Everyone looked around, trying to see who was shouting. Then a movement above the stage caught Rachel’s eye. She gasped as she saw a huge, frosted-blue glitter ball coming down slowly, held by a thick chain. It was decorated with golden smiling faces. Two goblins were standing on top of the ball, clinging to the chain and wearing enormous foam fingers. One said, “Jack Frost is so funny … ” and the other said, “… I can’t stop laughing!” The goblins were giggling hysterically, their cheeks pink and their eyes wet with tears of laughter.
“I’ll show you what’s funny!” the rough voice went on.
As the glitter ball touched the stage, it opened to reveal Jack Frost. He stepped out of the ball, dressed in a sparkly ice-blue cape and an enormous sparkly blue top hat.
“It’s me!” he announced.
To Rachel and Kirsty’s amazement, the audience roared with laughter. Mimi drew in her breath sharply.
“Look what’s around his neck,” she exclaimed. “My magical smiley-face pendant!”
Jack Frost strutted across the stage, put his hands on his hips, and glared at the watching fairies.
“Knock knock!” he bellowed.
“Who’s there?” they replied.
“Fairy,” said Jack Frost.
“Fairy who?” the audience chanted.
“Fairy pleased to meet you!” he shouted.
Again the fairies squealed with laughter, clutching their sides and rolling around on the grass.
“How many fairies does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” Jack Frost demanded. “Three! One to screw it in, one to cast a pointless spell on it, and one to flutter around being annoying.”
The fairies were crying tears of laughter now. Jack Frost was on a roll.
“What do you call a fairy who’s always agreeing with you? Fairy Nuff! Get it?”
“These jokes aren’t even jokes,” said Kirsty. “How can the other fairies think they’re so funny?”
“It’s because he’s wearing the magical pendant,” Mimi replied in a whisper. “As long as he has it, every time he tries to be funny, people will laugh. The only reason I’m not laughing is because the pendant belongs to me. It can’t be used to trick me.”
“Why did the fairy cross the road?” Jack called out. “Because the silly thing forgot she could fly!”
The laughter was deafening, and a smug grin had appeared on Jack Frost’s face.
“We have to get that pendant back now,” said Rachel. “I can’t bear to hear our friends laughing at these mean, unfunny jokes.”
Suddenly, Kirsty grabbed Rachel’s arm in excitement.
“I have an idea!” she whispered.
“Jack Frost thinks that he’s the most amazing comedian ever,” Kirsty said. “Let’s pretend to be fans! He’s so conceited that he’s bound to believe us. We’ll ask for his autograph, and then Mimi can unhook the pendant while he’s signing.”
“Great idea!” said Rachel.
The two friends started pretending to splutter with laughter, and they rushed onto the stage, swerved around the goblin assistants, and dashed over to Jack Frost.
“Your jokes are the funniest I’ve ever heard!” Kirsty gushed.
“Could we please, please have your autograph?” begged Rachel.
Jack Frost’s smug smile grew even smugger. But then he looked at the audience and shook his head.
“I have a duty to all my fans,” he said, putting his hand over his heart. “I must continue with the show, and you are interrupting me. Come back for an autograph later.”
“But we can’t wait,” said Kirsty.
“Of course you can,” said Jack Frost. “I’m the funniest, best, and most handsome act in all of Fairyland and the human world. You will wait until I am ready!”
He gave them both such a shove that they went skidding back into the wings, landing in a tangled heap of arms, legs, and wings. Mimi helped them up, and they all peered out on to the stage again.
One of the goblin assistants was doing a wobbly pirouette. As he spun around, he pulled a sparkly blue wig from behind the glitter ball. The other goblin did a little jig, then dived into the glitter ball and pulled out an enormous blue bow tie.
“Your outfit, sir,” squawked the first goblin.
Jack Frost snatched the wig and the bow tie, and quickly put them on. Then he swept a deep bow to the audience, who were almost hysterical with laughter.
“Mr. Twinkle’s bow tie is much better,” said Rachel.
“So are his jokes,” Kirsty added. “Remember the cream pie?”
She and Rachel grinned at each other, and then their eyes widened. They had exactly the same idea at exactly the same time!
“Mimi, can you use your magic to make a tray of cream pies?” Rachel asked.
Mimi just smiled and waved her wand. Instantly, a huge tray of whipped-cream pies appeared in Rachel’s arms.
“Come on,” she said to Kirsty. “We have to make Jack Frost want to give us the pendant!”
Rachel and Kirsty ran onto the stage and put the tray of pies down between them. Then they each picked one up and took aim.
“Three … two … one … FIRE!” Kirsty whispered.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Two cream pies flew through the air. SPLAT! One knocked Jack Frost’s wig off. SPLODGE! The other was a direct hit right on his sharp nose, which poked through the paper plate.
Jack Frost yanked the plate off and clawed at his face, wiping great blobs of cream out of his eyes and flicking them onto the stage. The fairies in the audience were beside themselves, laughing even harder than before. They obviously thought that this was supposed to happen.
“Stop laughing!” Jack Frost snarled through gritted teeth. “This isn’t part of my show! I’m the joke-maker, not the joke, you foolish wing-flappers!”
The laughter stopped immediately. Jack Frost turned to Rachel and Kirsty, his eyes blazing with anger. They stepped a little closer together. It made them feel braver to be beside each other.
“Give me those pies,” Jack Frost hissed. “If anyone around here is going to be throwing cream pies, it’ll be me, not a pair of crazy fairies.”
“You can’t have them,” said Rachel, trying not to let her voice shake. “They belong to us, just like how that pendant you’re wearing belongs to Mimi.”
“Give them to me!” Jack Frost hollered.
But the friends shook their heads.
“You can only have them if you give Mimi back her pendant first,” said Kirsty.
Jack Frost’s eyes narrowed, and then he turned his head toward the audience. The girls could tell that he wanted more laughter and applause.
“They really liked it when you threw those pies,” he muttered. “All right, if you insist. You can have the silly pendant—as long as I can throw some pies!”
Jack Frost took the pendant from around his neck and held it out to Rachel. She took it and flew to the wings, where she handed it straight to Mimi.
The Laughter Fairy hugged Rachel, and then darted onto the stage as Kirsty handed the tray of cream pies to Jack Frost. A grin spread across his face and he pointed to his goblin assistants.
“You!” he yelled. “Stand still!”
“No way!” squealed the goblins, darting sideways.
Cream pies flew through the air as the goblins dodged and weaved around the stage. Soon the stage floor was white and slippery with cream, and the goblins and Jack Frost were skating around in the mixture, staggering as they tried to keep their balance. The Music Fairies, who were in the audience, struck up a merry tune, and soon everyone was in fits of laughter. The goblins were doing everything they could to avoid being splatted, from climbing the stage curtains to doing the limbo under low-flying pies.
“Stand still!” Jack Frost shrieked again.
There was just one pie left. He started to chase the bigger goblin, but then he stepped on one of the sticky, splatted pies on the stage floor, and slipped on it.
“HEEELLLLP!” Jack Frost cried as he careered ac
ross the stage.
The pie he was holding flew high up into the air, and came down with the biggest SPLAT yet—right on top of his head! He landed on his bottom with a bump, and the whole audience roared with laughter.
Rachel and Kirsty hurried over to help Jack Frost to his feet. At first he looked furious, but as the applause rose and the audience cheered, he started to smile. Standing beside Rachel, Kirsty, and the two goblin assistants, he took several bows. The fairies rose to their feet and clapped their hands above their heads.
Jack Frost was looking happier than Rachel and Kirsty had ever seen him. He bowed again and again, soaking up the cheers and the applause. When the girls gave a final wave to the audience and headed back into the wings, the goblin assistants were still trying to drag Jack Frost off the stage.
“Please come,” Rachel heard one of them begging. “We really need to get your costume into the washing machine before the cream pies stain it!”
Rachel and Kirsty grinned as they shared a hug with Mimi. Her pendant was safely hanging around her neck.
“Thank you both,” said Mimi, beaming. “I am so happy to have my smiley-face pendant back, and it’s all thanks to you. I have to send you home now, but I want you to know that I will never forget how you have helped me. Friends forever!”
The three of them shared a hug, and then Mimi waved her wand. There was a shimmer of fairy dust, and the laughter of the fairies faded. Rachel and Kirsty blinked, and saw that instead of the garden of the Fairyland Palace, they were once again standing beside the fountain in Rainspell Park. The laughter of the fairies had been replaced by the laughter of their friends in the Summer Friends Camp.
Mr. Twinkle was telling jokes, and Jen, Ginny, and all of the children were holding their sides and roaring with laughter. Even the goblins beside the fountain started giggling when Mr. Twinkle turned and squirted them with his water flower.
“It looks as if things are back to normal, thank goodness,” said Kirsty, squeezing Rachel’s hand.
Mr. Twinkle finished with an amazing trick where he made his hat disappear—and then reappear on Lara’s head! Then, amid cheers, laughter, and claps, he rode his unicycle away down the path, waving good-bye.
“This has been the most fun day so far!” said Oscar as they headed back across the park to the tent.
Lara bent her knees and did a funny walk, setting everyone off into giggles again. Oscar started telling jokes, and Rachel and Kirsty glanced back at the fountain. The goblins were still beside it, watching the children and looking sad.
“No one should be left out,” said Rachel, waving to the goblins. “Come and join us!”
Cheering up immediately, the goblins leapfrogged across the grass to catch up with the children. They tripped over their big feet and tumbled around, head over heels. Giggling, the other children joined in, leapfrogging over the goblins and one another. Their laughter rang out across the park, and Rachel and Kirsty exchanged a special smile.
“I’m so happy,” said Kirsty.
“I know,” said Rachel. “Now only Clare the Caring Fairy’s magical object is missing. I hope we can get it back!”
“We will,” said Kirsty determinedly.
“We won’t stop until all friendships are as happy as ours!”
It was a beautiful summer’s afternoon on Rainspell Island. Rachel Walker shut the door of the Sunny Days Bed & Breakfast behind her and skipped down the steps. Her best friend, Kirsty Tate, was waiting for her on the path, and their parents had already started walking toward the park.
“I’m really looking forward to this barbecue,” said Rachel. “I’m starving!”
“I think the hot weather makes us hungrier than usual,” said Kirsty with a grin. “Just thinking about burgers is making my stomach rumble!”
Rachel laughed and reached out to hold Kirsty’s hand.
“This has been one of the best trips ever,” she said as they hurried to catch up with their parents. “I can’t believe that we’re going home tomorrow.”
“Vacations on Rainspell always go too fast,” said Kirsty.
The two girls shared a secret smile. Rainspell Island was the place where they had met and become best friends, and where they had had their first adventures with the fairies.
“It’s a great idea to celebrate the last day of the Summer Friends Camp with a barbecue,” said Mr. Walker with a twinkle in his eye. “I love barbecues!”
At the start of their vacation, the girls had joined the Summer Friends Camp, a day camp for children who were staying on the island on vacation. Now that they had reached the end of their stay, it was time to say good-bye to all of their new friends.
“It actually has been harder to make friends than I thought it would be,” Kirsty said to Rachel.
“I agree,” Rachel replied. “It’s all because of mean Jack Frost and his goblins. They’ve caused a lot of trouble.”
Walking a short distance behind their parents, the girls talked quietly about the adventures they had been sharing with the Friendship Fairies over the last few days.
“It’s been nonstop magic since the day we arrived,” Kirsty remembered. “Esther the Kindness Fairy whisked us off to Fairyland for a tea party with her and the other Friendship Fairies.”
“It was wonderful until Jack Frost turned up,” Rachel added.
Jack Frost and his goblins had sneakily stolen the fairies’ magical objects while no one was looking. He wanted to use them to get lots of friends that he could boss around. And, as long as he had the magical objects, friendships in the human and fairy worlds would suffer.
“Jack Frost loves trying to ruin everyone’s fun,” said Kirsty. “This time he’s made it really hard for friends to get along. Even Jen and Ginny have argued a few times.”
Jen and Ginny were the teenage best friends who ran the Summer Friends Camp.
“Thank goodness that Florence the Friendship Fairy cast a ‘Friends through Thick and Thin’ spell on our friendship bracelets,” said Rachel. “I can’t imagine ever fighting with you. It would be horrible!”
Kirsty smiled, but she still looked anxious. Ahead, her parents were laughing with Rachel’s parents. Even their friendships would be ruined if Jack Frost could not be stopped.
Copyright © 2016 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. 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.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-338-15769-7
First edition, July 2017
Cover design by Angela Jun
e-ISBN 978-1-338-15132-9
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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Mimi the Laughter Fairy Page 2
