It was a golden, warm afternoon, the kind when the air smells of freshly cut grass. In Skye's garden, the four friends blew soap bubbles and ran to chase them. Ziggy jumped to catch them in midair, Dash made funny faces at every bubble that popped, Lily chased a giant one, determined not to let it fall, and Skye, sitting on the grass, watched the bubbles float up and smiled softly at them, as if she were waving hello.

"Look how high they fly!" said Skye. "It's like they want to touch the clouds."

The sky, which had been blue a moment before, began to turn pink. A light breeze made the blades of grass sway. And just then, from behind the hedge, came a sound the children knew very well.

"CHUFFFF CHUFFFF!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, with his shiny paint and smoke that smelled of sugar. He stopped by the gate, blew his whistle, and said:

"CHUFFFF CHUFFFF! Climb aboard, the carriage is ready,
I'll take you up high, so gentle and steady.
There's a meadow that sleeps in the moon's pale light,
and a little friend who could use luck tonight."

The children looked at each other with shining eyes. A meadow that sleeps? A friend with little luck? They couldn't wait to find out where he would take them. They climbed aboard one after another, Skye last of all, and the little train set off gently toward the sky.

As they rose, the clouds opened and a huge hot-air balloon appeared, made of patches in all the colors of the rainbow. Her name was Skyflower. Toby hooked himself to her with a happy whistle, and together they rose and rose, while a gentle rain began to fall. It wasn't a heavy rain: they were light little drops that went "tic tic tic" on the roof of the balloon, like tiny fingers knocking.

"What a lovely rain," whispered Skye, putting out a hand. "It tickles me."

"To me it looks like the clouds are crying with joy," said Dash, and everyone laughed. Ziggy stuck out his tongue to catch a drop, Lily looked down at the rooftops that were getting smaller and smaller, and Skye listened to that sweet "tic tic tic" as if it were a bedtime song.

At last Skyflower settled on a meadow floating among the clouds. Above them, big and round, shone the full moon, painting everything in silver light. That place was called Moon Hill.

In the middle of the meadow were two wonderful things. One was an old flying carousel, with many wooden horses hanging from invisible threads. The other was a big telescope, a long spyglass pointed at the stars, but it was all dark and switched off.

And then she arrived, buzzing happily: a red ladybug with seven black dots. She spun around herself like a top and smelled of apple and cinnamon, like a cake fresh from the oven.

"Welcome, welcome!" laughed the ladybug. "I am Lucky, the ladybug of good luck! These are my seven grains of luck," and she pointed to her seven dots. "But today, alas, my telescope is drowsy."

"Drowsy?" asked Ziggy, scratching his head. "What does that mean?"

"It means half asleep," explained Lucky, "like when your eyes are closing but you're not quite asleep yet."

"Ah!" they all said together. They had learned a new word.

"The telescope helps us find Twinkle," the ladybug went on, and her voice turned sad, "a teeny-tiny little star who has hidden behind a cloud. But the telescope only lights up when the carousel spins. And the carousel doesn't spin anymore."

The children came closer to the carousel. All the little horses were still. Right at the top, the lead horse was curled up in the air, with trembling wings and big shiny eyes. His name was Cloudy.

"Cloudy is afraid to fly," whispered Lucky. "And if he doesn't go, the carousel stays still."

So the children wanted to help. Ziggy took a running start and jumped as high as he could. "Come on, Cloudy, it's easy! Watch me!" But Cloudy trembled even more.

Lily, stubborn as always, grabbed a thread of the carousel and pulled with all her might. "Come on, cheer up, let's go!" But the carousel didn't move even a little, and Cloudy shut his eyes in fright.

Dash tried to make him laugh, walking backward and pretending to fall. "Fly, little horse, or I'll eat up all the clouds!" But Cloudy hid his nose under a wing.

The more the children shouted "Come on, fly! It's easy! Don't be scared!", the smaller the little horse made himself, and he trembled.

Skye, though, did not shout. She stayed back and watched, and she felt something squeeze in her heart. She understood how Cloudy felt. Slowly, slowly she came closer and sat down on the silver meadow, right beside him. She didn't pull him, she didn't push him. She just stayed there.

"Hello, Cloudy," she said in a gentle voice. "I'm Skye."

The little horse peeked out from under his wing.

"You know what?" she went on. "Sometimes I get scared too. At night, when it's all dark, I get the shivers. And then I fall asleep in the arms of my daddy Andrew, who is very very tall, and I'm not afraid of anything anymore."

Cloudy poked out his nose, just a tiny bit.

"It's not true that you always have to be brave," said Skye. "It's okay to be afraid. Fear isn't a bad thing. It's just your heart telling you: go slowly. I'll stay here with you, okay?"

And for the first time, no one told Cloudy to hurry up. No one scolded him. There was only Skye, sitting beside him, keeping him company.

The other children stopped. Ziggy stopped jumping. Lily let go of the thread. Dash sat down too, without making any jokes. And in that sweet silence, under the moon, something happened.

Lucky, her eyes shining with feeling, said: "Maybe I can help too." She lifted a wing and, from underneath, pulled out a little treasure she always kept hidden: a drop of dew, shiny and round like a tiny mirror.

"I've kept it for a long, long time," she said. "It's my most precious thing. But I think Cloudy needs it now."

She flew to the telescope and set the little drop right in front of the broken lens. The drop fit perfectly, like a little crystal eye. And in that moment a ray of full moonlight passed through it.

The light spread all around, silvery and warm. And inside that light, Cloudy saw something he had never seen: the sky was not empty and scary. It was full of friends. There were stars winking at him, clouds as soft as pillows, and down below Skye, looking at him with a kind smile.

"See?" Skye said to him softly. "You're not alone up there. If you want, we can fly together. And if you're still a little scared, that's okay too. We'll hold hands."

Cloudy looked at Skye. He looked at the silver sky. And then, with a trembling breath, he lowered his back. Skye understood, and gently climbed onto his back, holding tight to his soft mane.

"I'm here," she whispered. "Let's go slowly."

And then Cloudy opened his wings. He didn't stop being afraid, no. But he flew anyway, with the fear inside and a friend on his back. One beat, two beats, and his hooves lifted off the cloud. At first his wings still trembled, but Skye spoke to him softly, "good boy, that's it, we're together," and little by little that trembling became a smooth, safe flight.

"He's flying!" shouted Ziggy.

"He did it!" jumped Lily.

Cloudy made a wide loop in the sky, gentle and light, with Skye laughing for joy. And behind him, one after another, all the horses of the carousel woke up and began to turn. The old flying carousel started spinning again, with a little tune of jingling bells.

And when the carousel spun, the telescope lit up. The drop of dew sparkled, the lens glowed, and the big spyglass pointed straight at the cloud where Twinkle was hiding.

"Twinkle!" called Lucky. "Come back, we were looking for you!"

From behind the cloud peeked a teeny-tiny little star, shy, who began to shine bright, bright, happy to have been found. The sky was whole again, with all its lights in the right place. And the gentle rain, touched by the moonlight, turned into many silver droplets that fell down twinkling.

Cloudy landed softly beside Skye and gave her an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek. His eyes were shiny, but he was smiling.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you for staying with me."

Skye hugged him tight. Lucky did seven happy spins, one for each grain of luck, and all together they looked at the sky full of stars.

When it was time to go home, Skyflower was waiting for them, and Toby the Magic Train called them back with his sweet whistle:

"CHUFFFF CHUFFFF! Off we go, the carousel spins round,
a scared little horse was heard, safe and sound.
If ever you're scared, you can say it out loud,
and close to a friend, you'll feel happy and proud."

The children climbed aboard, waving goodbye to Cloudy, Lucky, and little Twinkle shining in the sky. And as the little train drifted gently down through the clouds, Skye looked up one last time and whispered: "It's okay to be afraid. Just don't stay alone."

Then, lulled by the "tic tic tic" of the gentle rain, she rested her head and smiled, happier than ever.