Page 30 of Wings of Reverie

Anticipation hardened some people, she knew. But Weaver, it seemed to have softened.

Periwinkle leaned closer to the page. “Remind me what we’re looking for? A spinning wheel? I’ve heard of those.”

“Yes. Fiber’s turned into thread with a spinning wheel, or a spindle, both of which—”

“Which they had,” she said avidly. Then she frowned, pointing at one of the lines on the list. “But the Keeper seemed to think the spinning wheel was broken.” Weaver grimaced. Then he shook himself.

“It’s okay,” he said. “We’ll go find the spindle and use that. And we should get the scissors, too—we’ll definitely need those.”

“Agreed.” Periwinkle paused. She nodded at another line. “Did the legend say we need any of these other things, like the needle? And what are the other things—carders, a thimble, a loom?”

“Carders smooth out thick, lumpy material before you spin it, but dream fiber isn’t that thick. Looms are for turning thread into fabric. Thimbles keep you from stabbing yourself as you sew, so we don’t need those, and we don’t need the needle if all we’re doing is wrapping thread around the Pixie Dust Root,” he said, stillscanning the page. “My biggest worry right now is that we don’t know where these places are. The Bobbin Wood. The Sapphire Mine. None of them except…” Weaver swallowed.

Except for Snow Globe Mountain, he didn’t say. The loom was in a workshop on Snow Globe Mountain. Periwinkle was glad their task wouldn’t require a visit.

“Also,” Weaver added, “these directions to the workshops hardly tell us anything. Half of them make no sense.Count the sheep. Chase the dreams.Why do they sound the same? Why are they written like riddles?”

Periwinkle grimaced. The directions were practically in code, but it was hard to say whether they were from Dewey, or if they were some joke or oversight of the dream-talents’.

Even the notes that were a bit clearer weren’t much to go on. Periwinkle knew the Winter Woods like the back of her hand, from Snowlight Square to Chilly Falls, but what kind of help was it supposed to be that the Sapphire Mine, where the spindle was kept, was “in the northeast”? She’d never even heard of the Bobbin Wood, where the scissors supposedly belonged. There were three forests in the Winter Woods—the strip of oaks that was Mistletoe Terrace, Evergreen Overlook north of Snow Globe Mountain, and the Frost Forest. Was there a whole fourth forest hiding somewhere she’d never seen or heard of?

But she didn’t give voice to any of this. “We’ll find them,” she said confidently. “We’ll start with the scissors first.”

“Sounds good,” Weaver said, and for a moment, Periwinklethought he might smile. Suddenly, though, he winced, pressing a hand to his forehead.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Weaver handed her the book, and Periwinkle slid it into her bag.

As she did, though, another book caught her eye. She grabbed it, too, when Weaver wasn’t looking. He muttered something about needing to be somewhere, all the brightness gone out of his expression.

As she followed him to the door, Periwinkle was surprised to find she missed it.

Found in the Hall of Winter:

Excerpt fromDream Magic: A Lost Talent

Section on dream-talent fairies’ workshops. Feat. notes from the Keeper. Found and read by Weaver and Periwinkle.

Woolgathering Glade Workshop

Carders. Spinning wheel (broken).

“Count the sheep.” (meaning? Ref. to children’s sleep habits?)

Sapphire Mine Workshop (Orion)

Spindle.

“Follow the needle.” Mine in the northeast Winter Woods? (cf. ref. 6)