by Elise Allen
“At practically everything,” Sleet answered, also standing up.
“Think you could beat me in a toboggan race down the Sugar Slopes?”
“With my eyes closed and my pants over my head.” Sleet laughed.
“Think you could run through the mud, muck, lava, and thicket of the Barrens?” Twister dared.
“Faster than you,” Autumn said.
“I dare you to a race in my Sparkledom!” Winter cried. “Sparkles against the Weeds.”
“Then I dare you to a race in the Barrens!” Sleet hissed.
“Done,” Winter agreed, stomping her foot in the sand.
“You won’t even finish the race,” Thunderbolt said. “Well, maybe Summer would, but none of the rest of you Sparkles have a chance.”
Summer blushed. Nobody had ever said that she was better than her sisters at anything. Nevertheless, this bonfire was starting to feel like an out-of-control wildfire. “I’m not sure this is a great idea.”
“You’re right,” Thunderbolt said.
Summer sighed with relief.
“A great idea,” Thunderbolt declared, holding his finger in the air for emphasis, “would be to hold a race in every Sparkledom and the Barrens!”
“And what will be the prize for the winners?” Autumn said.
“We should let Mother Nature decide,” Spring answered excitedly.
“And Bluster!” Quake added.
“Fine,” Winter said. “The first challenge will be in my realm tomorrow. Toboggan race. We’ll invite Mother Nature and Bluster Tempest to declare the winner.”
“C’mon, Weeds!” hollered Thunderbolt. “Let’s get going so we can get ready to waste some Sparkles in the snow tomorrow.” He pointed his stick at the ground and barked, “Clooouuuddeerrrvaaattor!”
Steaming out of Thunderbolt’s stick, another large thundercloud formed along the sand. The Weeds grabbed their soakers, squirt guns, and the bag of marshmallows, and clambered on board their stormy transportation home. As the cloud lifted away, Thunderbolt yelled down, “Thanks for the bonfire, Summer! Even though I built it!” Then the Weeds flew away, faster than a hurricane.
Summer gave Thunderbolt a small smile, but she was afraid to wave with her sisters staring at her.
“Yes, thank you for the Blastoff Beach Party, Summer,” Autumn said, gathering up her hat and bag. “The seaweed salad was stupendous. But I think it’s time for us to leave now too.”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Summer apologized.
“We know,” Winter said, squeezing her hand. “Thunderbolt tricked you.”
Summer wasn’t sure that Thunderbolt had tricked her. But she didn’t want to argue with Winter. Not now.
“See ya later, Summer,” Winter said. “Meet us on top of the Sugar Slopes early tomorrow morning. We’ll show those Weeds who’s gonna waste whom!”
Summer couldn’t believe her sisters were leaving.
Winter, Autumn, and Spring lifted their scepters high up in the air and chanted:
Rainbow light shone from the gems on each Sparkle’s headband, joining together to make one colorful pathway to the sky. One by one, the Sparkles leaped into the magical light of the rainbow that would take each of them back to their Sparkledoms. All three girls waved at Summer, shouting, “Thanks” and “See you tomorrow!”
Summer waved back at her sisters until the sparkling rainbow arch disappeared along with their tiny figures, then turned to stare sadly at the gentle waves of the sea. All she had wanted was for her sisters and new friend to get along. Instead, her gesture of friendship to Thunderbolt had turned into an unfriendly challenge between her sisters and the Weeds. Maybe Sparkles and Weeds weren’t meant to be friends after all.
Chapter 5
The early morning sunlight shimmered on Sugar Slopes, and the snow on the mountain peaks swirled around Summer like butter frosting on a cupcake. As she reached the top where her sisters were waiting, a ball of fur sprang into the air—it was Winter, doing jump squats in her parka.
“Come on!” she called, spying Summer. “Get those hamstrings ready to race!”
Immediately, the ground began to rumble. From a gaping hole above them dropped the Weeds and a gnarly black toboggan: Sleet first, zooming in on a shard of ice, then Quake behind him, and finally Twister and Thunderbolt on a dark, gloomy cloud. Thunderbolt winked at Summer as he landed. Summer shot him a small smile, then turned back as the sky cracked and Bluster Tempest dropped down. He looked like a hulking skunk in his tuxedo, one size too small for his rotund belly. Summer took a step back. She didn’t mind him so much when Mother Nature was around, but when he was alone, he made her want to hide behind the nearest snowbank and wait for him to leave.
“Salivations and salutations,” Bluster bellowed, rolling out his top hat in a ceremonial bow. “How are the lovely Sparkle girls this fine morning?”
“Ready to lose?” a grinning Sleet asked, his eyebrows pointing down his nose mischievously.
“Not to a lousy Weed!” Winter said hotly.
“Winter,” said a warning voice. “I thought this was a friendly event.” They turned. Mother Nature was standing behind them, her elegant turtledove advisor, Serenity, perched lightly on her soft, creamy shawl. She wore a stylish turquoise tunic, fleece leggings, and shaggy white boots that looked as warm as Flurry the polar bear.
“Mother Nature!” Spring cried, and hopped up like a sparrow to bury her face in Mother’s shawl. “We’re about to toboggan-race against the Weeds, and we’re going to race against them in the other Sparkledoms and the Barrens too, to prove to them that Sparkles are definitely better than rotten Weeds!”
Mother Nature’s brows tensed. For a moment, Summer could have sworn she saw her frown. “Surely my girls know better than that,” she said. “Girls are not better than boys. And Sparkles are not better than Weeds. Everything works in balance with everything else. A mosquito sting is bothersome to us, but it nourishes her children.”
“Couldn’t agree more, my dear Mother Nature,” Bluster said with a respectful nod. “But a bit of competition never hurt any friendship. Why, look at us, darling. We’re always playing some game or another.”
Mother Nature pressed her lips together. “I suppose that’s true,” she said slowly.
“Oh, please let us compete,” Winter begged. “We’re only having fun. Besides, we might need you to judge!”
Summer gazed down at her feet. Usually, she’d be right there with Winter, begging Mother Nature to judge. But all this rivalry stuff had gone too far already.
“Yes,” Autumn said quickly. “Otherwise, Bluster Tempest will be the only judge and it won’t be fair!”
“I assure you I would be most fair and judicious,” Bluster said, “but the young ladies do have a point, my dear.”
Mother Nature hesitated. “All right,” she said. “Under two conditions. One: No magic. Only your wits and skills may be used.” Summer looked at Thunderbolt, who was nodding solemnly. For some reason, this made her feel a lot better about the competition.
“Two,” Mother Nature continued. “You all must remember that a game is played not to prove how much better you are than someone else, but to prove how much better you are than you thought you could be.” Summer felt as if Mother was looking sidelong at her, as if she could read Summer’s thoughts.
“Now that the formalities are done,” Bluster cried, once everyone had shaken hands and agreed upon the rules, “let’s also remember that a game is good fun. Why don’t we set a wager on the competition outcome, hmm? If my boys win, Mother Nature must agree to play a round of Turmoil Trivia with me.”
“That’s where all the questions are about earthquakes and tsunamis and such,” Thunderbolt whispered to Summer. “And if you answer a question wrong, the cards go flying across the room and you have to pick them up!” Summer made a face. She could see why Mother Nature wouldn’t like that.
“But if your girls win,” Bluster continued, “you can name the game.”
Mother Nature tilted her head, a slight smile on her lips that Summer had never seen before. It reminded her of how she felt when she was about to beat Winter in a kayak race to Pineapple Island.
“Deal,” Mother Nature said. Bluster Tempest beamed. “Except,” she added, “if I win, then you must serve us all a proper high tea. Teeny sandwiches and all!”
“Done,” Bluster said.
“And … ,” Mother Nature added, “you must wear the pink frilly dress that Serenity gave me for my birthday.”
Autumn stifled a giggle. The Weeds openly cackled and Summer couldn’t help but laugh. The thought of Bluster in that dress was hilarious.
“Wager accepted,” Bluster cried. “Let the games begin!”
Summer studied the racecourse carefully. The glistening snow sloped lazily at first, looped around a thicket of trees, and cascaded down toward a jump before evening out in flat terrain. It then curved down a slope pocked with trees they’d have to dodge before ending at the finish line. They needed to get plenty of speed going from the jump or they’d get stuck in the flat part. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. It was Thunderbolt.
“Get lots of speed from the jump,” he said quietly, and walked away. Summer stared at him, puzzled. Why did he want to help her?
“Come on, Summer!” Winter was arranging Spring and Autumn in the middle of the toboggan. “Since I know the terrain the best, I’ll shout orders from the back. Summer, you steer in the front. When I say, ‘Left!’ lean left. When I say, ‘Right!’ lean right. Got it?”
They nodded. The Weeds were already in their dark toboggan, Sleet in the back and Thunderbolt in the front. Summer’s stomach filled with butterflies. The “Sparkles versus Weeds” aspect was making her uncomfortable. She decided she would just focus on having fun. She loved to race when she was on her own. Why should a race with her sisters and the Weeds be any different?
Bluster Tempest ambled to the side of the two competing toboggans. “Mother Nature and I really must leave for a prior engagement,” he said. “I’m afraid we cannot stay to watch today’s festivities. But I trust you’ll all follow our little rules, hmm?”
The Sparkles and Weeds nodded. Winter and Sleet glanced at each other suspiciously.
“All right, then!” Bluster cried, and he held up a black-and-white checkered flag. “On your marks.” The girls dug their hands into the snow. “Get set.” Summer took a deep breath in. “Go!” He lowered the flag brusquely and the Sparkles pushed off ahead of the Weeds, the chilly wind blowing sharply in their faces.
“Left!” called Winter.
Summer leaned left. They swerved around a thicket of trees.
“Right!”
Summer leaned right. They were nearing the jump. She leaned forward to gain speed.
“Left!” Winter called. Summer hesitated. Did they need to turn left? They were going quite fast, but if they slowed down to turn, they’d never have enough speed after the jump to make it past the flat terrain.
“Left, Summer!” Winter called again. Summer turned her head around to explain what she was thinking, but just then Autumn and Spring leaned left, jostling Summer. She wobbled and the toboggan wobbled with her.
“Ah!” she cried. She had made it worse, slowing them down so that now the Weeds were catching up. Summer caught Thunderbolt’s gaze and saw that he was staring at their toboggan with a determined glint in his eyes. Was he planning to knock them over? Just then, he reached out and gave Winter a hearty push.
“Foul!” Winter called. “No shoving!” But the push had given them enough speed to soar safely over the jump and land with the acceleration they’d need to get through the flat land. Had Thunderbolt done that on purpose?
“Lousy Weed,” muttered Winter. But Summer wondered if they would have made it without Thunderbolt’s extra push.
“Left!” Summer leaned left and focused on her surroundings. They were navigating through a sparse forest now and would have to turn carefully. The Weeds were ahead, but there was no way to pass them directly without crashing into a tree. Sleet turned around to see how far ahead of the Sparkles they were. He grinned. Just then, Summer noticed an ice-coated rock in the Weeds’ path.
“Thunderbolt, watch out!” she shouted instinctively. Sleet turned around and the Weeds swerved right, avoiding the rock by a hair’s breadth. The swerve slowed them down a little bit and the Sparkles caught up. The two toboggans left the forest at the same time and crossed the finish line in tandem.
The Weeds jumped up and cheered, mussing one another’s hair. Summer bit her lip. By not following Winter’s direction, had she allowed the Weeds to tie them?
Winter jumped out and marched to Summer. “What was that?”
“What?”
“Why did you help the Weeds out?”
Summer blushed. She didn’t want to tell her sisters that she’d been worried that Thunderbolt might get hurt. What if they made fun of her?
“I wanted it to be a fair game,” she answered.
“Thanks a lot, Sparkle! Couldn’t have done it without you,” Sleet shouted. He and Quake gave each other a high five.
“You didn’t win,” Winter shot back. “It was a tie.”
“Winter, remember we have plenty of other challenges,” Summer said, taking her sister’s hand. She hoped a little hand squeeze could warm up her sister’s attitude. “In fact, is the obstacle course ready, Autumn?”
Autumn nodded. “Whisper prepared it last night.”
“Great,” said Winter. “Let’s go, Sparkles. The sooner we win these contests, the sooner we don’t have to talk to any more Weeds.”
Summer followed her sisters away from the toboggans. She wished she hadn’t made Winter so mad. She felt like it was all her fault that her sisters were angry at the Weeds, when all Summer wanted was for her sisters to get along with them. Why couldn’t they be friends with the Weeds, just like they were with each other? She had to help her sisters win the competition—afterward, she could prove to them that the Weeds weren’t all bad.
Summer smiled resolutely as she followed her sisters on the rainbow to Autumn’s realm.
Chapter 6
Outside Autumn’s Caramel Apple Orchard, the Sparkles gathered to talk strategy. Whisper, Autumn’s elephant, shyly nuzzled his giant trunk against Autumn. He had big violet eyes that glittered like amethyst gemstones beneath his dark lashes. His tough, leaf-patterned hide was pure orange, like a giant pumpkin.
“I don’t see why you didn’t just set up the obstacle course yourself,” Winter grumbled. “It must have taken Whisper ages, what with using just his trunk and all.”
Spring looked at Whisper and made a sound like a trumpet, throwing her head back. Whisper trumpeted right back. Spring’s ability to talk to animals always amused Summer, especially right now, when absurd noises came out of her cute-as-a-button, ringlet-framed face.
“Whisper says it only took him a few hours. He got the squirrels to help out.” A few red-furred squirrels poked their heads out between the branches of an apple tree above them. They waved at Spring, who cheerfully clucked up at them in what must have been some kind of greeting.
“So it’s through this gate?” asked Winter. Whisper nodded. A tall wooden gate opened up to the Caramel Apple Orchard, where Autumn’s apples grew in rows, crisp and pink, each fruit dripping with a sweet, salty caramel-like sap from the trees.
“Ew, apples,” Thunderbolt shouted. “Those look healthy.” The Weeds sauntered toward them, kicking up dust along the trail outside the Orchard.
“I say we skip the apples and go straight for the caramel,” Twister said, indicating the caramel sap dripping down the bark of the apple trees.
Whisper blew his trunk nervously and hid behind Autumn.
“Shhh,” Autumn cooed, rubbing his trunk soothingly. “It’s okay, Whisper. They’re just boys.” Whisper slowly opened his big violet eyes and peeked out from behind Autumn’s shoulder, gingerly helping her onto a tree stump.
Autumn cleared her voice, her hand shaking a little. She hated public speaking, even though half the people there were her sisters and the other half were just the silly Weeds.
“Whisper and I decided,” she started quietly.
“Speak up!” Quake shouted. Summer and Winter shot him a look.
Autumn cleared her voice and spoke a smidgen louder. “Whisper and I decided to make an obstacle course based not on strength or speed, but on intelligence.” She paused and Whisper nudged her in support. “At the start of the course, Whisper will give you a clue that will lead you to the first obstacle. From there you follow the course, clue to clue, obstacle to obstacle. Though Spring helped him write the clues out, Whisper has designed the course and the clues so none of us has an advantage over anyone else.”
Sleet and Quake snickered at that. “An elephant designed this contest?”
“At the end of the course,” Autumn continued, “Whisper has hidden a blue ribbon. The team that grabs it first wins.” Autumn stepped down quickly from the trunk and walked over to the Sparkles.
Summer’s heart beat excitedly. After letting her sisters down in the toboggan race, she felt she needed to prove to them that she was taking this competition seriously. That she was on their team.
Whisper plodded over to the gate, reached with his trunk behind the big wooden sign that read “Caramel Apple Orchard,” and sucked up two little slips of paper. One he carefully gave to Autumn, the other he blew toward Thunderbolt. The Sparkles crowded around Autumn. In Spring’s sprawling script were written the words “Orchard Obstacle Course.” Below that were instructions:
Summer looked at Autumn quizzically, who shrugged her shoulders. Whisper grabbed a checkered flag from the gates and stood between the Sparkles and Weeds, bringing it down to the ground with a flourish. They rushed to the gates.
“Remember—only one person’s feet can touch the ground per team!” Winter cried.
They all stopped short at that. In front of them stood two huge bales of hay, each taller than Bluster. Each bale was hollowed out in the center so that it looked like a giant straw wheel. Farther down the lane, a broad plank hung from an oak tree—as far off the ground as the hay bales were high. On top of the plank were two red wagons, one labeled “Sparkles,” the other labeled “Weeds.”