Lily in Full Bloom (2 page)

L
ILY SPENT THE NEXT
two days stretched out on a patch of soft moss in her garden, gazing at her pansies. The other fairies must have thought she was resting. Or relaxing. Or maybe even napping. But she wasn’t doing any of those things.

She was, in fact, hard at work. Pansy-watching was the best way of doing research for her invention idea.

Which pansies grew best, and why? Exactly what did each flower need? Lily went over it again and again. Finally, she had a plan.

On day three, Lily sprang into action. Bothered by her sudden movement, Bumble buzzed off to another flower patch in the farthest corner of the garden.

First, Lily gathered all the things she would need. She already had plenty of pansy seeds. But she also needed plant food. And water—lots of water.

She grabbed three toadstool watering cans and flew to the garden fairies’ well. It was tucked away near a thicket of rosebushes a few minutes’ flight from her garden. The well was a popular spot for the garden fairies to gather. They came to fetch water, see their friends, and talk about any problem plants. But this morning, only Iris and Bluebell were there.

Bluebell was filling her watering can. Iris, as usual, was talking. Iris was the only garden fairy who didn’t have a garden. Still, she knew more about plants than any other fairy in Pixie Hollow. She also knew everything that was going on in everyone else’s garden—and was quick to offer advice.

But today Iris wasn’t talking about gardening. She was talking about inventions. For the past three days, none of the fairies had talked about much else.

Lily dropped her watering cans beside the well and waited for Bluebell to finish.

“Lily!” Iris cried. “Have you heard? The animal talents have a great idea for an invention. It’s a hawk-repelling whistle! One blow makes a hawk want to get as far away as possible!”

Lily pulled a bucket of water up from the well. “It
is
a great idea,” she said. “And it would make Pixie Hollow much safer. I hope they can get it to work.”

Lily meant what she had said. She was a generous fairy, with a heart as big as a sunflower. She truly hoped that each talent would come up with an invention that would make them feel proud. But she also had a secret—the idea that she was working on. She wasn’t ready to share it with Iris or Bluebell or any of the other garden fairies. Not until she was sure it would work. But she couldn’t help wondering if her idea would impress Iris as much as the hawk whistle had.

When her three watering cans were filled, Lily returned to her garden. Her mind was swirling with thoughts.

She left her full watering cans by the garden shed. Then she flew over to the Home Tree. She needed one more thing for her invention.

On her way, Lily spotted Lympia, who was hanging the wash out to dry. Lympia saw Lily, too, and called her over.

“How are you coming along with invention ideas?” Lympia asked.

Lily didn’t know quite how to answer. Her own idea wasn’t ready to share yet. But maybe she could say that she was thinking hard about it.

“I have an idea,” she admitted. “But it’s not fully worked out.” Lily saw a sparkle in Lympia’s eyes. She sensed that Lympia wanted to be asked the same question. “And you?” she asked.

Lympia nodded excitedly. “I don’t like to brag,” she began, “but I mixed up this new kind of laundry cleaner yesterday. It whitens like nothing I’ve ever seen before!”

“Lympia, that’s great!” Lily replied. “I have a pussy-willow shirt with blueberry stains all over it.”

Lily was proud of her friend. Like the hawk whistle the animal talents were working on, Lympia’s laundry cleaner would help all of Pixie Hollow.

“This was such a great idea,” Lympia said. “I’m so glad Tink came up with it.”

“Me too,” Lily said. Though she wondered if
Tink
was glad she’d come up with the idea. She had a feeling Tink would have been happy to keep the inventing to herself!

“I’ll let you know how my cleaner turns out,” Lympia said. “And good luck with your idea, Lily. I can’t wait to hear all about it!”

Lily waved good-bye and flew to the Home Tree kitchen. She thought more about her idea. As she ran the details over and over in her mind, she started to become more confident again. Just the thought of her invention made her smile.

When Lily got to the kitchen pantry, she went right to the spice racks. She knew the baking talents wouldn’t mind if she borrowed some spices. She quickly found just what she was looking for. She put the spices into her woven-reed pouch and returned to her garden.

At her garden shed, Lily dropped off her pouch. She picked up an acorn bowl full of pansy seeds, her water-filled cans, and some fairy dust. She carried all her supplies to a shady spot under an apple tree and spread them out.

For the next hour, she mixed and watered and watered and mixed. She sprinkled lots of fairy dust into the bowl. She closed her eyes and tried to listen to the seeds. Then she mixed and watered and mixed some more.

Between the mixing and the fairy dust, Iris landed at Lily’s side. She chattered on about the water talents’ new invention. Lily heard Iris say something about a singing fountain and a babbling brook. But Lily barely looked up from her seeds. She needed to focus on her own invention. Then she noticed that Iris had stopped talking. She was wringing her hands nervously.

“Iris?” Lily asked. She set down her tools and turned to face her friend.

“Oh, what are we going to do? All the other talents have great invention ideas. We’ve got nothing!” Iris said.

“Don’t worry, Iris,” Lily answered calmly. “We’ll think of something.”

“‘Think of something’? I’m not sure you understand. This is about garden-fairy pride!” Iris snapped. “Lily, you’re smart. Can’t you take a break from whatever it is you’re doing with those seeds? I’m sure you could think up an invention for us. You discovered the Ever tree, after all!”

Without waiting for a reply, Iris flew off. Lily smiled. Iris had been so concerned about the other fairies’ inventions that she hadn’t even noticed what Lily was doing!

If everything went well, Iris would have nothing to worry about. Lily’s seeds would become the most amazing plants in Pixie Hollow. All the care she was showering on them would pay off very soon.

F
OR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
, Lily thought about her invention every moment. It was even on her mind as she slept. The name for her new seeds had come to her while she was dreaming. “Panglories!” Lily cried. She sat bolt upright in her flower-canopied bed. “That’s it! Glorious pansies! I’ll call them
panglories!
”

Lily wrote the name on a scrap of leaf paper. Then she stretched her arms and yawned. The sky outside her window was the light gray of early dawn. It was much earlier than she usually got up. She lay in her bed, trying to go back to sleep. But she was too wound up.

She hopped out of bed. She put on her tunic and knickers and grabbed her sun hat. “It’s time to see if those little seeds do what I hope they can!” she said with a shake of her wings. Then she quickly flew off to her garden.

The morning sun was peeking through the trees. Lily brought her gardening tools, the seeds, and her watering can to the bare patch of soil in the corner of her garden.

She pulled a green sea-glass bottle out of her pocket. Inside were her seeds. She held the bottle up to her eyes. She wanted to give the seeds one final pep talk before planting them.

“Okay, little seeds,” she said. “Grow strong. Grow happy.” Then she drew the bottle even closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I believe in you.”

Lily tipped the bottle and a batch of seeds fell into her palm. She sprinkled them onto the sandy soil. Then she showered them with a generous helping of water.

Lily was too excited to sit still and wait. She flew this way and that. She paced and waited and wondered and hoped. She was usually very patient. But today she was finding it hard to wait for her little seeds to bloom.

Lily needed to put her mind on something else. It was still on the early side, but there was a good chance she’d find someone who was awake now. Maybe time would pass more quickly if she could share her excitement.

She corked the bottle of seeds and slipped it back into her pocket. Then she flew to the Home Tree. She was half hoping to run into Tink. She’d like to tell her about her seeds.

But when she got to the lobby, it was empty. Lily paused for a minute, thinking of where to go next. Then Lympia zipped past. She was flying toward the laundry room with a pile of tablecloths in her arms.

“Lympia!” Lily called, hurrying after her. “Listen to this!”

“Lily! You’re up early,” Lympia said over her shoulder. She weaved into the laundry room, unsteady under the weight of the tablecloths. “Any reason?”

“Well,” said Lily, “let’s just say I may have an invention as good as your laundry cleaner!” She plunked her bottle of panglory seeds down onto a laundry-sorting table. “These little seeds are going to become some amazing flowers! I’m calling them panglories.”

“That’s great, Lily!” Lympia said. Her eyes went to a row of sea-glass bottles on a nearby shelf. She picked one up, a sly smile on her face. “But will they work as well as my cleaner?” she teased.

Lympia uncorked the bottle. She poured a few small, brown pebbles into her hand. They didn’t look like much. But Lily knew these were the miracle cleaner that Lympia had made.

“We’ve been trying it on everything.” Lympia put the bottle down on the table. She reached for a pile of clean, folded laundry. “Have you ever seen spider lace look whiter?” Lympia asked.

Lily had to admit the linens looked brand-new. They gleamed in the sunshine that streamed in through the laundry room windows. The piles of clean laundry stacked on the tables all looked like new—maybe better.

Lympia’s invention may be the best of all, Lily thought. No longer would the fairies have to worry about spilling raspberry juice on tablecloths and dribbling strawberry shortcake down shirtfronts.

“Okay, okay,” Lily said. “My seeds aren’t as well tested as your laundry cleaner…yet.” She smiled and picked up the bottle from the table. “But if these little things do work…well, hang on to your clothespins!”