Walt Disney College

Chapter 52

Periwinkle watched as her sister scouted for silkworms.

"Isn't asking Fawn easier?" Peri asked.

"I know, but looking for silkworms are fun! Though I may need a bit of help spinning the silk onto rolls..."

Periwinkle laughed as her sister babbled on. Something big caught her eye, and she looked around.

"Tink! Tinkerbell, check this out!"

She flew over to the large object. It looked gold, and it seemed like a scepter. Since they were in Pixie Hollow, there was no way they could size up and get a better look at it.

What Periwinkle noticed though is that two ruby jewels twinkled on the top, and it curved down into what looked like a cobra's head.

"What is it?" When Tinkerbell flew over she gasped.

"I don't know..."

Tinkerbell had a pretty good idea. She frantically started to roll the scepter down the hill.

"Tink? What are you doing? What about the silkworms?" Periwinkle shouted her questions down the hill.

"That'll have to wait Peri, I need to see if this is what I think it is."

◈▣◈

"Zarina, can I borrow that book?" Tinkerbell asked.

"Of course Tink, borrow anything."

Tinkerbell knew Zarina owned a lot of books on different types of things. She flew over to her large bookcase, and scanned the rows.

"Ah, here it is!" Tink blew the dust off the book and the title shone. "Top ten most dangerous artifacts throughout history."

Zarina peered over Tinkerbell's shoulder. "Doing some research?"

"Uh, you could say that..." Tink dropped the book on Zarina's table and flipped through the pages.

She kept turning until she saw the picture.

Jafar's Snake Staff

Tink was right. She swallowed a huge lump that was clogging her throat.

"How did it end up in Pixie Hollow?" she murmured to herself.

Zarina was mixing up different ingredients to get pink pixie dust, and was barely paying attention.

"Hey, Zarina? Can I borrow this book? I'll return it as quick as fairy possible!"

Zarina grunted a 'yes' while a petal was in her mouth and she was crushing some gold pixie dust.

Tinkerbell flew out of the workshop, and tried to find Periwinkle.

Periwinkle was floating above the fresh grass, her wings coated in extra frost, waiting for her sister.

"Peri, look! It's Jafar's Snake Staff! Do you know what this means?"

"That...Jafar was here in Pixie Hollow? But he could never sneak past the Hawk Watchers, there's no way. They're trained to detect any harm to fairies, not just hawks."

"You're right! And it's that point that is making me doubt that he actually was here. We need more clues."

Periwinkle sighed. Somehow, she and her sister always seemed to walk right into trouble.

Or maybe the trouble was trying to find them.

◈▣◈

Kim sipped her ice tea silently, sitting on a bench in Middleton Park, enjoying the fresh air.

Ron slipped Rufus a few chips every now and then, but other than that things stayed silent.

Kim's brain felt fuzzy these days. Almost like it did when she was around Jim, but not in that way. This fuzziness didn't feel good. It made her want to throw up.

Ice tea didn't seem to help.

"Kim? You've been very quiet, I've been trying not to notice but...are you okay?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I might just be sick or something," she murmured.

Ron stared at her with a worried expression, and Kim gave a dismissive swat of her hands.

"I'm fine, trust me."

Kim's head started pound, and she was almost certain she heard these words:

He's caring again...

Kim tried to ignore it, and wondered if chugging her ice tea would help calm her head down.

"When are you and your family leaving for Mississippi?" Kim said, trying to switch the conversation off her.

"Oh, this Friday. Maybe we can go to Bueno Nacho before then. Why?"

"Hm, just wondering how much more time I have left with you." Kim gave a ditzy looking smile, and Ron frowned.

He pressed his hand to Kim's forehead, and removed it immediately.

"You are hot!" He shook his hand violently to try and shake off the heat. "Um, temperature wise..."

"That's what I assumed." Kim laughed.

"Maybe you should head inside where air conditioner is, and not stay in the boiling sun. Middleton is hot this time of year."

Ron stood up and collected Kim's ice tea bottle, and went to throw it away.

"Thanks Ron."

Kim stood up and they walked back to the Possible's residence.

Kim was silent all the way, with the occasional grunt of pain. When they reached the door, Ron knocked for them.

"Hey, Mrs. Possible. Kim wasn't feeling very, well, and she's really...warm so we thought it was best to get her inside," Ron explained.

Mrs. Possible inspected her daughter. "She looks like she has a fever, but I'll look into it. Thanks Ron."

She smiled and Ron said goodbye. Mrs. Possible laid Kim down on the couch and sat next to her.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" Kim sat herself up and sent her mother a questioning glance.

"You're hot, yes. But not to the point where you look like you're dying. So what's up?"

Kim sighed, and sunk into the chair. "I wanted to leave the park. My head was feeling all fuzzy and weird, so I wanted to go."

"Couldn't you just tell Ron you wanted to go?"

"Yeah, I guess, but he would ask me why, and I just didn't feel—"

"You know, fuzziness and weirdness are symptoms of something..."

"Really, of what?" Kim asked.

Kim's Mom smirked. "A crush."

Kim's mind got even fuzzier, she knew what her Mom was saying was true, but that's not the type of fuzziness Kim was feeling.

"Yes, you're right. But I don't have a crush on Ron."

"As if I'd expect you to tell me anyway. They always deny." Kim's Mom shook her head.

"I don't!"

Jim, dressed in a green shirt and blue sweatpants, popped his head in from the hallway.

"She's right, she doesn't. Kim has a crush on this guy called Jim Hawkins, which is weird, because he has my name."

Kim's face burned and her Mom raised an eyebrow.

"Jim Hawkins, huh?" She smiled smugly.

"I'm not talking about this. But yes, he has the same name as you, but I choose to look past that. Now get out tweeb!"

"How come I've never heard of this Jim?" Kim's Mom asked.

"Because you already have one, so why need another?" Kim mumbled quietly.

Kim's Mom laughed. "I see we have a lot to talk about."