Oluchi’s tea was now tepid. She had been too absorbed in Shupikayi’s story to take a sip of it. “So you didn’t mind being kidnapped by the fairies at all?”
Shupikayi shrugged. “Not really. I was still angry about my cousins and Ropafadzo messing around with my plans with their stupid slingshots. So, being taken to a fairy land was a welcome distraction for me.”
“But what about your parents? What did they do when they found out you were gone?”
“Oh, yes. From what Mama and Baba told me about that day, things got quite hectic.”
***
“What do you mean Shupikayi isn’t here?!” Queen Makanaka said to one of her servants. Her, her husband, her two other children, and all the relatives on her husband’s side were now seated at the table in the dining room. A great banquet was prepared there, and the birthday cake was ready with ten candles lit. It was a chocolate cake, Shupikayi’s favorite flavor. Or, at least she thought it was (It really wasn’t).
Her servant rubbed the back of her neck. “I searched all the bedrooms, all the closets, checked the kitchen and the cellar and all the kitchen cabinets. I checked the study, and I looked in the garden and in the garden shed, but Princess Shupikayi wasn’t anywhere to be found. I had all the servants double and triple check every nook and cranny. But alas, she is yet to be found.”
Queen Makanaka fumed. “But if she isn’t here, then where is she?”
Before the servant could say another word, one of the little cousins, Bope, snorted. “She probably ran off because we ‘ruined’ her stupid tea party,” he said, smirking.
King Jabari looked directly at the young boy. “What do you mean, Bope?”
Bope’s smile quickly vanished. “Nothing.”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Queen Makanaka said. “What did you do?!”
Bope pointed to Ropafadzo. “It was his idea!”
Ropafadzo glared at Bope. “We were just slinging rocks at her stuffed toys, that’s all. And it was not my idea, it was yours!”
The king groaned. “So that’s what she was trying to tell us.”
Queen Makanaka blinked. Now she remembered. She and her husband had been occupied talking to Lord Ekon and Lady Yevedzo. Shupikayi was trying to tell them something then, but she had told her not to interrupt. Now that she thought about it, Shupikayi did seem fairly upset, even moreso when they had told her to go play with her toys for a bit and then they would have her blow the candles on her cake. “She ran away?”
The servant hesitated. “It would appear so, your majesty.”
Queen Makanka was silent for a moment.
King Jabari looked at her. “Uh, sweetie? Are you okay?”
“NO! Of course I’m not okay! My baby is gone!” She stood up and looked at her servant. “Don’t just stand there! Find Shupikayi! I want search parties, I want animal-speaking pixies to ask all the animals if they’ve seen her, and I want messenger birds to fly over the whole kingdom if they have to! No one rests until my baby is found! She has to be in the capital somewhere!”
The servants saluted. “Yes, your majesty!” She ran out of the room to do as she was commanded.
The queen turned to everyone at the table. “What are you still sitting for? You think we’re still going to eat dinner? Stop seatwarming and help me!”
Everyone rose from their seats.
“Y-yes, of course!” Uncle Ekon said. “My sons will be happy to help.” He turned to his son, Bope, and nudged him. “Right, son?”
Bope groaned. “But I wanted to eat the cake,” he whined.
His father glared at him. Bope sighed. “Yes, sir, I’ll help.”
All the relatives scurried out of the dining room and ran out to the front lawn of the palace. The relatives formed their own search parties and dispersed to search different areas of the kingdom.
Queen Makanaka, King Jabari, and their children, Anatsawanashe and Ropafadzo, along with their royal guards first checked Ms. Malfeasance’s Apothecary.
Shupikayi wasn’t there.
The royal family and another search party went to the Elephant Fields.
Shupikayi wasn’t there either.
Finally, they went to the forest that Shupikayi liked, but they didn’t see her there, either.
Queen Makanaka started to panic and sat down on a large stone. “What if we never find her?”
King Jabari put his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find her, don’t worry.”
“I can’t help but worry! What if she’s been kidnapped?”
King Jabari hesitated. “I doubt that would happen. Shupikayi is smart, so I’m sure she’s fine.”
Suddenly, a pixie in a green leaf dress and a raven following her flew to the king and queen. They landed atop a branch of a nearby tree. “Your majesties,” the pixie said with a curtsy. “I have good news, and bad news.”
“Speak, then,” King Jabari said.
“The good news is your daughter is alive and well. She is safe.”
“But where is she!?” Queen Makanaka asked.
The pixie hesitated. “I’m afraid that is more or less the bad news.” She pointed to the raven. “According to this raven, he saw your daughter tumble down a hill. And after that, two fairies came and, feeling pity for her…took her away to their domain so that she could be adopted by their friend. So…she’s in the Aurelia Forest now. Sorry.”
The king and queen stared at the pixie.
“Our daughter was kidnapped by fairies of Aurelia…so that a stranger could raise her?!” the Queen asked.
“I’m afraid so.”
The king’s face reddened. “No fairy can simply kidnap our child and get away with it.”
“Absolutely not!” the queen said. “The Aurelia Forest is only a day’s journey from here. We’ll form an army and march to the Aurelia Forest at once!” Makanaka pointed to the pixie. “You, whatever your name is, go and tell the Queen of Aurelia this message: If she does not return our child at once, we will burn their whole kingdom to the ground! Nothing will be left but ashes! Understood?!”
The pixie hesitated. “I don’t know. I was supposed to have my hair done at Ruby’s Hair Salon later…”
The king and queen glared at her.
The pixie sighed. “Alright, fine. I’m going. Come on, Hubert. I can’t fly all the way there.” The pixie hopped onto the raven’s back, and he flew off into the sky.
The royal family and their guards quickly headed back to the palace so that an army could be prepared.
Queen Makanaka fumed and her ears became hot. “How dare some winged-rats take my baby! I will make them rue the day they were born! I bet Shupikayi feels terrible! My poor baby. She’s all alone in a forest of fairy strangers! It must be a nightmare!”
***
Shupikayi drank a teacup of Golden Leaf tea and bit into a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie as she sat at a beautiful round table with an adorable tea set. As the sun set, its light dappled the wooden pavilion that was in a small clearing surrounded by patches of tiny purple wildflowers, as well as the tall golden leafed trees. Here, Shupikayi was having her tea party with her new pet unicorn. “This is a dream come true,” she said. “No little gremlins messing up my tea party, and no noise. Everything is just right.”
The unicorn snorted and sniffed an empty teacup. She was an incredibly beautiful unicorn, with black fur and a silver horn. Her mane was long and white, and so was her tail.
“Oh, I’m sorry Mrs. Dagga. Would you like some tea?” She grabbed the teapot that was on the table and poured the unicorn some. “You’ll love this tea. It’s very sweet. Would you like some more cookies?” She held one out in the palm of her hand.
The unicorn didn’t have to be asked twice. She gobbled up the cookie. Then, she pointed her horn at the plate of cookies, and a light surrounded it. It floated right to her, and she helped herself to all of the cookies on the plate.
Shupikayi stared at her. “Mrs. Dagga, how could you?!”
The unicorn sneezed. Then, she used its unicorn powers to plop the empty plate back onto the table.
“Buhle!” Adali swooped down from the trees and flew onto the pavilion. “I heard you shouting. What happened?”
Shupikayi pointed at Dagga the Unicorn. “She ate all the cookies!”
Adali shook her head at the unicorn. “Dagga, you know better.” She walked over to the unicorn and gave her a nidge. “If you cannot share, you’ll have to leave. Go eat some grass or something.”
Dagga snorted as if offended. She raised her head high and clomped away.
“I’m sorry, Buhle. I’ll make you more cookies soon.”
“It’s okay,” Shupikayi said. “I’m full anyway.”
Adali sat in a chair beside Shupikayi. “Bwana should be here soon. I hope he won’t be too shocked.”
“Why would he be?”
Adali hesitated. “I’m not sure how he’ll feel about me adopting you quite yet.”
“You’re going to adopt me?”
“Well, obviously yes…Unless that’s not what you want.”
“Huh.” Shupikayi poured herself a third cup of tea and sipped it. She wasn’t entirely sure about being adopted. She sometimes daydreamed about being adopted by another family somewhere else, one where she could be an only child. But now that the opportunity was before her, she wasn’t sure if she should take it or not, or if she would even be able to make that choice. Her parents would figure out she was missing, and then what would happen?
Would they just forget about her? She doubted it.
Would they search for her? Most likely.
Would they scold her once she found her. Very likely.
“I don’t mind too much…” Shupikayi said. “But my parents might.”
“I don’t mind too much…” Shupikayi said. “But my parents might.”
“Oh,” Adali said.
Shupikayi picked up a tiny spoon and swirled it around in her tea, making a tiny whirlpool. “Do you fairies kidnap human kids all the time, like in the stories?”
“We don’t kidnap children. We adopt children who’ve been abandoned by their parents.”
“Oh…So you guys adopt human kids all the time?”
“Not all the time, but it is common. There’re actually quite a few girls your age who love tea parties as much as you do.”
Shupikayi perked up and left her tiny spoon in the teacup. “Do they like gardening too?”
“A couple of them do. What were their names? Ah, yes, Vimbo and Akhona. I’ll introduce you to them later.”
“Can’t we meet them now?”
Adali smiled. “I would but I want to wait for–”
“Adali!” a fairy called.
Adali leapt from her seat and fluttered out of the pavilion. “Down, here, love!”
The fairy swooped down from the air and landed in front of her. He had long dark hair in twists, big black wings, and his skin was almost the same complexion as Shupikayi’s, which was a bit of a surprise to her. She wondered if he ever got teased for his complexion just like she was teased for hers. He wore an orange tunic, dark pants, and sandals. “Your friend told me you needed me. Is everything alright?”
Adali smiled. “Everything is fine!”
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” She took his hand and led him onto the pavilion. “Look who’s here? Isn’t she cute?”
Bwana stared at Shupikayi for a moment. He smiled kindly at her but then turned to his wife. “Adali…why is there a human child here?”
“Well, haven’t we talked about adopting?”
Bwana blinked. “Yes, but…I’m missing some context here. Where did she come from?”
“My friends found her in a forest all by herself. I think her parents might have been neglectful.”
“But she doesn’t look malnourished.”
“True. But she mentioned her parents were having her birthday without her. Why would she be in the woods there by herself on her birthday?”
“Because little kids sometimes run off? Maybe her parents were distracted and didn’t realize she left. They’re probably looking for her right now. She looks like she’s been taken care of.”
Adali huffed. “She had scrapes and bruises all over her from falling down a hill, Bwana. It was the Golden Leaf tea that I gave her that got rid of them, and I made sure she had something good to wear after her other dress got ruined. Besides, if her parents can’t keep an eye on her, then maybe they don’t deserve her.”
Bwana looked stunned. “Sweetie, I know what happened a while ago was hard for you. It was hard for me too. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about…”
Adali lowered her head. “I’d rather not talk about it now. Especially not in front of Buhle.”
“Buhle?”
“That’s my new name,” Shupikayi said.
Bwana gave his wife a look. “Her new name?”
“They named her Shupikayi,” Adali said. “Of all the names–you do know what that name means, don’t you?”
Bwana pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes. But their ways are different than our ways, and taking someone else’s child–”
“Who they named Suffer,” Adali said.
“This is not a good idea. She can’t replace–”
“I know that. But I need–” She sighed.
Shupikayi had a bad feeling she knew what these two fairies were talking about. She hoped she was wrong, but she didn’t think she was. She knew that before she and her older sister were born, her mama had had another baby. Her mama rarely discussed the baby. When Shupikayi asked her what had happened to the baby, her mama’s response was silence and then a change in subject.
It was not a very pleasant answer, but the silence was an answer all the same. Shupikayi knew what it meant.
So even though she was tired of being with people who talked about her as if she wasn’t there, and even though she was tempted to clear her throat to make her presence known, like her mother sometimes did to get her attention whenever she was focused on making imaginary tea, she didn’t say anything.
Adali walked over to Shupikayi and picked her up. “Look, I’ll make you a deal. If her parents really care about her, then they will try to find her, won’t they? If I hear any word of parents looking for their daughter, then maybe I’ll give her back. But if not, I say we keep her.”
Bwana looked back and forth between his wife and Shupikayi. “Adali…” he sighed. “Fine.”
“Really?” Adali said.
“Yes, really.” Bwana shook his head. “I just hope this choice won’t come back to haunt us.”
“It won’t. You’ll see. Everything we’ll be fine.”
But to Shupikayi, it sounded like Adali was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Bwana.
As for her dream come true…Shupikayi had a bad feeling she was about to wake up.
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