Finding Tinker Bell #4

by Kiki Thorpe

  Copyright © 2019 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, and in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto, in conjunction with Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Thorpe, Kiki, author. | Christy, Jana, illustrator.

  Title: Up the Misty Peak / written by Kiki Thorpe ; illustrated by Jana Christy.

  Description: New York : Random House, [2019] | Series: Disney Finding Tinker Bell, a Never Girls adventure ; 4 | A Stepping Stone Book.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018056332 | ISBN 978-0-7364-3873-5 (paperback) | ISBN 978-0-7364-3874-2 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 978-0-7364-3883-4 (ebook)

  Subjects: | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Media Tie-In. | JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.T3974 Up 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  rhcbooks.com

  Ebook ISBN 9780736438834

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v5.4

  a

  For Eleanor —K.T.

  For Tammy —J.C.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Introduction

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About the Author

  Far away from the world we know, on the distant Sea of Dreams, lies an island called Never Land. It is a place full of magic, where mermaids sing, fairies play, and children never grow up. Adventures happen every day, and anything is possible.

  Though many children have heard of Never Land, only a special few ever find it. The secret, they know, lies not in a set of directions but deep within their hearts, for believing in magic can make extraordinary things happen. It can open doorways you never even knew were there.

  One day, through an accident of magic, four special girls found a portal to Never Land right in their own backyard. The enchanted island became the girls’ secret playground, one they visited every chance they got. With the fairies of Pixie Hollow as their friends and guides, they made many magical discoveries.

  But Never Land isn’t the only island on the Sea of Dreams. When a special friend goes missing, the girls set out across the sea to find her. Beyond the shores of Never Land, they encounter places far stranger than they ever could have imagined….

  This is their story.

  On a dark, moonless night, four fairies sat around a small campfire. The fire was not much bigger than a candle flame, and the fairies huddled close to it.

  Normally, the fairies’ own golden glows would have brightened the night. But their glows were now faint. The flames provided the only light, which flickered across their worried faces.

  Shadows, cast by the fire, played across a rock behind them. If the fairies had been paying attention, they would have noticed something strange. Although there were four of them, five shadows conferred on the rock. One in particular seemed alert. It tilted its pert head toward the campfire, as if trying to hear better.

  But the fairies didn’t notice. They were deep in conversation.

  “What can it mean?” the garden-talent fairy Rosetta whispered. She wore a leaf around her shoulders like a shawl to keep warm. As she spoke, she pulled it tighter. “Why would Tink write her name on this rock?”

  “It’s a message,” the light-talent fairy Iridessa replied. “The question is, who is it for?”

  “Maybe it’s for the sprites in the Dark Forest,” the animal-talent fairy Fawn said. “They found her shoe, after all. Maybe she was trying to get it back.” She patted the small leaf-satchel that held Tink’s pom-pom slipper. The sprites had given it to them in exchange for their help bringing light to their village.

  “But the sprites never met Tink,” Rosetta pointed out. “Besides, they never leave the forest. Why would she leave them a message here?”

  “Maybe it’s a message to herself,” said Silvermist, who sat back from the fire. She was a water-talent fairy and didn’t like flames. “The rock is near the Lost Coast. Tink might have put it there in case she got lost so she could find her way back.”

  “But if Tink was on the Lost Coast, wouldn’t we have found her?” Iridessa asked. “We searched up and down that beach. We didn’t see any trace of Tink or her boat.”

  “That’s not true.” Silvermist leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Don’t forget what I saw there in the fog. It looked like Tink, but it wasn’t. It was like…the ghost of Tink.” She shivered.

  The other fairies shivered, too, except Iridessa, who frowned.

  “Stop that,” she scolded Silvermist.

  The water fairy’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “Don’t scare everyone with silly superstitions,” Iridessa said. “I don’t know what you saw. But I’m sure Tink is alive and well, somewhere on Shadow Island.”

  Iridessa gathered a ball of firelight, squeezing it thoughtfully as if it were putty. Golden light shone between her fingers.

  “You know what I think?” she said at last. She released the ball of light. It hung in the air, then faded. “I think she wrote that message for us. Tink wants someone to know she’s here. She needs help.”

  “That may be,” Rosetta said. “But we can’t assume anything. From now on, we have to make choices carefully. We have only the fairy dust left on our wings. When it’s gone, our magic will be gone, too.”

  “Rosetta’s right,” Iridessa said. “It’s going to be harder from here on. Anyone who wants to quit, speak up now.”

  The fairies looked at one another across the fire.

  “Not me,” said Fawn.

  “Me either,” said Silvermist.

  “I’m here until we find her,” said Rosetta.

  Iridessa nodded. That settled it.

  “But what about the girls?” Silvermist asked.

  They all turned to look at the four human girls—Kate McCrady, Lainey Winters, and Mia and Gabby Vasquez—asleep nearby. To the tiny fairies, their slumbering forms were like small mountain ranges.

  As they watched, the smallest girl, Gabby, turned over in her sleep and sighed. The fairies sighed, too.

  “When our magic is gone, we won’t be able to take care of them,” Iridessa said. “They ought to be at home with their families. They’re only children, after all.”

  “If we knew the way to Never Land, we could send them back to Pixie Hollow,” Rosetta said. “From there they could find their way home.”

  The other fairies nodded in agreement. Whatever happened, they needed to make sure the girls got home safely.

  “We should sleep,” Iridessa said. “Silvermist, will you put out the fire?”

  “Gladly,” replied the water fairy. She plucked a few dewdrops, cradling them in her arms. When her arms were full, she threw the drople
ts on the fire. The flame sizzled out.

  Silvermist sighed. “I’ll miss doing that when my magic’s gone. Fawn, what is it?”

  The animal fairy was staring at the side of the rock.

  “I thought I saw—” She shook her head. “Never mind. My eyes were playing tricks on me. Let’s get some sleep.”

  * * *

  Lainey lay awake in the darkness long after the fairies had gone to sleep. She had heard everything they said.

  Lainey, her friends, and the fairies had been on Shadow Island for days, searching for Tinker Bell. Lainey had never doubted that they’d find her. She believed in the fairies with all her heart. If they worked together, they could do anything.

  But now she realized the fairies didn’t see it that way. Lainey and her friends were a burden! Iridessa’s words echoed in Lainey’s mind. When our magic is gone, we won’t be able to take care of them.

  Lainey sighed. The fairies were in trouble. If only there was something she could do to help them in return. But she had no magic. No special talents. What could she do?

  She turned onto her back. Without her glasses, the stars were only distant blurs. Lainey picked out a silvery smudge and made a wish. She wished for what she always wished for. She wished for magic.

  But as she closed her eyes to sleep, Lainey knew that she’d made the wrong wish. This time, they needed more than magic.

  They were going to need a miracle.

  Fawn knew that something was wrong as soon as she opened her eyes.

  She uncurled from her wildflower, pushing back the petals she’d used as blankets. She stretched her wings, sat up, and looked around.

  The girls lay asleep on the grass. The fairies were asleep, too. Fawn could see Rosetta’s foot in its rose-petal slipper peeking out from a morning glory. The cold ashes from their small fire were scattered at the base of the rock.

  Beyond the meadow where they’d camped, a lone mountain rose steeply. It made a dark shape against the blue predawn sky.

  Everything was as it had been. Still, Fawn had the odd sense that a piece of the world was missing.

  Nearby, something darted up from the grass. Fawn turned, startled. But it was only a moth. She watched it rise on silent wings.

  Fawn knew then what had changed. Her magic was gone.

  As an animal-talent fairy, Fawn had a certain kind of magic. It helped her communicate with beasts, birds, and bugs. But that wasn’t all. Her magic was like a radio antenna picking up signals from the animal world. She could read bees’ moods just by their buzzing. She sensed the songbirds’ sorrows and the worms’ pride. The pulse of animal life was like music always playing in the background.

  Now that music was gone. Fawn felt as if she’d lost one of her senses.

  Of course, she had known this would happen as soon as she ran out of fairy dust. In Pixie Hollow, fairies got a teacup full of fairy dust every day. The dust wore off, little by little, until it was replenished. But Fawn had thought she’d have at least another day before hers was all gone.

  “Well, I’ll just have to make the best of it,” she said aloud. She wasn’t going to feel sorry for herself. Wallowing was for pigs.

  Fawn flapped her wings. Fairies needed fairy dust to fly, too. But she still had wings. They ought to be useful for something.

  Fawn fluttered hard. She rose into the air a few inches and turned in an awkward circle, like a flying beetle.

  She landed and tried again. This time she pushed off hard with her feet. She sprang forward, flapping her wings, tracing a wide arc through the air.

  “More like a grasshopper that time.” Fawn smiled to herself. Now she was getting somewhere.

  “Fawn?”

  Fawn turned. Lainey was sitting up, watching her. “What are you doing?” Lainey asked.

  “Just…getting some exercise.” Fawn wasn’t ready to tell her about the lost magic. Not yet.

  Lainey studied Fawn. “You’re not glowing.”

  Fawn glanced down. She noticed for the first time that her usual lemon-yellow glow had faded to a dull gleam.

  That was another thing about fairy dust. It gave fairies their glow.

  “Oh, that.” Fawn rubbed her arm, as if that might make it shine again. “Hey, did you hear the one about the fairy who lost her glow?”

  Lainey shook her head.

  Fawn grinned. “She was a little dim.”

  Lainey didn’t return the smile. Her thick glasses made her blue eyes look even bigger. With her wide-eyed, solemn expression, she reminded Fawn of a baby owl.

  “Fawn, do you really think Tinker Bell is here?” Lainey asked.

  “On Shadow Island?” Fawn nodded. “I do. And I still believe we’ll find her.”

  “But why would she come here?” Lainey asked.

  Fawn had wondered the same thing. What could have drawn Tink to this strange world, so far from Never Land? Had she been swept there by accident, pulled through the same mysterious portal that had brought them here? But then how could they explain the map of Shadow Island they’d found in Tink’s workshop?

  No, Fawn guessed Tink had come here for some purpose. “I suppose she came looking for something,” she said to Lainey.

  Lainey nodded. “I thought so. What do you think it was?”

  Fawn shrugged. “We can only guess—”

  She broke off as the sky suddenly grew darker. The air seemed to tremble.

  Lainey glanced up. “What was that?”

  A breeze swept through the meadow. Fawn grabbed a blade of grass to keep from being blown away.

  Lainey gasped and pointed into the wind. “Look!”

  A great mass of clouds was coming toward them. It rolled and churned faster than Fawn had ever seen clouds move, tumbling with a force that seemed to come from within.

  When the clouds neared the meadow, they cascaded toward the ground like a great frothing waterfall. The mist began to change shape. It became a herd of white horses. They galloped down the sky on silent hooves, trailing mist like smoke from a fire.

  Lainey and Fawn stood frozen in place. They watched the sky creatures race toward them.

  The herd touched down a short distance away. As they slowed, the breeze calmed. A heavy fog settled over everything.

  Lainey turned to Fawn. Her big eyes shone with excitement.

  “Oh, Fawn!” she whispered. “They’re here. The mist horses!”

  Lainey had seen many magical things in her adventures with the fairies. But no sight was as heart-stopping as a herd of mist horses. The strange beasts were very rare. She had seen them only once before, on Never Land.

  “What are they doing here?” she asked Fawn.

  “They’re not tied to any place. They travel the sky,” Fawn said. “The wind must have blown them this way.”

  The silvery shapes of the herd were almost hidden in the mist.

  “Come on, let’s get a closer look!” Fawn started across the ground, fluttering forward in great hops.

  Lainey glanced back at her friends. They were still asleep. The horses’ silent arrival hadn’t awakened them.

  Kate lay closest to Lainey. Her red hair fanned out around her head. Her lips smiled gently, as if she was having a good dream.

  Once, Kate had ridden a mist horse all the way across Never Land. No one knew how she’d tamed the magical creature. Kate had claimed they understood each other.

  Lainey knelt down and gently touched Kate’s shoulder. “Kate?” she whispered.

  Kate rolled over. “No, you’re a pizza,” she murmured in her sleep.

  Fawn was already several hops ahead. She paused and looked back. “Lainey?”

  “Coming!” Leaving Kate there, Lainey hurried to catch up with Fawn.

  As they went through the mist and saw the herd spread out before them, Lainey’s breath caught. The horses�
�� coats glistened with rain. Their long manes and tails were so pale and wispy it was hard to tell what was horse and what was vapor. They seemed to almost glow with an otherworldly light.

  The horses were grazing. But as Lainey and Fawn approached, several lifted their heads. Lainey noticed that some of the mares had foals.

  “Look, Fawn. Babies!” she whispered.

  Fawn nodded. “We’ll have to be careful. New mothers can be skittish. But he’s the one to watch.” She pointed to a huge horse with a coat like burnished steel. “That stallion is the leader.”

  They tiptoed closer. The horses flicked their ears forward and watched them. After a few moments, they seemed to decide Lainey and Fawn weren’t a threat. They lowered their heads and returned to their meal.

  At first, Lainey thought they were eating grass. But as she got closer, she noticed something. “They’re only drinking the dew!”

  “They’re not like flesh-and-blood animals,” Fawn reminded her. “They’re born of the wind and rain. We can’t expect them to act like normal creatures.”

  “Fawn, I just thought of something,” Lainey said. “We saw these horses in Never Land, right? That must mean they know the way there.”

  Fawn looked at her. “Possibly.”

  “We could ride them back to Never Land!” Lainey said. “We can get more fairy dust, and then come back to find Tink!”

  Lainey imagined riding the mist horses across the sky. A shiver of excitement ran down her spine. Was this the miracle she’d hoped for?

  Fawn frowned. “What makes you think they’ll let us ride them?”

  “Kate did it,” Lainey said. And if Kate did it, so can I, she added to herself. “Besides, we don’t have any other ideas, do we? This might be our only chance.”