The False Fairy

by Jordan Quinn

  CONTENTS

  Map of the Kingdom of Wrenly

  Chapter 1: Trick-and-Trip

  Chapter 2: Bull’s-Eye!

  Chapter 3: The False Fairy

  Chapter 4: Anybody Home?

  Chapter 5: A Sign

  Chapter 6: Shapes in the Clouds

  Chapter 7: The Spell

  Chapter 8: Rumblings

  Chapter 9: Trapped!

  Chapter 10: Brave Little Wings

  About Jordan Quinn and Robert McPhillips

  Trick-and-Trip

  * * *

  * * *

  “One orange honey blossom!

  “Two orange honey blossoms!

  “Three orange honey blossoms!”

  Rainbow Frost and Amber Quill counted all the way to twenty-five orange honey blossoms—because that’s how fairies count seconds on Primlox.

  “Ready or not,” cried the fairy sisters, “here we come!”

  Then the two fairies darted through the island’s forest. They peeked into squirrel holes and looked behind stumps and bushes. Amber Quill zipped across the forest path and bumped right into Falsk, a fairy who wasn’t playing.

  “Seen any fairies hiding?” asked Amber Quill hopefully.

  Falsk had on a forest-green sepal petal skirt and wore a tiny hat of purple jasmine. She tapped the side of her head with one finger as if she were thinking. “Why, yes!” she whispered, pointing with her other finger. “I saw one right behind that tree.”

  Amber Quill tiptoed and jumped behind the trunk to surprise the fairy from her hiding place.

  Ker-splat!

  Amber Quill landed smack in the middle of a mud puddle. “Aaaah!” she squealed. “I’m all splattered in icky muck!”

  Falsk bent over, laughing. She watched Amber Quill stand back up. Her flower outfit was ruined.

  “You tricked me!” Amber Quill said angrily.

  Rainbow Frost landed beside Amber Quill. “That’s because she’s a trickster fairy,” she said. “Never, ever trust Falsk. She wouldn’t know the truth if it flew up and introduced itself to her!”

  Amber Quill brushed the mud off her bluebell skirt. “I should’ve known better,” she said with a whimper.

  Falsk pulled out a handkerchief and waved it in front of Amber Quill. “Listen, I was only joking,” she said. “No hard feelings, right?”

  Rainbow Frost grabbed her sister’s hand. “Come on!” she said hotly. “Let’s keep playing with our true friends.”

  The fairy sisters flew far away from Falsk and went on with their game of hide-and-seek. They whizzed in and out of the branches, looking for their other friends.

  Then Amber Quill spied something above the canopy of trees. “Look!” she cried, waving to her sister. “Some of our friends are up there. Let’s get them!”

  Amber Quill zoomed through the covering of leaves. Rainbow Frost followed close behind. Then the fairy sisters saw something strange. Their friends were flying in a flock, like birds. The two sisters called out, but none of the fairies answered.

  “Something is wrong,” Amber Quill said. “They seem to be in a trance.”

  Rainbow Frost put her hand to her ear. “I hear music,” she said.

  Then Amber Quill stopped and listened. She heard the sound of a strangely bewitching flute. It played a song that the fairy instantly knew. She began to hum along with it. All at once, her eyes began to swirl and roll back in her head. Amber Quill fell into a deep trance as she floated skyward to chase the enchanted tune.

  “Oh my!” cried Rainbow Frost. “The music has put my sister in a trance!” Rainbow Frost covered her ears with her hands. Then she flew toward the forest floor to escape the melody. All around her, one fairy after another fell under the musical spell and drifted up into the sky. Rainbow Frost touched down on the path and noticed Falsk stuffing milkweed fluff into her ears.

  “Falsk!” Rainbow Frost cried. “The fairies are in troub . . . !”

  Then a dreamy expression fell over Rainbow Frost’s face. Her body began to float upward. Falsk watched in horror as Rainbow Frost and the fairies of Primlox seemed to be pulled away by a dark, misty cloud moving across the sky.

  “No!” cried Falsk. She searched the island for others, but no one was there. She was the last remaining fairy.

  Bull’s-Eye!

  * * *

  * * *

  Clara Gills pointed her bow toward the ground and prepared her arrow. Then she drew it, aimed, and released. Thwack! Her arrow stuck in the middle of the target.

  “Bull’s-eye!” she cried.

  Prince Lucas smiled at his best friend. Then he grabbed an arrow from his quiver, took aim, and twoof! He hit the outer ring.

  “My turn again!” Clara said gleefully.

  She hit another bull’s-eye. Ruskin, the prince’s pet red dragon, squawked and flapped his wings.

  “Whose side are you on, anyway?” Lucas complained.

  Ruskin chirped happily. Lucas and Clara shot the rest of their arrows. Then they counted their points. Beyond the shooting area, there was a very long line of townspeople, trolls, and wizards outside the castle. Once a month the palace was open to anyone who wanted to talk with the king face-to-face.

  Lucas and Clara collected their arrows and slid them back inside their quivers.

  “This time I’m going to beat you!” Lucas declared.

  Clara laughed. “We’ll see about that!”

  The bushes beside the archery range rustled. Ruskin squawked sharply and began to sniff and paw at a hedge.

  “Help!” cried a small voice from inside the bush. “Please, somebody, help me!”

  “Stand down, Ruskin!” Lucas commanded. Ruskin backed away. “Good dragon.”

  Clara laid down her bow and crept over to the bushes. Gently, she pulled the branches apart where Ruskin had been pawing.

  “Oh my!” Clara exclaimed. “It’s a fairy!”

  The False Fairy

  * * *

  * * *

  The fairy shielded her face with her arm. Her pearly wings flitted nervously.

  Lucas knelt beside Clara and peered into the bushes. “Is everything all right?” he asked the fairy. Fairies didn’t usually come to the mainland.

  Falsk uncovered her eyes and shook her head. “My fairy friends are in trouble!” she cried.

  Lucas tilted his head to one side. “What kind of trouble?” he asked.

  Then Falsk explained how the sound of an enchanted flute had put the fairies into a trance. “They abandoned Primlox, following the music in a great swarm,” she went on. “The strange song was coming from a dark, misty cloud moving across the sky.”

  Lucas and Clara looked at each other in surprise.

  “You need to talk to the king,” Lucas declared. “I can get you to the front of the line.”

  Falsk wrung her hands. “I can’t. The king won’t listen to me.”

  Lucas frowned. “What do you mean?” questioned the prince. “Come with me. I’ll see to it he does!”

  But Falsk couldn’t look the prince in the eye. “I have a confession to make,” she said sorrowfully. “I have a bad reputation in the Kingdom of Wrenly. I’m known as . . . the False Fairy.”

  Lucas and Clara both gasped.

  “You’re the legendary False Fairy?” Lucas exclaimed.

  Clara shook her head in disbelief. “You made up the rumor about the Ghost of Wrenly!”

  The children named rumor after rumor that Falsk had made up—stories of six-headed dogs, giant ice trolls, and bats in the schoolhouse.

  “Okay, okay,” said the mischievous fairy, squeezing her fists. “I know! I am a very bad fairy. The king and queen will never believe my story.”

  Clara wagged her finger at Falsk. “Why should anyone bel
ieve you?” she asked.

  Lucas nodded. “Clara’s right. For one thing, why are you the only fairy who hasn’t been bewitched?”

  Falsk held her hands over her ears. “Stop! Please!” she begged. “If you don’t believe me, then come to Primlox and see for yourself.”

  And just like that Lucas and Clara had found their next adventure.

  Anybody Home?

  * * *

  * * *

  The prince enlisted the crew of the Royal Scepter, one of the ships that took passengers from island to island in Wrenly, to help them on their mission.

  Neither Lucas nor Clara believed there was any truth to Falsk’s story. It sounded very far-fetched that all the fairies in Primlox were gone, but they set forth anyway.

  Grom, one of the ruling wizards of Hobsgrove, also boarded the ship.

  “What do you need in Primlox?” asked Clara.

  Grom patted his leather satchel. “Potion ingredients,” he said. “They are waiting for me at Queen Sophie’s castle.”

  Lucas, who had been looking out on the water, became interested. “What kind of potions are you working on?” he asked.

  Grom stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Let’s see,” he said. “Potions for bad-dragon-breath and stain removal, cough serums, and tracking spells.”

  “Let me know when you finish the bad-dragon-breath potion,” Lucas said, pinching his nose and motioning a thumb at Ruskin.

  Ruskin squawked.

  “And what about you four?” Grom asked. “What brings you to the fairy island?”

  Lucas and Clara explained what Falsk had told them at the archery range. They also told him about her reputation.

  Falsk hung her head. “But this time I’m not lying,” she said.

  Grom wrinkled his forehead. Even he didn’t know what to believe. “Hmm. Perhaps, my prince, you would not mind if I joined you on this adventure?”

  “The more the merrier,” answered Lucas as the ship set sail.

  After a short trip over calm waters, they finally arrived. The ship docked, and the travelers headed for the fairy castle. Nobody greeted them in the great hall.

  “Hmm . . . that’s strange,” Lucas commented.

  Clara looked around. “Hello?” she called. “Queen Sophie? Anybody home?”

  Nobody answered. The only sound in the castle was the lonely echo of Clara’s voice.

  They spread out and began to search for fairies. Clara checked the bedrooms. Lucas looked in the library, the throne room, and the kitchen. Ruskin inspected the towers, while Grom investigated the cellars and storerooms where he also found some ingredients. They could not find a fairy in the whole castle.

  “Hmm, come on. Let’s check the gardens,” Lucas suggested.

  They ran over a stone bridge and through the evergreen archway. The flower gardens were empty. Not a single fairy was collecting nectar for honey. The orchards and hedge mazes were barren too. Up and down the pebbled lanes the fairy cottages stood empty, and the front doors were wide open. Without the magical fairies, the island had begun to look dull and run-down.

  “I told you!” said Falsk, hoping that now they would believe her story.

  Lucas looked around the empty island. “Is this some kind of incredible joke?”

  Falsk flittered around in dismay. “I’m telling the truth!” she wailed. “The fairies are under a musical spell and have been lured away by a dark, misty cloud. The only reason I didn’t fall into a trance was because I filled my ears with milkweed fluff when I saw what was happening.”

  Clara looked at Lucas. “I’m beginning to believe her,” she said.

  “Me too,” agreed Lucas.

  A Sign

  * * *

  * * *

  Grom pulled his spell book from his satchel. “Maybe I can find an explanation for the musical trance in here.”

  Lucas nodded. “We must send for help from the king,” he said.

  They hurried back to the harbor, where another boat had docked.

  An old fisherwoman walked toward them and shook her head. “I just saw the strangest sight,” she said to the children, Falsk, and Grom, who still had his nose in his spell book.

  “What did you see?” asked Clara.

  “Hundreds of fairies flying after a strange dark, mystical cloud!” she exclaimed.

  Lucas and Clara gasped.

  “Which way were they headed?” asked Clara.

  The fisherwoman pointed. “East,” she said.

  They thanked the fisherwoman and started down the dock toward their ship.

  “Let’s go!” Lucas shouted.

  “Wait!” the fisherwoman called after them. “Before you set sail, I have something that may be of interest to you.”

  Lucas, Clara, Grom, and Falsk gave the fisherwoman their full attention.

  The fisherwoman reached into her pocket and pulled out an object shaped like a teardrop. It was flat, and it shimmered in the sunlight. She handed it to Lucas.

  “It looks like a dragon scale,” he said, turning it over.

  Ruskin sniffed the scale and whined. Then Lucas showed it to Grom.

  “I’ve never seen a scale this color,” Grom said. It was silver, blue, and purple.

  Clara inspected the scale too. “Is it a scale from a dragon or some other kind of creature?”

  The fisherwoman looked up at the sky. “All I know is that the scale fell from the cloud the fairies were following.”

  Grom opened his leather satchel. “May I hold it for safekeeping?” he asked Lucas. “It may prove helpful in tracking the fairies.”

  “Of course,” said the prince, handing over the scale. Then he thanked the fisher-woman and asked her to get word to the king that they were setting out on a mission to rescue the fairies.

  Lucas turned to the others. “Well,” he said, “it looks like we have ourselves a second adventure.”

  Clara smiled. “And I thought things were getting dull in Wrenly,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “Let’s go find those fairies.”

  Ruskin squawked his approval.

  Grom frowned grimly. “Don’t kid yourselves, young ones,” he said. “This adventure could prove to be very dangerous. Very dangerous indeed.”

  Shapes in the Clouds

  * * *

  * * *

  “We have no time to lose!” Lucas cried, running up the gangplank with the others close behind him.

  They cast off and headed east in a blustery wind. The ship creaked and heeled to one side. Whitecaps foamed on the crests of the dark green waves. The sun poked out between clouds, and its rays shimmered like spotlights on the water.

  Falsk stayed close to Clara, who leaned on the rail and studied the choppy water for clues.

  “Do you think I’ll ever see my fairy friends again?” Falsk asked sorrowfully. “What if the last thing they remember about me is how I tricked Amber Quill into jumping into a mud puddle?”

  Clara looked the False Fairy in the eye. “You must think good thoughts and be strong for your fairy family,” she said.

  Falsk nodded as a tear rolled down her cheek. “If we do find the fairies, I promise I’ll never play another prank for the rest of my life.”

  Then Clara held a finger to her lips. “Shh,” she said. “Do you hear something?”

  Falsk listened. An eerie tune whistled in the wind.

  Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo . . .

  Falsk knew instantly what this bewitching sound meant. “That’s the song that charmed the other fairies!” Swiftly she slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a tuft of milkweed fluff to push into her ears.

  “Get below, Falsk!” the prince shouted. “Ruskin, help her down.”

  The red dragon led Falsk into the ship’s cabin to get her farther away from the strange humming sound. Then he returned to deck.

  Everyone else remained on alert. They studied the sea and sky for more clues. Soon their imaginations began to play tricks on them. Each wave seemed to swell with monster f
aces, and the clouds took on beastly shapes.

  Lucas shinnied up the mast and climbed into the crow’s nest attached to the masthead. He put his hand to his brow, scanned the horizon, and spied a dark cloud. There’s something strange about that cloud, Lucas thought. It was as if it had wings and a body.

  The prince slid down the mast and reported his finding to Clara and Grom. They began to track the cloud too.

  “I think that something is hiding in the cloud,” said Lucas. “A creature, to be exact. And I’d bet anything that the scale we have belongs to it.”

  “It is moving faster than the other clouds,” Clara noted.

  Grom noticed it too. “And the whispering flute song is growing quieter as the cloud moves away.”

  Lucas gnawed on one of his knuckles as he watched the dark shape. “We’ll never catch up to that cloud in this clunky old ship,” he complained. “It’s much too slow.”

  Clara sighed. “You’re right,” she agreed.

  Grom opened his satchel and pulled out the scale the fisher-woman had given them.

  “It’s time we put a tracking spell on that creature in the cloud,” he said.

  Clara’s face brightened. “That would be great, but it still doesn’t solve the problem of our slow ship,” she said.