CHAPTER ONE
Good Morning, Misty Wood
It was early morning in Misty Wood. The moon had long since snuggled into his starry bed, and the sun was just beginning to stretch into the sky.
In a cozy cot made of moss and grass, in a tiny home tucked under the roots of an old chestnut tree, a kitten named Chloe was waking up. She yawned and rubbed the end of her button nose with a velvety paw. Then she opened her eyes and looked at her dandelion clock.
"Oh no! I'm late!" she cried, leaping from her bed. But she stopped short when she caught sight of herself in the small pool of water she used as a mirror.
"Puppy tails and poppy seeds!" she meowed. "I can't go out like this!"
Chloe's whiskers were flat because she had slept on them. Quickly, she licked her paws and stroked her whiskers until they were shiny and smooth. Then she twisted her head and looked down to check her glittery fairy wings.
You see, Chloe was no ordinary kitten. She was a Cobweb Kitten, one of the many fairy animals who lived in Misty Wood. Every fairy animal in Misty Wood had a special job to do to make sure it stayed such a beautiful place.
The Bud Bunnies used their twitchy noses to ease flowers into bloom.
The Hedgerow Hedgehogs used their spikes to pick up leaves and keep the ground tidy.
The Holly Hamsters nibbled the holly leaves into shape for Christmas.
And the Cobweb Kittens decorated the cobwebs in the trees with glistening dewdrops so that they sparkled and shone.
Chloe patted her wings into place and smiled down at her reflection.
"Perfect," she purred. "Now I'm ready for work." She picked up her special dewdrop-collecting basket, which had been woven from flower stems.
"No time for breakfast today," she said, looking longingly at the acorn cup of milk on her conker table.
The magical spring where the Cobweb Kittens got their dewdrops came to life only while the sun was rising. She had to get there quickly or she would miss it.
Chloe padded over to the door and flung it open. Outside, it was as if Misty Wood was just stirring itself from sleep. A breeze whispered through the trees, making all the branches sway.
Chloe could hear the first chirps of the birds as they got ready to sing. She opened her wings. They shimmered purple and pink in the first morning light.
"Good morning, Misty Wood!" she said, fluttering up into the air.
Chloe swooped through the trees and out into Bluebell Glade. Down below her she could hear the tinkle of hundreds of flowery bells as they bobbed in the breeze. She breathed in the bluebells' sweet scent and continued on her way. As she left the glade, she came to Heather Hill.
It matches my wings, Chloe thought with a smile as she looked down at the carpet of purple heather.
Next, she did a loop-the-loop over Golden Meadow, hoping to catch sight of the playful Pollen Puppies flicking the golden flower pollen with their tails. But the cheeky pups were asleep, curled up on their cushions of moss.
Chloe floated on, enjoying the sleepy silence. The meadow below her looked like a rainbow painted across the land. There were flowers of every color.
Then she came to Moonshine Pond. The Moonbeam Moles had been working hard all night, flying through the sky and dropping moonbeams into the pond to make it look pretty. Now the water had a beautiful pearly glow. It reminded Chloe of the cup of milk in her kitchen, and she suddenly felt very thirsty. She looked at the brightening sky. The sun wasn't quite up yet. As long as she was quick, she should have enough time for a drink.
Chloe flew down and landed on the soft bank of the pond. Putting her basket next to her, she leaned forward to lap the sweet water with her tiny pink tongue. She was careful to be quiet. She didn't want to wake the little moles, who had just gone to bed.
Mmm, Chloe thought. That's better! The water was delicious. The moonbeams made it taste as sweet as honey. Chloe licked her lips, unfurled her wings, and fluttered off again.
At last she came to a beautiful valley. In the middle of the valley lay a shimmering lake. Silvery mist drifted across the surface of the water. Suddenly, as the first rays of sunlight peeped over the treetops and touched the lake, a jet of water rose high into the air, like a fountain. Fat, glistening dewdrops fell like sparkles from a fairy's wand.
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. She had arrived at Dewdrop Spring just in time.
The air was filled with excited meowing and purring. There were Cobweb Kittens everywhere! Fluttering their wings as fast as they could, they headed toward the spring, scooping up dewdrops in their special collecting baskets. Every kitten needed to work very hard if all the cobwebs in Misty Wood were to be covered in dewdrops.
"Hello, Chloe," a little tabby kitten called as he flew past.
"Hurry up! You're late!" a white kitten cried, her fairy wings glistening silver and gold.
"Here I come!" Chloe called happily to her friends. "Save some for me!" With a flick of her wings, she dived toward the fountain, ready to collect the dewdrops with her basket. But as she held out her paws, she noticed something terrible.
Her basket was missing!
CHAPTER TWO
A Helpful Friend
Chloe gave a sad little meow. What could have happened to her basket?
Then she remembered. She had set it down on the bank of Moonshine Pond when she stopped for a drink. She must have forgotten to pick it up.
"Whiskers and whirlpools! Whatever am I going to do?" Chloe cried. She looked anxiously at the sky.
It was getting lighter and lighter! There was no time for her to go all the way back to Moonshine Pond. Soon the sun would be up, and Dewdrop Spring would disappear for another day. Then there would be no dewdrops for her to collect, and she wouldn't be able to decorate her cobwebs.
She watched as, one by one, the other Cobweb Kittens filled their baskets and flew away. Her cobwebs would be the only empty ones in all of Misty Wood!
Chloe flopped down on a patch of grass and put her fluffy head in her paws. A tear trickled slowly down her nose.
"If I can't decorate my cobwebs, I'll be the worst Cobweb Kitten ever," she sobbed.
"And why can't you decorate your cobwebs?" a cheery voice asked from behind her.
Chloe turned and peeked out from between her paws. A Stardust Squirrel was sitting on a log in front of her, holding an acorn.
Chloe sighed. Normally, she would be pleased to see a Stardust Squirrel.
Stardust Squirrels were some of the most beautiful creatures in Misty Wood. Their soft fur was a glittery gray color, and their wings were a delicate silver and white. When they shook their bushy tails, they sent a shimmer of stardust floating over all the leaves in the wood, making them glimmer and sparkle.
"I left my basket at Moonshine Pond," Chloe whispered. "Now I can't collect any dewdrops."
"And why did you leave your basket at Moonshine Pond?" the squirrel asked with a twirl of his whiskers.
"Because I'd put it down so I could have a drink," Chloe said, feeling very ashamed.
"I see," said the squirrel. "And why did you need a drink?"
"Because I didn't have any breakfast."
"Oh, you must never leave the house without having breakfast," the squirrel said with a twinkle in his eye. He hopped off the log and bounded over to Chloe, leaving a glittery trail behind him. "I always have a bowl of acorns for breakfast. I was just collecting some, actually." The squirrel held out his acorn to her. "Here, do you want one?"
Chloe shook her head.
The squirrel looked thoughtful for a moment. "What you really need is a walnut," he said.
"No, thank you. I'm much too sad to be hungry," Chloe replied.
The Stardust Squirrel gave a gentle laugh. It sounded like the tinkle of ice crystals on a frozen lake. "I don't mean to eat," he said. "I mean to make a basket."
Chloe frowned. How could she use a walnut as a basket?
"Wait here," the squirrel said.
Chloe watched as he scampered over to a small tree stump on the bank of the lake, scattering a trail of stardust as he ran. "Ta-da!" he cried, rummaging around in the tree stump. "Just the thing!" He pulled out half a walnut shell.
Chloe looked at the wrinkled shell. "That doesn't look much like a basket," she said sadly.
"Not yet," the squirrel agreed. "But just you watch."
Quick as a flash, the squirrel nibbled two little holes into the side of the shell. Then he picked a thick blade of grass, and with a blur of paws and a flurry of stardust, he tied the grass to the walnut shell to make a sturdy handle.
"Oh, I see!" Chloe exclaimed. "It's a perfect dewdrop-collecting basket. Thank you!"
"You're welcome," said the squirrel. "Now, are you sure you don't want this tasty acorn?"
Chloe smiled and shook her head. "No, thank you. I've got work to do. Good-bye!" And with that, she flew up into the air and over to the spring.
Flapping her wings hard, Chloe swooped this way and that, catching glistening dewdrops as she flew. The walnut shell was bigger than her old basket, so she was able to collect more drops than ever before.
Just as Chloe had filled her basket, the sun finished rising above the trees. At once, Dewdrop Spring sank back into the lake.
"Just in time," Chloe said to herself as she fluttered through the valley and off to Hawthorn Hedgerows, the part of Misty Wood she was in charge of decorating.
Hawthorn Hedgerows was right by the edge of the wood. As Chloe flew closer, she spotted the silvery strings of a delicate cobweb clinging to the first hedge. She shivered with excitement. She would soon make it look beautiful.
"I have just the dewdrops for you," Chloe said with a smile as she hovered close to the web. She chose the smallest and sparkliest dewdrops from her basket and carefully hung them one by one on the threads.
After she had filled the cobweb with dewdrops, she flew back a bit to check her work. The cobweb now sparkled like a jewel! Eagerly, Chloe flew over to the next web and began again. As she worked, she hummed a little tune. She felt so glad to be able to decorate her cobwebs after all.
Chloe was starting her fifth cobweb when she felt a gentle tap on the top of her head. She looked up and saw a spider dangling above her on a strand of silky web.
"Sorry to trouble you," the spider said, pointing a spindly leg toward the part of the hedge Chloe had just finished. "But I was wondering why you haven't decorated my web."
"I have!" Chloe answered in surprise. "Look, I'll show you." She spread her wings and flew back along the hedge. But to her dismay, she saw that the spider was right. His cobweb was empty! There were no dewdrops on it at all. And all the other cobwebs Chloe had spent so long decorating were bare, too. Her dewdrops had completely disappeared!
Text copyright © 2013 by Hothouse Fiction Ltd.
Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Kirsteen Harris Jones
