Title Page
Dedication
Map
Poem
Intruder in the Tower
Storybook Magic
A Long Climb
A Demanding Customer
A Trick and a Trip
Back to the Tower
Teaser
Copyright
The fairies want stories to stay just the same.
But I’ve planned a funny and mischievous game.
I’ll change all their tales without further ado,
By adding some tricks and a goblin or two!
The four magic stories will soon be improved
When everything that’s nice and sweet is removed.
Their dull happy endings are ruined and lost,
For no one’s as smart as handsome Jack Frost!
“Hurry up, Kirsty,” called Rachel Walker, skipping past colorful bunting and festival tents. “I can’t wait to get to the Story Barge.”
Her best friend, Kirsty Tate, had paused to look at a tent that was decorated with the first lines of lots of different children’s books. She grinned at Rachel and ran to catch up to her.
“That tent is amazing,” she said. “I want to make sure I go back later and see how many first lines I recognize.”
Rachel and Kirsty were having a wonderful weekend. Rachel was staying with Kirsty so that they could go to the Wetherbury Storytelling Festival together. One of their favorite authors, Alana Yarn, was leading the festival and had arranged lots of fun storytelling activities.
“We did so much yesterday, it feels like we’ve had a whole weekend already,” said Rachel. “There was the Goldilocks puppet show and Alana’s storytelling performance of Thumbelina.”
“And we met the Storybook Fairies,” Kirsty added, remembering the magical adventures they had shared with Elle the Thumbelina Fairy and Mariana the Goldilocks Fairy.
“And we still have all of Sunday ahead of us,” said Rachel, stopping to do a cartwheel. “I’m so excited! I wonder what Alana has planned for today.”
“I hope we see the Storybook Fairies again,” Kirsty added.
“I’m sure we will,” said Rachel. “After all, there are still two magical objects to find.”
The girls were secret friends of Fairyland, but this was the first time that they had met the Storybook Fairies. Elle the Thumbelina Fairy had asked Rachel and Kirsty to help them because Jack Frost had stolen their magical objects. Rachel and Kirsty had already helped Elle and Mariana get their magical objects back, but Rosalie the Rapunzel Fairy and Ruth the Red Riding Hood Fairy were still missing theirs.
The river was sparkling in the sunshine, and as they got closer to the Story Barge, the girls saw Alana Yarn standing on the path. When she saw them, she gave a mysterious smile.
“This morning’s activity is in a very special place,” she said. “Go to the playground by the river and look for a tower. Then see if you can figure out what this morning’s story is all about!”
Kirsty and Rachel exchanged excited smiles. They waved to Alana and raced off along the path to the playground.
“This is the best playground in Wetherbury,” Kirsty told Rachel.
It was the biggest playground that Rachel had ever seen. There were lots of colorful swings, a mechanical merry-go-round, and seesaws, all surrounded by a bright yellow fence. There were horses on springs, jungle gyms, tunnels, and even a speaking tube. In the center of the playground was a big slide, with a tall winding ladder that led to a tower at the top.
“Do you think that’s the tower Alana was talking about?” asked Kirsty.
“It must be,” Rachel replied. “Come on, let’s climb up and see what’s at the top!”
They ran over to the ladder and climbed up. It was the tallest slide that they had ever climbed to the top of ! When they reached the top, they found a small, round tower room with a small window. Through the window they could see across the park and down the river to where the Story Barge was moored. Some other children were already inside the tower, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Each of them was busy with a sticker-activity book.
“Look, there’s a pile of the activity books in the corner,” said Rachel.
The girls chose one of the books and sat down to look through it together. On the cover was a picture of a tall tower with long blue hair coiling out of the high tower window.
It was so long that it reached all the way to the ground, but the person who the hair belonged to was hidden inside the tower.
“It must be Rapunzel,” said Kirsty, with a little shiver of excitement. “She’s one of my favorite storybook characters.”
“Mine, too,” said Rachel. “It’s funny, though—I didn’t think that she had blue hair.”
She opened the book and gasped at the picture on the first page. Someone was gazing out of the tower window, but it wasn’t Rapunzel. It was someone with a spiky beard, a pointy nose, and long blue hair. Rachel nudged Kirsty and showed her the page.
“Oh my goodness!” Kirsty exclaimed. “It’s Jack Frost!”
Quickly, the girls flipped through the rest of the activity book.
“Every page shows a different picture of Jack Frost,” Rachel said with a groan. “Where are all the pictures of Rapunzel that should be here?”
Kirsty checked the stickers in the book and looked up at Rachel with a worried expression.
“Even the stickers are pictures of Jack Frost,” she said. “Look.”
She held out the sticker page, where Jack Frost appeared in pose after pose, showing off his long blue hair.
“Why does no one else seem surprised by this?” Rachel wondered, looking around at the other children. “They’re all just playing with the stickers.”
“Let’s ask them,” said Kirsty, shuffling closer to a curly-haired little girl. “Excuse me, what do you think about all that blue hair?”
“Oh, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” said the girl with a smile. “I wish I had long hair like that!”
“It’s an amazing color,” added the boy next to her. “I might ask my mom if I can dye my hair to match it.”
“They haven’t even noticed that it’s not Rapunzel,” Rachel whispered.
She and Kirsty felt worried and upset. Jack Frost had ruined the Rapunzel story! The Storybook Fairies had explained that their magical objects gave the holder control of the stories. The fairies, of course, used their objects to make sure the stories went how they were supposed to, and ended well. But after stealing the objects, Jack Frost and his pesky goblins had actually gone into the stories and changed them. They wanted the stories to be all about them!
The other children were gazing down at their books again, but the girls didn’t feel like looking at any more pictures of Jack Frost. Kirsty stood up and went over to the little window. She peered down at the Story Barge, wishing that she knew how to return the activity books to normal. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something moving. Rosalie the Rapunzel Fairy was fluttering outside the tower, waving to her!
Kirsty turned and beckoned to Rachel, then put her finger to her lips. The other children could not be allowed to spot the little fairy. Rachel came over and smiled when she saw Rosalie.
“Hello!” she whispered. “It’s great to see you again!”
Rosalie waved to them and gave a gentle smile.
Her flowing purple gown, sparkling with teardrop-shaped diamonds, swirled around her as she fluttered outside the tower. Her long blond hair was braided with wildflowers, and diamond earrings dangled from her ears.
“Something terrible has happened,” she said. “Jack Frost has replaced Rapunzel in her tower!”
“We know,” said Kirsty, glancing back at the ac
tivity books. “But no one other than us seems to have noticed.”
“That’s because Jack Frost has my magical hairbrush,” said Rosalie. “He can make as many changes as he likes, and nobody will notice.”
“But we noticed,” said Rachel.
“That’s because you are such good friends to all the fairies in Fairyland,” Rosalie replied. “You even carry a little magical fairy dust in your lockets. You see things that other children might not. Please, will you help me try to get my magical hairbrush back and fix the Rapunzel story? I don’t think I can do it by myself.”
“Of course we’ll help,” Kirsty responded. “But what about the other children? We can’t let them see you—or your magic!”
Rosalie peeked in through the tower window.
“They are all busy looking at their activity books,” she said. “Besides, the storybook world is just like Fairyland. While you are there, not a single second will pass in the human world.”
With a flourish of her wand, Rosalie made a tiny purple book appear in the air above her. It floated down to rest on her outstretched hand, and the girls saw the word Rapunzel on the cover in golden letters.
She opened the book and a breeze ruffled the pages.
Rachel reached out to take Kirsty’s hand. Even though they had already been transported into two other stories, it still felt amazing to know that they were about to travel into a book. Kirsty squeezed her hand and they shared a smile.
Rosalie tapped the tip of her wand on the open book, and some purple fairy dust sprinkled onto the pages. Then she whispered:
“Storybook magic, please come to our aid.
Take us to where the stories are made.
Rapunzel needs help, so we cannot delay.
We must stop Jack Frost and his goblins today!”
She took a deep breath and blew the fairy dust toward Rachel and Kirsty.
It swirled and twirled through the tower window, sprinkling the girls in tiny sparkles. They closed their eyes, and felt themselves being lifted up and whisked into the book.
“What’s that awful noise?” cried Rachel, clapping her hands over her ears.
She opened her eyes and saw that Kirsty and Rosalie also had their hands over their ears. They were next to a tower made of smooth, white stones. It was so high that a wisp of cloud was caught on the tip of its roof. There was a single window near the top, and someone was standing there, brushing long blue hair.
“It’s Jack Frost!” cried Kirsty, taking one hand away from her ear to point at the window. “And I think that noise is him trying to sing!”
It sounded like a hundred crows arguing with one another. Rosalie peered up at the window.
“I hope he’s not using my magical hairbrush!” she said. “If it’s in there with him, we will have to find a way to get it back.”
Rachel walked around the tower. There was no door. All the way around, the wall was flat and solid. Trees surrounded the tower, and no one was in sight.
“There’s only one way into this tower,” Rachel said. “We’ll have to fly up!”
“I can arrange that!” said Rosalie with a smile.
She waved her wand, and Rachel and Kirsty shrank to fairy size in a twinkling of fairy dust.
They fluttered their gauzy wings in delight, hovering alongside Rosalie. Together, they zoomed upward. The terrible singing got louder, and now they could hear the words.
“I’m a genius, tra-la-la.
Goblins are fools, rum-tum-tum!
Silly fairies, tra-la-la.
I’m so smart, rum-tum-tum!”
“His singing is really hurting my ears,” said Rosalie. “We have to get him to stop!”
But when they were about halfway up the side of the tower, Jack Frost happened to lean out the window and look down. He spotted the fairies right away.
“What are you doing?” he yelled. “This is my story now! You can’t just fly up here—you have to ask me to let down my hair! You’re doing this all wrong! What’s the matter with you?”
“We’ll have to do what he wants, until we can get close enough to take back the hairbrush,” said Kirsty.
She and Rachel looked at each other and nodded. They stopped flying upward and hovered in midair. Then, together, they said:
“Jack Frost! Jack Frost! Let down your hair!”
The long blue hair suddenly spilled out of the window, tumbling toward the fairies. They dodged out of the way just in time, but Jack swung the hair around like a whip.
“He’s trying to knock us out of the air!” cried Rosalie.
She dived into the swinging blue hair and clung on as tightly as she could.
“Hold on to his hair!” she shouted. “It’ll hide us!”
Kirsty and Rosalie dived into the swishing hair beside her and hung on with all their strength. After a few moments, the hair stopped moving, and the fairies heard Jack Frost cackle.
“Good riddance to those bad fairies,” he muttered. “I showed them who’s boss! They don’t dare come near me, now that I control the stories! Ha, ha, ha!”
Rachel, Kirsty, and Rosalie exchanged grins. Then they started to climb the hair, since there was no way they could fly among the strands of hair. They went as slowly and quietly as they could, pulling themselves up hand over hand. It seemed to take hours, but at last they reached the windowsill. One by one, they pulled themselves up and sat on the ledge, trying to catch their breath. Then they peered into the tower room.
Jack Frost was standing with his back to the window, gazing into a mirror on the wall. His blue hair was strangely lopsided.
“Why is his hair so crooked?” Kirsty asked.
“And why is there a piece of blue elastic under his chin?” Rachel went on.
Kirsty gasped. “It’s a wig!”
As they watched, Jack Frost began to brush his hair again. The brush was blue with tiny golden flowers engraved on it. A shaft of sunlight fell upon it, making the flowers gleam.
“He is using my magical hairbrush,” said Rosalie in a whisper. “We have to get it back.”
“But how?” asked Rachel. “The room is empty other than Jack Frost, and he’s holding the hairbrush. How are we going to reach it without him seeing us?”
Suddenly, Jack Frost whirled around and hurried over to the window.
“Come back into the room, blue hair,” he said with a cackle. “You’ve done your work!”
There was no time for the three fairies to hide. He started to pull the hair into the room, and immediately spotted them sitting on the windowsill.
“What are you doing in here?” he screeched. “Spies! Sneaky little fairies!”
“Why are you wearing a wig?” asked Rachel, unable to control her curiosity.
Jack Frost glared at her so hard that his eyes seemed ready to pop out. His cheeks turned bright red.
“N-none of your business!” he stammered, clutching the magical hairbrush tightly. “Be quiet! I’m not staying around here to be bothered by annoying little fairies! I’m going home.”
There was a bolt of icy blue magic, and Jack Frost disappeared.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Rosalie exclaimed.
With a wave of her wand, the three of them were whirled upward. Words whirled around them in the air as they left the storybook world and were whisked to Fairyland. Gasping from the speed of the journey, they found themselves fluttering above the Ice Castle.
“Where did he go?” asked Rosalie.
“Listen!” said Kirsty, putting her finger to her lips.
Echoing around the snowy hillside, they could hear someone singing very out of tune.
“I’ve got the hairbrush, tra-la-la.
The fairies are beaten, rum-tum-tum!
They can’t stop me, tra-la-la.
I am amazing, rum-tum-tum!”
“This way!” Rachel whispered.
She followed the sound of the singing toward an open window in one of the towers. Fluttering beside the window, they peeked inside. R
achel and Kirsty had seen Jack Frost’s tower rooms before, and they were usually cold, gray, and drab. But this one was gleaming inside. It looked like a hair salon, with glossy surfaces, polished mirrors, and rows of curlers, combs, and brushes. Bottles of hairspray and gel lined the shelves. Through an archway, the fairies could see a supply room packed with shampoo bottles, hair combs, and lots of clips and pins.
Three goblins were working in the salon, each one dressed in a bright green uniform. While one of them was sweeping the floor, the other two were standing behind Jack Frost. He was sitting in a large chair and gazing into the mirror with a sad expression. Rosalie’s magical hairbrush was still in his hand.
“I want long hair like Rapunzel’s,” he whined.
“We gave you long hair!” exclaimed a goblin hairdresser who had a blond fauxhawk.
He pointed to the blue wig, which was sitting on a mannequin head in front of one of the mirrors. The blue hair was coiled neatly around the head.
“I want my real hair to be long, you fool!” Jack Frost shrieked, gripping the goblin by one pointy ear.
The other hairdresser, who had a large, fake mustache, sucked in air through his teeth.
“That’s tricky,” he said. “We can only work with what we’ve got, which isn’t much.”
“Would you like some fashionable bangs instead?” asked the goblin hairdresser who was sweeping the floor.
“Keep out of this,” snapped the goblin with the mustache.
Jack Frost shooed the blond hairdresser away. “I don’t want bangs. I want long, silky hair like Rapunzel’s, and I want it now!”
Rachel had a little shiver of excitement.
Rosalie the Rapunzel Fairy Page 1
