#2: Journey Beyond the Trees (Tales of Sasha) Read online

  If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this

  book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to

  the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any

  payment for this “stripped book.”

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real

  people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters,

  places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any

  resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is

  entirely coincidental.

  An imprint of Bonnier Publishing USA

  251 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010

  Copyright © 2017 by Bonnier Publishing USA

  All rights reserved, including the right of

  reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  LITTLE BEE BOOKS is a registered trademark of Bonnier Publishing USA,

  and associated colophon is a trademark of Bonnier Publishing USA.

  Manufactured in the United States of America LB 1216

  ISBN: 978-1-4998-0392-1 (hc)

  ISBN: 978-1-4998-0391-4 (pbk)

  First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Pearl, Alexa, 1967– author. | Sordo, Paco, illustrator.

  Title: Journey beyond the trees / by Alexa Pearl; illustrated by Paco Sordo.

  Description: New York, New York: Little Bee Books, [2017] | Series: Tales of Sasha; #2

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016014988 | ISBN 978-1-4998-0391-4 (pbk) | ISBN 978-1-4998-0392-1 (hc)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Horses—Fiction. | Animals, Mythical—Fiction. | Identity—Fiction. | Magic—

  Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION /

  Animals / Horses. | JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Mythical. Classification: LCC PZ7.1.P425 Jo

  2017 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016014988

  littlebeebooks.com

  bonnierpublishingusa.com

  Contents

  1. Show Me Your Wings

  2. Watch Me Fly!

  3. Sapphire

  4. The Magical Map

  5. Through the Trees

  6. Help Is on the Way

  7. Eyes on Me

  8. Behind the Gold Door

  CHAPTER

  1

  Show Me

  Your Wings

  “Guess what!” cried Sasha.

  Her hooves kicked up clumps of grass

  as she trotted across the field. She

  stopped in front of her two sisters, Zara

  and Poppy. They stood in the shade of

  the big cottonwood tree.

  “Guess what!” she cried again. Sasha

  was terrible at keeping secrets.

  Zara didn’t answer. She was busy.

  “Away . . . play . . . say . . . ,” she said

  quietly. She was writing a poem. She

  needed the perfect rhyming word.

  Poppy didn’t answer. She was busy

  too. Poppy swatted flies with her tail.

  The flies flew around the flowers in her

  long mane.

  Sasha let out a whinny. She hated

  when her sisters didn’t listen to her.

  Zara was the oldest sister. She had

  a jet-black coat and a chestnut-brown

  mane and tail. Poppy was the middle

  sister. She had a chestnut-brown coat

  and a jet-black mane and tail. Sasha

  was the youngest sister. She was all

  gray, except for a white patch on her

  back. She always felt like the plain sister,

  but not today.

  Today, Sasha felt superspecial, and

  she had to tell her sisters why. Her

  secret was too exciting to keep to

  herself. “I have wings!” cried Sasha.

  That did it. Zara spoke up. “You don’t

  have wings. You’re a horse, not a bird.”

  “I’m a horse with wings,” said Sasha.

  Poppy laughed. “Is this a game?”

  “No! This is real,” said Sasha.

  “Yesterday, Wyatt and I hiked to the

  top of Mystic Mountain.”

  “Why did you and Wyatt go up

  there?” asked Zara.

  “We went to eat wildflowers,” said

  Sasha, “but I fell off the mountain!” Sasha

  shivered, remembering how scared she’d

  felt. “Wings popped out from the white

  patch on my back. Real wings!” cried

  Sasha. “I flew around and around.”

  Zara snorted.

  “You’re making that

  up. Where are they

  now?”

  “I’m telling the

  truth,” said Sasha.

  “My wings went away after I flew back

  to the mountain.”

  “I want to see

  them,” said Poppy.

  “Show us your

  wings.”

  Sasha had always

  known she was different

  from the horses in their valley. She

  dreamed of visiting far-off places. She

  ran the fastest and jumped the highest.

  Now she was different in the most

  amazing way. She had wings!

  Sasha walked into the open field. She

  watched the birds flutter in the sky.

  Come out, wings, she thought.

  She waited.

  “Wings, wings, wings,” she repeated.

  Nothing happened.

  Maybe I need to move, she thought.

  Sasha began to trot.

  No wings came out.

  She looked over at her sisters. Zara

  listed more rhyming words. “Stay . . .

  way . . .” Poppy swatted a fly with her

  tail. They didn’t believe she had wings.

  She had to show them! She ran faster.

  Still no wings.

  Suddenly, she had the worst thought.

  What if my wings never come out again?

  Sasha picked up speed. She galloped

  past Caleb, her teacher at school. Sasha

  couldn’t slow down to say hello.

  She raced past a group of trees. She

  spotted a large branch on the ground,

  and her white patch began to itch.

  She knew this feeling. Her white patch

  itched when her body wanted to jump.

  Her legs sprang off the ground. A cool

  breeze flowed through her mane as she

  soared high over the branch.

  Sasha didn’t come back down.

  She looked to the left and saw clouds.

  She looked to the right and saw birds.

  She looked at her back—and saw two

  beautiful wings!

  “She’s flying!” her sisters cried from

  down below. “Sasha can really fly!”

  CHAPTER

  2

  Watch Me Fly!

  Sasha flapped her wings again and

  again. The silver feathers sparkled in

  the sunlight. She wasn’t the plain sister

  anymore!

  She flapped faster, and her body

  tilted sideways. The valley swirled below

  her, making her dizzy. Whoa! She took

  a deep breath and straightened. She

>   flapped her wings more slowly, letting

  her body glide. She flew in a huge circle.

  She darted through a cloud. Sasha was

  having so much fun!

  Sasha waved her tail at her sisters

  on the ground. They waved their tails

  back at her.

  Sasha lowered her neck and came in

  for a bumpy landing. Her hooves kicked

  up a spray of dirt.

  Zara and Poppy crowded around.

  “That was amazing!” cried Zara.

  “Hey, Zara, maybe it’s a sister thing,”

  said Poppy. “Watch me fly!”

  Poppy trotted. Then, with a burst

  of energy, she flung herself at the sky.

  She stretched her legs out to the side

  and—splat! She landed in a split on the

  ground.

  Zara helped Poppy up. “I guess it’s

  not a sister thing.”

  Poppy touched Sasha’s wings with

  her nose. In a flash, Sasha’s wings

  disappeared into her back.

  “You’re magic!” cried Poppy. “Make

  them come out again.”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” said Sasha.

  “How does it work?” asked Zara.

  “I have no idea,” said Sasha. A lot

  about flying and having wings didn’t

  make sense to her.

  Zara nuzzled Sasha. “Maybe they’ll

  come out if I press you here . . . or

  here . . .”

  “You’re tickling me!” Sasha said with a

  giggle. Then she became serious. Should

  she tell them her secret story? Zara and

  Poppy were her sisters, after all.

  “I can fly because I don’t come from

  here,” Sasha told them.

  “That’s crazy. Our herd has always

  lived in Verdant Valley,” said Zara. “Ask

  Mom and Dad.”

  “I did,” said Sasha. “They told me

  about the day I came here. There was

  a big storm. You were both babies, and

  Mom and Dad huddled with you under

  Mystic Mountain to keep out of the rain.

  Then there was a flash of lightning, and I

  appeared on the ground. I was wrapped

  in a golden blanket, and this note was

  with me.”

  Sasha pushed aside a pile of rocks

  under the cottonwood tree and pulled

  out the note.

  Zara read it aloud. “‘Please keep

  Sasha safe until we can see her again.’”

  Poppy was confused. “Who wrote

  that? Where did you come from?”

  Sasha shrugged. She had so many

  questions and no answers.

  “Let’s find Mom and Dad,” said Zara.

  “They’re at the Drinking Place.”

  The three sisters hurried over to the

  stream. The stream started high up on

  Mystic Mountain and flowed down into

  their valley. The cool water tasted best

  at the Drinking Place, where the stream

  divided into two. Their herd gathered

  here, especially when the weather was

  warm.

  Sasha spotted their mom and dad.

  They were alone.

  “Sasha can fly!” cried Zara and Poppy.

  Her parents were excited and proud.

  “Tell us how,” said her dad. He knew

  how the flowers grew and how the bees

  made honey. He liked to understand

  how things worked.

  “I don’t know,” said Sasha. “My wings

  didn’t come with instructions.”

  “Well, someone must know,” said

  Zara.

  Her mom shook her head. “Our herd

  has never known a flying horse.”

  Sasha’s ears pricked up. She heard

  hoof beats. “Who’s there?” she called.

  Caleb stepped off the path and came

  to her. “I saw you fly!”

  Sasha gulped. Was she in trouble?

  “You’re not the only one, Sasha,” said

  Caleb. “Other horses can fly.”

  CHAPTER

  3

  Sapphire

  “You—you can fly?” Sasha asked Caleb.

  “Not me,” said Caleb. “I once met a

  horse who could fly.”

  Sasha was so happy. She wasn’t the

  only one! “Really? When?”

  “I was just a foal,” said Caleb.

  Sasha looked at Caleb. His copper

  coat was turning gray. His back sloped

  with old age. He had been a foal a long

  time ago!

  Caleb told his story. “I was playing

  by myself near the big trees. Suddenly,

  a foal with wings dropped from the sky!

  Her wing was hurt and that made her

  fall. I patched her up with bark and tree

  sap.”

  Sasha’s mom nodded. Caleb was

  known for his kindness.

  “Did she have wings like mine?” asked

  Sasha.

  “Yes. Her wings were bright blue, and

  her name was Sapphire,” said Caleb.

  “She was my friend.”

  “What happened to Sapphire?” asked

  Sasha’s dad.

  “Her wing healed quickly. She left

  that night. I never saw her again.” Caleb

  looked sad. “I told my friends and family

  about her. No one believed me. They

  thought I was making her up.”

  “You weren’t. She was real!” cried

  Sasha. “Like me!”

  “She was like you. You both have the

  same sparkly spirit. You both dream big

  dreams,” said Caleb. “I’ve always liked

  that about you.”

  Sasha was surprised. Caleb often

  scolded her in class for daydreaming or

  not following the rules. She had been

  sure Caleb didn’t like her.

  “I have so many questions for

  Sapphire. I have to find her!” Sasha

  searched the sky.

  “When Sapphire left, she didn’t fly.

  She walked through the big trees,” said

  Caleb.

  Sasha hurried in the direction of the

  big trees.

  “No! You can’t go there.”

  Her mother blocked her path.

  “Why not?” asked Sasha, but she

  already knew the answer. The horses in

  Verdant Valley had a strict rule: Never

  go beyond the big trees. No one could

  ever tell her what was back there.

  “It’s just the way it is,” said her

  mother.

  “Besides, you’re too little to go

  anywhere alone,” said her father.

  Sasha wouldn’t give up. “Someone

  could come with me.” Other flying

  horses were out there somewhere. She

  just knew it.

  “Plus, you don’t know how to find

  her,” added her mother.

  “I may know,” said Caleb. “Sapphire

  gave me a gift before she left. She asked

  me not to show it to anyone, but I will

  show Sasha now.”

  He began to walk slowly through the

  tall grass. Sasha’s parents nodded for

  her to follow. They stayed behind with

  Zara and Poppy.

  Sasha walked alongside Caleb. It

  wasn’t easy to walk as slowly as he did.

  On the way, she told him the story of

  how she’d come to the valley.


  Finally, he stopped

  at an old pine tree.

  The tree had a large,

  dark hole in its trunk.

  Caleb plunged his head

  all the way inside.

  Sasha heard rustling noises. Were

  those leaves? Then she heard a screech.

  Did he wake a sleeping owl?

  “Caleb! Are you okay?” cried Sasha.

  He pulled his head out. Sasha’s eyes

  grew wide.

  Between his teeth, he held a brilliant

  blue feather. Its glittery tip crackled with

  silver light.

  “That feather belonged to Sapphire,”

  whispered Sasha.

  CHAPTER

  4

  The Magical Map

  Caleb placed Sapphire’s blue feather on

  the grass. A piece of gold fabric was

  wrapped around the feather’s stem. A

  thin chain held the fabric in place, and

  a tiny bell hung on the chain.

  Caleb unhooked the chain with

  his teeth. The bell rang. Suddenly,

  a corner of the fabric poked

  up. Twisting and turning, the

  fabric began to unroll off

  the feather—all by itself!

  Sasha watched with her mouth open.

  The tiny piece of fabric grew bigger

  and bigger. Soon, a huge sheet of gauzy

  gold floated in the sunlight.

  “Look!” cried Caleb.

  Pictures magically lifted off the fabric.

  Buds blossomed into huge flowers.

  Strawberries, oranges, lemons, limes,

  and blueberries let out bursts of color

  that turned into a rainbow. Butterflies

  and fairies spun in dizzy circles. Sasha

  heard the rush of cool water and the

  sweet melody of a flute.

  “What’s this?” she asked.