twenty-three

Sylva had never been happier. Now she had a ginger kitten of her very own. But better than that, she had her best friend.

“Let’s go show Queen Mab our kittens,” said Poppy later that afternoon.

“Good idea!” said Sylva.

The two friends flew to the palace with their kittens snugly in their arms. But when they arrived there, Lady Courtney told them Queen Mab was gone.

“Gone?” said Sylva. “But she never goes away, except to her summer palace.”

“And it’s only spring,” said Poppy.

“She’s gone off on very important business,” said Lady Courtney. “I don’t even know when she’ll be back.”

Sylva and Poppy were disappointed. They turned to go. But at that moment, they heard Queen Mab’s trumpet sounding through the woods. They looked up to see not one queen flying toward them but two!

Queen Mab looked as elegant as ever, but her smile was even broader than usual. The other queen was dressed in robes of gorgeous purples and sparkling silver. She carried a sleek black cat in her arms.

“That must be Queen Titania!” said Sylva. “Goldie told us all about her after she went to her palace on the mainland last fall.”

The two young fairies fell to their knees.

“Please, no need for that,” said Queen Mab as she flew over to Sylva and Poppy. She took the hand of the regal fairy next to her. “Shall we tell them what we’ve been up to, Nia?”

Nia! Sylva and Poppy looked at each other, their mouths open. Did this mean Queen Titania was Queen Mab’s best friend?

Queen Titania spoke. “Queen Mab came to see me on the mainland, and we started talking again. After all these years.”

“I started talking again after all these years,” said Queen Mab.

“I had hoped that my fancy-dress ball last year would make us friends again,” said Queen Titania, “but it took you two to help us change.”

Queen Mab turned to Sylva. “I remembered what you told me on the rock yesterday, Sylva. You were right. Saying hello was a good place to start.”

Sylva beamed. She was so proud to have helped the two great queens to become friends again!

“What was your quarrel about?” asked Sylva. “Were you really fighting about all of Fairyland?”

Queen Mab smiled at Queen Titania. “It’s a long story,” said Queen Mab. “Maybe we’ll tell you someday.”

“Maybe,” said Queen Titania. She smiled back.

“Now, shall we go to my palace for some tea?” asked Queen Mab.

Once they were settled in Queen Mab’s walled garden, with their cats playing happily, and scones and blackberry jam and cups of sweet-smelling tea set out on the table, Queen Mab asked to hear about Sylva and Poppy’s pirate adventure. “Tell me more about Captain Sinker,” she said. “Did he have a stinker of a cold?”

“He did! He did!” said Poppy.

“Then I know exactly what treasure he was looking for,” said Queen Mab.

“Was it a magic potion?” asked Poppy.

“Was it the Narwhal’s Tusk?” asked Sylva.

“Was it a treasure map that leads to buried gold?”

“It was none of those things,” said Queen Mab. “Shall we show them, Nia?”

“I think we should, Mabs.”

Sylva couldn’t believe that anyone would call their queen “Mabs.”

“Then come with me, fairies, and you’ll see the precious treasure.”

With Sylva and Poppy close at her side, Queen Mab flew over to her herb garden. She plucked a handful of small purple flowers with big fat brown centers. “It’s this,” said Queen Mab.

“That’s the flower Daisy gave me,” said Sylva.

“Not just any flower,” said Poppy. “It’s echinacea!”

“Ek-in-nay-sha?” asked Sylva.

“You can call it coneflower, if you’d rather,” said Poppy. Being a Flower sister, she knew all about the plants that bloomed on the island.

“Some fairies use it to make them feel better when they have a cold, don’t they, Poppy?” said Queen Mab.

“Yes!” Poppy said. “Iris makes it into coneflower tea. Is that the treasure Captain Sinker was looking for, Queen Mab?”

“I believe it was, Poppy,” said the queen. “He comes here every so often when he gets a cold. Usually he tries to sneak on and off the island without our noticing,” she added. “I guess he didn’t count on you two.”

“He could have just come to the dock and asked someone for a pot of tea,” said Sylva.

“Oh, but that would not have been very piratey of him,” said Queen Mab, and she laughed.

Queen Titania smiled, and Lucky and Ginger chased each other around the garden.

Sylva looked halfway across the tea table, thinking how lucky she was to have such good friends. “We all found our best treasure, didn’t we?” she asked.

“You mean the dollhouse?” said Queen Mab with a smile.

“No, ma’am!” said Sylva.

“The kittens?” asked Queen Titania.

“Almost,” said Sylva. “But not quite.”

“Oh,” said Poppy. “You must mean being best friends again.”

All four fairies grinned. They didn’t need to say a word.