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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real
people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters,
places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any
resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is
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An imprint of Bonnier Publishing USA
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Copyright © 2017 by Bonnier Publishing USA
All rights reserved, including the right of
reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
LITTLE BEE BOOKS is a registered trademark of Bonnier Publishing USA,
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Manufactured in the United States of America LB 1216
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0392-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0391-4 (pbk)
First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pearl, Alexa, 1967– author. | Sordo, Paco, illustrator.
Title: Journey beyond the trees / by Alexa Pearl; illustrated by Paco Sordo.
Description: New York, New York: Little Bee Books, [2017] | Series: Tales of Sasha; #2
Identifiers: LCCN 2016014988 | ISBN 978-1-4998-0391-4 (pbk) | ISBN 978-1-4998-0392-1 (hc)
Subjects: | CYAC: Horses—Fiction. | Animals, Mythical—Fiction. | Identity—Fiction. | Magic—
Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION /
Animals / Horses. | JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Mythical. Classification: LCC PZ7.1.P425 Jo
2017 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016014988
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Contents
1. Show Me Your Wings
2. Watch Me Fly!
3. Sapphire
4. The Magical Map
5. Through the Trees
6. Help Is on the Way
7. Eyes on Me
8. Behind the Gold Door
CHAPTER
1
Show Me
Your Wings
“Guess what!” cried Sasha.
Her hooves kicked up clumps of grass
as she trotted across the field. She
stopped in front of her two sisters, Zara
and Poppy. They stood in the shade of
the big cottonwood tree.
“Guess what!” she cried again. Sasha
was terrible at keeping secrets.
Zara didn’t answer. She was busy.
“Away . . . play . . . say . . . ,” she said
quietly. She was writing a poem. She
needed the perfect rhyming word.
Poppy didn’t answer. She was busy
too. Poppy swatted flies with her tail.
The flies flew around the flowers in her
long mane.
Sasha let out a whinny. She hated
when her sisters didn’t listen to her.
Zara was the oldest sister. She had
a jet-black coat and a chestnut-brown
mane and tail. Poppy was the middle
sister. She had a chestnut-brown coat
and a jet-black mane and tail. Sasha
was the youngest sister. She was all
gray, except for a white patch on her
back. She always felt like the plain sister,
but not today.
Today, Sasha felt superspecial, and
she had to tell her sisters why. Her
secret was too exciting to keep to
herself. “I have wings!” cried Sasha.
That did it. Zara spoke up. “You don’t
have wings. You’re a horse, not a bird.”
“I’m a horse with wings,” said Sasha.
Poppy laughed. “Is this a game?”
“No! This is real,” said Sasha.
“Yesterday, Wyatt and I hiked to the
top of Mystic Mountain.”
“Why did you and Wyatt go up
there?” asked Zara.
“We went to eat wildflowers,” said
Sasha, “but I fell off the mountain!” Sasha
shivered, remembering how scared she’d
felt. “Wings popped out from the white
patch on my back. Real wings!” cried
Sasha. “I flew around and around.”
Zara snorted.
“You’re making that
up. Where are they
now?”
“I’m telling the
truth,” said Sasha.
“My wings went away after I flew back
to the mountain.”
“I want to see
them,” said Poppy.
“Show us your
wings.”
Sasha had always
known she was different
from the horses in their valley. She
dreamed of visiting far-off places. She
ran the fastest and jumped the highest.
Now she was different in the most
amazing way. She had wings!
Sasha walked into the open field. She
watched the birds flutter in the sky.
Come out, wings, she thought.
She waited.
“Wings, wings, wings,” she repeated.
Nothing happened.
Maybe I need to move, she thought.
Sasha began to trot.
No wings came out.
She looked over at her sisters. Zara
listed more rhyming words. “Stay . . .
way . . .” Poppy swatted a fly with her
tail. They didn’t believe she had wings.
She had to show them! She ran faster.
Still no wings.
Suddenly, she had the worst thought.
What if my wings never come out again?
Sasha picked up speed. She galloped
past Caleb, her teacher at school. Sasha
couldn’t slow down to say hello.
She raced past a group of trees. She
spotted a large branch on the ground,
and her white patch began to itch.
She knew this feeling. Her white patch
itched when her body wanted to jump.
Her legs sprang off the ground. A cool
breeze flowed through her mane as she
soared high over the branch.
Sasha didn’t come back down.
She looked to the left and saw clouds.
She looked to the right and saw birds.
She looked at her back—and saw two
beautiful wings!
“She’s flying!” her sisters cried from
down below. “Sasha can really fly!”
CHAPTER
2
Watch Me Fly!
Sasha flapped her wings again and
again. The silver feathers sparkled in
the sunlight. She wasn’t the plain sister
anymore!
She flapped faster, and her body
tilted sideways. The valley swirled below
her, making her dizzy. Whoa! She took
a deep breath and straightened. She
flapped her wings more slowly, letting
her body glide. She flew in a huge circle.
She darted through a cloud. Sasha was
having so much fun!
Sasha waved her tail at her sisters
on the ground. They waved their tails
back at her.
Sasha lowered her neck and came in
for a bumpy landing. Her hooves kicked
up a spray of dirt.
Zara and Poppy crowded around.
“That was amazing!” cried Zara.
“Hey, Zara, maybe it’s a sister thing,”
said Poppy. “Watch me fly!”
Poppy trotted. Then, with a burst
of energy, she flung herself at the sky.
She stretched her legs out to the side
and—splat! She landed in a split on the
ground.
Zara helped Poppy up. “I guess it’s
not a sister thing.”
Poppy touched Sasha’s wings with
her nose. In a flash, Sasha’s wings
disappeared into her back.
“You’re magic!” cried Poppy. “Make
them come out again.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” said Sasha.
“How does it work?” asked Zara.
“I have no idea,” said Sasha. A lot
about flying and having wings didn’t
make sense to her.
come out if I press you here . . . or
here . . .”
“You’re tickling me!” Sasha said with a
giggle. Then she became serious. Should
she tell them her secret story? Zara and
Poppy were her sisters, after all.
“I can fly because I don’t come from
here,” Sasha told them.
“That’s crazy. Our herd has always
lived in Verdant Valley,” said Zara. “Ask
Mom and Dad.”
“I did,” said Sasha. “They told me
about the day I came here. There was
a big storm. You were both babies, and
Mom and Dad huddled with you under
Mystic Mountain to keep out of the rain.
Then there was a flash of lightning, and I
appeared on the ground. I was wrapped
in a golden blanket, and this note was
with me.”
Sasha pushed aside a pile of rocks
under the cottonwood tree and pulled
out the note.
Zara read it aloud. “‘Please keep
Sasha safe until we can see her again.’”
Poppy was confused. “Who wrote
that? Where did you come from?”
Sasha shrugged. She had so many
questions and no answers.
“Let’s find Mom and Dad,” said Zara.
“They’re at the Drinking Place.”
The three sisters hurried over to the
stream. The stream started high up on
Mystic Mountain and flowed down into
their valley. The cool water tasted best
at the Drinking Place, where the stream
divided into two. Their herd gathered
here, especially when the weather was
warm.
Sasha spotted their mom and dad.
They were alone.
“Sasha can fly!” cried Zara and Poppy.
Her parents were excited and proud.
“Tell us how,” said her dad. He knew
how the flowers grew and how the bees
made honey. He liked to understand
how things worked.
“I don’t know,” said Sasha. “My wings
didn’t come with instructions.”
“Well, someone must know,” said
Zara.
Her mom shook her head. “Our herd
has never known a flying horse.”
Sasha’s ears pricked up. She heard
hoof beats. “Who’s there?” she called.
Caleb stepped off the path and came
to her. “I saw you fly!”
Sasha gulped. Was she in trouble?
“You’re not the only one, Sasha,” said
Caleb. “Other horses can fly.”
CHAPTER
3
Sapphire
“You—you can fly?” Sasha asked Caleb.
“Not me,” said Caleb. “I once met a
horse who could fly.”
Sasha was so happy. She wasn’t the
only one! “Really? When?”
“I was just a foal,” said Caleb.
Sasha looked at Caleb. His copper
coat was turning gray. His back sloped
with old age. He had been a foal a long
time ago!
Caleb told his story. “I was playing
by myself near the big trees. Suddenly,
a foal with wings dropped from the sky!
Her wing was hurt and that made her
fall. I patched her up with bark and tree
sap.”
Sasha’s mom nodded. Caleb was
known for his kindness.
“Did she have wings like mine?” asked
Sasha.
“Yes. Her wings were bright blue, and
her name was Sapphire,” said Caleb.
“She was my friend.”
“What happened to Sapphire?” asked
Sasha’s dad.
“Her wing healed quickly. She left
that night. I never saw her again.” Caleb
looked sad. “I told my friends and family
about her. No one believed me. They
thought I was making her up.”
Sasha. “Like me!”
“She was like you. You both have the
same sparkly spirit. You both dream big
dreams,” said Caleb. “I’ve always liked
that about you.”
Sasha was surprised. Caleb often
scolded her in class for daydreaming or
not following the rules. She had been
sure Caleb didn’t like her.
“I have so many questions for
Sapphire. I have to find her!” Sasha
searched the sky.
“When Sapphire left, she didn’t fly.
She walked through the big trees,” said
Caleb.
Sasha hurried in the direction of the
big trees.
“No! You can’t go there.”
Her mother blocked her path.
“Why not?” asked Sasha, but she
already knew the answer. The horses in
Verdant Valley had a strict rule: Never
go beyond the big trees. No one could
ever tell her what was back there.
“It’s just the way it is,” said her
mother.
“Besides, you’re too little to go
anywhere alone,” said her father.
Sasha wouldn’t give up. “Someone
could come with me.” Other flying
horses were out there somewhere. She
just knew it.
“Plus, you don’t know how to find
her,” added her mother.
“I may know,” said Caleb. “Sapphire
gave me a gift before she left. She asked
me not to show it to anyone, but I will
show Sasha now.”
He began to walk slowly through the
tall grass. Sasha’s parents nodded for
her to follow. They stayed behind with
Zara and Poppy.
Sasha walked alongside Caleb. It
wasn’t easy to walk as slowly as he did.
On the way, she told him the story of
how she’d come to the valley.
Finally, he stopped
at an old pine tree.
The tree had a large,
dark hole in its trunk.
Caleb plunged his head
all the way inside.
Sasha heard rustling noises. Were
those leaves? Then she heard a screech.
Did he wake a sleeping owl?
“Caleb! Are you okay?” cried Sasha.
He pulled his head out. Sasha’s eyes
grew wide.
Between his teeth, he held a brilliant
blue feather. Its glittery tip crackled with
silver light.
“That feather belonged to Sapphire,”
whispered Sasha.
CHAPTER
4
The Magical Map
Caleb placed Sapphire’s blue feather on
the grass. A piece of gold fabric was
wrapped around the feather’s stem. A
thin chain held the fabric in place, and
a tiny bell hung on the chain.
Caleb unhooked the chain with
his teeth. The bell rang. Suddenly,
a corner of the fabric poked
up. Twisting and turning, the
fabric began to unroll off
the feather—all by itself!
Sasha watched with her mouth open.
The tiny piece of fabric grew bigger
and bigger. Soon, a huge sheet of gauzy
gold floated in the sunlight.
“Look!” cried Caleb.
Pictures magically lifted off the fabric.
Buds blossomed into huge flowers.
Strawberries, oranges, lemons, limes,
and blueberries let out bursts of color
that turned into a rainbow. Butterflies
and fairies spun in dizzy circles. Sasha
heard the rush of cool water and the
sweet melody of a flute.
“What’s this?” she asked.