“We should trust that the magic will come to us,” Trixie reminded them. The queen of Fairyland often gave the girls that same advice!
When they arrived back at the store, Mrs. Burns was trying to clean up the mess. “I just don’t understand what happened,” she said. “I don’t like it when people are unhappy with their costumes. I can’t even find the candy that I had to give away. It doesn’t feel like Halloween at all!”
Still, the storeowner smiled when she saw Rachel. As soon as she heard that Rachel and Kirsty needed fairy supplies for their costumes, she hurried off to find wings and other things.
“Let’s help pick up,” Rachel suggested.
Kirsty, Rachel, and Trixie went to the back of the store and started to put things back in the right place. When no one was looking, Trixie used her wand to send sticks of makeup and trick-or-treat bags back to the shelves with a sparkle. In no time, the floors were clean and the bins were almost full.
“If we don’t find new wings, I could always be a clown,” Rachel said with a laugh as she picked up a bright red clown wig. As she plopped it on her head, candy came showering down out of the wig and landed in a heap on the floor.
“Look!” Kirsty exclaimed, pointing to a glittery orange wrapper at the very top of the pile.
“Oh, Rachel,” Mrs. Burns said, rushing forward. “You found our trick-or-treat candy! And I just happen to have the basket right here!”
Kirsty held her breath as the storeowner bent down to gather the candy. Immediately, the girls kneeled down to help. Rachel gave Kirsty a concerned glance as they watched Mrs. Burns toss the glitter chocolate into the straw basket.
“It just hasn’t felt like Halloween without our candy basket,” Mrs. Burns said, standing up and starting to walk away. Kirsty’s face dropped as the woman went around the corner.
“What am I thinking?” Mrs. Burns asked, hurrying back. “Would you like a piece?”
As soon as Mrs. Burns made the offer, Kirsty’s hand sprang forward to grab the chocolate bar with the orange glitter wrapper. “Thank you, Mrs. Burns,” she said, beaming. “It does feel more like Halloween already.” Kirsty secretly held the candy behind her back, and Trixie swooped down to pick it up.
“And look!” Mrs. Burns declared, pointing to something on the very top shelf. “I see my favorite fairy wings. I had wondered where they were hiding.” The storeowner climbed up the old, rolling ladder to pull the sparkly packages off the shelf. She handed one to Rachel and another to Kirsty. “You girls have been such a help. Please take these as a special thank you.”
“Oh, Mrs. Burns, they’re beautiful,” Rachel said with a delighted sigh.
“Thank you so much,” added Kirsty.
As the girls grinned, they saw Trixie swoosh into the air behind Mrs. Burns. The cheery fairy spun around and gave the glittery orange candy a little kiss. Rachel and Kirsty watched her fly away, knowing she was headed back to Fairyland.
“Our costumes are going to look amazing,” Rachel said, turning to Kirsty.
“And once Trixie returns the chocolate candy to Fairyland, everyone’s costumes will start to come together,” agreed Kirsty. “Now we just have two more pieces of candy to track down, and we’ll all have a happy Halloween!”
“Happy Halloween!” Mr. Walker said, snapping a picture of Rachel and Kirsty with his camera. “You look great!”
“Just like real fairies,” Rachel’s mom added, her hands clasped.
Rachel and Kirsty smiled at each other. They both wore beautiful, glittery wings on their backs. Kirsty had on a short, purple, pleated skirt and a lilac wrap sweater with bell sleeves. Rachel had chosen a pretty green sweater dress with ballerina flats. A silver locket shimmered around each of their necks. The lockets had been gifts from the king and queen of Fairyland.
“I wonder where our newest fairy friend could be,” Kirsty whispered, suddenly concerned. The best friends had not seen Trixie since they had found the magic chocolate bar in the costume shop a few days earlier.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
“I’ll get that,” Mr. Walker offered. He put on a cowboy hat to match his jeans and boots as he headed to the front hall. Rachel’s mom followed him. She wore a matching hat with a long jean skirt. Her checked shirt was tied at the waist.
“We know Trixie made it to Fairyland with the chocolate bar,” Rachel said under her breath. “All of our costumes look amazing! If the chocolate wasn’t back in Fairyland, the costumes would still be mixed up.”
“Trixie will show up soon,” Kirsty said with a sigh. “I’m sure of it.” It was almost time to trick-or-treat, and they still had to find two more pieces of glitter candy!
Just then, Rachel’s dad rushed into the living room. “Girls, do you know where our candy went? It seems to have disappeared. Even the bowl is gone!”
Kirsty and Rachel looked at each other.
“We have no idea where it is,” Rachel replied. It was true. They didn’t have any idea where the candy was, but they did have an idea of why it was missing. It was all because of Jack Frost and his tricky goblins!
“Well, there are a bunch of ghosts at our door, and we don’t have anything to give them.” Mr. Walker rushed to the kitchen, his boots clip-clopping on the floor.
Buttons let out a bark. “Oh, I forgot how nervous Buttons gets on Halloween,” Rachel said, running toward the front door. She got there just in time to grab the wooly sheepdog’s collar. “It’s okay, boy. He doesn’t like all of the costumes,” Rachel explained.
The girls looked out the open door into the dusky night. The neighborhood was starting to fill with firemen and superheroes, princesses and knights, dinosaurs and lions.
They could see a whole band of boys dressed as ghosts scampering down the street.
“Those ghosts didn’t even wait for Dad to find the candy,” said Rachel.
“And look! There’s Trixie’s kitten, Moonlight. He’s running after the ghosts,” Kirsty added with a laugh. The tiny cat was leaping through the tall grass. Kirsty lowered her voice to a whisper. “I wonder if those ghosts are actually … goblins?”
Rachel gasped, her eyes widening.
Just then, Rachel’s parents returned to the front hall. Mr. Walker was rubbing his chin. “I guess I’ll have to get more candy at the store,” he said. “It isn’t Halloween without trick-or-treating.”
“You two should get going and have fun,” suggested Mrs. Walker.
The two best friends grabbed their candy bags and straightened their wings. Kirsty waved as she headed out the door.
“We’ll see you at the town party later,” Rachel said, giving each of her parents a quick hug.
“Yes, you girls are going to have a busy night!” Mr. Walker replied.
Rachel and Kirsty gave each other worried looks. Little did he know. They still needed to find two more pieces of magic candy — and they were running out of time!
As Kirsty and Rachel headed out to the sidewalk, they saw some older boys stride by.
“Hey! There’s a rock in this candy wrapper!” an alien shouted to his friends.
“Yuck! In mine, too!” a football player sputtered, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He threw the rock to the ground. “That was a mean trick.”
Rachel shook her head and sighed, watching the boys wander away. “I guess we should trick-or-treat,” she said, “and see what happens.”
“Good idea,” agreed Kirsty as they walked up a pebble path. The path led to a house with lots of jack-o’-lanterns placed on the steps.
Golden lights flickered through their carved faces with a spooky glow.
“The Kempes live here,” Rachel said. “They’re friends with my parents. They always have really good candy.”
“I hope they can find their candy bowl,” Kirsty said, raising her eyebrows.
“Trick or treat!” the girls declared when the door opened. A woman wearing a crown smiled at them. “Just look at you,” Mrs. Kempe said.
Then she paused and
called over her shoulder. “Sal, come see the fairies!”
A tall man with thick, white hair appeared behind Mrs. Kempe. “Are those real wings?” he teased. “You look like you could fly away.” Then he held out a basket full of candy for the girls.
Rachel and Kirsty looked at each other with surprise. The Kempes had candy after all! There were little round peanut butter cups, square fruit chews, and rolls of Sweet Tarts — nothing in the shape of rocks.
“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Kempe!” Rachel exclaimed, selecting a peanut butter cup. Kirsty took a package of fruit chews.
“Of course,” Mrs. Kempe said, waving good-bye. “Now run along and be safe. Happy Halloween!”
“You were right!” Kirsty cried as the girls headed down the stairs. “They did have great stuff! I love fruit chews.” Kirsty ripped open the paper wrapper and popped the red candy into her mouth. At once, her smile dropped and her nose scrunched up. “Rachel,” she said, “it doesn’t taste good.” She paused, moving the candy around in her mouth. “It doesn’t taste like anything at all.”
Rachel, who had just taken a nibble of her peanut butter cup, also frowned.
“I know. It’s awful!” The girls immediately looked around, recognizing the voice that echoed through the air. Trixie!
The tiny fairy fluttered into view with a cloud of star-shaped fairy dust trailing behind her. The dust sparkled against the dark night sky. “It’s because the magic candy corn is still missing,” Trixie explained.
“The candy corn not only makes sure there is plenty of candy, but it also makes it nice and sweet. We have to find it!”
“Oh, Trixie!” Kirsty cried. “We’re so glad to see you!”
“And I’m glad to see you,” Trixie replied. “But there’s no time to chit-chat. I think I know where the magic candy corn might be!” With that, the little Halloween fairy whizzed down the street.
Rachel and Kirsty took off, running as fast as they could. They couldn’t quite keep up with Trixie. The fairy was dodging trick-or-treaters as she zoomed ahead.
“Someone’s going to see her if she’s not careful,” Rachel said, gasping for breath.
“And she’s got to slow down,” Kirsty puffed.
Just then, Trixie stopped in midair and looked back at the girls. “This is it!” she called, pointing to a cottage with a stone chimney and thatched roof. There was a single candle in the window, and Kirsty could just make out a broom propped up on the porch.
“Come on,” Trixie said, grinning and zooming up to the door.
The cottage looked mysterious in the moonlight, but the girls felt safe with Trixie nearby. They climbed up the creaky old porch stairs.
Trixie raised her wand, and a stream of fairy dust pushed the doorbell.
“Trixie, you have to hide!” Rachel insisted, holding open her cloth candy bag. The fairy ducked inside just as the heavy wooden door swung open.
“Trick or treat!” the girls shouted.
A pale face appeared around the edge of the door. The lady had straight black hair and wore a witch’s costume. “Of course,” she said. “Come pick some candy out of my cauldron.”
The girls peeked inside the tidy little cottage and saw a gigantic black pot right next to the door. It was empty.
“Oh no!” the lady exclaimed when she realized the candy was gone. “You’re only my second group of trick-or-treaters. I wonder if those rude little ghosts took it all.” She bent over and swept her hand through the big iron pot, just to be sure that there was nothing inside. “Even the candy in the pretty glitter wrapper is gone!”
Rachel and Kirsty exchanged glances.
“There were ghosts here before us?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, about six or seven of them. They just left,” the lady said, taking off her tall, pointy hat and looking terribly sad. “This is the first Halloween I’ve had in my own house,” she added. “I wanted it to be fun.”
Kirsty felt awful for her. “We know those ghosts,” Kirsty said. “If they took your candy, we’ll get it back. Come on, Rachel.” Kirsty gave the lady a small smile and a nod. Without another word, she marched down the stairs.
“We’re going to find the glitter candy corn,” Trixie said, fluttering out of Rachel’s cloth bag as soon as the girls were out of sight of the cottage. “If that lady is right, the ghosts must have it!”
“So all we have to do is find the ghosts — I mean, goblins,” Kirsty replied. “And then all the candy will be back where it belongs.”
“Okay,” Rachel agreed. “Where do we start? It’s getting dark, so it will be harder to find them. And we don’t even know which way they went.”
“First of all, I can make your wands a little more useful,” Trixie responded. The fairy waved her own wand, and fairy dust swirled around the wands in Kirsty’s and Rachel’s hands. The wands began to glow with a bright, silvery light. “And it would help if those wings really worked.” With another twirl of Trixie’s wand, the girls’ wings began to sparkle. As the friends floated up into the air, they shrank down to fairy size.
“That’s much better, isn’t it?” Trixie declared, with her hands on her hips. “Now let’s go get those goblins!”
The three fairy friends fluttered their wings until they were high above the trees. “We’ll be able to spot that band of ghosts much better from up here,” Trixie said.
Kirsty and Rachel flew close behind Trixie. They held their wands in front of them to light the way. They were getting closer to town, and there were more people on the sidewalks and in the streets.
“Hey, look!” Kirsty exclaimed. “I see a bunch of ghosts down there.” A streetlight cast a dim glow over the nearby playground. Rachel could just make out a cluster of ghosts hidden in the shadow of a tall tree.
“They have a bunch of baskets of candy!” Trixie declared. “The magic candy corn might be there.”
In the cool night, the goblins’ voices carried through the air. They were grunting and grumbling as they threw candy and wrappers all around.
Kirsty gasped. “Oh no! They’re eating it!” she cried. She remembered that if someone who didn’t believe in Halloween ate the magic candy, then that part of Halloween would be ruined. What if the goblins ate the magic candy corn? Kirsty shivered. She couldn’t bear to think about Halloween without the taste of rich chocolate, or tangy gumdrops, or spicy red hots! “We have to do something, and fast!” she insisted.
“Trixie, can you turn us into girls again?” Rachel asked, flying lower in the sky. “We’ll have a better chance of catching the goblins on the ground.”
“Of course,” Trixie said. “But I won’t change your wands. You might need the light!”
As soon as Kirsty and Rachel were ready, Trixie waved her wand. The girls took off running toward the goblins the moment their feet touched the grass. “Stop!” they yelled at the same time.
The goblins stopped eating and tried to look around, but they couldn’t see through the tiny eyeholes in their white sheets.
“Who was that?” a goblin asked, his voice muffled by the sheet over his head.
“Who cares?” another replied. “Focus! We have to find that magic candy and take it to Jack Frost.”
Then a goblin peeked out from under his costume. “Oh no! It’s those annoying girls again!” he yelped. “Let’s get out of here!” The goblins scrambled to throw all of the candy back into the baskets and bowls and bags. Then they stacked them up and tried to balance the towers of treats as they ran toward the street.
“They must have stolen candy from almost every house!” Kirsty said, chasing a goblin with six bowls teetering in his hands.
The goblins stumbled across the playground, barely able to see. One goblin ran right up one side of a seesaw and down the other. Another got caught on the tire swing. But before the girls knew it, the goblins disappeared into the street — and into the middle of the costume parade!
The street was full of people in costume. Kirsty watched as angels and race car drivers
and bunnies marched by. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Kirsty glimpsed a flash of white. A ghost!
She reached out to grab the ghost’s trick-or-treat bag, but then she realized the ghost wore tiny white sneakers.
A goblin could never fit his huge feet into those little shoes, she thought. Just as she had given up hope, Kirsty felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Look over there,” said Rachel, pointing. Kirsty followed her friend’s gaze and saw Trixie perched in a tree on the other side of the street. The fairy was waving her arms, and jumping up and down. “Let’s go see what she wants — before anyone else spots her!” Rachel said, grabbing Kirsty’s hand and leading her through the crowd of people.
“I’m glad you saw me,” Trixie said as she flew down from the tree and landed on Rachel’s shoulder, “because I spotted the goblins! They went into that park!”
Rachel and Kirsty peered into the nearby dark park. “That’s Windy Hollow,” Rachel said with a shiver. “It won’t be easy to find them in there.”
“Well, let’s give it our best shot,” Trixie replied with a bright smile, flying into the dark night. The two friends slipped through the park gate and into the shadows after her. At once, they could hear the wind that gave the park its name. It rustled through the leaves and put a chill in the air.
“It really feels like Halloween now,” Kirsty whispered as she searched the inky night for signs of goblins. There were no streetlamps, and heavy clouds covered the moon. The only light came from their three fairy wands. The girls tiptoed along, stopping every few steps to try and listen for the goblins.
Trixie the Halloween Fairy Page 2
