DANNY MONTEVERDE BELIEVED.
He believed in making wishes, and in lucky four-leaf clovers, and in underground tunnels that lead to wondrous places. He knew if he could reach the second star to the right and go straight on till morning, he’d be well on his way to Neverland, just like the kids in Peter Pan. And if he stood in the right place, at the right time, he could travel through a moon portal. Danny knew that just because some things couldn’t be seen or explained, it didn’t mean they couldn’t be real. Magic was everywhere, if you just paid attention.
He’d learned to believe from his sister, Pili, and she’d learned from her favorite book of fairy tales, The Way to Rio Luna by Ella St. Clay. For as long as Danny could remember, it’d been just the two of them. While their foster homes and orphanages and schools always changed, Danny could count on two things: his sister and their book. Pili had bought the copy with her own money at a yard sale. It was the only thing she’d ever owned, paid for with the few dollars she’d been given for doing other kids’ chores. The paper was frayed and nearly falling apart because every night, without fail, Pili would read to her little brother.
They hid under alcoves, in tiny rooms under the stairs, inside closets—anywhere two small kids could fit and not be noticed. Even when it was cold, or they could hear their foster parents fighting, or when their new guardian forgot to feed them, Danny and Pili could always escape into a world of magical forests, enchanted gardens, and shooting stars. Each story took them to a new part of their favorite fairyland. Danny particularly loved the ones set at the heart of the world, the place called Rio Luna. There a great river was home to fairies, silver trees, and extraordinary magic.
“I promise, Danny,” Pili told him. It was his ninth birthday, and she’d found enough change to buy him a chocolate–peanut butter cupcake with sprinkles. “One day, we’re going to find a place that’s better than here.”
“Like how Heidi from Mrs. Murphy’s class and her family go to Hawaii?” he asked, licking frosting off his fingertips.
Pili laugh-snorted. “Even better.” She took his pinky finger with hers. “When we get to Rio Luna, we can have our own rooms. We can eat whatever we want. No one will hurt us or try to separate us. We’ll be able to fly with shooting stars and have tea with witches. We’ll be free. I promise.”
But a few days after making that promise, Danny was placed in the care of a family called the Finnegans while Pili stayed at the group home. Before Danny left, Pili let him take The Way to Rio Luna.
“This is only temporary. We’ll be together again soon,” she told him, and Danny took her pinky in his and didn’t let go until his social worker, Mrs. Contreras, beeped the car horn.
A few days later, Danny received the news that Pili was gone. There was no trace of her. Not her backpack or clothes or toothbrush or her favorite hair ribbon. It was as if she vanished into thin air. The police and social workers told Danny that Pili was a runaway, but he knew his sister wouldn’t leave him behind. They had pinky sworn, and that kind of promise was unbreakable. There had to be some sort of explanation. Pili was out there somewhere, searching for the place they’d talked about together. He would find her.
That’s how Danny Monteverde became one of the world’s strongest believers in magic.
ONE MONTH AFTER PILI’S unexpected disappearance, Danny still believed.
He believed in magic and in the stories that kept him awake in the middle of the night. That was how he was going to find Pili in Rio Luna.
He was going to fly.
His new foster family, the Finnegans, seemed nice enough if you only looked at the photos on the fireplace mantel—a mother, a father, and two kids of their own. But after a month of living with them, Danny got to know a different side of the perfect home. The Boy Finnegan didn’t like the way Danny ate everything on his dinner plate, even the smelly cauliflower, because then Mother Finnegan said, “Why can’t you be more like Danny?” The Girl Finnegan thought Danny’s nose was too big for his small, square face and often made fun of him for it. Mother Finnegan didn’t quite know what to do with a child who grew so quickly. Danny’s hair was thick and wavy like ropes of black licorice. It needed a trim nearly every week, and soon enough, she stopped cutting it. Danny couldn’t fit into the boy’s hand-me-downs, either, so his pants and sleeves always showed an inch of his thin ankles and wrists. Father Finnegan didn’t like that Danny would rather stay cooped up in the corner of the living room with a book. He wanted Danny to like things like throwing and kicking balls around.
But Danny preferred books. He carried Pili’s copy of The Way to Rio Luna by Ella St. Clay everywhere he went. When he wasn’t picked for the school play, he’d read it in the auditorium. While his foster siblings had soccer practice, Danny always managed to find a quiet corner high up on the bleachers. He’d read at the mall food court while the Finnegans spent hours and hours shopping for clothes and toys. That always meant Danny would get new hand-me-downs soon, which he didn’t mind. The only thing Mother Finnegan had offered to buy for Danny was a new copy to replace his tattered book.
Unfortunately, The Way to Rio Luna was out of print everywhere. Even if he could find a shiny new one, Danny wouldn’t want it. It wouldn’t feel right. This one was Pili’s. On the cover was a secret garden with floating fairies between spindly trees. Arrows and a compass rose surrounded the title and the author’s name. There were rips and creases on the jacket, but it was nothing a bit of tape couldn’t fix. The words on the yellowing paper reminded him of the impossible—of the people in his life who were long gone. Sometimes, the book felt alive.
One time, he thought that he could see the letters on the page glowing. When he told Mother Finnegan about it, she said his imagination was too active. Danny didn’t feel very active. In fact, one of his favorite things was sitting, which was the opposite of being active. He could sit and read for hours and hours. He loved that the words on the page came to life in his mind, like blobs of watercolor taking shape.
But reading alone wasn’t the same as reading with Pili. He missed the way she did all the voices, like the one of the Moon Witch who lived inside a tree. He missed the way she could always distract him when the house was full of screaming and slamming doors. He missed the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches she’d sneak him before bed. She’d put Cap’n Crunch into the peanut butter so it would taste extra sweet and be extra crunchy. He clung to those memories of her the way he clung to his book. There was only one thing Danny believed in more than magic, and it was that Pili loved him and would never have left him alone on purpose.
He knew he’d find her waiting for him in Rio Luna. He simply needed to figure out how to get there. So he looked for portals in the backs of wardrobes. He even dug a hole in the Finnegans’ backyard. But instead of a rabbit hole, he discovered only a septic tank. Danny tried to apologize, but when he went to find his foster parents, he overhead them speaking about him.
“We had to pick the looniest of the bunch, didn’t we?” Father Finnegan said. “Other kids read the same drivel and they don’t act this way.”
Mother Finnegan made a clucking noise, like the neighbor’s chicken. “Hush now. He just needs time. After his sister—”