That morning the sky was a clean blue, without even one cloud. Then a cool little breeze came and pushed up lots of white clouds, soft as cotton balls. Lily, Ziggy, Skye, and Dash were lying on the grass, their hands behind their heads, looking up.

"That one up there looks like a rabbit!" said Skye in her sweet voice.

"And that one is an elephant with a very long trunk!" laughed Dash, jumping up to point at it better.

"I see one shaped like a cat, like my Sofia!" said Ziggy.

Lily narrowed her blue eyes and looked carefully. "These are not normal clouds," she said quietly. "They are magic clouds. I can feel it."

Just at that moment, from far away, came a happy sound. "CHOO CHOOO!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, popping out from the far side of the meadow all shiny, with smoke making little curls in the sky. He stopped next to the children and said:

"Choo choo, dear children, I say hello,
I came to help you, here we go!
Where two big skies are face to face,
someone lost their smile in that place!"

The children looked at each other, curious. Two skies? What did that mean? But with Toby it was always like this: he gave a little clue, and then you had to climb aboard to find out the rest. They all jumped on, laughing, and the little train set off through the meadows with its happy choo choo.

After a while Toby slowed down beside a small, quiet pond. The water was so still and smooth that the sky was mirrored in it perfectly. Above were the animal-clouds, and below, in the water, the same clouds upside down. There really seemed to be two skies, one real and one hidden in the lake.

"The Mirror Lake," whispered Lily with wide eyes.

All around there were tall reeds, singing frogs, and little fish darting about. But something was wrong. A little group of bees flew back and forth, all upset, with a sad buzz.

"What's the matter, little bees?" asked Skye, coming closer gently.

"It's a disaster!" buzzed the smallest bee. "The wind carried away the smell of the flowers. We can't find the honey meadow anymore! It's hidden over there, past the foggy reeds, but in there you can't see anything, and we're so scared."

The children looked across the lake. There was a thick, gray fog covering everything, like a wool blanket. No one could see what was on the other side.

"Without flowers we can't make honey," cried the bees. "And without us, the flowers don't grow anymore. What will we do?"

That was when they heard a slow, cheerful little voice.

"Ooh, so much chatter! Let me through, let me through..."

From the grass popped a little snail with a spiral shell, moving slowly, leaving behind a trail that sparkled like silver. She smelled of dried flowers and honey.

"Good morning, everyone! I am Grandma Snail Rosalba, ninety years old, you know? I have seen so many things! Once, when I was young, my grandma took me right over there, and there was a yellow flower so big that... oh, but I'm rambling. As my great-grandma always said: go nice and slow, and you'll know where to go!"

Dash started to laugh. "Talk, talk, talk! She never stops!"

"I am old but sprightly," said Rosalba, giving a wink.

Ziggy looked at her, puzzled. "What does sprightly mean?"

"It means lively, full of strength and joy, even with so many years on my shell!" explained the snail. And the children learned a new word.

Lily knelt down beside her. "Rosalba, do you know how to get to the honey meadow?"

"Of course I do, sweetie! But the path in the fog is easy to lose... unless you know the secret." The snail lowered her voice. "My great-grandma taught it to me, long ago. When you lose the path, don't look at the ground: look at the sky! The animal-clouds always know where to go. Just follow the right one."

Everyone lifted their noses up high. And they saw a big cloud shaped like an elephant that slowly pointed its trunk right toward the fog.

"The elephant is showing the way!" cried Lily. "We have to go over there."

But when they looked again at the foggy reeds, the children shrank a little.

"I... I don't know," said Ziggy. "In there you can't see anything."

"What if we get lost?" trembled Skye.

Even Dash, for once, didn't feel like running.

But Lily clenched her fists. Her blue eyes were shining. "The bees need us. I am not turning back. Rosalba, will you come with us?"

"Of course! I go slow, but I always get there, and I never get lost. Follow my silver trail and the cloud in the sky. As my great-grandma said: step by step, we cross the whole ditch yet!"

And so the adventure began. Rosalba went ahead, leaving her sparkling trail, and the children followed in a line. They stepped into the reeds. The tall reeds rustled, shhh, and brushed their arms like gentle fingers.

At one point the path was cut by a stream. There was only a little bridge of logs, old and wobbly. "I've got this!" said Ziggy, who was nimble and brave with his body. He crossed first with a jump, then held out his hand to his friends and helped them over one at a time. The bridge creaked, but they held on and everyone made it across.

On the other side the ground was soft, and their little feet sank a bit into the mud. Dash took a crooked step and ended up sitting in a puddle. But instead of crying, he burst out laughing. "What a splash!" he said, all muddy. And the others laughed too, feeling less scared.

Farther on, the fog grew thicker. Skye heard a tiny cry: a little robin had gotten lost and was trembling on a branch. She took it in her hands gently. "Don't be afraid, we'll carry you." And the robin calmed down, resting its little head on her finger.

Then the fog got so thick that the children could barely see each other. And something scary happened. They looked up to find the elephant-cloud... but it was gone. The gray had swallowed it up completely.

"The cloud is gone!" shouted Dash. "I can't see anything anymore!"

"We're lost," cried Skye. "Let's go back!"

Everyone's heart was beating fast. Even Lily felt a knot in her tummy. But then she remembered Rosalba's words.

"Wait," she said. "Rosalba says we must be patient. Look: her silver trail is still here, under our feet. Let's not move. Let's stay on the trail and wait."

So they did. They stood still, side by side, holding hands, their feet on the sparkling trail. Rosalba whispered: "Well done, sweetie. Rushing makes you lose the way. Whoever waits calmly finds it again. Word of my great-grandma!"

In the silence they could only hear the water drops falling from the leaves, drip, drip, and the beat of their hearts. Lily counted to ten in her head, her eyes on the silver trail, without moving her feet.

A long moment passed. And then, all at once, a puff of wind opened a gap in the fog. The gray parted like a curtain... and a new cloud appeared, white and round, shaped like a rabbit with its ears standing straight up. It was right above a bright spot, farther ahead.

"The rabbit-cloud!" shouted Lily, and her courage came back all at once. "It's showing us where to go! Quick, follow me!"

They ran, following the rabbit in the sky and the silver trail on the ground. And finally, step by step, they came out of the fog.

In front of them opened a hidden valley full of flowers: red, yellow, blue, and purple, smelling so sweet. Butterflies danced over the petals, and the sun warmed everything with a golden light. It was the honey meadow! The bees, who had followed them, burst with joy and began to fly from flower to flower, buzzing happily.

"Thank you, thank you!" they sang. "Now we can make honey again!"

Skye placed the robin on a flowering branch, and he, all happy, found his nest and his mommy again. Ziggy did a somersault among the flowers, Dash rolled in the grass laughing, and Lily took a deep breath, happy, with rosy cheeks.

Rosalba arrived last, calm and smiling. "See? I told you. I go slow, but I always get there."

Lily hugged her gently. "You saved us, Rosalba. If I hadn't listened to you, we would have gone back. You know things because you have lived so long."

"That's the secret, little one," said the snail. "Grandpas and grandmas have eyes full of roads they have already seen. You just need the patience to listen to them."

When it was time to go back, they followed the silver trail again, and it led them straight to the Mirror Lake. And there Toby the Magic Train was waiting for them, whistling happily to see them safe and sound.

They climbed aboard, tired and happy, and as the little train set off for home, Toby said:

"Choo choo, what a brave little crew,
wise and slow will carry you through!
Those who have lived for many a year,
know the quiet roads that don't appear!"

The children laughed and waved to the bees, the flowers, and dear Grandma Snail Rosalba, who from far away still left her silver trail, sparkling like a little star fallen on the grass.

And Lily, looking at the sky one last time, saw a cloud shaped like a heart. She smiled. She had learned that sometimes, to find the right way, you just need to listen to someone who already knows it.