by Elise Allen
Quake, meanwhile, held the mutilated blueberry pie toward Flurry. “Here ya go, Butchie. You like pie, right?”
Flurry whined hungrily.
“You can’t eat that pie!” Winter shouted to her bear. “There was foot in that pie! That is foot pie!”
“Man, Butch, you were right,” Thunderbolt said between toe licks. “She’s no fun at all. No wonder you moved to the Barrens.”
“Flurry did not move to the Barrens!” Winter objected. “And he definitely didn’t say I’m not fun! I’m a lot of fun!”
“Prove it,” Thunderbolt said. He held out his foot. “There’s a little pie left underneath the pinkie toe. Eat it.”
“That’s not fun, that’s disgusting!” Winter yelled. “And how would either of you Weeds know anything Flurry said? You speak Bear now?”
“Tell her what you told us, Butch,” Thunderbolt suggested.
Flurry obeyed. He acted out everything that had happened in the fort. He crouched low and pretended to be Winter discovering Snowball, cooing over the pantomimed animal and cuddling it in his arms. Then he took a step back and became himself trying to get Winter’s attention. He turned and became Winter again, putting his paws on his hips. He waved a scolding claw, then pointed angrily, like Winter sending Flurry away. Miming his own response, Flurry got down on all fours and slinked sadly away. When he finished he stood tall, crossed his arms, and put his snout in the air, daring Winter to deny it.
“You see?” Thunderbolt said. “You didn’t want him, so he doesn’t want you.”
Winter ignored him. Flurry’s show broke her heart. She knew she’d hurt his feelings but had no idea how badly until she saw it through his eyes. She moved to Flurry and took the big bear’s paw.
“I’m so sorry, Flurry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you, and I didn’t mean to ignore you. I know I paid a lot of attention to the puppy, but that never changed how I feel about you. I love you. Will you please come home with me?”
Flurry didn’t say anything, and Winter worried he wouldn’t forgive her. Then he squeezed her into the tightest hug ever, dropped to all fours so they were nose-to-snout, and licked her face.
“That’s it, Butchie! Taste her!” Thunderbolt cheered.
“Bet you’re scared now,” Quake chided. “If you’re not careful, our bear’s gonna eat you up!”
“I think I have something he’d rather eat up,” Winter said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a candy cane.
“Didn’t she just complain that the Weeds were giving him too much food?” Summer asked.
“Yes,” Autumn agreed, “but they’re having a moment. We should let it go.”
The smell of peppermint filled the room as Winter unwrapped the candy, but she had forgotten she’d promised the candy canes in her pocket to someone else. Once the scent tickled his nose, Snowball bounded excitedly out of Winter’s hood, ran down her arm, and grabbed the candy cane in his mouth.
Flurry reared back, shocked and angry.
“Um, Snowball”—Winter winced—“that candy cane was actually for Flurry.”
Snowball didn’t understand, and his desire to help with Flurry was apparently eclipsed by his desire for candy. He took his treat and trotted back into Winter’s hood.
Winter looked into Flurry’s stormy eyes and scrambled for an explanation. “Okay, yes, I have the baby fox with me,” she said, “and yes, I gave him some of your candy canes, but it does not mean I’m replacing you! Would I really follow you all the way into the Barrens if I didn’t love you?”
Flurry thought about it a moment, and Winter felt a glimmer of hope. Then the bear stuck his nose in the platter of mashed potatoes, snorted them deep, and blew them at Winter as hard as he could. Gooey potato coated the Sparkle’s face.
“Way to go, Butchie!” Quake cheered.
“Atta boy!” Thunderbolt added.
“Tubers and tiger’s tails!” Spring gasped. “I can’t believe he did that!”
“Flurry has definitely spent too much time with the Weeds,” Summer said.
The two boys scratched Flurry’s back to congratulate him. Their dirty hands left smudges on the bear’s white fur, but he didn’t look like he minded. In fact, he looked proud of himself.
Winter understood. Flurry wanted her to know that he could make new friends too. She cleared swaths of potato goo from her eyes, nose, and mouth, and tried not to think about the fact that they’d been both in Flurry’s nose and stomped by Thunderbolt’s filthy feet.
“Okay, I guess I deserved that,” she told Flurry. “Now can you come home?”
“Butchie’s home is in the Barrens,” Thunderbolt said.
“Yeah, with us!” Quake agreed.
“Me and Quake, we know a thing or two about loyalty,” Thunderbolt told Flurry. “We won’t dump you for somethin’ little and cute.”
“I did not dump you for something little and cute,” Winter said to Flurry … just as Snowball crawled back out of her hood to lick the remaining mashed potatoes off her face.
Flurry glowered, then turned his back on Winter and raced away on all fours.
“Flurry, wait!” Winter cried. “Stop!”
He didn’t stop. He galloped alongside the wooden table as Quake and Thunderbolt ran on top of it.
“Wait for us, Butchie!” Thunderbolt crowed.
“Yeah, we wanna come!” Quake yelled.
The boys paid no attention to the platters of food in their path. They knocked over gravy, stomped into spaghetti, and slipped and slid through a pile of green jelly.
Autumn drew her scepter and turned to Winter. “Should I stop Flurry?” she asked. “I could try to make a wind that would blow him back to us.”
Winter shook her head. “I want him to come home because he wants to, not because we made him.”
She watched sadly as Flurry rounded the far end of the table, then winced as Quake and Thunderbolt leaped off its top to smack down hard on Flurry’s back.
“Let’s bust out of this place, Butchie!” hollered Thunderbolt. “Full speed ahead!” He tugged on Flurry’s neck and steered him straight toward the wall. Winter couldn’t believe it. “Flurry, slow down!” she cried.
“Butchie don’t take orders from you no more,” Quake hollered. “You want to order somethin’ around, try your little fox!”
That got to Flurry. He set his jaw, lowered his head, and thundered straight ahead. Winter couldn’t look. She cringed away, but heard a terrible splintering CRACK. When she peeked back up, there was a bear-shaped hole in the thick wooden wall.
“Flurry!” she cried. She and her sisters raced to the jagged, splintered gap, but Flurry was already far gone, galloping through the Barrens with Quake and Thunderbolt whooping joyfully on his back.
“Winter?” Spring asked worriedly. “What do we do now?”
Before Winter could answer, Thunderbolt spun around and pointed his wand at them. They didn’t hear what he shouted, but an instant later a bolt of lightning hit a W scratched into the wall next to them. The floor under the Sparkles’ feet fell away, and Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer tumbled down into darkness.
The four Sparkles whooshed down a long, twisting tunnel. They couldn’t see a thing, and all they could hear was the sound of their own screams. After what seemed like forever, a door at the end of the slide creaked open. They tumbled outside and splashed into murky water. Winter sank into its depths but quickly kicked her way to the surface, where she treaded water next to her sisters.
“Everyone okay?” Summer asked.
“I’m good,” Spring said.
“I’m okay,” Autumn agreed.
Winter didn’t answer. She was scoping out the situation. They’d been spit into a moat, right next to the steep castle wall. The wall was polished so smooth that Winter knew not even she could climb it. She could get back into the castle by climbing up the slide—she climbed up a slide to get into her bed every night—but the door that had opened to eject the Sparkles had a
lready slid shut.
“I looked too,” Summer said. “The other side’s just as bad.” She pointed to the far bank. Not only was it a long distance away, but it was also covered in thorny vines.
“Is this a bad time to mention I’m not very good in the water?” Autumn asked. She splashed clumsily, and Summer arranged herself so she could help her sister and keep them both afloat.
Unlike her sisters, Spring didn’t seem concerned about their situation. She floated easily on her back and gazed up at the sky until she heard a happy yip.
“Snowball!” she cried as the pup splashed through the water. She giggled as he climbed onto her chest, shook himself dry, then curled into a ball and settled in for a nap. “Awwww, look! He’s using me like a little float!”
“That’s it!” Winter cried. “Spring, speaking of floats …”
“Yes! It’s so funny we’re speaking of floats, because I was just looking up at the clouds … Did you notice that all the clouds in the Barrens are storm clouds? Which I thought would make me really sad, but storm clouds can be pretty too. Like that one—it looks just like a root beer float!”
“Not drinking floats, Spring,” Winter said. “We need a float to float on. Those plants on the far shore—can you use them?”
“Yes!” Spring said. “That’s a great idea!” Without disturbing Snowball, she pulled out her scepter and recited:
She waved her scepter, then pointed it across the moat. Purple sparkles danced out of her scepter orb and soared into the thorny vines. A broad strip of sparkle-covered vines knit themselves together and grew into a wide woven path that quickly arced across the water.
“Spring, you’re a lifesaver,” Summer said. She pulled Autumn to the bridge and the two of them held on as they caught their breath. Winter was about to join them, but then she noticed something bubbling in the water. The bubbles burst to the surface far beyond where Spring and Snowball floated lazily along. They were so far away, Winter almost ignored them.
But then they moved nearer.
Winter told herself not to worry. The water was disgusting. It was probably swamp gas bubbling to the surface.
Except swamp gas didn’t move.
Something was coming toward them.
Whatever it was, Winter didn’t want to shout and get its attention, so she quickly swam to her littlest sister’s side and whispered to her urgently.
“Spring, hurry,” Winter said. “We need to get onto that bridge you made right now.”
Spring gasped. “It is a bridge! And you asked for a float! I’m sorry, Winter. Are you upset?”
The bubbles were much closer now. And they were speeding up.
“No!” Winter assured her. “A bridge is perfect. But we need to use it. Now!”
“You seem upset,” Spring said. “Are you sure everything’s okay?”
Snowball was the one who answered. He must have sensed whatever was coming, because he jumped to his feet and the fur on his back rose. He growled low, then barked angrily.
Spring looked at him, wide-eyed. “There’s a monster behind us?”
“And it’s charging!” Winter screamed. The bubbles were zooming toward them now. “Summer, Autumn,” she called, “get on the bridge! And Spring, swim!”
Summer hoisted herself onto the bridge with a single push, then pulled Autumn up after her. Spring, meanwhile, flipped onto her stomach, placed Snowball between her shoulder blades, and crawl-stroked as fast as she could. Winter tried to keep up, but she couldn’t stop peeking over her shoulder. The bubbles were very close now. The Sparkles were running out of time.
“Hurry!” Winter cried.
She got to the bridge moments after Spring. She boosted her littlest sister out of the water, then lunged onto the bridge herself. She collapsed onto it just a second before the bubbles hit the side of the bridge, disappeared, then gurgled again on the other side.
“It’s okay.” Winter panted. “We’re safe.”
“Unless it can jump,” Summer said.
The four sisters and the fox looked at one another for a moment. Then Winter scooped up Snowball and wailed, “RUN!”
The girls poured every bit of energy into their tired legs, but they were a long way from shore. Winter peeked over her shoulder, then wished she hadn’t. The monster’s bubble trail raced alongside them so quickly it looked like a speedboat wake.
“Run faster!” Winter screamed.
They did, but Winter knew they couldn’t keep it up for long. Her own breath rasped in her throat as she pushed herself to her limit. Finally, just when she thought she might collapse, they neared the other side of the bridge. Winter relaxed a little, confident that everything would be okay.
Then the most hideous creature she had ever seen leaped out of the water and landed on the bridge between the Sparkles and the shore. Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and even Snowball screamed. The creature roared.
The beast was twice as long as Winter’s biggest sleigh. Its body was thick, scaly, green, and snakelike, but with a huge, veiny blue tail and front flippers. Its face held fishy eyes that were blank and evil, and a mouth that gaped open to reveal three sets of sharp teeth.
“Run the other way!” Winter hollered.
The Sparkles turned and raced for the castle. It was a dead end, but what else could they do?
GALUMPH! GALUMPH! GALUMPH!
Winter didn’t dare look over her shoulder. She knew what she would see. The creature was following them. It was pulling itself along the bridge with those front flippers and slapping its snaky body after them.
She couldn’t help it. She had to peek.
What she saw stopped her in her tracks.
The monster was galumphing after them, but only three of them were running.
Spring had stopped. She stood in the middle of the bridge, looking up at the monster curiously.
“Spring!” Winter shrieked. “What are you doing?”
Her yell made Summer and Autumn stop and turn too. Neither liked what they saw.
“Spring,” Autumn said gently, “I think you should come with us.”
“I don’t think so,” Spring said. “I think I should try to talk to it.”
“What?” Winter exploded.
“Spring,” Summer said, “that’s not an animal. It’s a monster. We need to get away from it.”
Spring looked back at her sisters. “Where will we go?”
They didn’t answer. They didn’t have an answer. Their only options were the polished castle wall or the water. Neither offered escape. Winter pulled out her scepter. “Then we’ll fight.”
Summer and Autumn clearly agreed. They pulled out their scepters as well.
“Let me try first,” Spring said. “Please.”
There was something about the way Spring said “please.” It wasn’t like she was asking her sisters, she was telling them this was something she needed to do.
“Okay,” Autumn said. But she, Winter, and Summer kept their scepters out, just in case.
Spring turned back to the monster. She walked toward it, a huge smile on her face.
The monster didn’t seem impressed. It seemed hungry. It pulled itself even faster along the bridge.
“Hi!” Spring waved.
The monster didn’t respond. It was right in front of Spring now. It reared up on its snaky body and opened its mouth wide, ready to chomp down with its rows of teeth.
“Ready?” Winter counted down the seconds until she, Summer, and Autumn would attack. “Three … two …”
“I love you,” Spring said.
The monster froze. It made a noise that sounded like Huh?
“I mean, I know I don’t really know you, so maybe you think I can’t possibly love you, but I do. I’ve never seen anyone like you. I mean, I’ve seen a fish and a snake and a shark and a whale, and you’re a little like all of those, but different. It’s like all those little creatures were smushed up and thrown together and shaken up, and you came out!”
Spri
ng thought a moment, then frowned. “Except not quite like that because smushing up little creatures is mean and yucky.”
The monster lowered back down to its front flippers. Its teeth were still bared, but it looked … interested.
“I can tell you want to eat us,” Spring said. “My sisters want to fight you. They have powers. They’re pretty strong. I think you might be stronger and would end up having us for lunch, but you’d get hurt on the way, and that would make me sad. If it’s okay with you, I’d rather talk. Then afterward, if you still want to eat us, I understand.”
There was no response from the monster. It simply stared down at Spring as if sizing her up … or imagining how she’d taste.
“What do you think is happening?” Summer whispered.
“I’m not sure,” Autumn admitted.
“Me neither,” Winter said, “but I’m ready to hit that beast with everything we’ve got.”
The creature was still for another moment, then quickly rolled onto its back. It squeaked and groaned with a voice that sounded like an upset stomach. Life poured into its eyes, and it gestured wildly with its flippers.
“Really?” Spring responded. “No … You don’t say … They did that to you? … Well, no wonder! I’d feel the same way!”
As her sisters looked on with open mouths, Spring plopped down next to the beast and started rubbing its belly. When it got overly anxious, she comforted it with soothing words. “No, no, you can forget all about that now. Things will be different, I promise.”
“Unbelievable,” Winter said.
“Or kind of very believable.” Summer smiled.
“My thoughts exactly,” Autumn said.
The three Sparkles put their scepters away and joined Spring. “So, um, we’re all friends now?” Winter asked.
Spring nodded. “He only wanted to eat us because he’s starving. The Weeds never feed him. He lives on moat muck and anything that falls in from the castle. The boys never clean the water either, which I guess works since they don’t feed him and at least this way he has the muck, but Sammy’s awfully uncomfortable and unhappy.”
“Sammy?” Winter asked.
“That’s his name. It’s different in his language. More like”—Spring threw back her head and gurgle-cried like a yodeling whale—“but Sammy’s easier to say. And he likes it. Right, Sammy?”