Phoebe the Fashion Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  Birthday Trouble

  Hide-and-Seek

  Goblin Attack

  Nobody Home

  A Wave of Inspiration

  A Dress to Impress

  Kirsty Tate and Rachel Walker were busy wrapping a birthday present for Kirsty’s friend, Charlotte.

  “There,” said Kirsty, tying the ribbon. “Charlotte’s going to love this silver headband. It’s so pretty!”

  “Are you almost ready, girls?” Mrs. Tate called up the stairs. “Dad and I have to leave in two minutes!”

  “We’re coming, Mom,” Kirsty replied. Then she turned to Rachel. “I can’t believe we’re going to another party, can you?” She grinned.

  Rachel shook her head. “I wonder what’s going to happen this time,” she said excitedly.

  The two girls shared a secret. They were friends with the fairies! And while Rachel had been staying with Kirsty’s family, the girls had been helping the Party Fairies. Jack Frost had sent his goblins into the human world to cause trouble at parties. When a Party Fairy arrived to set things straight, a goblin would try to steal her magic party bag and take it back to Jack Frost! Rachel and Kirsty had been helping the fairies keep their party bags safe — so all the parties that week had been especially exciting.

  Kirsty and Rachel put their party dresses into a bag with Charlotte’s present, then rushed downstairs.

  Kirsty’s parents had to go out that afternoon, so Mrs. Tate had arranged for the girls to go to Charlotte’s house a little early.

  “We’ve helped almost all of the Party Fairies now,” Kirsty said, as she and Rachel walked along the road.

  Rachel counted them off on her fingers. “Cherry the Cake Fairy, Melodie the Music Fairy, Grace the Glitter Fairy, Honey the Candy Fairy, and Polly the Party Fun Fairy,” she said. “So the only two we haven’t helped are …”

  “Phoebe the Fashion Fairy and Jasmine the Present Fairy,” Kirsty finished. “I wonder if we’ll see one of them today.”

  Rachel couldn’t help smiling as they walked up Charlotte’s front path. “I bet we will,” she said. “Those goblins won’t be able to resist another chance to try to steal a magic party bag. One of them is bound to cause trouble! Then Phoebe or Jasmine will have to come and fix everything.”

  The girls knew that Jack Frost had sent his goblins to steal the party bags because he wanted to use fairy magic at a party of his own. He wanted his party to be better than the fairy king and queen’s surprise anniversary party, which had been planned by the Fairy Godmother to take place at the end of the week. Kirsty and Rachel had both been invited to the anniversary celebration as special guests. They were determined to make sure that Jack Frost and his goblins didn’t ruin everything by stealing the Party Fairies’ magic.

  Kirsty rang the doorbell. A few moments later, Charlotte answered the door.

  “Happy birthday!” cried Kirsty and Rachel together.

  But then Kirsty noticed how sad her friend looked. “Is everything all right?” she asked, concerned.

  Charlotte didn’t seem to be in a birthday mood. She wasn’t wearing a party dress, and she wasn’t even smiling. “No,” she wailed. “Everything is not all right. My favorite dress is ruined!”

  “Ruined?” Rachel echoed. “What happened?”

  Charlotte held the front door open. “Come upstairs and see,” she said miserably.

  Kirsty and Rachel gasped when they saw Charlotte’s white-and-gold party dress hanging on the door of her closet. It had messy splotches of what looked like green paint all over it.

  “Oh, no!” Kirsty gasped. “How did that happen?”

  Charlotte looked close to tears.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “This morning, it was totally clean!”

  Charlotte’s mom, Mrs. Ingle, came in. Her mouth fell open when she saw Charlotte’s stained dress. “Charlotte!” she exclaimed. “You haven’t been painting in your best dress, have you?”

  “No,” Charlotte cried. “I just came upstairs and found it like this!”

  Mrs. Ingle frowned. “I hope your brother didn’t have anything to do with it,” she said, marching over to open the window. “Will!” she called down to the yard. “Come here!”

  Charlotte’s little brother, Will, scampered into the bedroom a few minutes later. He was covered in mud and looked very pleased with himself. “I found tons of worms,” he told the girls happily, holding up a small muddy shovel.

  “Will, your sister’s party is starting soon.” Mrs. Ingle groaned. “You were supposed to be getting ready.”

  Will glanced over at Charlotte. “Well, Charlotte isn’t ready yet — and it’s her party!” he protested.

  “Speaking of which,” Mrs. Ingle went on, “do you know anything about this?”

  She showed Will Charlotte’s party dress, and he shook his head. “I’ve been outside all morning!” he insisted.

  Charlotte nodded. “It’s true, Mom,” she said. “I saw him.”

  Mrs. Ingle sighed. “Well, I guess the dress must have brushed against something,” she said, looking confused.

  Rachel and Kirsty glanced around the room uneasily. They were both wondering if the dress really had brushed against something — or if somebody had ruined it on purpose.

  Both girls knew it was just the kind of thing a goblin would do! And the green paint on the dress was an unmistakable goblin green.

  Rachel caught Kirsty’s eye and realized that they were both thinking the same thing — a goblin must be hiding somewhere very close by!

  Mrs. Ingle looked at her watch. “We have one hour before the party starts,” she said. “We could run over to the dry cleaner’s and see if they can help, but I still have to frost the cupcakes. I don’t know how I’ll get everything done in time.” She frowned.

  “We can decorate the cupcakes while you’re out,” Kirsty suggested cheerfully.

  “Yes,” Rachel added. “We’re good at it,” she said, remembering the icing they’d made at Kirsty’s birthday party.

  Mrs. Ingle smiled. “That’s very nice of you, girls,” she said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”

  “Of course not. It will be fun,” Kirsty replied at once.

  Mrs. Ingle led the girls downstairs. Mr. Ingle took Will away to get him cleaned up, and Mrs. Ingle took Rachel and Kirsty into the dining room. The party food was all set out on the table: one tray of cupcakes, one bowl of icing, a piping bag for squeezing the icing in pretty designs, and some cake decorations.

  “This is really helpful, girls,” Mrs. Ingle said. “Thank you!”

  Then Charlotte and her mom hurried off to the dry cleaner’s with Charlotte’s ruined dress.

  As soon as Kirsty and Rachel heard Mrs. Ingle’s car leave the driveway, they looked at each other meaningfully.

  “We’ve got to find that goblin,” Kirsty said in a low voice, “before he does anything else to ruin the party.”

  “Well, he must have been in Charlotte’s bedroom recently. Let’s go back up and see if he’s still there,” Rachel suggested.

  The girls made their way upstairs to Charlotte’s room. Kirsty put her finger to her lips, then crept up to the closet and opened the doors wide.

  Rachel’s heart was pounding as she and Kirsty peeked inside. Jack Frost’s goblins were very sneaky. You could never tell where they were going to pop up!

  But there was no sign of the goblin in Charlotte’s closet, so Kirsty searched under the bed while Rachel checked behind the curtains.

  Then Rachel looked under Charlotte’s bedspread and Kirsty checked on all of the shelves.

  “Either he’s hiding somewhere really, really sneaky, or he left the room,” Kirsty said at last.

  Rachel sighed. “He could b
e anywhere in the house by now,” she said, “just waiting to cause more trouble!”

  Kirsty glanced at her watch. “Come on, we’d better start those cupcakes,” she said. “Otherwise we’ll be the ones ruining Charlotte’s party!”

  Downstairs, Kirsty and Rachel began frosting the cupcakes, trying to think where the goblin might be hiding. Kirsty piped icing onto each cake, while Rachel decorated them with sprinkles.

  Rachel was just finishing the last cupcake when Kirsty nudged her. “Look!” she cried.

  Rachel looked up just in time to see a stream of tiny, sparkly, red hearts floating past the window.

  Both girls ran over to take a closer look. They couldn’t believe their eyes! There, waving at them through the glass, was a beautiful, smiling fairy!

  “It’s Phoebe the Fashion Fairy!” Rachel cried, opening the window for her.

  Phoebe had wavy blond hair, held back by a wide crimson headband. She wore a little white dress with a row of red hearts around the hem, and matching shoes. Her scarlet wand let off ruby hearts that glittered in the sunlight.

  She fluttered inside and perched on the windowsill. “Hello!” she said in a bright, silvery voice. “Kirsty and Rachel, right? I remember seeing you when Honey the Candy Fairy showed you around the Party Fairy workshop.”

  “That’s right,” Kirsty said. “And I remember your gorgeous fashion department, with all those wonderful, sparkly fairy dresses.”

  Phoebe nodded and then looked serious. “Now, I heard that there was a party dress disaster here, so I’ve come to work a little bit of fairy magic and fix everything.”

  “Well, we’re very glad to see you,” Kirsty said. She quickly filled Phoebe in on what had happened to Charlotte’s special dress.

  Phoebe’s delicate features creased into a frown. “That does sound like goblin mischief,” she agreed. “We’ll have to be careful.”

  “We’ll just clean up the decorating supplies,” Rachel said, “and then we’ll show you where Charlotte’s bedroom is.”

  Kirsty arranged the cupcakes on a plate while Rachel started gathering the icing equipment. Phoebe fluttered over for a closer look at the cupcakes. “Cherry the Cake Fairy would be proud of you two,” she said, hovering over the table. “These look good enough for the king and queen of Fairyland!”

  Rachel was frowning. “Where’s the icing bag?” she asked Kirsty. “I don’t see it anywhere.”

  Kirsty looked around. “It was there a minute ago,” she said, pointing to one end of the table.

  “I know,” Rachel agreed, sounding puzzled. “But it’s gone.”

  No sooner had she said that than the lid of Will’s nearby toy box flew open with a loud crash. The girls and Phoebe spun around to see a goblin bursting out of the box like a grinning, green jack-in-the-box.

  “It’s the goblin!” Kirsty cried.

  “With the icing bag!” Rachel added.

  The goblin held up the icing bag and squeezed it hard. A jet of icing shot out and hit Phoebe right in the stomach!

  “Help!” she cried in surprise, tumbling backward.

  Kirsty and Rachel watched in horror as Phoebe fell through the air. Luckily, she landed in the big, soft, strawberry Jell-O mold in the middle of the table and bounced up into the air again. Her arms flailed as she tried to recover her balance.

  SQUISH! Phoebe plunged back into the Jell-O. She wasn’t hurt, but this time she lost hold of her magic party bag. It flew across the table.

  “Just what I was looking for,” the goblin cackled, leaping out of the toy box.

  Rachel gasped. “Oh, no you don’t!” she cried, dashing around the table to try to reach the party bag before the goblin could take it.

  But she was too late. The goblin’s green hand closed around Phoebe’s shimmering party bag, seconds before Rachel could get to it.

  The goblin gave a nasty grin, snatched a cupcake in his other hand, and leaped out of the window into the backyard.

  “Oh, no!” Phoebe gasped, struggling out of the sticky Jell-O. “I need my party bag, or I won’t be able to fix Charlotte’s dress!”

  “And we all know what the goblin will do with it,” Kirsty groaned. “He’ll give it to Jack Frost for his party.”

  “We can’t let that happen,” Phoebe said firmly, brushing chunks of red Jell-O from her dress. She waved her wand. Sparkling red hearts streamed from the tip and spilled all over Kirsty and Rachel. “I’ll make you fairy-size,” she said. “Then we can all fly after the goblin.”

  Kirsty and Rachel shut their eyes as Phoebe’s magic started working. They felt themselves shrinking! Beautiful, shimmering fairy wings appeared on their backs, and Rachel couldn’t resist doing a little flip. Being able to fly was so much fun!

  Phoebe fluttered out the window, and the girls followed. They could see the goblin racing through the yard, greedily stuffing the cupcake into his mouth as he ran.

  He glanced over his shoulder and spotted the three fairies zooming after him. A look of panic crossed his face and he glanced around wildly, searching for somewhere to hide. The next moment he spotted the playhouse at the far end of the yard. He charged toward it, diving inside and slamming the door.

  Phoebe was the first to reach the playhouse. She knocked loudly on the door. “Let me in!” she ordered.

  “There’s nobody home!” called the goblin from inside.

  Phoebe tried to pull the door open, but the goblin must have been holding onto the handle on the other side, because it didn’t move.

  “It’s no use, I’m not strong enough,” Phoebe said, sighing.

  “If you turn us back into girls, we might be able to do it,” Kirsty suggested.

  “Good idea,” Phoebe said, waving her wand again to release another stream of red hearts.

  Kirsty and Rachel felt their arms and legs tingling with fairy magic as they grew back to their normal size.

  “Okay!” Rachel said, grabbing the door handle. “Let’s get this door open.”

  There was a scraping sound from inside the playhouse. Then, to Rachel’s dismay, she found that she couldn’t even turn the handle. “The goblin must have wedged something under the door handle,” she cried in frustration. “A chair or something — it won’t turn at all now!”

  Phoebe groaned. “What are we going to do?” she asked anxiously.

  Kirsty looked around, desperately trying to think. Seeing the cake crumbs that the goblin had dropped on the grass gave her an idea. Obviously, the goblin liked the cupcakes she and Rachel had decorated … maybe they could tempt him out with some more. She whispered her idea to Phoebe and Rachel, and they both nodded approvingly.

  “Goblins always want to get their hands on more treats.” Phoebe laughed. “It’s a great idea!” She turned back toward the Ingles’ house and waved her wand with an expert twirl.

  Kirsty and Rachel watched in delight as a stream of twinkling red hearts shot straight from Phoebe’s wand into Charlotte’s house. A moment later, something very strange happened ….

  “Are those what I think they are?” Kirsty asked, staring.

  “Flying cupcakes!” Rachel gasped.

  A small procession of cupcakes was zooming through the air toward the playhouse in a neat “V” formation.

  Kirsty’s spirits rose as she saw the goblin peeking curiously out of one of the playhouse windows. He licked his lips when he saw the flying cupcakes.

  “He sees them!” Phoebe whispered to the girls, crossing her fingers.

  The cupcakes landed neatly on the playhouse windowsill and started dancing around, right under the goblin’s nose.

  “He looks tempted,” Rachel said hopefully.

  The goblin had his face eagerly pressed up against the glass, but then he caught sight of the girls looking at him. A determined expression came over his face. “If you think I’m coming out for a few tiny cupcakes, you’ve got another thing coming!” he yelled, folding his arms stubbornly. “I know it’s a trick, and I’m staying here!”

&nb
sp; Rachel sighed. She’d been sure the greedy goblin wouldn’t be able to resist more cupcakes. Then she glanced down at her watch and gulped. “Oh, no! We’ve only got ten minutes before Charlotte’s party starts,” she cried.

  Kirsty looked at her with wide eyes. “Charlotte and her mom will be back any second!” she exclaimed. “We’ve got to get that goblin out, right now!”

  Kirsty, Rachel, and Phoebe looked around the yard, wondering what to try next. When Rachel spotted the garden hose, her eyes lit up as a thought popped into her head. “How about this?” she asked the other two. “We put the end of the hose down the chimney, turn the water on, and flood the goblin out of the playhouse!”

  Kirsty giggled. “I love it!” she said.

  Phoebe was smiling, too. “Goblins don’t like water, and they hate getting cold, wet feet,” she added. “If anything’s going to get him out of there, a cold shower will.”

  Quickly, Kirsty dangled the end of the hose down the playhouse chimney, while Rachel ran to turn on the outside faucet. A few seconds later, there was a huge SPLASH!—quickly followed by a surprised scream from the goblin.

  “Where’s that rain coming from?” he grumbled. “I’m getting wet.”

  “Then come out,” Phoebe called. “It’s nice and dry out here!”

  More water splashed into the playhouse, and the goblin’s moans grew louder. “Now my feet are wet,” he groaned. “Ugh, horrible cold water. Make it stop!”

  “We’ll make it stop, if you come out and give Phoebe her party bag,” Kirsty offered. “No way!” the goblin answered rudely. “This party bag is mine now, and I’m going to give it to Jack Frost!”