Magic Hearts Read online

All the fairies gasped. Berry’s hands flew to her mouth. Her not- so-sweet hearts had suddenly made Sun Dip very sour.

  Berry shuddered. She felt awful about lying to her friends. She didn’t know much about sour candy. She only knew that some was grown in Sour Orchard. While many fairies enjoyed the sweet-and-sour crops from the orchard at the far end of Sugar Valley, Berry did not. She preferred the sweet, fruity flavors of her own candy.

  “Are you okay?” Berry asked Dash. She went over to her and put her hand on her friend’s back. Dash’s silver wings fluttered and brushed Berry’s hand.

  “Yes,” Dash said. “I’m fine. I like those sour candies.” She licked her fingers.

  “Leave it to Dash to like just about any candy!” Cocoa said, giggling. “Even the most sour.”

  Dash shrugged her shoulders and looked over at Berry. “I just wasn’t expecting that from a candy you grew,” she said. “Those hearts looked so sweet and delicious.”

  Berry hung her head. “Well, I didn’t grow these,” she admitted, looking down at the ground. “I picked them from the bank of Chocolate River. They were beautiful—and heart-shaped.”

  “So you have no idea where these came from?” Melli asked. Her hand flew to her gaping mouth. “You don’t know what these candies are made of?”

  “And you didn’t even test them first?” Cocoa added, amazed. “What happens if the hearts are poisonous or something horrible!”

  “Cocoa!” Melli said. She never liked when her friends argued. She could tell that Cocoa’s comment was making Berry upset. She turned her attention to Dash. “She looks the same. Are you feeling okay?”

  “Stop looking at me like that!” Dash cried. “The hearts were good.” She reached out toward Berry’s basket.

  “Dash!” all the fairies said at the same time.

  Berry grabbed her basket away.

  “Cool down,” Dash said. She sat on the ground next to Raina.

  Suddenly Raina gasped. While her friends had been talking, she had been carefully reading the Fairy Code Book. “I knew those heart candies looked familiar,” she said. She pointed to a picture at the bottom of the page. “Look here,” she instructed.

  The fairy friends all leaned over the book. There was a picture of the heart candies. And next to the picture was a drawing of Lemona, a Sour Orchard Fairy.

  “Are they dangerous?” Cocoa asked.

  “Don’t be so dark,” Melli said. She kneeled down closer to the book.

  “Maybe they are magic because they simply appear when someone wishes for heart candies?” Berry said hopefully.

  “Or maybe the hearts will make me fly faster down the mountain on my sled!” Dash exclaimed. She flew up in the air and did a high dive back down to the ground. “Wouldn’t that be so mint?”

  Berry knew that speeding down the Frosted Mountain trails was one of Dash’s favorite things to do. Nothing would make her Mint Fairy friend happier than being the fastest fairy in the valley. She was already the smallest—and one of the fastest. While Dash flew in circles up in the air, Berry studied the Fairy Code Book. Her eyes grew wide as she read the rest of the information. She peered back up at Dash.

  Sweet syrup! she thought. What a sticky mess!

  Why hadn’t she tested the candies? How could she have been so lazy? One of the first rules of making candy was that every fairy had to know the source of the ingredients. Berry’s wings drooped lower to the ground as she read more about the magic hearts.

  Dash came down and stood next to Berry’s blanket. Berry wanted to tell her how sorry she was for what she had done. She had never meant to hurt Dash. She turned to her friend. But when Berry saw what was in front of her, she was speechless. Her mouth gaped open, and her eyes didn’t budge from the sight in front of her.

  “Why is everyone looking at me like that?” Dash asked. She saw the worried expressions on the faces in front of her.

  The Fairy Code Book had used the words “might happen” to describe the effects of the candy. But something was definitely happening to Dash!

  Dash’s skin was bright yellow!

  Oh, Dash!” Berry cried out. She couldn’t bear to see her friend a bright yellow color!

  It was not often that fairies changed colors. Berry could think of one other time that had happened. A few years ago many of the fairies got the sugar flu. The virus was awful. Fairies couldn’t fly or make any candy, and several fairies turned scarlet from the high fever. Princess Lolli set up stations in the castle for the sick fairies. Luckily, Berry, Melli, and Cocoa hadn’t gotten the flu. But Dash and Raina had. Berry sighed. At least they were able to take medicine and get better. There were no viruses or germs to blame here.

  This was all Berry’s fault.

  No one said anything. Dash fluttered her wings.

  “Why is everyone staring at me?” she snapped.

  “Well, she’s certainly acting like the same old Dash,” Cocoa said, watching the Mint Fairy.

  “She doesn’t look affected at all,” Melli added. She shook her head in disbelief. “Except for the fact that she is now yellow.”

  “Yellow?” Dash screeched. “I’m yellow? As in lemon frosting and lemon drops?” She looked down at her body and screamed.

  Berry reached into her bag and gave Dash a small compact mirror. “Lemon yellow,” Berry said sadly. “Take a look in the mirror. You’ll see the color is all over your face.”

  Dash opened the candy-jeweled case and peered into the mirror. “A yellow Mint Fairy?” she cried. She snapped the mirror shut. Panicked, Dash grabbed Raina’s hand. “Please tell me this will go away.” When there was no reply from Raina, Dash took a deep breath. “Well, is there any medicine I can take? There must be something to make this go away, right?” She examined her yellow arms and hands.

  Raina flipped through some more pages of the Fairy Code Book. “I can’t find anything more here in the book,” she said. “It’s odd. The book only mentions a slight change of coloring. I wonder why the bright yellow?”

  “If Raina doesn’t know the answer, this must be bad,” Cocoa whispered to Melli.

  “There is no medicine for magic spells,” Melli said. “Oh, Dash . . .”

  “Melli is right,” Raina added. “We’ll need to figure out the magic before you can get better.”

  “Why yellow?” Dash balked. “Blech!”

  “There’s only one way to fix this,” Berry said. She stood up. “I have to go ask Lemona about her candy. If she’s the fairy who made the candy, she’ll know the answer to this riddle.”

  “What?” Dash said. “You, Berry the sweet and beautiful Fruit Fairy, want to venture into Sour Orchard?”

  Dash might have been mocking Berry, but there was truth to what she was saying. Berry enjoyed fine fashions and sparkly accessories and was not one for flying out of her comfortable sweet spots.

  “What if Lemona is as sour as her candy?” Melli asked.

  “Oh, how awful,” Cocoa said. “Do you think she could be like Mogu?”

  “Mogu is a salty old troll who lives in Black Licorice Swamp,” Raina said, shaking her head. “Lemona is one of us, a Candy Fairy.”

  “A Candy Fairy who lives in Sour Orchard,” Melli mumbled.

  Dash flew around in circles. “This color can’t last, can it?” she asked. When no one answered, Dash landed and hung her head. “Holy pepper mint,” she whispered. “I’ll be the joke of Sugar Valley.”

  Berry took Dash’s hand. “Don’t get upset, Dash,” she said. “I am going to find a way to help you. I promise.”

  “You’d really go to Sour Orchard for me?” Dash asked. She peered up at Berry.

  “I should never have neglected my candy duties,” Berry admitted. She folded her knees up to her chest. “If I hadn’t been so concerned about making a new dress, then I would have made time to grow my own candy hearts for Heart Day.” She gazed at Dash. “And I should have told the truth about those heart candies. Will you forgive me?”

  “I’m not mad,”
Dash said. “I understand.” She stuck her hand in her backpack. “Here, take these peppermint candies. It’s getting dark and you might need light in Sour Orchard.”

  “Thank you,” Berry told her. Dash might have been small, but she had the biggest heart of all. “I am truly sorry.”

  Suddenly Raina shot up from her spot on the blanket. “Oh, I found something more here,” she said. She pointed to a section in the Fairy Code Book.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been so grateful for that book,” Dash said. She moved closer to Raina.

  “When visiting Sour Orchard,” Raina began to read, “you should bring a gift to a Sour Orchard Fairy. Sour Orchard Fairies are fond of fresh fruit blossoms.”

  Berry smiled. “I know where to get some fresh and delicious orange blossoms!”

  Even though it was winter in Sugar Valley, the orange trees were blossoming. The magic orange trees produced tangy and sweet candy fruit all year. Fruit Fairies took the oranges and dipped the slices into chocolate or made sweet fruit nectar for candies throughout the valley. Just that morning Berry had flown by the orange trees along the edge of Fruit Chew Meadow. Their sweet citrus smell always made her smile. It seemed even Sour Orchard Fairies enjoyed the fresh scents and tastes of the blossoms.

  “Going to Sour Orchard with something to make Lemona happy will make the journey easier,” Berry said.

  “I’ll go with you,” Raina told her.

  “You will?” Berry asked. “I thought you were angry at me.”

  Raina closed her book and slipped it back into her backpack. “I can see you are very sorry,” she said. “And I don’t want you to go by yourself. It’s always better to fly with a friend.”

  Feeling overwhelmed, Berry reached out to hug her friend. “You are a good friend, Raina. Thank you.”

  “Melli and I will stay with Dash,” Cocoa said. “I have some chocolate dots here that should keep her happy for a while.”

  “Thanks,” Dash said. “But I don’t really feel like eating right now.”

  Hearing Dash refuse candy made Berry move a little faster. Dash never declined a piece of candy!

  “We’ll go now,” Berry told her. “We’ll be back before bedtime. I promise you won’t go to sleep a yellow Mint Fairy.” She gave Dash a big hug and then waved to Melli and Cocoa. She was glad they’d be with Dash to look after her.

  Together, Berry and Raina flew off toward Fruit Chew Meadow to gather orange blossoms for Lemona. Berry hoped with all her heart that the meeting would go well—and that Lemona could help get Dash back to normal. Otherwise, Heart Day was not going to be a happy day.

  When Berry and Raina arrived at Fruit Chew Meadow, the sun had just slid to the other side of the Frosted Mountains. Berry flew over to the row of orange trees along the side of the meadow. The sweet citrus scent smelled delicious. Being in the meadow made Berry feel safe and relaxed. But she didn’t have time to rest! If they wanted to talk to Lemona before the evening stars came out, she and Raina would have to hurry.

  “How can anyone be mean and like orange blossoms?” Berry asked Raina. She put her nose close to the beautiful orange flower.

  “Mmmm,” Raina said. She flew over to Berry and smelled the flower candy. “I know what you mean. Sure as sugar, these do smell sweet.” She thought for a moment and then looked up at Berry. “Maybe Sour Orchard Fairies aren’t as sour as their candy. You know in the Fairy Code Book there is no mention of what the Sour Orchard Fairies are like—just the kind of candy they grow.”

  Berry raised her eyebrows. “Have you ever met a Sour Orchard Fairy?” she asked Raina.

  “No,” Raina said slowly. “I’ve only seen one once, at Candy Castle last year at Candy Fair. She had green wings and a light green dress. I think she brought sour apple suckers to the castle.”

  Berry nodded. She remembered the fair last year, when all the fairies in the valley came to the summer celebration in the Royal Gardens. There were a few Sour Orchard Fairies there, but Berry hadn’t talked to them. “They always look so . . .” She searched for the right word.

  “Sour?” Raina asked, giggling. “I guess we don’t really know, if we’ve never spoken to them.” She helped Berry pick a few more blossoms from the tree. “Maybe we’ll find out that Lemona is really a sweet fairy.”

  Berry put a bunch of the fragrant blossoms in her basket. “Or maybe the Fairy Code Book suggests taking the blossoms to make sure the fairies don’t get sour when a visitor comes.” Her wings shook as she imagined having to face a sour fairy.

  “Oh, Berry, your dress!” Raina cried.

  Looking down, Berry saw orange stains on her new dress. “Oh, it’s just as well,” she said. “This dress wasn’t really working for me anyway.”

  “Wait, did you just hear something rustling over there?” Raina asked, pointing to the ground. She squinted in the dark. “I don’t like being here after Sun Dip.”

  “That must have been the wind,” Berry told her. She flew down to the ground and looked around the trunk of the tree. “No one’s here.”

  “Then where is that light coming from?” Raina asked, quivering. There was an eerie green glow getting closer and closer to the orange tree.

  Berry turned around. Out of the darkness a fairy appeared.

  “Aaaaah!” Berry and Raina screamed. “Sorry,” Fruli answered. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” She pointed her glowing peppermint candy at the ground. “I didn’t think anyone would be here now,” she said very softly.

  Raina gasped. “Oh, Fruli!” she exclaimed. “You scared the sugar out of me!” Her hand flew to her chest. Her heart was beating so fast she could hardly breathe. “What are you doing here?”

  Fruli’s wings began to beat even faster. “I . . . I . . . I like to come here when the day is over and smell the orange blossoms. The sweet smell helps me to sleep. There are orange trees like this on Meringue Island, and the smell reminds me of home.”

  Berry was trying to get Raina’s attention. She didn’t want her mentioning to Fruli what they were doing. All Berry needed was for Fruli to know that she had picked sour wild cherry hearts—and given them to one of her best friends. Worse yet, she couldn’t let her know that Dash was yellow because of her!

  “We have to get going,” Berry said quickly. She grabbed a shawl from her bag and covered her stained dress. Then she pulled on Raina’s hand and took her to the other side of the meadow.

  “Berry!” Raina cried. “We didn’t even say good-bye. Why are you acting so rude?”

  “Did you forget about Dash? She’s yellow! I’m just trying to get to Lemona as soon as possible,” Berry explained.

  “Fruli seems so nice,” Raina said, shaking her head. “You could have at least asked her what she did for Sun Dip. Maybe she’d want to hang out with us. She seemed homesick.”

  “She’s too fancy. She wouldn’t want to hang out with us,” Berry said. “Did you see her dress?” She sighed wistfully. “She has the most glamorous clothes. She’d never want to have Sun Dip with us. She’d want to be up at the castle or with the older Fruit Fairies.”

  Raina eyed her friend. “Maybe, but maybe not. Have you ever asked her?”

  “Why are you on her side?” Berry snapped.

  “I’m not,” Raina said. “I just think you could have been a little sweeter to Fruli.”

  Berry huffed and rolled her eyes. “Raina, she’s not some lost gummy cub.” She packed up the orange blossoms and looked up at Raina. “What? I’m just saying that she’s fine and we’re late. Come on!”

  Raina shook her head. When Berry had a mission, she was focused. She knew her Fruit Fairy friend could be stubborn. She was all juiced up. “Let’s get going,” Raina said. “I think we have enough orange blossoms for Lemona now.”

  Taking flight, Berry soared through the air. She had never ventured past Chocolate River to Sour Orchard. Being there at night made things seem even spookier. She hoped with all her heart that Lemona would tell them how they could help Dash. As Berry glid
ed over the valley with Raina, she held tightly to her basket of orange blossoms. If the sweet smell didn’t sway the sour fairy, she hoped she and Raina could. She just had to have the answer that would help Dash. Berry’s heart was breaking just thinking about Dash’s being yellow. This plan had to work!

  Sour Orchard was bursting with lemon, lime, cherry, apple, and orange trees. But these trees were different from the ones Berry and Raina were used to seeing in Fruit Chew Meadow and Gummy Forest. These trees grew in the tangy sugar crystals of Sour Orchard. Thick tree trunks held up heavy branches filled with sweet and sour fruits.

  Berry peered down at the orchard. “I wish it wasn’t so dark,” she said.

  “I know,” Raina said. “It’s a little spooky here. But at least there’s some moonlight.”

  “Let’s fly lower so we can see better,” Berry called. The orchard was much larger than Berry thought it would be. Even in the dim light, she could see that there were several rows of trees.

  As she flew Berry looked at all the fruits on the trees. The thought of eating those sour candies made her mouth water. There were trees dripping with bunches of sour candy suckers and fruits.

  Berry knew Fruit Chew Meadow so well that even in the dark she could find her way, but this place was different. The trees looked different and the smells were not the same.

  “Thanks for coming with me,” Berry whispered to Raina. She grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry I snapped at you before.”

  “It’s okay,” Raina said. “Besides, I wouldn’t have let you come alone.”

  “You are a good friend,” Berry told her. She squeezed her friend’s hand tighter.

  Berry spotted a familiar vine growing on a tree deep in the orchard. She pulled Raina along as she swooped down to look.

  “Raina!” she exclaimed. “This is the same vine that was growing by Chocolate River! This is the magic heart vine!”

  Berry landed next to the vine, and Raina followed. “Sure as sugar!” she said. “I knew those candies were magic hearts.” She looked around. “Lemona must live somewhere around here.”