Light rain pitter-pattered on the canvas roof. Sam and Caitlyn squealed and cartwheeled in the drizzle. A sliver of sunlight broke through the clouds, and she stepped into glowy mist. Over the far eastern ridge, a rainbow shimmered into being.

She shook her head and chuckled. Without even realizing it was happening, she’d just been set up on a date with Dr. Richard Bruce.

****

A molten slice of sun hovered over the ridge, and the sky above it was on fire. Tessa jumped out of the van, landing with a soft thud on a clump of dandelions and crabgrass. Closing the front door quietly, she peered through the side window at the empty crates she promised to return Monday at sundown. She was right on time.

Rebecca flew around the farmhouse and scampered across the yard. “I want to show you something.”

In the gloaming, the girl was fully a creature of fairy realms. Tessa hesitated, scanning the yard.

“Come on.”

Beckoning with a sylphlike arm, Rebecca spun, her narrow skirt ballooning, and skipped back the way she came. Tessa had no choice. When the little folk summoned, only the foolish stayed behind. Trailing Rebecca, she ducked under the fruit trees, skirted the garden, and followed a dirt lane bisecting the fields behind the house. Beyond the nearest field, she came to a low-sided, wooden bridge, just wide enough for a piece of farm equipment to pass. Below, Buffalo Creek gurgled in the windless twilight—the sound somehow cheerful and haunting all at once.

Rebecca kicked stones between slats, and they landed with hollow, watery plops below. Becoming one with the creatures of dusk, she flitted across the bridge and plunged into the forest.

The final fingernail of sun slipped behind the ridge, leaving a violet afterglow. Tessa scurried, stumbling over dried, muddy ruts as she strained to keep Rebecca in sight. Crunching over pebbles, she turned onto an almost-hidden footpath. Deep in the woods, the slivered sky flashed purple through thick branches. Were it not for the girl’s flaxen crown, Tessa would have lost her. Her dark dress disappeared among the trees.

The path was short, though, and in minutes, she emerged, joining Rebecca on the other side.

The girl inclined her face toward the treetops. “Look up.”

In that instant, Tessa left her world behind and stepped into a fairy kingdom luminous with fireflies. The woods edging the field were alive with them, flickering like a million tiny Christmas lights. She felt her lungs expand and her heart crack open. “Oh.”

Rebecca took her hand and led her from the tree line. The field hadn’t been tilled, and the stubble of last year’s corn crumpled beneath her feet. The air tasted of honeysuckle and meadow grass, and the sky glowed deep amethyst.

In the center of the field, Rebecca paused and turned slowly in place.