Spring's Sparkle Sleepover

  This book is dedicated to Frances Hodgson Burnett.

  Thank you for filling our childhoods with feisty little heroines, fantastic frilly dresses, and the idea that a powerful friendship is all you need to overcome adversity and bring magic into your life. You inspired this book.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  A Note on the Authors

  By the Same Author

  Chapter 1

  Braiding colorful blooms into a unicorn’s mane was harder than Spring remembered. Spring wouldn’t give up, though. Dewdrop, her unicorn best friend, tried to help by not moving a muscle. He lay perfectly still in Magnolia Meadow as Spring twisted a blue morning glory around a geranium that naturally grew in his silvery mane. Spring had a tradition of weaving flowery crowns on the first day of spring for those she loved most. And since the first day of spring was tomorrow, she was determined to finish this braid, no matter how difficult it was!

  “Bluebells and blossoms!” she cried as her fingers tangled into yet another hopeless knot. “Dewy, I don’t know why I can’t do this today! It’s harder than getting a ladybug to change its spots to stripes!”

  Dewdrop neighed, but Spring could speak the language of all living creatures, so she heard him clear as a babbling brook. “Have you tried getting a ladybug to change its spots to stripes?”

  “No,” Spring admitted, “but sometimes I try to get my hair to change from blond waves to dark curls like Mother’s. I close my eyes and concentrate as hard as I can …”

  She did, then after a long moment she popped open her big violet eyes. “Did it work?”

  The bouncy locks under Spring’s headband were as blond as ever. “Sorry,” Dewdrop said.

  “That’s okay, I didn’t think it would. Besides, I like my hair. What was I talking about again?”

  “Braiding my crown,” Dewdrop reminded her.

  “Yes,” Spring remembered. “I can’t do it when my tummy’s churning like gravel rolling down a hill!”

  “Are you hungry?”

  “No,” Spring said, “it’s not that. It’s Winter’s Snowflake Slumber Party. It’s tonight.”

  “Why is a party churning your tummy?” Dewdrop asked. “Aren’t parties fun?”

  “Yes, but it’s a sleepover party,” Spring said.

  Every year, Winter threw the Snowflake Slumber Party to celebrate the last night of winter. This year’s party was special, though, because Winter, Summer, and Autumn all thought their little sister, Spring, was ready to join them and spend the night for the first time ever. Spring loved that they wanted her there, but she wasn’t sure she could spend a whole night away from home.

  “I’ve never slept anywhere but my own bed, Dewy,” Spring admitted. “I’m not sure I want to go.”

  “Then don’t,” Dewdrop declared. “Stay with me instead.”

  “But if I do that, my sisters will think I’m a baby!”

  “What’s wrong with being a baby?” Dewdrop asked. “I’m still a baby. I’m your little foal and I like to snuggle right in your lap!”

  The giant unicorn tried to curl onto her as if he were a tiny pup, and Spring squealed as she toppled over. She laughed out loud as Dewdrop’s mane tickled under her chin. It made her so giggly, she had to turn away.

  Spring gasped. “Dewdrop, look!”

  She was nose-to-bloom with a brand-new patch of beautiful blue and white flowers. “Snowdrops!” she gushed. “They only come out when winter turns to spring! Oh, Dewdrop, they’d be perfect braided into your mane, but my fingers are as flittery as a moth’s wings today.” She scrunched up her mouth, thinking, and then bounced to her feet as she cried, “I have a sparkle of an idea!”

  She pulled her scepter from the folds of her dress. Most of the time the glassy orb on top was a beautiful lavender, but today all but a small crescent glowed with a silvery mist. Tomorrow it would go all silver, signaling the time for the season-changing Sparkle Ceremony.

  “If my fingers won’t fly, I’ll use a little magic and braid your mane in a Dewdrop Snowdrop Swirl!” exclaimed Spring. “Sir Dewy, please rise and lean down your head.”

  The beautiful violet unicorn pushed himself up by his powerful legs and bowed low as Spring had requested. The Sparkle held her scepter close and chanted:

  Spring kissed the scepter’s orb, then flicked it toward the ground at Dewdrop’s feet. Violet sparkling light showered down on the snowdrop patch, which began to twinkle and shine. Spring had always been able to speak with all plants and creatures, but her true Sparkle Power was the ability to make living things grow. The snowdrops rose higher and higher, then wove themselves through Dewdrop’s mane. When the sparkles dissolved, Dewdrop’s head and neck glowed with a single, beautifully shimmering, snowdrop-swirled braid.

  “Roses and robins’ breasts! Dewdrop, you look positively radiant!” Spring exclaimed. “Trot over to Strawberry Creek to see your handsome reflection!”

  “With pleasure,” he said, and Spring laughed as Dewdrop high-kneed his way to the water. She was about to follow him when a giant sparkling rainbow soared down from the sky and streamed right in front of her.

  Spring’s sisters were coming to visit!

  Summer arrived first. She slid down the rainbow belly first, with her arms splayed like wings. Winter surfed down right behind her, curving elaborate zigzags across the bands of color. Autumn floated along last. She sat cross-legged, peacefully gliding down the arc as she waved to Spring.

  “Sparkles, I’m so happy you’re here!” The minute her sisters landed, Spring hurled herself into their arms for a big group hug. “I’m so excited that tomorrow is spring! Do you want to go see all the baby animals for tomorrow’s naming party?”

  That was another tradition. Every first day of spring, she and her sisters went to Goldenseal Grove and named every hatchling, fawn, cub, and any other newborn creature in Spring’s Sparkledom. The babies and their families were already gathering in anticipation, and Spring couldn’t wait to show her sisters the cuteness.

  “I’d love to see the baby animals.” Autumn sighed wistfully.

  “Got any jaguars?” Summer asked. Her best friend Shade was a gentle jaguar, and Summer got down on all fours to slink through the grass just like her pet.

  “Tomorrow we can see the animals,” Winter interrupted. “We’re here to fetch you for the super-spectacular event tonight.”

  Spring’s tummy started churning again. She’d been so excited by Dewdrop’s braid and her sisters’ visit, she’d forgotten all about tonight. “You mean the Snowflake Slumber Party?”

  “YES!” her sisters chorused.

  “And it’s going to be the best Snowflake Slumber Party ever!” Winter exclaimed. “We’ll make it the most exciting night of your life!”

  “As exciting as the time I climbed the highest green vine in my Sparkledom’s jungle in two minutes and twenty-six seconds flat!” Summer jumped in.

  “Or as exciting as the time I climbed the highest pine tree in my Sparkledom’s forest in two minutes and twenty-five seconds flat,” Winter countered.

  Summer’s eyes gleamed. “Or as exciting as the time I—”

  “How about it’ll be as exciting as all of that,” Autumn said, linking her arms through Summer’s and Winter’s, “but in a different way because it’s happening for Spring.”

  “I’ll buy that,” Winter said. “So what do you think, Spring? Are you as excited as a penguin belly
-sledding on a giant ice slide?”

  “Are you jumping out of your skin with anticipation?” Summer added.

  “Are you embracing this momentous occasion signifying your leap forward toward growing Sparklehood?” asked Autumn.

  Spring’s tummy hurt even worse and her mouth felt dry as a desert tortoise’s shell. More than ever, she knew she wasn’t ready for a sleepover, but how could she tell her sisters and let them down? She forced a big smile onto her face and cried, “It’ll be wintry and wondrous!”

  Chapter 2

  “So let’s go!” Winter crowed. “We’ll start your very first Snowflake Slumber Party right now!”

  “Right now?” Spring asked. “But it’s so early.”

  “The perfect time to snowshoe up to Hullabaloo Hot Springs!” Winter said. “We’ll take a dip, and then I’ll reveal the first in a whole night of surprises!”

  “That sounds … wonderful,” Spring said.

  It wasn’t a complete lie. Spring did love Hullabaloo Hot Springs. The springs were so cozy and foamy, like vanilla soda. But how could she go to Winter’s Sparkledom for the hot springs and not stay for the sleepover? Snowballs and sour grass!

  “You’re all packed, right, Spring?” Autumn asked.

  Spring was so grateful she nearly threw her arms around Autumn. It was the perfect excuse! “No!” she cried joyfully. “I’m not packed at all!”

  Realizing she sounded a little too happy about this, she cleared her throat and made her voice low and sad. “I mean, I’m not even close to packed. I can’t imagine how long it will take me. Maybe you should start the sleepover without me.”

  “Start without you?” Summer asked. “Your very first sleepover?”

  “Not a chance,” Winter agreed. “Packing for a sleepover is easy. You’ll take two seconds to toss everything you need in a bag, then we’ll be off!”

  Spring forced a smile. Winter made it sound simple, but Spring knew she could have all the time in the world and it still wouldn’t be enough. Not unless she could pack her own bed … and her castle … and maybe her entire Sparkledom.

  “I can’t wait to slide into the hot springs,” Autumn said. “I love the way the tiny bubbles tickle my skin.”

  “I like when the snow monkeys come to visit, and we feed them marshmallows from our mugs full of hot chocolate,” Summer added.

  “And then they dip their sweet potatoes in the hot springs to make them taste salty-good and get them clean!” Winter said.

  “Clean!” Spring cried happily as a new idea came to her. “Sparkles, I can’t go to a sleepover! I have too much spring-cleaning to do! My castle is a messy disaster!”

  “It can’t be that bad,” Winter said. “Just leave it and clean after the party.”

  “But I can’t!” Spring said. “Tomorrow’s the first day of spring and I’ll have too much to do! There’s the Ceremony, and the naming party … It’s the biggest day of the whole year in my Sparkledom, and I can’t possibly enjoy it if I know my home is as cluttered as a rabbit’s nest!”

  “Don’t you mean ‘rat’s nest’?” Summer asked.

  “Oh, no!” Spring assured her. “All the rats I know are very tidy. It’s the rabbits. They throw all their things everywhere.”

  “Then what they need,” Winter noted, “and what you need, is a home that magically cleans up after itself. Like mine.”

  That was the last thing Spring needed. She loved puttering through all her pretty belongings and playing with them as she put them in exactly the right spot. She had done that just yesterday and her castle was now as tidy as … well, a rat’s nest! She hated lying to her sisters, but she’d hate disappointing them even more. This was definitely the better choice.

  “Maybe so,” she said to Winter, “but I don’t have a home like yours, so I have to clean. And it’s sad because I really, really, really wanted to go to the sleepover. But you know how it is when you need to clean. You just gotta … clean!”

  “Spring,” Autumn said with a meaningful look. “I think I know what’s really going on.”

  Spring froze. She thought she’d been so convincing! She should have known Autumn would see right through her. “You do?” She gulped.

  “Of course,” Autumn said. “You need help cleaning. We’re happy to chip in.”

  “Absolutely,” Summer declared. “With all three of us it’ll take no time at all.”

  Winter pulled out her scepter and pointed it to the sky. “Last one to Spring’s castle’s a melted ice cap!”

  “WAIT!” screamed Spring. She needed to stall. If her sisters raced to the castle, they’d see it was perfectly clean and she’d fibbed. Sour grass and swallow-tailed kites!

  Swallow-tailed … kites! Spring had an idea!

  “Let’s go back to my castle a different way!” she cried. “Something fun! Watch!”

  Spring put two fingers in her mouth and blew a deafening whistle. A split second later, Dewdrop was at her side. His snowdrop-swirled mane still looked very fancy and he smelled like the blossoms. He and Spring nuzzled a moment, then she stepped back and pulled out her scepter.

  Violet sparkles flew out of Spring’s scepter to make a cloud around Dewdrop, the grass, and the closest trees. When the magic disappeared, Dewdrop was harnessed to a beautiful kite woven out of giant magnolia leaves and flowers.

  “Snow way!” exclaimed Winter.

  “A parakite!” cried Summer. “And it’s big enough for all four of us!”

  “All three of you,” corrected Spring. “I’ll ride on Dewdrop.”

  “Me too,” Autumn said queasily, “if that’s okay.”

  Dewdrop gave a delighted whinny. He had the magical ability to float on the breeze that swirled throughout Spring’s Sparkledom.

  “Of course!” Spring agreed. “And we’ll take the long way so we can all enjoy the ride!”

  And, she added to herself, so I’ll have time to figure out how to explain my perfectly tidy “mess” and still get out of going to the sleepover tonight.

  Bluebells and blossoms!

  Chapter 3

  “This is AMAZING!” hooted Winter. She and Summer soared in their parakite behind Dewdrop, who galloped on top of a sparkling wind.

  “Woohoooo!” cried Summer. “I’m higher than the highest mountain peak!”

  “Then I’m higher than the highest flying animal,” Winter shouted, “a bar-headed goose! Honk! Honk!”

  Even Autumn was enjoying the ride. She sighed as they flew over Rosy Valley, the heart of the realm. “I always knew your Sparkledom was beautiful, Spring,” she said, misty-eyed. “But from up here it’s breathtaking. Thank you.”

  Spring wanted to be happy she made her sister so emotional, but she couldn’t. The flight was only stalling the moment when her sisters saw her clean castle and realized she’d lied. Then she’d have to admit her even bigger lie and tell them she wasn’t ready for the Snowflake Slumber Party.

  Dewdrop banked across Glistlegloss Lake. From here Spring could see her pink Sparkle Castle, with its six orange-and-lavender towers that stretched to the sky like candles on a birthday cake. Normally the sight of it made Spring feel as safe as a tiny kitten curled up next to its mama, but now all she could think was how terrible it would be to sleep away from it tonight.

  Spiders and snapdragons! If only she’d come up with a better excuse so she could stay home! One that wasn’t a lie!

  “Oh!” Spring blurted.

  “Spring?” Autumn asked. “You okay?”

  “I’m … I’m absolutely wonderful!” Spring cried. The perfect solution had just popped into her head! She leaned close to Dewdrop’s ear and whinnied in his own language, “Dewy, take us to the Heart Garden, please.”

  Autumn laughed. “I love how you sound like a unicorn filly when you speak to him.”

  “You should hear what I sound like when I talk to snails,” giggled Spring.

  Dewdrop soared farther across Glistlegloss Lake, moving closer to the castle on its far shore. Fr
om up here, Spring could see all the streams that branched off its wide expanse, including one that led to Pink Dolphin Lagoon, where the Sparkles’ friend Sammy the sea monster lived. Another stream flowed to the grand river that twisted through each of the sisters’ Sparkledoms.

  As Dewdrop glided down toward the castle, every creature and plant raised its voice in welcome.

  “Hello!” chorused a patch of wildflowers.

  “Welcome home, Spring!” chittered a cluster of butterflies.

  “Hooray for Spring and her Sparkle Sisters!” rustled the clover grass.

  “Thank you, thank you!” Spring said, blowing kisses to all of them. “Autumn, everything is saying hello!”

  “Really?” Autumn asked, then waved and shouted, “Hello, everything!”

  Dewdrop touched down in the middle of a garden, in a heart-shaped courtyard, in the center of the castle. This was Spring’s Heart Garden and everywhere dozens of blue, yellow, and pink rosebushes were sculpted into perfect heart shapes. Each individual rose also grew naturally in the shape of a perfect valentine heart.

  “What a ride!” Summer cried as she and Winter shrugged off their magnolia kite.

  “Not too bumpy for you?” Winter chided her.

  “Not even a little!” Summer retorted. “Why, was it too bumpy for you?”

  “‘Course not,” Winter said. She playfully nudged Summer with her elbow.

  “It was a little bumpy for me,” Autumn admitted, “but it was a lot of fun.”

  Spring would have loved to chat along with her sisters, but she had a mission to accomplish. She pointed her scepter at a rosebush filled with sumptuous orange blossoms and chanted:

  Violet sparkles showered the rosebush, which began growing at an incredible speed. The roses wove into a chair of soft blooms and lifted her high into the air.

  “Spring!” Autumn cried. “Where are you going?”

  “I want to get a jump on my room before you see it!” Spring called down. “I could use a little time, so please grab a snack in the kitchen! It’s lemon sugar cookie day!”