Fairy in Danger (7 page)

Though it was hard to be certain from inside the wardrobe, she sensed that it was early evening – and still there was no sign of Timmy. ‘Sometimes he has activity clubs after school,' Midnight told her. ‘But he always comes back sooner or later.'

‘Great,' muttered Twink, wondering what Timmy would say when he saw that she'd tried to escape. If she were lucky, maybe he'd decide that she was too much trouble, and unscrew the lid and set her free!

I don't think that's very likely, though
,
thought Twink glumly. Suddenly her eyes narrowed. Maybe Timmy wouldn't set her free on purpose – but could she somehow
trick
him into opening the lid?

For a moment Twink's wings shivered with excitement . . . and then she let out a breath. That was all right for her, but what about the other fairies? She was starting to realise that she couldn't just leave them here – they were so dispirited that they'd never escape on their own.

Moonbeam started another story. Twink only half listened as she turned the problem over in her mind. There
must
be a way that she could rescue not only herself, but the others, too!

‘Vera was the most nervous tooth fairy in the world,' Moonbeam was saying from above. ‘Why, she was even frightened of the teeth she was supposed to collect!'

Twink smiled despite herself, reminded of Mr Woodleaf. He was practically scared of his own shadow unless he was with his beloved animals. Then he was braver than anyone. Like in their last lesson, when he'd brought the badger out –

Suddenly Twink gasped as she remembered the glamour that Mariella had cast.
Of course!
Why hadn't she thought of it sooner? If she could just get Timmy to let her out of the jar, then perhaps she could use fairy magic to rescue the others.

I'll have to plan it out really carefully
,
thought Twink. What sort of glamour should she cast? Whatever illusion she chose, it would have to be perfect – and very distracting!

Maybe the others will have some ideas
,
she thought. But before she could ask them, someone came into the bedroom.

Abruptly, Moonbeam stopped telling her story. Silence fell over the wardrobe as every fairy in it craned to hear. ‘Thanks, Mum,' called Timmy's voice. It sounded like he was eating something. ‘These are great.'

Twink winced in the sudden light as the wardrobe door swung open. Timmy's feet and legs appeared in front of her. She tilted her head back, trying to see his face.

‘Hello, fairies! Sorry I'm so late getting home, but –
hey
!'
broke off Timmy. ‘What's happened? Where's the shoebox?'

‘It wasn't us!' Twink heard Moonbeam pipe up. ‘It was –'

‘Sshhh!' said Midnight fiercely.

The Terrible Timmy had already worked it out for himself. Squatting down, he peered in at Twink in her jar. She gulped hard.

‘Hello, Pinky,' he said. ‘Have you been having fun?'

.

Chapter Seven

Twink held back a squawk as Timmy picked up her jar and carried her over to his desk. Anger sizzled through her as she saw that he was eating some sort of chocolate biscuit. He could at least offer her a bite – she'd only had a bit of bread all day!

But he popped the last morsel into his mouth without seeming to give it a thought. ‘You're different from the other fairies,' he announced, brushing chocolate crumbs from his chin. ‘Are you the same sort as them?'

Twink shrugged, her thoughts racing. Somehow, she had to get him to unscrew the lid and let her out – but how? She held back a shriek as he picked up her jar again, turning it this way and that.

‘The others look really drab compared with you,' said Timmy. He looked wistful. ‘I wish I had more fairies like
you
in my collection.'

An idea started to form in Twink's mind. She swallowed hard, wondering if it could possibly work. But she had no other choice than to try.

She raised an eyebrow as if she were surprised. ‘More fairies like me?' she echoed. ‘But what for?
I'm
nothing special. There are loads of other fairies who are much more interesting.'

Timmy stared at her. ‘Really?'

‘Of course,' said Twink. ‘I'm just a boring old nature fairy – you can get one of us anywhere. And as for those tooth
fairies up in your wardrobe . . .' She
tsk
ed
,
shaking her head. ‘Really, Timmy! I don't know what you're bothering with
that
lot
for.'

‘What do you mean?' demanded Timmy, looking hurt. ‘I've got a
great
fairy collection.'

‘Well . . .' Twink pulled a face.

‘I have!' insisted Timmy. He shook her jar slightly, scowling.

‘Oh, it's all right, I suppose,' yawned Twink. ‘But if you want a really good collection, you should get some sparkle fairies. They're the rarest fairies in the world.
Nobody
else has a sparkle fairy collection!'

An almost hungry look crossed Timmy's face. He lifted up her jar, peering in at her. ‘What are sparkle fairies?'

Twink had no idea, since no such thing existed! She thought fast. ‘They come in all different colours,' she said. ‘And they sparkle
when they fly. In fact, they – they glow in the dark, like little stars!'

Timmy's jaw dropped. ‘
Glow in the dark?
Wow! How can I get some?'

‘It wouldn't be easy,' said Twink thoughtfully. ‘They're very shy. But if you like, I could summon some for you. Only you'd have to let me out of the jar first.' She held her breath, hardly daring to move while Timmy thought it over.

‘You couldn't summon them from inside the jar?' he said finally.

Twink shook her head so hard that her pink hair tumbled about her face. ‘No, I need room to move about,' she told him firmly.

‘All right,' decided Timmy. ‘Only I'd better shut the window first.' He put her jar down, and Twink watched in dismay as he went across and swung the bedroom window closed.
Never mind
,
she told herself. If her plan succeeded, then they'd work out how to open the window once they got to it!

There was a
whoosh
of air as the Terrible Timmy unscrewed Twink's lid. ‘Come on, then,' he said eagerly, tipping her out on to the desk.

Twink fluttered from the jar, breathing deeply. She had never dreamed that fresh air could taste so good!

‘All right, I just need to – to prepare myself,' she said.

Her thoughts were racing. Though Mariella was very good at glamours and could cast them practically from thin air, she herself needed to have some sort of object in place, which she could then disguise as something else. What, though? She looked around the room, trying desperately to find something.

‘What are you waiting for?' demanded Timmy.

He moved the lamp on his desk, adjusting it so that its beam shone right on her. All at once Twink could see hundreds of tiny dust motes floating past. She grinned. Suddenly she knew exactly what she was going to do!

‘All right, I'm ready,' she said.

Closing her eyes, Twink began to move her hands in the complicated patterns of the spell, carefully imagining what the sparkle fairies would look like. She made them just her size, and in all different colours, glimmering like tiny rainbows.

‘WHOA!' shouted Timmy. He sprang up from his chair with a clatter.

Twink opened her eyes and saw him leaping about the room, trying fruitlessly to grab dust motes. Though Twink couldn't be fooled by her own spell, she knew that to Timmy, the bedroom was now filled with dancing, swirling sparkle fairies – which would be
very
difficult to catch!

She jetted to the wardrobe. Thankfully, its door still stood open. Hurrying to Midnight's jar, she landed on the rim and started pushing at the lid. But it was too smooth for her hands to get a grip on.

‘Twink, what are you doing?' hissed Midnight. ‘Just fly away! If Timmy catches you –'

Twink ignored her. She needed something to grasp it with, somehow! Remembering an object she'd seen on the desk, she swooped back to grab it, and a moment later was back at Midnight's jar again, pulling a rubber band around the lid.

‘Stay still!' bellowed Timmy, snatching at the air. ‘I almost had you that time!'

The rubber band gave Twink a firm grip that hadn't been possible on the slippery metal. This time when she pushed at the lid, she thought it moved a tiny bit. Beating her wings as hard as she could, she shoved and strained. The lid seemed to hesitate – and then suddenly came loose in a rush.

Hurrah! Twink pushed it off the jar. Midnight stood inside, blinking up at her. ‘You did it,' she gasped. ‘Oh, Twink, you're brilliant!'

‘Hurry,' whispered Twink. ‘You have to help me with the others!'

She returned to the desk for another rubber band, dodging past Timmy's flailing hands. He hardly seemed to notice her – he was too busy grabbing at the ‘sparkle fairies'!

When she returned to the wardrobe, Midnight had already set another of the fairies free. Working together, they flitted from jar to jar, unscrewing the lids. The tooth fairies flew out of their prisons in a daze.

When Twink reached Moonbeam's jar, the prickly fairy bit her lip in fright. ‘Oh, Twink – what will he do if he sees us –'

Twink pushed off her lid. ‘Let's not stay and find out!' she said. ‘The spell will last for a few minutes yet – come on!'

Peering out from the wardrobe, Twink waited until the Terrible Timmy had his back to them, and then she motioned for the others to follow. They flew towards the window in a straggling line.

To Twink's alarm, some of the tooth fairies weren't flying very well – it was obvious that they hadn't stretched their wings properly in ages. She had to get them out of here before Timmy spotted them!

Reaching the window, Twink saw with relief that it was worked by a simple latch. ‘Midnight, help me!' she cried. Fluttering madly, the two of them pulled down on the latch until it opened with a
click,
and then flew forward, pushing with all their might. The window swung open.

‘Hurry, hurry!' cried Twink.

The tooth fairies flew past her out of the open window. ‘Oh! It's so lovely!' breathed one of them.

Timmy's face was red with frustration. ‘Stay STILL!' he shouted at the air, stamping his foot on the carpet. ‘This isn't fair! I only want a few of you!'

Twink darted out of the window last of all. Suddenly she was hovering above the long garden that she remembered. It was twilight, with the first few stars just beginning to appear in the darkening sky.

‘NO!' came an agonised shout. Twink turned and looked, her heart thudding. In the bedroom behind her, she could see Timmy gaping around him in dismay. ‘They've gone!' he cried.

The spell had ended! Twink whirled about. ‘Fly!' she shouted. ‘Fly as fast as you can!'

‘Oh, Twink – I can't, my wing –' gasped Moonbeam. She was grimacing with pain, her left wing faltering as she tried to flutter.

Twink darted to her side, putting an arm around her. ‘Come on, I'll fly with you. The rest of you – go, go!'

‘MY FAIRIES HAVE ESCAPED!' howled Timmy from the bedroom.

Glancing back, Twink saw him hanging out of the window, glaring right at her. ‘You tricked me!' he bellowed, shaking his fist. He vanished abruptly, and Twink heard his bedroom door bang shut.

Moonbeam let out a little moan of terror, clenching her eyes shut. ‘Oh, I knew this would happen – I just knew it –'

Twink gave her a shake. ‘Stop that! Come on and
fly
,
or neither of us has a chance!'

Midnight appeared, putting her arm around Moonbeam's other side. ‘Come on, I'll help,' she said. ‘Fly, Moonbeam! We can't let Timmy capture us again, after all the time we spent in that wardrobe!'

Feebly, Moonbeam began to fly, with Twink and Midnight helping her along. Most of the other fairies were already far ahead of them, barely visible now in the twilight.

‘Mum! I'm just going out in the garden for a bit!' yelled Timmy's voice. He shot out of the back door, shining a torch and looking wildly about him. Twink's blood ran cold as she saw that he had a jam jar in his hand.

‘Keep high, so that he can't reach us!' she hissed.

But Moonbeam's wing strokes were becoming weaker and weaker – and though she wasn't very large, it was difficult to fly while supporting her. To Twink's dismay, they were losing height by the second.

An explosion of light burst around them, and Twink winced. Timmy had found them with his torch!

‘It's
you
I want,' said Timmy, scowling at Twink. ‘You're the one who can do magic and summon the sparkle fairies!'

He jumped up in the air, trying to scoop Twink into the jam jar. She shrieked and jerked backwards, fluttering as hard as she could to hold on to Moonbeam.