“We think your feather is close by.”
“So do I,” agreed Crystal. “I can’t wait to find it! But there must be a goblin nearby, too. …” She shivered, and her wings drooped. “We have to be careful.”
“We’re going to Willow Hill,” Kirsty explained. “We think the feather may be over there.”
Crystal fluttered down and landed on Rachel’s shoulder. “Let’s go!” she cried.
They headed out of the Tates’ garden and walked up Twisty Lane onto High Street. There were lots of people around, so Crystal hid inside a fold of Rachel’s scarf.
Crowds of children were playing in the park, throwing snowballs and building snowmen. They were having fun, but the snow was causing lots of problems, too. The girls passed a few cars that were stuck in snowdrifts. There were other cars that had broken down. A broken pipe at the post office had flooded the road, and some of the shops were closed.
“How much farther is Willow Hill?” Rachel panted. It was hard work, tramping through the deep snow.
Kirsty pointed up ahead of them. “There it is,” she replied breathlessly.
Rachel’s heart sank. The snow-covered hill looked very high. As they trudged out of the village, the snow seemed to be getting deeper, too. It was almost up to the top of Rachel’s boots.
“I have an idea,” Kirsty said suddenly, as her feet sank into a snowdrift. “Why don’t we use some of our fairy dust? Then we can fly the rest of the way!”
Crystal popped her head out of Rachel’s scarf. “Good idea!” she said.
Kirsty and Rachel opened their lockets. They each took a pinch of fairy dust and sprinkled it over themselves. Immediately, they began to shrink, and wings grew from their shoulders.
“Come on.” Crystal took their hands. “Let’s fly to the top of the hill. I can see a house up there.”
“That’s Willow Cottage,” explained Kirsty. “It’s Mrs. Fordham’s house.”
Crystal and the girls flew to the top of the hill, dodging the falling snowflakes, which seemed as big as dinner plates to Rachel and Kirsty.
As they got closer to the cottage, Kirsty spotted smoke coming from the chimney. “That’s funny!” she said with a frown. “Mrs. Fordham lives by herself, and she’s at our house. So who started the fire?”
“Let’s look inside,” suggested Crystal.
The three girls swooped down and hovered outside a frosty window. Crystal waved her wand to melt some of the frost, making a small peephole. They peered inside.
Sitting on the floor, in front of a roaring fire, was a big goblin. And in his hand was a shimmering copper feather, spotted with snowy-white dots.
Crystal gasped. “The Snow Feather!” she whispered excitedly.
As Kirsty, Rachel, and Crystal watched, the goblin sneezed loudly.
“A-CCCH-O-O-O!” When the goblin sneezed, a shower of ice cubes clattered to the floor. They began to melt, leaving behind little puddles of water.
“The goblin doesn’t know how to use the magic feather properly,” Crystal whispered.
Kirsty and Rachel were a little frightened. Because of Jack Frost’s spell, the goblin was now pretty big. He looked very scary with his mean face, pointed ears, and big, flat feet.
The goblin huddled closer to the fire. He was grumbling and rubbing his toes. “I’m so cold,” he moaned. “And my feet hurt!”
Crystal smiled. “Goblins hate to have cold feet!” she murmured.
“How are we going to get the feather back?” asked Kirsty.
“Let’s fly around the house and look for a way in,” Rachel suggested.
They flew around, checking all the windows and doors. But everything was locked. They could still hear the goblin muttering about his cold feet.
Kirsty grinned. “I have an idea!” she said. “Dad just decided to give away a pair of slippers that were too small for him. If I wrap them up in a box, I can deliver the package to the goblin. Then he’ll open the door for us, and we can get inside.”
“Perfect!” Crystal agreed, as her wand fizzed sparkly snowflakes. “The goblin won’t be able to resist a present. And if Rachel and I hide inside the box, maybe we can get the feather back.”
Quickly, they all flew back to the Tates’ house. With a wave of her wand, Crystal turned Kirsty human-sized again. Then she and Rachel hid inside Kirsty’s pockets.
Kirsty let herself quietly into the house and found the slippers, which her dad had put in a pile to give away. Then she wrapped the slippers in lots of tissue paper and put them in a shoe box.
“You can come out now,” she whispered to Crystal and Rachel. Luckily, all the parents were chatting with Mrs. Fordham in the living room, and hadn’t heard a thing.
Crystal and Rachel flew into the shoe box and hid under the tissue paper.
Kirsty popped the lid back on the box and wrapped it neatly in brown paper. Then she set off again for Willow Hill. She couldn’t fly up the hill with the package, so she had to walk.
By the time she reached Willow Cottage, Kirsty was out of breath and wet with snow. “We’re here,” she said quietly to Crystal and Rachel. Then she took a deep breath, knocked on the door, and waited.
There was no reply. Kirsty knocked again. “Delivery!” she called.
“Go away!” the goblin shouted.
Kirsty tried again. “Some nice warm slippers for Mr. Goblin!” she said loudly.
This time the door opened, just a crack. Kirsty held the package out. The door opened wider, and a bony hand shot out and grabbed the box.
Then the door was slammed shut in Kirsty’s face. Kirsty hurried to the window and peeked in. The goblin was tearing the paper off the shoe box. He pulled out the slippers, popped them on his feet, and stomped around the room to try them out.
They were a bit big, but he looked delighted. He settled down happily in a chair by the fire, stretched out his feet to admire the slippers, and fell fast asleep. The shining Snow Feather lay on his lap.
Kirsty watched as the tissue paper in the box began to move. Crystal and Rachel fluttered out.
Crystal flew over to the snoring goblin and lifted the feather from his lap.
“You’d better make me human-sized again, Crystal,” Rachel whispered. “Then I can open the window and we can escape.”
Crystal nodded. She waved her wand over Rachel, who instantly shot up to her full size. Then Rachel unlatched the window and pushed it open.
An icy blast of wind swept into the room.
“What’s going on?” the goblin roared, jumping up from his armchair.
“Quick!” Kirsty gasped, pulling Rachel through the window.
Crystal flew out too, her face pale with fear.
The goblin spotted the Snow Fairy and gave another furious roar. He ran over to the window, jumped out, and followed the girls.
Kirsty and Rachel hurried down the hill. It was hard to run fast because the snow was so deep.
“Hurry!” Crystal called. She was flying above them, the feather in her hand. “He’s getting closer!”
Rachel glanced anxiously over her shoulder. The goblin was catching up!
But then she saw him fall over in his too-big slippers. Yelling loudly, he rolled head over heels down the hill, picking up snow as he went.
“Watch out, Kirsty!” Rachel gasped. “The goblin’s turned into a giant snowball!”
The goblin’s arms and legs stuck out of the snowball as it rolled down the hill. Quickly, the girls dove out of the way. The snowball shot past them and rolled away, faster and faster. Soon it was out of sight.
“Are you all right?” asked Crystal, flying over to her friends. The girls were picking themselves up and brushing snow from their clothes.
“We’re fine!” Kirsty beamed. “But can you stop the Snow Feather’s magic?”
Crystal nodded and expertly waved the Snow Feather in a complicated pattern. Immediately, the snow clouds vanished. Overhead, the sky was blue and the sun shone. By the time the girls made their way b
ack to the Tates’ house, the snow had melted away.
As Kirsty and Rachel walked into the house, with Crystal safely hidden in Kirsty’s pocket, Mrs. Tate smiled.
“Hello, girls,” she said. “Isn’t it funny how the weather’s changed? Your mom and dad have gone home, Rachel. At least they won’t have to worry about the snow now. I hope it stays nice for the rest of your visit.”
Kirsty and Rachel grinned at each other.
“Your dad’s in the garden, Kirsty,” Mrs. Tate went on. “He’s attaching that old weather vane to the barn roof.”
Kirsty and Rachel ran outside. They looked up on top of the barn — and there was Doodle! Mr. Tate was busy in his shed, so he wasn’t watching.
“Quick, Crystal.” Kirsty took the Snow Fairy out of her pocket. “Give Doodle his tail feather back!”
Crystal nodded. Fluttering her shiny wings, she flew up to Doodle and put the big tail feather into place.
The girls gasped in surprise as copper and gold sparkles fizzed and flew from Doodle’s tail. The iron weather vane vanished. In its place was Doodle, just as colorful as he had been in Fairyland!
Doodle turned his head and stared straight at Kirsty and Rachel. “Beware!” he squawked. But before he could say any more, his feathers began to stiffen and he became metal again.
“What was he trying to say?” Rachel asked, puzzled.
Kirsty shook her head. She had no idea.
“I don’t know either,” sighed Crystal. “But it must be important. What if he was trying to warn us about other goblins?”
Kirsty frowned. “Maybe he’ll be able to tell us more when we bring back his other feathers.”
“Yes,” Crystal agreed. She waved at Rachel and Kirsty. “And now that you’ve found the Snow Feather, I have to return to Fairyland. The king and queen will be so happy. Good-bye, and thank you!”
“Good-bye!” Rachel and Kirsty called.
The girls waved as Crystal flew up into the sky, her wings glittering in the sun.
Kirsty turned to Rachel. “And now we have only six more magic feathers to find,” she said.
Rachel nodded. “I wonder where the next one will be!”
Rachel and Kirsty looked at the sunny sky and wondered what adventure — and weather — the next week would bring.
The Adventure Begins
Cake Chaos!
Goblin Discovered
Up, Up and Away!
Flying High
Bright and Breezy
“I’m so glad I could come and stay with you!” Rachel Walker said happily. She sat with her friend, Kirsty Tate, in the garden outside Kirsty’s house. The sun shone brightly on the green lawn and pretty flowering bushes.
“Me too,” agreed Kirsty, smiling. “And it’s very exciting to help the fairies again!”
Kirsty and Rachel had met while on vacation with their parents a few months earlier, and they’d had a wonderful fairy adventure. Jack Frost had cast a nasty spell to banish the seven Rainbow Fairies from Fairyland, and the girls had helped rescue them. With Rachel and Kirsty’s help, the fairies were able to bring color back to Fairyland!
Now Jack Frost was causing even more trouble in Fairyland. He had ordered his goblin servants to steal the seven magic feathers from Doodle, the weather vane rooster. Doodle and the seven Weather Fairies were in charge of the weather in Fairyland. But without his magic tail feathers the rooster was powerless! Fairyland’s weather would be all mixed up until Rachel and Kirsty could help the Weather Fairies find all seven of Doodle’s stolen feathers.
“I hope we find another magic feather today,” said Rachel. She and Kirsty had already helped Crystal the Snow Fairy return the Snow Feather to Doodle.
The goblins were hiding all around Wetherbury, where Kirsty lived. And they had been up to lots of mischief, using the magic feathers to create some very unusual weather in the country village.
Kirsty looked anxious. “We still need to find six more feathers,” she said. “Or poor Doodle will be stuck on top of our barn forever!” She glanced up at the roof of the old wooden barn. Here in the human world, the magical rooster was just a rusty metal weather vane.
Just then, a bush near the garden gate began to rustle. Kirsty and Rachel could see its pink flowers jiggling. “Do you think there’s a goblin in that bush?” Kirsty whispered.
“Yes! I can see it moving.” Rachel gasped. She was worried about facing another goblin. They were much scarier now that Jack Frost had cast a spell to make them bigger.
“Come on!” Kirsty said, running across the lawn. “He might have one of Doodle’s feathers.”
Rachel followed her, watching the bush nervously.
An angry screech came from the middle of the bush. Rachel and Kirsty looked at each other in surprise. Suddenly, two cats shot out and chased each other into the barn.
“Oh!” Kirsty exclaimed, and she and Rachel laughed with relief.
Just then, Kirsty’s mom appeared at the front door. “There you are, Kirsty,” she said. “Would you and Rachel like to go to the Summer Festival in the village? You can cheer your grandma on in the Cake Competition. She’s hoping to win this year.”
Kirsty and Rachel looked at each other and smiled. “We’d love to,” Kirsty replied. “Gran makes the best cakes!”
Mrs. Tate laughed. “Yes, she does. But you’d better hurry if you want to get there before the judging starts.”
A few minutes later, the girls were hurrying down Twisty Lane toward High Street. It was a beautiful day. Birds soared in the blue sky and wildflowers dotted the bushes like tiny jewels. As they walked by a thatched cottage with a pretty garden full of roses, a sharp gust of wind blew a shower of flower petals onto the sidewalk.
Just then, a large white envelope landed at Kirsty’s feet. “Where did that come from?” she murmured, and then she gasped as more letters came spinning and whirling toward her.
“The wind’s really blowing hard now,” Rachel said, stooping to pick up some of the letters.
“Hey! Come back!” called a voice. A mailman was running toward them, chasing the envelopes that had been carried away by the breeze.
The girls picked up the letters from the ground and handed them to the mailman. He grinned and stuffed them back into his bag.
“Thanks,” he said. “This wind’s really strong. Listen, it’s even blowing the church bell now!”
He walked on to deliver his letters as Kirsty and Rachel hurried toward the festival. As they walked, they could hear the church bell clanging in the breeze.
The wind seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. When the girls arrived at the festival, they saw that the wind was causing chaos there. Strings of flags had come loose and were blowing in the wind like kite tails. Three tents strained against their ropes as they billowed and swayed. Many of the stallholders had to fight to stop their goods from blowing away.
With a loud snap, the side of a tent tore free from its ropes and began flapping in the wind. Some men ran over to tie it back down. “I’ve never seen wind like this in the middle of summer,” one of them complained.
As the girls headed off to look for the Cake Competition, Kirsty noticed a small boy struggling to hold on to a yellow balloon. Suddenly, the wind whipped it out of his hand.
“My balloon!” cried the boy.
“We’ll catch it!” called Kirsty, already running after the balloon.
Rachel followed her friend. “There’s something very strange about this wind!” she shouted.
“I know,” puffed Kirsty, jumping up to catch the balloon’s string. “Do you think it could be magic?”
The girls looked at each other, their eyes shining with excitement.
Kirsty and Rachel caught the balloon and took it back to the little boy, who was standing outside one of the tents. When he saw it, the boy’s face lit up. “My balloon!” He beamed. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Kirsty replied.
Just then, she heard a familiar voice.
“Hello, Kirsty,” called a plump, jolly-looking lady, as she hurried over to join the girls.
“Hi, Gran,” Kirsty said. She turned to Rachel. “This is my dad’s mom, Grandma Tate,” she explained.
“Hello, Mrs. Tate,” said Rachel. She glanced at the huge cake tin that Kirsty’s gran held in her hands. “Is that the cake you’re entering in the competition?”
Kirsty’s gran nodded. “It’s a chocolate fudge cake,” she said. “That grumpy Mrs. Adelstrop always wins the competition. But I think I have a chance this year.”
“Who’s Mrs. Adelstrop?” Rachel asked.
Just then, another woman with a cake tin pushed by. “Out of my way!” she demanded. “This wind is terrible!” With that, she disappeared inside a nearby tent.
“I’ll bet you’ve guessed who that was,” whispered Kirsty’s gran.
“Mrs. Adelstrop!” the girls replied.
“You got it right on the first try,” said Gran with a laugh. “Well, I have to go get ready now. See you girls soon!” And she followed Mrs. Adelstrop into the tent.
“Good luck,” called Rachel.
“Should we go inside, too?” Kirsty asked. “The goblin with the Breeze Feather must be close by. He might even be hiding inside the tent.”
Rachel nodded and the girls wandered into the tent. A tall, thin man with a notepad stood behind a table full of delicious-looking cakes. Mrs. Adelstrop smiled confidently and placed an enormous lemon cake on the table.
The Weather Fairies Collection Page 2
