“There’s Tinker Bell! I see her!” With a shout of excitement, Gabby Vasquez plunged into the shallow river. She splashed through knee-deep water toward the reeds on the other side.
Gabby’s older sister, Mia Vasquez, and their friends Kate McCrady and Lainey Winters waited on the bank with four fairies. They all watched as Gabby parted the reeds.
A startled duck flapped into the air.
“Never mind!” Gabby turned to wade back. “It was just a duck.”
Kate arched an eyebrow. “No kidding.”
“It sure looked like Tinker Bell, though,” Gabby added as she climbed, dripping, onto the bank.
They were searching for the fairy Tinker Bell. Their journey had taken them from Never Land to the strange Shadow Island. After days of looking, the fairy Fawn had finally spotted Tink’s boat by a waterfall. But the boat was gone before they could catch up with it. Now they were following the river downstream, hoping it would lead them to her.
Gabby had her own reason for wanting to find Tinker Bell. The Treasure, the toy boat Tink was sailing, belonged to her family. Her great-grandfather had made it, and Gabby had promised Papi she would bring it home safe and sound.
But looking hard for something can play tricks on your mind. The longer Gabby searched for Tink, the more she thought that she saw her everywhere. Just that day, she’d mistaken a goldfinch for the fairy’s golden glow. A glimmer Gabby was sure was Tink had turned out to be a large dragonfly. And now the duck.
Fawn, the animal-talent fairy, shook her head. “Sorry, Gabby, but how could you mistake a duck for Tinker Bell?”
“Well, Tink is in a boat,” Gabby replied. “And the duck was the same size as the boat. And its feathers were sort of greenish, and . . .” She trailed off. They were all staring at her.
“Um, they both float?” she finished meekly.
“Gabby,” Mia said with a sigh, “that’s the third wild-goose chase today.”
“Don’t you mean a wild-duck chase?” Kate said with a smirk.
Mia rolled her eyes. “I’m serious. Gabby, you have to stop messing around. At this rate, we’ll be going in circles on Shadow Island forever.”
“I wasn’t messing around,” Gabby muttered.
“Just do us a favor,” Mia said. “Next time, don’t yell ‘Tinker Bell’ unless you’re sure it’s her.”
Gabby pressed her lips tight together. She hated it when Mia talked down to her, especially in front of the fairies. Of course she wouldn’t yell “Tinker Bell” unless she was sure! Or, at least, really and truly almost sure. Did they think she was making stuff up on purpose?
Gabby scowled at the reeds where the duck had been hiding. “Dumb duck,” she grumbled.
Silvermist, the water-talent fairy, eyed Gabby’s soaked tutu. “You’ve probably washed off your fairy dust. You’ll need more to fly.”
Silvermist didn’t sound upset, but Gabby heard the gentle reprimand. She knew that they were trying to save fairy dust. The fairy dust allowed them all to fly, and it gave the fairies their magic. But they only had a small supply. They’d already learned the hard way that they had to make it last. “It’s okay,” she said quickly. “I can walk.”
Gabby glanced at the other fairies to make sure they’d heard. But they weren’t paying any attention. They were huddled over the map of Shadow Island. Their wings gently stirred the air as they studied it.
“What I don’t understand is where else she could be,” Fawn said. “This is the only river. I can’t believe Tink is that far ahead of us.”
“Maybe there’s a branch of the river that we missed,” Rosetta, the garden-talent fairy, suggested.
Iridessa, the light-talent fairy, eyed the dark clouds gathering on the horizon. “I’m worried about those thunderheads. What we should be looking for is a place to get out of the rain,” she said.
Gabby tried to look over the fairies’ shoulders at the map. But they glanced up, frowning.
“Sweet girl, would you mind stepping back? You’re casting a shadow,” Rosetta said.
“Sorry.” Gabby moved away.
With nothing better to do, she sat down beside the stream. The water made a pretty sound as it ran over the rocks. Tiny fish darted in the shallows.
Gabby watched as a small dark shape flitted over the surface of the water. It disappeared into the reeds on the other side of the stream.
Gabby had seen it before. It looked like a small bird or a large moth. Whatever it was, it had been following them for a while.
“There’s that moth again,” she announced to no one in particular.
No one gave any sign that they’d heard her.
Gabby watched the reeds. A moment later, the moth appeared again a short distance away. It has an odd shape, Gabby thought. It was not really mothlike at all. In fact, it looked a little like a fairy.
She opened her mouth to say so, then thought better of it. “Sure is a funnylooking moth, though.”
Fawn finally glanced up from the map. “Moth?”
“Never mind. It’s gone.” Gabby looked toward the trees where the moth had disappeared. Beyond the tree branches, she spied something she hadn’t noticed before.
Gabby squinted at it. “Hey,” she said.
“I think I saw a cave a little ways back,” Kate was saying. “We could wait out the storm there.”
“Hey, guys,” Gabby said again.
“Maybe we’re better off stopping here for the night,” Fawn said. “We could find a tree to shelter under.”
“Or,” Gabby said loudly, “we could try that castle.”
This time, they all looked up.
“What castle?” asked Kate.
“There.” Gabby pointed. Rising above the trees was a tall stone tower.