Flip's Fair, page 1
The Pegasus Princesses series
Mist’s Maze
Aqua’s Splash
Flip’s Fair
Star’s Gaze
The Unicorn Princesses series
Sunbeam’s Shine
Flash’s Dash
Bloom’s Ball
Prism’s Paint
Breeze’s Blast
Moon’s Dance
Firefly’s Glow
Feather’s Flight
The Moonbeams
The Wing Spell
For Phoenix and Lynx
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Clara Griffin and her younger sister, Miranda, crouched by the creek behind their house. Between the girls, nestled in the muddy creek bank, sat a metal bucket filled with water, shredded leaves, moss, sand, mud, acorns, pebbles, and crushed pine cones.
“The potion definitely needs another handful of pegasus laughter,” Clara said. She reached into the creek and grabbed a fistful of mud from the bottom. Tiny rivers of dirty water ran down her arm as she dropped the mud into the bucket with a giant splash. Clara giggled as potion splattered all over her T-shirt and shorts—and all over Miranda’s blue raincoat, blue rain pants, and blue rain boots.
“Clara!” Miranda said in a voice that was half-annoyed and half-amused. Unlike Clara, Miranda did not usually like getting muddy or wet.
“Oops,” Clara said. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay,” Miranda said, smiling and shrugging. “It’s a good thing I put on my rain gear. Anyway, the potion needs more stardust.” She turned to a patch of dry sand and grabbed a handful. She held her hand over the bucket and opened her fingers so slowly that the sand slid into the potion without splashing at all.
“Now we need to stir it,” Clara said. She stood up, skipped over to a pine tree, and found two sticks on the forest floor. She skipped back to Miranda and handed her one. “These can be our spoons,” Clara suggested.
“Good idea,” Miranda said.
Clara kneeled next to the pot so her knees sank right into the mud. She pushed her stick into the thick potion. But when she tried to stir, the stick snapped in two.
“Maybe this one will work better,” Miranda said, but her stick also broke as soon as she tried to stir with it.
“I know,” Clara said, standing up. “I’ll go get spoons from the kitchen.”
“Dad said we couldn’t take any of the spoons in the silverware drawer out to the creek,” Miranda said.
“Oh yeah,” Clara said, her shoulders sinking. “I forgot.”
The two sisters were silent for a few seconds. And then Clara remembered she had an old purple ruler in her room—maybe it would work for stirring potion! “I know what we can use,” she said, jumping up and down.
Miranda smiled. “You look like an excited kangaroo,” she said.
Clara giggled. “I’ll be right back,” she said, sprinting in the direction of their house.
“Make sure you use the hose to wash off before you go inside,” Miranda called after her.
Clara rolled her eyes. But she also knew her sister was right. Her parents would not like it if she ran through the house covered in mud. When she got to her yard, she ran around to the side of her family’s stone house and turned the blue metal spigot connected to the green garden hose. Soon, water gushed from the hose nozzle. Clara—pretending she was an elephant and the hose was her trunk—sprayed water all over herself until she was dripping wet but clean.
Clara skipped to the back of her house and slid her feet out of her flip-flops, which were still a little muddy. She opened the screen door and ran barefoot into her kitchen. She was relieved to notice neither of her parents was there to tell her she was too wet to be running through the house. Clara dashed across her kitchen and through her living room. She bounded up the stairs two at a time. She galloped down the hall. And she burst into her bedroom.
Clara tried to remember where she had left her ruler. Recently, it had been a drumstick, a slide for her plastic tyrannosaurus family, and a tabletop for a stuffed hedgehog. But she was pretty sure the ruler was now a seesaw for two baby merfairies—mermaids with wings. Clara leaped over a unicorn ski slope she had built out of balls of crumpled purple and pink paper. She crawled through a fort she had constructed from four chairs and all the sheets and towels she could find in the linen closet. She slid around a pegasus sculpture made out of cardboard boxes, milk jugs, pipe cleaners, tin foil, and braided yarn. And then she spotted the ruler on her bureau, balanced on top of an unopened can of tuna. Sure enough, a baby merfairy, sculpted out of modeling clay, sat on each end. Clara opened one of her bureau drawers and gently nestled the baby merfairies between two folded T-shirts. “Have a nice nap,” she whispered to them, leaving the drawer open so they wouldn’t feel scared. She picked up the ruler and was just about to sprint out of the house and back to Miranda when she heard a humming noise coming from under her bed.
Clara froze. The humming noise grew louder. She listened to it for a few seconds, and then she grinned from ear to ear. She hopped over to her bed, kneeled, and pulled out a shoebox she had decorated with sequins, glitter, and paint. She flipped open the lid, and there inside the box was only one thing: a silver feather. Light shot up and down the feather’s spine as it hummed louder and louder.
Clara sucked in her breath. The feather had been a special gift from the pegasus princesses—eight royal pegasus sisters who lived with their pet cat, Lucinda, in a magical world called the Wing Realm. Each pegasus had a unique power and a special, magical tiara. Silver Princess Mist could turn invisible. Teal Princess Aqua could breathe underwater and make magic bubbles. Peach Princess Flip could do a special somersault and turn into any animal. Black Princess Star had extraordinary senses. Pink Princess Rosie could speak and understand any language. White Princess Snow could freeze things and make winter weather. Green Princess Stitch could sew, knit, and crochet anything. And lavender Princess Dash could magically transport herself anywhere in the Wing Realm in an instant.
Whenever the pegasus princesses wanted to invite Clara to Feather Palace, the wing-shaped castle they called home, they made the silver feather shimmer and hum—just the way it was shimmering and humming right then! To get to the Wing Realm, all Clara had to do was hold the feather in her hands as she ran to a special place by a large pine tree in the woods surrounding her house.
Clara picked up the feather. She crawled back through the fort and leaped over the ski slope. She was halfway through her bedroom doorway when she noticed her soaking wet clothes and her bare feet. As much as Clara enjoyed getting wet and being barefoot, she wanted dry clothes and sneakers for her next adventure in the Wing Realm.
Clara set down the feather and ruler on floor next to her door. She peeled off her shorts and T-shirt and threw them into her green hamper. Then she surveyed her room for clothes to put on. Her favorite rainbow-striped tights hung from her ceiling fan to make a swing for her stuffed caterpillar. She climbed onto her bed, pulled down the tights, untied the knot she’d made with the feet, and put them on. She spotted a peach-colored skirt and a butterfly T-shirt on her bedside table, where she had used them, along with some popsicle sticks, to make a camping tent for her pegasus figures. Clara slid the skirt on over her legs and pulled the T-shirt over her head. Finally, she found her favorite sneakers—lime green canvas ones—in the bottom of her closet, and pushed her feet into them.
She danced back over to her bedroom door and picked up the feather and the ruler. She hid the feather in her skirt pocket and raced out of her bedroom, along the hall, down the stairs, through the living room, across the kitchen, and out the backdoor.
Clara sprinted across her yard, into the woods, and back to the place by the creek where Miranda was adding daisy petals to their potion.
“Try this,” Clara said, out of breath and smiling as she handed the ruler to her sister. “I need to go do something really fast and then I’ll be back to keep playing.” Time in the human world froze while Clara was in the Wing Realm, meaning that even if she stayed with the pegasus princesses for hours, Miranda would think she had been gone for only a minute or two.
“Thanks,” Miranda said. She pushed the ruler into the potion and tried to stir. The ruler began to bend. “I think it’s about to break,” she said.
Clara nodded. “I think you’re right. Why don’t you add some unicorn snort and mermaid singing while I’m gone? I’ll try to bring back something else to use to stir,” she said.
Miranda nodded. “See you in a minute,” she said.
Clara leaped across the creek and ran along it until she was out of Miranda’s sight. She pulled the feather out of her pocket as she turned left, jogging deeper into the woods. She ran down a hill, through a grove of pine trees, and into a small clearing. Pine needles covered the ground, and a large pine tree with green boughs stood opposite her. She took a step closer to the pine tree. In a swirl of glittery light, a green velvet armchair with silver-feathered wings on its back appeared. The armchair hopped up and down and then spun in a circle on one of its legs. Clara giggled. The armchair bounded over to her. It leaned toward her and nudged her—almost, Clara thought, like a friendly dog wanting attention.
“Hello, chair,” Clara said, laughing.
The chair fluttered its wings.
“Will you take me to
The chair hopped up and down.
“Wonderful,” Clara said. She slid the feather back into her pocket. She sat down on the chair and grabbed its arms.
The chair flapped its wings and leaped upward. It landed for a few seconds on a tree branch, bounced for a moment on the bough, and then soared into the air. The chair skidded onto the tile roof of Clara’s house and then beat its wings as it flew upward. The chair began to spin, faster and faster, as it rocketed into the clouds. Clara sucked in her breath as everything went pitch black. And then the chair landed with a clatter on a tile floor.
Clara blinked and opened her eyes. She knew exactly where she was: the front hall of Feather Palace. Portraits of the eight pegasus princesses and Lucinda hung on the magenta walls. Fountains with pegasus sculptures spouted rainbow-colored water. Pegasus statues reared up with outstretched wings from pedestals. Gauzy curtains fluttered as a warm breeze blew through the tall windows. Light from the chandeliers shimmered and danced on the black tile floors. In the center of the room, the pegasus princesses’ eight empty thrones formed a half-circle. Next to Flip’s peach throne sat a small silver sofa with a back that looked like a cat head. And on the sofa perched Lucinda, who was so absorbed in licking her hind foot that she didn’t even notice Clara.
Clara stood up. Lucinda kept licking her foot. Clara cleared her throat. Lucinda moved on to cleaning the tip of her tail. Finally, in a soft voice, Clara said, “Hello there.”
Lucinda leaped up into the air and hovered above her sofa. For a split second, she looked at Clara with wide, startled, green eyes. Then she let out a loud purring noise and flew straight over to Clara. The tip of Lucinda’s nose touched the tip of Clara’s nose as the cat purred, “I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for you. Welcome back to Feather Palace.”
“I’m thrilled to be here,” Clara said, scratching behind Lucinda’s ears.
“Princess Flip told me to call her the instant you arrived. She told me absolutely no guessing games because they take too long. But,” Lucinda continued, “I’m sure there’s time for just one. Don’t you think?”
Clara laughed. She had never met anyone who loved guessing games as much as Lucinda.
Still hovering in front of Clara’s face, Lucinda flipped onto her back with her paws sticking straight up into the air. “How about if you guess this time?” she suggested, swishing her tail.
“Okay,” Clara said, surprised. Usually Lucinda liked to do the guessing.
“I’ll think of an easy one. How about,” Lucinda said slowly, “if you guess my middle name? I’ll give you three tries.”
Clara didn’t think that sounded easy at all. “Okay,” she said. “Would you be willing to give me a hint?”
“Absolutely not,” Lucinda said.
“Um,” Clara said, thinking of names of kids in her class. “Is it Renee?”
“Nope,” Lucinda said, righting herself and flying over to Clara’s shoulder, where she perched and purred. Clara smiled at the feeling of Lucinda’s soft fur on her cheek.
“How about Tolonda?” Clara guessed.
“Wrong again,” Lucinda said, swooping down to the floor and rubbing against Clara’s ankles.
“Um. Is it Kira?” Clara asked.
“Wrong again,” Lucinda said. She puffed up her chest, held her head high, and announced, “It’s Mariettatonya. My full name is Lucinda Mariettatonya Salisbury-Heffenhopper the Third.”
Clara giggled. “That’s a wonderful name,” she said.
“Thank you,” Lucinda said. “And now I think I better call Princess Flip.” She bounded to the center of the front hall and called out, “Princess Flip! Clara got here this very second! We definitely did not play any guessing games! Not even one!”
After a few seconds, Clara heard the clatter of hooves against the palace’s tile floors. The sound grew louder and louder. And then Flip galloped into the front hall wearing goggles and a pointy peach wizard’s hat with a silver spiral design that matched the gemstone pattern on her tiara. “I’m so glad you’re here!” Flip exclaimed, rearing up with excitement. “You’ve arrived just in time. Welcome back to the Wing Realm.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” Clara said.
Flip looked at Lucinda. The pegasus cocked her head and smiled. “Are you sure you didn’t play any guessing games?” she asked. “Not even one?”
Lucinda sniffed and twitched her tail. “Well, maybe one,” she admitted before sauntering over to her cat sofa and curling up in a ball. “Don’t mind me,” she said between yawns. “I’m due for my morning nap. Her eyelids fluttered and then shut. She let out a loud noise that was half-purr and half-snore.
Clara giggled. Flip shook her head in amusement before she turned to Clara. “I can’t wait to tell you what we’re doing this afternoon. It’s my favorite day of the year. Today is our annual Potion Fair. Teams of creatures from all over the Wing Realm spend the year inventing and perfecting new magic potions. Then we bring them to the fair and share them with each other. Would you like to join us?”
“I would love to join you,” Clara said.
“I’m so glad,” Flip said. “Especially since this year my sisters and I invented a potion with you in mind.”
“Really?” Clara asked.
“Really,” Flip said, eyes gleaming. “We invented a flying potion. If you sprinkle it over your head, you’ll be able to fly even though you don’t have wings.”
“That sounds amazing,” Clara said.
“You can try it as soon as we finish mixing the final batch. Want to come down to Feather Palace’s potion laboratory to help us?”
“I’d love to,” Clara said.
“Follow me,” Flip said. She reared up and whinnied with delight before she trotted across the front hall and down a narrow corridor with black tile floors and lanterns that burned rainbow flames. Clara followed Flip to the end of the corridor and down three flights of a spiral staircase. At the bottom, they came to two wooden double doors carved with pictures of feather-winged cauldrons. Above the doors, a sign read, “Feather Laboratory.”
Flip pushed the doors open with her nose, and she and Clara stepped into a laboratory the size of Clara’s living room. A chandelier made of small silver cauldrons hung from the ceiling. Tall shelves crammed with glass jars, each full of a powder or liquid, lined all four walls. In one corner, towers of stacked cauldrons teetered. In another corner, a giant rack held empty glass potion bottles. In the center of the laboratory, the seven other pegasus princesses gathered around a giant, shiny, peach-colored cauldron. They all wore goggles and pointy wizard’s hats. And they all held purple mixing spoons in their mouths.
As soon as Mist, Aqua, Star, Snow, Rosie, Dash, and Stitch saw Clara, they dropped their spoons into the cauldron and galloped over to her.
“Clara!” Mist called out. “You made it!”
“Welcome back, human friend,” Aqua said, dancing in a circle around Clara.
“We are so pleased you’re here,” Star said, swishing her tail.
Rosie playfully poked Clara’s arm with the tip of her bright pink pointy hat.
Snow and Dash reared up, grinned, and flapped their wings so their hooves lifted off the floor.
“Guess what?” Stitch said. “I have a surprise for you.” She galloped across the room to a large bag made of glittery green fabric. Stitch picked up the bag with her mouth, galloped over to Clara, and dropped the bag into Clara’s hands. “I can’t wait for you to open it,” Stitch said.
Clara sucked in her breath. She stuck her hand into the bag and pulled out a pointy green velvet hat and a pair of goggles.
“Those are for you,” Stitch said.
“Thank you so much,” Clara said.
“You’re welcome,” Stitch said with a wink. “I used my favorite fabric to sew your hat. And I borrowed those goggles from our fairy friends. They’re fairy size extra-extra-extra-large. Hopefully they’ll fit a human girl.”
Clara put on the goggles and the hat. “These fit perfectly,” she said, grinning. She twirled in a circle. “How do I look?” she asked.
“Ready to make a potion,” Flip said, laughing.
