“Whitney, are they all acting strange because of the golden conch shell?” Kirsty asked.
Whitney nodded, her face serious. “This kind of chaos is going on in oceans all over the world,” she said. “We have to find that missing piece before the goblins do!”
Suddenly Fin gave a squeak of warning and pointed a flipper up to the surface. There, spotlit by the bright sunshine above the ocean, were five dark shapes. They were swimming very quickly toward them.
“We need to hide, and quick!” Whitney declared. “Let’s go deeper into the ocean, girls. Hurry!”
Whitney, Rachel, Kirsty, and Fin swam as fast as they could to the ocean floor. The water got darker the deeper they went, but Rachel managed to spot something.
“There’s a big black shape at the very bottom of the ocean just below us,” she told the others. “Maybe we can hide underneath whatever it is.”
They all headed toward it. As they got closer, Kirsty turned to Rachel.
“I think it’s a shipwreck!” she declared.
Kirsty was right. The enormous, wooden hull of an old-fashioned sailing ship like the Ocean Star lay on the sandy ocean floor. The masts had broken in half and the timbers were rotting away. Brightly colored fish darted in and out of the portholes.
“The ship looks very old,” Rachel observed as they swam closer.
Kirsty looked at her friend. “I wonder if this could be the shipwrecked Mermaid that Captain Andy told us about?”
Just then, a splashing sound behind them made everyone jump.
“The swimmers are catching up with us,” Whitney said. “Hide!”
Fin swam around to the other side of the ship and hid behind a large rock. Whitney, Rachel, and Kirsty went through a big hole in the ship’s deck and found themselves in a cabin that had filled with water. The cabin was empty except for a large wooden chest bobbing gently around.
The girls heard voices above them and Whitney put a finger to her lips. Quietly, they turned to peek out of the hole they’d just swum through.
Five figures were heading straight for the shipwreck. As they hovered above the main deck, Rachel could see that they had clear bubbles over their heads and flippers on their feet.
“They’re not humans,” she whispered urgently. “They’re the goblins from the speedboat!”
“We have to find the shell piece before they do,” Whitney said in a low voice. “But be careful, girls!”
Silently, the three friends swam out of the cabin and began to search the rest of the ship. The goblins didn’t notice. They were swimming across to the other end of the deck, toward the ship’s wheel.
“The captain always stands here,” the big goblin said importantly, grasping the wheel. “Because I’m bigger than all of you, I’ll be the captain.”
“Yes, you’re the biggest,” agreed one of the goblins, “but you’re also the silliest! I’ll be the captain. I’m the smartest!”
“Well, if you’re so smart, what does that even do?” asked the smallest goblin, pointing to the wheel they were fighting over.
The second goblin looked a little sheepish. “I don’t know,” he confessed.
As the goblins bickered, Whitney and the girls split up so they could search the ship for the missing fragment of shell more quickly. Rachel began poking around the rotting timbers of one of the ship’s masts, which lay on the deck.
As she peeked gently underneath a section of mast, the old wood crumbled at her touch and fell apart, sending debris up around her. Rachel was so surprised, she gasped loudly.
Immediately, all the goblins spun around.
“It’s one of those pesky fairies!” the big goblin yelled. “We can make her show us where the shell piece is. Grab her!”
Even though they were on the other side of the ship, Whitney and Kirsty heard everything. They stared at each other in horror.
“The goblins are going to capture Rachel!” Whitney whispered. “We have to stop them!”
Kirsty looked around desperately for inspiration. Then she spotted the hole in the deck where they’d hidden earlier.
“I have an idea,” Kirsty announced. “Quick, Whitney, back to the cabin!”
They swam across to the gap in the wooden timbers and slipped down the hole into the waterlogged cabin again. The wooden chest still floated around the room, its lid half open. Kirsty went over to peer inside.
“Whatever was in here has rotted away,” she told Whitney. “It’s full of seashells and seaweed now. Fantastic!”
Whitney looked confused. “How is that going to help Rachel?” she asked.
“This looks like a treasure chest, right?” Kirsty replied with a grin. “With a little fairy magic, maybe we can make the seashells and seaweed look like treasure so we can distract the goblins!”
“What a great idea!” Whitney laughed. With a wave of her wand, she sent a shower of sparkles raining down on the wooden chest. Kirsty grinned as the shells and seaweed were transformed into shining golden crowns and long necklaces of glittering emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and diamonds.
“Let’s hope this works,” Whitney whispered to Kirsty as they swam back up to the deck. “I don’t know how long my magic will last.”
Outside, Rachel was darting around, trying desperately to escape from the goblin’s clutches.
“Hey, Rachel!” Kirsty called loudly. “Forget about that silly shell piece. We found something even better in this cabin—a chest full of treasure!”
All the goblins whirled around.
“TREASURE!” they roared excitedly. “Hooray!”
Losing all interest in Rachel, the goblins swam speedily across the deck and down into the cabin.
“Are you all right, Rachel?” Whitney asked as she hurried to join her. Rachel nodded gratefully. Meanwhile, Kirsty was peeking through the hole in the deck at the goblins in the cabin below.
“The goblins are draping themselves in the necklaces and wearing the crowns on their heads!” Kirsty laughed.
“Well, the goblins are out of the way for the moment,” Whitney said. “But we’ve looked everywhere and we still haven’t found the shell.”
“Maybe Fin can help,” Rachel suggested.
“Fin!” Whitney called. “Where are you?”
Fin gave a low whale song in reply. He swam out from behind the rock. Fin hovered near the prow of the shipwreck, which was covered in large clumps of seaweed. Whitney and the girls swam over to him.
Fin gestured at the ship’s prow with his flipper.
“There’s something hidden under the seaweed,” Whitney said excitedly.
Rachel and Kirsty helped Whitney pull the feathery green fronds aside. Underneath, they found a carved wooden figure of a mermaid. She was beautiful, with long flowing hair and a fish’s tail.
“So this shipwreck is the Mermaid after all!” Kirsty exclaimed.
“She’s lovely.” Rachel sighed, gazing at the mermaid’s pretty, serene face.
Kirsty nodded, then gave a cry of surprise. “Look at the mermaid’s hair!” she said.
Whitney, Rachel, and Fin stared closely. Nestled in the mermaid’s long flowing locks like a golden comb, was the missing shell piece! The girls couldn’t believe it! Just as Rachel reached out her hand to grab it, the goblins swam up onto the deck. They wore strands of seaweed around their necks and large shells on their heads. They looked very silly and very angry.
“It looks like my magic has worn off!” Whitney whispered.
“Look, there’s the shell piece!” the big goblin yelled, pulling the seaweed off his neck. “Let’s grab it!”
“Quick, Fin!” Whitney said, as the goblins began to swim toward them. “We need your help!”
Fin nodded. He opened his mouth and a beautiful whale song poured out, echoing throughout the depths of the ocean. Rachel and Kirsty had never heard anything quite so amazing.
Suddenly, an answering call came from deep in the ocean. A few moments later, the girls gasped as the other whales came divi
ng down through the water toward them at very high speed. The goblins’ eyes almost popped out of their heads when they saw the enormous whales heading in their direction.
“Let’s get out of here!” they yelled. Forgetting all about the shell, they turned and began to swim away as fast as they could.
But the whales were much better swimmers. Five of them swam up behind the goblins. Each of the whales scooped up one of the goblins gently with their noses, tipping them onto their backs. All of the goblins shrieked with fear as the whales headed back up to the surface of the ocean.
“Let us go, you horrible things!” the smallest goblin yelled as he was carried off.
Immediately, Rachel grabbed the shell piece from the mermaid’s hair.
“Thank you,” she whispered to the carved figure.
“Grab onto Fin’s tail, girls, and we’ll follow the other whales!” Whitney told them.
The girls did as she said. Fin went rushing back toward the surface of the ocean, pulling Whitney, Kirsty, and Rachel easily behind him. As they broke through the waves into the sunlight again, they all burst out laughing at the scene in front of them.
The whales that had picked up the goblins were shooting tall fountains from their blowholes. The goblins were bouncing around on top of the huge jets of water, unable to escape. The goblins looked extremely upset.
“Let me go!” one of them shouted, “I don’t want to be a goblin fountain!”
Other whales swam around them, performing graceful flips, turns, and rolls in the water. It was a magical sight.
Whitney turned to Rachel and Kirsty. “I don’t think the goblins are going to bother us again for a little while!” she said. “Time to take you back to the Ocean Star, girls.” Whitney waved her wand.
Immediately, Fin shrank down to his fairy-size. Whitney tucked the whale firmly under her arm. Then, with another flick of her wrist, she whisked them all back to the deck of the Ocean Star.
Luckily, Captain Andy and everyone else on board was still at the other end of the deck, and didn’t notice their arrival. Whitney quickly used her magical fairy dust to make Rachel and Kirsty their normal size again.
‘‘That was a fantastic fairy adventure!” Kirsty sighed happily. “I’m so glad we found the shell piece.”
“Now there’s only one piece left to find before the magic golden conch shell is whole again,” Rachel added.
“Thank you so much, girls,” Whitney said. “Fin and I couldn’t have done it without you. Now we have to take the shell back to Fairyland. Shannon and the other Ocean Fairies are going to be thrilled!”
Rachel and Kirsty gave Fin a goodbye pat. They waved as Whitney and her whale disappeared in a flurry of glittering sparkles.
“Rachel! Kirsty!” Thomas came running over to the girls, looking very excited. “The whales are back! They disappeared for a little while, but now they’re here again. Aren’t we lucky to see them?”
“Yes,” Kirsty replied, exchanging a secret smile with Rachel. “We’re very lucky!”
“I can’t believe that we’re going home tomorrow,” Rachel Walker said, gazing out to sea. “This has been such a terrific vacation!”
“I know,” her best friend, Kirsty Tate, agreed. “I’ll never forget it.”
The two girls leaned against the railing at the end of Leamouth Pier. It was a warm, clear day and the sun cast dancing sparkles on the water below. Bouncy music boomed out from the carnival behind them.
Rachel sighed. “I’m a little worried. We still haven’t found the last piece of the conch shell and time’s running out.”
“We can’t let our vacation end without finding it,” Kirsty replied. “I really hope we meet Courtney the Clownfish Fairy soon!”
The girls gazed at the carnival rides, hoping they might see the little fairy. There was a giant spiral slide, a bouncy castle, a spinning octopus ride, and lots of game booths. “Is that a sparkle of fairy dust near the slide?” Kirsty asked, pointing.
Rachel shaded her eyes to see. “No,” she replied sadly. “It’s just the flash from a camera.” She linked her arm with Kirsty’s. “It’s no use for us to search for Courtney,” she continued. “Remember what Queen Titania always says? We don’t need to look for fairy magic. It will find its way to us.”
Kirsty nodded. “You’re right,” she said. “Come on, let’s go to the carnival. Look, there’s a clown over there.”
The girls wandered closer to the clown. He was wearing a red-and-white polka-dotted jumpsuit, a little black hat with a yellow flower on top, huge floppy shoes, and full clown makeup. He was busy bending balloons into shapes. The girls watched as he turned a red balloon into a dog for a little girl, and a blue balloon into a sword for a boy.
The clown saw them watching and waved. “Hello!” he called. “Let me make something for you.”
He pulled out a long orange balloon and twisted it into the shape of a fish. “Here you go! Don’t let him swim away!”
“Thank you,” Kirsty said, taking the fish balloon. As the clown walked away, Kirsty’s heart skipped excitedly.
A magical glimmer was coming from inside the balloon. As she looked closer, she realized it was Courtney the Clownfish Fairy!
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-54866-3
Copyright © 2010 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
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First Scholastic printing, March 2011
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Whitney the Whale Fairy Page 2
