The Fairies of Sherwood Forest

Ella was helping a beetle out of a footprint when Celine landed beside her. The footprint was wider than a lily pond. At its bottom, the beetle waved six muddy legs. Ella touched a trailing vine and coaxed it down the slippery side. The beetle climbed out, shook itself, and hurried underneath a leaf. Celine looked from the footprint to the flattened ferns beyond it. Something enormous had walked through Sherwood Forest.

Ella and Celine were six years old, best friends, and fairies. Ella had a short dark bob that fluttered when she flew. Celine had two dark braids that bounced behind her shoulders. They were small enough to sit together on an oak leaf, and they looked after the forest around their tree. Usually that meant freeing tangled seedlings or finding a lost snail. Today, it meant following footprints that swallowed the whole path.