The Never Girls

by Kiki Thorpe

  Moments later, the girls were back at Mia and Gabby’s house. Lainey changed into some dry clothes she borrowed from Mia, then followed her friends down to the storage room in the basement.

  “What are we looking for?” asked Kate as they poked among the boxes and old furniture.

  “Our boat!” said Mia.

  “We have a boat?” Gabby asked.

  “Don’t you remember? Papi bought a raft that time we rented a cabin by the lake,” Mia said.

  “Oh yeah!” Gabby said. “Papi took us for a boat ride, and you started screaming because you thought you saw an alligator. But it was just a stick.”

  Kate laughed. “You were scared of a stick?”

  “It was a big stick,” Mia said.

  Gabby laughed, too. “You were yelling and waving your arms. You almost tipped the boat over. It was really funny.”

  Mia frowned at her sister. “Gabby, why don’t you go and pack some sandwiches, or something.”

  “Okay.” Gabby sighed and went upstairs.

  Mia found the deflated raft rolled up behind a stack of boxes. She pulled it out and dusted it off.

  “How do we blow it up?” asked Kate.

  “There’s a pump somewhere,” said Mia. After another search, she found the pump next to a pair of plastic paddles and two life jackets. “Gabby should wear a life jacket since she’s the littlest,” she decided. “Lainey, you can wear the other.” Lainey’s friends knew she wasn’t the strongest swimmer.

  “Great. Can we go now?” Lainey said. For every minute they spent at home, hours could pass in Never Land. She was worried that by the time they got back, Sunny would be long gone.

  Upstairs, they found Gabby in the kitchen. “I got the food!” she said, holding up her backpack.

  “Good job,” Kate said. “Come on.”

  “Leave your wings here, Gabby,” Mia said. “You won’t be able to wear them with the life jacket and backpack.”

  The girls headed for the yard. But as they were dragging the raft across the lawn, they heard a knock on the kitchen window.

  “Uh-oh. It’s Mami,” Mia said.

  Mrs. Vasquez opened the back door. “What on earth are you girls planning to do with that old raft?” she asked.

  The friends glanced at one another. “Um…,” Mia said.

  “Well…,” said Kate.

  “Er…,” said Lainey.

  “We’re taking it to Never Land, Mami,” Gabby piped up. “Lainey lost her goldfish, and we’re going to float down Havendish Stream with the fairies and talk to some animals to see if we can find him.”

  Mrs. Vasquez blinked. Then she smiled. “All right, girls. Have fun. Just remember to put everything away when you’re done.” She went back into the house, closing the door behind her.

  “I can’t believe that worked,” Kate said.

  Gabby shrugged. “Sometimes it’s better just to tell the truth.” She pushed the loose fence board aside. “Come on. Let’s go find Sunny!”

  A short time later, Lainey and her friends stood on the bank of Havendish Stream. They stared down at the yellow plastic raft bobbing gently on the water.

  “When you said ‘boat,’ I pictured something bigger,” Lainey said to Mia.

  “Well, it seemed big last summer,” Mia replied. “But I guess I was smaller then.”

  Inflated, the raft looked barely large enough to hold them all. It’s just a pool float, Lainey thought, eyeing the built-in cup holder. It didn’t seem sturdy enough to go down a river. But it would have to do. Lainey knew they couldn’t waste another minute. Poor Sunny was out there somewhere, and he needed her help.

  The girls all climbed in. It really was a tight squeeze. But at last they managed to fit, with Lainey sitting in front as lookout, Kate and Mia paddling, and Gabby in the middle. Rani rode in the cup holder, which turned out to be the perfect size for a fairy. Fawn rode up front with Lainey.

  They were about to push off, when Lainey suddenly cried, “Wait!”

  She climbed out of the raft and ran up the bank to where she’d left Sunny’s fishbowl. “I’ll need this to bring him home,” she explained as she carried it to the raft.

  “Good thinking, Lainey,” Mia said.

  Cradling the bowl in her arms, Lainey climbed back in. Mia and Kate dug in their paddles and they floated out into the current.

  They drifted past the Home Tree. Laundry-talent fairies were outside, hanging up the wash. Rows of bright petal dresses fluttered in the breeze like flags. Farther downstream, they passed tiny wooden doors set into the mossy bank—the workshops of the boat-making fairies. The stream wound through the orchard, and they saw the harvest-talent fairies up in the trees, working three to a plum.

  It was different, seeing Pixie Hollow from a boat. Lainey would have enjoyed it more if she weren’t so worried about Sunny. Where is he? she wondered. What’s he doing? Is he okay?

  A dragonfly flew past. Fawn called to it by buzzing her wings. Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. The dragonfly flew in a circle around them. Fawn listened, then nodded.

  “He hasn’t seen any fish that look like Sunny,” she reported. “But he says there’s a school of minnows ahead. We can ask them.”

  They found the minnows in the shallows near a sandy berm. Fawn flew down so that she was just above the water. She tapped on the surface with her toes. When several silvery fish swam up, she leaned down and whispered to them.

  Fawn looked up. Her face was triumphant. “They’ve seen him!”

  Lainey’s heart leaped. “Are you sure?”

  “I asked if a stranger had been through here,” Fawn told her. “They described him exactly. Orange with a gold belly. ‘Fancy-looking,’ they said.”

  “That’s Sunny!” Lainey exclaimed. “Did they say where he went?”

  Fawn whispered to the fish again. “They say he was headed for the Wough.”

  “The wha?” asked Kate, confused.

  “The Wough River,” Rani explained. “Havendish Stream flows into it. It’s not far. But—” She frowned.

  “What?” Lainey asked.

  “Well, it’s a very big river,” Rani said. “A little fish like Sunny might get lost there.”

  Lainey tightened her grip on the fishbowl. “Poor Sunny. Let’s hurry!”

  Fawn thanked the minnows and they continued downstream. Rani navigated, giving directions like “Paddle to the left. There’s a rock underwater” or “It’s too shallow ahead. Keep right so we don’t scrape the bottom.”

  But they scraped anyway. More than once, the girls had to climb out of the raft and carry it through a shallow stretch. Lainey started to worry that they would never make it to the Wough River.

  “There’s got to be a faster way,” Kate said, when they’d climbed back into the boat a third time.

  “Fairy dust would make the raft lighter,” Fawn pointed out.

  “Oh yeah! Why didn’t I think of that?” Kate said. “Who has the fairy dust?”

  Kate looked at Mia. Mia looked at Lainey. Lainey looked at Gabby.

  “Wait a second,” Fawn said. “Don’t tell me no one brought fairy dust.”

  “We were so busy with the boat, we forgot,” Mia said.

  “And I was worried about Sunny,” Lainey said.

  “I brought the food,” Gabby reminded them.

  “But we’re miles away from Pixie Hollow!” Fawn cried. “How will you get back upstream?”

  No one had thought of that. “Haven’t you got any fairy dust?” Mia asked the fairies hesitantly.

  But Fawn and Rani had only the dust on their backs. It wasn’t enough for all of them.

  “Never mind,” Rani said firmly. “We’ll figure out how to get back later. Look, we’ve reached the Wough.”

  Finally! Lainey turned with excitement. Then her heart sank. Ahead was a deep brown river as wide as a city street. How would they ever find Sunny in there?

  “There are two rivers,” Gabby said. Sure enough, just past the point where Havendish Stream jo
ined it, the Wough River split in two.

  “Uh-oh,” Mia said. “How do we know which way he went?”

  Everyone looked at Fawn. But the animal fairy shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

  “Rani?” Lainey asked.

  Rani’s pale blue eyes studied the river. “I don’t know, either,” she said at last.

  “Then it’s up to you, Lainey,” Kate said.

  Lainey looked back and forth between the two branches. She could feel everyone watching her.

  Which way had Sunny gone? Which way should they go?

  Rani felt troubled. As she stared at the two branches of the river, she had the uneasy feeling she was forgetting something.

  “I don’t know,” Lainey said. She was looking back and forth, too. “What if I pick the wrong way?”

  “We’ll have to take that chance. Just guess,” Fawn said. The current was sweeping them toward the fork in the river. If they didn’t choose a path quickly, the river would choose it for them.

  Lainey took a deep breath and pushed up her glasses. “Okay, um…right,” she said in a quavering voice. “No, left. Left!”

  As Kate and Mia paddled to the left, a nervous prickle crept up Rani’s spine. She felt as if she was forgetting something important.

  The river widened, then slowed to a crawl. They were passing through dense jungle now. Unlike the gentle forest around Pixie Hollow, the trees here were huge and close together. The air was hot. Rani longed to dive into the cool water.

  “I could really go for a swim,” Kate said, echoing her thoughts.

  “Me too.” Mia wiped her brow. She peered at the brown water. “Do you think it’s safe?”

  “We could ask him,” Gabby said. She pointed to a tree branch jutting over the river. A large green iguana lay on it, basking in the sun. When Mia saw it, she shrieked.

  “What’s wrong?” Fawn asked.

  “I’m not very fond of lizards,” Mia said with a shudder.

  As if he knew they were talking about him, the iguana raised his head. Suddenly, he slid off his branch and dropped into the water right next to the boat. Rani watched the tip of his scaly tail disappear below the surface.

  “Well,” Fawn said, “I guess we know it’s safe to swim!”

  Everyone stared at the bubbles where the iguana had disappeared. “That’s okay,” Kate said. “I think I’ve changed my mind.”

  Before long, the river widened until the banks were no longer in sight. The water was sluggish and clogged with lily pads. Here and there, dead trees jutted up like the masts of wrecked ships. Giant cypress trees, festooned with moss, cast shadows across their path.

  “Where are we?” Lainey asked.

  “It looks like a swamp,” Kate said.

  “It is a swamp,” Rani replied. She had suddenly remembered what was bothering her. One branch of the Wough River led to a dismal place called the Sunken Forest. And we’ve just found it, she thought.

  A loud burrrrrup! made them all jump.

  “What was that?” Mia whispered.

  Two more croaks echoed through the swamp. “Frogs!” said Fawn. “Let’s find them. Maybe they’ve seen Sunny!”

  Soon they came to another patch of lily pads. Four fat bullfrogs sat on top of them, silently watching the raft approach.

  “Are you sure about this, Fawn?” Rani asked. She didn’t think the bullfrogs looked very friendly.

  “Don’t worry. I talk to frogs all the time,” Fawn said.

  They all watched as Fawn flew up to one of the frogs. She bugged her eyes, puffed out her cheeks, and croaked. Burrrrup!

  But the frog didn’t reply. He sat still as a rock, gazing at Fawn with heavy-lidded eyes.

  Fawn tried again. Burrrup! Burrrup!

  Still the frog said nothing.

  Fawn frowned. She turned and spoke to another frog, then a third one. They didn’t even blink.

  “I don’t understand,” Fawn said, turning to her friends. “They won’t talk to me. I— Ahh!”

  While her back was turned, the first frog’s tongue lashed out. Rani watched in horror as the frog leaped up and grabbed Fawn in his huge mouth.

  “Fawn!” everyone screamed.

  Fawn was hanging halfway out of the frog’s mouth. She looked outraged.

  “Let me go, you bully!” she shouted, banging on his lip with her hands.

  Burrrup! Burrrup! Burrrup! the other frogs croaked. Rani thought they sounded as if they were laughing.

  Finally, the frog opened his mouth. Fawn fluttered to a safe distance, then shook her fist at him. “What’s the matter with you?” she shouted.

  The frog gazed at her dully.

  Fawn flew back to the boat. “Downriver frogs haven’t got any manners,” she said in disgust. “The bullfrogs in Pixie Hollow would never act that way!”

  “Manners?” Rani said. “Fawn, he tried to eat you!”

  “No, he didn’t,” Fawn replied. “If he’d wanted to eat me, he could have. He just wanted to give me a scare. I guess they don’t like strangers around here.”

  “Meanies!” Gabby hollered at the frogs. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!”

  The frogs blinked. Suddenly, they leaped off their lily pads and disappeared into the water.

  “Way to go, Gabby!” Kate said. “You really told them off.”

  Fawn frowned. “That’s not it. I think something else scared them.”

  They all looked around. The swamp was still and silent. And yet, Rani couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching them.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Mia said. “This place gives me the creeps.”

  The girls took up their paddles. But they began to paddle in opposite directions. “Not that way, Kate,” Mia said. “That’s the way we came.”

  Kate looked confused. “Are you sure? I could have sworn we came the other way.”

  “What do you think, Rani?” Mia asked.

  “I…don’t know,” Rani said. The swamp looked the same in every direction.

  “Look!” Lainey cried suddenly. “There, in the water!”

  Rani saw nothing but lily pads. “What is it?” she asked.

  “It looked like Sunny!”

  “Are you sure?” asked Mia.

  “No,” Lainey admitted. “But it was bright orange. It could have been him.”

  “Let’s wait and see if he comes back,” Kate said.

  They waited for several minutes. Through the cypress trees, Rani could see the sun sinking lower in the sky. They would need to find their way out of the swamp soon. Rani glanced at Fawn and knew she was thinking the same thing.

  “Whatever it was, I don’t think it’s coming back,” Kate said finally.

  “Just a little longer,” Lainey pleaded.

  “It’ll be dark soon,” Fawn said. “We can’t wait.”

  “But what if it was Sunny?” Lainey said. “Maybe he needs our help.”

  Rani looked back at the murky water. She knew what she had to do.

  “I’ll go underwater,” she said. “I’ll look for Sunny myself.”

  Rani stood at the edge of the raft, about to dive in.

  “Rani, don’t!” Lainey said. “Those frogs could still be down there.”

  “And who knows what else,” Mia added with a shudder.

  Rani had thought of that. But she didn’t know what else to do. It was her fault Sunny was gone. She owed it to Lainey to look for him. “I’m the only one who can go,” she said. “Fawn can’t swim. And you girls are all too big. You’d scare all the fish away.”

  “But we won’t be able to see you under the lily pads,” Fawn pointed out. “How will we know if you’re in trouble?”

  Rani thought for a minute. “We’ll tie a rope around my waist. If I need help, I’ll give it a tug.”

  For a moment it seemed that the plan wouldn’t work when they realized that they didn’t have a rope. But then Kate had the idea of using the drawstring from her sweatshirt. She slid it off and double-
knotted it around Rani’s waist.

  “If you feel a tug, even a little one, pull me up fast. Got it?” Rani said to Kate.

  “I’ve got it. But I still don’t like it,” Kate said as she wrapped the other end of the string around her hand. “It feels too much like fishing.”

  And I’m the bait, Rani thought, but she pushed the thought from her mind. “Ready?”

  “Ready.” Kate began to lower her toward the water. Rani took a deep breath and—

  Splash! Rani opened her eyes. She was in an underwater forest. The long stems of the lily pads rose around her like the trunks of tall, narrow trees.

  Something brushed against her foot. Rani whirled around. But it was only her hair, waving behind her.

  Stay calm, Rani told herself with a little laugh. You’ll be done in no time.

  Rani swam through the lily pads. She was surprised how peaceful it was in the swamp. Sunlight filtered down, illuminating the greenish water. A school of tadpoles swam past, their little tails wiggling hard.

  What was that? From somewhere came a soft, rhythmic sound, almost like a pulse. Rani tried to listen. But it was hard to hear over the loud beating of her heart.

  Ahead in the weeds, something moved. Rani saw a flash of orange. Was it Sunny?

  The orange fish came toward her. As it slowly became visible through the murk, Rani’s heart seemed to stop. The fish was big enough to swallow her whole!

  Rani reached for the rope. But before she could pull it, the fish turned and darted away.

  What had scared it?

  There was that pulse again. The sound wasn’t muffled anymore. Now it sounded crisp and mechanical—and it was getting closer.

  TICK-TOCK.

  TICK-TOCK.

  TICK-TOCK.

  Suddenly, Rani knew what it was!

  She tugged frantically at the rope. Even as Kate hauled her out of the water, Rani kept pulling. She gasped as her lungs filled with air.