Rani paused at the metal door to Tinker Bell's workshop, and bit her lip. Rani could hear her friend hammering away inside the teapot. Tink was always busy.
Tink was a pots-and-pans faerie. She could fix ladles that leaked, pots that never boiled, or colanders that refused to let water run through their holes.
Rani walked into the workshop. "Hello, Tink," she said.
With a groan, Tinker Bell looked up from the golden pot she'd been hammering. Sweat dripped down her cheeks as her scowl deepened. "Rani." She put down her hammer. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you—"
"—making the fountain?" Rani interrupted faeries often. "Because—" Rani stopped. She burst into tears.
Tink backed away. "I have a lot of work to do." She stared at the long red scars on Rani's back where her wings used to be. Rani was a wingless fairy. She'd cut off her wings to save a bird named Mother Dove. That made her the only faerie who couldn't fly. As a reward, a bird named Brother Dove helped her when she needed to get places.
Rani was also the only fairy in Pixie Hollow who could swim. Faerie wings became heavy when they were wet, and started to decay. They could get holes or tear apart. That was why faeries never swam—at the least, they'd get dragged under water.
Rani pulled out a damp leaf, and blew her nose. Another muddy freshwater tear trickled down her face. "Tonight the faerie's are going to trade with the gremlins in their markets," she began.
Tink threw a handful of green leaves at Rani. She always kept some handy in case water faeries came to visit. She had a sign forbidding them, but Rani never noticed it.
"I know, I can't wait," Tink said. "Maybe you should go prepare for it."
The trading was the reason Tink had been working so hard to fix the golden pot. The cooking faeries needed it right away. The pot had recently decided to serve only stack after stack of cakes, no matter what the cook was trying to make. But the cooking faeries couldn't serve cakes to gremlins who craved meat and blood over bread and sugar. Tink beat the pot with her tinker's hammer, but the dent remained.
Trading with gremlins was done every time the moon was full, when it was at its fattest, brightest, and merriest. All the fairies worked together with their talents to make the trading go as smoothly as possible. The light faeries tied dried worms from branches of the Home Tree, and lit them on fire. They also set fireflies loose over the clearing to shed light over the creatures trading. The baking faeries made sure to bring stacks of fish and rat meat in bark wheelbarrows to keep the gremlins from thirsting for faerie blood. They made mushroom sandwiches and acorn caps of pumpkin soup laced with poison. It was meant to muddle the gremlins' minds, the better to take advantage of them in their dealings.
Most importantly, the water fairies made a fountain at the center of the clearing that all the faeries danced around to distract the gremlins, and hypnotize them into believing their every word with faerie-dancing.
Rani burst into tears again. She took a deep breath. "I always make the large waterfall that flows from the top of the fountain," she explained.
"Yes, you make the biggest waterfall in all of Pixie Hollow," Tink said, wiping a puddle of tears. She glanced at the door, bouncing her hammer in her palm. "I'm very busy. Maybe you ought to get it started." She gave Rani a glare that would have scared a more self aware fairy. Tink was a known killer, at least, she'd attempted murder humans in the past.
"The other water faeries think Humidia should do it." Tears filled Rani's eyes and her nose ran. "Because I can't fly. They said Brother Dove's flapping wings would mess up the waterfall when I try to make it at the top of the fountain. They said his wings would destroy the whole fountain if we went too close, and break the spell that keeps the gremlins happy with us."
Tink tugged her bangs.
"It's terrible," Rani gasped, shaking her head. "I'm a water faerie, and I'm not allowed to help with the water fountain!"
She squeezed her leaf, dripping water onto the floor. She dabbed at her overflowing eyes. Water faeries were as full of liquid as a ripe, juicy berry, so they perspired, cried, and bled more than other faeries.
"Why don't you go anyway, and see if anything needs to be done." Tink gestured to the open doorway. "And close the door on your way out."
Rani leaped out of the kitchen onto the back of Brother Dove, and flew away. The door slammed behind her.
RANI STOOD AT The edge of a trading post, and sighed. It was a long table heaped with food. On it were the poisonous mushroom sandwiches and bowls of pumpkin soup. Faeries had polished and shined forks, spoons, and knives with needle sharp points. Rani carelessly swung one like a sword. It almost tore a wing, and she quickly put it back.
"Moon and stars! The fountain looks beautiful," said the wing's owner.
It was Fira. Her eyes had fire in them. Fira, also known as Moth, was a light faerie. She glowed more brightly than a normal one. Touching her would burn the skin off anyone's fingers, unless they were a water faerie, in which case Fira would get life-threatening blisters. The tips of her black hair shot sparks.
Fira looked intently at the fountain. "I wish I could find a way to light it up," she said. "Whenever I try to get a flame near the water, it—"
"—goes out," Rani interrupted.
"It still looks very good," Fira nodded her head to the waterfall.
Rani sighed. "I didn't create the waterfall this time. I can't fly, so Humidia took my job."
Fira stared at her. Rani turned away as tears prickled her eyes.
"Try not to worry," Fira said, more from the terror of Rani's large wet tears than sympathy. "You could use your talent to help create some leaf boats. They would help with transporting goods."
Rani looked into Fira's burning eyes, and gave a watery smile. "Thanks, Moth," she said. "I'll see you tonight."
"DOWN THERE, BROTHER Dove!" Rani ordered. She leaned forward to peer over Brother Dove's neck as he swooped toward the traders.
The light faeries lit their torches of dried worms and insects. These—along with the fireflies—sent light through the clearing. The faerie fountain flowed at the center. It rose as high as the trunk of a sycamore that stood nearby. The music faeries used pine needles as bows to play their fiddles.
Brother Dove started toward a spot just under the trees where several branches met. Stars shone in the gaps between the leaves. Faeries moved back and forth between tables. A fast-flying faerie named Vidia smiled as she traded a net full of eggshells for a deep red gemstone. The faerie dancing had, indeed, made the gremlins bad bargainers that night.
"Hurry!" Rani cried. "The gremlins already arrived!"
There were three stands in the market. All of them circled around the faerie fountain. The inner circle was the smallest and always sold bright red poison berries. The young and foolish faeries dared each other to taste the beautiful specimens. Then there was a middle circle. That was for the wiser faeries who wanted fruits that were useful for potions. The outer circle was the largest. It had odds and ends the gremlins had stolen from human villages, such as doorknobs, wind catchers, old toys, and the bones and teeth of beloved pets.
Gremlins cartwheeled around the faeries, rolling and spinning. They didn't like to stay still. It was hard to catch and deal with them, even when they were in their most agreeable moods.
Rani loved giving the gremlins a good kick when they rolled in front of her like speeding balls. A fairy had to fly quickly to keep up with a gremlin and make a deal with it. Since Rani didn't have wings, she easily lost out on deals for the items she desired. This time, however, she'd be on Brother Dove's back.
Brother Dove flew toward the outer circle of the markets. Luckily, there was no breeze that night. A gust of wind could make maneuvering him tricky. Even with the good weather, Brother Dove kept scaring away the gremlins before Rani had a chance to open her mouth to make an offer.
"Whoa!" Rani cried. She held tightly to the soft, downy feathers at Brother Dove's neck as he did a little flip to avoid a leaping gremlin. "Over there!" Rani pointed to the far side of the outer circle. Tink was on her way to trade one of her pans for a beautiful blue berry that Rani thought she could out-bargain her for. She clutched her bag of frog eggs that were so tasty to gremlin tongues.
Rani stood up as Brother Dove flapped toward Tink. Rani put out her hands to shove her out of the way. She shouted orders in Brother Dove's ear. "Just give a light little leap, then twist to your right—"
Rani's foot slipped from Brother Dove's back. She plunged through the wind.
The grass from the clearing rushed to meet her. A scream was ripped from Rani's throat. There was a snap and a yank as her arm caught a stick, and was pulled from its socket.
The faeries around Rani ignored her, except Tink, Vidia and Fira who watched as Brother Dove, trying to save Rani, flew at her, and pushed her into the fountain. It collapsed.