by Gail Herman
Copyright © 2008 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Disney Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Press, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011-5690.
ISBN 978-1-4231-5920-9
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Table of Contents
All About Fairies
1
2
3
4
5
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10
IF YOU HEAD toward the second star on your right and fly straight on till morning, you’ll come to Never Land, a magical island where mermaids play and children never grow up.
When you arrive, you might hear something like the tinkling of little bells. Follow that sound and you’ll find Pixie Hollow, the secret heart of Never Land.
A great old maple tree grows in Pixie Hollow, and in it live hundreds of fairies and sparrow men. Some of them can do water magic, others can fly like the wind, and still others can speak to animals. You see, Pixie Hollow is the Never fairies’ kingdom, and each fairy who lives there has a special, extraordinary talent.
Not far from the Home Tree, nestled in the branches of a hawthorn, is Mother Dove, the most magical creature of all. She sits on her egg, watching over the fairies, who in turn watch over her. For as long as Mother Dove’s egg stays well and whole, no one in Never Land will ever grow old.
Once, Mother Dove’s egg was broken. But we are not telling the story of the egg here. Now it is time for Dulcie’s tale.…
DULCIE FIXED HER baker’s hat. She smoothed her leaf apron. She flew through the Home Tree tearoom.
She did everything at the same time, and all in a panic.
“I can’t believe I slept late,” she muttered.
The sun was rising. She should already have been working. She should have been sorting ingredients for breakfast and giving orders. But here she was, just stumbling through the kitchen door.
Dulcie was a baking-talent fairy. Every fairy and sparrow man agreed that she was an incredible baker. She made the most perfect cupcakes, rolls, cookies, and muffins in Pixie Hollow. She baked three meals a day, seven days a week. And she never got tired. Well…never until lately.
On the other side of the swinging door, Dulcie stopped short. The kitchen was in chaos.
Confused shouts rang through the room. Baking talents scurried here and there. They flung open cabinets. They slammed them shut.
They lined up bowls and spoons. They shuffled them around.
They bumped into cooking-talent fairies who were scrambling eggs. They skittered into tea-serving fairies who were pouring tea.
Nothing was getting done.
“What should we do now?” cried Dunkin, a baking-talent sparrow man. “We need Dulcie!”
Dulcie opened her mouth to speak. But suddenly a loud voice announced, “Nonsense! We’ll be fine without her.”
It was Ginger. Dulcie didn’t know this baking-talent fairy very well. Ginger had arrived in Pixie Hollow just a short while before.
Ginger rubbed her hands together, eager to spring into action. “Now,” she began, “here’s what—”
“Dulcie!” Dunkin called out when he saw her. “You’re here!”
He darted over to Dulcie, followed by the other baking talents. They crowded around, grinning.
“Thank goodness!” said Mixie, one of the baking talents. “Quick! Tell us what to do.”
Dulcie glanced into the tearoom. Already, fairies were sitting at the tables.
“We’ve got to move quickly,” she said. “Mixie, get the milk pitchers and flour sacks. Dunkin, grab the biggest mixing bowl you can find. We’ll bake one huge batch of blueberry muffins.”
Dulcie began to get the batter ready, still giving orders. She whirled to face an egg-collecting fairy. “Put those eggs there!” she commanded.
“No, no!” she shouted to a harvesting fairy. “We need a different blueberry. A bigger one!”
She tapped her foot, waiting.
What a terrible start to the morning. First she was late. Now she didn’t have the right ingredients!
Finally, she said, “Forget the blue-berries. Forget the muffins. I’ll bake my poppy puff rolls!”
Poppy puff rolls were Dulcie’s specialty. Everyone loved them. Mixie and Dunkin sighed with relief.
Dulcie pushed aside the bowls. “We’ll have to start over.”
“You’d better speed it up.” Ginger stood off to the side. She wasn’t doing anything to help, Dulcie noticed.
Ginger pointed to the tearoom. It was filling up fast. “There’s not much time, Dulcie. And those fairies look hungry!”
Dulcie tried to ignore her. She needed to think. But Ginger wouldn’t stop talking.
“Oops! Be careful not to spill, Dulcie. Hurry, Dulcie! You need to stir faster. Remember, Dulcie, breakfast doesn’t last all day.”
Seconds ticked by. Dulcie mixed the dough. She poured in the poppy seeds. But she felt more and more rattled.
“Uh-oh. Queen Clarion is in the tearoom,” Ginger reported from a spot near the door. “She’s spreading her napkin across her lap. Now she’s picking up her fork and knife. She’s looking at the kitchen.”
“Don’t listen. Don’t listen,” Dulcie told herself.
She patted the dough into roll shapes. “Oh, no!” Her elbow knocked a ladle to the floor. Mixie quickly gave her a clean one.
“Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty.” Dulcie counted the rolls. Her heart sank. There weren’t enough. She needed more dough. “Get me more flour!” she barked.
Nobody was moving fast enough. So Dulcie grabbed a nearby sack. She poured the flour into the batter and tossed away the bag.
Meanwhile, serving-talent fairies flew into and out of the kitchen.
“Eggs coming up! First egg, sunny-side up,” Dinah, a cooking-talent fairy, declared.
Dulcie groaned. One egg was done. Tea had already been served. She was really behind. She’d never been late before!
“Second egg ready,” announced Dinah. “Egg à la Never Land.”
A serving-talent sparrow man flew up next to Dulcie. “Are the rolls ready yet?” he asked.
“Almost!” Shaking a bit, Dulcie shaped the extra dough. Then she sprinkled fairy dust on the rolls, to make them bake faster. “Just a little longer!” She pushed the tray into the oven.
Ginger smirked. “A little longer?” she repeated. “Looks like those poppy puffs will have to be served with lunch.”
“Really, one more minute,” Dulcie promised the sparrow man. “Then everything will be ready.”
Dulcie’s stomach flipped like a pancake on a griddle. “At least, I hope it will be,” she added to herself. She peeked out the kitchen door.
In the tearoom, fairies sipped tea and ate the eggs. A few glanced at her curiously.
Tinker Bell flew over to see what was the matter. “Are you having a problem, Dulcie? Anything wrong with those baking trays I fixed?”
“No.” Dulcie shook her head. “Don’t worry, everyone,” she said in a loud voice. She tried to sound cheerful. “Poppy puff rolls for every table, coming right up!”
Dulcie rushed back to the oven. The rolls must be done by now, she thought. She pulled out the tray.
“Oh!” she gasped.
The rolls were flat.
“I thought you were making poppy puff rolls,” Ginger said in an a
mused voice. “Not poppy pancakes.”
“Why didn’t they rise?” Dulcie moaned. Hesitantly, she took a bite. “Ugh!” She made a face. “That’s awful!”
Ginger picked up a crumpled sack from the floor. “Maybe because you used this instead of flour.”
Dulcie grabbed the bag. There, as plain as day, was one word: SALT. Salt instead of flour? How could she have made such a mistake?
More frantic than ever, Dulcie flew in circles. “Hurry, Mixie! Dunkin!” she ordered. “We need to make another batch.” She reached for a new sack of flour.
No one else moved. “Come on,” she urged. “Why isn’t anyone helping?”
“Because it’s too late,” a gentle voice said. Dulcie looked up. Queen Clarion stood by the door. “Breakfast is over.”
Dulcie sighed. All that scrambling for nothing.
“All right,” she said to the baking talents. “Let’s have the cleaning fairies tidy up a bit. Then we can get those rolls ready for lunch.”
There will have to be plenty of poppy puffs, she thought. And they’ll have to be especially good. She had to make up for breakfast.
Dulcie opened the new bag of flour.
“Wait a minute, Dulcie.” Queen Clarion placed her hand on Dulcie’s arm. “Slow down.”
“Slow down?” Dulcie squeaked. Why, anyone who knew her knew she never slowed down. She was always working, always busy.
“Yes.” Queen Clarion nodded. “Slow down. In fact, you should take a real rest. You’ve been working nonstop ever since I can remember. Don’t you think you deserve a holiday?”
Dulcie gazed at her, unable to speak. All this because she hadn’t gotten the rolls out in time? Because she had made one little mistake confusing salt with flour?
“But, but…,” Dulcie sputtered. She couldn’t stop baking. She just couldn’t. She barely ever left the Home Tree kitchen. She was too busy baking. And that was how she liked it.
But Queen Clarion had made a decision.
“Who will take care of the kitchen?” Dulcie asked.
She turned toward the other baking talents. Dunkin and Mixie stared at their feet. No one would meet her gaze.
Only Ginger looked Dulcie in the eye. She stepped forward. “I’ll take over,” she said. “In fact, I’ll start right now. Let’s get lots of biscuits ready.” She paused, then added, “There wasn’t much to eat at breakfast.”
Dulcie’s wings twitched at the mention of biscuits. She itched to get baking. But Queen Clarion gently steered her out of the way.
“It will be fine,” Queen Clarion assured her. “A few days off and you’ll feel like a new fairy.”
“Well,” Dulcie said slowly, “I guess I’ll just go, then.”
Her wings dragging, she left the kitchen. She trudged through the tearoom, not even bothering to fly.
Too late, Dulcie realized she was hungry. The delicious smell of biscuits already drifted through the air. But she wasn’t going back. No way would she eat Ginger’s biscuits!
BACK AND FORTH. Back and forth. Dulcie paced in her room in the Home Tree.
That annoying Ginger! Imagine, her taking over the kitchen. I didn’t arrive yesterday, Dulcie thought. She knew that Ginger wasn’t trying to be helpful or lending a wing to a friend in need. Ginger was showing off. She wanted everyone to know that she should be in charge.
Dulcie kept pacing. Back and forth. Back and forth.
Finally, she sat on the edge of her bed. She tapped her foot. She swung her leg. After a few seconds, she jumped up and started pacing again.
“Face it,” she said to herself. “You can’t sit still.”
If she couldn’t work, if she was forced to take a break, well, then she’d plan every minute. She wouldn’t let herself just think about Ginger.
Dulcie took a deep breath. So what should she do? Pixie Hollow was big. There were plenty of spots she could visit. She could go anywhere and do anything. Why, fairies such as Tinker Bell and Vidia, a fast-flying-talent fairy, had even traveled outside Pixie Hollow, exploring different places in Never Land. Of course, Dulcie wouldn’t do that. The very idea of leaving Pixie Hollow was scary. But there were many sights close by. And she had so much time!
She flew out her door, determined to keep busy. First she’d go to Havendish Stream. She’d dip her feet in the cool, clear water. That would be fun.
Let’s see, Dulcie thought as she flew outside. Which part of Havendish Stream should I visit?
The stream ran all through Pixie Hollow. But Dulcie wanted to choose the prettiest part. Next to the orchard, she decided. She hadn’t been there in a long time. Still, she remembered a large cherry tree hanging over the water. It will give me some nice shade, she thought. Her stomach grumbled loudly. And maybe a cherry for breakfast!
It was odd not to be in the kitchen, working. She never left the Home Tree in midmorning. Pixie Hollow seemed somehow different at that time. Honestly, she wasn’t even certain which way to go.
She felt a little strange, as if she didn’t quite belong.
Dulcie shrugged off the feeling and kept flying. She crossed Havendish Stream, once, twice, three times, trying to find the cherry tree.
Finally, she spied it ahead. “It’s about time!” she said to herself. “I was all turned around!”
Even before she landed, Dulcie heard laughter. A group of water-talent fairies stood knee-deep in the stream.
“Hey!” Dulcie called out. She settled on the bank to watch.
“There’s more over here,” Rani said to the other water fairies. She didn’t notice Dulcie. “Silvermist! Humidia! Come help!”
Dulcie watched the fairies move to a murky patch of water. They plunged their hands into the stream. As they waved their fingers, the water around them magically cleared.
“What are you doing?” Dulcie called more loudly. Maybe they could sit down with her and share a cherry or two. She really was hungry.
This time Rani heard her. “We’re cleaning the stream,” she explained. “A band of raccoons walked through here last night and part of the bank collapsed. The animal talents told us the minnows were having trouble swimming. So we’re clearing all the silt from the water.”
“I’m busy, too!” Dulcie said. “I still have to visit Lily, get my wings washed, eat lunch…” Her voice trailed off. The fairies had already gone back to work. They hadn’t heard a word she’d said.
And why should they stop to listen? They had an important job to do.
Not like Dulcie.
“Well, I must be off,” Dulcie said. And not staying to dip her toes, or even to pick a cherry, she flew away.
Dulcie flew east, southeast, west, southwest. She was searching for Lily’s garden.
“This is ridiculous,” she said, fuming. “I should know exactly where it is.” But when she stopped to think, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been there.
Finally, Dulcie spotted the garden, just a couple of frog’s leaps from the Home Tree. Inside, she took a deep breath. The flowers smelled sweet. Everything looked pretty. She could relax at last.
Really, I feel sorry for those water fairies, she thought. They’re working so hard. They’re not on vacation like me.
Dulcie stretched. Now she and Lily could have a nice talk. They’d sit under a lilac and watch the clouds roll past.
“Lily?” she called. “Are you here?”
“I’m in this corner!” Lily answered. “By the raspberry bush.”
Dulcie hurried over. Lily was kneeling on the ground. She sifted dirt through her fingers.
Good, Dulcie thought. Lily isn’t doing much of anything. She’ll have plenty of time to spend with me.
Dulcie plopped down next to her.
“Not there!” Lily cried.
Dulcie scrambled into the air. “What is it?” she asked. “Poison ivy?”
“A new flower is starting to grow. I’m spreading fresh soil to help it.”
“Oh.” Dulcie hovered above the ground. Was that all? �
�Why don’t you take a break, Lily? We can sit and talk and catch up.”
Dulcie’s stomach rumbled loudly again. “And maybe you’d like to share a raspberry?” she added.
“Oh, I wish I could.” Lily moved a few inches and sprinkled more soil on the ground. “But I need to keep careful watch over this flower. It could sprout at any moment, and I want to be here. You know, to help it along.”
Lily sat back on her heels. “Can you wait until I’m done?”
“Oh, I wish I could,” Dulcie echoed Lily. “I need to…well, I need to get going,” she finished in a hurry.
Why, oh why, did everyone have important work to do?
“Dulcie, wait!” Lily called.
But Dulcie had already gone, after stopping long enough to pick a raspberry.
Dulcie flew one way, then another. She didn’t have a direction. She’d already visited two places, and not even an hour had passed!
Finally, she circled back to the Home Tree. She couldn’t help it. She hated to be far from the kitchen.
“I’ll just take a peek inside,” Dulcie said to herself. “See how the fairies are doing without me.” She pictured the scene from that morning: all the fairies racing around without a clue—until she’d gotten there.
“They probably need my help. And when I fix everything, Queen Clarion will see that I should go back to work. Why, these few hours off have done wonders.” Dulcie flapped her wings energetically. “I feel terrific!”
Dulcie flew through the Home Tree door. Dunkin and Mixie were pinching piecrust. A sparrow man slid a tray of buns into the oven. Other baking talents flitted around the kitchen, gathering ingredients, pouring batter, and—
Oh, no! Dulcie thought. Smiling!
Then she saw Ginger. Ginger was darting here and there, making sure everyone was doing his or her job.
All the fairies were so busy, no one noticed Dulcie. Ginger popped a steaming biscuit into her mouth. “Perfect!” she declared.
Dulcie had never felt so useless in her life. She took one last look around the kitchen. Then, quietly, she slipped out the door.