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What About Rosetta? - Chapter 7 - Rosetta's Last Plan
"So who's going to take the Pixie Hollow Games cup this year?" Lilac asked Fern, sitting across the dining table from her.
"Oh, storm-talents." Fern waved her fork. "They have it down to a system." she went back to her meal. "Have you heard? We actually have a volunteer for the garden-team this year."
"What?" Lilac's spoon stopped in mid-air. "Who?"
"It's Chloe." said Ivy, who was sitting next to Lilac. Fern nodded.
"Well, pluck my petals... Does she know what she's in for?" Lilac smiled conspiratorially.
"I tried to tell her," Fern shrugged "But she's taking it as some kind of personal challenge. You know how New Arrivals are. She's spending a lot of time digging through the rulebooks and Games archives. She even came up with her own victory slogan: Dig down deep, and break the streak!" The 3 fairies laughed.
"That's pretty good." smiled Ivy.
"Also," Fern's mood became more serious as she looked up from her plate, "Chloe needs a partner." Lilac cringed, and Ivy began to whimper, shaking her head "no". Fern realized she was asking too much of her friends, so changed her intent. "Know anyone who might do it?" Lilac relaxed, and reached over to pat Ivy's arm.
"Thistle might," suggested Ivy, "But she's working on the mainland."
"Everyone's done it at least once." added Lilac. "A lot of us more than once." They all went back to their suppers for a minute or 2.
Fern looked up and noticed Ivy not moving, but staring at the table. "Ivy?" she inquired.
"Everyone... except Rosetta." Ivy responded, "What about Rosetta?" Fern was struck by the thought.
"Oh, that would be cruel." grinned Lilac, " - to Chloe, I mean."
"The problem is that Rosetta is always too busy, or sometimes gets injured." said Ivy.
"Or she disappears. Something strange always happens around Rosetta when it's time to pick names for the garden-team." Lilac gazed at Fern. "Did you ever find out who dusted your basket with wilt-fungus?"
"No, I gave up looking. Has Rosetta ever been in the Games?" asked Fern.
"No, but she's always watching." answered Ivy.
"And laughing." added Lilac.
"Yeah, ...I remember." Fern recalled a bitter memory from a year ago.
"She brought you flowers and kept you company every day in the hospital." Ivy reminded her.
"Well, yeah. She did." Fern admitted. "But it's her turn." She had a look of determination.
"She may put up a fight, so how are you going to tell her?" Lilac was intrigued.
"I don't know. I'll try to think of something."
Fern was not the garden-fairy supervisor. She wasn't even the oldest garden-talent, but each talent guild needed someone who could organize, delegate, and motivate from time to time. After volunteering a few times, Fern had just grown into the role.
The Games were an especially busy time for Fern. She didn't enjoy selecting 2 garden-talents for their team, but no one would step forward. The garden-team always had bad luck in the Games, never making it past the first event. Worse than that, they bungled it spectacularly, often with injuries or indignities. Choosing a pair of fairies for the team was a thankless task, which is why Fern unintentionally put it off to the last day.
Lilac and Ivy had forgotten their conversation of a couple days ago, but Fern had been thinking. "Lilac is right." she reasoned, "Something strange always happens at team selection time. I can't count how many times I've had trouble with my basket. Maybe that's the key." Fern knew Rosetta had a weakness: Group peer pressure. "Rosetta will have to be in front of all the garden-talents when I confront her."
It was the morning before the Games opening when Fern swept into the stadium with her basket. She made sure to fly past Rosetta, but didn't take notice of her. She felt Rosetta watching, though. Fern landed near some storage bins and set her basket on top of one. She stared in amazement for a few moments at Chloe trying heroically to pick up a rock three times her weight. Chloe eventually got the rock onto her back with some help, and began jogging around the stadium with it. Fern shook her head, and fluttered away to chat with some tinker-talents.
Rosetta couldn't believe her luck. Fern had actually left The Basket unattended! Rosetta had been so busy this year, she'd had no time to work up a plan. She was resigned to "Plan B": The probability that her name would not be picked. But this was much better. She flitted over to the large storage bins and lifted the covers, as if searching for something. When she reached the bin with The Basket on top, she peeked into the basket. Sure enough, it was about one quarter full of flower petals with names written on them.
Rosetta put a finger into the basket and flicked some petals. More names. She stirred the names... Yasmin, Olwen, Bluebell. She smiled when she spotted Ivy's name - Ivy would probably drop into a coma if her name was picked. "Oh! Good idea." Rosetta thought, "Must try that some time." She stirred with 4 fingers now, scanning the petals, then froze. Now there was a name she recognized.
Rosetta looked around the stadium quickly, to be sure no one was watching, then plucked the name out of the basket and slid it into a pocket. "Okay, back to work." she thought. "The sweeping-talents said something about needing temporary night-lights on the field." She flew off to enlist Iridessa's and Silvermist's help with a trio of fast-growing lilies.
"Where is Rosetta now?" asked Fern. Her back was to the field.
"Just flying away from your basket." answered Chipper, glancing over Fern's shoulder.
"Good." Fern nodded. As fairies don't have eyes in the back of their heads, Chipper was kind enough to keep a watch on Rosetta for her.
Fern continued chatting with Chipper, until they heard Rosetta shriek "DIRT!" They both turned to see what Rosetta was distressed about. After a few moments Fern decided this was a good time to get moving. She zipped to her basket on the storage bin. Sure that no one was watching, she dumped the basket contents into the bin, then pulled a single petal from her pocket and dropped it into her basket. "Showtime." she said quietly to herself, with a slight smile.
Fern jumped into the air, shouting "Gather 'round, garden-fairies!"
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Author's Post Note:
I wrestled with how to lay out this story. I thought at first of slicing up the last chapter and dropping it between the Rosetta segments, but that would be too messy, hopping back & forth in time. I settled on this series of short chapters to break up the sections.
I was looking for a story to put Fern, Lilac & Ivy into. They're such great characters. This is not a strong entry, but it'll do for now.