back soon.”

  When Raina arrived at Fruit Chew Meadow, the sky was a deep lavender with spots of pink swirls. Normally, Raina loved Sun Dip. She enjoyed talking to her friends, telling stories, and sampling the candy crops of the day. Only today Sun Dip was not about having fun. Today Sun Dip was about tricking a troll!

  “Are you ready to teach Mogu a lesson?” Raina asked as she touched down next to her friends. They were all waiting near the berry cherry tree.

  “Sure as sugar!” Berry replied.

  “We mended the fence with hot caramel,” Melli said. “Mogu will have a harder time getting into the meadow now.”

  Raina took her gummy creation out of her bag. She held up the rainbow gummy unicorn horn proudly. “This should keep Mogu and the Chuchies out for a long, long time,” she said.

  Melli gasped. “Where’d you get that?”

  “Is . . . is . . . is that Lyra’s horn?” Dash asked. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide with disbelief.

  “No, silly,” Raina said. “It’s a gummy cone from a pine gummy tree,” she told her friends. She smiled slyly. “And then I added a little more gummy candy.”

  “Lickin’ lollipops, Raina!” Berry exclaimed. “That looks just like Lyra’s horn!”

  Raina’s wings fluttered. She blushed a little too. “I was hoping you’d say that,” she admitted. “The real test is if Mogu and the Chuchies think this is really Lyra’s horn.”

  “What are you planning?” Cocoa asked.

  Leaning in toward her friends, Raina spoke softly. “I was thinking if we hid in the bushes and poked this horn out, Mogu would get spooked that Lyra is back.” She raised her eyebrows. “What do you think?”

  “Holy peppermint!” Dash burst out. “You are so mint, Raina.”

  Her friends all nodded in agreement.

  “It’s a gummy good idea!” Cocoa blurted out.

  Raina was glad her friends thought her idea would work. She hoped the horn would fool Mogu and the Chuchies.

  The five fairies crept along the hedges lining the edge of the meadow. They didn’t have to wait long. Soon they saw Mogu and the Chuchies approaching the gate. As they got closer Raina felt her stomach flip-flop. Seeing Mogu in his clunky boots caked with salt made her so mad.

  “Just look at him,” Berry snarled. “He doesn’t even care that the salt on his boots made Lyra sick.”

  Dash popped up in between Raina and Berry. “Maybe he didn’t know?” she asked.

  Raina watched the grumpy, greedy troll. His big belly hung over his pants, and his white hair stuck up in a ring around his huge head. “He doesn’t seem very concerned about anyone but himself—and his tummy.”

  “Well, look at this!” Mogu grumbled. He stopped in front of the mended fence. “Seems someone fixed the fence.” He
stuck his chocolate-stained fingers into the caramel patch, which had not dried yet.

  “Yummmm,” he said, licking his finger. “Fresh caramel is sooooooo good.”

  Melli’s face turned a bright cherry red. She bit her lip so she would keep quiet.

  Raina hunched down low and rustled the leaves in the bushes. Now was the time to get this show started! She slipped the gummy horn onto a stick.

  “Meeeeeeeeeeee, meeeeee!” the Chuchies shouted, jumping up and down on their short, skinny legs. Their furry, round yellow bodies shook as they jumped.

  “Shhhh,” snapped Mogu. He held his hand up to quiet the Chuchies. Looking around, he narrowed his eyes. “What was that?” he asked.

  “Meeeeeeeee, meeeeeee?” the Chuchies asked.

  Raina rustled the bush branches again.

  “Couldn’t be,” Mogu muttered. He pushed down on the caramel fence where the caramel was still soft, and he broke through.

  Holding tight, Raina swayed the rainbow gummy pinecone around. Then she stuck the horn through the bush.

  “Salty sticks!” Mogu exclaimed. “How can that be?” He rubbed his eyes. The light was fading fast. “She’s back?”

  Raina looked over at Berry. Now was her time to sing! Berry nodded and smiled at Raina.

  “Gentle breeze and sweet light, flavors of the rainbow grow bright . . . ,” Berry sang out.

  Raina was impressed by how similar Berry sounded to Lyra. As she sang Raina moved the horn just as if Lyra was there. When Berry finished the song, Dash popped her head up over the bush.

  “They’re leaving!” Dash cried.

  All the fairies peered over the bush. Raina couldn’t believe her eyes. Mogu and the Chuchies were running away!

  Three Delicious Reasons

  Are they really gone?” Raina asked. She squinted her eyes to see in the early evening dim light.

  “Yes!” Dash cheered. “The gummy pinecone trick worked!”

  “Raina, that was choc-o-rific!” Cocoa blurted out. “You fooled Mogu.”

  Melli fluttered her wings and lifted off the ground. “And I don’t think he’ll be coming back anytime soon,” she added. “I didn’t think that Mogu could move that fast.”

  “Oh, we have to let Lyra know,” Berry said. “I can’t wait to see the look on her face.” She turned to Raina. “Thank you. On behalf of all the Fruit Fairies—and all Candy Fairies—thank you!”

  “Do you want us to go with you?” Melli asked.

  Berry shook her head. “No, I’ll go,” she told her friends. “I feel bad that I wasn’t here earlier to help Lyra. I was at Lollipop Landing this morning, and I wish I had been here.” She lowered her head and fingered her fruit-chew bracelet. “If I’d been here, I would have been able to stop Mogu, and Lyra wouldn’t be so sick.”

  At that moment Raina realized that she wasn’t the only one feeling responsible for Lyra’s misfortune. When something so sour happened, everyone felt bad.

  “You know,” Raina said to her friend, “we all feel responsible. I was thinking that if I had come earlier to the meadow, I could have stopped Mogu too.”

  Berry looked up at Raina.

  “Me too,” Dash said.

  “We were thinking the same thing,” Melli said, pointing at herself and Cocoa.

  “I guess the important thing is that we did get here,” Raina told them. “Lyra is getting help and Mogu is gone.”

  A smile appeared on Berry’s face. “You’re right,” she said. “Thank you.” She sniffed a little. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Red Licorice Lake for Sun Dip?”

  “It’s a plan,” Raina said, giving her friend a hug.

  As Berry headed off to Candy Castle, Raina looked around at Dash, Cocoa, and Melli.

  “I think Berry forgot that tomorrow is her birthday!” she said. “What do you think of having a surprise party in Fruit Chew Meadow?” Raina saw her friends grinning. “It will be a triply sweet celebration—a homecoming for Lyra, a birthday party for Berry, and a Valentine’s Day surprise for all Candy Fairies.”

  “Berry will love the idea,” Cocoa said.

  “She deserves a supersweet surprise for her birthday,” Melli added.

  A sugar fly landed on Raina’s shoulder. The envelope was from Princess Lolli.

  “This must be news about Lyra,” Raina said, opening up the note. “Dash, could you hold up a mint stick so I can read this? I hope this is good news.”

  Dash held up a bright mint stick as the fairies huddled around Raina. They were anxious to hear the royal news.

  “Lyra is doing well,” Raina read. “She enjoyed her vanilla bath, and her horn is back to normal. She is going to be fine. Many thanks to you and your friends, Princess Lolli.”

  “So mint!” Dash exclaimed. “Now we definitely need to plan a celebration.”

  Raina took out a notebook from her bag. “We don’t have much time to pull this party together. So we’ll have to be fast.” She started making a list. “First we need to try to keep this a secret. Part of the fun will be surprising Berry.”

  “And Lyra,” Cocoa added.

  Tapping her pen on her notebook, Raina tried to think of all the ingredients for a good party. “First, we need to send out invites with the sugar flies. We’ll have to make sure to write Top Secret so no one tells Berry about the party.”

  Melli peered over Raina’s shoulder to look at her list. “How are we ever going to pull this party together by Sun Dip tomorrow?”

  “Wait, there’s Fruli,” Dash said, pointing to the far end of the meadow. “Maybe she can help out.”

  Fruli spotted the fairies under Dash’s mint glow and came over to them. “Is Lyra feeling better?” she asked when she saw the fairies. “I heard from a sugar fly that you brought her to Candy Castle on a sled.”

  “Yes,” Raina said. “She’s feeling much better.”

  “And we just tricked Mogu, so he won’t be tracking in salt near the meadow again,” Dash told her. “At least, not for a long time.”

  Fruli smiled. “Oh, I am glad to hear that,” she said. She shuddered. “I’ve never met Mogu—and I don’t want to!”

  Raina shrugged. “Oh, he’s not that bad,” she said. “Just a little salty.”

  Stepping forward, Raina moved closer to Fruli. “Tomorrow is Berry’s birthday,” she told her. “We’d like to surprise Berry with a party and also welcome Lyra home. We don’t have much time, and we could really use your help.”

  “How delicious! I would love to help!” Fruli exclaimed. “I didn’t know Berry’s birthday was on Valentine’s Day. I’ll have to make her a special heart valentine.”

  “How about helping with the decorations for the meadow?” Raina asked.

  Fruli clapped her hands. “I could do that!” she said. “My aunt just gave me this fabulous blueberry and cherry material from Meringue Island. We could use it as a tablecloth or something and then get some rainbow lollipops to stick around.”

  Raina knew she had just asked the right fairy for the job. With Fruli’s great design taste, she was sure Fruit Chew Meadow would look sugartacular by tomorrow’s Sun Dip.

  “Sure as sugar, this meadow is going to look supersweet,” Raina said. “It will be a sugarcoated celebration.” She smiled at her friends. “Now we just have to keep the secret from Berry!”

  A Sugarcoated Day

  Raina was up the next morning bright and early. She had so much to do! Not only did she have to feed the animals in Gummy Forest, she had a party to plan!

  She’d have to do all her work in the forest quickly and then head to Fruit Chew Meadow. Knowing that she wouldn’t have time to fly back home, Raina decided to take her party clothes with her now. Racing around her room, Raina folded her clothes neatly into her backpack. Half of Sugar Valley was coming to Berry and Lyra’s surprise party that evening. If everything was going to be finished by Sun Dip, she had to hurry.

  Luckily, the gummy animals were well-behaved, and feeding time went well. Thankful that the animals we
re calm and listening to instructions, Raina gave each one a little extra flavoring. “After all,” she told them, “today is a day to celebrate!”

  As Raina was cleaning out the gummy bears’ feeding log, Melli suddenly appeared before her. The Caramel Fairy’s face was bright red, and even when she landed her wings didn’t stop fluttering.

  “Raina!” Melli gasped. “Oh, I’m so glad I found you here.”

  Raina dropped the log in the water. “Is Lyra all right?” Raina asked. “What’s wrong? Did you hear something?” She eyed her friend’s nervous expression.

  Melli put her hand up and tried desperately to catch her breath. “Everything is fine,” she said. “In fact, everything is more than fine.” She smiled. “I’m just bursting to tell you the sweet news!”

  “What?” Raina asked. She couldn’t imagine what news Melli had for her.

  “Guess who is coming to the party tonight?” Melli finally managed to say.

  The guest list for the party had gotten so long that Raina had lost count of all the fairies invited. She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said, playing along with Melli. “Who?”

  “The Sugar Pops!” Melli shouted. Once she said the musical group’s name, her wings started flapping again and she soared up to the sky. “Berry is going to flip!”

  All the Candy Fairies loved the three brothers who made up the Sugar Pops. Chip, Char, and Carob were three of the most delicious singers. Their music was always at the top of the charts in Sugar Valley.

  “That is sweet news!” Raina exclaimed. “How do you know? Are you sure?”

  The Caramel Fairy nodded quickly. “I was at Candy Castle early this morning to make a delivery, and I saw Princess Lolli,” Melli explained. “She told me that Lyra is going home later today and that she’d heard all about the plans for the surprise party.” Melli grabbed Raina’s hands and started to jump up and down. “And then she told me that Dash had sent a sugar fly to Carob Pop! She let him know about Lyra’s being sick, Berry’s birthday, and the Valentine’s Day celebration. Carob sent her back a sugar fly! Can you believe it?”