Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings Junior Novel (6 page)

T
he Keeper was in the Hall of Winter, trying hard to keep his focus. He was supposed to be writing, but he was distracted. He put down his pen and glanced at an open door a short distance away. Periwinkle had been inside that room for most of the day. He went over and poked his head in to check on her.

She was sitting in the middle of the large snowflake, mesmerized by the images projected on the icy walls. Again and again, she watched the story of how she and Tinker Bell had been born.

Just then, Lord Milori walked past Dewey and up to the edge of the snowflake. Periwinkle turned to him, her eyes filled with tears. The Keeper ducked out of the room. He hoped that Lord Milori would be able to comfort the young frost fairy.

At the same time, on the warm side of Pixie Hollow, Tinker Bell was with Queen Clarion in her chambers. She had begged the queen to reconsider her rule. The queen smiled sadly at Tinker Bell. “Long ago,” she began, “when Pixie Hollow was very young, two fairies met and fell in love. One of them was a winter fairy.”

In the Hall of Winter, Lord Milori was telling Periwinkle the same tale. “And the other was from the warm seasons,” he said. “The two fairies were enchanted with each other, and every sunset they met at the border…”

“…where spring touches winter,” Queen Clarion continued. “But as their love grew stronger, they wished to be together.”

“And share each other's worlds,” Lord Milori said. “So they disregarded the danger and crossed.”

“One of them broke a wing,” Queen Clarion finished quietly. “For which there is no cure.”

“From that day forward,” said Lord Milori, “Queen Clarion declared that fairies must never again cross the border. And I agreed that our two worlds should forever remain apart.”

Periwinkle wiped a tear from her cheek. “And the two fairies?” she said.

“What happened to them?” Tink asked Queen Clarion.

The queen's gaze fell. “They had to say good-bye,” she whispered.

Tinker Bell's shoulders slumped. It was no use. She would never see her sister again. Quietly, she walked over to a large window in the queen's chambers. As she looked outside, she saw a tiny snowflake float down from the sky. She drew in a sharp breath.

Oh, no,
she thought.

I
n a flash, Queen Clarion and Tinker Bell raced through the Autumn Forest. Other fairies followed, including Fawn, Rosetta, Iridessa, Silvermist, Vidia, and the seasons' ministers. Snowflakes were falling more rapidly now, and fairies throughout the warm seasons were panicking.

“The temperature seems to be plummeting!” the Minister of Autumn cried.

“The hibiscuses are halfway to hibernation!” added the Minister of Summer.

“Now, now, ministers,” Queen Clarion said, trying to remain calm. “Let's not panic.”

But as they reached the top of a steep hill near the border and looked into the distance, they gasped.

“Snow!” the Minister of Spring cried.

They couldn't believe their eyes. Snow was billowing up into the sky from the edge of the border, and it was beginning to blanket the warm seasons of Pixie Hollow!

Just then, Tinker Bell heard Clank and Bobble. They were struggling down below in the riverbed by the border. She flew toward the sound of their voices and found them on a ledge near an icy waterfall. They were trying to move the snowmaker.

“Heave ho!” the tinkers cried.

“What happened?” Tink asked when she reached her friends. She pointed to the machine. “How did this get here?” The last time she'd seen the snowmaker, it had been on the bridge.

“I don't know, Miss Bell.” Clank shrugged. “But it's stuck real good.”

“Aye,” Bobble said. He pointed to the mound of snow piling high into the sky. “And it's making that thing bigger by the minute!”

Tinker Bell called to Rosetta and the rest of her friends to help move the snowmaker. With all their might, the fairies pushed and shoved. Finally, the machine broke free. It tumbled deeper into the riverbed and splashed into the water.

“We did it!” the fairies cheered.

“It's over.” Tinker Bell sighed.

“Uh…I don't think it is,” Vidia said slowly. She pointed up at the sky.

Though the machine was gone, the snow was still coming down. A cold breeze ruffled the fairies' clothes and sent chills to the tips of their wings.

“Why isn't it stopping?” Clank asked.

Queen Clarion and the ministers all looked concerned. “It's too late,” the queen said. “The seasons have been thrown out of balance.”

“But if the temperature continues to drop, it will freeze all of Pixie Hollow,” the Minister of Spring said.

All the fairies looked to Queen Clarion for guidance. But she remained silent. Just then, a sharp
crack
behind them grabbed their attention. The fairies watched as a large, frozen tree branch broke and fell to the ground.

The Minister of Autumn turned to the queen with a grave expression on his face. “Queen Clarion,” he said. “The Pixie Dust Tree…”

The queen's eyes grew wide. Immediately, she flew high into the sky and gazed at the Pixie Dust Tree in the center of Pixie Hollow. Her face clouded with worry. “We must hope the tree survives,” she said. “Otherwise there will be no more pixie dust.” She paused. “Life in Pixie Hollow will change forever. And no fairy will ever fly again.”

The fairies all gasped, picturing life without the Pixie Dust Tree.

The queen motioned to the fairies. “Hurry,” she said. “We must do everything we can!”

Everyone in Pixie Hollow began to prepare for the coming freeze. The fairies needed to make sure that they and all the animals would be able to stay warm until the cold had passed. Iridessa took an armful of fireflies and placed them in a sunflower, which Rosetta closed up around them. Over by Havendish Stream, Fawn escorted a group of frogs into an empty log and patted it closed with moss.

Meanwhile, Fairy Mary was directing the tinker fairies to pile moss onto the Pixie Dust Tree. “That's it,” she instructed them. “Lay the blankets along the branches, as many as you can. We must protect the tree.”

In her teapot home, Tinker Bell was helping several pillbugs keep cozy. “There you go,” she said, lowering a pillbug onto her bed. “You guys just stay here and keep warm. Everything's going to be—”

Suddenly, a twinkle from the corner of the room caught Tinker Bell's eye. She turned to see Periwinkle's frosted blue flower resting on her table. Rosetta must have brought it to her house after they had taken Periwinkle back to the Winter Woods. Tink flew over to examine the flower. Part of the frost casing had broken away. She couldn't believe what she saw. The flower's petals stretched wide in full bloom.

“It's still alive!” Tink breathed.

Slowly, an idea began to form in her mind. If the frost had helped keep the flower alive, then maybe…

Tink looked out the window, in the direction of the Winter Woods.

“Peri,” she whispered.

P
eriwinkle raced through the Winter Woods ahead of Dewey. The elderly fairy was doing his best to keep up with her, but the blustery wind was strong and made it difficult for him to fly.

“Dewey, you gotta see this!” Periwinkle called.

“I'm sure there's nothing to worry about!” Dewey assured her. But as they reached the place where Periwinkle was taking him, he stopped short. “Oh, dear,” he said.

Periwinkle joined her friends Gliss and Spike at the edge of the Pixie Dust Well. Normally, there would be a steady stream of pixie dust flowing from the root above it. But there was no flow of pixie dust now. There was nothing—not even a trickle.

“There must be something wrong with the Pixie Dust Tree,” Periwinkle said.

Dewey examined the hollow root and tapped his cane on it. One last speck of dust fell into his palm. He furrowed his brow. “Yeah, you might want to worry just a little bit,” he said.

At that moment, Periwinkle's wings began sparkling.

“Tink?” she asked in shock. Periwinkle flew up and looked out over the white landscape. On the horizon, racing straight toward them, was Tinker Bell! She was carrying her winter coat so that her wings were exposed and she could fly. But they were quickly icing over.

“Periwinkle!” Tink shouted. She fought against the freezing gusts that whipped past her. There was no time to lose. Tink had to reach her sister. All of Pixie Hollow was counting on her! But the cold was just too strong. Before she could get there, Tinker Bell fell to the ground in a heap.

“Tinker Bell!” Periwinkle cried. She, Dewey, and her friends rushed to where Tink had fallen.

Meanwhile, Tink lifted her head from the snow. Something was wrong. She looked back at her wings and gasped. They had turned ice blue! Quickly, she hid them under her coat so Periwinkle wouldn't see how cold they had become.

Periwinkle and her friends helped Tink sit up. “Are you okay?” Periwinkle asked, her face filled with concern. “Why would you
fly
here?”

“I had to,” Tink panted. “Pixie Hollow's in trouble. There's a freeze, and the Pixie Dust Tree is in danger.”

Dewey looked at the winter fairies. “That explains it,” he said.

A terrible feeling formed in Periwinkle's stomach. “Our dust here…it already stopped flowing,” she said.

Tink handed them the blue periwinkle flower she'd brought with her. “I think there's something you can do,” she explained. “Your frost…it kept the flower alive.”

Gliss stepped forward. “Frost does that. It's like a little blanket. It tucks the warm air inside and keeps out the cold.”

Periwinkle's eyes grew wide. “We could frost the Pixie Dust Tree before the freeze hits it!”

Tinker Bell smiled. She had known that her sister would understand.

But Spike seemed doubtful. “What about our wings?”

Dewey shook his head. “If it's a freeze, it will be cold enough to cross.”

The fairies all looked at one another.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Spike asked.