This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2013 by Cecilia Galante
Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2013 by Kristi Valiant
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Galante, Cecilia.
Willa Bean to the rescue! / by Cecilia Galante; illustrated by Kristi Valiant. — First edition.
p. cm. — (Little wings; 5)
“A Stepping Stone book.”
Summary: “Willa Bean travels down to Earth for the first time with her father on a cupid assignment, where she finds a boy who has been bullied and needs her help.” — Provided by publisher.
eISBN: 978-0-449-81005-7
1. Cupid (Roman deity)—Juvenile fiction. [1. Cupid (Roman deity)—Fiction. 2. Fathers and daughters—Fiction. 3. Bullying—Fiction.] I. Valiant, Kristi, illustrator. II. Title.
PZ7.G12965Wg 2013 [Fic]—dc23 2012033886
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.1_r1
To Emmy and Macy, the coolest girls in Chicago! —C.G.
For you if you’ve been bullied or are a bully—may you find confidence and help. (Psalm 27) —K.V.
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Willa Bean’s World
1. A Moody Moonday
2. Super-Surprise!
3. Big Ben
4. Lovely London
5. Angus’s Anguish
6. A Change of Plans
7. The Tiger
8. Tigers Stink!
9. LOVE!
10. An Extra Arrow
More Little Wings
Willa Bean’s World
Willa Bean Skylight is a cupid. Cupids live in a faraway place called Nimbus, which sits just alongside the North Star, in a tiny pocket of the Milky Way. Nimbus is made up of three white stars and nine clouds, all connected by feather bridges. It has a Cupid Academy, where cupids go to school, a garden cloud, where they grow and store their food, and lots and lots of playgrounds.
Willa Bean lives on Cloud Four with her mother and father, her big sister, Ariel, and her baby brother, Louie. Cloud Four is soft and green. The air around it smells like rain and pineapples. Best of all, Willa Bean’s best friend, Harper, also lives on Cloud Four, just a few cloudbumps away.
When cupids are ready, they are given special Earth tasks. That means they have to fly down to Earth to help someone who is having a hard time. Big cupids, like Willa Bean’s parents, help Earth grown-ups with things like falling in love. Little cupids, like Willa Bean, help Earth kids if they feel mad, sad, or just plain stuck. Working with Earth people is the most important job a cupid has. It can be hard work, too, but there’s nothing that Willa Bean would rather do.
Are you ready for a peek into Willa Bean’s world? It’s just a few cloudbumps away, so let’s go!
Willa Bean slumped in her chair at the breakfast table and fiddled with one of her curls. It was Moonday, but she was still dressed in her yellow pajamas with pink polka dots. She had not brushed her teeth or untangled her hair. She had not even made her bed, which she had to do every morning before school.
Willa Bean had a good reason for not doing any of these things. The Cupid Academy was closed. And not just for today, but for two whole days. There was a leak in the roof, and until it was fixed, there would be no school. Usually, this would have had Willa Bean flying around the house, squealing for joy.
But not today.
Today she was annoyed. And irritated. And maybe even a little bit angry, too.
“How can you possibly be so glum, Willa Bean?” Mama asked, spooning oatmeal into Baby Louie’s mouth. “You have two whole days off from school!”
“Skoo!” Baby Louie shouted.
Willa Bean frowned at her baby brother. “You hush,” she said.
“Hush!” Baby Louie shouted.
Willa Bean rolled her eyes. She loved her baby brother, but he could be very annoying at times. Actually, he could be very annoying most of the time.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Mama asked gently.
Willa Bean slumped lower in her chair. “Harper’s gone,” she grumbled. “Her mom and dad took her last night to visit her grandma on Saturn. Even though we already made plans for today and everything!”
“Ah.” Mama nodded. “Well, grandmas are important. They need to be visited often, especially if they live far away. How do you think your grandma Vega would feel if we never went to visit her?”
“Hmph,” said Willa Bean.
“What kind of plans did you have with Harper?” asked Mama.
“First, we were going to fly to Cloud Five and dig up our treasure chest,” Willa Bean said. “I found six new pieces of treasure, and Harper found three. And then we were going to take everything out of the treasure chest and count it. And then we were going to clean every single piece until it was super-shiny and put them all back inside. After that, we were going to go back to Harper’s house and make Snoogy Bars and play with Snooze and Octavius.”
Snooze was Willa Bean’s flying friend. He was a pygmy owl from France. He had brown feathers and big yellow eyes. Octavius was Harper’s flying friend. He was a bat. His favorite thing to do was sleep.
“Well, I’m sorry everything got canceled,” Mama said. “What about Snooze? I’m sure he’d love to do something with you today.”
“Mama.” Willa Bean looked at her mother carefully. “Snooze is an owl. He sleeps all day. Sometimes he gets up in the afternoon, but only if we have special plans.”
“It sounds as if you’re just going to have to fly solo for a little while,” Mama answered.
“What’s solo?” Willa Bean asked.
“By yourself.” Mama wiped a blob of oatmeal off the corner of Baby Louie’s mouth. “But there’s nothing wrong with that. Is there any reason why you can’t go to Cloud Five and dig up the treasure chest yourself?”
“Yes,” Willa Bean said quickly. “Because Harper and I never go to the treasure chest by ourselves. It’s against the rules.”
“Oh,” Mama said. “All right. I guess the treasure part of things will have to wait. What about the Snoogy Bars? You can make them here if you want.”
“No, I can’t,” said Willa Bean.
“Why not?” asked Mama.
“Because no one ever makes Snoogy Bars alone,” Willa Bean replied. “That’s another rule.”
“You don’t have to do it alone.” Mama lifted Baby Louie out of his high chair. “I’ll help you.”
“You will?” Willa Bean sat up a little bit.
“Absolutely,” Mama said. “I have to do some laundry first and then run over to Cloud Seven. We’re out of fresh vegetables, and the milk is almost gone. Oh, and Baby Louie has a doctor’s appointment at ten o’clock to make sure his wings are growing properly. So we’ll have to get that out of the way, too, before we put him down for a nap. But after he falls asleep, I’m all yours, sweetheart.”
Willa Bean’s mouth dropped open. Mama just didn’t get it. Not even a little bit. She wanted to do something now. Not later, after a million-bajillion other things!
Just then, Ariel came into the room. Ariel was Willa Bean’s older sister. She had long blond hair and liked to boss Willa Bean around. This morning, she had two beautiful rings on the tips of her white wings. One ring was green. The other was pink. Willa Bean frowned. She wasn’t allowed to wear things like wing-rings yet. She had to wait one more year. Just because Mama said.
“How nice you look!” Mama said, giving Ariel a kiss on the cheek. “Your wing-rings are so pretty!”
“Thanks, Mama.” Ariel tossed her long hair over one shoulder. “Some of my friends are going over to the Cubicles in a little while. Is it okay if I meet them there?”
“Of course,” Mama said. “As long as you’re home for dinner.”
Willa Bean sat up straight in her chair. She wiggled her feet and bounced up and down. She loved the Cubicles. They were a group of shops on Cloud Six. She’d been there only once, with Mama and Baby Louie, but she thought it was a fun place to walk around. There were so many things to look at! And so much treasure to find!
“Oh!” Willa Bean said. “Can I go, too?”
Ariel glared at her little sister. “Not in a million years. This is my day with my friends.”
“Please, Mama, let me go!” Willa Bean tugged on Mama’s sleeve. “You know I don’t have anyone to do things with today! Please make Ariel take me!”
“No way, sunray.” Ariel looked at Mama. “I’m not going at all if I have to drag that little squirt around.”
“Willa Bean.” Mama knelt down in front of her. “I know this feels like a tough day. There’s no school, and your plans with Harper can’t happen. But Ariel wants to spend the day with her friends. So you’re just going to have to think of something to do, honey. By yourself. And then in a little while, I’ll be able to make a batch of Snoogy Bars with you. All right?”
It was not all right.
Not even a little bit.
In fact, it was horribly, terribly unfair.
Willa Bean could feel her inside crying feeling starting to rise in her chest.
But before it could come out of her mouth, she heard someone whispering her name. The whisper was coming from behind her, in the hallway.
“Willa Bean!”
She turned around.
Daddy raised his eyebrows and gave her a wave. “Come here, little love,” he whispered. “I have an idea!”
Willa Bean squeezed in close to Daddy. She loved Daddy’s ideas. They were always fun—and very exciting. “What is it?” she asked.
“How would you like to come to work with me today?” Daddy asked.
Willa Bean gasped. Daddy flew down to Earth every day to help big humans fall in love. It was very special cupid work. And very, very important. “You mean to Earth?” she whispered.
“The one and only,” Daddy said.
“No teasing?” she whispered.
“No teasing.” Daddy bent over and tugged one of her curls. “I could use some help, and it sounds like you’ve got time on your hands. What do you say?”
Willa Bean didn’t say anything. Instead, she screamed and jumped up and down five times. Then she flew straight up into the air and bumped her head on the ceiling.
“Careful!” Daddy called.
“I’m okay!” Willa Bean was already flying back into the kitchen. “I’m going to work with Daddy!” she hollered overhead. “Daddy’s taking me down to Earth so I can go to work with him! For real! No teasing!”
“Deasing!” shouted Baby Louie.
“Oh, honey.” Mama’s eyes were shiny. “How wonderful!”
“It’s more than wonderful!” Willa Bean shouted. She swooped around the kitchen two times. “It’s super-wonderful-times-a-million-bajillion!”
“Well, I’ll take that as a yes,” Daddy laughed, coming into the kitchen.
“You’ll have fun, Willa Bean,” said Ariel. “I remember my first trip down to Earth with Daddy. It was awesome.” She frowned. “At least until we ran into that tiger.”
Willa Bean fluttered back down to the floor. “Tiger?” she repeated softly.
“Ariel,” Daddy warned, “there’s no need to get into that story just now.”
“Okay.” Ariel shrugged. “Sorry. It was nothing, Willa Bean.”
Willa Bean looked at her father. “Did you really run into a tiger?” Her voice quivered.
“Yes, we did,” Daddy answered. “But my assignment was in India, where tigers are common. Besides, nothing happened. He barely even noticed us. We snuck right past, and that was the end of it. You and I are going to a place called England today. They don’t have any tigers in England.”
“But they might have bears!” Ariel called as she ran down the hall. “So be careful!”
“Bears?” Willa Bean’s eyes were very round.
Daddy put an arm around her. “Ariel’s just trying to scare you,” he said. “The Cupid Rule must have slipped her mind entirely this morning. Don’t pay any attention to her. We are not going to see any tigers or bears. I promise.”
Willa Bean wondered if Ariel ever remembered the Cupid Rule, which went like this:
The very best way
To spend your day
Is to try to be kind—
All the time.
Willa Bean forgot it sometimes, too. But not as much as Ariel did.
“Double promise?” she asked Daddy.
“Double promise.” Daddy held up two fingers and then pressed them against his lips. That was the double-promise sign.
“All right.” Willa Bean wanted to believe Daddy. And she sort of did. At least most of her did. But there was a little part that stayed nervous. Miss Twizzle, her teacher at the Cupid Academy, had taught the class about Earth animals already. And tigers and bears did not sound like ones she wanted to bump into.
Not even a little bit.
“You have to get dressed, Willa Bean,” Mama said. “You can’t go to Earth in your pajamas!”
Willa Bean looked down at herself. She’d completely forgotten that she was still in her pajamas! She jumped up and down. “Can I wear my dressy dress with all the beaded feathers on the bottom?” she asked.
“I don’t think that would be very practical,” Mama said.
“There’s no need to get fancy,” Daddy said. “Just put on something comfortable. And hurry, Willa Bean. We have to leave in ten minutes, or I’m going to be late for my assignment.”
Willa Bean raced for the steps.
“And brush that hair!” Mama called behind her. “No cupid of mine is going to Earth for the very first time with a head full of knots!”
Willa Bean ran into her room, yanked open the door to her closet, and pulled out her favorite play outfit. It was purple with silver polka dots. It matched her wings! “Snooze!” she yelled. “Snooze, guess what!”
“I can’t imagine,” Snooze said. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his wings. “But I doubt it’s more exciting than the wonderful dream I was just having.”
“Oh, it is!” Willa Bean wiggled her head through the top of her outfit and stuck an arm in each sleeve. “I’m going to work with Daddy! Down on Earth!”
“La Terre?” the little owl replied. Snooze used a lot of French words since he was from France. La Terre was French for Earth. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure!” Willa Bean giggled. “Daddy just said so!”
“When are you going?” Snooze cocked his head to one side.
“Right now!” Willa Bean yanked her brush through her mess of curls. It was not an easy thing to do. In fact, the brush got tangled in her hair. “Ooof!” she said as she tugged the brush. “It’s stuck, Snooze!”
“Let me help you.” Snooze flew close to Willa Bean’s head. He gripped the hairbrush in his tiny talons. “Deep breath, ma chérie,” he said. “This might pull a bit.”
Willa Bean took a big breath. Snooze flapped his wings hard. He wiggled to the right, and then to the left, until the brush moved. Willa Bean scrunched up her face and bit her lip. Getting her hair untangled always hurt. “Almost there!” Snooze said. “Hold on!”
“Snooze?” Willa Bean gasped.
“Yes?”
“You’ve been to England before, haven’t you?”
“Many times.” Snooze made a little grunting sound and pulled again.
“Have you ever seen a tiger there?”
“Never,” said Snooze.
“How about a bear?”
“A bear?” Snooze squealed. He pulled a final time on the brush, giving it a hard yank. Owl and brush went flying across the room.
“Snooze!” Willa Bean ran over and picked him up. “Are you all right?”
Snooze rubbed the back of his head. “I think so. But why in the world are you thinking about tigers and bears before your first trip to Earth?”
“Because Ariel said—”
Snooze held up a wing before Willa Bean could finish. “Ariel will say anything just to try to scare you. It’s not very nice of her. More importantly, it’s not accurate.”
“What’s accurate?” Willa Bean asked.
“Accurate means correct,” Snooze told her. “Ariel is incorrect about tigers and bears living in England. There may be one or two in a zoo. But you certainly will not run into any of them in town.”
“Willa Bean!” It was Daddy, calling from downstairs. “We have to go! Right now!”
“It’s time!” Willa Bean shouted.
“Well, put me down first, please,” Snooze said. “I have a full day of sleeping ahead, which I’d very much like to get on with.”
“Oh, but you have to come with me!” Willa Bean begged. “Please, Snooze! It’s my first trip to Earth!”
“Willa Bean, I was out all night,” Snooze answered. “I went to Thailand and back, as a matter of fact. I have to get my rest. Otherwise, my brain won’t work very well.”
“Oh please, Snooze. Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?”
“You know, Willa Bean,” the little owl said as he settled himself on her shoulder, “you make it incredibly difficult to say no to some things.”
Willa Bean to the Rescue! Page 1