The Fairy Swarm Read online

  Pearl grabbed Ben’s arm and hurriedly led him around back, where an alley ran between the synagogue and the Buttonville Bakery. The scent of cinnamon wafted from the bakery’s open window. “Look!” She shoved the saltshaker in his face. “I caught her at the diner!”

  “Her?” Ben scratched his head.

  “Yes. I think it’s a her. She’s wearing a little dress.”

  “A dress?” Ben pressed his nose against the glass, going cross-eyed as he stared at the tiny creature. The fairy folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at him. He gasped. “Whoa! Is that a…?”

  “Yep.” Pearl smiled so big the gap between her teeth showed.

  They’d shared this sort of moment before—discovering the dragon hatchling, finding the sasquatch, and encountering Metalmouth. But no matter how many creatures she met, the thrill, excitement, and awe had never gone away. And no matter how many secrets she and Ben shared, they’d never broken the contract of secrecy.

  “Where’d you find her?” Ben asked.

  “She was flying around the diner. She ate part of my pancake.” The fairy shook her fist at them. “We can’t let you out,” Pearl told her. “It’s against the rules for Imaginary creatures to leave Dr. Woo’s hospital.” Pearl and Ben had learned this rule back when the sasquatch escaped. The fairy stomped her foot and started yelling again. She seemed super angry.

  “If she came to Buttonville to see Dr. Woo, that might mean she’s sick,” Ben said. “We’d better take her to the hospital.”

  “Now?” Pearl asked sadly.

  “Yes, now. What else would we do?”

  “Well, I was kinda hoping I could keep her for a little while.” Pearl hugged the saltshaker to her chest.

  Ben frowned. “You can’t be serious.”

  But Pearl was serious. She loved fairies. Ever since her very first day as Dr. Woo’s apprentice, she’d been hoping to meet a fairy, and now she had one in her hands. The fairy didn’t seem happy about being trapped, but Pearl was confident that once they got to know each other, they would become best friends. And besides, she’d done a real good job taking care of Lemon Face, her pet parakeet. Surely she could take care of a fairy.

  Always the voice of reason, Ben put a hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “What if she needs medicine? What if Dr. Woo’s worried and looking for her?”

  “But—” Pearl sighed. As much as she wanted to keep the creature, she didn’t want to be responsible for a fairy not getting her medicine. “Drat,” she said softly. “I hate it when you’re right.”

  4

  A wrought-iron fence and padlocked gate enclosed the hospital’s property, but Pearl and Ben knew a secret place where they could climb over. As soon as their feet hit the ground, they hurried across the overgrown lawn and up the hospital’s front steps. As usual, the note taped to the door read:

  Pearl had done her best not to jostle the fairy. She’d walked with extra-long strides, trying to keep her footsteps from bouncing. And before climbing the fence, she’d reached through the bars and had carefully set the shaker on the ground so it would be safely waiting for her on the other side. But despite Pearl’s attempts to make the fairy comfortable, the little creature was still throwing a tantrum—pounding on the glass and shrieking like a rabid mosquito. “I’m sorry,” Pearl told her. “We’re almost there.”

  While Pearl held the shaker, Ben knocked. And knocked and knocked. There was no sound of approaching footsteps. No dead bolts sliding open. He pressed his ear to the door. “It’s quiet in there.”

  “Knock again,” Pearl said. Ben did, and when nothing happened, Pearl hollered, “Mr. Tabby! Mr. Tabby!” But still no one answered.

  Perhaps Metalmouth was home. During the day, the dragon was often asleep in his nest on the roof. Pearl hurried down the front steps and stood in the middle of the yard. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called, “Metalmouth! You awake? Hey, Metalmouth!” But no reptilian face appeared at the roof’s ledge. Her arms dropped to her sides. “Where is everyone?” she asked Ben.

  “Maybe they’re out back,” Ben suggested.

  “Oh, good idea.”

  As they walked around the building, Button Lake came into view, glistening in the morning sun. The dock was empty, as was the yard. The lake monster had returned home a few weeks ago, so there were no ripples on the water. Pearl turned around and looked at the hospital’s back windows. Dr. Woo’s office, on the second floor, was dark. Her gaze traveled to the third floor’s Forest Suite.

  “Hey, sasquatch!” she yelled. “We need to get in!” But no furry face appeared. She craned her neck, looking all the way up to the tenth floor, where Violet and Vinny worked the switchboard. That floor was also dark.

  “We could crawl in through one of the broken windows,” Pearl suggested.

  Ben shook his head. “I don’t think we should do that. That’s called breaking and entering, and it’s against the law.”

  “But the window’s already broken,” Pearl pointed out. “We’d just be entering.” Then she sighed. For the zillionth time, Ben was right. The apprentices were only supposed to be at the hospital on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Entering without an appointment or invitation was definitely against the rules. And Mr. Tabby took rule-breaking very seriously.

  “This seems weird,” Ben said worriedly. “Do you think something’s wrong? Where did everyone go?”

  Pearl had no idea. “I’m guessing that’s why the fairy was flying around Buttonville. She couldn’t find anyone inside the hospital.”

  The fairy pressed her nose against the saltshaker’s glass and stared up at the building. “We could let her out. Then she could fly through the window and wait for Dr. Woo,” Ben suggested.

  “Maybe, but what if she doesn’t? What if she flies back to Buttonville and gets lost? Or goes back to the diner and gets squashed by a rolled-up newspaper?”

  Ben cringed. “Gross.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “I guess you’ll have to take care of her until Dr. Woo or Mr. Tabby comes back.”

  Pearl was happy she got to keep the fairy a bit longer, but a nagging thought kept her from smiling. What if something was wrong and the creature needed medical attention? “We’d better leave a note for Dr. Woo.”

  It took a bit of time to figure out how to leave a note, since neither Pearl nor Ben was in the habit of carrying paper or a pen. But the old button factory still had a mailbox outside the front gate, and it was overflowing with junk mail, much of which had fallen onto the sidewalk. Ben reached his arm through the bars and grabbed a flyer.

  The back of the flyer was blank, perfect for writing a note. Ben rummaged around the junk mail until he found an envelope from a bank advertising its lending rates. There was a free pen inside. “What should I write?” he asked.

  Pearl dictated.

  Ben slid the note under the front door. Then he gave Pearl a serious look. “You sure you can take care of her?”

  Pearl hugged the saltshaker again. “I’ve waited my whole life to meet a fairy,” she said. “I’m sure I can do this. Dr. Woo will be very proud.”

  5

  Pearl Petal had a fairy in her room.

  Her dream had come true. “Woo-hoo!” Pearl was so excited she jumped on her bed for ten whole minutes. “This…is…so…amazing!” The fairy sat at the bottom of the saltshaker, on the dresser, watching Pearl go up and down. After a few more jumps, Pearl sprang off the end of the mattress and landed on the carpet. Then she grabbed a magnifying glass.

  Luckily, the Dollar Store carried the plastic lenses. After saying good-bye to Ben, who was off to help his grandfather at the senior center, Pearl had snatched one from aisle three. And she’d managed to hide the saltshaker from her parents, sneaking it upstairs into her bedroom. “I’ll be down soon to do my chores,” she’d called to her mom and dad.

  “Okay,” Mr. Petal had called from the front picture window, where he and Mrs. Petal were creating a new window display of plastic picnic supplies.

  Becau
se she didn’t have to worry about being interrupted, Pearl could finally take a longer look at the little creature. Holding the magnifying glass next to the shaker, she examined her catch. The fairy sat cross-legged with her wings folded and a big frown on her face. “Can you understand me?” Pearl asked. The fairy nodded. “Please don’t be mad,” Pearl said. “I need to keep you safe until Dr. Woo gets back. Everyone at the diner wanted to squish you. And Ms. Bee wanted to pin you to a board in her classroom.” The fairy stuck out her tongue. Yeesh. There was just no pleasing some people.

  The fairy was almost exactly like the drawings Pearl had seen in storybooks. Her dress was made of tiny yellow flowers. Her shoes had been cut from shiny green leaves, and her crown had been woven from silver sticks and red berries.

  “I like your green hair,” Pearl told her. “Mine turned green last summer ’cause there was a lot of chlorine in the public pool. It’s closed now. If you want to go swimming around here, you have to use the plastic pool at the senior center.” The fairy strummed her fingers, as if bored. Pearl decided to change the subject. “Why were you flying around the diner?”

  The fairy opened her mouth, and a stream of squeaks rose from the saltshaker’s holes. “I’m sorry,” Pearl told her. “I can’t understand you. Maybe I should just ask you yes-or-no questions. Did you come to Buttonville to see Dr. Woo?” The fairy nodded. “Are you sick?” The fairy shook her head. Pearl let out a big sigh of relief. That was excellent news. “But why would you come to see the doctor if you aren’t sick? Oops, that’s not a yes-or-no question.” Pearl fidgeted. “Are you hungry?”

  The fairy jumped to her tiny feet.

  Pearl knew that the fairy liked pancakes with syrup. So, saltshaker in hand, she opened her bedroom door and crept to the kitchen. The coast was clear. Her parents were still working downstairs. Pearl grabbed a frozen waffle and popped it into the toaster. The fairy watched. When the waffle was golden brown, Pearl poured syrup on it and cut off a tiny piece. Carefully, she began to unscrew the saltshaker’s lid, intending to quickly slip the morsel inside. But as soon as the lid was loose, the fairy’s wings unfurled. She zipped to the top of the shaker and began pushing. “Hey!” Pearl said. “Stop that!” Pearl quickly screwed the lid back into place. Phew! Close call.

  The fairy hovered inside the shaker, pointing at the syrup bottle. “You want syrup?” The fairy nodded. Pearl tipped the bottle over the saltshaker. A droplet oozed through a hole and landed on the saltshaker’s floor. The fairy knelt and lapped it up like a cat. When she was finished, Pearl squeezed another droplet, which was also quickly eaten. Wow, she sure likes sugar, Pearl realized.

  “You thirsty?” The fairy nodded again. In went a couple drops of orange soda, followed by a drop of honey. Pearl wondered if the glass bottom would get sticky, but the fairy ate every last bit. The glass was so clean it sparkled. Then the fairy curled into a ball and closed her eyes.

  Pearl put her ear to the saltshaker’s holes. She could barely hear the soft snoring sounds. Perfect timing, she thought. I’ve got chores to do. Even though the fairy was deep asleep, maybe in a sugar-induced stupor, Pearl wondered if she was comfortable. Cold glass was not the best material for a bed. So Pearl got two squares of double-ply toilet paper, carefully opened the lid, and dropped them in. Those should make nice blankets. After replacing the lid, she hid the shaker in her bedroom closet, then hurried downstairs to help her parents with the window display.

  Before, during, and after dinner, Pearl made sure to check on the fairy, who had rolled herself up in the toilet paper like a caterpillar in a cocoon. “As soon as Mom and Dad go to sleep, I’ll feed you again,” Pearl whispered. Pearl’s bedtime was 9:00 PM. She took her shower, brushed her teeth, and put on her blue pajamas. Then she slipped under her quilt. “I’m ready!” she hollered.

  “But it’s only eight thirty,” Mrs. Petal said. “Are you sick?”

  “No. I’m just tired.” In an attempt to be convincing, Pearl forced a yawn. “Maybe we should all go to bed early. What do you think?” The sooner her parents went to bed, the sooner she could talk to the fairy. While Pearl couldn’t understand the fairy’s squeaks, she could at least ask questions that required a nod or a shake of the fairy’s head. And Pearl, being a girl who loved to ask questions, had a lot of them stacking up. She yawned again. “Good night.”

  “Come to think of it, you did work hard on our window display,” Mr. Petal said. “It makes sense that you’d be extra tired.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Petal tucked Pearl in and kissed her good night. But they didn’t go to bed. Instead, they cleaned the kitchen, watched TV, and sat at the table, paying bills. Pearl stared at the closet door. She didn’t dare bring out the fairy. Her mom often checked throughout the night to make sure Pearl wasn’t reading by flashlight or leaning out the window, counting stars. It wasn’t until ten thirty that she heard their bedroom door shut and their light click off. Finally!

  Pearl threw the quilt aside. To avoid squeaky floorboards, she reached under her bed and grabbed her special pink slippers. A gift from Cobblestone, a leprechaun she’d met at Dr. Woo’s, they gave her the ability to walk in silence. She put them on, then made her way across her bedroom as quiet as a ghost.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  Pearl stopped dead in her tracks. A huge face was peering through her bedroom window. Red eyes glowed like fire pits. Steamy breath fogged up the glass pane. Pearl slid the window open. “Metalmouth?” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”

  “Hiya, Pearl,” Metalmouth said in his rumbly dragon voice. He was standing on the roof of her building, but he’d stretched his long neck to reach her window.

  “Shhhh,” she scolded. “Mom and Dad are asleep.”

  His ears flattened. “Sorry.” He wasn’t very good at being quiet. Dragon voices weren’t designed for libraries or midnight clandestine activities.

  “You shouldn’t be here. Someone might see you.”

  “Nobody’s gonna see me. I’m the same color as night.” He stuck his head into the bedroom. So much steam wafted from his nostrils that Pearl’s room started to feel like a sauna. “Do you wanna play fetch?” He spat a yellow tennis ball onto the carpet. The ball glistened with spit.

  Playing fetch was one of Metalmouth’s favorite activities, along with welding metal into pieces of art, but there was no time to do either of those things. Pearl glanced nervously at her door. If her parents saw the fairy, she could easily pretend it was some sort of bug. But there’d be no way to pretend that a dragon was anything but a dragon! “Metalmouth, did Dr. Woo read my note? Does she know I found a fairy?”

  “Yup, she knows. That’s why I’m here.” Metalmouth scratched his chin on one of Pearl’s bedposts. “Dr. Woo wants to see you right now. And the fairy, too.” His ears flattened again. “I don’t like fairies. They bite.” It was funny to think that a creature as big as a dragon could be afraid of an itty-bitty fairy. But Metalmouth wasn’t your usual storybook dragon.

  “Did you say right now?”

  “Uh-huh. I already got Ben.”

  “You got Ben?”

  “He’s on the roof.”

  “How’d he—?” Pearl narrowed her eyes. The Dollar Store building was two stories high, plus a basement, but there was no fire escape ladder. If Ben hadn’t climbed to the roof, then that meant… “You flew him up there?”

  “Sure I did. And I’ll fly you to the hospital if you want. Or you can walk. But Dr. Woo said you gotta come now.” His tongue darted out and grabbed the tennis ball.

  Fly or walk? Why had he even bothered to ask such a ridiculous question? Pearl walked every single day of her life. Forget that!

  She could sneak out. But if she did, and her parents woke up and looked for her, they’d panic. And she’d get into the biggest trouble ever. “I can’t leave without telling my mom and dad. Give me a few minutes. Then I’ll meet you on the roof.”

  As she hurried down the hall, she had no idea what she’d say. Too bad she didn’t have
time to talk to Ben. He was way better at making up stories. She knocked on the door, then opened it. “Hey, Mom, Dad, you still awake?”

  Mrs. Petal bolted upright and flicked on the bedside lamp. “What’s going on? Are we having an earthquake?” Mr. Petal, who wore earplugs to bed, kept snoring.

  Pearl fidgeted in the doorway. “Uh, Dr. Woo just called. She needs my help.”

  Mrs. Petal glanced at the clock. “At this hour? But it’s the middle of the night.”

  “It’s an emergency. A bunch of worms are sick. They have…uh…” She’d watched Ben tell some weird stories. But no matter how crazy the story sounded, Ben always acted as if it made total sense. “It’s a worm disease…and it’s called…ringworm. Yep, they’ve got ringworm.”

  “That’s odd,” Mrs. Petal said, rubbing her eyes. “I thought ringworm was something that people got.”

  “Well, worms get it, too. And if it’s not treated, it could spread to all the worms in Buttonville. And that would be a disaster of epic proportions,” Pearl said with a dramatic sweep of her arms. “So I’m going to help, okay? Because I’m her apprentice and she needs me.”

  “I don’t want you walking in the dark alone,” Mrs. Petal said.

  “I won’t be alone. Ben and Dr. Woo’s assistant are waiting for me.” Metalmouth was kind of like an assistant, she figured.

  “All right. I guess it’s okay, as long as you go with them. I’m very proud of you for being so dedicated to your job.” She blew Pearl a kiss, yawned, then turned out the light.

  Back in her room, Pearl opened the closet and grabbed the saltshaker. The fairy popped her head out of the toilet paper cocoon and started yelling again. Even after a nice sleep, she was still cranky. “Calm down,” Pearl told her. “I’m taking you to Dr. Woo. And guess what?”