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Chapter Ten

Gwendolyn

Two Months Before Present Day

A bright, golden light woke me. I blinked and saw light orbs buzzing around me. I was dreaming; I had to be. I swatted at the light and covered my face with a pillow. Then, there was a tinkling of bells, and I froze. Fully awake, my heart heaved in my chest.

There is no way there are pixies in my room. My imagination was far too vivid. Peter said that talking about pixies would not summon them—because they were extinct. It was a foolish notion to think they were in my room.

I uncovered my eyes and sat up in shock, seeing the most beautiful and magical scene before me, but I was no longer at Darling Manor. I was in a foreign, tropical jungle.

No, no, no. This cannot be real.

I stood up. Certainly, I would realize I was still in my bed in my home, right? It was just a nightmare.

“Mother! Mother!” The pixies chimed and rang like bells as they chanted and swarmed around me, forcing me to remain standing.

Please wake up. This is horrid.

“I am not a ‘mother;’ I am a lady,” I said, trying to be forceful.

“Your children!” they chanted, pushing me from behind.

It was real. But how in all of Terra could it have been real. How was I taken from my home without knowing I’d been taken?

How? Magic. Magic, that’s how. It was magic that sent them to me and brought me to that place .

Peter! I told him that speaking of pixies could bring them to us–to me.

The orbs shoved me around until I was facing a turquoise, starlit lagoon. There seemed to be reflections of stars down in the water, but as I was shoved closer to it, I realized that there were, actually, glowing rocks on the lagoon’s floor.

How is this possible?

Everything around me was framed in lush foliage.

Green tropical plants and beautiful pink flowers dotted the scene.

A grand waterfall thundered loudly in the background, causing a mist to hover over the lagoon, making it appear otherworldly.

The pixies continued to push me toward the falls, where I saw a path.

As I was pushed behind the falling water, we entered a deep, bright cave, filled with golden gems, sparkling with the same light that engulfed the many pixies surrounding them.

I watched the thumb sized human-looking creatures with wings as they worked, moving and storing those gems. Some of them were grinding them down into a fine, glittery powder.

“What, in all the Ancient Lands, is this?” I whispered as they forced me on through the cave.

So many pixies, so many gemstones. The cave’s walls were covered with the sparkling gemstones, all gleaming in a warm, yellow hue.

Many of the gems were still deep inside the walls.

Pixies buzzed around them, working, not only to free them from the wall, but also to carry them into the many piles scattered all around the edges of the cavern.

As we moved deeper into the cave, I saw many more pixies shaving the gems down into nothing but dust, dust that they piled high in recesses and corners, and it gleamed–a wonderful sight to behold.

Once we reached the other end of the cave, there was another opening, which led into a jungle.

They kept me moving, forcing me down a path that wove through the palm trees and the blossoming flowers of pink and yellow mixed with the green undergrowth.

We finally left the thick of the jungle, entering a tiny, rather run-down-looking village. There were small crudely constructed shelters there, made from large sticks and palm fronds, nothing that any human should ever have to live within.

“Mother! Mother! Mother is here!” the pixies chimed, pulling the tent flaps open. Hopeful eyes poked out, and small, filthy bodies with tattered clothes crept into view.

I gasped. There were over two dozen children there.

One of them with bright blue eyes looked up at me with a smile; then another without many teeth did the same.

“Are you our mother, Lady Darling?” a young boy asked me, his eyes full of excitement. I’d seen those gray eyes before.

I gasped.

I knew him; I knew them—well, some of them. Those were the stolen children from the orphanages in Walden.

Pixies had taken them?

I looked around at the pixies and the many children and stood there, frozen and in disbelief.

What in all Terra are these pixies doing?

Then, a group of pixies hovered in front of me, tossing one of my books onto the ground. Out of instinct and horror, I picked it up and dusted it off. I pulled my shoulders back, my timidity vanishing with the need to help those poor children.

“I am not your mother; however, do any of you like stories? Come, gather around me, and I shall tell you a tale.”

Present Day

I got ready for bed in my light blue nightgown and tied my hair in my blue ribbon at the nape of my neck. With slipper-clad feet, I walked to the window and cracked it open, letting in the cool night air, which I used to always love.

Until–the pixies.

I tried not to let the open window and sea breeze remind me of having been captured by the pixies. That was in the past.

They were not coming for me ever again . I shouldn’t let those pesky pixies take away my love of keeping my window open .

But the memory of having been pulled out of my bed, captured, and taken away to some strange island, filled with magical creatures was not something easily forgotten. Even so, many good things also came from that adventure.

It was like Peter had once said about diamonds. When pressed and pressed, that is when we see our real beauty .

I walked away from the window and over to my bed, pulling back the covers. Then, there was a light in the corner of my vision.

I paused.

It—no, there are no pixies here. Peter said they would never bother me again, and I believe him .

But I swear that I saw–

I closed my eyes and shook my head. I was just tired. I would sleep, and all would be better in the morning.