The Fairy Rebel by Lynne Reid Banks Read Free Book Online

slowly, “that a fairy child is a fairy child, and that she could never be ordinary, whatever she looks like.”
    She looked from Jan to Charlie.
    “You never know with fairy children,” Tiki went on. “They might
grow magic
like a fairy does, or they might have other special things which only show up later. It was the first time I knew that other fairies have helped humans to have babies, but the master-elf told me it’s happened quite often. Have you everheard of someone called Mo—Mo-something? He could make music.”
    Jan and Charlie looked at each other.
    “Not Mozart?”
    “That’s the name. Well,
he
was a fairy child. The master-elf knew about it because a foreign elf he’d heard of was the fairy-father of that child—the way I’m the fairy-mother of yours,” she said proudly. “I didn’t know about fathers and mothers—we don’t have them—but the master-elf told me.”
    “Good grief,” murmured Charlie, and put his hand to his forehead. “That’s all I need—a genius for a daughter.”
    “Oh, I don’t suppose she’ll be that special,” said Tiki. “I’m not very special myself. And you said you didn’t want her to be very clever.”
    “I
said
I wanted her to be ordinary and normal!” said Jan.
    “Well, you can’t have everything,” said Tiki in her tossy voice.
    “Oh, Tiki—please don’t think I’m not grateful,” said Jan quickly.
    “We both are,” said Charlie gruffly.
    “Her hair will be brown, anyhow,” said Tiki. “I think. The master-elf fixed it. At least, he said he was going to.”
    “Can we be sure?”
    “Sure? What’s that?”
    “It means
knowing
something is going to happen.”
    “That’s impossible,” said Tiki, shaking her fluffy head. “Don’t you know the saying, ‘Don’t count yourflowers when they’re only buds’? You can never be
sure
of anything.”
    She stood up and stretched. Her furry wings made a sound like
brrrrrr
. “I must go,” she said.
    “Won’t the Queen be angry about you being freed?”
    “She probably won’t bother. She’s so busy.”
    “She bothered today,” said Charlie quietly. “Sending those wasps.”
    There was an uneasy silence.
    “We must hope for the best,” said Tiki in her smallest voice.
    Then she looked at them both.
    “I want to ask you a favor now,” she said. “When your egg arrives—I mean, your baby—will you give her a fairy name?”
    “Like what?”
    “Bindi. That means expensive, or a treasure. Will you? Because she did cost me a lot. I have to pay back all I borrowed, don’t forget! I won’t be able to make any fun magic for ages.”
    Charlie and Jan looked at each other. They nodded.
    “It’s a sweet name,” said Jan.
    Tiki gave a little wave. Then she flew up from Jan’s hand and vanished.
    First Charlie, then Jan, felt a brief flutter against their mouths—a fairy kiss. Fairies kiss by backing up to the person and quivering their wings. But Tiki must have given them a human kiss too, because afterward they both noticed a strange, sweet, scented taste on their lips—the taste of Tiki’s tears.

Part Two

1
The Blue Tuft
    One warm evening the following June, Jan strolled all round the garden in her nightgown looking at the rosebushes. She had a feeling the baby might be born the next day, and she thought, “How lovely if only all the roses in the garden were in bloom to welcome her!” But they were all still tight little buds.
    Early next morning, Bindi was born. And by eight o’clock, Jan was sitting up in bed with the baby in her arms. Looking out of the window, she saw that the whole garden looked like a sea of pink roses. Every single rose was in flower. The scent came floating up to her bedroom.
    To make things even nicer, Charlie rushed down into the garden, chose the most perfect pink rose he could find and brought it up in a little vase and stood it by Jan’s bed.
    They were so happy. They looked at every inch of the baby from her toes upward and decided she was