Chapter 1From Gingersnaps to Wildfires It was a gray day in November, clouds hanging heavy and dark. Heather and Edward were
helping Heather’s father to bake gingersnap cookies from Nanny Pippa’s recipe when Heather’s eyes suddenly changed color.
“Uh-oh,” said Edward.
“Here we go again. Your eyes are purple! And I see red and green slashes.”
Edward and Heather both looked at Heather’s magic umbrella, standing in a corner by the door. Fog ran to the umbrella and sniffed it. Blizzard skittered to the dog’s side.
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The gem on the handle of the umbrella was flashing frantically.
Heather turned off the cookie mixer. Edward spilled some honey on the floor and his shoes.
“Oh, no!” he said. “My new shoes! Plus, I have flour all over my shirt.”
“No time to worry about your shoes or your shirt,” said Heather. “It’s time for another adventure.”
Edward followed Heather to the umbrella. Heather’s pets looked up at her.
“Let’s go!” said Heather. “Bye, Dad!”
“Be safe!” Heather’s father shouted as Heather picked up the umbrella. The four friends hurried outside into the chilly November day. Heather popped up the umbrella and pressed the gemstone.
Heather’s entire body twisted, along with the umbrella.
Swirling, whirling, twirling fast as a human tornado,
Heather flew high into the sky. So did Edward, and Blizzard, and Fog. It was wild and crazy and weird, just like the first time, and Heather’s heart flipped exactly as it had on her last wild weather adventure.
Heather blinked, and her body landed gently upon the ground, her three friends dropping down beside her.
The smell of smoke hung thick in the air, and all four of them began to cough.
“Holy guacamole!” squeaked Blizzard. “Look!”
The lizard pointed into the distance, toward high hills.
The hills flamed with fire.
“Dude!” said Fog. “We’re in California! The West Coast of America.”
Edward lifted one shoe after another, still examining the mess of sticky honey.
“How do you know we’re in California?” he asked.
“Um, that sign over there.” Fog lifted a paw, pointing.
Heather took a deep breath. She could feel the heat of the fires, even though they weren’t close.
“My hypothesis,” she said, “is that we are near a wildfire.
I can tell from all this smoke and heat.”
“They happen a lot in California, don’t they?” asked
Edward. He bit nervously on a fingernail.
“Wildfires happen all over the world,” said Fog. “Anywhere that it is too dry.”
“They need some rain!” said Edward.
“I wish it would start raining right this minute!”
“Let’s do a rain dance!” squeaked Blizzard, looking
up at the sky and skittering in circles.
“I wish that the magic of the umbrella could just make it rain!” said Edward.
“I think wildfires may be caused by more than drought,” said Heather. “I’ll do some research and write about that in my Weather Journal when we get home.”
The four friends all gazed at the blazing fires.
“One minute we were making gingersnaps,” said Heather, “and the next, we’re at a wildfire.
Wild weather adventures sure are surprising.”
“It’s creepy how we can feel the heat from so far away,” squeaked Blizzard.
“Lizards don’t melt,” huffed Fog. “And you’re from a tropical environment, bro. Try to imagine being inside of all this fur.”
Fog coughed and barked and coughed and barked.
“Smoke’s getting to me,” the dog wheezed.
“It’s burning my eyes,” said Heather.
“I’m thirsty,” complained Edward. “I hope we don’t get
dehydrated out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“I need water,” panted Fog. His tongue hung slobbering from his mouth.
“My eyes hurt,” said Blizzard.
“Try blinking a lot,” suggested Heather. “That might help our eyes to feel better.”
The four blinked again and again.
They suddenly stood much closer to the huge wildfires on the hills. The air burned hotter, and the smoke hung even thicker. The sky had turned a dark gray.
“What in the world?” asked Edward.
“The umbrella brought us closer,” said Heather.
Small embers floated through the air and several landed
upon a pile of twigs and branches. The wood caught fire, and small flames flickered directly in front of the four friends.
“Yikes!” squeaked Blizzard.
“Too close for comfort,” huffed Fog.
“My skin is so hot,” said Edward, his voice trembling.
“Don’t panic,” said Heather. “Stay calm. We got this.
The magic takes us places so that we can help. And learn.
Let’s carefully stomp out this little fire. We can do it! We’re wearing shoes.”
Edward groaned.
“First honey, and now fire?!” he said. “This is going to ruin my shoes.”
“What’s more important: your shoes or putting out this fire?” Heather asked.
Edward took a deep breath. “Let’s do this,” he said.
Heather and Edward stepped carefully up to the hot embers and stomped and stomped until no flames or orange sparks remained.
They gave one another a high five, and then Edward leaned over, gasping for air.
“See?” Heather said. “We’re learning a lot about wildfires, right?”
“What I’m learning right now,” wheezed Edward between whistling breaths, “is that all this smoke is making my asthma act up. I can’t breathe very well, and I don’t even know if I have my inhaler.” He reached into his pocket.
“Yes!” he said. “I do have it. Whew! I might need to use this if things keep getting worse.”
“Dude,” panted Fog, “I can’t breathe well, either. And I really need water.”
“Me, too!” gasped Blizzard. “Usually I only need water when I eat a lot of insects, but I haven’t had any flies or spiders today.”
Heather’s heart leaped into her throat. It was hard to swallow. Her face burned so hot, and she was very thirsty.
Heather took a slow breath, counting to four in order to calm herself. She coughed.
“It feels like the heat is getting closer and the smoke is getting thicker,” she said.
The four friends looked at one another, eyes watering from the fires and from fear.
Copyright © 2024 by Linda Oatman High; Illustrated by Kris McLeod. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
