Lily's Pesky Plant (2 page)

A
T LEAST
, L
ILY
thought it was a seed. It was hard to say for sure. She had never seen anything quite like it before.

It was as big as a chestnut and a pearly white color, like the inside of an oyster shell. The ends tapered into points. A few fibers stuck out like hairs from the tips.

As soon as her heart stopped racing, Lily flew over and landed next to the strange object. She picked up a twig and poked it. Nothing happened.

Lily felt braver. She touched it with her fingertips. The surface felt cool and smooth, like a sea-polished rock.

Now Lily was sure it was a seed. Her gardening instincts told her there was life inside it—the sleeping life of a plant waiting to grow.

“But where did it come from?” Lily asked aloud.

Just then, she heard a loud chittering sound above her. She looked up. A squirrel was chattering at her from a branch overhead.

Lily laughed. Now she knew where the seed had come from. The squirrel probably wasn’t used to seeing fairies walking on the ground. It had dropped the seed in surprise.

“Don’t worry,” she called to the squirrel. “I’m leaving soon!” The squirrel chattered at her again, then darted away along a tree branch.

Lily looked back down at the seed.
What
is
it?
she wondered. For once, she wished she were an animal-talent fairy. Then she could talk to the squirrel and ask him where the mysterious seed had come from.

“What kind of plant are you?” Lily whispered to the seed. As she said the words, something occurred to her, and her eyes widened. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “I’ll plant it! After all, the only way to find out what a seed will become is to watch it grow.”

Lily reached down to pick it up. To her surprise, it was heavy. She sprinkled a pinch of fairy dust over the seed. It grew lighter in her arms.

Clutching her treasure against her chest, Lily rose into the air and flew in the direction of her garden.

Back at her garden, Lily found Iris still sitting on the toadstool, right where she had left her.

“Oh, Lily, you’re back already,” said Iris. “Did you get to see some possum ferns? The last time I went possum fern spotting, I saw exactly three dozen of them. Although for some reason, they all were playing dead.…”

“I found something even better,” Lily told Iris. She no longer felt annoyed with her. She was much too excited about her find. Gently Lily placed the big seed on the ground.

Iris was so surprised, she sneezed three times in a row. “What an amazing seed!” she cried, after she’d blown her nose. “Whatever is it?”

“You don’t know?” Lily asked. “I was hoping you would. I found it in the forest just now. I’ve never seen one before.”

Bumble heard Lily’s voice and flew over to greet her. Lily patted his fuzzy side.

“What do you think of my new seed, Bumble?” she asked.

The bee landed on the seed, paused for a moment, then flew off in the direction of the roses. Bumble was more interested in flowers than seeds.

Iris squinted closely at the seed. Then she pulled out her writing splinter and made a note in her book. She began to draw a picture of the seed next to it.

“Hi, Lily. Hi, Iris. What is that? It’s so lovely!” said a friendly voice. Rani, a pretty water-talent fairy with long, blond hair, walked over to them.

“Hi, Rani,” said Lily. “It’s some kind of seed. We’re not sure what. I found it today in the—”

“—beach cove?” Rani asked. She had a habit of finishing others’ sentences.

“No, the forest,” said Lily.

“Oh. It’s just that it just reminds me of a shell,” Rani said fondly. She squatted down to admire the seed.

“I’ll bet that’s it,” Iris said. She tapped her writing splinter thoughtfully against her cheek. “I’ll bet it’s a seaweed seed.” She made another note in her book.

Lily shrugged. She had no idea what a seaweed seed looked like, or whether there was such a thing. Fairies never went underwater. Their wings would soak up too much water and drag them down.

But Rani shook her head. “No, I don’t think so,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Iris frowned. Lily knew Iris didn’t like to be wrong. But she couldn’t argue with Rani. The water-talent fairy had visited the mermaids in order to help save Never Land, and she had even cut off her wings to do it. She was the only fairy in Never Land who had ever been underwater. On the subject of seaweed seeds, she certainly knew more than anyone in Pixie Hollow.

Scowling, Iris crossed out what she had just written.

“Well,” said Lily, “there’s only one way to find out what it is.” She picked up a shovel and drove the tip into the ground.

Iris looked up from her book. “You’re going to plant it? Just like that?” she asked.

She sounded alarmed. “But you don’t know how much sunlight it needs. Or how much water. And what if it doesn’t get along with the other flowers? And…and…”

Lily smiled. Iris certainly knew a lot about plants.
But knowing about plants isn’t all there is to gardening,
Lily thought.
Some
times you just have to trust your instincts
.

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” she said.

“W
HAT IS THAT
sound?” Lily exclaimed.

It was a few days after she had planted the seed. Lily had been wrapping spider silk around some violets that had caught a chill when she was interrupted by a terrible racket. It sounded like big metal teeth chomping together.

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

Lily cupped her hands over her ears.

The sound was coming from the other side of her garden. She hurried toward it.

Suddenly, Lily stopped short in surprise. There was Iris, sitting atop a strange contraption.

It had a seat and pedals. At the front of the machine was a set of huge metal jaws. As Lily watched, Iris dumped a bucket of kitchen garbage into the jaws. Then she put her feet on the pedals. As her legs moved, the metal jaws chewed up the garbage.

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

“Just making a little food for our seed!” Iris shouted over the noise. She stopped pedaling and held up a bucket for Lily to see. It was full of mulched vegetable scraps.

“It’s chock-full of nutrients for a growing plant.” Iris beamed proudly.

Bumble flew around Lily in dizzy circles. He hated loud noises.

“Well, that’s…very thoughtful, Iris,” said Lily. She eyed the machine uncertainly.

“Only the best for our little plant,” Iris said. She went back to pedaling. Lily winced and put her hands over her ears.

Ever since Lily had planted the mysterious seed, Iris had come to her garden every day to check on it. And each time, she had some new idea for how to make the plant grow faster.

One day Iris had turned up with a daisy umbrella, insisting that the seed would grow best in the shade. The next day she fretted that it wasn’t getting the sunlight it needed. In the afternoons, Iris would sit on the spotted toadstool, talking about the seed and writing in her book.

“It’s not every day that someone finds a new plant,” Iris told Lily. “I’m writing everything down. You know, for future garden fairies.”

Lily just smiled. Iris was the only garden fairy she knew who liked to read about gardening. The other fairies just
gardened
.

Still, she couldn’t blame Iris for being excited. Lily was just as curious to see what kind of plant would grow.

Iris finally finished mulching the garbage. She picked up the bucket of plant food and set off in the direction of the seed. Lily went back to tending her violets.

Suddenly, Iris shrieked.

Lily dropped the spider silk and raced back to the toadstool. Maybe Iris had hurt herself! But the red-nosed fairy was grinning from ear to ear. “Look, Lily!” she said breathlessly. “It sprouted!”

Lily looked where Iris was pointing. Sure enough, a small seedling was growing where they’d planted the mysterious seed.

Lily clapped her hands together. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” she whispered.

In fact, the seedling wasn’t beautiful at all. Its leaves were a sickly yellow color. Its stem was covered with little spots, as if it had a bad case of chicken pox. But that was the thing about Lily. She thought every plant was beautiful.

Iris was thrilled. “Vidia!” she called out to a fairy passing by. “Come look at our new little plant!”

Vidia flew over to them. She looked at the seedling and made a face. “Darlings, I’ve never seen anything so ugly in my life,” she declared.

Iris’s face fell. Lily frowned.
Trust Vidia to say something mean,
she thought. The dark-haired, fast-flying fairy was as spiteful as they came.

“It reminds me of a sick caterpillar I saw once,” Vidia went on. “If I were you, I’d put it out of its misery now. Iris, dear, why don’t you run along and get a shovel to dig it up?”

Iris’s glow flared with anger. She scowled at Vidia.

Lily ignored Vidia. “Iris, let’s give it water,” she said. “It looks like it could use some.”

Iris gave Vidia one last angry glance. Then she picked up a bucket and hurried off to the stream.

“Lily, dear, how can you stand having her around all the time?” Vidia said. She glanced at Iris’s back. “A garden fairy without a garden.” She shook her head. “
Tsk, tsk
. How sad.” But Vidia didn’t sound sad. She sounded amused.

“She’s better company than
some
fairies,” Lily replied.

Vidia gave her a sugary smile. “I can take a hint, sweetie,” she said. “Have fun with your little sprout. But you should watch out for those spots. They look contagious.”

Rising into the air, Vidia put on a burst of speed and disappeared.

For the next several days, Lily and Iris carefully tended the plant. They watered it every morning. They talked to it every afternoon. The seedling seemed to enjoy the attention. It grew amazingly fast. Soon it towered over the fairies’ heads.

It grew uglier, too. The small spots grew into big warts. Sticky sap dripped from its bark. It sprouted thin, droopy branches. Sometimes Lily thought Vidia was right. It
did
look a bit like a sick caterpillar—a great big sick caterpillar with droopy legs.

Lily didn’t care. She could tell that the plant was happy, so she was happy, too.

The other fairies weren’t quite so open-minded. “Lily, come quick!” Tinker Bell burst into the tearoom one morning. “I just flew past your garden. A monster is attacking your buttercups!”

Lily dropped her teacup and the two fairies raced out of the Home Tree.

Outside Lily’s garden, they paused behind the rosebush. With silent looks they agreed they would take the beast by surprise. Tinker Bell drew her dagger. The two fairies crept forward.

“There it is!” Tink whispered, pointing.

Lily began to laugh. She laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks.

Tink stared at her in surprise.

At last Lily flew over and landed beside the “monster.” “Tink,” she said between chuckles, “meet my newest plant.”

“That’s a
plant
?” Tink said. She blushed and lowered her dagger. Taking a few steps forward, she peered up at its ugly branches. “What kind is it?”

“I don’t know. I found the seed in the forest and planted it,” Lily explained.

“Well, it’s very interesting,” replied Tink. “But I’d hate to bump into it on a dark night.”

Even the other garden fairies were doubtful. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Rosetta. “Are you sure you want such an ugly plant in your garden?”

“I’m sure,” said Lily.

The other fairies looked around at the beautiful flowers and shook their heads. But they didn’t say anything more. If nothing else, they thought, the mysterious plant kept Iris away from
their
gardens.