Fern in Star Valley Read online

  Fern nodded. “Yes, I don’t see why not!”

  River took Rosa and Bluebell’s hands while Willow took Violet and Buttercup’s, and the fairies all skipped over to the campsite together.

  “Wow, it’s just . . . magical!” breathed Violet. The grass shimmered in the sunlight. It must be fairy-dust, she thought. Each teepee was a different colour of the rainbow, and gorgeous flowers were strung between them, like the most beautiful, sweet-smelling bunting. In the middle of the circle of teepees was a great pile of wood, ready for a bonfire when it got cold and dark, and it was surrounded by a huge picnic! Red-and-white checked picnic blankets were covered with trays of cream-filled fruits and diamond-shaped sandwiches and melted chocolate hazelnut pots.

  Rosa’s stomach rumbled just looking at all the delicious treats. It was going to be the most wonderful sleepover ever!

  Willow and River went back inside their grass house to continue the preparations while Fern and the fashion fairies sat down cross-legged on some super-soft giant cushions.

  “I’d love to have some of these at home,” said Rosa, stroking the bright velvet. “Where did you get them from?”

  “I made them,” Fern said with a smile. “They’re stuffed with rubber from the juice of fill-joy trees! I can make some for you if you like.”

  “Ooh, yes, please,” Rosa replied, lying back on a cushion.

  “Fern,” Buttercup began shyly, “we have something for you…” The blonde fairy princess was holding out the Jewels and Gems gift bag.

  The other fairy princesses were glad Buttercup had remembered the gift – in the excitement, they’d forgotten all about it!

  “Thank you so much,” Fern said in her gentle lilting voice.

  “Happy birthday!” said Rosa. “We really hope you like it.”

  Fern opened the bamboo bag, pulling out the layers and layers of green tissue paper. Then she reached in and carefully lifted out the oyster-shell box.

  “Wow. They’re beautiful,” Fern breathed as she raised the lid. “I’ve never seen anything like them – and look at the glowing stars! Thank you so much! Violet, can you help me put them on?”

  Violet reached around to carefully fasten the necklace while Fern slid on the earrings. The bright stars made her pretty face light up like the moon.

  “But it’s not just jewellery,” said Bluebell, bouncing up and down on the cushion, unable to keep the gift’s magic power a secret any longer.

  Fern fingered the star pendant and then looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”

  “They’re called Make-a-Wish necklace and earrings,” Bluebell explained. “Because each glowing star represents one wish – so you have three!”

  Fern had tears of happiness in her eyes. “I think it might be the best present ever!” she said. “I like making jewellery for other people, but I don’t often get given any myself. I’m never going to take them off !”

  “See,” Rosa whispered to Violet, “it was the right present!”

  Violet smiled good-naturedly. “So,” she said to Fern, “what are you going to wish for first?”

  Fern closed her hazel eyes in thought for a moment, and then flashed them open again. “I know,” she said, her face alight, “for us all to ride on Star Valley’s magical unicorns!”

  “Really?” said Bluebell, tingling with excitement. “That sounds amazing. I’ve never ridden a unicorn before!”

  “Neither have I!” Fern admitted. “You see, they’re really, really magical and spend most of their time in their secret valley hideaway, so it’s only on special occasions that they’re ridden.”

  Rosa wondered whether the jewellery’s magic powers were strong enough to make such a big wish come true. She really hoped that they were, as the idea of riding a unicorn sounded wonderful!

  Fern jumped up and held the glowing star of her right earring tightly. The fairy princesses watched from the cushions as she stood up straight and whispered the wish to herself. The star Fern held seemed to glow even brighter as she made the wish.

  Braeeeee, braeeeee!

  The fairy princesses spun round. What could be making that deep singing noise? Their mouths gaped open as soon as they saw them: five pure white unicorns with their heads held high. They each had a spiralling golden horn pointing straight up between their eyes, and a thick mane of golden hair. Their dark eyes looked friendly, and they trotted up to the fairies with their great wings outstretched as if to say hello.

  “Their horns are very special indeed,” Fern explained. She fluttered over and began gently stroking one of the unicorn’s manes. “They are a great source of magic, and help to make sure there’s enough fairy magic in the whole of fairyland.”

  “Wow!” said Rosa. “So without the unicorns, everything here would be a lot less magical?”

  Fern nodded. “Exactly! That’s why we have to protect them so well. So we have to be extra careful on our ride. Shall we get going?”

  Buttercup felt her heart thumping against her chest. She loved all animals, and felt at home in their presence, but unicorns were her absolute favourite. She couldn’t quite believe she was meeting not one, but five of them! Buttercup approached one of the unicorns slowly and put her hand towards its soft muzzle, letting it get to know her scent so that she didn’t frighten it.

  “Hello,” she said gently as the unicorn’s nose sniffed her fingers. “I’m Buttercup.” The unicorn began to nuzzle her hand, and Buttercup shivered with delight. Its ice-white hair gave off a faint light, like a glow-worm’s, while its golden horn sparkled with magic. The unicorn seemed to like her, Buttercup thought, and she wondered whether she should flutter up to its back and mount it. But just at that moment she felt something scoop her up and lift her through the air. It was one of the unicorn’s wings, sweeping Buttercup from the ground and resting her carefully on its back! She felt certain then that the unicorn was happy for her to ride it.

  Buttercup looked around and saw that the other fairies were all being lifted on to their unicorns’ backs too. Everyone was grinning from ear to ear!

  “Hey, what going on?” Willow and River were running back outside, open-mouthed at the sight of the unicorns.

  “Are you going for a ride?” River asked. “Oh, wow! Can we come too?”

  “Please, pretty please?” added Willow. “I’ve always wanted to go on a unicorn!”

  “I’m sorry, Willow and River,” said Fern, “but this ride is just for me and my friends. Can you stay here and help finish getting everything ready?”

  “Oh, but please, Fern, we can do that later!” River squeezed up her eyes in desperation.

  “Please can we come?” added Willow.

  Fern shook her head and reached out to pat her sisters on their shoulders. “I’m sorry, but not today. You see, the lovely fairy princesses got me a Make-a-Wish necklace and earrings for my birthday, and this is one of the wishes! I’m going to take Rosa, Buttercup, Bluebell and Violet on a tour of Star Valley. But we won’t be long, so be good until we get back, and then we’ll start the party!”

  River and Willow perked up at the mention of the party. “OK, Fern,” they said, nodding.

  “But please hurry up – we can’t wait for the party to begin!” said River.

  “See you soon!” Fern called, as the unicorns rose into the air with great beats of their majestic wings.

  They were off!

  Bluebell shivered with excitement – being on a unicorn was the most amazing feeling ever! Beneath her, the great magical animal felt strong and powerful. As it flew smoothly through the air, the breeze tickled Bluebell’s face and rustled her short brown hair. She looked over to her left – Buttercup, Violet, Rosa and Fern were all beside her, holding on to the unicorns by their golden manes. She could hear Violet squealing with happiness, and Buttercup looked so relaxed on the back of her unicorn it was as if she’d done this many
times before!

  The unicorns rose up together, beating their wings gracefully over the Star Valley landscape.

  “There’s the Star Valley stream,” said Fern, pointing to her right. “It flows into River Sapphire, which goes all the way into Glitter Ocean.”

  The fashion fairy princesses followed the direction of her finger, looking down at the sparkling, curling turquoise stream. It was hard to believe it led all the way to Glitter Ocean, where the merpeople lived!

  “And there’s the Twinkle Tree!” Fern pointed straight out in front of her. “Let’s go down – I want to show you properly.”

  The unicorns seemed to know which direction they should fly without the fairies having to guide them at all. They ducked their beautiful heads and began zooming downwards.

  The unicorns hovered in the air as the fairy princesses admired the tree. It was like nothing they’d ever seen before. Bright neon flowers covered every branch – just like hundreds and thousands on an ice-cream cone, Violet thought!

  “It’s gorgeous,” said Bluebell, reaching out to gently touch one of the flowers. In the sunlight, they seemed to twinkle.

  “They look good enough to eat!” Violet joked.

  Fern grinned and plucked a lime-green flower from a nearby branch. “That’s the idea – you can eat them!” She popped the delicate flower into her mouth and licked her lips. “Yum. You’ve got to try them – they all taste different, but each is amazing in its own way. That one tasted of pears and apples with just a little bit of cinnamon!”

  The four fairy princesses didn’t need to be told twice. They all picked a flower, each choosing their favourite colour. Rosa plucked off a bright pink flower that tasted of cherries and sherbet; Buttercup chose a vivid yellow one that was a delicious mix of almonds and sweet lemon; Bluebell had a turquoise-blue flower that tasted of lavender and cream; and Violet took a bright purple flower that melted in her mouth in an explosion of blackcurrants and ginger.

  “I think that flower might be the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted,” Violet declared. “Apart from your cupcakes, Buttercup!” she added quickly.

  “The Twinkle Tree’s fabulous, isn’t it?” Fern agreed. “It’s one of my favourite places in Star Valley. But there’s somewhere else I think is even better.” She winked at the fairy princesses. “Come on, follow me!”

  The unicorns began to flap their wings harder, and they rode off, flying through wispy, cotton-like clouds in the blue sky.

  “When I was younger, I loved to play in those hills,” Fern said, pointing ahead. Rolling green slopes of a pretty valley came into view. “But let me show you what’s beyond them…”

  Violet, riding at the front of the group, suddenly let out a gasp. “Oh wow! It’s beautiful,” she said.

  Soon all the fairy princesses could see what was past the hills. There, in the centre of the valley, was a hot spring spraying up water from the ground. The unicorns flew down and hovered alongside it, and the fairies looked at the powerful spray in awe. It gushed upwards like one giant firework, the water flashing all the colours of a rainbow. Then, almost as if had never been there at all, it disappeared back into the earth.

  “It doesn’t erupt all the time,” said Fern, “so we were very lucky to see that!”

  Rosa was wiping her arms. “Oh, I got a bit splashed!” she said.

  “Now you’re even luckier!” said Fern. “It’s believed that the spray brings good fortune to anyone who’s splashed by it!”

  Rosa immediately stopped drying herself. “Wow! How magical!”

  “Can we wait for it to erupt again?” asked Bluebell, hoping she’d get the chance to be splashed too.

  “I don’t think so,” said Fern. “It could be hours until then.”

  Bluebell’s blue eyes lowered in disappointment.

  “But we can come back tomorrow morning,” Fern suggested. “Anyway, we should get back to the sleepover – we’ve got a party to begin!”

  The fairy princesses had almost forgotten what was waiting for them back at the campsite. They grinned in anticipation at the thought of the very special sleepover.

  “Let’s go!” Violet said. “We’ve got a lot of eating and fun things to do before we go to sleep!”

  The five friends all urged on their unicorns and flew back through the late-afternoon sky. They loved riding on these incredible creatures, but they couldn’t wait for the party to begin. They flew back past the gorgeous Twinkle Tree and the Star Valley stream, and Rosa’s wings started to tingle as they dived down to land beside the gorgeous campsite.

  Except … it wasn’t as gorgeous as before. In fact, it was a complete mess!

  The fairies all looked at one another in horror. What had happened?

  Fern’s eyes welled up with tears. “My sleepover’s ruined!” she cried.

  “Don’t say that,” said Rosa. “Perhaps it’s not as bad as it seems.”

  But when the fairies fluttered from their unicorns to take a closer look, their worst fears were confirmed. The flower bunting that hung between the teepees was drooping down, only half-finished. All that was left of the fire was a tiny wisp of smoke, and the blankets were covered in spilled drink and food crumbs – in fact, there was no sign of the delicious goodies anywhere!

  The five friends slumped on to a crumpled blanket. They all looked down, picking at the dirty blanket, not knowing what to say.

  It was Violet who was the first to speak. “You don’t think it was the Pixlins, do you?” she said quietly.

  “Violet, you know the Pixlins aren’t real,” Rosa reassured her.

  Fern was nodding. “Yes, I don’t think we need to worry about them. Pixlins are just myths – part of fairy folklore.”

  The fairy princesses felt better to hear Fern’s words – she knew more about fairyland than anyone. Pixlins were a mix between a pixie and a goblin. They were often characters in fairy stories, and were known for behaving mischievously and living in the wild.

  “But someone must have done all this damage,” said Buttercup softly. “Who would be so horrible?”

  Rosa jumped up. “Well, we won’t find out by just sitting here,” she said. “Let’s have a look around and see if we can find some clues.”

  The other fairies gazed up at Rosa. They were so upset that they didn’t feel much like investigating, but they soon realized it was better than feeling sorry for themselves.

  Bluebell crawled into one of the teepees. The flowers for the bunting were scattered on the floor, and Bluebell breathed in the strong scent of honeysuckle. In the corner was a pile of flowery pillows – Bluebell guessed they’d once been fluffy, but now they were surrounded by feathers from their stuffing. But she struggled to find a clue about who had done this. Someone who liked pillow fights maybe?

  Violet was examining the burnt-out bonfire for clues. She pushed the charcoal remains of the fire around with a willow branch, but she couldn’t find anything to help them, only a lot of ashes.

  Buttercup and Rosa were straightening out the blankets, but all they revealed were more and more crumbs.

  “All the food has gone,” exclaimed Rosa. “Whoever did this must have been very hungry!”

  Fern looked up at the horizon, towards the reddish sun that was lowering in the sky. She sighed deeply. “We’re wasting so much time trying to find out who ruined the sleepover!” she said angrily. “I wanted to have fun with you, not spend the evening like this.” She glanced down at her necklace. “It is my birthday, after all!”

  Buttercup rushed over to Fern and put an arm around her. “I’m sorry, Fern. Perhaps we can postpone your sleepover to another day?”

  But Fern was fingering her necklace, her face a bit brighter. “No – I know! I can use one of the wishes to find out who ruined everything!” She grabbed hold of her left star earring, closed her eyes and began whispering to herself.
r />   The fairy princesses looked around fearfully – would the wish work and tell them who had done all this damage? They were suddenly unsure if they wanted to find out!

  But all they could see were Fern’s sisters, popping out from behind a silk-thorn hedge near the stream. Willow and River scampered nearer, and Rosa noticed that not only were they looking guilty, but they also had smudges of chocolate over their faces, and feathers in their hair.

  As Fern finished her wish, she opened her eyes. “Willow, River, it was you!” she cried.

  The fairy princesses glanced warily between Fern and her two siblings. Would she be furious that they’d spoiled her birthday celebrations? They hated arguments, but River and Willow deserved to be told off by Fern.

  “What were you thinking?” Fern asked in a shaky voice, her arms outstretched at the campsite. “Look at my ruined party!”

  River and Willow burst into tears. “We’re really sorry, Fern,” said River, her tears drawing lines through the chocolate smudges across her face. “We just couldn’t wait for the party, and we didn’t want to be left out, and then once we started we couldn’t stop…”

  “It was just so much fun,” Willow blubbed. “But we’re very sorry we didn’t wait for you!”

  Fern put her arms around Willow and River and they buried their heads in the fabric of their older sister’s maxi-dress. “It was a very naughty thing to do. We were all going to enjoy the party together – you just had to wait. But now it’s all ruined…”

  “Sorry, Fern,” Willow whispered. “We’re sorry we’ve made a mess of everything.”

  “We didn’t mean to make you angry on your birthday,” River added.