Thea Heffield and the World Beyond the Spyglass

By Kaylee Buckingham

Fourteen-year-old Thea Heffield's older brother Danny has run away, leaving a note that says: "I know everything, I am going to fix this." It's up to her to find him. Armed with a peculiar spyglass that lets her see beyond the ordinary, she journeys to Euphoria, a world filled with bizarre creatures, magical clothes and objects, and enchanters. Aided by warrior Sylvia Silver, Thea will search for Danny and learn startling truths about Euphoria, her family, and herself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Feb 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780228849285

Kaylee Buckingham

Kaylee is an independent author and has no professional experience with writing other than the fact that she has learned along the way. Writing this book that you hold in your hands took her over six years to finally finish. Quite a while, right? Probably longer than it needed to be, but she hopes that this will inspire anyone who is yearning to write a novel, or accomplish anything they want to in life, that they can achieve it, even with little or no experience. You've got to start somewhere, right? She believes as long as you set your mind to it and are willing to do the work, it will come true.Now, let's get to know Kaylee a little bit better. She lives in Saskatchewan, Canada, with her husband, and works from home. She is in her mid-twenties and is the third born in her family. She enjoys hot chocolate, binge-watching TV shows, writing about compelling stories and breathing life into characters within the pages of a book. While growing up, she would write short stories and poems, and would find any excuse to put pen to paper. She would even volunteer to write her mother's grocery list if she had the chance, although she had no clue that her passion in life was to become a writer until the age of nineteen. Thea Heffield and the World Beyond the Spyglass is her first novel, and the first book of the Thea Heffield Series to come.Keep in touch with Kaylee via webInstagram: @kayleebuck_writesWebsite: https://www.kayleebuckwrites.com/

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by Kaylee Buckingham

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-4927-8 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-4928-5 (eBook)

Dedication

To my amazing husband Joel, for always encouraging me, reading every draft, listening to all of my ideas, and inspiring me with his own. I couldn’t have written this book without his everlasting love and support.

Thank You my love!

Contents

Chapter 1 - Family

Chapter 2 - The Windmill

Chapter 3 - The Three-Headed Salesman

Chapter 4 - The Queen

Chapter 5 - Enchantment City

Chapter 6 - The Stork

Chapter 7 - Midnight Madness

Chapter 8 - Silver Springs

Chapter 9 - Mermicorns

Chapter 10 - The Dune Ryders

Chapter 11 - The Dark Woods

Chapter 12 - Danny

Acknowledgements

Chapter One

Family

It was a nice, warm evening in the town of Giethoorn, where little Thea and her family lived. Their house was just big enough for the five of them, and her mother and father always kept it as cozy and happy as they could. But their quiet evening ended when Thea asked her brother, Danny if she could take a turn looking through their father’s beautiful spyglass. It was copper, with intriguing gems embedded around the edges and would change to a brownish yellow in the lamplight and bluish green in the daylight.

Of course, as brothers do, he liked to tease.

Danny pretended to give Thea the spyglass a few times, and she continued to grab for it, but just as it was within her reach, he would pull away and laugh. As always, he took it too far, and it was downright annoying. Finally, Thea had had enough. She stomped her foot and glared at Danny. Why do you continue to be a jerk? Thea grunted. All she wanted was to look through the spyglass.

I’m not a jerk! You’re a nuisance! Danny barked back.

"I’m the nuisance? You should take a good look in the mirror before you say that!" Thea pointed at him aggressively.

DON’T YOU POINT YOUR FINGER AT ME! Danny grabbed Thea’s finger and tried to break it. Thea screamed and cried for him to stop, but he kept twisting.

"ENOUGH!’ their father, Howard, yelled. He walked in from the other room and pulled Danny away from Thea.

What on earth is going on? said their mother, Caitlynn.

He tried to break my finger! Thea cried, giving her mother a big pouty lip as she rubbed her sore finger.

Danny…is this true? Caitlynn asked, concerned, as she placed her hands on her hips.

I didn’t mean to, Danny said with big round puppy eyes.

YOU’RE A LIAR! I HATE YOU! Thea screeched at him.

Now, now, enough of this fighting. Did you even get the chance to look into the spyglass? their father asked Thea, trying to distract them.

No, because he kept taking it away from me! said Thea, still annoyed with her brother.

Danny, share the spyglass with your sister now. You had it long enough.

Fine. Danny sighed with frustration as he handed it Thea.

Okay, Thea, said Howard. Hold it up to your eye…any eye works…close the other eye. No, not both—just one, like if you were winking. Good, now tell me, what do you see?

I see a beautiful place! Like a fairytale. I can see pixies, Daddy! Is this real? Thea turned away from the spyglass and looked to her father with astonishment.

CAN I SEE, CAN I SEE? said Danny as he yanked it out of Thea’s hand.

Hey! said Thea.

I don’t see anything you described, Thea. You’re a liar.

I AM NOT!

Children, please, said their father. What do you see, son?

All I see is a huge close-up of the kitchen table, said Danny, disappointed. How come she can see a fairytale world and I can’t?

Thea had to wonder as well.

Well, do you really believe in magic? said Father.

Magic? said Danny, sounding repulsed. No, it doesn’t exist.

Their father smirked as he took the spyglass from Danny and gave it to his eldest daughter, Heather. How about you? what do you see?

Heather held it up to her eye and aimed it toward the window. I see the neighbor’s house. Oh look, they’re getting ready for dinner.

Mm, interesting.

What’s interesting, Daddy? said Thea.

This is no ordinary spyglass. It can show you a magical world where there are pixies, just like the one you saw, and all sorts of enchanted objects—it’s a place called Euphoria. You must believe in magic enough to see it, said their father. Thea stared at him in amazement, but Danny laughed.

Yeah, right. Good one, Dad! Thea’s just lying! There’s no such thing as magic. Fairytales are just mythical stories! said Danny.

"You’re a myth!" said Thea.

Danny seemed to lose his temper. He ran up to Thea and pushed her down with all his strength. She fell and hit her head against the hardwood floor. Her ears rang, muffling out the sound of her father yelling at her brother, who ran away up the stairs. Thea slowly sat up while her mother knelt beside her and checked her head.

You have a bit of a bump, but you will be all right, sweetie, said her mother as she lightly touched the bump on the back of Thea’s head.

Thea sniffled and wrapped her arms tightly around her mother, who hugged her back.

Why does he hate me, Mommy?

Oh, sweetie, he doesn’t hate you.

He tried to break my finger, and he pushed me.

I know that wasn’t right of him to do, and I will talk to him. It doesn’t mean your brother hates you—he just lost his temper. He needs time to think and cool down, her mother said as she picked Thea up and carried her to her bedroom upstairs.

I don’t want to go bed, Mommy.

It’s well past your bedtime, Thea.

Thea wanted to fight like she always did, but this time she was too tired from all the crying and the throbbing of her head, so she nodded. Her mother tucked her in the soft bed, kissed her forehead, and said good night. Thea felt the coolness of her pillow as she was drifting off to sleep. Thoughts of the magical world she’d seen through the spyglass danced in her mind and she wondered: Did it really exist?

The next morning, Thea woke up to the sun shining on her face. She covered her eyes from the blinding sunray and jumped out of bed. She walked up to her mirror and laughed at the crazy, frizzy hair she usually had every morning. Then she got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen table, where she could smell hot pancakes with a mixture of strawberries.

Good morning my little sunshine! said her father, Howard, as he picked Thea up, placed her on his knee, and pulled over her plate of breakfast.

Morning, Daddy, said Thea as she looked over at Danny, who was sitting and eating.

He glanced up at Thea and motioned to her to meet him in the living room. She hopped off her father’s knee and followed Danny. In the living room, Danny hung his head and mumbled, Thea…I’m s-sorry. For what I did last night.

Thea was shocked! She’d never known him to apologize, and he had done much worse things in the past. She started to believe she was dreaming and pinched herself on the arm, but nothing happened. This was very real. Thea didn’t know how to react or what to say but decided to just be happy that he apologized.

Thanks, Danny. That means a lot. She smiled at him and felt like she and her brother could get along—possibly. But in the past, whenever she’d think that, they would suddenly get in another fight, and there would be a vicious cycle of pushing each other’s buttons that would go too far. Maybe this time it would be different? She wasn’t sure, but all she could do was hope. As Thea hugged Danny and headed back to the kitchen, Danny tapped her on the shoulder.

What? said Thea.

I…don’t want you to ever…hate me, said Danny, looking remorseful.

I didn’t mean what I said, said Thea, feeling guilty.

Good. Cause…y-you’re my sister. Danny’s cheeks went red; he wasn’t much for being all gushy.

And you’re my brother! said Thea.

He smiled, and they both headed back to the table to eat breakfast.

As the day went on, everything was good and wholesome. Danny didn’t tease Thea, and Thea didn’t call him names, and their older sister Heather didn’t have the disappointed look she wore when they began to argue. Thea always hated that look of disappointment, and Danny must have as well since catching a glance of Heather’s face always seemed to make him angrier.

Later in the afternoon, Mommy and Daddy were sitting in the living room talking. Thea didn’t know what they were talking about, but they looked concerned. Thea stared at them, and her mother glanced at her. Were they talking about me? Thea wondered. Or am I annoying them by staring?

Thea, darling, said her mother.

Yes? Thea gulped nervously.

Her father said, Come here. We want to talk to you.

Thea put down her favorite blond-haired doll that had ice powers and walked up to her parents. She sat between them on the green plush velvet couch, remembering that she disliked the feeling of velvet.

Sweetie, we have something we need to tell you, said her mother.

Tell me what? Thea asked.

You’re old enough now to know that…

Old enough to know what, Daddy?

Howard, go ahead, you can tell her.

Well…long ago, when you were…

Howard, do you need me to tell her?

No, it’s all right, Caitlynn. I can.

What is it? Thea asked, concerned.

Her father placed his arm around her. Sunshine, we adopted you when you were a baby.

Adopted? Thea was confused. She knew what the word meant but didn’t know how to react. Then, she noticed Danny quickly peeking around the corner of the stairs, listening to their conversation.

Yes, sweetie, you’re adopted, said her mother.

Why? How? Who are my real parents?

Well, we don’t like to say ‘real parents.’ They are your biological parents who had you, but they chose to give you up, said her mother.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY CHOSE TO GIVE ME UP? WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? Thea cried.

Oh, honey, we don’t know why they would do such a thing, but we were happy to take you in as our own. Her father tried to hug her, but Thea pushed him away.

NO! WHY WOULDN’T THEY WANT ME? Thea cried harder and planted her face in her hands. Her mother put her hand on Thea’s back, but she jumped off the sofa, ran up to her room, slammed the door, and threw herself on to the bed and stuffed her face into the pillow. Thea’s head was swirling with every question imaginable. Why didn’t they want me? Was I not good enough for them? What’s wrong with me?

Someone was knocking at her door. Go away! said Thea, thinking it was her parents.

It’s me. Danny.

Oh…come in.

Danny opened the door and peeked in. How are you holding up?

I just found out that I’m adopted! Thea cried.

Danny walked in and closed the door, sat on the bed, and put his arm around his little sister. Isn’t kind of obvious? he asked.

What do you mean?

Look at yourself, Thea. You look nothing like us.

Thea looked over at the mirror and stared at her reflection. She realized she should have noticed long ago. Why hadn’t she ever put it together? Of course I’m adopted, she thought. How could I be so stupid? Look at me! My skin is brown, my eyes are green, and my hair is dark brown and frizzy. Her family’s skin is white. Mother’s hair is blond and has blue eyes. Father has red hair and brown eyes, Heather has red hair and blue eyes, and Danny has brown hair and brown eyes! Thea felt embarrassed. Danny was right: it was so obvious. She looked nothing like them. I feel so silly for not noticing it.

You’re only six. Give yourself a break, said Danny as Thea nodded.

I feel so unwanted, she said.

Why? Mom and Dad wanted you.

Only because they felt sorry for me!

What’s wrong with that? If they didn’t, you’d have been sent to an adoption agency and would be waiting years for a family to adopt you—or never get adopted and never grow up with a mother or father or brother or sister.

Really?

Yeah, Thea, it’s way better that they chose to keep you when they found you. I know you would probably like your biological parents, but honestly, I wouldn’t want them.

Why?

Because they chose not to keep their baby. What kind of people do that? said Danny.

Thea agreed: What kind of parents would do that? But still, Thea wanted to know who they were and where she’d originally come from. She had trouble keeping away the tears and began to sob.

Oh, don’t cry, Thea, said Danny, who didn’t seem to know what to do or how to comfort her. Thea cried louder and louder and shoved her face in Danny’s chest. Then, Danny said, Hey! You know what we should do?

What? Thea asked, looking up from Danny’s chest.

Wanna play Teddy Tower War?

Mmm, I don’t know if I feel like it, said Thea as she planted her head on her knees.

Oh, come on! Let’s play!

I don’t know, Danny…

Danny jumped off her bed, ran up to a stuffed animal, picked it up, and threw it at her that it softly hit her in the face.

Hey! said Thea with a little smile.

Come on! said Danny.

Thea smiled bigger, jumped off her bed, and wiped away her tears and rubbed her nose on her sleeve. She picked up the teddy bear that he had thrown and threw it back at him. Danny laughed and began to build up a wall of stuffed animals around him, as did Thea. They used the extra teddy bears to knock down each other’s walls and win the game! It was an epic battle. Stuffed animals flew all over the room. Danny usually knew exactly where to throw the teddy to knock down Thea’s wall, but now he missed. Thea laughed as she picked up the giraffe stuffed toy, aimed it, and threw it with full force at Danny’s wall. It crumbled down, and Thea jumped up in victory, cheering with joy as Danny fell to his knees and pretended to yell in anger for losing the Teddy Tower War. Then he chuckled and shook Thea’s hand as a good sport would. Thea shook his hand back, but suddenly the thought of her birth parents who didn’t want her returned. She began to cry, and Danny held her tight.

Chapter Two

The Windmill

Eight years later

Thea woke up to the delightful smell of the summer breeze that cascaded into her green room through her big square window. Thea loved to leave her window open at night, letting the refreshing air sweep into her room, and then to feel that warm sunlight caress her skin in the morning.