Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2 page)

“I
t’s all a big misunderstanding. I’m sure the queen wants to see me about something completely unrelated,” Tinker Bell babbled nervously as she followed Viola to the Pixie Dust Tree.

Viola silenced her with an imperious toot on her kazoo. She pointed to the spot where she wanted Tinker Bell to wait. Viola gave Tink one last, dampening look and flew up the trunk of the hollow tree to announce Tinker Bell’s presence to the queen.

As soon as Viola was out of sight, Tinker Bell ducked into the trunk and strained to listen to what was being said in the queen’s chambers.

She could hear Queen Clarion’s low, melodic voice, and the voice of Fairy Mary, the head tinker fairy. There was also a third voice. A male voice. Who was that?

“Fairy Mary, are you certain?” the voice asked.

“Whatever do you mean?” Fairy Mary replied.

“Only that Tinker Bell, while undoubtedly talented, is also …” The voice trailed off.

Fairy Mary finished his sentence. “A hothead? Flies off the handle?”

“Yes,” the male voice agreed.

Tinker Bell gulped. She was definitely in trouble. She just wasn’t sure with whom.

Fairy Mary continued. “I believe she deserves a chance, Minister.”

Minister?
Tinker Bell gasped. Now she recognized the voice. It was the Minister of Autumn!

Oh, no!
Was he mad at her, too? Who knew he cared so much about stinkbugs?

“After all,” Fairy Mary went on, “tinker fairies learn from their mistakes.”

“Very well,” the Minister of Autumn finally agreed.

“Tinker Bell!” Queen Clarion called out, summoning Tink up the trunk to her chambers.

Tinker Bell took a deep breath. It sounded as if Fairy Mary was prepared to stick up for her. That was good. If she was in trouble with both the queen
and
the Minister of Autumn, she was going to need a lot of help.

Tinker Bell was already talking quickly and apologetically when she flew into the queen’s chambers. “It’s not my fault, Your Highness. Those stinkbugs were asking for it.”

There was a long pause while Queen Clarion, the Minister of Autumn, and Fairy Mary looked at her in confusion. Queen Clarion’s graceful eyebrows rose in surprise. The Minister of Autumn looked puzzled. And Fairy Mary smacked her forehead, indicating to Tinker Bell that she had—once again—put her foot in her mouth.

Tinker Bell looked around. Her face began to turn red with embarrassment. “This isn’t about the stinkbugs, is it?”

The corners of Queen Clarion’s mouth twitched as she tried hard not to laugh. “No.”

“But we can certainly come back to that later,” Fairy Mary added in an ominous tone.

Queen Clarion gestured to the tall sparrow man dressed in beautiful gold, orange, brown, and dark green robes. “You do know the Minister of Autumn?”

Tink felt a wave of shyness wash over her. The Ministers of the Seasons were the most important fairies in Never Land, next to the queen.

The Minister’s smile was reserved, but his eyes were kind. “Are you familiar with the great Autumn Revelry?”

Tinker Bell grinned. “Well, sure. Everyone’s talking about it. They’re so excited.”

The Minister gestured for her to follow him. He paused outside a large pair of oak doors.

“Since time immemorial, fairies have celebrated the end of autumn with a revelry. And this particular autumn’s coincides with a
blue harvest moon
!”

His eyes met Tinker Bell’s and held their gaze. “A new scepter must be created to celebrate the occasion.” He threw open the oak doors and Tink let out a gasp. “Behold … the Hall of Scepters.”

It was incredible. Simply incredible.

Tinker Bell stepped through the doors, her eyes trying to take in everything at once. An eerie light filled the hall, where a collection of scepters was on display.

“Every scepter is unique. Some are the work of animal fairies, some of light fairies, or water fairies, or garden fairies. This year, it is the turn of the tinker fairies.”

Tinker Bell felt her heart begin to pound.

“And Fairy Mary has recommended you!” he finished.

This was unbelievable. The most amazing thing Tink could ever have imagined. “Me!” she finally managed to gasp. “But … but … I’m … I’m—” She struggled for words. After all, she was still relatively new to Pixie Hollow, and still prone to making mistakes.

“—a very talented fairy,” Fairy Mary finished. She gave Tinker Bell a brisk nod of assurance.

“The scepter must be built to precise dimensions. At the top, you will place the moonstone.” The Minister led Tink to an ancient tapestry and pointed to the depiction of the Autumn Revelry under a full blue harvest moon. In the tapestry, moonbeams passed through a round gem and emerged as blue pixie dust.

“When the blue moon is at its peak,” the Minister explained, “its rays will pass through the gem, creating blue pixie dust.”

Queen Clarion took up the tale. “The blue pixie dust restores the Pixie Dust Tree. Like autumn itself, it signals rebirth and rejuvenation. We are relying on you,” the queen said to Tinker Bell in a soft but commanding voice.

In the center of the chamber, a large case sat on a table. Fairy Mary opened it and they all gazed upon a gleaming blue stone carefully cushioned on a pillow. “Here is the moonstone,” Fairy Mary said. “It has been handed down from generation to generation. Be careful. It is
ridiculously
fragile.”

Tinker Bell could see her reflection in the gleaming, glowing surface of the precious stone.

“F-F-Fairy Mary,” she stuttered. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.” Tink threw her arms around the head tinker and accidentally bumped the pillow. The moonstone wobbled and began to roll.

Fairy Mary reached out to catch it. “Tinker Bell, you have to be careful!” she cried. Then she closed her eyes and muttered, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”

“What are you counting?” Tinker Bell asked.

“It’s supposed to calm me down,” Fairy Mary answered between clenched teeth.

“Oh,” Tinker Bell whispered, determined not to make any sudden moves or loud noises that might upset Fairy Mary.

Fairy Mary returned the stone to its cushioned case and carefully handed it to Tink.

“Don’t worry, Fairy Mary. I’ll make you proud. All of you.” Tinker Bell bowed with great dignity to the queen and the Minister. Then she straightened her back and squared her shoulders, walking out of the room with all the poise she could muster.

Tink strode purposefully out of the hallway, through the queen’s chambers. As soon as she was out of sight, she let out a loud “Yahoo!”

B
ack in her own little house, Tinker Bell hardly noticed the cheerful chirp of the cricket who lived in her clock and announced the passage of time. She was too busy searching through her trunk of odds, ends, doodads, thingamajigs, doohickeys, and decorative baling wire. Her mind raced with different design ideas for the scepter.

Tink was so preoccupied, she didn’t even notice when Terence opened the door and came inside.

“So?” he asked, eager to hear about Tink’s visit with Queen Clarion.

“Terence, you’re never going to believe this. Guess what happened. Go on,” she urged. “Guess!”

Terence rubbed his jaw, thinking. “Well, I—”

“I have been picked to make the new Autumn Scepter!” she blurted out. “Me! Me!” She flew straight into the air and turned a gleeful somersault.

Terence stared. “Hey! That means they gave you the moonstone.”

Tinker Bell did another happy spin and fluttered back down. “Want to see it?” She hurried to the case and opened it.

The blue reflection immediately lit Terence’s face. He whistled softly.

“Not so close,” warned Tink. “Don’t even breathe on it. It’s fragile.”

Terence took a respectful step back. “I know all about it. The blue moon only rises in Pixie Hollow every eight years. The trajectory of the beams of light have got to match the curvature of the moonstone at a ninety-degree angle so the light can transmute into pixie dust.”

Tinker Bell stared at her friend, impressed.

“Wow, Terence. How did you know all that?”

“Oh, you know. Every dust-keeper has to study dustology.” He grinned, excited now. “You know what this calls for?”

Tink knew where he was going. They had made tea together so many times, they had it down to a dance
and
a science.

Tink got out the tea maker. “Two cups of—”

Terence placed the cups carefully on the counter. “—chamomile tea.”

“With extra honey,” Tinker Bell added, giving each cup a squirt.

“And some milkweed whip,” said Terence.

The hot water, tea, honey, and whip all swirled together to create the perfect beverage.

Tinker Bell and Terence clinked their cups together and each took a sip, savoring not just the tea, but also their friendship and their ability to work in harmony.

“By the way,” Terence said. “That new bucket-and-pulley system you made? Fairy Gary loves it.”

“Awwww,” Tink said modestly. “He’s so cute.”

“If you say so,” Terence said, making it clear that he didn’t think Fairy Gary was particularly appealing. He took a thoughtful sip. “You know what? Maybe I can help you. I’m kind of an expert on this. I can collect the supplies. Give you advice.”

Tink took a sip of her own tea. “You will? That’s so sweet.”

“Hey, what are friends for? So what do you say? Can I be your wingman?”

“That would be great. To the best dust-keeper fairy …”

“… and the best tinker fairy.” Terence lifted his cup in a toast. “This is going to be a revelry to remember.”

“Knock, knock! Good morning!”

The next day, Tinker Bell opened her eyes to see Terence coming through the door at the very moment her cricket clock chirped to wake her.
Wow! Terence sure is punctual,
she thought. This was their first day to work together on the scepter.

Tinker Bell yawned and stretched.

Terence pointed at the calendar on the wall. “All right!” he said in a brisk, up-and-at-’em voice. “We have one full moon until the Autumn Revelry.” He picked up a leaf pen and made a big check mark on the calendar.

He darted out the door and was back in a flash with an armful of materials. “I brought you some stuff from work. Maybe there is something here you can use.” He dumped the materials next to her workbench.

Tink pawed through the items. Some of it was interesting. Some of it … not so much. Still, she was amazed at the number of different things Terence had collected. She picked up a piece of metal and placed it in the fireplace, where the flames would soften it.

Then she turned back to her friend. “Terence, how did you …” Her words trailed off. Terence had picked up a spring and was entertaining himself by pressing it against the side of his head.

Tink couldn’t help being gratified that Terence was taking such a keen interest. It took a special fairy to appreciate what a miracle of
boiiinng
engineering a spring was. “I can tell you’re going to be a big help,” she said with a smile.

And he was. All during the day, they worked on the scepter the same way they had made the tea—in perfect harmony.

“Looks good,” Terence said as he checked out Tink’s latest sketch. “Now remember, you get the most blue pixie dust if you maximize the moonstone’s exposed surface area.”

Tinker Bell nodded. “Right. Got it.”

They went over to the fireplace. Tink turned the softening metal over while Terence skillfully added more logs.

They smiled at each other.

They
were
a good team.