Chapter 1 of 3
The first star
Each year, the town of Linden held a festival of lights. Strings of bulbs crossed the square, shop windows sparkled, and the fountain wore a silver crown. Tavi loved the festival, but this year she had something else to show her grandfather: a star she had learned to find.
They stood beside the bright fountain and looked up. The sky appeared empty. They tried the bakery steps and the bridge, but everywhere the lights washed the darkness away. "Perhaps the star is late," Tavi said.
Her grandfather suggested the hill beyond the last house. There, above the soft outline of the roofs, one steady point of light appeared. Tavi recognised it immediately. Then she noticed another, and another, until the sky seemed to be making its own quiet preparations.