Three Lost Kids & the Death of the Sugar Fairy, The Read Free Page B

that moment. The rainbow beam didn 't stop the nightmares. I still felt and saw every fear I'd ever known, but it kept me from getting lost in that fear, and gave me hope as I let the beam lead me to Lexie.
    When I reached her, both TayTay and Bella were there too . I ran to them and hugged them all, sobbing so much that all of my Halloween makeup was totally ruined. "I'm so sorry I've been mad at you a lot. I love you so much, and don't want anything to ever happen to you."
    Lexie clutched our hands and used her light to lead us out of the cave. If felt like forever that we walked down the crystal blue pathways, our nightmares throwing themselves at us like those Sugar Bugs had . Lexie's power kept us safe, even if each of us cringed from time to time because of an especially horrible vision.
    The night seemed bright as we fell out of the cave and landed on our hands and knees. I laughed and cried , and so did my sisters, as we rolled around on squishy grass and hugged. I didn't ask what they saw, and they didn't ask what I saw. We all wanted to forget everything about that cave.
    I did have one question , though. "Lexie, how did you do that? How did you break the spell it had on you long enough to use your powers?" I hadn't even thought to pull my sword, or use my Fairy power.
    " My unicorn necklace lit up, and I remembered about how fear is just an illusion. I knew that if I could use my rainbows, it couldn't get to me. But I was so scared, Maddie. So scared. I never want to go to sleep again. Ever."
    Her little lips curled into a pout that shouldn't have looked as cute as it did, and I laughed.
    I knew that by the time we got home, her vows of no more sugar and no more sleep would soon be forgotten, but I didn't say anything. She'd just saved us all, so she could say and think whatever she wanted.
    I hugged her hard. "Thank you!"
    Bella whistled. "That should be the hardest part, right? What else do we have to worry about?"
    Leave it to Bella to jinx us all.

Chapter 5 – Gummy Greetings
     
    We skipped merrily along, as if saving the Sugar Baby would be so easy now, but I couldn't help fear a return of the Sugar Bugs. My heart still skipped a few beats when I thought about what I'd seen in the cave. It was bad enough to dream those things when you were sleeping, but to see it while awake, as if it was real.... That was horrible!
    Everything started to look the same as we walked —the tall trees and low bushes. "Bella, you sure you know where we're going?"
    She nodded. "Yup. We're close. Don't worry, we'll be fine."
    My heart didn 't believe her. Neither did my sweaty palms or buzzing mind. My fear only got bigger as we approached two large trees.
    Bella pointed. "Past those, we'll be in the clearing where the flower is."
    Lexie looked up, then back. "Hey, um, how are we getting back to the house? Won't we see all the bad stuff again?"
    I hadn 't thought of that, and Bella's dropped jaw made it clear she hadn't either.
    " We'll definitely avoid the caves, and hopefully the bugs are full and napping or something." Lame, but it was all I could think of.
    W e walked past the big trees and into the open field, and there stood the guards the Sugar Fairy had spoken of. Giant—and when I say giant, I mean house-sized—Gummy Bears wielded sharp looking candy cane swords.
    I did a quick count : ten of them and three of us. Four, if you counted TayTay. He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow, as though he knew I'd almost dismissed him.
    I ruffled his head. "You up for this, boy? Maybe you could eat them."
    He barked. "You want me getting sick, too?"
    I shook my head. "No, I guess not. Okay, Lexie, Bella, any ideas?"
    Bella shrieked. "Um, run or fight, because they're coming right at us."
    I would have run, but then a glow rose from behind them. The Sugar Flower was right there! So very close. Surely we could handle some oversized candy after everything we'd been through.
    This time I remembered my sword, and sliced at them with