“The wild wand flowers all make different kinds of fruit,” Flip said. “I have to admit, I was hoping for raspberries.”

  “Can we eat them?” Clara asked.

  “Absolutely,” Flip said.

  Clara scooped up the raspberries. She put half of them in her mouth and held the other half out for Flip. She giggled at the feeling of Flip’s mouth gently eating the raspberries from her palms.

  “Can we try one of the wild potion puddles, too?” Clara asked.

  Flip shook her head. “I’ve learned the hard way that that’s not a very good idea unless you know exactly what the potion does,” Flip said, grimacing. “Once I sprinkled a wild potion on my head and ended up with stegosaurus spikes. And another time I ended up three weeks older. And another time I ended up wearing a very itchy ballet tutu that I couldn’t get off. My sisters and I ended up spending a lot of time making an un-dinosaur potion, an un-time potion, and an un-ballet potion.”

  Clara giggled. “Is there any way to know what the wild potions do without trying them?”

  “Star can use her magic sense of hearing to figure it out. She listens to the gurgling sounds the puddles make and hears a message about what kind of potion it is,” Flip said.

  “That’s amazing,” Clara said. She took a few steps forward and kneeled on the edge of the walkway, right next to a magenta puddle that was making loud gurgling noises. She leaned right over it, closed her eyes, and tilted her head to the side so her ear was as close to the puddle as she could get it. She waited a few seconds. All she could hear was bubbling and gurgling.

  “I think that one is about to spray potion in the air,” Flip said. “Back up before it sprays your head and we find out exactly what it does, whether we like it or not.”

  Clara opened her eyes, stood up, and took a step back. Sure enough, the puddle erupted into a fountain.

  “I wish we could keep watching the puddles and playing with the wild wand flowers,” Flip said. “But I think we’d better make sure everything is ready for the Potion Fair. We always hold the fair on top of that hill up ahead.” Clara followed Flip’s gaze to the far side of the marsh, where the walkway ended at a flight of white stone steps that led up the side of a grassy hill.

  Clara nodded. “I’m ready to help in any way I can,” she said. “I can’t wait to try all the potions at the Potion Fair.”

  “Me too,” Flip said. “And I can’t wait to show everyone else the flying potion my sisters and I invented. The creatures of the Wing Realm will love being able to fly without even flapping their wings.”

  Clara skipped and Flip trotted along the walkway across the marsh. They climbed together up the white stone steps to a wide, flat hilltop. At its center were large tree stumps arranged in a circle. “Each team puts its potion cauldron on one of the tree stumps,” Flip explained. “Then we all walk around and sample each other’s potions.”

  Clara nodded.

  “The main thing we need to do is dust off the tree stumps,” Flip said, galloping over to a stump and using her tail to sweep it off.

  Clara skipped over to a different stump and used her hand to brush off dirt and moss. She moved on to the next stump, and as she whisked off a clump of moss, she heard the sound of wings beating the air. She turned and saw Star and Lucinda, both holding the peach cauldron’s handle in their mouths, as they flew over the marsh toward the hill. Star and Lucinda landed next to a tree stump, where they carefully set down the cauldron.

  “Phew!” Star said. “That cauldron is heavy.”

  “It sure is,” Lucinda said, purring as she rubbed Clara’s and Flip’s ankles. “Sorry we’re a little late. Star gave me six tries to guess her favorite part of outer space. I guessed asteroids, then planets, then moons, then black holes, then comets, and then meteoroids. I ran out of things to guess, so she told me the right answer. Can you believe the answer is stars? I was shocked.” Lucinda widened her eyes in surprise and swished her tail.

  Clara laughed and scratched Lucinda behind her ears. Lucinda turned and jumped onto the tree stump next to the cauldron. She stuck her head in it and sniffed. “I can smell the butterfly flutter in here,” she said, purring and inhaling. “It smells peppery to me. It always makes me—” Before she could finish her sentence, she sneezed five times in a row right into the potion.

  “Well,” she said, yawning as the potion in the cauldron began to bubble, “it’s about time for my nap.” She flew up into a tree behind the tree stump circle as the potion turned from green to blue. She flopped down onto a thick branch as the potion bubbled and frothed higher and higher. She closed her eyes as blue foam poured over the sides of the cauldron. She began to make a sound that was a cross between a purr and a snore as a flood of blue foam coated the hilltop and all the tree stumps. Lucinda was fast asleep when, in a swirl of light, blue caterpillars appeared everywhere. They were all over the tree stumps. They were all over the grass. There were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them.

  For several seconds, Flip, Star, and Clara stared at the sea of caterpillars. The caterpillars wiggled and crawled. They squirmed, rolled onto their backs, and kicked their legs. They twittered their antennae and grinned.

  “Oh no,” Flip said. “This is terrible.”

  “What a disaster,” Star said. “I can’t even take a step forward or backward because I’m afraid of squashing them.”

  Flip’s eyes filled with tears. “We have no choice but to cancel the Potion Fair,” she said in a high, wavering voice.

  “All the creatures have worked so hard to invent their potions,” Star said. “They’ll feel so sad and disappointed.”

  “My favorite day of the year has turned into my least favorite day ever,” Flip said, as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’ll go tell all the creatures who said they would be at the fair that it’s canceled.”

  Star nodded. “I’ll go back to Feather Palace and tell Mist, Aqua, Snow, Dash, Rosie, and Stitch not to bother coming.”

  “Wait,” Clara said. “Before we cancel the Potion Fair, let’s just think for a few minutes about whether there is any way to quickly and safely move the caterpillars.”

  Flip nodded and let out a long sigh. “Good idea,” she said. She furrowed her brow.

  Star nodded and bit her lip.

  Clara took a long deep breath. She looked down for a moment at the caterpillars as they wiggled, squirmed, twittered their antennae, grinned, and winked. They were, she had to admit, pretty cute. She glanced up at the spiral design on Flip’s tiara and thought about the magic somersault Flip could do to turn into any animal. She looked at the star, moon, and planet design on Star’s tiara and thought about her magical senses. She thought about the wild wand flowers and the wild potion puddles. And then, suddenly, Clara had an idea. She bent her knees to jump up and down with excitement, but then she stopped herself—she didn’t want to accidentally crush the caterpillars when she landed. “I have an idea to save the Potion Fair,” Clara said with wide, excited eyes. “I don’t know if it will work. But we won’t know unless we try.”

  “I’ll do anything to help,” Flip said, her eyes filling with hope.

  “Me too,” Star said. “Anything at all.”

  Clara smiled. She turned to Star. “Flip told me you can tell what the wild potion puddles do by listening to the gurgling noises they make.”

  “That’s right,” Star said, nodding.

  “If we fly back to the marsh together, could you listen to the puddles and tell me what they do?” Clara asked.

  “Sure,” Star said. She flapped her wings and flew straight upward.

  Clara imagined flying upward, and she instantly rose a few feet up into the air. She looked down and saw three caterpillars clinging to her left sneaker. Gently, she shook her shoe until the caterpillars fell to the ground.

  Flip, Star, and Clara flew down to the marsh. Star hovered over a bubbling crimson puddle. Her tiara glittered. She closed her eyes and pricked up her ears as she listened to the bubbling noises. “This one is a shrinking potion,” she announced.

  Clara shook her head. “What’s the next one?” she asked.

  Star flew to a gurgling magenta one. Her tiara glittered. She closed her eyes, pricked up her ears, and listened. She smiled with amusement. “This one gives creatures unicorn horns.”

  Clara giggled. “That sounds like fun, but I don’t think we need that one right now,” she said. “What’s the next one?”

  Star flew to a fuchsia puddle. Her tiara glittered, she closed her eyes, and she listened for a few seconds. “This one makes time leap forward three weeks,” she said.

  “That’s exactly what I was hoping for!” Clara said. She turned to Flip. “The next step is for you to turn yourself into a flying elephant,” she said.

  “An elephant?” Flip said, cocking her head to the side. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” Clara said with a wink.

  Flip shrugged. The spiral design on her tiara sparkled. She flapped her wings, leaped into the air, and did a somersault. Suddenly, a giant peach elephant with wings hovered right next to Star and Clara.

  Star giggled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you turn into an elephant,” she said.

  Flip lifted her trunk and let out a loud, trumpeting noise.

  “Do you think you could use your trunk like a straw to suck up that that potion puddle?” Clara asked.

  “Sure,” Flip trumpeted. She flew next to Star. She dipped the tip of her elephant trunk into the fuchsia puddle. Then, with a loud slurping noise, Flip sucked all of the puddle into her trunk.

  “Excellent,” Clara said. “Just don’t swallow it by accident.”

  Clara swooped over to a cluster of wild wand flowers and picked one. “Now we’re ready to go back to the caterpillars,” she said.

  Clara, Flip, and Star flew back to the hilltop. For a few seconds, they watched the squirming caterpillars. Clara turned to Flip. “Could you spray the potion in your trunk on all the caterpillars?” she asked.

  Flip’s eyes widened. She nodded. And then she flew in circles over the caterpillars, using her trunk to spray them with potion. Glittery pink light swirled around the caterpillars. And, in an instant, they were blue butterflies. The butterflies fluttered their wings. They hovered above the grass and tree stumps. They flew in small circles.

  Clara took a long deep breath. “Perfect,” she said.

  “But now there are butterflies everywhere,” Star said, her face falling.

  “I think they’re looking for food,” Flip trumpeted. “They probably feel like they haven’t eaten in three weeks. But there are no real flowers here in the Magic Marsh. Just the wild wand flowers. And they don’t have nectar.” Tears welled up again in her eyes. “I still think we’ll have to cancel the Potion Fair.”

  “We’re not quite done with my plan yet,” Clara said. “I have to admit that I’m not as sure the next part will work. But let’s give it a try.” She turned to Flip and raised her eyebrows. “Can you turn into a giant mother kangaroo now?”

  Flip’s giant forehead wrinkled in confusion. She shrugged her shoulders and let out one last elephant trumpet before she did a somersault and turned back into a pegasus. Then, the spiral design on her tiara glittered. She did another somersault. Suddenly a large peach kangaroo with wings and a pouch hovered next to Clara.

  “Perfect!” Clara said. “Now, could you please hold your pouch as far open as possible?”

  “Sure thing,” Flip said, in a voice that sounded like a cross between a cough and grunt.

  Clara giggled—she had always wondered what sound kangaroos made!

  Flip used her front paw to pull her pouch open. Clara held up the wild wand flower she had picked in the marsh and waved it right above the pouch. A giant slice of watermelon appeared in the bottom of Flip’s pouch. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Clara held her breath and stared at the swarming butterflies. But then, to her relief, the hungry butterflies smelled the watermelon. They waved their antennae in excitement. They swarmed and fluttered in circles around Flip’s giant kangaroo body. And then, all at once, they dived into her pouch, carefully closing their wings, to eat the watermelon.

  Flip and Star exchanged looks of amazement.

  “Remember that meadow of wildflowers we flew over on the way here?” Clara asked Flip.

  Flip nodded. “The one where we buzzed to the bees?” she grunted.

  “Exactly,” Clara said. “Do you think you could fly there, holding your pouch open so you don’t crush the butterflies, and release them?”

  “That’s an amazing idea,” Flip grunted. “I’ll be right back.” With one paw holding her pouch open, she zoomed away from the hill. Clara and Star flew down to the ground as they watched Flip disappear over the Magic Marsh.

  “Thank you so much for saving the Potion Fair,” Star said to Clara. “That was one of the strangest, funniest plans that I can imagine. Who knew we’d need an elephant and a kangaroo to save the Potion Fair from caterpillars?”

  “It was my pleasure to help,” Clara said. She peered into the pegasus princesses’ now-empty cauldron. Every drop of the potion had turned into caterpillars. She looked over at Star, who had busied herself dusting off a stump with her tail. “Remember how we divided the potion in half this morning? Why don’t you go get the other half so you’ll still have some potion to share with the other creatures?” Clara smiled reassuringly and shrugged. “It’s okay with me if there isn’t any left for my next visit. Besides, we can always make more if we need to.”

  “Good idea,” Star said. “Thank you, Clara. I’ll take this cauldron back to Feather Palace and bring back the other one. If I fly my very fastest, I’ll be back in no time. I’ll get my sisters to join me.”

  “Sounds great,” Clara said. “I’ll finish sweeping off the tree stumps.”

  Star flapped her wings, and, in a blur of black, flew back toward Feather Palace.

  Clara had just finished sweeping off the last tree stump when she heard the sound of wings. She turned to see seven pegasus princesses and one giant peach kangaroo flying toward her. Star and Aqua, holding a shiny peach cauldron together in their mouths, flew straight to a tree stump and set down the cauldron. Flip, Mist, Rosie, Stitch, Dash, and Snow gathered in a circle around the tree stump. “The butterflies are safely in the flower garden,” Flip grunted. “Thank you so much for saving the Potion Fair. What a wacky, creative idea you had. But it worked!”

  “Star told us the whole story,” Mist said.

  “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done to help us,” Snow said.

  Dash, Stitch, Rosie, and Aqua nodded and swished their tails.

  “I’m so glad I could help,” Clara said.

  Star looked at Flip. “Um,” she said, “it’s perfectly fine if you want to be a kangaroo for the Potion Fair. But I think you could probably turn back into a pegasus now if you wanted to.”

  “Huh?” Flip grunted. Then she looked down at her kangaroo paws, her pouch, her long tail, and her enormous hind legs. She laughed. “Oops! I completely forgot to turn back into a pegasus,” she grunted. “Just a second!” She did a giant kangaroo bounce into the air. She somersaulted. In an instant, she was a pegasus again. Flip stomped her hooves, whinnied, snorted, and flicked her mane. “I’m glad to be my normal self,” she said with a smile.

  “Did I miss anything?” a voice purred. Clara turned to see Lucinda standing up on her tree branch. She arched her back and stretched forward.

  Clara and the pegasus princesses looked at each other. Clara raised her eyebrows. The pegasus princesses smiled.

  “Not too much,” Flip said.

  Lucinda leaped out of the tree and sauntered over to Clara and the pegasus princesses. She leaped onto the tree stump and peered into the cauldron. She sniffed several times and then Clara heard her making an “AH! AH! AH!” sound. Lucinda was about to sneeze! Clara spun around and quickly lifted the cauldron up over her head just as Lucinda sneezed five times in a row.

  All eight pegasus princesses stared as Lucinda sat down on the tree stump and began licking her front foot. They looked at Clara, who still held the cauldron safely up above her head. After a few seconds of shocked silence, Clara, Flip, Star, Mist, Aqua, Rosie, Dash, Stitch, and Snow burst out laughing.

  “Now you’ve saved the Potion Fair twice!” Flip said.

  “And just in the nick of time,” Star said, nodding toward a parade of creatures flying into the meadow carrying cauldrons. There were teams of merfairies, phoenixes, winged frogs, fairies, dragons, winged foxes, and winged squirrels. Each group flew to a tree stump and put down its cauldron.

  “Lucinda,” Clara said, “might I put the cauldron back down on the tree stump now?”

  “Absolutely,” Lucinda purred, moving to one side.

  “Um—” Flip began.

  “It’s just that—” Star said.

  “Well—” Mist said.

  “We really want you to be part of the Potion Fair,” Clara said. “But do you think you could stay away from the cauldron? Just so you don’t sneeze in it.”

  Lucinda swished her tail. “Well,” she purred. “I suppose I could do that.” She leaped off the tree stump, and Clara put down the potion.

  Flip looked at Clara. “Now we get to walk around and try all the different potions. Want to come with me?”

  Clara hopped up and down with excitement. “Yes,” she said. “I can’t wait.”

  “We can take turns standing next to our cauldron,” Mist said. “I’m happy to stay here for now and tell the creatures who stop by about our flying potion.”

  “Thank you,” Flip said. She looked at Clara. “Let’s go test out the frogs’ potion.”

  “Okay,” Clara said. She and Flip walked to the tree stump next to theirs, where three purple frogs with gold wings sat next to a green cauldron.

 

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