“Hi, Screech!” the gull called. “Do you want to come and play? Bet I can catch more fish than you can!”
“Not today, Beaky,” Screech called back. “I’m going to stay with my new friends, Nicole, Kirsty, and Rachel, and help them pick up garbage.”
Beaky looked disappointed. “Everyone seems to be picking up garbage today,” he remarked.
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked curiously.
“Well, I saw a little green man picking up garbage and throwing it into the sea,” Beaky replied. “He was farther down the beach.” The seagull pointed with his wing.
Kirsty gasped. “It must be a goblin!”
“Thanks, Beaky!” Nicole cried. “Come on, girls!”
Rachel and Kirsty raced down the beach, with Screech and Nicole flying along behind them. After a few minutes they could see a small figure ahead in the distance.
“There’s the goblin,” Nicole whispered. “And he has my wand!”
The goblin was standing by the water’s edge, the wand tucked firmly under his arm. He had a pile of garbage near his feet. As Nicole, Rachel, Kirsty, and Screech came closer, he picked up an empty water bottle and tossed it into the ocean.
“What are you doing?” Kirsty called, annoyed.
The goblin spun around. He scowled when he saw them, and immediately hid the wand behind his back.
“I’m just trying to be green!” he retorted. With that, he kicked a soda can into the waves.
“But you’re not helping the environment at all!” Rachel pointed out. “Throwing garbage into the ocean just makes the water polluted.”
“Anyway, the tide will probably bring the garbage right back in,” Kirsty added. “It will end up on this beach again, or on another beach somewhere else.”
The goblin looked confused. “You’re lying!” he said accusingly.
“It’s true!” Kirsty insisted.
“Please give the wand back to Nicole,” Rachel urged. “Then she can use it to help the environment the right way.”
“No way!” the goblin roared furiously. “The wand is mine — Jack Frost said so!” He waved it at them menacingly.
Rachel and Kirsty took a step backward, feeling nervous.
“What kind of magic can a goblin do with a fairy’s wand?” Kirsty whispered to Nicole.
“I don’t really know.” Nicole frowned. “These wands are new, and have never been used before. The magic in each wand is meant for only one fairy — and I have no idea what will happen if someone else tries to use it!”
They all stared at the goblin. He was crumpling up candy wrappers into a ball. Then he threw the ball into the air and hit it with the wand, using the wand like a baseball bat! The ball of garbage sailed through the air, landing in the water with a splash, and the goblin chuckled with glee.
“We have to get the wand back — and fast!” Rachel said to her friends. “Maybe Screech can help us.” She glanced at the seagull. “Do you feel up to it after what happened with the plastic bag?”
“I’m much better now,” Screech replied. “I’d be happy to help.”
“Maybe you could fly around the goblin and try to snatch the wand from him,” Kirsty suggested.
Screech nodded. “I’ll do my best!”
Nicole and the girls watched hopefully as the seagull soared through the air toward the goblin.
“Go away!” the goblin shrieked as Screech hovered above him. But the seagull grabbed the tip of the wand in his beak, and tried to tug it out of the goblin’s hand.
“Let go!” the goblin bellowed, yanking the wand free. “Get your own wand, you annoying bird! This one’s mine!”
Circling overhead, Screech tried to grab the wand again and again. But the goblin was hanging on to it tightly, with both hands. He even began lashing out at the seagull with it.
“Screech looks tired,” Rachel said anxiously, after a few minutes. The seagull’s wings were moving much more slowly now. “I think he should stop.”
“Come back, Screech,” Nicole called.
Screech flew over to them, looking disappointed.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “You helped me, but I couldn’t get the wand back for you.”
“Thanks for trying,” Kirsty told him. “Now you should go home and rest. You look tired!”
“I am,” Screech confessed. “It isn’t every day I get tangled up in a plastic bag and meet a fairy, a goblin, and two human girls!” Flapping a wing in farewell, he flew off.
The goblin whirled the wand triumphantly over his head.
“Ha, ha! Can’t catch me!” he taunted Nicole and the girls. “Now go away — or I’m going to zap you with my wand!” The goblin frowned. “Just as soon as I figure out how to use it,” he mumbled to himself.
“We’re not moving until we get the wand back,” Rachel said firmly.
“Well, I’m definitely going to zap you, then!” the goblin retorted. He began waving the wand around wildly, trying to get the magic to work.
Nicole looked annoyed. “A fairy’s wand shouldn’t be used to hurt anyone,” she said. “It should only be used for good magic, and to change people into fairies.”
Suddenly, Kirsty’s eyes widened. Nicole had just given her a great idea!
“Rachel, you and I need to shrink to fairy-size again,” Kirsty whispered.
“Can I help?” Nicole asked shyly. “I’ve never tried shrinking anyone before, but I think I can do it.”
“Sure,” the girls agreed. They trusted their fairy friend!
Nicole waved her tiny hands and a few sparkles of fairy dust floated down around Kirsty and Rachel.
The girls began to shrink until they were the same size as Nicole, with beautiful, shimmering wings on their backs.
“Nice work, Nicole!” they cheered.
“Now just follow my lead,” Kirsty said. She flew over to the goblin, with Nicole and Rachel close behind.
“Look at us!” Kirsty shouted, hovering above the goblin’s head. “You might have the wand, but we can fly!”
“So? That’s no big deal,” the goblin said grumpily. “I could be a mean, green, flying machine if I wanted.” He shut his eyes tightly and tapped himself on the head with the wand. Nicole, Rachel, and Kirsty saw a faint mist of fairy dust swirl out of the tip.
“Anything happen yet?” the goblin called.
“No!” Nicole and the girls yelled back, trying not to laugh.
Frowning, the goblin opened his eyes and whirled the wand through the air very quickly. There was a sudden burst of glitter, and the goblin began to shrink. A moment later, a pretty pair of translucent wings appeared on his back.
“Yes!” The goblin laughed triumphantly as he zoomed up into the air. “I can fly just like you!”
“And now we just need to get him so dizzy that he drops the wand!” Kirsty whispered, winking at Nicole and Rachel.
The goblin was still getting used to his new wings. He darted clumsily through the air, stopping and starting and almost losing control. Then he tumbled back down toward the beach, but managed to swoop up into the air again before he hit the sand.
“OK, so you can fly,” Kirsty called as the goblin finally began to float around in slow, lazy circles. “But can you loop the loop?”
Kirsty dashed through the air, completing four loops all in a row.
The goblin scowled. “Of course I can!” He flew through the air like Kirsty had, but only managed to complete three loops. Then he spun out of control and somersaulted head over heels in midair.
“What about this?” Rachel asked, before the goblin had time to recover. She began doing backflips, then zipping around in circles. The goblin copied her with a determined look on his face.
“Or this?” Nicole said, flying backward in a zigzag pattern.
The girls and Nicole were all swooping and zooming through the air, leaving sparkly trails of fairy dust behind them like a fireworks display. The goblin looked a bit dazed as he tried to keep up with them. He was zigzaggi
ng along in a very wobbly way now.
“Let’s go for it!” Kirsty whispered to Nicole and Rachel.
With that, the three friends began to weave a fast, complicated pattern of big circles in the air, zooming around and around. The goblin tried to join in, but it was all too much for him.
“I’m too dizzy!” he complained. With a groan, he closed his eyes. Then he plummeted down toward the sand and landed with a thud. The wand flew out of his hand.
“Thank you!” Nicole said, swooping down to pick up the wand.
Rachel and Kirsty saw the wand begin to twinkle and glow with fairy magic. As the goblin opened his eyes, Nicole pointed the wand at him. A burst of magic dust made the goblin grow to his usual size, and his fairy wings disappeared. He looked very annoyed.
“Now you need to go back to Fairyland,” Nicole told him.
Angrily, the goblin jumped to his feet.
“Horrible fairies!” he muttered, brushing the sand off. “You might have the wand, but you’ll never be as green as me!”
As he stomped away, Kirsty, Rachel, and Nicole laughed.
“Thank you so much, girls,” said Nicole as another shower of sparkles from her wand made Rachel and Kirsty human-size again. “Now I can do my job, helping to clean up beaches everywhere.”
Nicole waved her wand in the air again, and four more sparkly recycling bags appeared. “Here you go, girls,” she said, glancing down the beach. “You have plenty more work to do here!”
Rachel and Kirsty both sighed as they stared at all the litter lying around.
“Yes, but there are only two of us,” Rachel pointed out.
Nicole smiled. “You know what?” she said with a wink. “You have your very own magic to help you! Now I’m off to Fairyland to give everyone the good news.”
She vanished in a cloud of fairy magic.
Rachel and Kirsty looked at each other in confusion.
“Our own magic?” Kirsty repeated, opening one of the new bags. “What did Nicole mean, Rachel?”
Rachel was smiling. “I think I know!” she replied, pointing up the beach.
Kirsty saw four people coming toward them — their parents.
“Mom! Dad!” Rachel called, waving at Mr. and Mrs. Walker. “Will you help me and Kirsty collect litter?”
“If everyone helps, it won’t take long at all,” Kirsty pointed out.
“We’ll all help,” said Mrs. Tate as they joined the girls. “We were just talking about how awful it looks.”
“And how dangerous it is for all the sea creatures,” Mr. Tate added. “Hand me a bag, Rachel.”
“Let’s come to the beach every morning we’re here and pick up garbage, Rachel,” Kirsty suggested as all six of them headed down the beach with their recycling bags.
“Great idea,” Rachel agreed.
“Cleaning up the beach would go even faster if we got more people involved,” Mrs. Tate said thoughtfully. “Why don’t I make some flyers to ask other people for help?”
“I’ll hand out the flyers,” Mr. Walker offered. “And maybe we can organize a group of volunteers to clean up the beach year-round.”
Rachel and Kirsty beamed at each other.
“Maybe we can make a difference,” Kirsty said happily.
“All it takes is a little human magic!” Rachel replied with a laugh.
Nicole the Beach Fairy has her wand back! Now Rachel and Kirsty need to help
Join their next adventure in this special sneak peek. . . .
“Rachel! Kirsty! Hurry up, we need to go!” came a voice from downstairs.
“Coming, Mom!” Kirsty Tate shouted back, putting her hair in a ponytail. “There,” she said. “Are you ready, Rachel?”
Rachel Walker, Kirsty’s best friend, frowned as she gazed around the bedroom the two girls were sharing. “Almost,” she said. “But I don’t know where my shoes are. Have you seen them?”
Kirsty shook her head. “Maybe they’re in the hall,” she suggested.
The girls hurried down to find their parents waiting by the front door. The two families were staying in a cottage together for a week on Rainspell Island. It was a very magical place, as Kirsty and Rachel had discovered the first time they’d been there on vacation. That would always be a summer to remember: Not only had they met each other, but they’d also met some very special fairy friends!
So far, this vacation was proving to be just as exciting. They had only arrived yesterday, but Rachel and Kirsty had already found themselves in another wonderful fairy adventure. This time, they were helping the Earth Fairies with a mission to clean up the world’s environmental problems.
Today, the two families were going to Seabury, a town on the mainland. The girls wanted to go to a movie and the grownups were going shopping. Kirsty and Rachel really hoped they’d meet another fairy at some point!
Mr. Walker looked at his watch. “Girls, we have to leave now if you’re going to make it in time for the movie. The ferry to the mainland leaves in ten minutes, and there won’t be another one for an hour.”
“I can’t find my shoes, Dad,” Rachel said, hunting all around the hallway closet. “Where could they be?”
Kirsty helped her look, and the girls searched the entire cottage before finally finding the shoes under Rachel’s bed.
“At last,” said Mr. Tate when they reappeared. “We’ll have to drive to the ferry now. There isn’t time to walk. We’re cutting it close as it is.”
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-62218-9
Copyright © 2009 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
Previously published as Green Fairies #1: Nicole the Beach Fairy by Orchard U.K. in 2009.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Rainbow Magic Limited.
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. RAINBOW MAGIC is a trademark of Rainbow Magic Limited. Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and other countries. HIT and the HIT logo are trademarks of HIT Entertainment Limited.
First Scholastic printing, July 2014
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