Chapter 6

Still clutching my journal, I flew to Spring Valley with renewed excitement.

"There you are, Sweetpea," said Rosetta, sitting on the leaf of a rose she was painting. "Did you get a chance to talk to Queen Clarion?"

"Yes. She summoned Fairy Frieda but it was determined that Art isn't my talent."

"You mean she didn't like your drawings?"

"She did. But I can't seem to draw anything but plants and flowers. Still, I—"

"Well, don't fret over that. Fairy Frieda has always been such a sourpuss. I've been thinking, with your art ability, that maybe you'd be better at painting the flowers than growing them." I tucked the journal under my arm as she handed me her wet paintbrush. "I grew this rose white but found I'd like it better if it were red. I'll hold this," she took my journal, "while you give this a go."

I turned my focus on the rose with some reluctance. Rosetta had already painted half the petals in a red so flawless they looked as if they'd been grown that way.

I stared at a stark white petal and imagined it was one of the blank pages in my journal. I dipped the brush into the paint bucket that dangled from a thorny stem and started to work. Enthusiasm spread through me. If I could draw flora, then painting petals should be a snap.

Or so I'd thought. The paint clumped in spots, leaving the once smooth petal a dripping mess. A slender shadow passed over me.

"Oh, dear," said a familiar voice. I turned and, to my horror, saw the Minister of Spring hovering slightly above. "You, young lady, are not going to be ready in time to usher in spring. There's only a few days left."

My cheeks burned as I noticed a crowd of Garden talents watching us.

"I'll keep working with her," said Rosetta. She grasped my hand and helped me gently guide the brush over the petal. "There you go. Nice easy strokes." There was only a slight improvement.

"You see to that, Rosetta. But, if not, Ally will have to stay behind with the non-Nature talent fairies."

He flew off. My throat tightened and I stared straight ahead to avoid all the eyes on me.

"Oh, pay him no mind. We'll find something you can do."

"I think I know what it is." I handed her back the paintbrush and grabbed my journal. "Maybe I can't grow daisies or paint roses but I can probably grow something in here. Why else am I able to draw these? It wouldn't make sense otherwise."

"Well, I've never seen the likes of these but it couldn't hurt to give it a whirl."

I searched the pages for something easy to start with and came across a single flower. Each petal was a different color. I wasn't sure how I'd done that since I only had one quill. All the varying colors appeared as if by magic, just the way I envisioned them. That ought to help me now.

I passed the journal back to Rosetta and, holding the rainbow flower's image in my mind, honed my attention to any seeds lingering beneath the ground. The familiar tingling of my effort to grow something filled my body.

"It looks like you're doing it, Ally!" shouted Chloe's excited voice from the surrounding group.

Elation thrummed through me. I was finally growing something beautiful! I could feel it.

This hope was instantly dashed when the sounds of sighs and groans touched my ears. I opened my eyes. What I'd grown was a slight improvement from the weeds, but not by much. A skinny, wormlike sprout stuck out of the soil, topped by ragged, brownish petals. It drooped as if those petals were much too heavy.

I sank to my knees and struggled to coax it into the flower I'd drawn. "You're supposed to look like this," I said, pointing to my colorful illustration as frustration swelled within me.

The sad little blossom just drooped more, as if I'd placed too much pressure on it, and shed its wispy petals.

"Oh, Sweetpea," Rosetta whispered as she and Chloe held me close. The other Garden fairies surrounded us, murmuring in sympathy, except for Ivy who wept uncontrollably. My throat ached and tears burned my eyes. If I didn't watch it, I'd beat her in a crying contest.

I swallowed and blinked away those stubborn tears. No! I refused to get upset over this. There was one other option. My last hope. I pulled away from my friends and stood, brushing dirt off my leggings.

"I'm going to see Zarina."

"Zarina?" asked Rosetta.

"Yes. If I can use some of her Garden talent dust, then my talent will have to improve." The thought of her having used it to grow an entire Pixie Dust Tree filled me with so much hope I felt I might burst. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"Well, she usually spends the mornings gathering ingredients for her experiments." Rosetta glanced toward the sun. "But she might be back by now. It's worth a try." She told me how to get to Zarina's house.

"Thanks. Wish me luck." I took off in that direction. Only then did I realize I'd left my journal behind. Well, it didn't matter anyway. Once I convinced Zarina to let me use her dust, I'd no longer need that. Instead of drawing those plants, I'd be able to actually grow them.

I slowed when I spotted a cottage made out of a tree branch. It had a leaf roof and stood at the top of a short hill. A path of steps led up to it. That had to be Zarina's house. I alighted on the bottom step and wiped my suddenly sweating palms onto my tunic.

Why was I so nervous? I'd only met Zarina briefly but she'd seemed nice enough. Wasn't she just another fairy like all the other friends I'd made?

A fairy who had once been a pirate captain, grown a second Pixie Dust Tree, could take on any talent, and had recently come up with the cure for broken wings, something that had previously been thought to be impossible. I couldn't even grow a single decent flower!

That's why you're here, to ask her to fix that, my mind urged as I almost lost my nerve. I forced my suddenly heavy legs to climb those steps. Why hadn't I thought to fly to the top?

I had to wipe off my hands again once I reached the round door. Knock, just knock! My stomach felt as if I'd swallowed my wings and they were beating rapidly, trying to escape.

I took a deep breath and knocked softly. Maybe she was still out and I should try again later. But, just as I was about to turn away, I heard light, rapid footsteps. The door swung open.

A colorful lab coat draped Zarina's slender form and her thick hair was pulled back into a messy bun. Wisps of it framed her pretty face.

"Hi…Ally, is it?" I felt my tense insides loosen just a bit.

I nodded and hoped my tongue wouldn't fail me this time. "Yeah. Hi. It's nice to see you again. I-I was wondering if…" My mind suddenly went blank.

"Come on in." She opened the door wider and stepped aside, allowing me to enter.

I glanced around. A leaf curtain divided the living area from what had to be her lab. Items I didn't have names for cluttered a long table next to an unlit fireplace. Amongst them was a book similar to my art journal with the title Pixie Dust Experiments on the cover. A shelf along one wall was lined with several large glass vials, each one containing a different color of pixie dust. The sun spilling through the window made them sparkle even more.

"So…this is your lab?" My voice rasped.

"Yep." Zarina smiled. "Is there something I can help you with?" She sounded as if I wasn't the first to approach her with a request.

"Actually, yes." My gaze remained fixed on the pixie dust containers. Which one was Garden? "When I Arrived, Garden was the talent selected for me. Of course, you know that. You were there. But I'm not any good at it. All I grow is weeds but I can draw beautiful flowers and such, but Fairy Frieda said my talent isn't Art since I can't draw other things and I was wondering…" I trailed off when I noticed Zarina staring down at me with a bemused expression. It was only then that I realized I was babbling. Had I made any sense at all? And, even worse, I'd been unconsciously twisting a lock of hair and had gotten it hopelessly tangled around my fingers.

"Ally, please." Zarina placed her hands on my shoulders. "Slow down. What is it you came to see me about?"

"To fix my talent." I struggled to untangle my fingers but only succeeded in painfully yanking my scalp. My face burned as Zarina reached out to help. "That, or maybe even change it. I heard you can do that too."

"I don't think that is a good idea. A lot of fairies at the beginning had asked to try out different talents but they quickly found they were happiest with the talents that chose them at their Arrivals. I've spoken to Queen Clarion, the Seasonal Ministers, and the guild supervisors about this. It was decided that talents should only be switched when there is a need. And even then only temporarily."

"A need? What sort of need?"

"Well, if there was, say, a shortage of Water fairies, then some of the fairies with other talents could briefly take on Water talent until they fixed whatever the problem was."

"Okay, so I won't change my talent. What if I enhance it?"

"Didn't you say you only grow weeds?"

I swallowed. I didn't like where this was going. "Yeah…that's right."

"Ally." Zarina's eyes grew sad and her voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't think the Garden dust will help you. It would only—"

She suddenly stopped as I stepped back and shook my head. A mixture of rage and despair filled my chest. Zarina's dust had been my last hope.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time," I snapped, my voice harsh with bitterness.

"Ally, wait!"

I shoved open the door and took off, flying away as fast as I could. Hot tears blurred my eyes, making it impossible to see where I was going. After I'd flown some distance, I dropped down into a grass field.

I curled up in the dirt and buried my face in my hands, finally releasing all the pent up emotions that I'd kept clenched within me. I wept harder than even Ivy, in loud gulping sobs. At least no one was around to witness that but, at this point, I didn't care.

Why had I even Arrived? I had no purpose. And I'd been a fool to seek out Zarina, perhaps the most important fairy, next to Queen Clarion, in Pixie Hollow. Why in all of Never Land would she help me? I was nothing, not even a proper Garden talent.

A Weed talent. That's what I was.

Screams yanked me from my miserable thoughts. "Sprinting Thistles!" someone shrieked.

I jolted upright. The surrounding grass swayed and what sounded like the trampling of dozens of heavy feet roared in my ears. Through the stirring grass and swirling dust clouds, I could see several tall thistles, headed straight for me.