Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (10 page)

“What are you supposed to do?” Vidia asked.

“Oh, it’s easy,” Tinker Bell explained. “You just pick this up.” She picked up a tiny teacup and motioned to Vidia to do the same. Vidia picked up another cup and looked again at Tinker Bell for instruction.

“You hold it out …”

“Got it.”

“Now, just raise your pinky, like this.” Tinker Bell extended her pinky finger, and Vidia did the same.

“Then you say”—Tinker Bell mimicked Lizzy’s prim tea party voice—“Excuse me, Miss. May I have a spot of tea?”

Lizzy stood by, ready with the pot. When she saw Tinker Bell’s raised cup, she knelt down and poured a tiny splash of tea. “Why, certainly, Miss Bell. A nice fresh cup.”

Vidia held out her cup of tea and repeated the words in the same funny, prim tone. “Excuse me, Miss. May I have a spot of tea?”

“But of course you may have one, too. This is a tea party, after all.”

Dr. Griffiths held out his cup. “How about a cup for me, Miss Griffiths?”

Tinker Bell was very proud of Dr. Griffiths. He’d come a long way in a short time. Not only did he believe in fairies now, he also believed in playing, spending time with Lizzy, and dressing up for tea parties. He wore a spotless white suit in honor of the occasion. And he hadn’t said one word about work.

Lizzy poured tea for her father. “Why, of course, Doctor. It’s my pleasure, I’m sure.” Then she reached for the sugar. “Would you like one lump or two?”

“Make mine three,” Dr. Griffiths said with a laugh.

Cheese the mouse came forward, pulling a cart full of sugar cubes. Blaze the firefly swooped in to do the honors. He scooped up a cube and dropped it into Dr. Griffiths’s cup.

Everyone had been invited to the tea party, and Lizzy and her father had provided wonderful refreshments—bowls of strawberries, plates full of cakes, and teeny-tiny fairy-sized sandwiches.

Tinker Bell and Vidia both took a sip of their tea and watched Lizzy and her father giggle together.

“Beautiful sight, isn’t it?” Vidia said.

“Nothing more beautiful in the whole wide world,” Tinker Bell agreed.

She thought, but didn’t say, that if anyone had told her a week ago that she and Vidia would be the best of friends, or even that Vidia would take an interest in someone else, she wouldn’t have believed it. Maybe summer had a magic all its own.

Suddenly, they heard a noise. A loud whistle. Louder than any whistle Tink had ever heard.

Tinker Bell’s head snapped around. She’d heard about something called a railway train, but she’d never seen one.

“Don’t even think about it,” Vidia said without looking up from her tea.

Tinker Bell smiled and settled back down. Vidia was right—she’d done enough exploring for one trip. Besides, she didn’t want to miss the story Dr. Griffiths was reading aloud from the fairy book.

Fairies settled on his shoulder and his shoes. They perched on the teapot and on Lizzy’s head—all of them drawn to the happy scene and the power of a good fairy story.

“‘There are fairies to be found all over the world,’” Dr. Griffiths read. “‘Fairies who have very special talents. Fairies living in trees and in the woods. There are water fairies and garden fairies and light fairies. The animal fairies help all the woodland creatures. The river fairies teach the fish to swim. The flower fairies help the flowers to bloom, and the rainbow fairies bring color to the world.’”

Tink felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and felt a rush of happiness. It was Terence. He quietly sat down beside her. “Well, Tink,” he said. “You found something to fix after all.”

Tinker Bell grinned, and so did Terence. “Yeah!” she said happily. “I guess I did.”