“Look, even the carousel’s turning!” Rachel pointed out.
“Everything’s working again!” the band leader exclaimed in amazement from outside the tent.
“That’s wonderful!” the carnival master gasped, rushing outside to see. “It’s almost like magic!”
Kylie laughed as she turned to Rachel and Kirsty. “It is magic!” she said. “And I couldn’t have gotten the magic hat back without the two of you.” She smiled at the girls. “Now I must head back to Fairyland to tell everyone the good news.”
“We’d better go and find my mom and dad,” Kirsty said.
Rachel nodded. “But we’ll be back tomorrow to help you find the other hats,” she promised Kylie.
“Thank you, girls!” Kylie called, waving as she disappeared in a dazzling shower of sparkles.
“Jack Frost is so mean,” said Kirsty as she and Rachel headed for the front gate. “He hates to see people having fun.”
“Well, we can’t let him ruin the carnival!” Rachel said, determined. “I wonder if we’ll find another hat tomorrow?”
“I’m so glad Mom and Dad let us come to the Sunnydays Carnival early today,” Kirsty remarked as she and Rachel walked around the carnival grounds. It was the second day of the carnival, and the sun shined brightly in the clear blue sky. “It gives us more time to look for the magical hats.”
“Well, you did tell them we wanted to go on all the rides!” Rachel said with a grin.
“Yes, but Dad says we have to meet up later so we can all go on the roller coaster together.” Kirsty laughed. “That’s his favorite!”
Suddenly, a loud clatter made Rachel clap her hands over her ears. “What’s that noise?” she cried. “It’s terrible!”
“It’s the band,” Kirsty said sadly. “No wonder it sounds awful — they don’t have the band leader’s magical hat!”
“Look!” Rachel pointed at the stage. “The dancers are putting on a show. That’s why the band is playing.”
The girls walked toward the stage, but as they got closer, they saw that everything was going wrong. Not only was the band playing out of tune, but it was out of time, too. The dancers couldn’t keep up with the rhythm, so they kept bumping into one another.
“The band leader looks upset,” whispered Kirsty.
Rachel saw that the band leader was conducting the music and wincing at every wrong note. Only a few people were watching the show, and some of them had their fingers in their ears!
Just then, the carnival master hurried onto the stage, looking flustered. “Thank you, dancers,” he said loudly, “The show’s over, ladies and gentlemen!” He began to clap.
A few members of the audience clapped halfheartedly, as they began to move away.
The carnival master shook his head in despair. “I don’t know what’s going on today,” he said, staring at the dancers. “You’re usually so good!” He sighed. “Come on, I think you need a break. I’ll take you to the refreshment tent for a snack.”
Looking glum, the dancers followed him off the stage.
“I think you’d better go, too,” the band leader said, looking sadly at his musicians. “We’ll try again later.”
“The music won’t sound right until we get the band leader’s hat back,” Kirsty said. She and Rachel watched the gloomy musicians put down their instruments and leave.
“We should start looking for the hat right away,” Rachel suggested. “I bet the goblins are still around here somewhere, enjoying the carnival.”
“Oh, but remember what the fairies always say.” Kirsty grinned at her friend. “We should let the magic come to us!”
Rachel laughed. “In that case, why don’t we have some carnival fun ourselves?” she said.
“Good idea!” Kirsty agreed.
The girls wandered around the carnival grounds, enjoying the sunshine. They passed a dress-up tent, and a cotton candy booth. Then they spotted the hall of mirrors.
“Oh, I love this!” Rachel said eagerly. “Let’s go in.”
Kirsty swung open the door, and the girls stepped inside. It was dark for a split-second, but as the door closed, the lights came on. The girls were surrounded by hundreds of Kirstys and Rachels, reflected in the tall mirrors all around them!
“This is weird!” Rachel laughed, turning from side to side. Her reflections turned, too. “Look, Kirsty!” She raised her arms, and hundreds of Rachels raised their arms, too. Before Kirsty could speak, there was a sudden pop, and a burst of colorful glitter surrounded the girls as it floated to the ground.
“Where did that come from?” Kirsty gasped in surprise. The glitter was reflected in all the mirrors, and the girls felt as if they were surrounded by dazzling fireworks.
“Look,” Rachel cried. “Fairies!”
There, dancing in the mirrors, the girls could see hundreds of tiny fairies. Their wings fluttered and shimmered with light. It was such a magical sight that Kirsty and Rachel could hardly believe their eyes!
Then Rachel laughed. “Oh, look, it’s not hundreds of fairies,” she told Kirsty. “It’s just Kylie!”
“Hello, girls!” called a tiny voice behind them. The girls turned to see Kylie smiling happily. “I’m so glad to see you,” she went on. “I can tell that the band leader’s hat isn’t far away!”
“Great!” Kirsty said eagerly. “Let’s keep our eyes open.”
“First we have to find our way out of here,” said Rachel, looking around in confusion at all the mirrors.
“The exit door must have a mirror on the back, to hide it,” Kirsty said with a frown.
“I’ll help,” Kylie said, smiling and waving her wand. A shower of magic pink sparkles flew from the wand. They surrounded one of the mirrors in a glittering frame of fairy dust.
Rachel hurried over and pushed the mirror. It swung open, and as the girls made their way outside, Kylie flew down to Kirsty’s shoulder and hid behind her hair.
Kirsty and Rachel stood outside the hall of mirrors, looking around for a sign of anything unusual. Rachel turned and glanced at the dress-up tent. A group of Cub Scouts wearing dark blue uniforms were gathered just inside. They squealed with delight as they tried on different outfits and had their faces painted.
Rachel was about to turn away, when she realized that something wasn’t quite right. For one thing, there were no carnival workers in the tent — the Cub Scouts were painting one another’s faces! Rachel looked a little more closely.
“Look at those Cub Scouts,” she said to Kirsty and Kylie.
At that moment, one of the Cub Scouts, who was dressed up like a witch, rushed forward and pushed another Cub Scout out of the face-painting chair. This one was still wearing his Cub Scout uniform, but he had an orange-and-black striped tiger’s face.
“It’s my turn now!” yelled the first Cub Scout, sitting down and whipping off his witch’s hat. Now Kylie, Rachel, and Kirsty could all see that his face was green!
“He’s a goblin!” Rachel breathed.
“They’re all goblins!” Kirsty added.
The girls carefully edged closer to the tent. They could see that the goblins had been very busy. One was dressed in a monkey suit, with a monkey mask. Another was wearing a black suit with white bones on it — he looked like a skeleton! Rachel noticed that his face had been painted in black and white to look like a skull.
“Look at the one doing the face painting!” Kirsty whispered to Rachel and Kylie.
They couldn’t help laughing when they realized that the goblin looked exactly like Jack Frost! He wore a cloak over his shoulders and had a spiky wig and beard. He had painted them white, to look like Jack Frost’s icy hair.
Now he was glaring at the witch goblin who had sat down to have his face painted. “You don’t need painting!” he snapped. “Everybody knows witches are supposed to be green.”
Suddenly, through the open doorway of the tent, Rachel spotted the band leader’s blue-and-gold hat on the table. “There’s the hat!” she whispered excite
dly, pointing it out.
“Girls, if I make you fairy-size, maybe we can slip in and get the hat without being spotted,” Kylie whispered.
Rachel and Kirsty nodded. Kylie waved her wand, and soon the girls were tiny fairies with glittering wings on their backs. Then all three friends flew cautiously toward the dress-up tent.
Just before the friends reached the entrance of the tent, the tiger-faced goblin hurried over to the table. To the girls’ dismay, he grabbed the band leader’s hat and jammed it firmly on his head. Then he marched out of the tent.
“After him!” whispered Kirsty.
The tiger-faced goblin started to hurry off across the grounds.
“Where are you going?” the skeleton goblin shouted after him.
The first goblin stuck his tongue out. “I’m going to have some fun on the rides!” he yelled.
He looks awfully silly in his Cub Scout uniform, with his tiger’s face, the band leader’s hat on his head, and his tongue sticking out, Kirsty thought. Rachel, Kylie, and Kirsty couldn’t help laughing.
“I want to have fun, too!” roared the skeleton goblin. He dropped the pirate costume he’d been about to try on.
“So do we!” shouted the other goblins, throwing down the paint tubes and costumes they were holding.
“Let’s go!” Rachel whispered. The three friends flew after the goblins, wondering which ride they would head for.
But the tiger-faced goblin stopped when he saw the HALL OF MIRRORS sign. “What’s a hall of mirrors?” he asked.
“Oh, you’re silly!” scoffed the goblin in the monkey suit. “Everyone knows what a hall of mirrors is!”
“Well, what is it?” asked the first goblin.
“It’s … er …” the monkey-faced goblin’s voice trailed away. He looked very uncomfortable.
“He doesn’t know!” scoffed the witch goblin. “Let’s go inside and find out.” He pulled open the door, and the goblins began fighting to get in first.
“We’ll slip inside before they close the door,” Kylie whispered to the girls. “One, two three, go!”
As the door swung shut, Kylie, Rachel, and Kirsty swooped forward and managed to dart inside.
As before, the lights came on once the door closed. Hovering high overhead, Rachel, Kirsty, and Kylie could see the goblins’ painted faces reflected hundreds of times in the mirrors. The goblins could see them, too — and they stared at the mirrors in alarm!
“Help!” shrieked the tiger-faced goblin. “Where have all these scary monsters come from?”
“Get me out of here!” roared the Jack Frost goblin. “I can see hundreds of tigers!”
“Uh-oh, Jack Frost’s here, too — dozens of him!” the monkey-faced goblin yelled in terror. “And he looks really angry!”
Kirsty turned to Kylie and Rachel. “The goblins don’t realize that they’re looking at their own reflections.” She laughed. “They’re scaring themselves silly!”
“I can see skeletons!” moaned the witch goblin. “Hundreds of horrible skeletons that have come to life!”
He backed away from the mirrors and slammed right into the tiger-faced goblin. They bumped into each other so hard that the band leader’s hat fell to the ground.
Suddenly, the tiger-faced goblin shouted, “Hey! Those monsters aren’t monsters!” He gasped. “They’re us!” And he pointed at the mirror closest to him.
“The tiger’s pointing at us!” gasped the monkey-suited goblin in terror.
“That’s because it’s ME!” the tiger-faced goblin shouted impatiently. “It’s my reflection!”
Kirsty was laughing so hard she thought she would burst, and Kylie was giggling, too.
But Rachel was staring at the hat on the floor. “Now’s our chance,” she whispered. “Together we can lift it!”
Kylie and Kirsty stopped laughing and nodded. In the meantime, the goblins stared more closely at the mirrors and finally realized that the tiger-faced goblin was right.
“I knew it all along!” said the Jack Frost goblin. “What a bunch of silly fools you are!”
“Who are you calling a fool?” snapped the tiger-faced goblin.
Rachel, Kirsty, and Kylie fluttered down over the goblins’ heads toward the hat. Just as they were almost within reach, the tiger-faced goblin snatched it up! Kylie and the girls had to zoom behind a mirror to hide.
“I’ve found the door!” yelled the witch goblin suddenly, pushing it open. The goblins tumbled out into the sunshine, still arguing loudly. The door slammed shut behind them. This time, Kylie and the girls weren’t quick enough to fly out.
“We almost had the hat that time!” Rachel said, sighing.
“We can’t give up,” Kirsty said firmly. “Kylie, can you make us human-size again, so we can open the door?”
Kylie nodded. In a shower of magic sparkles from her wand, the girls shot up to their normal size. Then they raced out of the hall of mirrors with Kylie perched on Rachel’s shoulder.
“There go the goblins!” Rachel said, pointing ahead.
“It looks like they’re heading for the teacups,” added Kirsty.
The girls hurried after them. The carnival was even busier now than it had been earlier. All the rides the girls passed were full, including the carousel. Rachel smiled to see children sitting on the pretty wooden horses, beaming happily as they whizzed around and around. But then she frowned. “The carousel music sounds awfully squeaky and out of tune!” she remarked.
“So does the music on the bumper cars,” Kirsty agreed as they hurried along.
“Music is very important in making sure that everyone enjoys the carnival,” Kylie sighed. “That’s why we have to get the band leader’s hat back right away!”
The goblins looked excited as they headed for a large pink teacup. They all climbed in and waited for the ride to start.
“What now?” asked Rachel, staring at the tiger-faced goblin wearing the magical hat.
Kirsty had been thinking hard. “I have an idea,” she said slowly, as the ride started up. “Kylie, could you make the teacup spin even faster than usual?”
Kylie’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, yes,” she replied.
The goblins were enjoying themselves as the ride turned and their teacup began to spin. Smiling, Kylie pointed her wand at the goblins’ cup and sent sparkling fairy dust rushing toward it. The teacup began to spin faster.
“Hooray!” shouted the goblins. “This is fun!”
“That’s not fast enough!” Kylie laughed and waved her wand again.
Now the teacup began to whiz around even more quickly. Rachel and Kirsty could see that the goblins were starting to look even greener than usual!
The teacup was moving so fast that the tiger-faced goblin was forced to hang on to the side. Kylie raised her wand one last time, and a shower of sparkles made the teacup spin super-fast. The goblins were almost a blur! The witch’s hat was snug on a goblin’s head, but the band leader’s hat wasn’t. The tiger-faced goblin put up a hand to grab the band leader’s hat, but he was too late.
The hat flew off his head and went spinning through the air. “My hat!” the tiger-faced goblin shrieked.
“Stop the teacup!” moaned the witch goblin. “I want to get off!”
Rachel hurried over and picked up the hat as Kylie lifted her wand to slow down the teacup again. Then the girls watched as the ride stopped and the goblins climbed off. They were so dizzy that they couldn’t walk straight. Rachel giggled as they bumped into each other.
“Thank goodness we got the hat,” said Kylie. “But now we need to take it to the band leader. It’s almost time for the afternoon parade.”
The girls hurried off to the tent next to the stage. The band leader was standing outside with the carnival master. As the girls and Kylie approached, they could hear them talking.
“It’s time for the show,” the carnival master was saying. “Look, there are lots of people in the audience, and the dancers and the band have had a break now. I’m sure
they’ll be much better this time.”
The band leader nodded, but he looked doubtful as he went into the tent where his musicians were tuning their instruments. Rachel, Kirsty, and Kylie followed him. They peeked through the tent flap and saw the band lining up, with the dancers behind them.
“How are we going to give back the hat?” Rachel whispered.
“The band leader hasn’t picked up his baton yet,” Kirsty said, noticing it on the table. “Kylie, maybe you could make the hat appear right next to it?”
Kylie winked. With a flick of her wand, she made the hat shrink. Then she sent the tiny hat whizzing through the tent flap and over to the table. It landed neatly next to the baton. With a final wave of her wand, Kylie made the hat grow back to its normal size.
“Perfect!” Kirsty said, beaming.
The band leader hurried over to the table to pick up his baton, and stopped in surprise when he saw his hat lying next to it. “My hat!” he gasped. “How did that get there?” Smiling from ear to ear, the band leader put on his hat, picked up his baton, and cleared his throat. “Now, let’s try and play a bit better than we did earlier,” he said to the band.
Looking nervous, the band leader took his place at the head of the parade. He raised his baton. The trumpeters played a fanfare as they all marched toward the tent opening. Rachel, Kirsty, and Kylie stepped back to watch the parade.
Kylie the Carnival Fairy Page 2
