“Please help me, Tink! I know this will work. Look.” Beck leaned over Tink’s worktable and sketched on a torn leaf. “Like this. See? But not made out of Never pewter. Made out of grass and bark. So it will be lightweight.”
Tink pulled her bangs. “If it’s not made out of metal, I won’t be of much help. Let’s go see the grass-weaving-talent fairies.” She folded up the sketch and put it in her pocket. Then they set off to find others to help them.
In the end, it took several fairy talent groups to make the sleigh. The measuring-talent fairies measured Beck from head to toe and all around. The grass-weaving-talent fairies wove grass, reeds, and dandelion fluff into a seat and a harness. The carpenter-talent fairies built a frame out of the thinnest bark. And the art-talent fairies painted everything blue to match the sky. When they were all done, Beck sat in a beautiful sleigh just big enough for one fairy.
It was graceful, delicate, and light as a feather. Beck knew that any bird would be proud to pull it.
Fawn looked at it and sighed. “Shall we call one of the ravens and ask him to take you for a test ride?”
“No! No! L-l-let me! Me. Oh, p-p-pleeeaaase!”
They all looked up and saw Twitter fluttering toward them. The little hummingbird flew all around the sleigh. “Let me pull it…please. I can do it. I promise. Let me. Let me.”
“But, Twitter,” Beck said, “you’ve never pulled a sleigh before. It might be hard.”
“Please let me have a turn. Please? I’m very strong for a hummingbird.”
Beck whispered to Fawn, “I don’t want to hurt his feelings. It’ll probably be too heavy for him.”
“Just let him try,” Fawn whispered back. “He’ll give up soon and then we can call the ravens.”
Beck turned to Twitter and spoke in Bird. “Okay. Great! I can’t think of anyone I’d rather fly with.”
Twitter happily thrust his wings into the grass harness. “Here we go!”
Beck had hardly had time to settle herself when the little hummingbird darted into the air and the sleigh jerked. Beck’s heart thumped, and she almost dropped the reins.
At first the sleigh didn’t move. But Twitter flapped his wings faster and faster. Little by little, the sleigh rose into the air.
The fairies cheered as it climbed higher.
Once it was up, the breeze helped things along. Pretty soon, Twitter was pulling the sleigh through the air, darting this way and that.
“This is fun!” Twitter shouted.
It was fun. But it was also a pretty bouncy ride. Beck realized that Twitter’s hummingbird style of flying wasn’t the best for pulling a sleigh. Twitter darted left…then right…then left again. They flew through a gust of wind. Uh-oh! The sleigh began to tip. A second gust of wind caused it to teeter back and forth. Beck was thrown against the side. The sudden shift of her weight upset the balance. She felt her stomach flip as the sleigh turned upside down in the air and she fell out.
Oh, no!
Beck hurtled headfirst toward the ground. Faster and faster she fell. She struggled to open her wings and fly, but it was hard to do while falling upside down. Beck looked below her. The ground and trees came rushing up to meet her. She took one last look at the world speeding past and then squeezed her eyes shut.
CRASH! BOOM! Riiip! Sproiinng!
Beck fell into a large brushy thatch of leaves on the end of an outstretched branch. The tangle of bristly leaves scratched. But one twig caught on her tunic so that she didn’t fall.
Crash! Boom! Riiip!
The sled came tumbling after her. It fell through the branches, ripping and tearing until it landed in pieces on the ground below.
Beck blinked. She couldn’t believe her luck. She struggled to sit up, but she was stuck. She was going to need help to get loose.
Twitter flew over her in circles. “Are you all r-r-r-right? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Beck said. “Are you?”
“Yes…b-b-but…I’m sorrrrrry!” Twitter wailed. “The sled is broken and…it’s my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Beck told him quickly. She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “It wasn’t your fault at all.”
“You’re not mad at me?”
Beck sighed and shook her head. All that work. And she had come so close. Now she was back at square one.
She swallowed the lump that was rising in her throat and forced herself to laugh. “Aren’t we silly? Look at me. I’m stuck. Do you want to do something for me?”
“Yes,” Twitter said quickly. “Yes. Yes. What can I do now?”
“Go tell the others I’m stuck in the…in the…” Beck looked around. Where was she?
Suddenly, she saw a face appear in a knothole of the tree trunk.
“I don’t remember inviting you over,” said a familiar nasty voice.
Vidia!
She had crashed into Vidia’s private tree. “Tell them I’m stuck in the sour-plum tree,” Beck told Twitter. “And I need help.”
“All right, Beck. I will. I’ll be back as fast as I can.” Twitter darted away, leaving Beck stuck in the leaves of Vidia’s sour-plum tree.
Vidia flew toward Beck. She held out her hand. “Here. I’ll get you out.” She took Beck’s hands and pulled hard.
“Ouch!” Beck cried.
The leaves of the sour-plum tree scratched Beck’s arms and legs when Vidia pulled her from the tangle. But Vidia didn’t seem to care. “Well, don’t bother to be grateful or anything, sweetie.” Vidia put her hands on her hips. “Lucky for you, darling, I happened to be home and saw your little spill.”
“I-I-I’m grateful,” Beck stuttered. She always felt shy around Vidia.
Vidia called everybody sweetie and darling. But Vidia felt affection for no one—except herself. And everybody in Pixie Hollow knew it. She didn’t like the other fairies and they didn’t like her—which was why she didn’t live in the Home Tree with the others. She lived by herself in the sour-plum tree.
Vidia waved Beck’s thanks away. “Don’t mention it. We’ll just say that you owe me a favor. What were you doing in that sled-thing, anyway?”
“Trying to fly with the birds,” Beck said, blushing. Even to her own ears, it sounded very silly.
Vidia lifted an eyebrow. “Is that so? Why do you want to fly with the birds?”
“Because I want to explore,” Beck blurted out. “I want to see what’s outside Pixie Hollow.”
A slow smile spread over Vidia’s face. Her eyes lit up. She leaned closer. “I don’t blame you. If I had to stay in Pixie Hollow all the time, I’d go crazy. Why shouldn’t you shake the dirt of this place off your boots? Why shouldn’t you see the big world?”
“If only I were a fast-flying fairy.” Beck sighed. “But even if I were, I wouldn’t be able to fly very far away and still come back.”
“You could if you were willing to bend a few rules. Some of us do, you know. Wait here.” Vidia ran lightly to the knothole in the tree and ducked into the trunk. A few moments later, she came out. She was holding a small velvet sack.
Beck backed up. Everyone knew that Vidia had her own extra-powerful fairy dust. It was made out of feathers that Vidia had plucked from Mother Dove. Plucking feathers from Mother Dove was forbidden. It was the worst thing a fairy could do. As a result, Vidia had been banished from Mother Dove’s home. She was not allowed near the hawthorn tree.
Vidia pressed the small velvet sack into Beck’s hand. “Feel the weight. Did you ever dream of so much fairy dust? There’s enough dust here to take you to the other side of the world and back. I’ll give it to you if you promise to tell no one.”
“No!” Beck protested. “I could never—”
Vidia cut her off. “I know. I know. You’re Mother Dove’s special pet, and you’d never do anything to hurt her. But this dust came from a feather plucked years ago. Why shouldn’t you use it? It’s not like it would hurt her now.”
Beck chewed her lip. There was some truth in what Vidia said. “Wh
y would you help me?” Beck asked.
Vidia draped her arm over Beck’s shoulders. “Because I like you. You’ve got spunk. You want more out of life than hanging around Pixie Hollow. There are plenty of animal-talent fairies around. Plenty of every kind of fairy. Let’s face it. Most of them are just taking up tree space. How many fairies does it really take to pop the dings out of pots and fold napkins?”
“But—”
Vidia ignored her. “Fairies like you and me are independent. We want to be more than just another fairy. We want to fly faster.”
Beck couldn’t help feeling flattered. She’d never really thought of herself as independent.
Vidia winked at her. “Take it and go.”
“No. I can’t. I…” Beck tried to give the sack back to Vidia, but Vidia shot up into the air.
“Catch me if you can,” she said with a laugh.
Beck stretched her wings and flew as hard as she could. Vidia might fly faster, but Beck had to catch her and return the sack.
Vidia pointed toward the horizon, where another flock of Explorer Birds moved through the sky with dizzying speed. She zoomed back and flew circles around Beck. “This is your chance, Beck. Fly away. See the world. Go! Go! Go!”
With that, Vidia threw a handful of sparkling dust into the air. The dust twinkled as it rained down on Beck’s head and shoulders.
Beck felt a jolt of power surge through her wings. It lifted her through the air and shot her forward toward the flock. It was like a dream. Never had she flown so fast. Never had it been so easy.
She was gaining on them. She could catch up. And once she caught up, she would keep up. I’m going! Beck decided in a burst of joy. I’m going!
“Good-bye!” she heard Vidia call out behind her.
Beck waved her hand in the direction of Pixie Hollow. “Good-bye!”
BECK SLIPPED into the back of the birds’ formation. It took her only seconds to match her wing motion with theirs. She felt as if she could fly for hours. For days. For weeks.
She checked the pocket of her tunic. The little velvet sack was heavy. Full of dust. Enough dust to take her to the other side of the world and back, Vidia had said. Beck felt a sharp stab of guilt. What would Mother Dove think of her if she knew that Beck was using dust made from illegally plucked feathers?
But when Beck looked down, her happiness grew so large that it pushed the guilt to the back of her heart. She was flying higher than she had ever flown.
Down below she saw rivers and mountains. Plains and forests. Never Land was bigger than she had ever dreamed.
“Wait a minute! You’re not one of us.” The bird flying beside Beck stared. “You’re not even a bird.”
“I’m a fairy,” Beck explained. “My name is Beck.”
The bird was so surprised that he bumped into the bird ahead of him. That bird bumped into the bird ahead of her. And that bird bumped into…Well, you get the picture. Pretty soon, the whole formation had fallen apart.
The flock leader noticed the problem and led them downward. Beck followed, determined to stay with the flock.
The birds settled in the treetops, chattering and curious. What had happened? What had gone wrong? Why were they stopping?
One by one, the birds began to notice Beck. And when they did, they fell silent. After a few moments, every single bird in the flock was staring at her.
The flock leader flew over and eyed her. His cheeping was curt and clear. “You’re a fairy, aren’t you?”
Beck nodded. “That’s right.”
“What are you doing this far from Pixie Hollow?”
“I want to travel. I want to go exploring with you,” Beck said.
“What fun!” the bird to Beck’s left chirped. “You can be our mascot. We’ll be the only flock of Explorer Birds with a fairy. The others will be so jealous.”
“Wait, not so fast,” clucked another. “This sounds like trouble to me. She’s already ruined one flight pattern. How do we know she won’t do it all the time?”
The birds broke into excited chatter. Some wanted to keep her. But lots of others were worried. “What if she can’t learn the flock formations?” “What if she can’t find her own food?” “What if she can’t keep up?”
Flying so far so fast had given Beck enough confidence to speak up. “I didn’t spoil your flight pattern. He did.” She pointed to the bird who had been beside her. “That’s because he was surprised to see me. But it won’t happen again. I’ve been flying with you for a while and you never even noticed. I think I’ve proven that I can keep up.”
The flock leader cocked his head, and his eye gleamed. “You have a point. But you can’t blame us for not wanting to take a chance. Today was just ordinary flying. Nothing fancy. But the skies are full of hawks, headwinds, and hail. We have to use some different tricks to survive sometimes. How do we know you can do it?”
“Try me,” Beck challenged.
The flock leader nodded. “Very well. Follow me.” He shot into the air so fast, all Beck saw was a streak of blue and yellow. Within seconds, he was yards above her.
Beck reached into the sack and sprinkled her wings with the extra-powerful fairy dust.
Varooom! Beck’s wings beat the air so hard they made a whipping sound behind her. She trailed the flock leader for a few seconds, checking the wind. Then she lowered her head and poured on the speed. The gap between the flock leader and Beck narrowed until she was flying steadily by his left wing.
The flock leader moved sharply to the right. Beck hadn’t seen it coming. She turned to catch up. But he had already changed course again.
Beck gritted her teeth and zoomed. Once again, she centered herself by his left wing. As soon as she did, he rolled and dropped. He left her flying alone.
Beck took some deep breaths. This was going to be harder than she’d thought.
She needed more than the ability to fly fast. She needed her own talent. Animal talents didn’t communicate with animals only by speaking their languages.
Beck closed her eyes for a moment. She struggled to force her mind to connect with the flock leader’s. She felt a flicker. A flutter. A sudden lightness of heart and quickness of thought. She didn’t “hear” him thinking. But she knew what was in his mind.
She banked and barrel-rolled. She dropped until once again she was flying at his left wing.
This time, when he headed straight upward and fell in a tailslide, she matched his movement exactly. When he stopped and slipped backward through the air, the distance between his wing and Beck’s didn’t vary an inch.
He banked. She banked. He tilted to the right. So did she. He sped up. Beck did, too.
She could feel his approval. He was having fun now, and so was she. Together, they flew faster and faster. They did figure eights and loops, back turns and barrel rolls. Finally, he headed downward with Beck at his left wing. They landed together on a tree limb.
“Welcome to the flock,” the leader told her.
THE NEXT FEW DAYS were glorious. Every morning, the Explorer Birds took to the sky. And when they saw something interesting or exciting or new, they stopped to check it out.
Beck got to know many of the birds by name: Ugo, Wego, Uway, Awayme, Ugone, and Hewent. But her special friend was Igo.
“Look down there,” said Igo. “It’s the Striped Sea.”
Beck looked and drew in her breath sharply. The waves were striped! She saw a pink-and-white-striped wave followed by a blue-striped wave followed by a yellow-striped wave. “It’s true!” Beck exclaimed. “There really is a Striped Sea. Some fairies thought it was a tall tale.”
“Of course there’s a Striped Sea,” Igo answered. “Everybody knows that. It’s the last big body of water before the Roughtongue Desert.”
The flock began to head downward. “Speaking of…it looks like we’re going to stop there for lunch. Good. You haven’t lived until you’ve tasted Roughtongue plums.”
The Explorer Birds landed on a large stretch of desert d
otted with lacy trees. Each tree was full of tiny plump plums. Beck picked one and landed lightly on the ground. Might as well take this chance to stretch her legs.
“Hellllooooooo…”
Beck jumped at the strange voice—a voice that wasn’t really a voice. A voice that was like a rattle and a sigh.
“Wheeeeere are you gooooooing? Are you losssssssst?”
Beck felt the sand below her move. She smiled. It was the sand talking, just as Spinner had said. “Thank you very much,” she said politely. “But we’re just taking a short lunch break. Then we’ll be flying away.”
“Flyyyyyyyying? Are you a bird? You don’t look like a biiiiiirrrrrrrd.”
“No. I’m a fairy,” Beck said.
“Issssssss that like a sssssparrrrrrow man? I met a ssssssparrrow mannnnn onccccce.” The sand shifted and rippled. A soft dune rose in front of Beck. Then, magically, a face shaped out of sand appeared in the side of the dune. It stared at Beck curiously.
“Yes! A sparrow man is a boy pixie. I think I know who you mean. His name is Spinner. Do you know where he is?” Beck asked.
The dune collapsed and rose again behind Beck. She whirled around and saw squiggly lines scrawl across the side of the sand—like a map. A little picture of an oasis with an X on it appeared. “The oasssssiiissssss. Do you want me to ssshowww you how to get thhhhhere?”
The flock leader whistled. It was time to move on. “I wish I had time. But I have to leave,” Beck told the sand. “But…but…if you see Spinner, tell him hello from Pixie Hollow.”
A wind blew across the sand, and the map, dune, and face were gone. “I willlllllll,” the sand sighed. “I promisssse.”
Beck hurried to join the others. The flock rose into the sky and pinwheeled away.
Beck had never felt so happy in her life. The world was an amazing place. And she wanted to see every single inch of it.
For the next hour or so, the flock flew at an easy pace over forests and hilltops. Igo flew on Beck’s right. They cheeped and chatted as they flew. But then a sharp clucking from the front of the flock warned Beck to pay close attention. She fixed her eyes on the bird in the lead, and suddenly—Whoosh—the entire formation shot straight upward.
Disney Fairies: Beck Beyond the Sea Page 2