Giselle the Christmas Ballet Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

Giselle zipped through the air and flung her arms around the bottle. Instantly, she and the bottle disappeared to Fairyland. Rachel and Kirsty whirled around to face the goblins.

  “It’s gone,” said Rachel. “Time to give up.”

  “Give it back!” the shorter goblin yelled. “Where have all the bottles gone?”

  The girls looked around. The only bottle left was the ordinary one belonging to the goblins. The taller goblin clutched his head with both hands.

  “She took it!” he wailed. “What are we going to do?”

  “We have to fake it,” said the shorter goblin in a panicky voice. “Maybe if we glued some glitter on this bottle?”

  They stomped off, talking about how to fool Jack Frost, and Rachel and Kirsty hugged each other.

  “We did it!” said Rachel. “We found Giselle’s magic bottle!”

  “Do you think that means the ballerinas in our class will be feeling better?” Kirsty asked.

  They hurried back into the school to find out. As soon as they were inside the school, their magical boots and jackets disappeared, and they were back in their ballet outfits. The dizzy ballerina was gone, so the girls hurried back to class. The music was playing and the dancers of the corps were busy rehearsing.

  “Look,” said Rachel. “All the ballerinas who felt sick are back! Oh, Kirsty, it worked!”

  The ballet teacher waved at them.

  “Come and join in, girls,” she called. “Lots to get through! The dancers are practicing the dance of the swans.”

  Her voice didn’t sound croaky anymore. The girls knew that Giselle’s magic bottle must be protecting all ballerinas again.

  “I hope Jack Frost will leave Giselle alone now,” said Kirsty, as they went to join the ballerinas.

  Rachel squeezed her hand. They both knew that Jack Frost didn’t usually give up that easily.

  “We’ll be there to help Giselle if she needs us,” she said. “And in the meantime, we’ve got a class to finish!”

  A Salad Thief

  A Principal Problem

  A Trip to Fairyland

  Forget-me-not Glade

  A Squabble and a Dance

  After the class, Rachel and Kirsty felt very hungry indeed. The corps de ballet rehearsal and the exciting adventure with Giselle had really worked up their appetites.

  “Ooh, my stomach’s rumbling,” said Kirsty as she changed back into her regular clothes.

  “It’s almost lunchtime,” said Rachel, looking at her watch.

  Just then, the ballerinas who had performed the dance of the little swans came up to them.

  “Hi, I’m Alex,” said the dancer with red hair and freckles. “This is Samira, Olivia, and Ayesha. We were wondering if you’d like to have lunch with us in the cafeteria?”

  “Thank you, we’d love to,” said Kirsty with a smile.

  The Castle Springs cafeteria was very different from the ones at Kirsty’s and Rachel’s schools. Some people were dressed in regular clothes. Some were in tights and leotards. Others jostled past them in tutus and beautiful costumes, wearing tiaras and feathers in their hair. It was so interesting that the girls kept staring and forgetting to eat.

  “You’re so lucky to be at such an exciting school,” said Kirsty to Ayesha.

  Ayesha nodded and smiled.

  “It is exciting,” she said. “I feel very lucky to be here and do something I love so much every day. But it is very hard work, and we don’t have as much free time as you do at an ordinary school. We have to be careful to always eat healthy food, and we have to get up very early and go to bed early, too.”

  “Do you ever get homesick?” asked Rachel.

  “I did at first,” said Alex. “It’s strange to be living away from home. But I’ve made some really good friends here, and now that we are in the corps de ballet, there is no time to think about anything except Swan Lake!”

  “We’re really looking forward to the performance tonight,” said Kirsty. “Are you feeling nervous?”

  The four ballerinas exchanged glances and laughed.

  “We’re all very nervous indeed,” said Olivia. “But that’s part of the life of a ballerina. I think that being nervous helps us to dance better, because we work so hard to get it right.”

  Everyone was looking at Olivia as she spoke, but Rachel noticed something. A small figure in a fluffy white coat was helping himself to the salad on Samira’s plate.

  “Hey!” cried Rachel, half rising from her seat.

  The figure scampered away, spitting out the salad and muttering, “Yuck! Healthy stuff!”

  Rachel and Kirsty exchanged glances.

  “That was a goblin,” Kirsty whispered as Rachel sat down again. “He was wearing the same coat as the ones we saw earlier in the yard.”

  “I wonder why he’s still here,” said Rachel. “I hope it doesn’t mean more trouble for Giselle.”

  “Maybe we should look for him after lunch,” said Kirsty. “We could try to find out if he’s up to no good.”

  But before they could leave the table, the ballet school’s prima ballerina, Penny, came to find them.

  “I’d like to invite you to watch the principals rehearsing,” she said.

  Rachel and Kirsty gasped. They knew that the principals danced the most important parts in the ballet. As they walked along beside Penny, she told them what to expect.

  “I am dancing the lead role,” she said. “That means that I appear as two different characters called Odette and Odile. Rupert Randall is dancing the role of Prince Siegfried.”

  Rachel remembered reading the story of Swan Lake.

  “Prince Siegfried is in love with Odette, isn’t he?” she asked.

  “That’s right,” said Penny. “Odette is a princess who has been transformed into a swan by a sorcerer’s magic spell, so she is dressed all in white. Odile is the daughter of the sorcerer, and she is magically disguised as Odette to trick Prince Siegfried. She is dressed all in black.”

  Rachel and Kirsty could hardly wait for the rehearsals to begin!

  A little later, Rachel and Kirsty were sitting on a bench at the side of the rehearsal room.

  “The scene is a grand costume ball at the royal palace,” said the ballet teacher. “Odile and Prince Siegfried dance together, and then the prince tells everyone that he wants to marry Odile.”

  The music began and Rupert Randall sprang into the center of the room. He jumped so high that he almost seemed to be flying. Then Penny joined him. Standing on one leg, she whipped the other leg around, spinning on the spot.

  “These are called fouettés,” the ballet teacher told the girls. “Penny must do thirty-two in a row. The people in the audience will be counting them, and they will burst into applause when she finishes. It is a very difficult step, and it shows a ballerina’s strength and skill.”

  But then something awful happened. Penny wobbled, staggered sideways, and fell down with a loud bump. The music stopped and everyone stared at her in shock.

  “Are you all right?” asked Rupert, helping her to stand up.

  Penny nodded, but she looked very upset.

  “That has never happened before,” she said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me—I just couldn’t remember what I was doing.”

  “Let’s move on to another section,” said the ballet teacher. “I’d like to see the pas de deux from Act Two, please.”

  Kirsty and Rachel knew that this was a scene where Prince Siegfried danced with Odette and fell in love with her. The music was slow and beautiful, and the dancing seemed perfect to the girls. But the ballet teacher was frowning as she watched. Then, as Rupert lifted Penny above his head, his hands seemed to slip on her waist. She fell, but luckily she managed to land on her feet.

  “I’m so sorry,” said Rupert, looking pale. “I just seemed to lose all strength in my arms.”

  “You were both slightly out of time with the music,” said the ballet teacher, looking worried. “There is a tradition that a bad rehearsal me
ans a good opening performance. I hope it’s true!”

  “Something is wrong,” said Rachel in a low voice. “Kirsty, let’s slip out and look for that goblin. We have to find out if Jack Frost has something to do with this!”

  When the girls returned to the cafeteria, it was empty. The kitchen area had been locked up behind shutters. The only sound they could hear was the faint music from different classes around the school.

  “Perhaps he’s gone back out to the yard,” said Kirsty.

  They turned to leave, and then they heard a chair leg scraping on the wooden floor. “Someone’s in here!” Rachel exclaimed. “Quick, Kirsty, guard the door!”

  Kirsty ran to the door and stood with her back to it. Now there was no way out. Rachel started to search the cafeteria, looking under tables and chairs.

  “I know you’re in here,” she said. “Please stop hiding. We just want to talk to you.”

  Suddenly a table was shoved aside and the goblin sprinted away from Rachel toward the door. He skidded to a halt when he saw Kirsty.

  “Get out of my way, you interfering human,” he squawked. “You’ll never find the ballet bag!”

  “What do you mean?” asked Kirsty, as Rachel ran up to join her. “Whose ballet bag?”

  “Mind your own business,” said the goblin, sticking out his tongue. “Jack Frost is too smart for you and that silly ballet fairy.”

  He clamped his hand over his mouth, realizing that he had said too much. Rachel folded her arms.

  “So Jack Frost has stolen Giselle’s ballet bag?” she asked. “Where is it?”

  The goblin shook his head, with his hand still over his mouth.

  Kirsty turned to Rachel and gave her a secret wink.

  “There’s no point asking him, Rachel,” she said. “He doesn’t know anything about the ballet bag.”

  “Oh, yes I do,” the goblin said in an offended voice. “I know everything.”

  The girls felt excited. Their plan was working—the goblin was getting annoyed!

  “Jack Frost wouldn’t have told a little goblin like you where he is keeping the bag,” said Rachel.

  “He didn’t have to tell me,” said the goblin in a boastful voice. “I was there with him when he threw it down the well.”

  “But I bet you don’t know how to find the well,” said Kirsty. “Jack Frost wouldn’t trust you with that sort of important information.”

  “It’s the well in the middle of Forget-me-not Glade, actually,” said the goblin. “So there!”

  Rachel and Kirsty smiled at each other.

  “Well, you certainly showed us,” said Rachel. “Sorry for not believing you.”

  They opened the door and the goblin walked out with his nose in the air. As soon as he was out of sight, the girls hugged each other and jumped up and down in excitement. They had the information they needed!

  “Now we have to find Giselle and tell her about the bag,” said Kirsty.

  They opened the lockets they always wore around their necks. Each one contained a little fairy dust—just enough to transport them to Fairyland. They each took a pinch and sprinkled it over themselves. It glittered a dazzling silver color and then—whoosh—they had shrunk to fairy-size. Gossamer wings unfurled on their backs, and a swirling cloud of fairy dust lifted them off their feet. The sparkles surrounded them like a whirlwind.

  “We’re on our way to Fairyland!” cried Rachel.

  A few seconds later, the girls were blinking in the bright sunshine. They were fluttering above the yard of the Fairyland Palace. Below, a stage had been set up in the middle of the yard. There was a semicircle of six golden chairs in front of the stage, padded with red plush velvet. Six fairies were sitting on the chairs. The girls recognized many of them—Sophia the Snow Swan Fairy, Holly the Christmas Fairy, Eva the Enchanted Ball Fairy, and Miranda the Beauty Fairy. The king and queen were on their thrones behind the golden chairs.

  “Look, there’s Giselle!” said Rachel.

  The Christmas Ballet Fairy was standing on the stage beside Bethany the Ballet Fairy. They were talking with their heads close together.

  “Everyone looks worried,” said Kirsty.

  “Let’s go down and tell them our news,” Rachel suggested. “Come on!”

  They flew down and landed in front of the king and queen, dropping into low curtseys. Queen Titania smiled and rose to her feet.

  “Quiet, please, everyone,” she said in her gentle voice. “We have some very important visitors.”

  Giselle flew down from the stage and landed beside the girls, hugging them tightly.

  “I’m so happy to see you,” she said. “Thank you for helping me to find my magic bottle this morning.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Rachel, hugging her in return. “Are you putting on a performance?”

  “It’s a special preview of the Christmas ballet for the king and queen and a few of our dance-loving friends,” Giselle explained. “It’s the main performance tonight. But something has gone wrong, and I can’t understand it. My solo was a mess.”

  “Giselle tripped up and forgot her steps,” said Queen Titania. “I have a feeling that something is very wrong, and I suspect that Jack Frost is behind it. You may have arrived just in the nick of time, Rachel and Kirsty. Maybe you can help Giselle investigate.”

  “We can do better than that!” said Kirsty. “There was a goblin in the Castle Springs ballet school, and he told us that Jack Frost has stolen Giselle’s ballet bag.”

  All the other fairies had gathered around to listen, and they started to gasp and chatter. Giselle looked shocked.

  “My ballet bag makes sure that all rehearsals go well,” she said. “Without it, this evening’s performances will be ruined!”

  “Girls, it is very important that we find the bag,” said Queen Titania. “Could you help Giselle look for it?”

  “We know where it is!” said Rachel, squeezing Giselle’s hand. “We tricked the goblin into telling us. Jack Frost has thrown it into a well in the middle of Forget-me-not Glade.”

  Giselle frowned, and looked around at the other fairies. Bethany shrugged, and the six fairy guests shook their heads.

  “Are you sure that was the name?” asked Sophia. “I’ve never heard of it.”

  “That’s what the goblin said,” Kirsty replied. “Oh no, do you think he made it up?”

  “I think that the goblin was telling the truth,” said the queen, turning to the frog footman Bertram. “Please go to the ancient library and bring me the oldest map of Fairyland.”

  In a short time, Bertram came back with a large scroll of yellowing paper. It was covered in dust, and it looked very old. Two other frog footmen carried a table between them.

  “Thank you,” said the queen, taking the scroll.

  She blew the dust away and unrolled the paper on the table. Rachel, Kirsty, and all the fairies gathered around in excitement. The ink had faded with age, but it was clearly an ancient map of Fairyland.

  Using one slender finger to search across the map, the queen began to explain.

  “Many years ago, the Fairyland Palace was surrounded by a large forest,” she said. “There were hundreds of glades and pools and secret clearings—and fairies used them for dances and feasts and relaxation. Ah yes, it is as I thought.”

  The queen’s finger stopped over a little glade in a valley, and everyone peered closer. The swirly writing beside the glade was faint, but Rachel and Kirsty could just make out the words.

  Forget-me-not Glade

  “That’s it!” cried Giselle, performing a joyful arabesque. “That’s where Jack Frost hid my ballet bag!”

  “But how do we get there?” asked Kirsty. “The map is so old that Fairyland has changed a lot.”

  “The glade is in the same place,” said the queen.

  She waved her wand, and a piece of paper fluttered down into Kirsty’s hands.

  “I have used a navigation spell to show you the way,” said the queen. “Just follow t
he arrows on the paper, and they will take you there.”

  There was no time to lose. Waving good-bye to their fairy friends, Rachel, Kirsty, and Giselle rose up into the blue sky. Kirsty looked down at the paper that the queen had given her, and saw a green line appear with arrows moving forward.

  “We have to go straight ahead,” she said.

  They zoomed off, following the moving arrows on the map. Kirsty kept checking it and telling Rachel and Giselle when they needed to fly left or right. They passed over tall trees and glittering pools. They crossed hills like small mountains. But at last they reached a place where the land dipped down into a valley, and the arrows guided them down into a little wood of pine trees, tipped with snow. They landed on the edge of a snow-covered meadow at the heart of the woods. It was edged with baby pine trees, and there was a little stone well in the center.

  “Oh no,” Rachel said with a groan.

  The well was guarded by two goblins! “What are we going to do?” she whispered.

  Rachel shrugged, but Giselle looked determined. “Let’s get closer,” the fairy said.

  The goblins were squabbling fiercely, and the fairies strained to hear what they were saying.

  “But it’s my turn to see Frostyev and the Goblinovski Festival Ballet,” the skinny goblin wailed. “It’s a one time performance!”

  “You don’t know anything about ballet,” said the second goblin. “I’m an expert, so I should be the one to go.”

  “Why can’t we just both go?” complained the skinny goblin.