Chapter 1
Once, there was a little girl named Marilee who had a younger brother named Toby. Marilee and Toby lived with their mother, their father, and their grandfather in a cottage by a high mountain. And they were happy.
But one day, a cold winter wind swept down from the mountain and chilled poor Toby. For three days Toby was ill and lay in bed, and Marilee sat beside his bed. But on the third day poor Toby died.
The next day, Marilee lay in bed with a sheep-skin blanket tucked tightly over her and her cheeks wet with tears. Marilee’s mother and father were standing at the doorway of her bedroom. Her mother was crying softly in her father’s arms. Marilee’s grandfather sat on the bed beside her, watching her with kind hazel eyes. “Marilee,” he asked, “why are you crying?”
Fresh tears fell upon her cheeks. “Why did Toby have to die?” she asked.
Her grandfather gazed thoughtfully out of the bedroom window at the sun setting over the mountain. He pulled on his short white beard, and his eyes grew misty. “Sometimes, things happen that we don’t fully understand,” he said. “But we must accept those things.”
“I don’t want to,” she said, and turned away from him. “I want Toby back.”
Her grandfather sighed sorrowfully. “I know,” he said. “I want him back too.”
“But where has he gone?” she asked. “Why can’t he come back?”
“Marilee,” he said, “you see that mountain up there.” He pointed at the snow-capped peak in her bedroom window, “that is where your brother has gone. He has gone to live with the fairies, forever and ever.”
Marilee turned to her grandfather. “But why must he leave us to be with the fairies?” she asked. “He will be so lonely without us.”
“Don’t feel bad,” said her grandfather. “The fairies will keep him company. No child is ever unhappy with the fairies.”
“But I miss him,” said Marilee, “more than anything.” She pulled the blanket over her face.
Her grandfather glanced at Marilee’s mother and father. “We’ll let her sleep tonight,” he said.
Marilee’s grandfather got to his feet and joined her parents at the door. He glanced at Marilee, who was hiding under her blanket. “Goodnight, my dear,” he said.
But when they had been gone for some time, Marilee climbed out of her bed and walked up to her bedroom window. The sun was behind the mountain, and the mountain’s snow-covered slopes gleamed in its light. “Don’t worry, Toby,” she said. “I will find you, and bring you back.”
