one
âT his Christmas will be the perfect Christmas,â said Goldie Bell one sparkling December morning. âIâll have so many presents!â
The Fairy Bell sisters were lying on the hearth rug before a roaring fire in the great room of their fairy house. It was a blindingly sun-filled morning, with fresh snow sparkling on every rooftop of the fairy village.
âOnly ten more days till Christmas,â said Sylva Bell. She was stroking a tiny kitten that was curled up in the crook of her arm. âWe donât know if we can wait any longer than that, do we, Ginger?â she said. Ginger purred.
âWell, you wonât have to,â said Clara. âChristmas is coming whether weâll be ready or not.â
âIâm ready now,â said Goldie.
âWeâll be patient, wonât we, Squeakie?â said Rosy Bell.
âO-bee!â said Squeak.
âWhy not, Squeak? Why wonât you be patient?â said Rosy. Squeak rolled over and rubbed her back on her crib. âI donât know whatâs the matter with Squeak. She hasnât been at all herself lately.â
âMaybe sheâs getting a new tooth,â said Sylva.
âOr she has an upset tummy,â said Clara. âGoldie, have you been giving Squeak fairy chocolates again?â
âNot too many,â said Goldie.
âIâm a little worried about her,â said Rosy. âDo you thinkââ
Just then there was a tinkling of bells outside their fairy house windows. âWhatâs that?â asked Clara. The bells had a tone that she recognized from long ago, but she did not want to risk saying what she thought. She flew over to open the doorâand found no one there.
âTry the back door,â said Goldie. âMaybe itâs Avery. She said sheâd come visit later on today.â
The tinkling sound came again. Rosy looked at Clara. Could it be?
Sylva flew to the back door and opened it. âNo one here, either,â she said.
Once more the bell tinkled. Ginger scurried into the kitchen to hide. âLook! There at the window!â cried Rosy.
A dazzling beam of light filled the largest window of the fairy house great room.
âSqueak!â said Squeak.
The light was so bright and powerful that it seemed to be knocking right on the windowpane.
Clara took Rosyâs hand and squeezed it tight. âSheâs come back, Rosy,â whispered Clara. âSheâs come back at last.â
two
I t would be terribly rude to go much further in this story without introducing all of you to the Fairy Bell sisters. If you havenât had the pleasure of their acquaintance already, please meet them now. Here are:
Clara, Rosy, Goldie, Sylva, and Squeak live together with the other young fairies on Sheepskerry Island, which is a place so filled with magic that you may be reading this story very near it right now (only you might not know it, because human people call it by another name). The Fairy Bell sisters have one more member of their family, their big sister, who lives in Neverland with a friend called Peter Pan. In case you donât dare guess her name, Iâll tell you: itâs Tinker Bell. And it was Tinker Bell who had made that tinkling sound right outside the Fairy Bell sistersâ fairy house.
If you have read other stories about the Fairy Bell sisters, you know that now is the time I usually ask a question to see if you really want to read any further. The question could be about perfect fairies or foolish fairies or headstrong fairies or fairies with tender hearts.
In times past, most of you have turned the pages and read on, which is why you know so much about the Fairy Bell sisters. But this time, Iâm going to take a chance. Iâm not going to ask that question, because I believe that every single one of you will want to read a story about a magical little baby whoâs about to make a big change. A little baby who