A Pinch of Magic

by Kiki Thorpe

  Lainey and Kate were there in record time. Mia met them at the door.

  “It’s getting late,” Kate informed her. “We have to be at the block party soon.”

  “I’m in big trouble,” Mia said. “Come on in.” She showed them the little cakes.

  “Whoa!” said Kate. “That’s a lot of cakes to frost!”

  “And I have no idea how to make frosting!” Mia wailed.

  Lainey thought for a minute. “My mom sometimes uses the recipe on a box of powdered sugar. Do you have any?”

  She did! Mia pulled a box down from the cupboard and read the recipe quickly. All she needed was powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk. Easy!

  There wasn’t a moment to lose. She unwrapped the butter, sifted the sugar, and added the vanilla and milk. Then she began to blend the ingredients. The butter was hard, and she had to hold on to the mixer with both hands. Chunks of butter flew everywhere. Mia turned off the mixer and peered into the bowl.

  “Does this seem right?” she asked.

  Lainey frowned. “Um, it’s supposed to look creamy,” she said. “This looks kind of … gloppy.”

  Mia stuck a knife into the frosting and smeared it on one of the tiny cakes. It slid right off, leaving an oily trail.

  “Yuck,” said Mia. She put her head in her hands. “I give up.”

  Kate studied the recipe. “It says here that the butter should be softened,” she said. “I don’t think it was soft when you blended it.”

  “I’m kind of in a rush here,” said Mia. “So I skipped that part. Now how I am going to fix it?’

  “Can we start over?” Lainey asked.

  “I’m out of butter,” Mia said. “And sugar.” She looked at the clock. “And time.”

  Gabby dragged over the stepstool and peered into the bowl. “Super yuck,” she said.

  Mia sighed. “You’re not helping.”

  Gabby thought for a minute. “Well, if the butter was too cold, why don’t you just heat it up?” she asked with a shrug.

  Mia looked at her sister. Maybe she was on to something. “How would we heat it?” she asked.

  “Put it on the stove?” suggested Gabby.

  “I think that will cook it,” Lainey replied.

  “Put the bowl on top of a hot water bottle?” Kate offered.

  Mia thought for a minute, then shook her head. “No, I think that will melt it. We need a gentle way to heat it. Something we can turn off easily …”

  Suddenly, she had it! She ran upstairs to the bathroom and returned with …

  “A hair dryer!” Kate said. “Mia, that’s genius!”

  Kate turned the dryer on the lowest setting and aimed it the bowl. Lainey turned the bowl, and Mia mixed. Within minutes the frosting had transformed. It was now smooth and creamy.

  Gabby tasted it. “Delicious!” she declared. They all started frosting the cakes.

  Every time Mia finished one, it seemed as if ten more took its place. She was sure they were never going to finish. As each cake was frosted, Gabby carefully placed a delicate candied flower on top.

  Finally, they were done. The girls stared at the cakes, which covered every inch of the kitchen counter.

  “They’re beautiful,” said Kate.

  “Amazing,” said Lainey.

  “They’re fairy cakes!” said Gabby.

  “And they’re done,” Mia said with a tired grin.

  “Beep! Beep! Fairy cakes coming through!” Gabby announced. She led the way down the street to the bake sale stand. People turned and smiled at the little girl in her fairy wings and tutu. In honor of the block party, Gabby was also wearing a plastic jeweled tiara. Kate and Lainey followed closely behind. Mia followed, too, carrying two big plates full of little cakes.

  When they reached the blocked-off street, it was full of people running around making last-minute preparations.

  A rainbow of balloons arched over a stage where a band was setting up. “Testing. One, two, three,” a musician said into the microphone.

  The bounce house was inflated. Folding tables had been decorated for all the different activities. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and sausages were cooking on the grills. A clown arrived carrying a bag filled with balloons ready to be twisted into swords, flowers, and a whole zoo of animals.

  The tables at the bake sale stand were nearly full with treats. Mia, Lainey, and Kate stood looking for a place to put the plates.

  “Good morning, Mia,” said Ms. Choi, a fellow volunteer. “Why don’t you set up over there?” She pointed to a small, rickety-looking table.

  “Can you take it from here, Mia?” asked Kate. “We’ve got to go to our booths now. We’re all on first shift.”

  Mia nodded.

  Gabby tugged Lainey’s hand. “Take me to the face-painting booth,” she said.

  Mia frowned. “Take me to the face-painting booth what?”

  “Now?” suggested Gabby.

  Lainey and Mia shook their heads.

  Gabby laughed. “I know, I know. Please!” she said.

  “Okay,” said Lainey, taking Gabby’s hand. They went off in one direction and Kate went in the other.

  “Hey, Mia!” called Mrs. Funkhauser, another volunteer. “These are my famous Secret Kiss cupcakes. There’s a surprise inside each one. Can you guess what it is? A chocolate kiss!” she said before Mia could answer.

  Mr. Duncan, a retired man who lived on the next block, pointed proudly to his creation. “Snickerdoodles!” he said.

  “We made truffle brownies,” said Tina Taylor.

  “And we already sold three of them!” added Tara. “Better catch up!”

  Mia smiled at everyone and set her plates on the table next to the others. The table was wobbly.

  “What did you make?” asked Tina.

  “Fairy cakes!” said Mia.

  The twins frowned. “Fairy what?”

  “Oh my. What a perfectly darling name,” said Ms. Choi. “You had better be careful, Mia. That table isn’t very—”

  Bang! The table suddenly collapsed.

  “—stable,” Ms. Choi finished. “Oh no.”

  Mia bent down to pick up the plates. Luckily, they hadn’t broken, but several of the cakes had gotten smushed. Ms. Choi brought over two large platters. They moved the cakes onto them. Mia repositioned the candy flowers and smoothed out the frosting.

  “Tough break,” said Tara.

  “I’m so sorry, Mia,” said Ms. Choi. “We can see about getting you another table. Why don’t you share with me until then?”

  Mia looked at Ms. Choi’s table, already crowded with cakes, plates, and napkins. She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll think of something,” she said.

  What would Dulcie do? she thought.

  Then she remembered something the baking talent had said in Pixie Hollow. “If they can’t come to the dining room, the dining room will come to them.” Dulcie had brought all the baked goods outside to feed the workers.

  That’s it! thought Mia. But she’d need help. She picked up the platters. “I’ll be back,” she said.

  She hurried over to the face-painting booth. “I need your help selling the fairy cakes,” she said to Gabby.

  “I need your help selling the fairy cakes what?” replied Gabby.

  “I need your help selling the fairy cakes, please,” Mia said.

  “That’s better. But I can’t. I’m expecting my first customer any minute.”

  “It will only be for a little while,” Mia explained. “Then you can come right back.”

  “Ahem.”

  Mia and Gabby turned around. There stood Mrs. Peavy. She looked at them sternly. “If I can part with my pansies for a good cause, I think you might be able to help your sister,” she said to Gabby.

  Gabby gulped. “Okay,” she said.

  Then, unexpectedly, Mrs. Peavy smiled. “My flowers look beautiful on your cakes, Mia,” she said. “You do have such a magic touch.”

  “Take one,” offered Mia. “On me. It’s the l
east I can do.”

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Peavy said. “But I insist on paying. For the Davises.” She bought two!

  “And maybe Mia will let you paint her face first,” she said to Gabby before she left.

  Mia nodded. She set down her cakes and took a seat across from Gabby.

  After painting a wobbly star on each of Mia’s cheeks, Gabby stood up. “Let’s start selling fairy cakes!” she said. The girls picked up the platters.

  Mia called out to the crowd with all her heart, “Fairy cakes! Fairy cakes! Get your fairy cakes here!”

  But she hardly needed to say a thing. As soon as people caught a glimpse of the pretty cakes, they lined up to buy them.

  “Hi, Mia! I’ll take three, please!” said Mr. Bergen.

  “Those are the cutest cakes I’ve ever seen!” said Mrs. Daly.

  “Mommy, Mommy, I want a fairy cake!” a little girl called.

  Before they knew it, they had sold every last one.

  “Thanks, Gabby,” Mia told her sister. “You can go back to the face-painting booth now.”

  “See you!” said Gabby. She handed over her platter and scampered off.

  Mia returned to the bake sale stand with the empty platters.

  “So how many cakes have you sold, Mia?” Tara called out. “We’ve sold a whole tray of brownies already!”

  Mia set down the platters. “I sold them all,” she said.

  The twins looked at her. “Really?” asked Tina. “You’re not kidding?”

  “Really,” said Mia.

  She was expecting the girls to be mad. But they just shrugged.

  “You beat us fair and square,” said Tara.

  “I wish I’d gotten to try one of your cakes,” said Tina. “They looked really good.”

  “Thanks, Tina,” said Mia.

  Tara sighed. “I guess we’ll go have those T-shirts made up tomorrow.”

  Mia shook her head. “Let’s forget about that. The important thing is that we raised money for the Davis family.”

  And that I won! she thought to herself. She glanced across the street, where the Davis family was standing onstage, looking slightly stunned at the crowd of friends and neighbors who had banded together to help them. “Sometimes it takes losing everything to make you realize how rich you really are,” Mr. Davis announced.

  Mia smiled. Making the fairy cakes had certainly been a lot of trouble. But it was definitely worth it.

  Mia helped Ms. Choi sell pieces of her coffee cake for a while. Then she decided to explore the block party. She stopped by to check on Gabby and bought a ticket from her parents, who were now working at the raffle booth. They were pleased to hear about how quickly the cakes had sold. Next Mia went to Kate’s booth. She tried the ring toss and the egg and spoon race. She didn’t win either one, but she had fun.

  Then she went home to get Bingo and brought him to Lainey’s booth for a brushing. He put up with it until Lainey tried to tie a big red bow around his neck.

  It was a wonderful day. Mia was only sorry that Dulcie wasn’t there to share it with her. She would have loved every minute.

  “I see a rabbit!” said Lainey.

  The four girls lay sideways in the Vasquezes’ hammock so they could all fit. They rocked back and forth gently as they stared up at the clouds.

  Kate closed one eye and cocked her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “Looks more like a baseball glove to me.”

  “You’re both wrong,” said Mia. “It’s definitely a cupcake.”

  “Don’t you mean a fairy cake?” said Gabby.

  The girls laughed. The block party had been a huge success, lasting until long after sundown. A lot of money had been raised for the Davis family, who couldn’t stop thanking their friends and neighbors.

  “I can’t believe you let the Taylor twins off the hook,” said Kate.

  Mia shrugged. “The bet just didn’t seem that important. Anyway, the twins aren’t so awful.”

  “Too bad Dulcie didn’t get to taste the cakes,” said Gabby. “They were so yummy!”

  “I wonder if Lily’s house ever got fixed,” said Lainey.

  “And if Dulcie is still baking like crazy,” said Kate.

  Mia stood up. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go to Pixie Hollow right now.” She ran into the house and picked up a small paper bag she’d left in the kitchen. Then she met the girls at Gabby’s closet door. It creaked open. Mia took a deep breath as they all shuffled forward into the darkness. The air was heavy with the sweet smell of orange blossoms.

  They stepped onto the sunny bank of Havendish Stream. Birds were chirping and chubby rabbits were hopping by. Kate, Mia, Lainey, and Gabby headed straight to the Home Tree, where they noticed a trail of fairies carrying furniture and suitcases.

  “Welcome back!” said Beck, her arms filled with caterpillar wool blankets. “Lily’s temporary house is finished!”

  Lily waved to them excitedly and flew over. “It’s a pumpkin!” she said. “It was Dulcie’s idea. None of the mushrooms we found in the forest are big enough yet, so I’m going to live in this pumpkin until one grows.”

  “And Dulcie’s been making all kinds of pumpkin treats—scones, pies, and soups,” said Cedar, who was carrying a toadstool footstool. “It’s a nice break from all the cream puffs.”

  Dulcie flew by holding a tray. “Pumpkin turnover, anyone?” she said.

  The girls sat on a small hill and watched as Lily moved into her new home. She opened one of her many windows and leaned out. “All this place needs now is some flowers!” she said.

  “She’s really happy,” said Dulcie, settling on Mia’s shoulder. “So how did you like the little cakes? Oh no! I just realized I was in such a rush to get back I forgot to leave you a frosting recipe!”

  “It’s okay,” said Mia. “I figured it out by myself.”

  Lainey cleared her throat.

  “I mean, we figured it out together.” Mia smiled. “It was fun, actually.”

  “And did you beat the Taylor twins?” Dulcie asked.

  “Like a rug!” offered Kate.

  At Dulcie’s confused expression, Mia said, “I did. But it didn’t really matter.”

  “I understand,” said Dulcie with a nod.

  “I named them Fairy Cakes!” Gabby said proudly.

  “Fairy Cakes!” said Dulcie. “What a lovely name! I wish I could have tried one.”

  Mia reached into the paper bag she had brought with her. “Surprise!”

  The cake was big enough for a few of the fairies to share.

  “You definitely have the baking talent, Mia,” Dulcie announced, her mouth full of cake.

  Mia was touched. That was a high compliment coming from the best baking-talent fairy in Pixie Hollow.

  “You’re a good teacher,” she said.

  “Next time don’t wait so long to visit,” said Dulcie. “We miss you when you’re not here.”

  The girls looked at each other and smiled.

  “We won’t let it happen again,” said Mia.

  “We promise,” said Gabby. Kate and Lainey nodded in agreement.

  Just then, Mia remembered something. “Hey, you forgot this at my house,” she said to Dulcie. She pulled the tiny cowboy hat out of the bag and plopped it onto the fairy’s head.

  “Ride ’em, cowgirl!” said Mia.

  “Yee-haw!” shouted Dulcie.

  KIKI THORPE spent much of her childhood reading, daydreaming, and searching for fairies in the forests of Idaho—pastimes that were good training for writing children’s books. She is the author of several books for young readers, including the New York Times bestseller In a Blink, the first book in the Never Girls series. She lives with her husband, Greg, and their two children in San Francisco.

 

 

 
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