Deliah smiled sincerely, and she could tell Willy wanted to tell her something, but he stopped himself.
“Move along, sweet ch…ch…child. Bless ya,” he said.
Deliah found it odd that such a vibrant, well-grown tree was so terribly sad.
“Bye, Weepin’ Willy,” Deliah said regretfully as she took off to catch up with the fairies. “I’ll come back and visit when all this is over!” she called out before silently saying a little prayer for Willy.
“People try and guess why he cries,” Ostephen said. “Some think he cries for the trees they’ve lost, some think it is for his parents who were cut down, and others think he simply likes the attention.”
“Didn’t seem like that to me,” Deliah said defensively. “I’m pretty sure he’d feel grand if he could stop weeping.”
She couldn’t explain it, but something about him had touched her heart. He wasn’t needy or grieving; he seemed under some kind of spell, and she was going to help him out of it. But now was not the time. She had to get to the Silver Star, and the first stop would be Froglany to talk to the frog prince. Mayweather had assured them that Froglany would provide the quickest access to the Silver Star and that it was much too fun not to visit.
A few miles later, Ostephen whispered with a little blush in his voice, “Oh, look! We’ve reached Lovers’ Lilies!”
Deliah looked out at the moonlit water full of heart-shaped lily pads floating atop with couples side by side. Some were cuddling; some were kissing; and others had their legs outstretched and their arms behind their heads, staring at the stars.
Deliah giggled and said, “Oh, my! I had no idea frogs were so romantic.”
Mayweather sighed jealously and said, “Oh, they are, dear. Lovers’ Lilies is one of the most romantic spots in Faye.” Deliah heard a frog singing tenor and pushing his lily pad along as though it were a gondola floating down a canal in Venice. “Let’s just sit and rest for a minute, shall we?” Mayweather asked already seated. “It’s such a gorgeous view! We shan’t let it go to waste,” she said, trying to mask her longing.
They sat in the long grass surrounded by bulrushes, all huddled close together as if they were on their own giant lily pad on the shore, hoping to one day float down Lovers’ Lilies as happy as the rest of the couples. After a few moments and sighs from Mayweather, they dusted themselves off and started toward the encroaching music.
“The band’s startin’!” Ostephen said gleefully. “Best mariachi band in the land! If there’s one thing frogs know how to do, it’s throw a party!” Deliah heard Mexican music overtaking the frog’s tenor voice as lights and laughter filled the cool night air.
“Ay yay yay!” a frog shouted from the stage, tapping his webbed foot to the beat.
“It’s magnificent!” Deliah gushed as she twirled around, arms out, taking in the festivities and colors.
The mariachi band was the cutest thing she’d ever seen, and it was obvious that they were the rock stars of Froglany. Lady frogs crowded the stage with roses in hand, blowing kisses and winking at the band. There was an endless number of dragonflies lighting up the night sky with their beautiful red, blue, orange, purple, and yellow hues.
Just as she was about to take a seat on a nearby log, Deliah heard a deep throaty voice ask, “May I?”
Someone politely took her by the hand, and she flinched at the unexpected wet and slimy feel. She looked down to see the green, webbed hand of a frog; she looked up to see a brilliant, golden crown.
“The frog prince!” she exclaimed.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said as he bowed and kissed her on the hand. “You’ve arrived just in time for the festivities, I see.”
Before Deliah had a chance to respond, he took her other hand and spun her into his arms, whisking her off into the middle of the dance floor.
Ostephen looked for Mayweather who seemed to have disappeared altogether. He found her sulking on a nearby bench as she watched Deliah dance with the frog prince.
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of Deliah dancing with a frog,” he said accusingly.
“Oh, hush up!” she mumbled as she waved her hand, brushing him off. “Not at all,” she continued while dabbing at her eye with a broad leaf.
Ostephen gave an exaggerated bow before her and with teasing eyes and mocking tones said, “Mayweather, you look exceptional this evening. Might you do me the honor?”
“Oh, Ostephen, you bet your little blue butt I will!”
Mayweather dropped her leaf on the log. And with that, they were off to join Deliah and the frog prince.
“Ay yay yay!” the singer shouted again. Everyone was shaking and dancing, hands in the air, swaying from side to side. After all, if there’s one thing the frogs are known for, it’s their parties.
“So are you like the frog prince from fairy tales?” Deliah asks tentatively.
“Are you wondering if I’ll turn into a human prince if you kiss me?”
“Well, no, just if you were ever human?”
“No, I’m forever a frog prince—born of royal frog parents in Froglany, I’m afraid. However, if you’d like to kiss me, it couldn’t hurt to try,” he said, puckering up.
The song ended much to Deliah’s relief, and she nervously thanked him for the dance and eagerly turned her attention to the band, clapping continually. The frog prince, who was not shy and who enjoyed a challenge, shrugged and laughed to himself, knowing that he had clearly made her uncomfortable.
“He’s one smooth frog, that one,” Mayweather said, directing Ostephen’s eyes to the prince.
“Yeah, well, Deliah would never fall for a frog. That much I know,” Ostephen scoffed.
The frog prince left to get Deliah a drink and then headed back toward her with a coconut cup garnished with a vibrant red flower. Before he could reach her, Ostephen buzzed in front of him, sat on the side of the cup, and leaned in to take a large slurp. Disgusted, the frog prince tossed the drink aside.
Ostephen flew in front of his face and asked scoffingly, “So, prince…charming, is it?”
The prince smiled, well aware of his own charm. He replied, “No, no, little guy. Just prince.” Then he waved Ostephen away. The frog prince dusted off his formal jacket and straightened his collar as he smoothly sent glances to all the ladies. When Ostephen saw Mayweather waving back to the prince like a smitten kitten, he decided it may be time to move on from Froglany.
“So, prince, are you going to help us? Or should we just move along?”
“Help?” the prince asked confused.
“Yes, I’m sure you’re aware of the blueprint. Deliah is the one guided here to help. We need to reach the Silver Star.”
The frog prince now stood even taller as though he were king of a great land about to address his public. He cleared his throat dramatically, and a frog barely half the prince’s size signaled for the band to stop. A hush fell over the crowd.
“My dear and loyal friends and visitors of Froglany, I would like to introduce to you Deliah, the savior.” All the frogs clapped and cheered for her. Looking at Deliah, he continued, “Rest assured, all of Froglany will be at your side if ever you need us.”
Deliah made her way through the crowd of frogs toward the frog prince, curtsied politely before him, and thanked him for his help. Looking at Ostephen, who had followed her, she could tell it was time to go.
“Thank you so much for your hospitality and fun. I won’t forget it, but I’m afraid we have run out of time and must continue our journey.”
The frog prince put an arm around Deliah’s shoulder and revealed Froglany’s hidden canals to Deliah in hushed tones. “You will reach the Silver Star much faster and safer this way. I wish you to use them.”
“Thank you so much,” Deliah replied. “I’d be honored.”
“Now I should warn you, Deliah, that the Silver Star is more important than you realize. It is a portal and will help further your journey. You will come to a point when you see nothing but dark, starlit sk
y. You must trust your intuition and find the destined Silver Star. When you’ve found it, you must jump immediately. Don’t hesitate, or you could lose your opportunity. Just jump toward the star, Deliah, and you will arrive at your destination.”
Starting to feel nervous again but thankful for the information, Deliah shook the hand of the frog prince. He immediately grabbed her and enveloped her in a hug. After what felt like ages, he unwrapped his wet and slimy arms from the hug, bowed graciously, and assigned one of his servants to lead her to the hidden canal.
The swamp was dark and squishy and would be easy to get lost in, but they marched onward. The dark canal seemed to go on forever without many distinctions.
Ostephen started to complain that his wings were getting tired when the prince’s servant announced, “This is as far as I go. Go forward three more miles, stop, turn five times, and then take four steps backward and seven steps forward. Good luck.” He bowed, placing a tiny webbed foot before the other.
Deliah looked from Mayweather to Ostephen, hoping someone caught all that. She saw Mayweather’s lips moving: “three…five…four…seven…” Deliah stifled a giggle.
“Does everything have to be a riddle, Ostephen?” Deliah asked.
“It’s not about riddles; it’s about games, mystery, and— yes—some mischief, too.”
Mayweather added, “You’ll soon see that often what seems like a riddle here is actually more straightforward and logical than anything in the human realm.”
As they approached the third-mile mark, they came into a clearing, and Deliah began to walk slower, not on purpose but because she was entranced by the stars. There was nothing but dark sky and shining silver stars for miles. After Papa passed away, Deliah used to lie in the grass out back and stare up at the stars. For some reason, it made her feel better. They had the same effect on her now, and she suddenly surrendered any worries she had about finding the destined Silver Star. She felt connected to the stars, and she knew Papa would help her.
Papa, she said to herself, I’m going to need your help. I’m going to need you. I don’t want to let my friends down…or you.
At the end of the three–mile walk, they all stopped, looked at one another, and began to turn five times, Mayweather still mouthing the numbers to herself. They stopped turning and slowly took four steps back. One cautious foot in front of another, they took seven carefully planted steps forward. There they were: the backs of two little fairies and one little girl against a dark, starlit sky and the most unlikely of trios ready to take on the universe. Ostephen and Mayweather bowed their heads in silent prayer, knowing that events were out of their hands. It was up to Deliah to find the Silver Star. Her gift of intuition was much stronger, and it was her destiny.
A hazy smoke began to cloud some of the stars, and the smell of burning wood filled the air. Deliah thought she saw a star sparkle but quickly realized it was an ember.
“The Dark Ones!” they all screamed.
The heat once again began to creep up on them from all directions. Sweat started pouring down their foreheads. Mayweather dabbed a crocheted hankie at her forehead despite the impending doom. The fairies looked at Deliah terrified.
“They’re getting close, Deliah! We need the star!” Ostephen yelled.
Deliah looked back at the army of Dark Ones buzzing behind followed by their loyal Kahorgis. The three of them were way outnumbered.
She panicked, then remembered Papa’s voice: You have the power to see the unknown.
She stared at the stars, rubbing the mermaid’s bracelet, searching for the Silver one, but all she could hear was Papa’s voice whispering in her ear.
The Dark Ones were well within reach, and Ostephen and Mayweather’s wings began wilting from the intense heat. They were beginning to fade, almost too weak even to fly. A Dark One buzzed in front of Deliah, and as she ducked, it circled Mayweather. The tail end of the flame singed her wing, and she began to fall to the ground. Ostephen quickly buzzed under her and caught her, but he couldn’t carry her for long.
“Deliah!” he yelled in alarm.
Just as a Kahorgi stomped and was about to lash out at Deliah’s left arm, she looked up and saw an unusual sparkle. The Silver Star! Quickly taking hold of Ostephen and Mayweather with her right hand, she leapt forward, their arms and legs spread wide like three starfish flying through the night sky. The Kahorgi gave an enraged snarl; he had missed her by mere inches.
Chapter 6
The fairies dance, play, and sing,
For this is how they create the joy they bring.
The three unsung heroes fell into a tunnel of blinding silver light before landing hard on their bottoms. Deliah opened her eyes and looked around to take in an etched wooden signpost.
“Luminous Lane,” she uttered as she turned round to see the splendor of the land. “What a cozy, candlelit place indeed!”
The only light came from candles, but they were not your ordinary candles. There were thousands of white-winged candles flying and hovering in the air all around them.
“They’re like little angel candles,” Deliah said aloud. Just then, she heard a grunt and turned to see Mayweather’s struggle to get up despite her burnt wing. “Oh my goodness!” she cried, “Are you all right?”
Always a trooper, Mayweather tried to shrug it off, but with her singed wing, she was incapable of flying, and a grimace of pain managed to escape her clenched lips. Ostephen tried to help her up but realized she needed more help than he could give.
“Okay. I know a healer here who can help her. She lives at 123 Luminous Lane. Let’s go,” he said hurriedly. He helped Mayweather onto Deliah’s outstretched palm, and they quickly moved down the lane, searching the well-marked cottages, looking for the one marked 123.
“Here we are,” Ostephen shouted happily. “Mrs. McCullum, the healer, lives here. Her husband is Laflin, the leprechaun.”
Hearing a chipper, hearty laugh inside, Deliah knocked on the door with her free hand, but no one answered. She knocked louder, and suddenly the door swung wide open. As soon as Mrs. McCullum saw Ostephen standing there, she shrieked happily. Then with barely a glance, she spotted Mayweather’s wing.
“Hurry in, my dears,” she commanded sweetly, ushering them inside. “Let’s mend this poor thing, shall we? Ostephen, it’s so wonderful to see you. It’s been so long. I still feel badly…,” her voice trailed off in sadness and disappointment.
Ostephen whispered to Deliah, “I thought she might be able to help me help Kristoff, but….” His eyes began to tear up, so he looked sadly at the floor, and Deliah squeezed his little blue hand.
“And you must be Deliah. I knew our paths would be crossin’. The leaves told me as much.”
Mrs. McCullum gave Deliah a hearty hug and turned back to her injured patient. Mayweather, who had started yawning minutes ago as Mrs. McCullum pressed a damp cloth to her forehead, had now fallen fast asleep. While she slept, Mrs. McCullum tenderly patted her burnt wing with loving care and a lotion that smelled of sandalwood. The healer also wrapped Mayweather in a warm tea towel, which she calculated was tiny enough to serve as a blanket. She then gathered Deliah and Ostephen into the kitchen where she began brewing some tea.
Another bout of uproarious laughter bellowed through the house, startling the lot of them.
“Laflin!” Mrs. McCullum shouted. “Keep it down! We have guests, and you’re about to wake one from a much-needed slumber. Now, my dears, how are you two?”
Mrs. McCullum was a robust woman, though she was quite short as Laflin was. Indeed, she, too, resembled a leprechaun. She had a warm, freckled face; red hair; and sincere, light blue eyes. They were about to fill her in on their latest adventure when Laflin entered the kitchen.
“Take your hat off,” Mrs. McCullum said. “’Tis rude otherwise.”
Laflin put his right hand to his belly over the top of his black belt and green coat and laughed. Then he received a warning glance from the missus and promptly removed his green t
op hat. They’d been together for years, and Laflin knew just how far he could push her, as she did him. This was what made their relationship work; they kept each other on their toes.
After Ostephen introduced Deliah to Laflin, they all settled in for a nice pot of tea, complete with tea leaves, which Mrs. McCullum informed them she would be reading at the end of each cup.
“’Tis an ancient art, tea leaf reading,” Ostephen whispered to Deliah.
Deliah took her last sip with both hands wrapped around the cup before sliding the cup across the table to Mrs. McCullum, who turned the cup around and over and then looked intently into Deliah’s face. Suddenly, Mrs. McCullum looked stricken.
“Well, goodness!” she took a deep breath, then fell silent. “In all my years….”
“Nice work, kid. You managed to make her speechless. I’ve been trying to accomplish that for years!” Laflin snorted.
Just then, the cup rose out of Mrs. McCullum’s hands and hovered in the air amid the candles. It began to shake and rattle before it shattered and turned into confetti. The colorful confetti slowly fell to the center of the table, forming a few odd wavy lines that only Mrs. McCullum seemed to understand.
She studied them for a moment then said, “Color. Color and celebration, child. There’s going to be some kind of a celebration in Greenland!”
After spending the night in Mrs. McCullum’s warm and welcoming home, they awoke refreshed and ready to continue on their journey. Because Mayweather was still weak and needed to heal, Mrs. McCullum insisted that she stay behind. After a plentiful breakfast and more laughs, Laflin sneakily tucked a few gold coins into Deliah’s hand when the missus wasn’t looking.
“It will serve ya down the road,” he said with a wink.
With that, Deliah and Ostephen wished Mayweather well and headed down Luminous Lane toward Greenland.
“It’s hard to tell what time it is with only candlelight to follow,” Deliah said to Ostephen.
In unison, they echoed, “It’s beautiful!”
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