Free Fairy Dust by Titania Woods Page B

‘Yes, that’s right. A charming fairy; we were great friends. There is nothing wrong with being a cleaning fairy, my girl. You had better not be so snobbish, or you won’t find many friends.’
    A smile lit her lovely face as she caught sight of Twink. ‘Ah! Twink Flutterby. I’ve heard so much about you.’ The Queen clasped Twink’s hand as Twink gave a hasty tiptoe.
    â€˜Me?’ whispered Twink. ‘But all I did was to have a word with Sooze. She’s the one who got the secret.’ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mariella flounce off with a scowl.
    The Queen’s eyes were bright blue, and seemed to look right into Twink’s very soul. Twink trembled, wondering what she was going to say.
    Queen Mab smiled. ‘I must go now, Twink, but we’ll meet again, I’m sure of it. And I shall look forward to it very much. You’re a very special young fairy, my dear.’ Stooping, she kissed Twink lightly on both cheeks.
    â€˜Thank you, Your Majesty,’ murmured Twink in a dream.
    She stood in silent wonder as the Queen bid farewell to Miss Shimmery, and then lifted off into the air with her counsellors. The seed pearls on the Queen’s lily dress sparkled in the sunlight as they flew away, the silver butterflies following close behind.
    Miss Shimmery rested a hand on her shoulder. ‘Well done, my dear.’
    â€˜But – but I don’t understand,’ said Twink in bewilderment. ‘Why did she want to meet me ?’
    The HeadFairy smiled gently at her. ‘You haven’t worked it out, then? The reason why Queen Mab decided that Glitterwings should host the Spring Ceremony?’
    Twink shook her head mutely.
    â€˜It was because of you, Twink,’ said Miss Shimmery. ‘Because of how you helped Stripe last term. The Queen wanted to meet the fairy who made friends with a wasp – and it inspired her to mend the bridges between the fairies and the water sprites, as well.’ She laughed suddenly. ‘Of course, that almost didn’t go as planned because of Sooze’s prank . . . but we got there in the end!’
    Twink’s thoughts spun as she watched the Queen and her retinue disappear from view. Queen Mab had wanted to meet her . Her – Twink Flutterby! It was too incredible to be true.
    Yet it had happened. It really had.
    â€˜My father was right,’ said Twink. ‘This is one term I’ll never, ever forget!’
    â€˜Me neither,’ said Bimi. The two friends smiled at each other.
    The Daffodil Branch fairies were busy packing their things, getting ready to go home for the spring holiday. Sooze grinned as she tied her oak-leaf bag shut. ‘And the best thing is we’ll be Second Years next term! We’ll be able to use fairy dust all we like! Oh – just think of the pranks we can play –’
    .

    .
    â€˜ Sooze! ’ cried the rest of the Branch.
    â€˜You’re not thinking of playing more pranks!’ gasped Twink, half-laughing.
    Sooze tossed her hair back. ‘Well, why not?’ she said with a cheeky smile. ‘You can’t be good all the time. I’ll just take care that there aren’t any ice poles around!’
    Twink laughed. Sooze would never change, not really – and deep down, Twink was glad of it.
    â€˜Well, I don’t think it’s fair at all,’ snapped Mariella. ‘And you even got to dance in the ceremony, when I didn’t! Why, you should have been expelled! When I tell my mother what happened, I bet –’
    â€˜Oh, please do!’ broke in Sooze. ‘Maybe she’ll finally send you somewhere else. If we all wrote to her and begged, d’you think she might?’ She clasped her hands under her chin pleadingly.
    Mariella glared and flounced away as the branch erupted into laughter. Twink grinned to herself. Mariella would never change either, that was clear!
    Finally the packing was done. After a