It was a cool, windy afternoon. In the garden the clouds raced across the sky like big white sheep, and the wind made the leaves dance. Skye, Ziggy, Lily, and Dash had spread a blue blanket on the grass and pretended it was the sea.

"This is the biggest ocean in the whole world!" said Dash, running around the blanket.

"And these are our boats," added Lily, setting three little paper boats on the blue cloth.

Ziggy blew to make the wind, "Fffff, fffff," and the little boats moved just a tiny bit. Skye, sitting with her legs crossed, looked at her little boats sweetly and whispered: "Don't be afraid, little ones. I've got you."

Then, all of a sudden, a familiar sound came from far away.

"CHOO CHOO!"

The children lifted their heads. Between the trees came Toby the Magic Train, shiny and happy, with puffs of smoke rising in little clouds.

"CHOO CHOO! Good morning, my dear little crew,
today we'll go sailing on seas sparkling blue!
So hop up on board, for we're leaving right away:
I'll take you where fog melts to bright sunny day!"

The four friends laughed and climbed aboard in a hurry. The wheels went "clickety-clack", the whistle sang, and off they went, over the hills and the meadows, until the air began to taste of salt.

Toby stopped in front of a small and pretty little harbor. "We've arrived at Misty Cove!" Lily read on a wooden board.

What a wonderful place. The colorful boats swayed on the water, each one with a lantern hanging from its bow. The fishermen's nets smelled of salt. And everywhere, soft as whipped cream, there was a light mist that made everything fluffy and a little bit mysterious.

The children huddled a little closer, because the mist hid everything just a few steps away. "It feels like walking inside a cloud," whispered Skye, holding Lily's hand so she wouldn't get lost. Under their feet the wood of the pier was damp, and somewhere a seagull went "caw caw", but they couldn't see it.

"Look up there!" said Ziggy, pointing to the end of the pier.

At the end of the pier there was a little lighthouse. It wasn't made of stone: its glass was made of many mother-of-pearl seashells, shiny and clear, placed side by side like the pieces of a mosaic. But the lighthouse was dark, and without its light the mist seemed even thicker.

Near the lighthouse, on top of a rock, there was a very, very old turtle. Her shell was covered with little painted waves, and she had two sweet, shiny eyes. She moved slowly and gave off a funny little whiff of seaweed and soggy biscuits.

"Oh, sky, oh sea," sighed the turtle. "What do I do now?"

Skye came closer, very gently. "Hello. Are you feeling sad?"

The turtle lifted her nose. "My name is Sea Turtle of the Hundred Waves, but everyone calls me Granny Turtle. I have traveled all the seas in the world… and yet today I'm stuck right here." She pointed to the dark lighthouse. "That lighthouse is my compass. When it lights up, its light cuts through the mist and shows me the way to my island. But some shells have fallen, the light has gone out, and I can't see where to go anymore. And I'm afraid to set off into the white of the mist."

Then she lowered her voice, as if she were ashamed. "A turtle so old and so well-traveled shouldn't be afraid. How silly I am."

Skye took one of her paws. "You're not silly," she said softly. "You know, even the bravest sailors are afraid of the mist. Being afraid is not a bad thing."

Granny Turtle looked at her with shiny eyes. "Really?"

"Really," answered Skye, and she smiled at her.

Dash clapped his hands. "Then let's fix the lighthouse! Let's look for the mother-of-pearl shells and put them back in their place!"

The children spread out along the shore, where the mist settled like a soft blanket. They didn't search in a hurry: they looked among the pebbles, under the nets, near the boats that swayed. Every time they found a shiny shell, they carried it to the lighthouse carefully, as if it were a treasure. Ziggy climbed up to reach the ones high up, Lily patiently set the ones down low, Dash ran back and forth carrying them.

At one point Dash found a shell right under a boat, but when he bent down to pick it up he smelled Granny Turtle's funny little whiff of seaweed and soggy biscuits, for she had come closer to watch. Dash burst out laughing. "Granny Turtle, you smell like a snack from the sea!" And the old turtle laughed heartily, and for a moment she forgot she was afraid.

But soon after, the wind blew harder and the mist grew so thick that for a few moments the lighthouse disappeared completely. Skye felt her heart beat fast. "Let's stay close together," said Lily in a calm voice, and the children held hands, waiting still. Slowly the wind changed, the white opened up a little, and the lighthouse appeared again. Everyone took a deep breath of relief and went back to work. And the mosaic, little by little, began to shine again.

But when the lighthouse was almost full, Granny Turtle looked and said: "The most important one is still missing. The shell in the center. It's the iridescent one."

Ziggy frowned. "Iri… what?"

Granny Turtle smiled sweetly. "Iridescent means it changes color when you turn it: it looks pink, then blue, then golden, like a little rainbow. It's the one that turns on all the light."

"Ahh!" said the children all together. They had learned a new word.

"And where is this shell?" asked Lily.

Granny Turtle pointed with a trembling paw. Over there, in the middle of the mist, was a narrow, thin wooden walkway. It swung above the water with every puff of wind. And at the end of the walkway, resting on a post, the iridescent shell shimmered ever so faintly.

Everyone looked at the swaying walkway. Nobody moved.

"It's far away," said Dash.

"And it's swinging," said Ziggy.

"And there's all that mist," said Lily.

Skye's heart beat fast. She was afraid too. But she looked at Granny Turtle, who was waiting with eyes full of hope, and she remembered the words she had said just a little while before.

She took a deep breath. "I'll go," she said in a small voice.

Her friends looked at her. "Are you sure?" asked Lily.

Skye nodded, even though her legs were shaking just a little. "At night, when it's dark, I get so scared," she said. "But when my daddy Andrew holds me in his arms, I become brave. Courage isn't about not being afraid. It's about being afraid and going anyway. And now I'm going, for Granny Turtle."

"We'll keep an eye on you," said Ziggy. "We're right here."

"We won't leave you alone, not even for a moment," added Dash.

Skye put one foot on the walkway. The wood creaked and swayed. She stopped, took a breath, and took another step. The mist was soft around her, and below she could hear the sound of the water.

Halfway across, a gust of wind made the walkway sway, and Skye stopped all at once, with her heart in her throat. For a moment she thought about turning back. Then she closed her eyes and imagined the warm arms of her daddy Andrew, holding her tight at night. "I can do it," she whispered to herself. From the shore her friends' voices came as soft as a caress, and she opened her eyes again. One trembling step after another, with her friends whispering "Well done, Skye, you're so strong," she made it all the way to the end.

She reached out her hand. Her fingers touched the iridescent shell, cold and smooth. She grabbed it, hugged it to her chest, and turned around. "I got it!" she shouted.

"Hooray!" everyone cheered from the shore.

Skye came back, one step after another, and as soon as she set foot on the pier her friends hugged her tight. Her heart was pounding, but inside she felt something new and warm, like a little sun.

Very gently she placed the iridescent shell right in the center of the mosaic.

And then it happened. The lighthouse lit up. A golden beam came out of the mother-of-pearl shells and cut through the mist like a gentle sword of light. The white opened up, and in the distance, on the calm water, a green island appeared with palm trees and a golden beach.

"My island!" Granny Turtle cried for joy. "I can see it again! It's right there!"

The old turtle came closer to Skye and rested her nose on her cheek. "My little one," she said with a moved voice, "you were afraid, and you went anyway. That is the most beautiful courage in the world. I will carry forever in my shell the little girl who was afraid and went anyway."

Skye's eyes were shiny, but she was smiling. The others were smiling too.

Granny Turtle went down toward the water, slowly as always. "Oh, sky, oh sea," she said one last time, but this time with a smile. Then she dove in and swam along the golden beam, toward home, waving with her paw until she was just a tiny dot far away.

When the children turned around, there was Toby the Magic Train waiting for them, with his lantern shining.

"CHOO CHOO! What a trip, what a light, what a game,
fear may be here, but the courage stays the same!
Whoever still trembles, then goes on their way,
is truly the bravest — I saw it today!"

The children climbed aboard, tired and happy. As Misty Cove disappeared into the mist, Skye looked at the last golden glow of the lighthouse and squeezed Lily's hand.

"You know," said Skye softly, "I really was so scared."

"I know," answered Lily. "But you went anyway. And that made you the bravest of us all."

Toby whistled softly, the mist opened up, and the little train carried them home, where the sky was turning pink.