“Guess what? I have an idea for an animal we could make together,” Cressida said.
“What is it?” Breeze asked, her eyes lighting up.
“It’s a surprise,” Cressida said, winking. “But if you make eight snakes, I’ll make the rest.”
As Breeze got to work rolling clumps of petals, Cressida used her hands to sculpt an elongated ball with eyes and a mouth. Then she attached Breeze’s snakes to the ball.
“An octopus!” Breeze exclaimed. “What a great idea!”
Cressida giggled and threw the octopus into the air. It glided above them, waving its tentacles as though it were underwater. And then it fell apart.
Just as Cressida was about to suggest they make a giant spider together in the same way, Breeze sighed and said, “This has been so much fun, but I think we’d better stop and tidy up. I want to make sure there’s time to show you one more thing before we check on the kites.”
“Of course,” Cressida said, feeling both disappointed to leave and curious about what else Breeze wanted to show her. “How can I help tidy up?”
“Thanks so much for offering,” Breeze said, “but I always just use magic to clean up the petals. Watch this!” She pointed her horn toward the sky. The aquamarine on her ribbon shimmered as glittery light shot from her horn. A gust of blue wind swirled around Cressida and Breeze. And the petals lifted into the air and returned to their stems, re-forming into the ball-shaped flowers Cressida had seen when they first arrived at the meadow. A gentle breeze riffled through the flowers, and once again they brushed against her knees and the bottom of her cape.
“Wow! That’s the quickest cleaning job I’ve ever seen,” Cressida said, wishing she could use magic to clean her room.
Breeze kneeled down. “Climb on up,” she said. “Our next stop is the Meadow of Melodies.”
With Cressida on her back, Breeze trotted under a canopy of green leafy elms and into another meadow, this one dotted with trees and shrubs. A gentle breeze blew, and Cressida heard faint, high-pitched music that reminded her of the sound her key to the Rainbow Realm made when the unicorns invited her to visit. Cressida looked at the trees and shrubs more carefully and saw that wind chimes hung from nearly every branch. Some were metal and some were wood. The large wind chimes played lower notes, while the small ones played high-pitched music.
Breeze kneeled, and Cressida slid to the ground.
“What song would you like to hear?” Breeze asked, grinning excitedly.
“Hmm,” Cressida said, trying to think of a song Breeze might know.
But before she could answer, Breeze said, “How about ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’?”
Cressida smiled. When she was younger, that had been one of her favorite songs. “Sure!” she said.
“I have to admit, it’s my favorite song,” Breeze said, blushing. Then she pointed her horn to the sky. Her aquamarine shimmered. Glittery light shot from her horn, and a star-shaped gust of blue wind appeared, this one smaller and gentler than the one that had appeared in the Meadow of Metamorflowers. The gust danced through the trees and shrubs, and as the branches swayed, Cressida heard the most beautiful rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” she could have imagined. No wonder it was Breeze’s favorite song, she thought. Cressida smiled with delight as the wind chimes played the song over and over, each time a little more faintly, as the gust lost its strength.
“That’s really neat,” Cressida said.
“I know!” Breeze said. “And now, I think we’d really better go make sure the kites are ready. When I fed them breakfast this morning, they promised they would be all lined up by now. But sometimes they get distracted by an especially good gust of wind, and they’re late.”
“Wait a minute,” Cressida said, smiling with delight. “The kites are alive?” She wasn’t sure why she was so surprised. After all, on other visits to the Rainbow Realm, she had met boulders and dunes that talked. And yet, the idea of a talking, laughing, live kite especially delighted her.
“Of course they’re alive,” said Breeze. “And not only are they alive, but they’re a little bit mischievous and wild. They love to fly upside down and in circles in the air. That’s why Moon fell off during last year’s Blast. Her kite, Kevin, was in an especially rambunctious mood, and he tried to fly too fast.” Cressida nodded. Worry flashed across Breeze’s face. “I sure do hope Flash has convinced Moon to participate in the Blast by now. Anyway,” the unicorn said, her face brightening, “come this way! The kites always line up in the Monarch Meadow.”
“The Monarch Meadow?” Cressida asked as they walked along a row of windmills. “Like the butterfly?” In school, they had learned the names of different butterflies, including monarchs, which were orange with black markings.
“Exactly!” Breeze said, looking impressed.
Cressida followed Breeze down a hill, through a cluster of willow trees, and into a meadow teeming with wildflowers and orange-and-black butterflies. In the middle of all the butterflies and wildflowers were eight of the biggest, bluest kites she had ever seen. And on top of each one slept a silver, furry animal that was twice the size of a unicorn. Each animal had shiny, folded wings and large, round ears.
“What are those?” Breeze asked, furrowing her brow.
“Are they giant flying mice?” Cressida asked, walking toward one. When she looked more closely, she saw two sharp teeth poking out from the animal’s mouth. “I think they’re huge bats,” Cressida said. She remembered that Corey had told her that very morning that bats sleep all day and search for food at night. “They must be sleeping because it’s daytime.”
“Huge bats?” Breeze said, looking panicked. “Where did those come from?”
But before Cressida could suggest that one of Ernest’s accidental spells might be to blame, a kite called out, “Is that you, Princess Breeze?”
Another
