Christmas Fairy Magic

by Margaret McNamara

  “We call this one!” said the Shepherd sisters together.

  On and on it went till the Christmas Tree Forest was just about empty. The Fairy Bell sisters watched the trees being cut down one by one. “We’ve been robbed,” said Goldie.

  “Well, not really,” said Clara. “Sheepskerry Island is pretty full of trees.”

  “Not trees that have been specially grown for Christmas,” said Goldie. “Just scraggly old leftovers. What if Tink forgets to bring us one?”

  “What if she gets home and finds there’s a tree already there?” asked Rosy, although to tell the truth, she had been thinking the same thing. “Tink’s been away so long. Let’s give her a chance to do something she wants to do for us.”

  “It’s only another few days till Tink comes,” said Sylva. “We can wait that long, I know we can.” She gave her sisters a bright smile. “Let’s at least get our ornaments out of the attic, in case she needs them to decorate,” she said.

  Sylva’s enthusiasm was infectious. “Good idea,” said Clara. “And how about a cup of hot peppermint tea to help us sort them all out?”

  “Race you!” said Sylva. “And we’ll get home faster than any of the other fairies, since we don’t have to lug home a big old Christmas tree!”

  Sylva shot off with Goldie right behind her. Clara and Rosy—with Squeak squirming in her baby carrier—followed a little more slowly.

  “Sylva’s full of Christmas spirit,” said Rosy. “I hope Tink makes it a wonderful Christmas for her.”

  “I hope so too,” said Clara. But inside she added, Mostly I hope she doesn’t disappoint us all.

  seven

  “Ooh, it is so spooky up here!”

  Sylva (who had won the flying race, of course) pulled down the trapdoor to the fairy house attic and peeked into the dark.

  “We’ll light a jellyfish lantern so we can see, but do be careful, Sylva,” said Clara. “I meant to clear this out last spring, but I didn’t manage to find the time. And don’t let Ginger up here—we’ll never find her if she decides to hide.”

  Goldie followed Clara up the steep steps to the attic. She didn’t get to go up into the attic nearly as much as she liked to. She immediately flew over to the musty old costume trunk and opened its creaky lid. “This old-fashioned fairy dress is my favorite,” said Goldie. “It suits me to a T.”

  “We’re not here to try on clothes, Goldie,” Clara said. “We’re here to fetch the Christmas ornaments.” She lifted her lantern, and the light shone on a dusty corner of the room. Sylva zipped up the stairs with Rosy right behind her, carrying Squeak.

  “There they are!” said Rosy.

  In a corner of the attic was a pile of boxes, all marked in different fairy handwriting: Ornaments—special. Ornaments—old. Fairy lights—white. Fairy lights—colored. Sparkly things (that was in Goldie’s writing). Wrapping paper. Ribbons. Boxes—used. Boxes—new.

  “Do you ever think we have too many things up here?” asked Clara.

  “Never!” said Goldie and Sylva together.

  “Where’s the star, for the top of the tree?” asked Rosy. “Tink will want to put that on when she comes.” She moved a pile of boxes. “It’s not here with the other Christmas things. I think we put it somewhere so safe last year that we’ll never be able to find it.”

  “Do you think she’ll get here even earlier than she said? Tink, I mean,” said Sylva. “Maybe she’ll come tomorrow. There’s only a week left till Christmas, you know.”

  “She said she’d be here early morning on Christmas Eve,” said Goldie, wrapping herself in an old velvet cape.

  “Don’t get your heart set on seeing Tink early,” said Clara.

  “We’ll see her when we see her,” said Sylva. “I know.”

  “Help me carry down these boxes, Goldie,” said Rosy. “I can’t manage them all.”

  “I’ll be right there,” said Goldie. She was trying on the spun gold cloth that the Fairy Bell sisters wrapped around the base of their Christmas tree every year. “I think this could make a nice skirt for me.”

  “That’s a tree skirt, not a fairy skirt,” said Clara. “Tink brought it from Neverland when you were a baby, Goldie.”

  “I’ve always loved it,” Goldie said. “It really should belong to me.”

  “It really should belong to all of us, which it does,” said Clara. She held the gold cloth up to the light. “Tink said that this cloth came from Captain Hook’s pirate chest. There’s nothing else like it in the whole world.”

  “The other thing there’s nothing like in the whole world is Tink’s star,” said Rosy. “We can’t go down without it. Where can it be?”

  If any of you are wondering why the fairies celebrate Christmas with so many familiar customs—stars and trees, ornaments and presents—let me tell you why. Fairies and humans once mingled much more than they do now. As the ages passed, some traditions of the season were handed down from human people to the fairies, some from the fairies to human people. On Sheepskerry Island at least, it was hard to tell which was which.

  “Doo!”

  “Squeakie! How did you get there?” cried Rosy.

  Squeak was all the way at the other side of the attic, where the fairies kept the wicker chairs they hoped to mend one day.

  “You’ve found the star. And it is pretty, you’re right!” said Goldie.

  Squeak was holding up a box marked FRAGILE! Tink’s Star. “Good job, Squeak,” said Rosy, taking it from her carefully. “I love this so much. Tink made it when I was just a little wee fairy like you.”

  Tinker Bell’s star may be like the star you have on your own Christmas tree, but it may not be. “Stars aren’t really pointy,” she’d said when she made it, so many fairy years ago. “I’ve seen them up close. And shooting stars are the best of all.” The Bell sisters loved their shooting star. It was so different from the ones on any other fairy trees. “That’s why Tink is so . . . marvelous,” said Sylva. “She thinks of things we would never think of.”

  “All I can think of right now is a nice hot bath,” said Goldie. “This attic is so dusty.”

  “Don’t use all the bubble bath,” said Sylva.

  “There would be a lot left if you hadn’t tried to wash Ginger with it,” said Goldie. “I’ll use as much as I want.”

  “Oh, no you don’t!” said Sylva as she chased Goldie down the attic stairs.

  “I think this may go on all night,” said Rosy. “They’re both so excited about Christmas.”

  “You know what, Rosy?” said Clara. “I’m beginning to get a good feeling about all this. Maybe Tink will even surprise us and arrive tomorrow morning.”

  “I hope she does, Clara,” said Rosy. “Oh, I hope she does.”

  eight

  But Tinker Bell did not arrive the next day. Nor the day after that. With only five days left till Christmas, every other fairy family was preparing for the big day. The Fairy Bell sisters could not help but feel left out.

  And today was the Christmas Fair. Faith Learned’s great-great-grandfairy had started this Sheepskerry Island tradition long ago. The fair was a grand celebration of all the fairies’ talents. Every fairy brought along something lovely or useful or just plain fun to sell at the tables lined up in the schoolhouse. As far back as early autumn, the Fairy Bell sisters had worked on their contribution: pretty wind chimes, made of sea glass hung from driftwood with silver wires.

  The morning of the fair, over a breakfast of oatmeal with currants and cinnamon, with steaming cocoa in their mugs, the sisters arrived at a decision.

  “I know Tink doesn’t want us to get one another presents for Christmas,” said Clara carefully, “but I don’t think she’d want us to go to the Christmas Fair just to look.”

  “I don’t either!” said Goldie. “I absolutely live for the Christmas Fair!”

  “What’s your idea, Clara?” asked Rosy.

  “Tink would want us to have the best Christmas Fair we could possibly have, so let’s be eac
h other’s Secret Christmas Fairy.”

  “Secret Christmas Fairy?” asked Sylva. “How does that work?”

  “Don’t you know anything?” said Goldie.

  “Goldie, please, I’ll write all our names on different pieces of paper,” said Clara, “like so.”

  Clara wrote her sisters’ names on separate pieces of paper in her best writing, except for Squeakie’s, of course. “That’s because we’ll each get a little something for Squeakie,” she said. She put the names into a pointy gnome’s hat, left over from the Valentine’s Games.

  “Everybody choose one name,” she said to her sisters.

  “Then we each get a present for that sister?” asked Sylva.

  “Exactly,” said Clara.

  “A secret present?” asked Sylva.

  “Yes, you ninny,” said Goldie.

  “Goldie, be fair,” said Clara. She turned to Sylva. “Yes, Sylva, a secret present. Nothing too fancy or big.”

  “It could be quite fancy,” said Goldie.

  “Just a tiny little present to keep us going,” said Rosy. “Tink won’t mind that, and if she does, I’ll give her a piece of my mind.” Clara and Rosy looked at each other. “Or not.”

  “Sylva,” said Clara, “you draw the first name, since you’re the youngest except for baby Squeak.”

  “Odeo!” said Squeak.

  “Well, you are the baby of the family, Squeak, although someday I suppose you’ll be grown.”

  Sylva dipped her hand into the gnome hat. I hope I get Rosy, she thought. She opened up the scrap of paper and read the name.

  “Don’t say it aloud!” said Goldie.

  Sylva looked again: Goldie. Her face only fell a little bit.

  “I’m next!” said Goldie. “I hope I get my own name. Then I can get myself exactly what I want.”

  “If you get your own name, you have to throw it back,” said Clara.

  “Humph,” said Goldie.

  She scooped up a name and opened it quickly. Sylva, it said. “I guess I can live with that,” said Goldie, “if I have to.” Sylva could be so annoying, but Goldie did love her deep down.

  “Your turn, Rosy,” said Clara. Rosy put her hand into the gnome’s hat. Rosy’s paper said Clara. Rosy smiled.

  “That leaves me,” said Clara. And of course, as there was only one name left, Clara chose the paper that said Rosy. She could think of so many things Rosy would like.

  Just then the clock on the mantel chimed twice.

  “The Christmas Fair starts in half an hour!” said Goldie. “Let’s go!”

  nine

  The Fairy Bell sisters flew through the crisp winter wind to the fairy schoolhouse. They were so happy to glide into the toasty room, decorated so cheerily for Christmas. This particular Christmas, Avery and Faith had made the schoolhouse especially beautiful. They put away anything that made the place look like a schoolroom, scooping up all the books and maps and charts and hiding them in the cupboards. Then they pushed the desks into the center of the room and covered them with cloths of gold, silver, and deepest scarlet. The rafters they strung with lights, the windows they brightened with candles, and in the corner was their Christmas tree—decorated with paper chains and a popcorn garland that the fairy school students had made.

  “Can we help?” asked Rosy.

  “I think we’re just about finished,” said Faith. “Avery made the wreath on the door—did you see it?”

  “I should have known,” said Goldie. “It has that Avery touch!”

  At that moment, a great cloud of fairies flew through the door, bringing the cold in with them. Some of them had more items to add to the neatly organized tables. Some were swooping around to see if there were any bargains. All were full of the spirit of the season.

  “Can I put my Christmas cookies here?”

  “Is there a scarves and mittens table?”

  “Where do you want us to put ornaments?”

  “Ooh! Look at the jewelry display!”

  Faith was so good at organizing and sorting that the fair was ready to begin. “But I think I’m forgetting something. What can it be?”

  “You’re forgetting Queen Mab!” Sylva said, laughing. “But here she is.”

  Queen Mab flew in through the schoolhouse doors. There was something more than magical about her, something serene and aglow from inside. All the fairies wanted to grow up to be just like Queen Mab.

  “I love what she’s wearing!” said Goldie.

  Queen Mab was dressed in winter white—not a formal trailing gown but a much more comfortable outfit that would have been just right for ice-skating on Lupine Pond.

  “She’s really got style,” Goldie added.

  “My dear fairies,” Queen Mab said in her lovely clear voice, and the crowd hushed. “Welcome, all, to the Christmas Fair.” She smiled at all the fairies. “You have done a beautiful job making gifts that express your own skills.” She looked around at the jams and jellies from the Jellicoe sisters; the shawls and wraps from the Cobweb sisters; the samplers and pillows from the Stitch sisters; the dried sea lavender from the Flower sisters; and the wind chimes from Clara, Rosy, Goldie, and Sylva.

  Queen Mab flew high above them all. “Now Lady Courtney will give you each a dozen pieces of tourmaline from my own treasure chest, which you can use to buy gifts for family and friends. Lady Courtney, are you ready?”

  Indeed she was. The fairies lined up, all of them in high spirits, laughing and chattering. It took just a few moments for Lady Courtney to distribute the beautiful polished stones to the fairies (everyone helped). Each group of twelve gemstones came in its own small purse.

  “They’re red this year!” Goldie cried when Avery opened hers. “First time!”

  “Shall we begin?” asked Queen Mab.

  The fairies did not have to be asked twice. Up and down the aisles they flew, looking for the exact right gift for each fairy on their Christmas list.

  ten

  Rosy, with Squeak in her carrier, was the first to spot something perfect for her sister. “Look at that, Squeak!” Squeak just squirmed as Rosy flew over to the Cobweb sisters’ table. There before her was the most beautiful shawl, worked in an intricate pattern of hearts and flowers. “That’s some of my best work,” said Lacey Cobweb.

  “It’s beautiful,” said Rosy. “May I have it? For Clara?”

  “I was hoping you’d spot this for Clara Bell,” said Lacey. “I was thinking of her as I made it. It will cost you all twelve stones.” She ran her hand over the lovely shawl. “But it’s a fair price.”

  “It’s worth twice that,” said Rosy. She reached into her purse and found only three stones there. “That’s funny,” she said. “I thought we had twelve stones apiece.”

  “We do,” said Lacey. “I’m going to buy a necklace for Blanche with my stones—and keep a little for myself so I can buy a silver charm bracelet, too.”

  “But where are the rest of my stones?” said Rosy. “Something must be wrong. I’ll fly back to Lady Courtney to see what’s going on.”

  Rosy didn’t know it, but in another part of the Christmas Fair the same thing was happening.

  “I’ll take those green-and-silver shoelaces for Sylva,” said Goldie as she and Avery looked over everything on the tables.

  “She’ll love them!” said Avery.

  “I know,” said Goldie. “They’ll look so cute in her new sneakers.”

  “Plus, they only cost three stones,” said Avery, “which leaves you . . .”

  “I think it will leave me enough to buy that darling little skirt from the Stitch sisters. It’s almost as pretty as the one in the attic.”

  “Even if that one is meant for a tree,” said Avery. “Wait—you’re buying something for yourself?”

  “Of course I am!” said Goldie. “Sylva only likes little things anyway. And half the fun of the Christmas Fair is picking out things I’ve always wanted!” Goldie had expected to have lots of presents under a gorgeous Christmas tree by now
, and since there were none, she thought it was only fair to treat herself to some little gift. It’s the least I deserve, she thought, waiting so long for Tink to come!

  “Come on, let’s see how much you have.”

  Neither Avery nor Goldie was much good at doing math in their heads, but they could add and subtract very well when they had things they could hold in their hands. So they emptied out Goldie’s purse to see how many stones would be left when they took three away.

  Except there were only three stones in Goldie’s purse.

  Clara was having the same trouble. She had chosen some pretty coral earrings for Rosy, only to be turned down by the Seaside sisters when she hadn’t enough stones to pay for them. “You must have spent them somewhere else, Clara,” said Shellie Seaside. “Either that or you’re trying to trick us into giving you a bargain.”

  “I’m not trying to trick you!” said Clara, her face hot. “Someone has tricked me!”

  “Well, you can have the wire and the posts for three stones, and if you find coral on the beach, you can make the earrings yourself. But you may have to bargain with the mermaids for pieces as fine as this—and they’re tougher than I am!” Shellie said.

  Clara bought the wire and posts, more out of shame than anything else. She flew over to see Lady Courtney—only to find Rosy and Squeakie, Goldie, and Sylva already there.

  “Oh dear me!” said Lady Courtney. “I had a feeling something like this was going to happen.”

  “We only get three measly stones apiece!” said Goldie. She was absolutely fuming. “I bet this is Tink’s idea. She thought she’d have some fun with us.”

  “I knew those purses felt light when I gave them to you. But I had no idea Tink would pull such a trick on us all.”

  “Our whole Christmas is spoiled,” said Goldie, and she stamped her foot. “All because of Tinker Bell. It’s so unfair.”

  “Don’t talk about Tink that way,” said Sylva. “She’s doing the best she can!” But Sylva herself was close to tears.