“How would you even know whether getting dressed up is fun?” Rosetta asked. “You’ve never done it!”
Fawn folded her arms across her chest. “Well, how would you know that pea shoot isn’t fun?” she replied. “I’ve never seen you try it.”
“Well, I—well—” Rosetta sputtered, then stopped herself. Fawn had a point. She had never played pea shoot. But she had watched the fairies lobbing peas at each other. It didn’t look like something she would enjoy.
The two fairies stared at each other for a moment.
“All right, Fawn,” Rosetta said at last. “I’ll make a deal with you. First you come to Queen Clarion’s special dinner tonight.”
Fawn groaned and landed on Rosetta’s bed with a plop. She put her hands to her head.
“I’ll help you pick out something to wear,” Rosetta promised.
“What kind of a deal is that?” Fawn demanded.
“I’m not finished. Then tomorrow, I’ll do anything you’d like to do,” said Rosetta. “Play pea shoot or acorn ball, or whatever.”
Fawn let out a whoop. “Then you’ll see that pea shoot is way more fun than going to a fancy dinner!” She flipped in midair.
“No,” Rosetta said, correcting her. “You’ll see how much fun it is to put on a beautiful outfit and look pretty. Now, get dressed. We can go to the sewing talents and choose something to wear.”
Fawn looked down at her plain leggings. “I am dressed,” she said.
“Oh,” Rosetta said. She’d thought that Fawn was still wearing her pajamas. She cleared her throat. “Well, then—give me a minute to get dressed.”
Fawn sighed. “You’ve never been able to get dressed in a minute in your life.”
“Good point,” Rosetta agreed. She started to comb her hair again. “Come back in an hour.”
Fawn looked doubtful.
“Okay, an hour and a half,” Rosetta said. “But don’t be late! We’ll need as much time as possible to get ready!”
“I LOVE IT!” Rosetta cried
She turned in front of the full-length mirror, admiring herself. The sewing-talent fairies had just pulled a dress made of violets over her head. The violets were set in frills that went from deep purple at the bottom to pale purple at the top. Feathery, purple-fringed irises puffed out at the sleeves. “The purple really brings out the color of my eyes, don’t you think?”
“It definitely does,” Thimble agreed.
“I think the hemline could be a bit longer,” Hawthorn suggested.
“Oh, nonsense,” Rosetta told her. “It’s a perfect fit! Fawn!” she called. “Are you having any luck with that dress?”
Fawn pulled aside the green and white leaf that served as a dressing room curtain and flew into the center of the room. She was wearing a lacy white dress made of dandelion fluff.
“You look gorgeous!” Rosetta cried. She circled her friend to see her from all sides. “Doesn’t she look gorgeous?”
“Yes, oh, yes.” The sewing-talent fairies agreed that Fawn looked beautiful.
Fawn scratched at her waist. “It’s itchy,” she complained.
“Oh, Fawn!” Rosetta shook her head. “First the rose-petal dress was too poufy. Then the blue snapdragon gown pinched under the arm. Then the poppy dress was too long and got caught in your wings!” She gave an exasperated sigh.
Fawn shrugged. “I just want to be comfortable.”
“Fancy dresses aren’t comfortable,” Rosetta shot back. “They’re beautiful. And look at yourself.” Taking her friend by the hand, Rosetta led her to the mirror. “You have to admit that you look amazing.”
Fawn blinked in surprise at her reflection. The dress was as white as a fluffy cloud, and it sparkled with tiny dewdrops that looked like diamonds. Weaving-talent fairies had made a sash of pale pink strands of silk from a red Never spider. The sash tied in the back with a huge pink bow. It almost looked like a second, smaller set of fairy wings. The gown was absolutely breathtaking.
“It is very pretty,” Fawn admitted.
“That’s it.” Rosetta nodded in approval. “That’s the dress. So stop scratching.”
“But it itches!” Fawn said again.
“Don’t think about it,” Rosetta commanded. “Just think about how pretty you look. That makes the itching go away.”
Fawn scrunched up her face, trying hard to concentrate on how pretty she looked. “I still itch.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Rosetta shrugged. “Are you ready to go to the shoemaking talent?”
“Rosetta, my wings are tired!” Fawn moaned. “We’ve already picked out jewelry, perfume, and stockings!”
“And we still have to go to the hair dressing talent, too! Oh, come on.” Rosetta waved her hand as though she were shooing away a fly. “I don’t understand you, Fawn. You can spend all day trooping through the forest and not get tired!”
“But that’s different.”
“It sure is,” Rosetta agreed. “You don’t get muddy and dirty trying on perfume!” She turned to the sewing talent fairies. “We’ll take these dresses.”
“We’ll see you at dinner!” Thimble called as Rosetta and Fawn flew out the door.
An hour later, Rosetta was satisfied. They had everything they needed for the dinner. “I can’t believe I got a pair of pink shoes,” Fawn said. She was carrying three huge leaf bags and a shoe box.
“They were the most beautiful shoes there,” Rosetta insisted. “I was sure you would like them. Nothing is more comfortable than rose-petal slippers.”
“Well, they are comfortable,” Fawn admitted. The pale pink shoes were nestled in a puff of mouse fur inside the box under her right arm. “But I could never run in them.”
“You’re not going to be running at the queen’s dinner,” Rosetta pointed out. “At least, I hope not,” she added under her breath.
“What if some of the fairies want to play a game of No-Wings tag?” Fawn asked.
Rosetta groaned. “Then you’ll play it tomorrow—when you choose what we do,” she said.
Fawn sighed. Just then, a large golden dragonfly darted past them. It was flying so fast that Rosetta felt the breeze from its wings against her face.
“Oh, no, you don’t, Flitterwing!” Fawn called after the dragonfly. “You can’t beat me this time!” With a whoop, she dropped her bags and her box and took off after the golden insect.
“Fawn!” Rosetta screeched. But Fawn wasn’t listening.
Then Rosetta noticed the leaf bags fluttering toward the ground. They were headed right for a puddle. “Not the shoes!” she cried.
With a burst of speed she hadn’t known she was capable of, she swooped in to catch the rose-petal slippers. “Gotcha!” Rosetta collected the bags as they floated past her.
Fawn and the dragonfly wound around a white birch tree in a spiral.
“You might have won the last race!” shouted Fawn, “but I’ll win this one!”
The dragonfly buzzed and pulled ahead. It zoomed over the top branch and dove toward a clump of blue pansies. Fawn stayed with it. She was so close, she could almost touch its wings!
Rosetta watched Fawn race the dragonfly. “Oooh,” she said. She was furious at Fawn for her behavior. “That fairy is going to get all dirty!” And there wasn’t time for Fawn to take another bath. “I’d better stop her before she makes a mess of herself,” Rosetta said. She zipped toward the blue pansies.
“Fawn!” Rosetta yelled. She dropped between her friend and the pansies and held out both hands.
Fawn stopped short.
Rosetta was loaded down with bags and Fawn’s box. Her face was stormy.
Fawn cleared her throat. “Rosetta!” she squeaked. “See you some other time, Flitterwing,” Fawn told the dragonfly. It buzzed away.
Rosetta thrust the bags at her friend. “You dropped these,” she said.
“Oops.” Sheepishly, Fawn took the bags.
Rosetta’s anger faded. She knew that her friend couldn’t help getting e
xcited when a dragonfly wanted to race. All the animal-talent fairies were like that—and none more than Fawn. But still—it was too silly. “You can’t just go dragonfly racing when we have things to do,” Rosetta scolded.
“You’re right,” Fawn admitted. “I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s okay,” Rosetta told her. “But let’s hurry. We still have to get our hair done and get dressed before dinner.” She started off toward the Home Tree. Would Fawn ever get the hang of having Rosetta’s kind of fun?
PINK AND GOLD clouds hovered over Buttercup Canyon. Thousands of tiny pink and yellow flowers carpeted the valley. They seemed to shine in the fading light.
At the edge of the canyon, dozens upon dozens of fireflies glowed over crisp white tablecloths set with plates of gleaming mother-of-pearl. The tables were beginning to fill up with fairies.
Rosetta’s eyes were wide as she glanced around. “Oh, look,” she said with a gasp. “There’s Fira! Her cardinal- feather dress is gorgeous! Rani and Tink are with her. I just love what Tink’s done with her hair!”
Fawn trailed behind her friend. “I’m itchy,” she said.
“Oh, stop complaining,” Rosetta told her. Waving her hands, she called, “Fira! Tink! Rani! Over here!”
“Brass buckles, Fawn!” Tink cried. She flew right past Rosetta. “You look so beautiful! I almost didn’t know it was you.”
“Is that dress made of dandelion fluff?” Fira gushed.
Rani gave Fawn an enormous smile. “It looks great on you.”
Fawn’s glow—already ruddy in the light from the setting sun—turned even pinker. “Rosetta helped me pick it out,” she said.
Rosetta beamed.
“Wow, Rosetta,” Tink said, “Fawn looks great!”
Clearing her throat, Rosetta struck a pose. And now, she thought, it’s time for someone to notice my dress!
Vidia flew over to join the crowd. “Well, well, what have we here?” she asked. “Rosetta, darling, what in Never Land are you wearing? You look like a purple plum.”
Rosetta glared at Vidia. Vidia was the meanest fairy in Pixie Hollow.
“Of course, I only mean that plums are sweet, dearest,” Vidia said with a smirk. “And look at Fawn. I’m shocked. You look simply magical, Fawn, you really do.”
Rosetta waited for Vidia to add an insult. But the insult never came.
“I do?” Fawn asked finally.
“She does?” Rani repeated.
“Vidia, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you give anyone a compliment before,” Fira said.
Vidia’s smile slithered up one side of her face. “There’s a first time for everything, darling.” And with that, she flew off to sit at a table by herself.
Rosetta frowned. This party was not going the way she had planned. No one had noticed her lovely dress. Or her darling little slippers.
And that Vidia had complimented Fawn only made Rosetta feel worse.
Just then, Grace, one of the queen’s helpers, flew over. In a formal voice, she said, “Queen Clarion would like to invite you to sit at her table.”
Rosetta’s heart pattered double-time. Sit with the queen! What an honor!
“That’s nice, but we’re already sitting with our friends,” Fawn said.
Rosetta gaped in surprise. “Wait!” she cried, but it was too late. Grace had flown away.
Rosetta turned to Fawn. “Why did you do that?” she demanded.
“Don’t you want to sit with Tink, Rani, and Fira?” Fawn asked.
“You just insulted the queen!” Rosetta cried.
“She doesn’t look insulted,” Tink said.
Rosetta saw that Queen Clarion herself was flying over. A delicate crown sparkled in the queen’s golden hair, and she wore a lovely yellow ruffled daffodil dress. Whenever Rosetta saw the queen, she became terribly nervous. Rosetta felt that Queen Clarion was the most beautiful fairy who had ever lived.
“Fawn, I understand that you want to eat dinner with your friends,” the queen said in her gentle voice. “I hope you don’t mind if I join you.”
“We’d be honored!” Rosetta cried. She pulled out the chair beside hers.
Queen Clarion settled between Rosetta and Fawn. Rani sat at the end of the table with Brother Dove nestled beside her.
I’m sitting next to Queen Clarion! Rosetta thought giddily. She searched her mind for something clever to say. She wanted to impress the queen with her wittiness. But she couldn’t think of a single thing.
“Fawn, your dress is lovely,” Queen Clarion said.
Rosetta glowed with pride.
“It’s very itchy,” Fawn said.
Rosetta slapped her own forehead. She’d told Fawn a hundred times not to say anything embarrassing in front of the queen!
Queen Clarion just laughed her sparkly laugh. “My shoes are too tight,” she admitted.
A serving talent flew over. She was carrying an enormous soup tureen. With a smile, she ladled some squash-blossom soup into Fawn’s bowl.
Please don’t slurp, Rosetta begged silently. She and Fawn hadn’t had time to practice sipping soup.
But Fawn did slurp. A drip of soup ran down her chin. She used the back of her hand to wipe it off.
Rosetta bit her lip and forced herself not to say anything. She hoped the queen noticed that she wasn’t slurping.
“It looks like the queen and Fawn are having a nice chat,” Fira whispered to Rosetta.
Rosetta had to admit that it was true. The queen had laughed heartily at one of Fawn’s stories about a game of butterfly tag. She had even chimed in with a story of her own about a time she had tried to ride a moth.
After a while, the queen stood up. “Attention, everyone,” she called, tapping her glass.
A hush fell over the fairies. They turned to look at their queen.
“We’re gathered here tonight to honor certain fairies,” Queen Clarion announced. “As you all know, there was a fire at the edge of the forest.” A murmur rippled through the crowd. “It could have burned all of Pixie Hollow, if it weren’t for some very brave fairies.”
Rosetta sat up a little in her chair.
“First, there was the fairy who used her water talent to fight the flames,” the queen said. “Step forward, Rani.”
The queen hung a silver necklace around Rani’s neck. Rani smiled. Her blue eyes brimmed with happy tears.
“Rani could not have put out the fire without help,” the queen went on. “Brother Dove flew close to the flames to make sure the job got done.”
Queen Clarion hung a silver necklace around his neck.
“And we are grateful to Fawn,” the queen said. “She realized that there was a fire and brought a herd of rabbits to stamp out the sparks.”
Fawn bowed her head so that the queen could slide a silver necklace over it. The fairies roared their approval. The cheers echoed through Buttercup Canyon.
Rosetta clapped with the others. Then she turned to Queen Clarion, her face tilted up, her eyes dancing. She knew what was coming next.
“I’m glad you all could come to this very special dinner,” Queen Clarion said. “It’s truly wonderful to honor these fairies for their good deeds.”
Rosetta sat at the table, stunned. She was still waiting for the queen to mention her name. After all, she was the one who’d flown to get Fawn. And she would have helped put out the fire…if she could have done something besides collect dew moss. Surely, she should get some credit for trying—shouldn’t she?
But the queen had already flown off. The ceremony was over. Fairies were leaving for the Home Tree.
“Isn’t it pretty?” Fawn asked. She held the silver necklace up to the moonlight.
“Beautiful!” Fira said.
“I can’t believe she gave one to each of us!” Rani said.
“Rosetta, you were right!” Fawn cried. “This really was a fun night!”
Rosetta sighed. Fun? She hadn’t thought it was very fun at all. Nobody had noticed her dress—except Vidi
a, who had said something nasty. The queen had barely spoken to her. And she was the only one who had been at the fire who hadn’t gotten a silver necklace!
She wanted to be happy for Fawn. She wanted to be, but she wasn’t.
“WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEAD!” Fawn sang as she flew into Rosetta’s room. “It’s time to have some fun!”
Groaning, Rosetta buried her head under her fluffy pillow. Leave it to Fawn to wake her up early for their day together. Already it was off to a bad start.
Fawn reached down and yanked the pillow off Rosetta’s head. “Don’t tell me that you’re going to back out on your promise, Rosetta.”
Rosetta squinted up at her friend. “I never go back on my promises,” she said.
“Good,” Fawn replied.
“But don’t you think we should wait until tomorrow?” Rosetta suggested. She didn’t want to get out from under her comfortable blankets just to play acorn ball or race dragonflies, or whatever it was that Fawn had in mind. “I’m a little tired from the party last night—”
Fawn laughed. “You won’t feel tired once you see what I’ve got planned!”
With a doubtful look, Rosetta asked, “What is it?”
“You’ll see!” Fawn said, her eyes twinkling.
Rosetta cleared her throat. “We’re not going to do anything”—she searched for the right word—“gross…are we?”
Fawn laughed. “Of course not! Now, hurry and get dressed. We don’t want to waste the whole day!”
Rosetta sighed. It was clear that Fawn wasn’t going to give her any hints about her plans for the day. Rosetta pulled on a fresh rose-petal skirt and blouse but stopped before putting on her shoes.
Should she wear her new pair—the violet petals lined with white rabbit fur? They were very beautiful but also very comfortable. Well, Fawn said we won’t be doing anything gross, Rosetta thought. She slipped her toes into the shoes.
Then she brushed her hair, straightened her wings, and tidied her bed. “All right,” she said at last, “I’m ready. Where are we off to?”
“Not so fast,” Fawn said. “First you have to put on this blindfold.” She held out a scarf made from a tender blade of grass.