“Well, he can’t stop you from getting to Fairyland now,” said Kirsty.
But Sky’s tiny wings drooped. She hovered in the air, looking sad. “Without Jack Frost, there will be no seasons,” she pointed out. “We need his cold and ice to make winter.”
“No winter?” Inky said, looking shocked. “But I love sledding in the snow and skating on the frozen river.”
“Without winter, when will we have spring?” Amber said in a small voice. “What will happen to all of the beautiful spring flowers?”
“And the bees need the flowers to make honey in summer,” Sunny said sadly.
“After summer, autumn comes. That’s when the squirrels find nuts to store for hibernation,” said Fern.
“We need all the seasons, you see,” said Sky. “If we leave Jack Frost in that bubble . . .”
The fairies looked upset. Then, Heather spoke up. “This is all true. But I also feel sorry for Jack Frost. He looks very frightened.”
“Heather’s right. We have to do something,” said Ruby.
“But he might cast another spell!” Kirsty said.
“Even so, we have to help him, don’t we?” Amber said firmly. All the other Rainbow Fairies agreed.
Kirsty felt so proud of them. The fairies were being very kind and brave.
“I know what to do!” Sky flew over the giant bubble. She looked nervous, being so close to Jack Frost, and she whispered her spell so quietly that Rachel and Kirsty couldn’t hear the words.
A jet of blue fairy dust streamed out of Sky’s wand and into the bubble. The dust swirled in a spiral, bigger and bigger, until it filled the whole bubble.
Rachel and Kirsty flew over and peered in.
The fairy dust had turned into huge crystal snowflakes. The water on Jack Frost’s face froze into tiny drops of ice. He had stopped melting! The wind spun the snow faster, whirling around Jack Frost in circles.
“Look! He’s getting smaller and smaller!” Kirsty gasped.
She was right. First, Jack Frost was smaller than a goblin. Then, he was smaller than a squirrel, then, even smaller than Queenie the bee. Everyone looked from the bubble to Sky and back again. What was going to happen next?
With a loud POP, the bubble burst. The wind stopped and the snow vanished.
At first, Kirsty thought Jack Frost had completely disappeared. Then she noticed a very small glass globe lying on the grass. Inside the globe, a tiny figure leaped around angrily.
“It’s a snow globe!” Kirsty said in amazement. “And Jack Frost is trapped inside!”
“Hooray for Sky!” cried Rachel. “Now, Jack Frost can’t hurt any of us, and we can take him safely back to Fairyland.” Rachel flew over and picked up the snow globe. It felt smooth and cold, and it shook when Jack Frost jumped around inside.
Bertram hopped toward Rachel. “I’ll take care of that, Miss Rachel,” he said.
Rachel was glad to hand over the snow globe. She didn’t like being so close to Jack Frost!
“Into the pot, everybody!” shouted Inky. “It’s time to go back to Fairyland!”
“Yippee!” yelled Amber, doing a backflip in midair.
Heather waved her wand and the pot rolled upright, onto its four short legs. Rachel, Kirsty, and all of the fairies flew inside.
Bertram the frog climbed in after them. It was a little cramped, but Rachel and Kirsty were too excited to care.
“Ready?” Ruby asked.
Her sisters nodded, looking very serious. The seven Rainbow Fairies raised their wands. There was a flash above them, like rainbow-colored fireworks. A fountain of sparks filled the pot with beautiful bold colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
And then the brightest rainbow Rachel and Kirsty had ever seen soared upward into the clear blue sky.
With a whoosh, Bertram and the fairies shot out of the pot, carried on the rainbow like a giant wave. Rachel and Kirsty felt themselves zooming up the rainbow, too. Flowers, stars, leaves, tiny butterflies, ink drops, and bubbles made of fairy dust fizzed and popped around them.
“This is amazing!” Kirsty shouted.
Far below, she could see hills dotted with toadstool houses. It was Fairyland! There was the winding river and the royal palace with its four pointed towers.
All of a sudden, the rainbow vanished in a fizz of fairy dust. Kirsty and Rachel flapped their wings and drifted gently to the ground. Rachel looked around, expecting to see all the colors coming back to Fairyland.
But the hills and the toadstool houses were still gray!
“Why hasn’t the color returned?” Rachel gasped.
Kirsty shrugged, too worried to speak.
One by one, the Rainbow Fairies landed softly next to the girls. And Kirsty saw that where each fairy had landed on the gray grass, a patch of the greenest green was spreading outward.
“Rachel, look!” Kirsty shouted. “The grass is turning green!”
“Oh, yes!” Rachel said. Her eyes shone.
The fairy sisters stood in a circle and raised their wands. A fountain of rainbow-colored sparks shot up into the fluffy, white clouds. There was a flash of golden lightning, and it began to rain.
Rachel and Kirsty watched in delight as tiny glittering raindrops, in every color of the rainbow, pattered gently down around them. And where they fell, the color returned, flowing like shining paint across everything in Fairyland.
The toadstool houses gleamed red and white. Brightly colored flowers dotted the green hills with orange, yellow, and purple. The river was a bright, clear blue.
On the highest hill, the fairy palace shone pink. Music came out as the front doors of the palace slowly opened.
Ruby flew down to Rachel and Kirsty. “Hurry!” she said. “The king and queen are waiting for us.”
Rachel and Kirsty flew toward the palace with the seven fairies. Below them, Bertram hurried along with enormous leaps.
The Rainbow Fairies beamed as elves, pixies, and other fairies rushed out of the palace and danced around. “Hooray! Hooray for the Rainbow Fairies!” they cheered. “Hooray for Rachel and Kirsty!”
Queen Titania and King Oberon came out of the palace after them. The queen wore a silver dress and a sparkling diamond tiara. The king’s coat and crown were made of gold.
“Welcome back, dear Rainbow Fairies. We have missed you,” said Titania, holding out her arms. “Thank you a thousand times, Rachel and Kirsty!”
Bertram gave a deep bow. “This is for you, Your Majesty,” he said, giving the snow globe to Oberon.
“Thank you, Bertram,” said Oberon. He held the snow globe in both hands and looked into it. “Now, Jack Frost,” he said sternly. “If I let you out, will you promise to stay in your icy castle and not harm the Rainbow Fairies again?”
“Remember that winter still belongs to you,” Titania reminded him.
Inside the snow globe, Jack Frost stroked his sharp chin. “Very well,” he said. “But on one condition.”
“And what is that?” asked Oberon.
Kirsty looked at Rachel, suddenly feeling worried. What was he going to ask for?
“That I’m invited to the next Midsummer Ball,” said Jack Frost.
Titania smiled. “You will be very welcome,” she said kindly.
Oberon tapped the snow globe and it cracked in half. Jack Frost sprang out and shot up to his full, skinny height. Snow glittered on his white hair. He snapped his fingers and a sleigh made of ice appeared next to him. Hopping onto it, he zoomed up into the sky.
All the fairies waved.
“Good-bye. We’ll see you next year at the Midsummer Ball!” Sky called after him.
Jack Frost looked over his shoulder. A smile flickered across his sharp face. Then, he was gone.
The Fairy Kin
g and Queen smiled warmly at Rachel and Kirsty.
“Thank you, dear friends,” said Oberon. “Without you, Jack Frost’s spell never would have been broken.”
“You will always be welcome in Fairyland,” Titania told them. “And wherever you go, watch for magic. It will always find you.”
The Rainbow Fairies fluttered over to say good-bye to the girls. Rachel and Kirsty hugged each one of them. They couldn’t help feeling a little bit sad. They were going to miss their new friends very much.
Bertram hopped over and shook their hands. “Good-bye, Miss Rachel and Miss Kirsty. It was a pleasure to meet you,” he said.
“Now, here’s a special rainbow to take you home!” said Heather.
The fairy sisters raised their wands one more time. An enormous rainbow whooshed upward, stretching all the way back to Rainspell Island.
“Here we go!” Rachel shouted with joy as she felt herself being swept up by the glowing colors.
“I love riding on rainbows!” cried Kirsty.
Soon, Rainspell Island appeared below them. The girls landed with a soft thud in the backyard of Mermaid Cottage.
“Oh, we’re back to our normal size,” Rachel said, standing up.
“And we’re just in time to catch the ferry!” Kirsty added as they ran around to the front yard.
“It’s sad that our fairy adventures are over, isn’t it?” Rachel said sadly.
Kirsty nodded. “But remember what Titania said about magic finding us from now on!”
“There you are,” said Rachel’s mom as the girls ran into the front yard. “Did you see that beautiful rainbow? And it wasn’t even raining. Rainspell Island is a really special place!”
Kirsty and Rachel shared a secret smile.
“The car’s packed. Check your bedroom to see if you’ve left anything behind,” said Kirsty’s mom.
Kirsty dashed into Dolphin Cottage and went upstairs.
“I’ll check mine, too!” Rachel hurried into Mermaid Cottage and ran upstairs to her little attic room for the last time. She stopped in her bedroom doorway. “Oh!” She gasped.
In the middle of the bed, something shone and glittered like a huge diamond.
Rachel walked closer. It was a snow globe, full of fluttering fairy-dust shapes in all the colors of the rainbow.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Rachel said. She scooped up the glass globe and dashed next door.
Kirsty was running down the stairs. She held an identical snow globe in her hands. “I’m going to keep this forever!” she said.
The two friends smiled at each other. “Every time I shake my snow globe, or see a rainbow, it will make me think of you, and Fairyland, and all the Rainbow Fairies,” said Rachel as they left the cottage.
“Me, too!” replied Kirsty. “We’ll never forget our secret fairy friends.”
“No, we won’t,” said Rachel. “Never.”
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-30816-8
Copyright © 2003 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
Illustrations copyright © 2003 by Georgie Ripper.
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, February 2006
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