Chapter 4: Lost Things
Dusk soon arrived and Jay growled as he flew over the Pixie Vale and towards the beach, replaying in his mind the exchange with Morro. He hated how the wind fairy bragged about his 'rare talent'. He snorted in disgust at how Morro cruelly talked down to the ginger-haired boy. Trying to tell Jay that lightning fairies didn't matter to anyone. Jay couldn't wait to show that stuck up fairy what a rare talent really was when he went to the mainland.
He was suddenly broken out of his angry thoughts as a glint of light caught his eye.
It was coming through the trees below. Curious, Jay flew down to investigate and followed the glint to a sandy cove near where the ocean's waves lapped gently against the shore. He landed where he thought he had seen the glint and began digging with his hands. Before long, Jay had managed to uncover a slightly rusty, old silver coin. He turned the coin from side to side, watching as it caught and reflected the fading rays of the setting sun.
Despite the bits of rust, it sparkled so beautifully.
He started to wonder if there were more of these strange items and he began to dig again. He was overjoyed when the beach sand yielded treasure after treasure. First, he unearthed a huge brass screw and he spun it on his finger. Then Jay found an old spring, he loved the way he could push and pull it and then watch it snap back into its original shape. The most fascinating thing he found, however, was an eyeglass lens about the size of a fairy's window.
Jay put his hand behind it and watched the lens magnify and distort his fingers.
He laughed out loud and hurried to gather up all his treasures, piling them into a wobbly stack in his arms. Jay smiled happily as he looked over all these strange items he had found. He wasn't just a lightning fairy anymore, now he was a treasure finding fairy. Jay couldn't help but feel proud of himself. Here he was, a brand-new fairy to the Pixie Vale, and already he had discovered these amazing things. Jay wasn't sure just how he'd do it, but he knew that with these treasures, he would surely find a way to prove himself.
Then Morro would see just how important a lightning fairy could be...
Edna sighed as she focused on her project, trying to ignore how late it was getting. The workshop was mostly empty now, and Jay was still nowhere to be found. She hoped he hadn't gotten lost. She was about to go find him when Jay suddenly flew into the workshop with his armful of treasures.
"Hello dear, what you got there?" She asked.
"I don't know, I just found them." He shrugged as he plopped the treasures down on his worktable and Ed and Edna hurried to examine them.
"Lost things." Ed gasped.
"Lost things?" Jay frowned and she nodded.
"Yep, stuff gets lost and washes up here from time to time from the mainland."
"These things come from the mainland?" He gasped. "That place sounds more fascinating all the time." He smiled as he started to daydream about the mainland again. Before Ed or Edna could answer, Liberty came bustling by with her seed abacus and checklist, busily taking note of the items and supplies.
"Berry bushels, check, pollen pots, check, lost things, check." She muttered to herself as she absently glanced at Jay's worktable, only break off with a frown. "Lost things? Why are you fiddling with that junk?" She demanded and Jay shrank under her disapproving glare.
"Oh, um… Well, they were just so unusual." He gulped.
"You mustn't be wasting your time with that rubbish, and I won't have it cluttering up my workshop." She glared and shot a stern look at Ed and Edna. "As for you two, no more dilly-dallying around, and don't forget about the King's review tonight, there's still so much to be done!" She groaned and started to gather up the Lost Things and flew away with her arms full. Ed noticed Jay's disappointed look.
"Sorry about your trinkets, kiddo."
"Well, we'd best be getting ready for the review, anyway." Edna sighed and Jay lifted his head as they started to fly away.
"What is the King's review?" He asked and Edna rubbed her hands in anticipation.
"You see dear, the King is going to review all the preparations for spring!"
"It's a good time for us lightning fairies to show what we can do," Ed added with a smile, and Jay's spirits brightened considerably.
"Really?" He asked but Ed and Edna had already headed back to their worktables. Jay didn't mind, however. His mind was already racing ahead, making plans. This was his perfect chance and he dove into action. He gathered twigs, sap, walnut shells–even silk from a surprised but good-natured spider. Jay's moment was coming, and he had to be ready...
It was nearly the middle of the night, but Springtime Square was full of life. Fairies of every talent were feverishly working to make everything ready for the King's Review. All the fairies lined up dozens of buckets of fresh-squeezed flower paint and stacked bushels of seeds and nuts to be counted. A few dozen ladybugs were stood in rows. Some waited patiently for their black dots to be applied while others still needed their first coat of red.
Cole, Lloyd, Kai, and Nya were busy with their own tasks.
Ed and Edna hurried from group to group, lending a hand wherever they were needed. The Minister of Spring floated through the square, overseeing everything. His face was serious, but his clothes were joyous and colorful. He wore a long, blue robe and a garland of leaves held the minister's long hair off his high forehead as he bent over his leaf-scroll checklist.
"Splendid, splendid, stack those neatly, plenty of time before the King arrives to see." The Minister of Spring smiled with pride, only to freeze when he heard a tinkling sound.
"It's the King!" A fairy exclaimed, and the minister's eyes widened.
"What? Hee's here? Now?! Play, music fairies, play!" He cried in panic and a band of music fairies struck up a Celtic tune, signaling the others to line up along the pathway. The fairies hurried to take their places as King Wu came gliding in with the Ministers of Fall, Winter, and Summer behind him. The Minister of Spring bowed with great dignity.
"King Wu, your Illustriousness! As Minister of Spring, I welcome you to Springtime Square!"
"What? No fireworks, Minister?" The king smiled and the Minister of Spring looked panicked.
"Oh, well, yeah, that could be arranged; fire fairies! Fire fairies!" He ordered but the king just giggled.
"I'm teasing, you always make such a fuss, and everything always turns out wonderfully." He reassured and the Minister of Spring relaxed and laughed nervously.
"Well, I think you'll find that we have things well in hand." He chuckled and pointed at a large, closed white flower growing on an ornate platform. "When the Everblossom blooms, we'll be ready to bring spring to the mainland!"
"Music to my ears." King Wu smiled and turned to the crowd. "I know you've all put in months of practice and preparation, but keep up the good work these last few days, because just as fairies-
"King Wu!" A voice suddenly shouted and the king watched in surprise when Jay came hurtling along in his wagon. He pulled Cheese to a screeching halt, jumped out, and shouldered his way through the crowd to the front. The music squawked to a halt, and the crowd turned toward Jay, annoyed and surprised.
"Did I miss anything?" Jay asked with a happy smile on his face.
"No, no, no." The Minister of Spring glared.
"Phew! Good." He sighed in relief as he pretended to wipe his brow in relief. The Minister of Spring stepped forward to send Jay away, but King Wu put a hand on his shoulder. Jay motioned for the fairies in front of the wagon to make room and he lifted the leaf tarp that covered the back.
"What is all this?" King Wu asked.
"I came up with some fantastic things for lightning fairies to use when we go to the mainland!" He beamed and the king's eyebrows rose in surprise as some of the fairies in the crowd whispered while a few others glared.
"Jay-"
"Let me show you!" He suddenly said and held up her first invention. The contraption looked like a nutcracker made of sticks, rocks, and grass twine. "First, baby chipmunks can't eat the whole nut, right? Their little teeth can't chew big bites." He explained and placed a big nut in the contraption and began to crank. "So you just crank back this lever, and it's..." He grunted as he tried to get the contraption to work The rocks pressed on the shell from either side, tighter and tighter.
Instead of cracking, however, the nut shot out of the device and smacked a baby squirrel right in the nose.
The little woodland creature stood stock-still, shocked. Then his big, dark eyes welled up with tears and his furry little chin quivered. There was a terrible silence in Springtime Square until the squirrel let out a wail and ran off. All the fairies watched, horrified, as Jay did his best to smile.
"Whoops." He laughed nervously. "It's kind of a work in progress."
"Yes, yes, yes, very clever." The Minister of Spring replied, unamused. He snapped his fingers and the music resumed, but it was no use. Jay kept right on. He knew he could do this and his next invention was sure to go over better.
"I made this, too, it's a flower-sprayer." He smiled as King Wu held up his hand, trying to stop the young fairy.
"Jay, I-"
"Here, allow me to demonstrate." He insisted as he turned the wooden handle, only for the contraption to suddenly explode, covering the Minister of Spring with berry paint. "Sorry, but wait till you see this last one." He smiled and turned back to the wagon when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at the king. King Wu's eyes were understanding and full of sympathy, but his voice was firm.
"Jay, has no one explained?" He asked and Jay bit his lip. His heart pounded and he felt her throat tighten. He had a bad feeling that whatever King Wu was going to say wasn't something he wanted to hear.
"Explained what?"
"Lightning fairies don't go to the mainland." He replied and Jay felt his world shatter.
"W-What?"
"All of those things are done by the nature-talent fairies, your work is here in the Pixie Vale."
"But I thought that-"
"I'm so sorry, Jay." The king said and Jay desperately looked at the assembled fairies, hoping it was a sick joke they were all playing on the new guy. Some would not meet his eyes and others gazed at him sympathetically. It was then he knew it wasn't a joke. Only Morro seemed to be enjoying Jay's heartbreak. His face was twisted in a mean smirk. Jay didn't want to give him any satisfaction, however, and he tried to pull himself together.
"Oh, okay, no, that's good; I mean, I really couldn't make it anyway, so, this actually works out good." He rambled in embarrassment.
Not meeting anyone's gaze, he took the reins and began leading Cheese away, trying not to look at the crowd as it parted for him. The music fairies burst into feverish song, desperate to fill the unhappy silence. Kai and Cole hurried toward the wagon, with Ed and Edna running behind them. Lloyd and Nya flew along, too, but Jay turned away from them. He shook the reins to hurry Cheese, eager to disappear into the dark so that she could cry undisturbed...