It was a windy, cold February day. The wind was blowing water drops all over. These cold, barely over freezing drops of water would sting your face if one hit you. Fern, an art fairy, was struggling not to get blown away. Two days ago, it had been warm and sunny, and Fern had been painting a picture of the sun. The day after that, it had been cold, so Fern put on some more clothes and kept painting. But today, it was so windy she could barely fly.
"I wish I'd gone back to Pixie Hollow yesterday," Fern muttered as she battled the wind. She was sure that every other fairy was safely in Pixie Hollow, where the weather was always the same.
Then, a girl came out of a house. Fern hoped she wouldn't be seen, but luck was not with her. The wind blew her into a tree, and she hit her shoulder. Fern cried out, and the wind blew so hard that she was blown right into the girl's hands!
"Oh!" the girl gasped. "Poor fairy, you must be cold!"
Fern nodded. She was not only cold, but also exhausted from fighting the wind. Fern would have flown right out of the girl's hands, but she was too tired to fly.
The girl carried Fern inside her house. Now Fern was frightened. What would the girl do?
Fern panicked. "Help!" she cried. It was then that she saw another fairy perched on a ledge. The fairy held a spear that had black rings around it, and an arrowless bow that had a rubber band for the string.
"It's okay," said the fairy. "Don't be afraid, that human is harmless. She loves fairies."
Fern relaxed. The girl carried her into a room and shut the door. Fern felt a bit worried now, but she was not very afraid. She assumed the other fairy was a scout, and that fairy had told her that the girl was harmless.
The girl touched Fern's hair. Fern had red, curly hair, and it was even messier than usual from being in the wind.
"Your hair is pretty," the girl said. "Are you a painting fairy?"
Fern nodded. She wondered how the girl could tell. Then she looked at her clothes. They were covered in paint splotches.
"You can take off your heavy clothes," the girl said.
Fern took off her turquoise jacket. Underneath was a long-sleeved thin shirt. There was a heart-shaped dip where Fern's heart was. The painting fairy was a little bit embarrassed by it. She had only been born a few days ago, and all of the fairies that had been born recently had heart-shaped dips over their hearts.
"Oh, you must be a newer arrival!" exclaimed the girl.
Fern wondered how this girl knew so much about fairies.
"My name is Rachel," said the girl, "what's yours?"
"Fern," said Fern.
Rachel looked confused. "I can't understand you," she said. "You'll have to write it down."
Fern's face turned red. Her friend Bess, a fellow art fairy, had told her that humans couldn't understand fairies.
Fern looked around for something to write on. She saw a scrap of paper laying on a desk, and a cup with long stick-like things in it. When Fern saw the stick-like things, her heart leapt. Her art-talent instincts told her that the sticks held ink to make art with.
Fern flew over to the sticks. She tried to pick one up, but it slipped out of her grip and clattered to the floor. Rachel walked over and picked it up. She also grabbed a piece of paper and gave it to Fern.
"Here," said the girl. "Write your name on this."
Fern held the stick. It was taller than she was, and her motions were awkward, but she still wrote Fern in beautiful, curlicue letters.
"You have lovely handwriting!" exclaimed Rachel. "Your name is Fern? That is a beautiful name."
Fern smiled. She was proud of her name. Only five days earlier, Queen Clarion had told everyone her name. Fern had come with her name when she had arrived, and the queen had told her that whenever a fairy arrived, the queen heard a little whisper of the fairy's name.
"You can take off your heavy skirt too," Rachel said, interrupting Fern's thoughts.
Fern pulled off her skirt. It was turquoise and gold. Fern had sewed it herself. Underneath the skirt was her underwear, which was robin's egg blue.
Fern stretched her arms. Pain shot through one arm, the arm she had hit on the tree. Fern cried out.
"Are you all right?" Rachel asked, hearing the outburst of jingles.
Fern shook her head. Her arm was throbbing now.
Rachel touched Fern's arm. She screamed, and Rachel pulled the sleeve down. A big purple and black bruise was on Fern's arm. If it hadn't hurt so much, Fern would have admired the color.
"Oh, poor fairy!" Rachel said. She touched the bruise, and Fern jerked.
"Can you move your arm?" asked Rachel.
Fern tried to raise her arm, and a burst of pain shot through it. She shook her head and thought miserably of Elixia, a healing fairy. If Fern tried to fly back to Pixie Hollow now, she would surely be blown far away.
"Poor Fern," Rachel said. "Just try not to move that arm."
Fern gingerly put her jacket back on. Then she put the skirt on.
"I know a bit about hurt fairies," Rachel said. "First there was Mayah, when she broke her leg."
Fern was surprised. She had heard about Mayah from her friends. Every fairy knew about Mayah, who had flown away and lived on a deserted island for 70 years, then had come back to Pixie Hollow, only to move to the mainland and live with a human.
"Then there was that time when Mayah flew through the fence and sprained her ankle," continued Rachel, "and the time that I found Cinnamon with only one leg, and also when Mayah's wings tore off."
Fern gasped. She hadn't heard about Mayah's wings tearing off!
"Don't worry," said Rachel, seeing Fern's shocked face, "when my tear landed on Mayah's wings, they reattached."
Fern was amazed. She vaguely remembered a fairy telling her that the only known cures for a broken wing were lining it up with your twin's wings if you had a twin, or letting a human tear fall on your wing.
Fern was glad that Rachel had experience with hurt fairies. She hoped her arm would feel better soon.
"Would you like me to tell you who the fairies that live at my house are?" asked Rachel. When Fern nodded, Rachel went on. "There's Mayah, the garden fairy, Melon, the garden fairy, Tinkerberry, the tinker fairy, Sophie, the light fairy, Dewdrop, the water fairy, Cassy, the animal fairy, Breeze, the fast-flying fairy, Elsie, the frost fairy, Shimmer, the dust-keeper fairy, Moss, the scout fairy, and Cinnamon, the baking fairy."
Fern smiled. Now she knew that the scout fairy that had told her Rachel was harmless was Moss! Nyx, another scout, had told her about Moss and her twin, Shimmer.
"Fern, you can stay in here and rest," Rachel said. "I'm going to go out."
Fern smiled as she lay on Rachel's massive bed. Her blue eyes twinkled as she watched the friendly human go out of the room. Fern wondered if she wanted to stay at Rachel's house to live.