13 A New Home

CHAPTER 13 A NEW HOME The grumblebees buzzed around the flower in Skyla's paw. "Where did you find that?" they asked. "The Shadow destroyed everything. There are no more flowers."

Tag pulled out Grey's magical map. He unrolled it and pointed to the Whispering Oak. Then he slid his wing over the mossy hills and stopped at a spot on the other side. "This is where we found it—in a magical meadow." "There are flowers of every color and soft green grass," Skyla said, smiling as she remembered. Blaze nodded. "You will be able to gather so much nectar and make so much honey that there will be enough for everyone—even the bears!" Tag added.

The smallest bee flew over and landed on Skyla's flower. He disappeared inside the petals and popped up a few moments later covered in pollen. The other grumblebees gathered around, buzzing excitedly. "What are you doing?" Tag asked. "Thorn will be here soon!" The bees looked at Tag. "Follow us," the smallest bee said. Tag flew up to the highest branch of the Whispering Oak, landing beside the large beehive. "You may take what you need," the small bee offered. "Thank you!" Tag said.

He peered inside and saw a golden honeycomb filled with sticky honey. Tag's mouth watered. It smelled delicious. No wonder the bears want this so badly, he thought. He reached in with his wing and broke off the honeycomb. Then Tag flew back down to Skyla and Blaze. "Shadow!" Blaze peeped. Tag could hear the grumblebees buzzing as they prepared to leave the Whispering Oak. I hope they'll be happy in their new home in the meadow, he thought.

The Shadow was almost overhead. The friends had to reach the bears before Thorn or the tiger bats did. "To the hills!" Tag cried.