Kendra Sorenson tucked her feet up under her and blew on the mug of hot chocolate. She watched the sky streak pink in the early morning light, and pulled her scarf tighter around her. She marveled at the garden, perfectly frozen beneath a layer of crisp, clear ice. Where other gardens would be brown and dead beneath the frost, the fairy magic preserved the flowers, so they were muted versions of their summer selves. The fairies were immune to the cold, so to them, winter simply meant that there were more shiny surfaces in which to see their own reflections. Kendra, on the other hand, had on two pairs of socks inside her wooly boots. She heard Hugo crashing around on the other side of the woods, and the rustle of the frozen leaves clattering together. A couple of fairies were flitting around near the porch, and Kendra began to hear bits and pieces of their conversation. "...don't know where to look!" "Disappeared without a trace. She didn't seem the type to run off..." Kendra strained to hear them. "Who disappeared?" The fairies turned to her with apparent annoyance, that Kendra would eavesdrop. "Niccola. She disappeared two days ago. The day after Brinda disappeared," the fairy with cotton candy pink hair and shimmery pastel wings replied. The electric yellow fairy next to her chimed in. "Don't forget Rubel last week." Kendra was surprised. "Does my grandfather know about this?" The fairies shrugged. Kendra took another sip of her hot chocolate and got up from the rocking chair. "I'll see if he has heard anything around the preserve."
Grandpa Sorenson was perplexed about the disappearance of the fairies. "I haven't heard anything unusual around the preserve. Perhaps you should look for Shiara? Maybe she will give us more information." Kendra nodded and exited the study. She reached for her coat and scarf, and bumped into Seth dashing around a corner. "Hey Seth, are you going out into the preserve?" Seth had a cookie in his mouth, and was putting a boot on one. Foot and a glove on one hand. He was falling all over the hallway, always in a rush. He mumled something around the cookie. Kendra raised an eyebrow. He swallowed the cookie and said, "I'm going to the satyr's tennis court...it is all frozen over, and they said we can skate." Kendra rolled her eyes. "Can you talk to them and find out if there is any talk about the missing fairies?" Seth looked puzzled. "Missing fairies?" Kendra relayed what she had overheard on the porch. "Weird. I'll ask around. See ya!" He raced out the door with only one glove, still pulling a hat over his head.
Kendra walked out into the garden to see if she could find Shiara. She called out quietly, and the blue fairy came floating out of an icy dogwood tree. Kendra questioned her about the disappearance of Niccola, Brinda and Rubel. Shiara nodded, her voice filling with worry. "Yes, all gone. No one seems to know where. The fairy queen has been unable to locate them, yet she has not felt the snapped connection that happens when a fairy dies." Kendra was even more curious. "Can't fairies travel to other locations?" Shiara nodded. "Yes, but it became very difficult when the shrine was destroyed. And the fairy queen should be able to detect them wherever they are." Kendra thought for a minute. "Were they friends? I don't remember Rubel. Didn't Niccola have bronze skin and coppery wings?" Shiara nodded. "Niccola was from the southwest desert, Brinda was from the Brazilian jungle, and Rubel was from Egypt. They were not friends in particular, but all three of them were at one point Imps. Niccola was quite vocal about having enjoyed her time as an Imp. The other two were mostly impartial." Kendra thought back to the earliest days she had spent at Fablehaven, when a plague had been unleashed on the preserve, and many of the fairies had turned evil. It might be coincidence, but it was a strange connection. "Thank you for your help, Shiara. Let me know if you hear anything else." Shiara bowed her head and then zipped off.
Seth sent a flat stone flying across the ice, using a bent stick as an improvised hockey stick. Doren sprawled across the iced over tennis court, missing the stone and diving onto the cold hard ground. Newell hooted with laughter. Seth dropped to one knee, breathing hard. "Time for a break." He followed the satyrs to where their prized possession, a large flat-screen TV was hidden away. The satyrs munched on some grass and purple flowers. Seth took a granola bar out of his pocket. "Have you heard anything about fairies disappearing?" The satyrs nodded, searching through the channels, clearly not paying much attention to his question. Seth cleared his throat. "Guys!" Doren looked over. "A few have gone missing. Probably ran off to another preserve. Too many here anyway, if you ask me." Seth scratched his head. "Where did they go missing from? Not the garden, right?" Newell shrugged. "Last seen in the woods, from what we hear. Heard a couple of brownies are gone too, though, and they don't usually leave preserves at all." Seth was genuinely puzzled.
