Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings Junior Novel (3 page)

I
nside the basket, Tinker Bell was nervous and excited. There was no turning back now. She was going to the Winter Woods!

Peering over the edge, she saw the border between autumn and winter rapidly approaching. It grew closer, and closer, and then…

Fwoom!

The moment they crossed over, a burst of cold air hit Tinker Bell hard. She shivered and opened her eyes. She was in winter!

The snowy owl flew on at top speed. Tinker Bell held tight and watched as a world of white whizzed past her. Winter was incredible! They dipped under a sparkling ice bridge and then pulled up high over a magnificent snowy valley. Tinker Bell's breath came in short puffs of frosty air. It was like nothing she had ever seen or felt before. No stories about the Winter Woods could have prepared her for this.

“I made it,” she whispered to herself.

Up ahead, a handsome winter fairy flew over to greet her owl. Tinker Bell ducked down inside the basket, hiding.

“Welcome back,” the winter fairy said to the owl. “You ready for the drop-off?”

The owl gave a nervous hoot.

“Come on,” the winter fairy teased. “You did it yesterday. You'll be fine.”

As Tinker Bell watched, the winter fairy flew ahead and spiraled down to a hilltop covered in snow. She realized that the owls were going to drop the baskets onto a long icy slide that would take them to a factory similar to the basket depot back in Tinkers' Nook. Tink gulped. This was going to be a bumpy ride!

On the winter fairy's signal, the owls swooped forward one by one and let go of their baskets. Tinker Bell's basket lurched to one side as her owl got ready to release it. Tink was thrown against the edge, and she accidentally hit the snowflake release lever!

Instantly, the trapdoor at the bottom of her basket sprang open. Her satchel started to slide toward it. Quickly, Tinker Bell snatched it up. But the basket rocked to and fro. She started to roll toward the open trapdoor herself!

Tink grabbed the edge of the opening just before she would have fallen through, and with all her strength, pulled herself back up and closed the trapdoor.
Whew!

But Tink wasn't out of trouble yet. Her owl had been thrown off balance by her tumbling. Startled, he accidentally released the basket too soon. It careened out of control.

A winter fairy below spotted the renegade basket. “Look out!” he cried.

Tinker Bell's basket slid down the chute and smashed into a pile of bins already loaded with snowflakes. Frosty crystals flew everywhere! As her basket rolled to a stop, Tinker Bell remained perfectly still. The winter fairies were scampering to clean up the mess. Thankfully, no one had spotted her. Tink quickly started to gather all the things that had fallen out of her satchel. But wait—something was missing.

Tinker Bell peeked around the rim of her basket. The wing book was lying out in the open!

Just then, a large shadow passed overhead. A massive snowy owl whooshed by, and a powerful-looking fairy wearing a cape leapt down to the ground.

“Lord Milori,” she heard the winter fairy in charge of the owls say. Tinker Bell gasped. That must be the Lord of Winter Fawn had told her about. The one who had made the rule that fairies couldn't cross the border. Now Tink really needed to stay hidden!

“And what happened here?” the lord asked in a deep but quiet voice.

“Bit of a bumpy landing,” the winter fairy said, nodding to the young snowy owl. “It's only his second drop-off.”

The owl gave the lord a sheepish grin.

“As long as the basket made it,” Lord Milori said, his voice kind, “I'd say he did just fine.” He looked around at the work the fairies were doing. “The snowflakes are looking quite beautiful.”

As the fairies were talking, Tinker Bell tried to reach the wing book with her foot. But it was too far away. She stretched just a little bit more…and accidentally knocked the book with her toe. It slid out of reach, and right into Lord Milori's boot!

“Hmm,” Lord Milori said, picking up the book. “Now, that is odd.”

Tinker Bell smacked her hand against her head. This was a disaster!

Lord Milori studied the book carefully. After a long moment, he finally said, “It must have been left in the basket by accident.” He handed the book to the winter fairy in charge. “Return this to the Keeper.”

Tinker Bell breathed in sharply.
The Keeper!

Lord Milori remained several minutes longer, admiring the work of the snowflake fairies. Then he mounted his owl and took off into the sky. Once he had left, the winter fairy picked up the book and headed out of the snowflake depot.

Tinker Bell watched him go. If he was off to see the Keeper, then there was only one thing to do. She was going to follow him!

I
n the Hall of Winter, just outside the Keeper's chamber doors, Tinker Bell listened carefully. She had followed the winter fairy all the way there, and he was speaking with the Keeper now.

“It came from the warm side, in one of the baskets,” she heard him say. Then he turned to fly off. “Have a good day!” he called back to the Keeper.

Once the fairy was out of sight, Tinker Bell quietly stepped inside the chamber. But the floor was slippery. It was made entirely of ice. Tinker Bell could barely stand up.

She clung to a wall and struggled to get her balance. As she steadied herself, she noticed a soft purring noise coming from behind her. Slowly, she turned around.…

An enormous snowy lynx was just inches from her face! Tinker Bell clapped her hand over her mouth. But when the creature snored, she realized it was asleep. Sighing with relief, Tinker Bell backed away…

…and slipped on the ice!
“Ahhh!”
she cried as she slid down into the frozen depths of the hall. She kept sliding and sliding, until finally she crashed into a large stack of ice books against the wall. She breathed heavily for a moment. This was not going as well as she'd hoped. She staggered to her feet and looked around.

What she saw took her breath away. She was in a grand library, bigger than any room she had ever seen. Thousands of books lined the walls, and stacks of frosty parchments towered in every corner. Several large ice tablets teetered on the edges of their shelves, held in place by even more books and papers piled on top. It was incredible!

Across the room, Tinker Bell spotted the wing book that the winter fairy had dropped off. She began to inch over to it when suddenly a short, elderly fairy walked in. He had tousled white hair and small, round spectacles. Tink could hear him mumbling to himself.

“Ah, that's the end of that chapter,” the fairy was saying. “Boy, that's a beauty.
Flora and Fauna of the Fairies
.” He chuckled.

That must be the Keeper,
Tinker Bell thought. She couldn't believe it. She had found him! She was just about to step out from behind the ice books when a young winter fairy came whizzing by.

“Keeper! Keeper!” the winter fairy shouted. Her voice was filled with urgency.

“Yes?” the Keeper answered, turning around.

“The most amazing thing happened!” the fairy gushed. “Yesterday, at the border. You'll never believe it!”

Tinker Bell watched as the fairy paused to catch her breath. The commotion had woken the snowy lynx from its nap, and it wandered into the room. “Hi, Fiona,” the young winter fairy said to the large cat.

Then she turned back to the Keeper. “You've got to tell me what it means! Okay, my wings…”

As Tinker Bell listened, a tingling sensation suddenly overwhelmed her. She looked over her shoulder and saw that her wings were shimmering so brightly she could see them right through her coat.

“My wings, they actually…they lit up!” the young winter fairy finished. She gasped. “It's happening again!” She turned so that the Keeper could see that her wings were sparkling.

“Oooh,” the Keeper said, amazed.

Tinker Bell peeked out from her hiding place and got a good look at the winter fairy's face for the first time. Her stomach did a little flip. Something felt so familiar about the fairy! She had short, silvery hair and ice-blue eyes. Her dress was made from a delicate material that glistened like frost in the sunlight. Tink was positive that she had never met this fairy. But she couldn't help feeling drawn to her. She took off her coat and stepped out of hiding.

The winter fairy turned and stared at Tinker Bell. They began drifting toward one another, as if they were guided by an invisible force.

“In all my years…” the Keeper said quietly.

“Your wings,” the winter fairy whispered. “They're sparkling.”

“Like yours,” Tinker Bell replied.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the sparkling faded.

“Keeper?” the winter fairy asked.

“
I've only heard of this,” the Keeper said in amazement. “But I've never seen it right here in front of my own eyes.” Then he chuckled excitedly.
“Ooh hoo hoo!”
His expression said that he knew more than either of the young fairies did about the sparkling. He rubbed his hands together, delighted. “Follow me!”

Q
uickly, the Keeper ushered Tinker Bell and the winter fairy through the vast hall. He pointed his cane toward a great room with a giant snowflake pattern on the floor.

The Keeper motioned for both fairies to stand in the center of the snowflake. “Your wings are safe in here,” he assured Tinker Bell.

Tink placed her coat on top of his cane and flew with the winter fairy to the middle of the snowflake. The Keeper tapped his cane on the floor, and the room went dark. Instantly, the snowflake Tink and the winter fairy were standing on lit up and rose off the ground. Amazed, the two fairies held perfectly still.

“Just put your wings into the light,” the Keeper instructed.

Together, the fairies lifted their wings into the sunlight streaming down from an opening in the ceiling. The rays shone through their wings. Then an incredible thing happened. The light began projecting images from their pasts on the icy chamber walls. The first picture was of Big Ben, the clock tower in London.

“The mainland,” Tinker Bell whispered, recognizing the landmark.

The scene switched to a baby laughing for the first time. The fairies watched as the laugh split in two and landed on a dandelion. Two wisps from the flower took flight and danced across a night sky. They floated past the Second Star to the Right and headed straight toward Never Land! But before they could reach the Pixie Dust Tree, one got caught on a branch. The other traveled on. A strong gust of wind came and blew the tangled wisp in the opposite direction, toward the Winter Woods.

“Oh, no,” Tink whispered.

Images of both fairies arriving in Pixie Hollow appeared—Tinker Bell in the warm seasons at the base of the Pixie Dust Tree, and the other fairy in the center of the Winter Woods.

“Two fairies born of the same laugh,” Tinker Bell said slowly. “So that means…”

“You're my…” the winter fairy began.

“Sister,” they said at the same time.

The Keeper nodded and gestured to the fairies' wings. “Yes, your wings are identical,” he said. “That's why they sparkle.”

Turning their backs to each other, Tink and the winter fairy lined up their wings. The Keeper was right—the patterns matched perfectly! A bright spark of light suddenly burst forth when their wings touched. It created a beam that shone all the way up to the ceiling.

The two fairies jumped back. “Jingles!” they both cried. What was that?

“Ah,” the Keeper said. “Maybe you shouldn't do that.”

Tink smiled. “I'm Tinker Bell,” she said happily.

“I'm Periwinkle,” her sister replied.

Tink thought back to how her wings had sparkled the first time she jumped into winter. “So, you must have been at the border?” she asked slowly.

Periwinkle nodded. “Yeah, I was hoping to see the animals cross.”

“I guess I didn't see you,” Tink replied.

“Me either,” Periwinkle said, smiling. Then she looked down at the pom-poms on Tink's boots. With an excited squeal, she reached into her pocket and pulled out two identical pom-poms. “I usually just wear them at home.” She grinned.

At that moment, a deep voice bellowed through the chamber. “Hello, Keeper. Are you in?”

“Yumpin' yetis!” the Keeper exclaimed, startled. “Lord Milori!”

Periwinkle panicked. “If he sees you, he'll send you back,” she said to Tinker Bell.

“Don't a-worry,” the Keeper whispered. “I'm gonna take care of this.”

“Keeper?” Lord Milori called. “I need to speak with you. It's important.”

Tink and Periwinkle crouched down on the large, hovering snowflake. As long as they stayed up there, Lord Milori wouldn't be able to see them from down below.

“I'll be right back,” the Keeper promised. Then he flew down to see Lord Milori.

“I'm right here,” the Keeper told the royal fairy.

“Did you receive the wing book?” Lord Milori asked.

“You know, once upon a time you'd stop by just to say hello and howdy-do,” the Keeper said, shaking his head. He pretended to look hurt.

Lord Milori sighed. “I'm sorry,” he replied sincerely. “Hello,” he added.

“Howdy-do,” the Keeper chirped.

“This book has me worried,” Lord Milori continued. “What if a warm fairy brought it here?”

The Keeper chuckled. “Well, that might be nice, then, meeting a warm fairy,” he said. “Especially one with such good taste in books.”

“It's too cold,” Lord Milori said sternly.

“Well, maybe if they were wearing a coat or, you know, one of them little sweater vests,” the Keeper replied lightly. “They're nice.”

The look that crossed Lord Milori's face made it clear that he was losing his patience. “I'll remind you, crossing the border is forbidden.”

“There was a time when it wasn't,” the Keeper responded, growing serious.

“The rule is there to keep the fairies safe,” Lord Milori said. “That will never change. If a warm fairy comes here, you will send them back.”

He stared long and hard at the Keeper, and the elderly fairy dropped his gaze. “Of course,” the Keeper agreed softly.

Up above on the floating snowflake, Tinker Bell and Periwinkle exchanged a worried look. This didn't sound good.

“Thank you,” Lord Milori said, turning to leave.

Once he was out of sight, the snowflake Tinker Bell and Periwinkle were on descended to the floor. The Keeper turned to Tinker Bell sadly. “Well,” he said, “you heard Lord Milori. You must go back home.” He paused and thought for a moment. “Of course, he didn't say
when,
” he added with a twinkle in his eye.

The sisters hugged and cheered, happy to have more time to spend together.

“Now, listen, you two,” the Keeper told them. “It gets colder after dark, so it's best to get Tinker Bell home before the first moonlight.”

Periwinkle gave the Keeper a big hug. “Thank you, Dewey,” she said.

Tinker Bell glanced at her sister, confused. “Dewey?” she asked. What did that mean?

“That's his real name,” Periwinkle explained.

“It's what my friends call me,” said the Keeper.

A big smile spread across Tinker Bell's face. “Thank you, Dewey,” she said happily.