Friendship Dance (2 page)

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Chapter Two

Early the next morning, Twink set off with Miss Shimmery to make the long journey to the palace. A large brown hawk stood outside the tree waiting to carry them.

Twink gulped when she saw that the entire school had assembled on the front lawn to wave her off. She was glad that she'd already said a private goodbye to her friends and Teena – it would be impossible now, in front of such a crowd!

‘Three cheers for Twink!' bellowed Madge, the school Games Captain.

‘Hip, hip, hooray!' chanted all the students, clapping their wings together. ‘Hip, hip, hooray!'

Twink's cheeks burned. She could hardly even look at poor Poppy, standing with the upper years! ‘Miss Shimmery, are you
sure
the sparkle-seeker didn't make a mistake?' she whispered as they settled on to the hawk's smooth, muscular back.

‘Quite sure!' laughed Miss Shimmery.

The hawk took off with a sudden rush of wings. Glitterwings grew smaller and smaller below them, until its autumn leaves were only a brightly coloured dot on a miniature green hill.

‘Don't worry, Twink,' added the HeadFairy, looking over her shoulder. ‘The sparkle-seeker knows things we can't see. There's a reason you were chosen, I promise you.'

It still seemed very strange to Twink, but if Miss Shimmery was satisfied, then she supposed she should be, too. Meanwhile, the autumn morning was crisp and sunny – a perfect day for a flight. Twink gave herself over to enjoying the rhythm of the hawk's wing strokes, and the cool tickle of the breeze in her hair.

Even so, the flight took a long time, and Twink was relieved when Miss Shimmery finally pointed to a lush wood in the distance. ‘That's Royal Wood. The palace is right in the centre of it – there, in that clearing!'

Twink blinked as the hawk glided downward. Why, this was just an ordinary clearing, with a few spreading bushes in it. Where was the palace?

The bird touched down with a graceful hop, and Twink and Miss Shimmery flew off his back, landing on the grass beside him. Immediately, a portly fairy with light blue wings came fluttering over.

‘Madame Shimmery!' he cried, clicking his heels together and kissing Miss Shimmery's hand.

Madame Shimmery?
Twink stifled a giggle.

‘Maximus, how lovely to see you,' said Miss Shimmery. ‘And may I introduce Twink Flutterby, the Glitterwings student who is to take part in the celebrations?'

‘Welcome, Miss Flutterby,' said Maximus solemnly, clicking his heels again. ‘We are honoured to have you here.'

‘Thank you,' said Twink. She clutched her bag to her chest. ‘I – I'm honoured to be here.'

All too soon, Miss Shimmery was saying goodbye. ‘I'll be back for the celebrations, my dear,' she said, squeezing Twink's shoulder. ‘Good luck – I'm sure you'll do splendidly!'

‘Goodbye, Miss Shimmery,' said Twink, trying to smile. But as she watched her HeadFairy fly away on the hawk, she rather wished that she
had
told Queen Mab she was too busy to come!

‘Come along now, Miss Flutterby,' said Maximus, taking Twink's bag from her. ‘I'll show you where you and the other girls are staying. That will be nice, won't it?'

‘Er – yes,' said Twink. ‘I mean . . . thank you.' Oh, great – Maximus sounded as if he thought Twink was still in acorn school!

The chubby fairy led the way to the largest of the spreading bushes. ‘But where's the palace?' asked Twink in confusion.

Maximus gave her a haughty glance. ‘Right here!' he announced.

Passing through a low archway formed by the bush's bottom branches, he disappeared within its foliage. Twink followed . . . and caught her breath. The inside of the bush was the most amazing residence she'd ever seen!

Queen Mab's palace wasn't just one building, it was
hundreds
. They were like human tree houses, only these were fairy-sized, and covered every level of the bush for as far up as Twink could see. They had sparkling windows, and towers and turrets, and were every shape and size imaginable.

Maximus almost seemed to smile at Twink's dazed expression. ‘Come along, Miss Flutterby,' he urged. ‘It will be time for your first dance lesson soon.'

He fluttered upwards, leading Twink through a complicated maze of branches and buildings.
I'll never remember how to get there!
thought Twink. She hung back shyly as a pair of richly-dressed fairies swooped past, deep in conversation.

‘Here we are – Sapphire Room,' announced Maximus at last. Landing in front of a large circular tree house, he knocked briskly on the door. A chorus of giggles came from inside.

‘Come in!' called a merry voice.

Looking disapproving, Maximus pushed open the door and motioned for Twink to enter. She did so – and her mouth fell open. The room was decorated with real sapphires! The glittering gems were everywhere, shining like pieces of deep blue sky.

Three other fairies were in the room, watching her curiously.

‘Miss Flutterby, may I introduce Miss Sunlight, Miss Lavender and Miss Wintersong,' said Maximus. ‘Young ladies, please make Miss Flutterby feel welcome. I'll be back soon to collect all of you for your first dance rehearsal.' Handing Twink her oak-leaf bag, Maximus departed.

A fairy with bright yellow hair and orange wings flitted over. ‘Hi, I'm Tilli –
Miss Sunlight
,
that is!' She grinned. ‘And these two are really called Jena and Snow.'

‘I'm Jena,' put in a tiny fairy with purple hair. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed examining herself in a mirror, but she looked up and smiled.

‘And I'm Snow!' laughed the last girl. She had snowy-white hair and dark eyes, and wore the leafy Sparklelight uniform.

‘What's your name?' continued Tilli. ‘When you're not busy being
Miss Flutterby
,
that is!'

Twink grinned at them, hugely relieved that she wasn't going to have to call everyone
Miss
for two weeks! ‘I'm Twink,' she said, dropping her bag on the last empty bed. Its carved wooden headboard glittered with sapphires.

‘Are you from Glitterwings?' asked Jena, putting away her mirror.

Twink nodded. ‘How about all of you? You're from Sparklelight, aren't you?' she added eagerly to Snow. ‘Our Fledge team played there last year. Your school is really pretty!' The Sparklelight campus was set behind a woodland waterfall, with sunlight dancing through the curtain of water.

Snow beamed. ‘Oh, thanks!
We
like it. And I've heard that Glitterwings is really glimmery, too.'

‘I go to Forestglow,' said Jena, rooting about in her bedside drawer. She pulled out a hair clasp. ‘It's OK, but I'm going to try and change to Sparklelight for my last year. I'm studying Fairy Dust, and Sparklelight has a brilliant course.'

Twink's eyes widened. Despite her diminutive size, Jena was clearly several years older than the rest of them. The purple-haired fairy had an air of confidence about her, as if she knew exactly what she wanted.

‘And I go to Emerald Leaf,' grimaced Tilli. ‘Yes, I know, go on and say it! They're all stuck-up little beetles there.'

Twink burst out laughing. There was an ornate wooden cabinet next to her bed, and she began to unpack her belongings into it. ‘Well, I
have
heard that,' she admitted. ‘Is Emerald Leaf really that bad?'

‘Worse!' said Tilli dramatically, flinging herself on to her bed. ‘There are only one or two
normal
fairies in the whole school. Everyone else is always talking about who their families know, and how terribly, terribly important they are . . . ugh!'

‘It sounds awful,' said Twink, liking the brightly coloured fairy already. ‘Can't you change schools? There's a girl in my branch who used to go to Emerald Leaf, and she's much happier at Glitterwings.'

‘Oh, who?' asked Tilli, sitting up. When Twink told her, she grinned. ‘Kiki! She was in the year below me; we used to have really good moans together over how miserable we both were. Well, I'm glad she's better off now!'

‘But why can't you
change schools too?' asked Snow. The white-haired fairy was exploring the common area of their room, peering into sparkling sapphire cupboards and sliding open drawers.

Tilli sighed. ‘Oh, I don't know. My mother went to Emerald Leaf, and my aunt's a teacher there. They both seem really set on my sticking it out.'

‘That's too bad,' said Twink sympathetically. She unpacked her petal books, along with a small box of fairy dust that she had brought along to practise with. Her teachers had all given her work to do while she was away, and Twink was determined that she wasn't going to fall behind.

Jena pulled her purple hair back into a ponytail. ‘Yes, but Emerald Leaf is still an excellent school, Tilli,' she pointed out. ‘So at least you'll get a good education.'

Snow gaped at her in horror. ‘But we don't just go to school to
learn
,
we go to make friends, too! And anyway, Tilli, if you do change schools, you should go to Sparklelight, because – oh, look!' Snow interrupted herself as she opened a little box. ‘Sapphire earrings!' She dangled them in front of her ears with a pout, and everyone laughed.

‘Do you know why you were chosen for the Friendship Dance, Twink?' asked Jena. She tied a violet ribbon around her ponytail.

Twink shook her head. ‘My school used a sparkle-seeker, but I think it must have made a mistake,' she admitted. ‘I don't see how
I
can bring anything to the dance.'

‘None of us know why we were chosen either,' said Tilli. ‘But I'm glad I was. A two-week holiday from Emerald Leaf, hurrah!' She punched the air.

‘I wonder what the boys will be like?' said Snow. She bounced on to her bed, still playing with the earrings.

‘Boys?' Twink stopped unpacking and stared at her.

‘Yes, didn't you know?' said Jena. She pulled on a pair of bright red pixie boots. ‘The Friendship Dance is done with partners – four boys and four girls.'