“We need to find my Wish Star,” Spitball said as he leaned his back against the window.
Adam looked up from where he was putting clothes in his dresser, “But we’ve already looked everywhere.”
“Then we have to ask,” Spitball replied.
“Who?” Adam said, “I don’t think my parents know anything about Wish Magic.” He paused, “What’s a Wish Star anyways?”
“A Wish Star,” Spitball said solemnly, “Is the first evening star, the star people wish on most of all. We have to ask the Wish Fairy about the star. If anyone knows what Old Agatha did with my Star, it would be Ms. Helena.”
“What’s a Wish Fairy?” Adam asked as he dug around in his clothes box.
“She’s the big boss,” Spitball replied. “Every area has a Wish Fairy to take care of it, and every Wish Fairy has creatures like me and the Guardians of Wishes to help her. Wish Fairies hear the Wishes and decides how to help them and the Guardians and Wish Creatures make it happen.”
“Why can’t you go ask her now?” Adam asked, taking a stack of shirts and putting them in his dresser.
“Without my Star, I can’t work a lot of magic,” Spitball replied. “If I had my Star, I could make sure people didn’t notice me, but if I went out now, people would definitely notice a flying, talking dragon.”
“I’m not supposed to leave the street,” Adam said as he put the last of his shirts away.
“She lives on the corner, you can see her house from the window,” Spitball replied.
Adam got up and looked, “The white house with the green shutters?” He asked hopefully.
“No,” Spitball said, “the grey house with the big porch.”
“Are you sure?” Adam asked, “That house looks scary.”
Spitball laughed, “It’s a disguise Adam. She doesn’t want people to want to come by her place.”
Adam bit his lip, and then looked at Spitball, “Do I have to go alone?”
“I can’t be seen,” Spitball replied.
Adam frowned for a moment, then spun to one of his boxes, “I know,” he said and began to dig around inside of it. Finally, he came up with a battered green backpack, “You’ll fit in here perfectly.”
Spitball nodded, “I can stick my head over your shoulder so no one will hear me.”
Adam held the bag open and let Spitball scramble in, and then he slid it over his shoulders. “You’ll have to be really quiet Spitball. I don’t want Mom and Dad to catch us.”
“I will be,” Spitball promised.
Adam slipped out of his room and down the hall, carrying his tennis shoes. He could hear his mom in her bedroom, but his dad was somewhere down stairs. He eased down the stairs and crept down the front hall to the door. He glanced over his shoulder, then slid the door open and closed behind him. He sat down on the front porch stairs and pulled his shoes on. “Here we go,” he said softly and sprinted across the yard to where the neighbors had planted huge bushes with pink flowers.
Once on the other side of those, Adam took a deep breath and stepped onto the sidewalk. He walked briskly and forcefully, having been told before that the best way to keep people from asking questions was to act as if you were in the middle of something. “You’re doing good,” Spitball murmured in his ear.
“Thanks,” Adam replied as they reached the house at the end of the street. Adam stared up at it for a long moment. “Are you sure about this?” He asked.
“I’m sure,” Spitball said.
Adam hesitated, unwilling to go forward. A sharp pain hit his ear and Adam slapped it, just brushing Spitball’s snout. “Ow! You bit me!”
“You need to move before someone gets suspicious,” Spitball told him. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“That doesn’t mean you can just go biting a person,” Adam whined as he headed up the walkway to the house.
The house’s forbidding aura didn’t fade as he got closer, and Adam climbed the steps of the porch slowly. He glanced over his shoulder once, and then reached up to ring the doorbell. “Now we wait,” Spitball said.
Adam could hear footsteps inside the house and he swallowed. There was a thumping sound and then the door was pulled open to reveal an old woman standing in the door. Adam frowned a little, because she looked like his grandmother, not like a fairy. “Can I help you?” The woman asked.
“Are,” Adam hesitated, “are you Ms. Helena?”
“I am,” Helena said.
“My name’s Adam,” Adam said quickly, “we just moved here and I found Spitball and he said you could help him so I brought him here.”
“Spitball,” Helena repeated, crossing her arms.
“Hi, Ms. Helena,” Spitball said, bumping his head against Adam. “Long time no see.”
“It’s only been a few months you goose,” Helena said, “come inside you two, and tell me how you met.” She stepped back and Adam stepped inside, looking around in surprise.
If the grey house had been forbidding outside, it was warm and welcoming inside. “I can assume what happened to Old Agatha,” Spitball said, “since Adam’s family moved into the house.”
“Indeed,” Helena said. “Agatha’s daughter Crystal has never been favorable to our side of things, so Agatha left Cassie to Crystal’s daughter Amber.”
“Ok,” Spitball said, “but Ms. Helena, my Wish Star’s chain was broken. When I went to Sleep, Old Agatha promised she’d fix it. I can’t find my Wish Star.”
Helena frown, “She never said anything to me about your Star. Cassie must know.”
“Then we’ll have to talk to Cassie,” Spitball agreed, “but how?”
Adam shuffled his feet a little, “I shouldn’t be gone long,” he said finally. “Mom and Dad.”
“Right,” Spitball said. “Why don’t you go on back while I talk to Helena? You can come back over later, or even tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” Adam asked.
“I’m sure,” Spitball replied.