Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings Junior Novel (7 page)

M
inutes later, the fairies were flying back across the border. Fiona carried Tinker Bell, while the winter fairies zoomed overhead. As they passed through to the Autumn Forest, they all stared in shock.

“The freeze is moving so fast,” Tinker Bell said, gazing at the frozen landscape. “We have to get to the tree.”

Back in the center of Pixie Hollow, Queen Clarion, Clank, Bobble, Fairy Mary, and all the fairies were hard at work trying to protect the tree. They passed thick, mossy blankets to one another and carefully laid them along the branches. But for every blanket they put in place, the cold wind whipped another one off.

“It's not working,” Clank called out anxiously to Fairy Mary.

“The wind is too strong!” Bobble added.

The queen's face was etched with worry. Suddenly, they heard a growl behind them. Everyone turned and watched in disbelief as Tink, Peri, Gliss, and Spike rode up to them on Fiona's back.

“Tinker Bell?” Queen Clarion cried in surprise when she saw her with the three frost fairies.

“Queen Clarion, they can help,” Tink explained. “Their frost is like a blanket. It can protect the tree.”

Queen Clarion studied Tinker Bell's face for a moment. Then she turned to Periwinkle, Gliss, and Spike. “Do it,” she instructed them.

The warm-weather fairies all watched hopefully as Peri and her friends flitted from branch to branch and began frosting the tree as quickly as they could. But the freeze was advancing fast.

“We should hand out the rest of the blankets and use them to protect our wings,” Tinker Bell called to Clank and Bobble.

They began distributing blankets to all the warm-weather fairies. One by one, everyone began hurrying inside the Pixie Dust Tree. It would be warm and safe in there until the freeze passed.

Meanwhile, up above, Periwinkle, Gliss, and Spike were growing tired.

“The tree is too big,” Spike panted. She eyed the freeze line. It was getting closer by the minute. “We're never going to make it.”

Just then, far off in the distance, an owl screeched. Everyone turned toward the sound. Lord Milori was flying in on his majestic snowy owl! Beside him, Dewey was perched on the back of the young owl that had first carried Tinker Bell into the Winter Woods.

And together, they were leading an entire squadron of winter fairies toward the Pixie Dust Tree! There were hundreds of them.

“Lord Milori!” Periwinkle cried in astonishment.

“We've come to help,” the lord said in his deep voice when they landed.

Periwinkle quickly explained how they were frosting the tree to protect it, but that the tree was too large for them to cover on their own.

“Understood,” Lord Milori replied. He faced the army of winter fairies. “Start at the freeze line and spread out to the other seasons,” he commanded. “The rest of you, cover the tree!”

Instantly, the winter fairies sprang into action. Sled led a group to frost the meadows and fields while Lord Milori directed the fairies blanketing the Pixie Dust Tree from atop his owl. Soon, all of Pixie Hollow was a glittering landscape of frost. When the last branch was covered, Lord Milori swooped down to the ground.

“We've done all we can,” he said to the frost fairies around the Pixie Dust Tree. He looked at Tink and her friends. “You must take cover.”

The warm-weather fairies hurried inside the tree, out of the cold. But Queen Clarion remained outside a minute longer. She looked at Lord Milori and shivered. “Will everything be all right?” she asked.

Lord Milori gazed at the queen for a long time. “I don't know,” he answered finally. “I've never seen anything like this.”

Queen Clarion shivered again. Lord Milori took off his cloak and gently placed it around her shoulders. “Please take cover,” he said to her.

Before she left, the queen stole one more glance at the Lord of Winter. When her old friend turned, she could see his broken right wing. The legend that she had told Tinker Bell was in fact the story of her love for Lord Milori. Without another word, she joined the others in the depths of the Pixie Dust Tree to wait for the freeze to arrive.

L
ord Milori and the winter fairies stood watch as the freeze took hold of Pixie Hollow. Arctic winds swept across the glades, and icy cold enveloped the fairy world. Deep inside the Pixie Dust Tree, Tinker Bell and her friends huddled together for warmth. They couldn't see the frozen world outside, but they could hear the howling winds and feel the giant tree creaking and swaying around them.

Darkness spread throughout Never Land.

After a long, long while, Tinker Bell finally saw a beam of light shining in through a knothole in the tree. She peered out of her hiding place and gasped. Everything was covered in snow and ice! But the sun was shining brightly.

Cautiously, all the fairies began to emerge from the tree. Periwinkle flew over to join Tinker Bell, and one by one, the fairies moved toward the Pixie Dust Well. They gazed in silence at the frozen stream of pixie dust that had stopped in midflow over the pool. Everyone held their breath. Had their plan worked? Was the tree saved?

Very slowly, the sun began to melt the ice. The pixie dust began to flow!

Everyone burst into loud cheers. Some fairies wiped tears of joy from their eyes.

“What a beautiful sight,” Bobble said, sniffling and wiping his goggles.

Periwinkle turned to her sister, and a wide grin broke over her face. “It worked, Tinker Bell!” she cried.

Fairies flew high into the air, celebrating. Periwinkle spun happily in a circle. They were safe. Their frost had saved Pixie Hollow!

Then Periwinkle looked down. Tinker Bell was still standing on the branch below. “Tink?” Periwinkle asked. She flew down and landed beside her sister on the tree limb. “What's wrong?”

Tinker Bell smiled sadly at Periwinkle. Then she turned around so her sister could see her wings.

One of them was broken.

“Tinker Bell!” all her friends gasped.

“Oh, no,” whispered Iridessa.

Periwinkle gazed at her sister. “When you fell in winter,” she said, remembering how Tinker Bell had flown to get the winter fairies. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“We had to save the tree.” Tinker Bell shrugged. “Besides, there's no cure for a broken wing.”

Periwinkle hugged Tinker Bell tight. “I'm so sorry.”

Lord Milori stepped forward. “This happened because we tried to keep you apart,” he said quietly.

“But never again,” Queen Clarion declared next to him. “You belong together.”

Dewey was standing nearby. Tears began to form in his eyes as he watched the sisters.

Tinker Bell looked up. “It's getting warmer,” she said, feeling the growing strength of the sun. “You should get back to winter.”

But Periwinkle couldn't let go.

“Hey, I'll be okay,” Tinker Bell said with a small smile. “I'll meet you tomorrow at the border. Sisters?”

“Sisters,” Periwinkle replied. She put her wings up to Tinker Bell's, and gently, the swirling patterns in each of their wings began to glow.

Then something unexpected happened. A surge of energy rushed between their wings, like a spark. Quickly, the sisters stepped apart.

“Jingles!” they both cried.

But Tinker Bell felt a tingling in her broken wing. Both sisters watched in awe as a sparkling light began to dance around the torn edges. They looked at one another. Then, with a deep breath, they turned wing to wing once more.

The moment they touched, the sisters' wings burst into a brilliant ball of energy! It was so bright that the two fairies had to shield their eyes from the glow. The light shone high into the sky, reflecting off the melting ice and snow. When the sparkling finally faded, everyone stared in awe.

Tinker Bell's wing was healed!

Before she could even hug her sister, Tink's friends bombarded her. They cheered and cried. Tinker Bell was safe—her sister had healed her!

Queen Clarion and Lord Milori watched happily. The Lord of Winter reached out, took the queen's hand, and gently kissed her.

Dewey smiled as the friends, old and new, rejoiced. He would have much more to write about in his books when he returned home.

A
few days later, at the border of the Winter Woods, winter fairies took turns frosting warm-weather fairies' wings. Now that they knew the secret of how to cross over into the cold without getting hurt, the warm-weather fairies couldn't wait to get their first taste of winter!

Silvermist had just finished having her wings frosted. She thanked the two winter fairies, then flew across the border to join Fawn and Iridessa on the other side.

Next in line was Fairy Mary. She was very nervous. Though she was bundled up in warm clothing, she was still unsure about crossing over.

“Next!” the fairy organizing the line called impatiently.

Fairy Mary took a deep breath and lifted her wings to be frosted. As the cold hit her, she squealed. Then a smile spread across her face. “Ooooh, that feels good,” she said.

All over the Winter Woods, warm-weather fairies were discovering the beauty of winter. New friendships were also blooming. Rosetta was just admiring her reflection in a big block of ice when Sled flew up beside her. He had noticed her earlier and wanted to introduce himself.

“Hi,” he said.

Rosetta blushed. “Hello,” she replied.

“I'm Sled.” He held out his hand.

“Oh my, that's perfect,” Rosetta blurted out. Then her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Oh, I'm Rosetta,” she added.

“Rosetta.” Sled smiled. “That's beautiful.” He took her hand, and together they went to join their friends by the skating pond.

Meanwhile, Clank and Bobble had a very special delivery. “Oh, Misssss Glisssss!” Bobble called out excitedly.

Gliss had been standing near the skating pond, chatting with Spike and Vidia. When she turned around, her eyes grew wide. Clank and Bobble were carrying an enormous acorn!

“An acorn,” she gasped.

“Biggest one we could find.” Bobble grinned.

Gliss squealed with delight. “I love it!” She quickly flew over to examine the acorn from every angle.

Vidia turned to Spike with raised eyebrows. Spike shrugged. “She likes acorns,” Spike explained.

“Must be a winter thing,” Vidia replied.

Not far away, Queen Clarion and Lord Milori were gliding across the ice, hand in hand. After so many years of being apart, they were thrilled to be reunited.

And over by the border, Periwinkle was smiling as she watched the fairies cross over one by one. Suddenly, her wings began to sparkle. “Tink,” she said.

Periwinkle flew to meet her sister as she entered the Winter Woods.

“You ready?” Tink asked.

“Ready.” Periwinkle nodded.

At the same time, the sisters whistled. Instantly, a large flock of snowy owls burst into the sky. They released snowflakes and periwinkles from baskets they were carrying. All the fairies gazed up in wonder at the incredible sight.

Tink and Periwinkle smiled at one another. It was beautiful, but not nearly as magical as the secret of their wings. The two fairies had discovered that the bond of sisterhood was the greatest magic of all. And they knew they would never be apart again.