Sprite and Hazel followed Flossie home to her palace. Sprite had to flap his wings like a hummingbird’s to keep up with Flossie. She was still very upset, and in a great hurry.
Now they sat in Flossie’s parlor. The smooth marble walls were as white as a polished tooth. Hazel and Sprite sat on soft, white pillows on the floor. Flossie paced back and forth.
Sprite wasn’t sure where to begin, but Hazel seemed to know just what to do. She had a small notebook with her and had not stopped scribbling in it since they sat down.
"Can you tell us exactly what happened?" Hazel asked.
"I noticed it a few days ago," Flossie replied. "Each night, I put the teeth I collect in my tooth storage room. When I wake up, I polish them and sort them. But yesterday, it looked like some teeth were missing. This morning I checked again, and more teeth were missing! There is a tooth thief on the loose, I tell you."
"Can we take a look at this storage room?" Hazel asked. "There might be a clue somewhere."
"I was just going to say that," Sprite said. Or at least something like that.
Flossie led Sprite and Hazel down a long hallway to a large tooth-shaped door. She opened the door and they all stepped inside.
Sprite felt a tingle in his wings. The room was definitely a magic room. The walls stretched up so high that Sprite could hardly see the ceiling. Tiny cubbyholes covered every inch of space on the walls. Most of the cubbyholes held shiny white teeth--but a great many were empty.
"Do you see?" Flossie wailed. "There should be teeth in those holes! Beautiful, beautiful teeth." She sniffled, and a tear ran down her cheek.
Sprite flew up to Flossie’s face. "Don’t worry, Flossie," Sprite said. "I’m sure we’ll find them."
In the meantime, Hazel walked around the room, her brown eyes sparkling as she searched for clues.
"Do you keep the door locked?" Hazel asked.
"No," Flossie sniffed. "I never dreamed anyone would steal my teeth. They are precious to me, but I don’t see why anybody else would like them."
Hazel swung the door back and forth. That’s when Sprite noticed a brown smudge on the floor.
"Oh dear," Sprite said. "There’s some dirt on your nice clean floor. I’ll clean it up for you."
Sprite took a scarf out of his pocket and flew toward the floor. But Hazel stepped in front of him and blocked his way.
"No Sprite!" she cried. "That’s not ordinary dirt. That’s a clue. See? It’s a footprint."
Sprite saw that Hazel was right. He blushed.
"I knew that," he said.
"I see more footprints," Hazel said. "They’ll lead us to the thief for sure. Flossie, you stay here and watch your teeth. We’ll take care of this."
The dirty footprints led down the other side of the hallway to Flossie’s back door. Sprite lagged behind as Hazel followed the trail. He felt terrible. He had almost wiped away their only clue. Hazel was sure to tell Mr. Gnome what had happened. He’d never become a Royal Pixie Tricker at this rate.
"What do we have here?"Hazel asked.
The footprints led through Flossie’s neat yard to a hole in the white picket fence. Hazel zipped through the hole. Sprite flew as fast as he could to catch up.
Hazel might not have wings like me, Sprite thought, but she sure is fast!
The view on the other side of the fence didn’t look anything like Flossie’s shining white palace. A run down wooden shack sat on top of a small dirt hill. A few brown weeds sprouted up here and there like hairs on top of a bald man’s head.
Sprite froze. He knew this place. It was nowhere for a young sprite to be nosing around.
But Hazel wasn’t afraid. "Flossie’s teeth must be in that house!" she said. "Let’s go investigate."
"Hazel, no!" Sprite cried, flying in front of her. "Bob the Boggart lives in that house. He’s not very friendly!"
"Not very friendly" was a nice way of putting it. Sprite knew that Bob, like most boggarts, was a well-known troublemaker. He was happiest when somebody else was unhappy.
Hazel put her hands on her hips. "I am not afraid of some boggart," she said. "I am going in there, with or without you!"
Sprite took a deep breath. If he didn’t go, everyone would think he was a chicken. Besides, he didn’t want Hazel to go alone.
The two fairies flew up to the wooden door. Hazel knocked loudly three times with her tiny fist.
There was no response.
"Well, I guess nobody’s home," Sprite said quickly. "We can come back later."
Just then, the door creaked open a tiny bit. Two eyes the color of pea soup peered through the crack.
"Weeeellll," said Bob the Boggart in a creaky voice. "What do we have here? A sprite? A tree fairy? Come to see me? Why oh why?"
"We’re from the Royal Pixie Tricker School," Hazel said, trying to sound very important. "We would like to ask you some questions."
Bob opened the door a little but further, and Sprite could see his wrinkled brown face. His small noise ended in a sharp point. Scraggly hairs stuck out of his chin, but there were none to be found on his head. He stood about three feet tall, but to tiny Sprite that was quite tall--and terrifying.
"No time for questions," Bob replied. "Bob is busy. Very busy."
Bob started to close the door, but Hazel stopped him with her tiny foot.
"This is official business," she said. "We represent Queen Mab, you know."
Sprite hadn’t really thought about it before, but he knew Hazel was right. All Royal Pixie Trickers served Queen Mab, ruler of the Otherworld. That went for pixie-trickers-in-training, too.
Bob’s eyes widened. "Queen Mab? Queen Mab? Bob mustn't make the queen upset. Come in, come in."
Sprite followed Hazel inside. His wings fluttered like they always did when he was nervous. Who knew what he would find inside Bob the Boggart’s house? Probably lots of slimy bugs, or rats with long pink tails, or . . .
"Flossie’s teeth!" Hazel cried.
Sprite couldn’t believe it. Sprawled across the dirty wood floor, piled high against the dingy brown walls, were hundreds and hundreds of shiny white teeth!
"These teeth belong to Flossie the tooth fairy," Hazel said. "You must give them back to her right now."
Bob the Boggart shrieked so loud that Sprite had to cover his ears.
"Noooo!" Bob wailed. "Not my shiny pretties! They’re mine! Mine!"
"Maybe we should come back later," Sprite whispered to Hazel.
"No!" Hazel said. "I am not leaving until we get Flossie’s teeth back!"
Bob the Boggart scooped up Sprite and Hazel with his bony fingers. He stomped to the door, then threw them both out.
"Bob says you are leaving right now!" yelled the boggart.
Sprite’s stomach lurched as he tumbled through the air. Then he remembered--Hazel! She couldn’t fly. The little tree fairy was speeding toward Flossie’s white picket fence.
Sprite straightened himself out and flew toward Hazel as fast as he could.
"Don’t worry, Hazel!" Sprite yelled. "I’m coming!"
Will Sprite catch Hazel in time? Will the two pixie-trickers-in-training figure out how to trick Bob the Boggart? Will Flossie get her teeth back? Find out in the third and final part of Tooth Fairy Trouble!
Tooth Fairy Trouble Part 2 is copyright c 2002 by Tracey West. This story may be printed for personal use but not sold or transmitted in any other form.
