“Well,” Gramps began, “a social is a chance for lots of people to come together and share something. In this case, it is cupcakes—lots of different kinds. All of the proceeds go to a scholarship fund.”
“Sounds like my kind of social,” Rachel said. “Can Kirsty and I come?”
“Of course,” Gramps said. “Let’s go.” Rachel smiled, and he jingled the keys in his hand.
“Why don’t you walk, dear,” Gran suggested. “There won’t be many parking spaces with all the excitement in town.”
“Good point,” Gramps agreed. They set off, leaving Gran reading a mystery novel on the porch. “Walking into town is a good idea,” he said to them. “This way, you girls will learn your way around. I imagine you’ll want to do a lot of exploring on your own this week.”
Kirsty and Rachel smiled at each other. That would work well for them. They’d need some freedom to track down the goblins—and Skyler’s magic objects.
The three turned off the road and onto a dirt path. The path wove through a forest. The girls ducked under canopies of morning glories, staying close to Gramps. He found a small branch on the ground and used it as a hiking stick. As he walked, he hummed.
“A cupcake social sounds like the perfect place to find the magic cupcake,” Kirsty whispered.
“Yes, but won’t there be yummy baked goods everywhere?” Rachel pointed out. “How will we know which one belongs to Skyler?”
“Oh, you’ll know.” Both girls heard the loud whisper that came from Rachel’s pocket.
“Do you think one of the goblins will have it?” Kirsty wondered. “If Jack Frost sent them here with all the objects, maybe they still have them.”
“That is a possibility,” Skyler confirmed as she peeked out of the pocket. “But most of the goblins are careless, and Jack Frost’s icy whirlwind was full of strong magic. There’s a good chance they lost hold of the objects along the way.”
As they walked, Kirsty kept thinking she could see movement deep in the trees. Were goblins in the woods? Since Jack Frost’s goblins were green, it wasn’t easy to spot them in between the thick leaves!
After a while, the path became wider. Sun reached down through the trees and warmed the girls’ shoulders. “We’re almost to town,” Gramps announced. “This path comes out right on Main Street.”
The girls soon heard the voices of a gathering. Kirsty kept her eyes out for goblins, but she didn’t see any.
“Here we are,” Gramps said.
Kirsty and Rachel marveled at the Main Street scene. There were at least forty tables set up down the sidewalk and in the middle of the street. Each one had a different kind of cupcake on it. It looked like the best potluck ever!
Suddenly, Rachel was no longer full from the big lunch. “My stomach’s growling,” she said.
But something wasn’t right. No one looked very happy. How could that be, with so many delicious treats all around?
“What do you mean, you forgot the sugar?” one woman asked another.
“I thought I knew the recipe by heart,” the other answered. “I guess I didn’t.”
“Well, this isn’t sweet in the least. It tastes like baking soda.” The first woman’s whole face was wrinkled up like she had eaten something sour.
The next table had a pretty strawberry tablecloth. The cupcakes were decorated with pink frosting. They looked beautiful, but the man eating one looked unhappy. “No, you cannot replace the strawberries with tomatoes and still call them strawberry surprise cupcakes!” he insisted to the woman behind the table.
The man’s son had started to cry. “I don’t like tomatoes, Daddy,” the boy claimed.
“This isn’t at all like it’s been in past years,” Gramps noted. “It’s usually crowded with happy people.” The girls followed Gramps along the sidewalk. There weren’t many people on the streets at all. The only people around were there to sell cupcakes. No one wanted to buy anything. Rachel had a feeling she knew why. There seemed to be something wrong with the treats at every table they passed!
Gramps and the girls passed burnt cupcakes, flat cupcakes that looked hard as stone, and runny cupcakes that looked like swamp water.
The next group of cupcakes appeared to be in better shape, but the signs listed some not-so-tasty flavors: broccoli and chocolate; avocado and orange salt; mustard and watermelon crunch. “Nothing sounds good,” Kirsty said to herself.
“I don’t know,” a little girl with a chef’s hat told her mom. She looked hard at the trays of cupcakes she was trying to sell. “I just thought I would switch out some of the flavors in the recipe. I was tired of making vanilla cupcakes all the time.” The sign on their table said STINKY CHEESE, MUSHY MUSHROOM, and ONION CRUMBLE.
“That’s too bad,” Gramps whispered after they had passed the table. “I remember that family’s cupcakes from other years. I always buy one. They make a wonderful, classic vanilla. They had a line all the way to the post office last year.”
“What’s going on?” Rachel murmured. Of course, she knew exactly what was happening. As long as the goblins had Skyler’s magic cupcake, no special traditions were in place.
“Can’t you do something, Skyler?” Kirsty asked. “All this food is going to go to waste if we don’t fix this soon. And the town won’t make any money for the scholarship fund.”
“Oh dear.” Rachel sighed. “I don’t think there is anything here that anyone would eat. Bacon-bubblegum cupcakes? Nacho cheese cupcakes?”
“I can’t do much,” Skyler admitted. “I have a little magic in my wand, but the magic objects are what really protect the traditions. When the objects aren’t in Fairyland, none of the traditions are safe.”
“Then we have to find the cupcake, and that might mean finding the goblins, too,” Kirsty said.
“What was that, sweetheart?” Gramps said, stopping and turning around.
“Oh,” Kirsty stalled, trying to figure out what to say to her grandfather. “I said that I want to find a cupcake that I can gobble up.”
Gramps smiled. “I want to do the same. There has to be at least one good one here!”
That’s when a boy bumped into Gramps. “Oops! I’m sorry, sir,” the boy said. He looked up and tilted his baseball cap back. “I didn’t mean to run into you. I just really want that cupcake.”
“What cupcake?” Gramps asked.
The boy’s brown eyes looked especially sad as he pointed to a table down the street. There was a crowd gathered, and people were jumping up and down with money in their hands. “I had to get my money. I have five dollars. I hope it’s enough,” the boy said. “The cupcake looks so scrumptious, with extra icing and colored sprinkles. That’s my favorite.”
“I wonder why so many people are crowded around that table?” Kirsty murmured to Rachel.
“I’ll find out,” Skyler said. In a flash, she had zoomed out of Rachel’s pocket and zipped upward to get a better look. A moment later, she fluttered back down and hid in Rachel’s hair. Perched on Rachel’s shoulder, she was where both girls could easily hear her. “You won’t believe this,” she began, “but it’s the goblins. And it looks like they are selling my magic cupcake to the highest bidder!”
“W-what?” Kirsty stammered. “They can’t do that! They’ll ruin everything!”
“I only have four dollars,” Kirsty said. “How much money do you have?” she asked Rachel.
“My parents gave me some when they dropped me off at your house,” Rachel said, “but it’s supposed to last all week.” Rachel knew they had to get Skyler’s cupcake back. It was an emergency! But what if she needed the money for something else?
With Skyler still hiding on Rachel’s shoulder, Kirsty and Rachel approached the table staffed by the goblins.
“Step right up, step right up,” a goblin in a chef’s hat and apron called. “Who wants the most delicious cupcake of all?” He held a sloppy, hand-painted poster that read WORLD’S BEST EVER CUPCAKE with a large arrow pointing down.
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��My daughter wants it,” a voice called out. The girls turned to see a man wearing a pin-striped suit stride toward the group. His hand was raised in the air. His daughter trotted next to him. Her silky braids looked golden in the sun.
“I would like it, too,” the little boy mumbled as the man hurried past. He held his five-dollar bill in both hands.
The man in the suit had taken out his wallet and was pushing his way to the front of the crowd. “Scoot, scoot,” he directed the people in front of him. “Make way.”
“Now, that’s not right,” Gramps said, fumbling around in his pocket.
Kirsty’s first thought was that maybe Gramps would buy the cupcake for her, then she snapped out of it. “That cupcake has some seriously strong magic,” she said to Rachel and Skyler. “It almost made me want to buy it.”
“If we’re not careful, paying way too much for a cupcake is going to become the new tradition around here,” Skyler warned. “We’ve got to get my cupcake before someone eats it! Who knows what would happen then?”
The next thing they knew, Gramps had followed the man in the suit up to the table. The goblin standing behind the cash box looked Gramps up and down. “How much money do you have?” he asked. He had extra-long fingers that he tapped together as he eyed Gramps.
“I’m not going to tell you,” Gramps answered. “I’m just trying to make sure this cupcake sale is fair.”
“Excuse me, sir.” The man in the suit twisted the end of his mustache as he spoke. He squinted his dark eyes at Gramps. “I am going to give this boy as much money as he wants. There is nothing unfair about that.”
Gramps’s mouth twitched as he looked from the long-fingered goblin to the suited man.
Kirsty bit her lip. She was worried about Gramps. His thumbs were tugging on his suspenders, and he had a scowl on his face. “Now see here,” he began, “is there really only one cupcake? Because there will be a lot of disappointed people, myself included, if the only cupcake just goes to the person with the thickest wallet.”
The man in the suit gave his mustache a yank.
The girls had inched close enough now to see the cupcake. It was beautiful. It seemed to glow. The frosting was thick on top of the butter-colored cake. Rachel’s mouth began to water.
“The man has a point,” the gentleman in the suit said, suddenly turning his gaze to the goblins. “Why is there only one cupcake? Where are the others from this batch?”
“Um,” the long-fingered goblin said.
“It’s one of a kind,” answered the one wearing the chef’s hat and apron.
“Are you trying to pull the wool over my eyes?” the man asked, his voice gruff.
Kirsty giggled. She had heard her parents use that old saying before!
The goblins looked at each other, not knowing how to respond.
“We don’t have any wool,” one goblin said.
“No, no wool cupcakes today,” agreed the other.
“Honey, I’m not sure about these two,” the man said to the girl, putting his hands on his daughter’s shoulders.
“I don’t think they baked that cupcake,” she pouted.
“You wouldn’t try to sell me a cupcake you didn’t bake, would you?” the man asked the two goblins behind the table.
The goblins gulped, trying to swallow their fear. “No, no!” they insisted.
Kirsty crossed her fingers hopefully. Rachel could feel Skyler fidget on her shoulder. “Just wait,” she reassured the fairy. “I think we’re about to get our chance.”
“I don’t trust them,” Gramps declared.
“Nor do I,” said the man in the suit.
Without a word, one of the goblins snatched up the cupcake. “Run,” yelled the other. They took off down the street, dodging empty cupcake stands as they raced off.
“Cupcake imposters!” someone declared. “Let’s go after them!”
Not knowing what else to do, Rachel and Kirsty started to move with the crowd of angry cupcake buyers.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Gramps grabbed them each by a shoulder, barely missing Skyler with his firm grip. “You two should stay with me. The cupcake isn’t that important.”
But it was! Kirsty and Rachel looked at each other. What could they do?
“Gramps,” Kirsty began, trying to come up with some kind of excuse, but then Rachel squeezed her hand. The goblins had turned and were running back their way.
“Skyler, can you work some magic?” Rachel whispered.
“You bet,” the fairy responded.
But just as the two green figures came darting back toward the girls, another girl appeared in their path. It was the daughter of the man in the suit. She yanked her braids, put her hands on her hips, and stood her ground. “Give me that cupcake!” she roared.
The goblins did their best to come to a stop so they didn’t run into her, but the goblin with the cupcake tripped on his own feet and the cupcake went flying into the air.
But so did Skyler! The girls held their breath as she zoomed upward. One second, the cupcake was whirling over their heads, and then it had vanished amid a tiny shower of blue sparkles.
“Where’d it go?” Gramps wondered out loud.
But just as soon as the World’s Best Ever Cupcake had disappeared, dozens of the most delicious-looking cupcakes—in all kinds of wonderful flavors—appeared on the tables.
Rachel and Kirsty could see a faint cloud sprinkling fairy dust over Main Street. “Nice work, Skyler,” Kirsty murmured.
“That was fast!” Rachel agreed. The fairy must have already returned the precious cupcake to Fairyland and sent some special magic their way.
As Gramps and the girls walked around, they were in awe. Every single cupcake looked like the most amazing dessert ever. The little boy had found one that looked almost exactly like Skyler’s cupcake. He had an enormous grin on his face as he took his first bite.
“Now this is what I’m talking about,” Gramps announced. He pulled Kirsty and Rachel in for a group hug. “This is what I call a cupcake social!”
Rachel and Kirsty were so excited, they read all the signs out loud.
“Double Trouble Chocolate; Strawberry Cream; Salted Caramel; Lavender Lemon; Coconut Crumble; Pumpkin Glaze; Classic Cheesecake; Brooklyn Blackout; Red Velvet; Marbled Madness; White Chocolate Charm; Blueberry Blast; Chocolate Cream Cloud.”
“Would you like to try our family favorite for free?” asked a woman wearing a purple bandana as she placed a giant crumb of iced cake in each girl’s hand. “We’re so proud of our old recipe that we love to share it.” The woman smiled at her son and daughter with pride.
“We helped bake it,” the girl said.
“It’s a family tradition,” the boy added.
“Thanks!” Gramps said as he munched on the sample. “We’ll take three.”
He led the girls to a bench, and they all sat down so they could savor their treats. “We can’t forget to take some home for Gran,” Gramps reminded them. “That’s our own little tradition.”
The two friends smiled at each other. That was one tradition they could make sure came true!
“Still no sign of Skyler,” Rachel said, looking out the window. “Why haven’t we heard anything?”
“I don’t know,” Kirsty answered, shaking her head.
It had been two days since they had rescued Skyler’s magic cupcake, and the girls hadn’t seen Skyler since. They both wondered where she could be.
“What should we do today?” Rachel asked. The sky was very gray, and the clouds made her feel lazy.
“I’m not sure,” Kirsty answered, putting on her sneakers. “I’ll bet there are some more fun birthday festivities for the town happening today.”
“Girls,” Kirsty’s grandma called from the kitchen. “Breakfast is ready!”
“One nice thing about staying with Gran and Gramps,” Kirsty said, “is they always feed you like it’s a big holiday. Gran loves to make french toast with strawberry sauce. She hasn’t made it yet. I
bet today’s the day!”
Rachel felt her stomach rumble. “That sounds outstanding,” she said. “I love family traditions like that.”
The girls hurried out of the guest bedroom and down the hall to the dining room, but there wasn’t anyone there.
“That’s funny,” Kirsty said. “Gran always has us eat breakfast in the dining room. Maybe she set it up at the kitchen table.”
When the girls went into the kitchen, they didn’t see a gourmet meal. They didn’t even see Kirsty’s gran. All they found was a note.
Grab some cereal and a banana.
Milk is in the fridge (obviously).
See you later,
Gran
“What?” Kirsty grumbled. Her feelings were a little hurt. Gran had never deserted her for breakfast before. “Where’d she go?” Kirsty quickly searched the house but did not find Gran or Gramps. “They didn’t even say good-bye,” she mumbled.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Rachel asked.
“This has to be because the goblins have Skyler’s other two magic objects?” Kirsty said.
“Yep,” Rachel replied. “Something definitely seems fishy.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking now?” Kirsty wondered.
“I’m thinking we should grab those bananas and get to work,” Rachel said. “The big Honeydown fireworks celebration is this weekend, so there’s no time to lose.”
As they left the cozy grass-topped cottage, the girls went over what they knew about the situation with the goblins and Jack Frost.
“There were three missing objects. We found the first one, the magic cupcake, in town during the cupcake social,” Rachel said.
“So there are still two magic objects missing,” Kirsty added. “One is the bunting, the decoration with all the colorful triangles hanging from it. The other is a sparkler that doesn’t go out.” The girls headed toward the path they had taken with Gramps earlier that week.
Skyler the Fireworks Fairy Page 2
