CHAPTER 3

Super-Flyers

“Come see!” Kimani poked her purple head into the cave. She was Sasha’s best friend in Crystal Cove. “The Super-Flyers are putting on an air show.”

“What’s a Super-Flyer?” asked Sasha.

“I’ll show you.” Kimani’s braided tail twirled with excitement.

Sasha followed Kimani onto the beach. The sand glittered with gems and jewels. Horses of all colors craned their necks upward.

Sasha stared up, too. The sunset glowed pink and orange in the empty sky. What was she looking for?

Whoosh!

Six magnificent white horses zoomed across the sky. Their shimmering wings stretched wide. They dove and dipped. They twirled and swirled. They flipped and soared.

Faster and faster and faster.

Sasha didn’t dare blink. She didn’t want to miss anything.

One horse flew up. Another horse flew down.

Then the sky grew dark.

Soon Sasha couldn’t see the Super-Flyers. “Is it done?”

“Wait for it.” Kimani grinned slyly, as if she knew a secret.

“For what—? Oh!” Sasha gasped.

Each horse lit up. One, two, three, four, five, six. Their bodies glowed in the night. The horses flew, swirling light overhead.

Sasha’s heart danced along with them. She loved their speed. Nothing stood in their way up there.

Then she thought of Collie. Collie was trapped inside a glass jar. A lump formed in the back of Sasha’s throat.

“I’ll be right back,” she whispered.

Kimani nodded, her eyes never leaving the sky.

Sasha quietly made her way into the empty cave. The glass jar still sat on the shelf. Collie slept, using the leaf as a sleeping bag. Tiny air holes were poked into the jar’s lid.

Sasha heard voices from outside. The Super-Flyers must be ending their show.

Will Collie be okay? wondered Sasha.

She knew she shouldn’t care. Collie was a plant pixie, and plant pixies were the enemies of the flying horses.

But she did care.

Suddenly, she heard voices getting closer. Xanthos and Sapphire would soon return. Sasha grabbed the jar’s handle with her teeth. She hurried out and slipped into Kimani’s cave for a sleepover they’d planned.

Now what? Sasha’s heart beat fast.

She didn’t dare take off the lid. Xanthos had said Collie was dangerous.

“Sasha? Are you in here?” Kimani called.

What would Kimani think about hiding a plant pixie? Suddenly, Sasha wasn’t sure why she’d grabbed the jar. Had she done a good thing or a bad thing?

Sasha tucked the jar under her straw mattress.

“I’m here,” Sasha told Kimani. “I was tired.” Sasha yawned and realized she really was tired.

Sasha decided to keep Collie a secret for now.

She closed her eyes and went to sleep.