Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (2 page)

Tinker Bell didn’t like that arrangement at all. So she decided to show everyone that the tinker fairies were just as important to the process as the nature fairies.

The result: Tinker fairies were now a permanent part of the season change team.

This
season change—spring to summer—involved a three-month trip. That meant that the tinker fairies weren’t just important, they were essential. If the fairies were going to spend three months living and working on the mainland, equipment would break, contraptions would backfire, and problems would crop up that required on-site tinkering.

No doubt about it, Tinker Bell expected to be very busy this summer.

During the past two season changes, Tinker Bell had gotten herself into all kinds of trouble.

Each time, though, she had landed on her feet—and even bounced a bit.

She vowed that this season would be different.

There would be no mistakes.

No mishaps.

No accidents.

She would do her job and not cause one teeny tiny, itsy bitsy, little bitty bit of trouble.

Not even a smidge.

Terence led Tinker Bell over a ridge toward a tall tree. “There it is, Tink. Fairy camp!” A fairy on the ground waved mushroom caps to guide them to the landing field. Tink and Terence touched down in the center of a ring of toadstools.

A whistle from above warned them that something large was coming in for a landing. They looked up and saw a bird with a big carrier on his back.
Aha!
Tinker Bell smiled happily, eager to take delivery of this cargo.

The bird circled expertly down. Once he was safely on the ground, Tinker Bell raced forward and opened the carrier. Out sprang Cheese, Tink’s cart-pulling mouse and trusted working buddy.

Cheese was as happy to see Tink as she was to see him. He pressed his soft pink nose against her cheek. Tink returned his kiss with a hug. “Hiya, Cheese. Did you have a nice flight?”

Cheese squeaked happily and scurried away. Next out of the carrier came Blaze the firefly. He woozily wobbled onto the grass, his little face looking green.

“Aw, Blaze,” said Tink, her voice full of sympathy. “Did you get airsick?”

Blaze’s buzz was affirmative.

Tink wanted to make sure Blaze was okay before she did more exploring with Terence. When she saw the firefly happily eating some fruit, she knew it was safe to leave him.

Tinker Bell was excited to be on the mainland, but she was also surprised there weren’t more fairies around. “Tink, fairy camp isn’t out here,” Terence explained. He walked over to a large patch of undergrowth beneath a massive oak tree. He pulled a leafy curtain aside and Tinker Bell gasped.

Everywhere Tinker Bell looked, she saw fairies in motion.

“Wow! It’s like all of Pixie Hollow under one tree,” she marveled.

Terence nodded proudly, clearly enjoying his role as tour guide. “Summer’s our busiest season. That’s why we have this base camp, so we can go out every day to bring summer to life.”

As they walked through the camp, Terence handed out sacks. “Ready for your pixie dust?” he asked a passing fairy. She nodded and he handed her a sack. “Here you go.”

Tinker Bell was surprised at Terence’s generous rationing of the precious pixie dust. Back in Pixie Hollow, where they lived, each fairy got one teacup of fairy dust a day. Not a speck less, and not a speck more.

But here, clearly, the fairies who traveled away from base camp, or who needed to transport things, received an extra supply.

Terence and Tink passed a bee fairy using a spinning gadget to paint stripes on the bees. The bees were lined up and moving quickly through the bee striping assembly line.

“How’s the bee striper working? Need any tweaks?” she asked the bee fairy. Tink was itching to be a part of the action.

The bee fairy shook her head. “It’s working fine, Tink. Thanks.”

Tink spotted a couple of garden fairies shuttling flower bulbs in a pedal wagon that the tinkers had devised. One of the bulbs jumped out of the wagon and made a run for it.

A garden fairy hurried after it. “Hey! Come back here,” she laughed.

“Does your bulbmobile need a tune-up?” Tink asked.

“Nope!” the garden fairy answered. “It’s running great.”

Tinker Bell kicked the ground and blew her bangs up in frustration.

Terence laughed. “Tink! Everyone just got here,” he explained to his friend. “So nothing’s broken yet.”

“I just can’t wait to start tinkering.”

“Don’t worry, Tink. You’ll find something to fix.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “All right! I’ve got to take pixie dust to the other fairy camps. I’ll see you in a couple of days.” He started away, then stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot! Here you go, Tink.” He tossed her a bag of pixie dust and flew away.

Tinker Bell caught the bag and watched him go. She couldn’t help wishing he didn’t have to hurry off. In all the hustle and bustle, she felt a bit lost—unsure how or where to begin.

She wandered away to where Fawn and the other girls were already occupied with camp chores. No one appeared to need any help. “Well,” Tink said finally, “if there’s nothing to fix, I’m going to go look for Lost Things.” And off she went.

Lost Things were items from the human world. They were called Lost Things because fairies only found them when humans lost them.

Tinker Bell was fascinated with Lost Things. They were mysterious and odd. And they gave her lots of good ideas.

Though sometimes, Tinker Bell had to admit, what seemed like a good idea to her didn’t seem like a good idea to others.

Poof!
A gust of wind blew in, and there stood Vidia, the fastest of the fast-flying fairies.

“Hold on, Little Miss Spare Parts!” Vidia said in her sarcastic voice. “You’re not going near the human house, are you?”

Tinker Bell’s ears pricked up. “There’s a
human house
?”

Rosetta kissed the petals of a sleepy flower bud, and it blossomed into life. “Now, Vidia,” Rosetta asked, “don’t you think Tinker Bell knows better than that?”

Vidia’s brows went up. “Have you
met
Tinker Bell?” she asked.

Iridessa screwed a “bulb” of light into a flower bud, and it glowed with new life. “Tink knows we have to steer clear of the humans or we won’t be able to get our work done. Right, Tink?” Iridessa said.

“Right,” Tinker Bell agreed. “But … then again …” Tinker Bell tried to think of some way of making a promise without actually making a promise.

She liked human things.

Vidia threw up her hands in disgust. “Ugh. It’s going to be a long summer.” She flew off in a blur, as quickly as she had arrived.

“Grouchy,” Silvermist commented.

“Oh, that’s just Vidia being Vidia,” Iridessa responded.

“No,” Silvermist said. “The air. The air smells grouchy.”

“You can smell the weather?”

“Yes,” Silvermist said. “Sometimes it smells happy. Sometimes mad. And right now, it smells grouchy. We might be in for a storm.”

Fawn came flitting over to help some nearby fairies paint butterfly wings. “Come on, Sil,” she argued. “The sun is shining. The air is warm. It’s a beautiful day. Nothing’s going to—”

Hooooonk!

Whatever Fawn was about to say was drowned out by a loud and piercing sound.

Everybody jumped, and Fawn was so startled that she splashed paint all over the unpainted wing of a butterfly. The half-painted butterfly flew away, spooked by the noise and Fawn’s reaction.

“Ohhhh!” Fawn groaned in frustration.

Before anyone could say a word or ask any questions, a scout fairy came whizzing overhead, blowing his horn. That was the signal that humans were coming and everyone needed to hide.

In front of Tink’s eyes, the entire scene seemed to vanish into thin air. Fairies disappeared, along with their tools, behind twigs, blossoms, leaves, and flowers.

Tinker Bell, however, was too curious to resist the temptation to see what was happening. Instead of going into hiding, she poked her head up through the foliage and stared at the road, determined to know who, or what, had made that grand and explosive sound.

Hooooonk!

Tinker Bell’s eyes widened as the noise grew louder, coming around the bend. Then, suddenly, the thing appeared.

The driver was a man. Beside him was a little girl.

Tinker Bell guessed that the little girl was about eight years old. There was no top on the automobile, so Tinker Bell was able to hear their conversation.

“Thank goodness we’re here, Father. It’s just like I remember it,” said the little girl.

The man smiled. “Yes, Lizzy. Same as last year.”

Tinker Bell was amazed by the car.
Wow!
What a contraption. What made it go, she wondered?

The man got out and opened the back of the automobile. The lid popped up like the top of a treasure chest. Tinker Bell peered down, curious to see what was inside.

Sadly, there were no gold coins or jewels. Just an assortment of big leather boxes with handles.

“I wish it was summer
all year long
!” the little girl shouted happily. She jumped out of the car and dashed into the house, practically falling over a grumpy-looking cat. “Sorry about that, Mr. Twitches,” she said with a laugh.

Lizzy’s father struggled with the large suitcases, lugging them into the house.

Tinker Bell quickly forgot about the humans. What she really wanted was a good look at this thingamabob.

She flew toward the car and zoomed underneath it. Very ingenious. Tink was impressed.

Just as she was about to dive into the greasy guts and really take a good look, Vidia popped up in front of her. “Tinker Bell.
What
are you doing?”

“Vidia!” Tinker Bell sighed. “This is amazing. It’s a carriage that moves by itself. It’s a horseless carriage. Do you want to know how it works?”

“Not really.”

“So do I!” Tinker Bell was too excited to listen properly. She flew under the car to investigate. “I think this is the part that powers the whole thing. Let me know if it does anything.” Tink pulled the intriguing lever.

Splash!

Vidia was dripping wet—and not very happy about it. But before she could say anything else, they heard the creak of a door. Lizzy and her father came ambling out of the house, heading back toward the automobile.

Both Tinker Bell and Vidia froze, knowing that their best chance of not being seen was to hold perfectly still. To the human eye, their wings and costumes would blend right into the background.

“Father, can we bring our tea and scones outside and have them here in the yard? It would be just like a little picnic.”

“Not just now, Lizzy. I still have to get the suitcases unpacked and the house settled.”

Just then, Tinker Bell saw an old friend from fairy camp—the butterfly that had been startled by the car horn. With its half-painted wings, it didn’t look anything like other butterflies.

It came to rest on Lizzy’s index finger. “Father, look! What a magnificent butterfly.”

The father blinked in surprise and came closer for a better view. “My word! Absolutely astonishing.”

“It’s so beautiful,” Lizzy breathed. “What kind of butterfly is it?”