After three servings of food, four conga lines, three electric slides, and sixteen (or so) rounds of the chicken dance, Isabelle was ready to go home. She asked Clotilda, “You want to come up and say hi to the girlgoyles?”

It had been a long time since Clotilda had joined her with the girlgoyles—maybe since before Clotilda started training. “Sure,” she said. “Let’s do it.”

It took them a little while to get comfortable, but eventually, they squeezed in tight. For a while, they counted constellations. Then they watched a star shoot across the sky. Behind one of the girlgoyles, Isabelle discovered a half-eaten bag of pretzels. They ate them all up even though they were really stale.

If there was one thing stronger than the magic of sparkles, it was the magic of sisterhood. It even made stale pretzels taste delicious.

“So tell me the truth. Did you think it was Mom?” Isabelle asked.

Clotilda shook her head. “Never. No way. Mom wasn’t like that. People can say whatever they like, but I knew her. She would never do anything to hurt a princess—or a regular girl.”

That made Isabelle feel a little better, but now that she had her sister cornered and squished, she also had a lot of other questions. Like: “Why couldn’t she take us with her?” and “Do you think Grandmomma really didn’t find her?” and “Why didn’t she leave us anything to remember her by?”

Clotilda didn’t know where their mom was. And she liked being a fairy godmother. She told Isabelle she wouldn’t have wanted to leave, either. Then Clotilda pointed out the same special star that Isabelle always looked at when she wanted to think about Mom. “You were too young to remember, but before she left, she told us that when we missed her, we should throw a sparkle in the air. Like a shooting star. And that she would see it. She said that shooting stars always made wishes more powerful.”

“She taught us that?” (Isabelle thought she’d made that up herself.)

Clotilda laughed. “You think Grandmomma would teach us to waste sparkles? That is not her style.”

That was true. And sort of funny. And at the same time, really sad. “You want to do it right now?” Isabelle asked. (She had exactly two extra sparkles left in her wand.)

So they each took one. And they launched them high into the sky. And even though they didn’t say anything more, they both thought about Mom. They didn’t have to say they’d always stick together. But Isabelle knew they would.

After a while, Clotilda stood up. (The cozy space was really too cozy for two fairy godmothers. It was really only right for one.) She said, “Don’t stay too long” and “Like I always say: Be calm. Grandmomma has a big day in store for you tomorrow.”

Isabelle said good night. “I’ll be just a minute.” She wanted to be alone, especially because now she didn’t feel lonely.

Also, she thought she saw something sparkly on the claw of one of the girlgoyles. When Clotilda was gone, Isabelle reached for it. It was a little yellow-and-green ring.

Isabelle was pretty sure Clotilda had left it for her. For good luck. A keepsake. Maybe it had even been Mom’s.

Isabelle put it on her finger and looked up at the big, bright star. It seemed to be twinkling now, like it was saying: “I am out here. Don’t forget me.” And of course, “Make a wish.” Since what else can you do with a twinkling star, even if you are an almost Level Three fairy godmother and you don’t have a fairy godmother of your own?

So Isabelle held her hand and her ring to her heart. And she made a wish. Of course, this was Isabelle we’re talking about, so it was a complicated wish. That was because she wanted too many things. And because she was still too disorganized. She would have to talk to Grandmomma about that tomorrow.

She wished that:

a)  Nora and Samantha would stay happy. And that they would continue to be friends. And that maybe, somehow, she could see them again. But if not, she was all right with that.

b)  If there were regular girls who were princesses in disguise, that it should be one of them. She also wouldn’t mind getting another regular girl in Level Three.

c)  Minerva would come back to training. And not be on probation.

Of course, Isabelle also wanted to see her mom and make it through Level Three and finally be really good friends with Angelica and Fawn (in other words: the kind who worked together and needed each other), but that was getting ridiculous and mushy, so she just added d) all of the above and everything else.

What she didn’t know (but probably should have):

Rings don’t appear out of nowhere, even in the fairy godmother world. When rings (or other jewels) show up, it means that there is strong magic happening. Or as fairy godmothers like to say, something is afoot.

It’s as dangerous as giving sparkles to a regular girl. Anything can happen.