“Fetch me more jewels!” he was bellowing at the goblins in the room. “Bring me more cake! Sing me a song! Paint my portrait!”
The goblins were scurrying around in a panic. One was carrying a lopsided cake with gray icing, but he tripped. The cake flew through the air and landed at Jack Frost’s feet with a loud splat.
“Fool!” roared Jack Frost, bouncing up and down in his seat. The tiara slid sideways again and dangled from his ear. “Bring me cake now!”
A goblin in a black beret was standing beside an easel, angrily waving a fistful of paintbrushes at a third goblin, who was stomping on tubes of paint, sending colored blobs squirting through the air.
In the corner, a very small goblin was strumming an out-of-tune guitar and squawking loudly.
“I think he’s singing,” said Rachel, covering her hands with her ears. “I wish he’d stop!”
“No,” said Kirsty, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve got an idea. It’s very dark in there, and it’s total chaos. Maybe with everything that’s going on, Jack Frost won’t notice us grabbing the tiara!”
“It’s worth a try,” said Elisa, always ready for adventure.
Moving cautiously, they flew through the hole in the wall toward Jack Frost, trying to keep to the shadows. They got closer and closer, and Rachel’s heart was hammering. Soon they would be close enough to touch the tiara!
Suddenly, Jack Frost jerked his head to bark an order at a goblin, and Rachel jumped. Her finger accidentally pushed against the flashlight, switching the light on. The three fairies were lit up!
“Intruders!” Jack Frost howled in rage.
He fired an ice bolt at them, and poor Rachel was frozen solid, her flashlight in one hand and the party bag in the other.
“Rachel!” cried Kirsty.
But before they could do anything to help her, Kirsty and Elisa were blasted back through the hole in the broken-down wall!
Kirsty and Elisa were horrified. They had to rescue Rachel and the tiara — but how? They pressed themselves against the outside wall of the tower, listening to Jack Frost yelling at the goblins.
“Catch those pesky fairies now!” he howled.
Kirsty and Elisa heard the thunder of large feet as the goblins hurried down the tower. They were shrieking and grumbling as they slipped and scurried down the steps.
“What are we going to do?” asked Elisa. “We have to keep the goblins out of the way if we’re going to help Rachel — and get my tiara back.”
Suddenly, Kirsty remembered the secret hiding place in the library.
“I’ve got an idea, but there’s no time to explain,” said Kirsty. “We just have to get the goblins to the library.”
At that moment, the goblins tumbled out of the tower and onto the outdoor walkway. As they picked themselves up, Kirsty dove toward them.
“See if you can catch us!” she called to them.
She and Elisa zipped back into the palace, hearing yells of goblin rage behind them. They zoomed down the corridor, and the goblins charged after them, puffing and panting as they ran.
Elisa led the goblins through side passageways and unused rooms, carefully avoiding the places where the other campers might be. Kirsty flew ahead of her, checking that each room was free of kids and palace workers. At last, they arrived at the library and darted inside, just before the goblins caught up with them.
“Quick, come and sit here!” said Kirsty as she perched on the revolving bookcase, next to the vase.
The goblins shut the door and leaned against it, panting.
“We’ve got you now,” said the goblin with the beret. “You can’t get away from us in here, you tricky fairies!”
“Come and get us, then,” said Kirsty, her hand on the vase.
“What are you going to do?” asked Elisa.
“When I say ‘Go,’ fly forward as fast as you can,” Kirsty whispered.
The goblins charged toward them and, just at the right moment, Kirsty tipped the vase forward.
“Go!” she yelled.
As Elisa and Kirsty zoomed across the room, the bookcase whirled around and swooped the goblins into the hiding place behind it!
“It worked!” Kirsty exclaimed. “Now let’s rescue Rachel — and your tiara, too.”
They flew out of the palace and back up to the tower. Carefully, they peeked over the broken wall. They could see Rachel frozen in a block of ice on a table. Nearby, Jack Frost was vainly strutting around the tower room in a long yellow robe.
“I’m not sure that yellow suits my skin tone,” they heard him mutter. “Maybe the blue would be better.”
He tore off the yellow robe and pulled on a dark-blue velvet cape.
“Does this match the tiara?” he wondered aloud. “If only I could see which robe makes me look the most handsome.”
“That gives me an idea,” said Kirsty. “Elisa, can you use your magic to make me into a goblin? If I bring Jack Frost a mirror, maybe that will distract him so that we can rescue Rachel and the tiara.”
“Oh, Kirsty, that sounds like a wonderful plan,” said Elisa with shining eyes. “But it could be dangerous.”
“I don’t care,” said Kirsty bravely. “My best friend is in there, and she needs my help!”
Elisa put her arms around Kirsty and gave her a warm hug.
“You’re a very good friend,” Elisa said. “I’ll help however I can.”
Kirsty and Elisa flew through the arrow-slit in the tower wall and landed in the hallway outside the room that Jack Frost was in. Elisa waved her wand over Kirsty’s head and a wave of green sparkles sprinkled down on her.
“Skin of green and clumpy feet,
Fool Jack Frost with our deceit.”
Kirsty grew back to human-size and felt her nose grow longer and longer. Her skin took on a greenish tint and her feet doubled in size. Elisa waved her wand again, and an ornate gold mirror appeared in Kirsty’s hand. Kirsty held it up and saw a goblin face staring back at her.
“Perfect!” she said with a hoarse goblin giggle.
Elisa fluttered into her pocket, and Kirsty knocked on the door. It flew open at once and Jack Frost stood scowling down at her.
“Well?” he snapped.
Kirsty felt a little scared, but then thought of Rachel.
“I brought you a mirror,” she said in a gruff goblin voice.
A vain smile cracked Jack Frost’s grumpy frown.
“Excellent!” he declared. “Now I can admire myself properly. Well, don’t just stand there! Come in!”
Kirsty scurried into the room and went to stand by the candelabra. She held up the mirror so Jack Frost could see himself.
“Mirror, mirror, in your hand, who’s the best in all the land?” he asked.
“Jack Frost, of course,” said Kirsty, giving a deep bow.
He smirked and gazed at himself in the mirror. While he was distracted, Elisa slipped out of Kirsty’s pocket. She fluttered over to the table and tapped her wand against the block of ice. It melted instantly, and Rachel was free.
“Thank you, Elisa!” she whispered, giving the little fairy a hug.
But just then, Jack Frost spotted Elisa and Rachel in the mirror’s reflection!
“Pesky fairies!” he snarled, lunging at them.
“Look out!” cried Kirsty.
“Traitor!” Jack Frost shouted.
He raised his wand, but Elisa was faster. She quickly turned Kirsty back into a fairy. Kirsty zipped sideways and avoided the ice bolt that Jack Frost shot at her.
Suddenly they heard a loud thumping and thundering. The goblins were racing back up the tower — they must have escaped from behind the bookcase!
“Keep still!” roared Jack Frost as Elisa and the girls fluttered around him.
H
e shot another ice bolt at them, and then had to clutch at the tiara to stop it from falling off his head.
“We just have to get the tiara to slip off his head!” Rachel realized. “Quick — fly around the room as fast as you can!”
The three friends zoomed around the tower room so fast that they looked blurry to Jack Frost. Ice bolts hurtled from his wand as he leaped into the air to try to catch them. His long fingers snatched at them, but the fairies stayed just out of his reach.
“Follow me!” cried Rachel.
She led Kirsty and Elisa around the back of the throne. As the door burst open and the goblins raced in, the girls darted out of the hole in the broken-down wall. They dropped immediately downward.
With a yell of rage, Jack Frost lunged at them. He thrust his head and shoulders over the broken wall and gazed down. He had forgotten all about the tiara on his head! It tumbled off and he gave an enraged roar as Elisa made a clean catch. It shrank to fairy-size at once.
“We did it!” cheered Rachel and Kirsty together.
Jack Frost shook his fist at them as they fluttered down to the walkway. Elisa placed her tiara on her head, and turned to Rachel and Kirsty with sparkling eyes.
“You are very special friends,” she said. “I can see that you both carry a sense of adventure in your hearts. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“You’re welcome,” said Rachel with a big smile.
“It was definitely the most exciting adventure yet!” Kirsty added.
Elisa returned the girls to human-size, and then flicked her wand in the air. A flurry of sparkling jewels flew from the tip and zoomed into the palace through every door and window.
“I have put new jewel stickers all around the palace,” said Elisa. “The treasure hunt can go ahead!”
She blew them both little fairy kisses and then disappeared in a tiny, glittering whirlwind. Rachel and Kirsty smiled at each other, and then Rachel looked up at the tower.
“I don’t think Jack Frost will be causing any more trouble tonight,” she said with a laugh. “Come on, let’s go and finish the treasure hunt!”
An hour later, all the kids were back in the library, and the room was filled with laughter and chatter. Rachel and Kirsty put the final jewel sticker on their crowns and held them up to the light.
“They look beautiful!” said a girl named Harriet, holding up her own crown. “What do you think of mine?”
“It’s really pretty,” said Rachel with a smile.
Victoria and Arthur had been the first to find all their jewel stickers, so they had been declared the winners of the treasure hunt. Their prize was to decide what the next adventure would be.
“Let’s play a game,” said Arthur, who was wearing his crown. “How about hide-and-seek?”
“Ooh yes, and then let’s build forts in the dungeons!” Victoria added.
Kirsty smiled at Rachel as they put on their crowns.
“Now that Elisa has her tiara, everyone has their sense of adventure back,” she said with a laugh. “And adventures definitely make life more fun! I wonder what our next one will be?”
Rachel and Kirsty have helped Hope, Cassidy, Anya, and Elisa find their tiaras. Now it’s time for them to help
Lizzie
the Sweet Treats Fairy!
Join their next adventure in this special sneak peek. . . .
“Having a tea party here in the Orangery is going to be really fun!” Rachel exclaimed to her best friend, Kirsty. “I bet that’s just what the real princes and princesses who once lived in the Golden Palace used to do.”
“I wonder if we’re going to have a royal tea with cucumber sandwiches and cupcakes,” Kirsty said with a smile. “The Orangery is the perfect place for a special party!”
The Orangery was a lovely white greenhouse with huge arched windows. It stood on the grounds of the Golden Palace. Terra-cotta pots of orange, lemon, and lime trees lined the walls of the Orangery, and the air was warm and smelled like citrus. A spiral staircase in the middle of the building swept up to a wrought-iron balcony, which had spectacular views of the Golden Palace and its enormous grounds. From the balcony, Rachel and Kirsty could see the drawbridge and moat, the lake and gardens, the maze, the petting zoo, and the croquet field.
“The Golden Palace looks beautiful in the sunshine,” Kirsty remarked. The palace had four high towers, one at each corner of the building, and a fifth tower, the highest one, right in the center. Flags flew on top of all five towers and their golden turrets glittered in the spring sun.
“Aren’t we lucky to be here for the Royal Sleepover Camp?” Rachel smiled at Kirsty as they made their way back down the spiral staircase. “Thank you so much for inviting me to come.”
The Golden Palace was located in the countryside near Kirsty’s hometown of Wetherbury, and the girls were spending spring vacation there with a group of other kids, doing all kinds of fun and interesting activities. . . .
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-51281-7
Copyright © 2011 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
Previously published as Elisa the Adventure Fairy by Orchard U.K. in 2011.
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, August 2012
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