In the Game Read online

  Copyright © 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, and in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto, in conjunction with Disney Enterprises, Inc. Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  Trade ISBN 9780736435277 — Ebook ISBN 9780736435284

  randomhousekids.​com/​disney

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

  v4.1

  a

  For Avery and Tessa,

  soccer stars and super readers

  —K.T.

  To my favorite soccer player, Sophia

  —J.C.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Map of Never Land

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Far away from the world we know, on the distant seas of dreams, lies an island called Never Land. It is a place full of magic, where mermaids sing, fairies play, and children never grow up. Adventures happen every day, and anything is possible.

  There are two ways to reach Never Land. One is to find the island yourself. The other is for it to find you. Finding Never Land on your own takes a lot of luck and a pinch of fairy dust. Even then, you will only find the island if it wants to be found.

  Every once in a while, Never Land drifts close to our world…so close a fairy’s laugh slips through. And every once in an even longer while, Never Land opens its doors to a special few. Believing in magic and fairies from the bottom of your heart can make the extraordinary happen. If you suddenly hear tiny bells or feel a sea breeze where there is no sea, pay careful attention. Never Land may be close by. You could find yourself there in the blink of an eye.

  Detail: left

  Detail: right

  “Got it!” Kate McCrady yelled.

  As the soccer ball sailed through the air, Kate jumped up to meet it. She hovered there, ten feet above the ground, juggling the ball with her feet. She kicked it up, bumped it with her knee, then bounced it off her head.

  Some fairies who were flying by stopped to watch. A few clapped.

  Kate’s friend Mia Vasquez shook her head and laughed. “Quit showing off, Kate!” she called.

  Kate grinned. She couldn’t resist one more trick. She leaned way back and booted the ball backward over her head in a bicycle kick.

  “Nice one, Kate!” cried her other friend Lainey Winters.

  “I’ve always wanted to do that!” Kate said as she floated gently down. “Why didn’t we ever think of playing soccer in Pixie Hollow before?”

  “It’s fun,” Mia agreed. “But I think maybe we put too much fairy dust on the ball.” She pointed up at the ball, which was floating like a bubble. It drifted over the treetops and disappeared from view.

  “I’ll get it!” cried Mia’s little sister, Gabby. She jumped into the air. The costume wings she always wore fluttered almost like real fairy wings as she flew after the ball.

  Gabby raced into the grove of trees. A second later, they heard a thud and a wail.

  “Gabby?” Mia called. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” came the muffled reply.

  “Uh-oh,” said Kate. Together with Mia and Lainey, she rose into the air. They found Gabby sitting at the base of a tree. She was holding her nose.

  “What happened?” Mia asked.

  “A branch hit me,” Gabby said.

  “Your nose is bleeding!” Lainey exclaimed.

  A few fairies had stopped to see what was wrong. “I’ll get a healing-talent fairy!” said the water fairy Silvermist. She darted off toward the Home Tree, the great maple where the fairies of Pixie Hollow lived and worked.

  Above her hands, Gabby’s eyes looked big and scared. Kate tried to think of something comforting to say. “Don’t worry,” she told Gabby. “It doesn’t look too bad. I’ve had lots of bloody noses. Yours isn’t even a gusher.”

  Fawn, an animal-talent fairy, gently stroked Gabby’s hair. “There, there,” she cooed. “At least your nose isn’t important.”

  “What do you mean?” Gabby asked, looking worried.

  “Well, this would be much worse if you were an anteater,” Fawn explained. “Or an elephant. They really need their noses.”

  “Fawn!” Mia glared at her. “Your nose is going to be fine,” she told Gabby. “It’s just a little bump, that’s all.”

  Gabby started to cry. “I want to go home.”

  “A healing fairy will be here any minute,” Lainey reminded her.

  “I don’t want a healing fairy. I want Mami,” Gabby sobbed.

  Kate sighed inwardly. If Gabby wanted to leave, then they had to go with her. That was the rule they’d all agreed to when they discovered the hole in Mia and Gabby’s backyard that led to the magical island of Never Land. They always came and went together. Still, Kate’s heart sank a little. After all, they’d only just gotten to Never Land. They still had enough fairy dust to fly all the way to the Mermaid Lagoon and back!

  “Come on,” Mia said, helping her sister to her feet. “Let’s go home.”

  The girls said good-bye to the fairies and started for the large fig tree that held the portal back to their world. One by one, they ducked into the hollow. They came out behind a loose fence board in Mia and Gabby’s backyard. As Kate came through the fence, she had the feeling of stepping into a faded photograph. The sky was a watered-down blue, the grass a dull green. After the jewel-colored flowers and bright green forests of Never Land, home always seemed plain and drab. Sometimes, Kate thought Never Land seemed even more real than the real world.

  As she stood blinking in the harsh sunlight, the back door of the house opened. Mia and Gabby’s mother came out. “Kate—” she began, then stopped when she saw Gabby. “Niña! What happened?”

  “Mami!” Gabby ran into her mother’s arms and let herself be cuddled.

  “She bumped into a tree,” Mia reported. Kate noticed that she carefully left out the part about Never Land. It was the girls’ secret. They were the only ones who knew about the hole to the magical world.

  Mrs. Vasquez examined her daughter’s nose. It had already stopped bleeding. “You’re fine. See? It’s just a little bump.”

  “That’s what I told her,” Mia said.

  “Come inside. Let’s get cleaned up.” Mrs. Vasquez started to lead Gabby into the house, then turned back. “Oh, Kate, I almost forgot! Your dad just called. He said if you’re not home in ten minutes you’re going to be late for soccer practice.”

  “Oh!” Kate exclaimed. The world suddenly seemed to snap into focus. “Thanks, Mrs. V! I’d better go!” She ran for the side gate, calling back over her shoulder. “See you guys tomorrow. Gabby, I hope you feel better!”

  “Kate, wait!” Mia said. “Don’t forget to—”

  Slam! The gate closed behind Kate. She was in such a hurry, she never heard what Mia had been about to say.

  Kate was having her best soccer practice ever. She was the first one to finish the warm-up laps. Then she juggled the ball thirty-three times with her feet without dropping it.

  Kate hoped Coach Christy noticed. It was the last practice before the first game of the season, and today the coach was going to assign their positions.
Kate wanted to play goalkeeper. She loved being the protector of the net—in the most critical moments of a soccer game, it was all up to the keeper. The few seconds when she was the only thing between an opponent and the goal were the most exciting parts of the game.

  But there were at least two other girls who wanted to be goalie. Kate knew the coach might choose one of them. That was why she had to be at the top of her game.

  She waited nervously as the coach passed out pinnies and divided the team up for a scrimmage. “Kate, you’ll play keeper today,” Coach Christy said, handing her a red mesh shirt.

  “Yesss!” Kate pumped her fist and ran to stand in front of the goal. She was going to show the coach what she could really do!

  The two sides kicked off. For a while, Kate watched the action eagerly. But as the game wore on, she began to grow impatient. Her teammates were playing great defense. In fact, they’d been so good at keeping the ball away from the goal, Kate had nothing to do! How was Coach going to know to put her in as goalkeeper for the real game if she couldn’t see her shine?

  “C’mon,” Kate whispered, willing the ball to come her way. She braced as the yellow team’s striker drove toward the goal. But the red team’s sweeper moved in and blocked the shot.

  Kate sighed and put her hands on her hips as the ball traveled back down the field. Her mind wandered to Pixie Hollow. Too bad Coach couldn’t see me do that bicycle kick, she thought. She smiled, imagining the looks on her teammates’ faces if she pulled off something like that.

  “Kate! Heads up!” Coach Christy shouted.

  Kate snapped to attention. The ball was flying toward her and— Oh no! While she’d been daydreaming, she’d moved all the way to the front of the penalty box. She’d left the goal wide open!

  Kate leaped into the air, but she knew it was too late. The ball was high over her head. There was no way she could—

  Thwump! The ball landed squarely in Kate’s arms.

  Kate’s feet hit the ground and there was a second of stunned silence. Her teammates stared at her. Kate was just as surprised as they were. How did I do that? she wondered.

  “Go, Kate!”

  “Holy cow!”

  “You really flew!”

  Flew? Kate thought with a jolt. Oh no. The fairy dust! Usually in Never Land she flew until she dropped from the sky and there wasn’t a speck of magical dust left on her. But they’d gone home in such a hurry because of Gabby’s bloody nose, Kate had forgotten she still had dust on her—until now. She really had flown to catch the ball!

  Coach clapped her hands. “Okay, Fireballs!” she hollered. “Bring it in.”

  As Kate jogged over with the rest of the team, she kept her eyes on the ground. She was afraid to look at her teammates. Could they tell? she wondered. Did they know she had magic? What would happen if the secret of Pixie Hollow got out?

  “Nice playing today, everyone,” the coach said when the team was gathered around. “Kate…”

  Kate slowly raised her eyes.

  “Incredible save! That’s the kind of hustle we need for our game against Westside Thunder on Saturday,” Coach Christy said, beaming. “I’m putting you in as goalkeeper.”

  “I, uh…um…,” Kate stammered. She knew she should say something about what had happened. But she couldn’t find the right words.

  The coach seemed to think she was just excited. “It’s going to be a tough first game,” she told the team. “But I know you’ve all got what it takes. We’re going to have a great season, girls. Now go home and get some rest. See you all on Saturday.”

  As practice broke up, Kate lingered behind. “Coach Christy,” she said, finding her voice. “I’m not sure I can, um…make another save like that.”

  The coach raised her eyebrows. “Why not?”

  “Well…” Kate tried to think of a reason that would sound good. “I think that was kind of a one-time thing.”

  The coach zipped up the red jacket she always wore. “If you can do it once, you can do it again. In all my years of coaching soccer, I’ve never seen a save like that. You have a natural talent, Kate.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly say natural,” Kate mumbled.

  “The Thunders are a tough team to beat,” Coach Christy went on. “We’ll need to use every advantage. But I think with you as keeper, we have a really good chance. What do you say?”

  Kate hesitated. The coach was counting on her. How could she say no?

  “I guess so,” she mumbled.

  “Don’t look so worried,” Coach Christy said. “We’re going to have a great game.”

  Kate tried to smile. But she was worried. Coach Christy was expecting another amazing save in the game against the Westside Thunders. Kate was good at soccer, but she wasn’t that good. Her skills alone wouldn’t be enough.

  There was only one way she was going to be able to play like she had today. She was going to need more fairy dust.

  Faster, Vidia thought. Faster.

  She zoomed low over the meadow. Blades of grass bowed as she passed, bent by the gust from her wings.

  Faster! Vidia blazed over a patch of dandelions, blowing the seeds from their heads.

  As she soared again, she spied a swift darting through the air ahead of her. Determined to overtake the swallow-tailed bird, Vidia put on an extra burst of speed.

  Faster. Faster. FASTER!

  Vidia’s wings sliced the air like a pair of knives. Her breath came in gasps. She put every ounce of her strength into passing the bird.

  But the swift seemed to sense what she was up to. It sped up, too.

  Just when Vidia thought the race might be lost, the wind came up behind her. Vidia smiled. Her old friend, the wind. It gave her just the push she needed. She pulled up alongside the bird.

  The swift whistled and swooped away from her.

  “Poor thing,” Vidia sneered after him. “Afraid you can’t beat me?”

  Vidia slowed a fraction. She knew chasing the bird would be a waste of time. Swifts weren’t good at racing. They were too flighty to stay on course. Still, she’d been hoping for a good challenge. She looked around for something else to race.

  Across the meadow, she spied Dash and Leeta, two other fast fliers. Vidia darted over to them. “Fancy a race?” she asked as she approached them.

  Leeta sighed and looked away. “Not today, Vidia.”

  “Just a quick one. Three times around the meadow,” Vidia wheedled. “That should be a breeze for two fast fliers like you.”

  “Another time. We’re, er, busy,” Dash mumbled.

  “Very busy,” Leeta agreed. With a flutter of wings, the two fast fliers hurried away.

  Vidia laughed pityingly at their backs. She knew they weren’t busy. They just didn’t want to race her. That’s the problem with being the fastest fairy in Pixie Hollow, Vidia thought. Since she’d already beaten everyone, there was no one left to race.

  Vidia scanned the meadow. But all she saw were woolly caterpillars grazing while a fairy herder snoozed nearby. Nothing worth her time. I’ll go and race leaf-boats on Havendish Stream, Vidia decided. That was always good for a laugh—especially when the sailboats caught the draft from her wings and went swirling off course.

  She flew back across the meadow, then followed a gentle slope down past the Home Tree to the fairy docks.

  As she passed the mill where the fairy dust was stored, Vidia noticed Kate outside. Kate was talking to Terence, a dust-talent sparrow man. Vidia wasn’t usually curious about Clumsies. They were too slow, too awkward, too…well, clumsy. But she was interested in anything to do with fairy dust.

  She slowed down to eavesdrop.

  “…just an extra pinch to take home,” Kate was saying. “It’s for something important.”

  Terence scratched his head. “Well, we give Peter Pan and the Lost Boys extra fairy dust to fly,” he said. “I suppose there’s no harm in you taking a pinch, too.”

  Terence never gives me extra fairy dust, Vidia thought indignantly. Whe
n he doled out her daily cupful, he was careful to measure it down to the grain.

  Of course, Vidia knew why. More than once, she had helped herself to fairy dust without asking. She had even been banned from going near the mill for a time. But Vidia momentarily forgot all that. She watched, fuming, as Terence scooped a pinch of fairy dust into a leaf. He folded it like an envelope, then sealed it with sap and handed it to Kate.

  Kate thanked Terence and put the dust in her pocket. As she walked away, Vidia flew down next to her ear. “Fly with you, sweet.”

  Kate started and looked around. When she saw Vidia she scowled. “Oh, it’s you.”

  “Is that any way to greet an old friend?” Vidia asked.

  “You’re not my friend,” Kate said. “Friends don’t steal all your fairy dust and leave you stuck up in a tree.”

  “What do you mean, dear one?”

  “You know,” Kate said. “You tricked me into taking fairy dust, when you knew it wasn’t okay. Then you took it all for yourself and left me stranded.”

  “Oh, don’t be so touchy,” Vidia said, waving her hand. “I seem to recall that you got a rather good flying lesson out of it.”

  Kate sighed. “What do you want, Vidia?”

  “Just what I said, dear child. To fly with you. I thought we might have a race.” Vidia’s eyes darted to Kate’s pocket.

  “You can’t have any of my fairy dust, if that’s what you want,” Kate said.

  Vidia shrugged as if it made no difference.

  “What do you need more dust for anyway?” Kate asked. “You’re already the fastest.”

  In Pixie Hollow, maybe, Vidia thought. But she didn’t just want to be the fastest thing in Pixie Hollow. She wanted to be the fastest anywhere, ever. “One can always be faster,” she told Kate.

  “Well, I don’t want to race,” Kate replied. “I need the fairy dust for something else.” She paused, then added, “Don’t you want to know what?”