On a dark, moonless night, four fairies sat around a small campfire. The fire was not much bigger than a candle flame, and the fairies huddled close to it.
Normally, the fairies’ own golden glows would have brightened the night. But their glows were now faint. The flames provided the only light, which flickered across their worried faces.
Shadows, cast by the fire, played across a rock behind them. If the fairies had been paying attention, they would have noticed something strange. Although there were four of them, five shadows conferred on the rock. One in particular seemed alert. It tilted its pert head toward the campfire, as if trying to hear better.
But the fairies didn’t notice. They were deep in conversation.
“What can it mean?” the garden-talent fairy Rosetta whispered. She wore a leaf around her shoulders like a shawl to keep warm. As she spoke, she pulled it tighter. “Why would Tink write her name on this rock?”
“It’s a message,” the light-talent fairy Iridessa replied. “The question is, who is it for?”
“Maybe it’s for the sprites in the Dark Forest,” the animal-talent fairy Fawn said. “They found her shoe, after all. Maybe she was trying to get it back.” She patted the small leaf-satchel that held Tink’s pompom slipper. The sprites had given it to them in exchange for their help bringing light to their village.
“But the sprites never met Tink,” Rosetta pointed out. “Besides, they never leave the forest. Why would she leave them a message here?”
“Maybe it’s a message to herself,” said Silvermist, who sat back from the fire. She was a water-talent fairy and didn’t like flames. “The rock is near the Lost Coast. Tink might have put it there in case she got lost so she could find her way back.”
“But if Tink was on the Lost Coast, wouldn’t we have found her?” Iridessa asked. “We searched up and down that beach. We didn’t see any trace of Tink or her boat.”
“That’s not true.” Silvermist leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Don’t forget what I saw there in the fog. It looked like Tink, but it wasn’t. It was like . . . the ghost of Tink.” She shivered.
The other fairies shivered, too, except Iridessa, who frowned.
“Stop that,” she scolded Silvermist. The water fairy’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Don’t scare everyone with silly superstitions,” Iridessa said. “I don’t know what you saw. But I’m sure Tink is alive and well, somewhere on Shadow Island.”
Iridessa gathered a ball of firelight, squeezing it thoughtfully as if it were putty. Golden light shone between her fingers.
“You know what I think?” she said at last. She released the ball of light. It hung in the air, then faded. “I think she wrote that message for us. Tink wants someone to know she’s here. She needs help.”
“That may be,” Rosetta said. “But we can’t assume anything. From now on, we have to make choices carefully. We have only the fairy dust left on our wings. When it’s gone, our magic will be gone, too.”
“Rosetta’s right,” Iridessa said. “It’s going to be harder from here on. Anyone who wants to quit, speak up now.”
The fairies looked at one another across the fire.
“Not me,” said Fawn.
“Me either,” said Silvermist.
“I’m here until we find her,” said Rosetta.
Iridessa nodded. That settled it.
“But what about the girls?” Silvermist asked.
They all turned to look at the four human girls—Kate McCrady, Lainey Winters, and Mia and Gabby Vasquez— asleep nearby. To the tiny fairies, their slumbering forms were like small mountain ranges.
As they watched, the smallest girl, Gabby, turned over in her sleep and sighed. The fairies sighed, too.
“When our magic is gone, we won’t be able to take care of them,” Iridessa said. “They ought to be at home with their families. They’re only children, after all.”
“If we knew the way to Never Land, we could send them back to Pixie Hollow,” Rosetta said. “From there they could find their way home.”
The other fairies nodded in agreement. Whatever happened, they needed to make sure the girls got home safely.
“We should sleep,” Iridessa said. “Silvermist, will you put out the fire?”
“Gladly,” replied the water fairy. She plucked a few dewdrops, cradling them in her arms. When her arms were full, she threw the droplets on the fire. The flame sizzled out.
Silvermist sighed. “I’ll miss doing that when my magic’s gone. Fawn, what is it?”
The animal fairy was staring at the side of the rock. “I thought I saw—” She shook her head. “Never mind. My eyes were playing tricks on me. Let’s get some sleep.”
*
Lainey lay awake in the darkness long after the fairies had gone to sleep. She had heard everything they said.
Lainey, her friends, and the fairies had been on Shadow Island for days, searching for Tinker Bell. Lainey had never doubted that they’d find her. She believed in the fairies with all her heart. If they worked together, they could do anything.
But now she realized the fairies didn’t see it that way. Lainey and her friends were a burden! Iridessa’s words echoed in Lainey’s mind. When our magic is gone, we won’t be able to take care of them.
Lainey sighed. The fairies were in trouble. If only there was something she could do to help them in return. But she had no magic. No special talents. What could she do?
She turned onto her back. Without her glasses, the stars were only distant blurs. Lainey picked out a silvery smudge and made a wish. She wished for what she always wished for. She wished for magic.
But as she closed her eyes to sleep, Lainey knew that she’d made the wrong wish. This time, they needed more than magic.
They were going to need a miracle.