Lily and the Fancy-dress Party Read online

  For Isadora

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  A Special Invitation

  Map

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Fairy Secrets

  How to make a Fairy Princess Cape

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  A Special Invitation

  To celebrate the season,

  Queen Titania is hosting a

  fancy-dress party on the mainland.

  Lily has never been to the mainland.

  None of the Bell sisters ever have – except Tinker Bell, of course. And

  a fancy-dress party too?

  Why, Lily would give her wings to attend!

  After the Summer People leave Sheepskerry Island and the asters show their pretty purple flower faces, the fairies know that autumn is hastening near. The days grow shorter and the shadows longer. A chill is in the island’s evening air. The sugar maple trees begin to hint at the blazing colours to come, the smell of wood smoke is strong and the fairies put on gossamer shawls at night as they tell stories by the fire.

  At the Fairy Bell house, Tinker Bell’s little sisters – for that’s who live there – were not enjoying the crisp autumn day. They were arguing. That didn’t happen very often, as most of the time the sisters got along splendidly. This had started as a very happy discussion, about whose job it was to stack wood in the woodpile. But then it took a wrong turn into a small misunderstanding and from there it veered off towards bickering and now it was just short of an all-out fight.

  I’m not fond of starting a story with a disagreement, so I think I’ll stop for a moment to give the Fairy Bell sisters a few minutes to try to collect themselves and simmer down.

  That will give us time, too, to make some introductions. If you haven’t already met Tinker Bell’s little sisters, their names are:

  This story is about all the sisters, but it’s mostly about Lily.

  Lily Crystal Bell is a particular kind of fairy. She is probably the most like Tinker Bell of all the Bell sisters. Lily is headstrong and wilful and very stubborn. Like Tink, she always wants to get her own way. Some people may think Lily is a bit of a bossy-boots. But I don’t think of her like that. Lily sees the world differently to other fairies. She notices small things that other fairies do not: the creamy shade of a hen’s egg; the pattern of a spider’s spots; a tiny glittering rock on the beach. She may have trouble doing certain things – I’ll tell you more about that very soon – but she knows what she’s good at. That’s what gives Lily her great confidence. She believes she’s special. And she doesn’t mind if other people believe it too.

  You may be a bit worried to read a book about such a wilful, headstrong fairy.

  But before you judge Lily too harshly, let me ask you this: have you ever wanted to shout out loud “I am so much better than anyone else! It is so wonderful to be me!”

  If you believe that is an improper thing to do, or even to think about doing, I’m fairly certain you will not much care for this book. Off you go.

  If, however, you’re even a little bit like Lily, you might find it quite refreshing to read a book about a fairy who knows her own mind; a fairy who leaves her sisters behind to have an adventure on her own (an adventure that very nearly turns into a disaster). If that sounds like a good story to you, then please take the plunge and read on.

  Oh, hooray! You plunged! How glad I am.

  I may as well tell you what the Fairy Bell sisters were fighting about before we go much further. Autumn on Sheepskerry Island is a time of bonfires and long walks in the rustling leaves. It’s a time of change and a time to prepare for winter. One of the Fairy Bell sisters’ big chores is to gather firewood from the twigs and branches on the floor of the Sheepskerry forests. It’s hard work, even with wings. Clara had started the woodpile back in the late spring; Rosie added to it, little by little, as the summer days went by; as autumn approached, Silver and her friend Poppy made a contest of it – who could gather the most, the quickest. (Silver, by three twigs.) And Squeakie was too young, of course, to do more than laugh as the woodpile grew.

  And Lily? Well, so far Lily Bell had not done too much stick gathering, it must be said. Lily was good at avoiding work she did not like to do. What she most liked to do was to spend time experimenting with how she looked, which was what she was doing this crisp October morning.

  “Honestly, Lily, you could help with this firewood at some point,” said Silver from the front door of the Fairy Bell house. “I’ve done most of this week’s gathering already.” She stomped her feet on the doormat. “The rest is for you.”

  “That’s nice,” said Lily absently. She was plaiting her hair with ribbons she had kept from the last time Tink had sent them a package, long ago. She loved the look of the scarlet ribbons in her hair. She imagined they might have come from Peter Pan himself. “I’ll do it later.”

  “That’s what you said last week, Lily,” said Silver. Her cheeks were red. “And you never got around to doing it.”

  “Well, it got done, didn’t it?” asked Lily. She was trying to concentrate on her plaits. It was tricky to get them all even.

  “That’s because Rosie did it instead!” said Silver.

  “I can’t help it if Rosie wants to do my chores,” said Lily.

  “That’s not the point!” said Silver.

  “I didn’t mind doing it,” said Rosie.

  “You see, she didn’t mind,” said Lily.

  “You always get away with everything!” cried Silver. “You can’t just sit there admiring yourself. You’d better help me right now.”

  “I’m not just admiring myself,” said Lily. “I’m working on these ribbons!” The scarlet ribbon was far too long. She had to concentrate to cut it in just the right place. “I’ll do it, but not right now.”

  “Clara!” cried Silver. “Make her do her chores!”

  “Lily …” said Clara.

  “Will you please stop telling me what to do!” cried Lily, and she snipped the ribbon exactly where she did not want to. “Oh no no no! That ribbon was from Tink! You made me ruin it!”

  Squeak squeaked.

  “You ruined it, not me!” cried Silver.

  Lily’s eyes filled with tears. Her lovely moment thinking about Tink and Peter Pan had been spoiled. She turned to face her sisters. “All we do on this island is work, work, work. It’s not enough that we have to make our own beds and wash our own clothes and fetch the water from the pump. And go to school. And put up with all the boring Sheepskerry fairies.” Even as Lily said all this, she knew she was going too far. But once she got started, she couldn’t stop. “But now it’s getting to be winter, and the work will triple and it will be freezing cold and dark and miserable.”

  “Oh, Lily,” said Rosie.

  Lily brushed Rosie and her sympathy away. She threw the scarlet ribbon into the fire.

  “Lily! Don’t!” cried Clara.

  “Sometimes I just want to leave you all and never come back,” said Lily. Her voice was hoarse.

  She flew to the doorway and put on her boots in a fury.

  “Lily, no!”

  But
Lily paid Rosie no attention.

  “I hope you’re happy now, Silver,” she said. Then she flew out into the cold, slamming the door behind her.

  Things can get a bit dramatic among sisters.

  By lunchtime, Lily had come home. She had even calmed down enough to exchange two words with Silver over lunch. “Butter?” said Lily.

  “Thanks,” said Silver.

  By teatime, Lily and Rosie were out in Lady’s Slipper Field, watching for deer. And when the sun went down that evening, the sisters were cosy by the fireplace (made with wood gathered by Lily), listening to Clara as she read from their favourite story.

  “‘Her voice was so low that at first he could not make out what she said,’” Clara read. Clara had reached one of the most exciting parts of Peter Pan: the moment when their big sister Tink was in the most danger. Even Squeak was perfectly quiet as Clara continued. “‘Then he made it out. She was saying that she thought she could get well again if children believed in fairies.’”

  They all knew what would happen next (perhaps you do too), but still it took four mugs of warm milk – and one bottle – for them all to recover from such a dramatic moment in the story. Once they had settled down, Lily volunteered to tuck Squeak into her cot in the great room, for it was way past her bedtime. Lily got the blankets just right. Squeakie’s tired eyes opened for a moment.

  “Ma-bo-bo,” said Squeak.

  “I love you too, Squeakie,” whispered Lily.

  Just before bed, Rosie handed Lily her scarlet ribbons. “They’re a little charred from the fire,” she said. “But I know you’ll find a use for them.” Clara looked on and smiled.

  Lily took them from Rosie gratefully. “Sorry about all that,” whispered Lily.

  “It’s all right,” said Clara and Rosie, at the same time.

  “Time for bed,” said Silver. She gave Lily a quick hug. Lily hugged her back.

  And the Fairy Bell sisters were at peace again.

  The next morning was a school day. Lily left the Fairy Bell house a little early, for today was her special time with her teacher. She dressed and was out of the fairy house before the sun had fully risen.

  As early as it was, there was a smiling fairy teacher to greet Lily at the door.

  “Hi, Faith!” said Lily. Faith was one of the Learned sisters, all of whom were teachers. Lily gave Faith a hug. She loved their special time together.

  “Good morning, dear Lily,” said Faith. “Come, sit down and let’s read together.”

  Now one thing you might not know about Lily Bell is that she was not much of a reader. Lily loved stories – hearing them read out loud and making them up herself – but she struggled with making sense of words on the page. Sometimes words jumbled together. Sometimes they blurred. Sometimes they even jumped from one place on a page to another. Imagine how hard it was to read with the letters and words jumping all around!

  That’s why Lily loved her lessons with Faith. Faith gave her all the time she needed to read and write. Like her sisters, Patience and Fortitude, Faith was a wonderful teacher.

  Lily read out loud for a bit from a book that Faith had made especially for her. (Lily had decorated it with her own pictures.)

  “‘Her godmother then touched her with her wand,’” Lily read slowly, “‘and at the same instant, her clothes turned into cloth of gold and silver, all beset with jewels.’”

  “Nice job, Lily!” said Faith.

  “I love that story,” said Lily.

  “What progress you’ve made!” Faith said. “You must have been working hard.”

  “I have been working hard,” said Lily. “Even if my sisters think I haven’t.”

  “Sisters can be a trial,” said Faith. “Though I do envy you, that you have so many of them. I’m quite lonely here at the schoolhouse, now that Patience and Fortitude have left for the Outer Islands.”

  Faith’s two sisters had been teachers on Sheepskerry for many fairy years. But the Outer Islands needed good teachers too and Faith’s sisters had left in the summer to teach the young fairies there.

  “How I would love a little companionship, now that winter is drawing near.” Faith sighed, and then shook her head as if she’d been somewhere far away. “But there’s no help for that. I shouldn’t complain. I have all my fairy students as family.” She went out to the front porch of the fairy schoolhouse and rang the bell. “And here they come now!”

  With a flutter of dozens of wings, the fairies of Sheepskerry Island flew into fairy school. All the fairies learned together and learned from one another.

  Just as Faith was about to clap her hands to start their day, she was interrupted by the distant call of a conch shell.

  “That’s Queen Mab’s clarion!” cried Faith. “It sounds as if she’s on her way here! Fairies, on your best behaviour, please!”

  All the fairy students were amazed. Queen Mab had never come to their school before! The Fairy Bell sisters gathered together. “What can it be?” asked Silver.

  “I have no idea,” said Lily. But she noticed her wings were trembling.

  Queen Mab flew to the front of the classroom. “I hope you will forgive this interruption, Faith Learned,” she said.

  “Of course, my queen!” said Faith, curtseying low.

  Queen Mab smiled. “My beloved fairy family,” she said, her voice low. “I’ve had word from my dear friend on the mainland, Queen Titania.”

  “I hope it’s not bad news,” whispered Clara.

  Lily’s wings quivered again. “I don’t think so,” she said.

  “To celebrate the season and to bring joy to the long autumn nights, Queen Titania is hosting a fancy-dress party on the mainland.”

  “The mainland?” said Lily. Her heart skipped a beat. She had never been to the mainland. None of the Bell sisters ever had – except Tinker Bell, of course. It was three days’ flight from Sheepskerry, too long and too dangerous a journey for young fairies. Lily kept her wings as still as she could. A fancy-dress party on the mainland? Why, she would give her wings to attend!

  “A fancy-dress party,” whispered Poppy Flower to her best friend, Silver. “What’s that?”

  “It’s a dressing-up party,” said Silver. “You know, with costumes.”

  “Ooh!” said Poppy. “I love to dress up!”

  Lily did not say a word. She was the best at dressing-up on the whole island. Everyone knew that.

  “Just one fairy from each island may attend the fancy-dress party,” said Queen Mab. Then she peered out and looked right at the Fairy Bell sisters. Quietly, she said to them, “Queen Titania hasn’t yet learned the lesson you taught us, Silver, at the Fairy Ball.”

  Silver blushed.

  Queen Mab’s voice grew loud again. “There will be a prize for the best costume in Fairyland. And Queen Titania has asked us to send one fairy from Sheepskerry to take part.”

  “Ooh, Lily,” said Rosie. “No wonder your wings were quivering. You should go.”

  Lily held her breath.

  “I’d like you all to think who would create a costume that will make Sheepskerry proud,” said Queen Mab. “I would rather show pride in our fairy island than win, as I’m sure you know.”

  Queen Mab paused for a bit, to let the fairies talk among themselves. The Cobweb sisters knitted the best shawls and jumpers, but the Stitch sisters were the best at sewing and dressmaking.

  “The Stitch sisters can sew anything,” said Acorn Oak. “I think one of them should go.”

  The three Stitch Sisters – Fern, Satin and Feather – put their heads together.

  “They sew so beautifully,” said Poppy. “In a way, it’s right that one of them should go.”

  “But in a way it’s not,” said Clara. “We all know that Lily would be the best at making a costume. But we must let the fairies decide. That’s the Fairy Way.”

  Fern Stitch flew straight up to Queen Mab. The Fairy Bell sisters could not hear what she was saying, but later they heard about the conversation fro
m Iris Flower, who heard it from Sugar Bakewell. “It’s true, we are known far and wide for our tiny stitching and intricate patterns,” Fern had told the queen. “But all three of us think someone else should go to the mainland. Someone else who will make the best costume in the land.”

  As soon as Fern stepped away from Queen Mab, there was a murmuring in the crowd, as if all the fairies were speaking with one voice. At first it sounded like they were saying, “Li! Li!” But then Clara and Rosie and Silver – and, of course, Lily – heard more clearly what their fairy friends were saying.

  “Li-ly! Li-ly!” came the cheer.

  “Listen!” said Clara.

  “I’m listening!” cried Lily.

  “LI-LY! LI-LY! LI-LY!”

  “Lily Bell, please come up before me,” said Queen Mab.

  Lily flew over in a rush. Her wings had stopped trembling now.

  On her way she turned to the Stitch sisters. “Oh, Fern, are you very sure?” asked Lily. “Would you really give up your place for me?”

  “Of course I would,” said Fern Stitch. “I don’t really want to go to the mainland. Not that much anyway.”

  “Besides, it’s awfully hard work making a costume,” said Feather.

  “Oh, thank you!” said Lily, giving them a huge smile. Then she curtsied to Queen Mab, just as her teacher had. “And I most humbly thank you, Queen Mab,” she said.

  “Don’t thank me,” said Queen Mab. “Thank your fairy friends.”

  Lily looked out at the happy faces of her sisters and her schoolmates.

  “Oh, I will make you proud, Sheepskerry fairies!” she cried. “I will make Sheepskerry Island very proud indeed!”

  The next day was misty and grey, but Lily’s mood was the complete opposite. She dressed before dawn in a little travelling outfit: a royal-blue suit with pink polka-dot edging. And matching polka-dot shoes.

  Lily had hardly slept a wink all night. Queen Mab had given her instructions about what to do on the mainland and her head was swimming. Lily would stay in a big house with the other fairies who were going to the fancy-dress party. We’ll be best friends! Lily thought.