“And the goblin hasn’t even noticed!” Kirsty laughed.
They all looked over at the goblin, who was happily trying to sing through a mouthful of candy.
“Let’s take the candle back to Fairyland, where it belongs!” Stella said. While everyone was watching the carolers, she raised her wand and showered Kirsty and Rachel with fairy sparkles. The girls felt themselves shrinking to fairy size as they were whisked away in a swirl of magic dust.
A few moments later, the girls were flying over Fairyland with glittering, gauzy wings on their backs. Below, they could see red and white toadstool houses. The fairy palace was up ahead, with a huge Christmas tree standing in front of it!
As Stella and the girls fluttered down to the ground, they saw the king and queen waiting to greet them.
“We have the magic candle!” Stella announced.
“Kirsty and Rachel, welcome to Fairyland once more!” said King Oberon.
“You have found our magic candle!” Queen Titania added happily. “We cannot thank you and Stella enough.”
“We’re glad to help,” Kirsty said, and Rachel nodded.
Stella turned toward them. “Girls, would you like to put the candle back on the tree?” she asked.
Both girls nodded, and Kirsty took the candle from her pocket. The branches of the tree were decorated with candles in silver holders, but the biggest and most beautiful holder was empty.
As Rachel held the branch steady, Kirsty carefully slotted the candle into place. Immediately, it began to glow, giving off magical, fiery sparks.
“We’ll do our best to find the glass ball and the star, too,” Rachel promised the king and queen.
“Thank you,” said Queen Titania with a smile. “And now you must return to Wetherbury and see how beautiful it looks, now that you two brought the magic candle home!”
She lifted her wand. Rachel and Kirsty just had time to wave good-bye to Stella before they were whisked away in a swirl of silver sparkles.
A moment later, the girls found themselves back in Wetherbury square.
Nobody seemed to have noticed that they’d vanished and reappeared again!
Everyone was too busy staring up at the beautiful Christmas snowflakes, which were now shining brightly.
“Look, the goblin still hasn’t realized that he’s been tricked!” whispered Kirsty.
The girls glanced at the goblin, who was singing away happily. Then they joined the crowd of shoppers admiring the snowflakes. Every single bulb was now lit, and the glittering snowflakes stood out beautifully against the velvety night sky.
Kirsty beamed at Rachel. “Aren’t they pretty?”
Rachel nodded. “It’s a good start,” she said. “Now we have to find the glass ball and the star.”
“Yes,” Kirsty agreed with a smile. “But right now, we’d better work on our Christmas shopping, or our friends and families won’t get any presents this year!”
“You’re right!” Rachel laughed, and the two girls headed for the stores, with the snowflakes shining brightly overhead.
“Kirsty! Wake up!”
Kirsty rolled over in bed. “What’s the matter, Rachel?” she asked sleepily.
Rachel, who was at the window in her pajamas, grinned at her. “It’s snowing!”
“Really?” Fully awake now, Kirsty bounced out of bed and rushed over to the window. She peered outside. Flakes of white snow were drifting down from the gray sky.
“I hope it snows for days,” Rachel said eagerly. “It would be so cool to have a white Christmas.”
“Look, it’s falling faster and faster,” Kirsty pointed out.
The girls stood at the window for a few minutes, watching the snowflakes swirl, before they got dressed. The snow began to settle on the lawn and flowerbeds, and showed no signs of stopping.
“If we get a lot of snow, we could go to the park after lunch and build a snowman,” Kirsty suggested, as she brushed her hair.
“Ooh, that sounds great!” Rachel exclaimed.
The girls went downstairs. In the living room, Kirsty’s dad was on his hands and knees tinkering with the Christmas tree lights. Mrs. Tate was helping him.
“Good morning, girls,” she said with a smile.
Mr. Tate scratched his head. “I don’t understand it,” he muttered. “We checked the wiring and the fuse is fine, but these lights still won’t come on.”
“Why don’t you take a break and have some breakfast?” suggested Kirsty’s mom.
“Not yet,” Mr. Tate replied, frowning. “I think I’ve almost got it. …”
Smiling, Mrs. Tate shook her head and went to the kitchen. Rachel and Kirsty followed.
“The lights won’t come back on until the magic glass ball has been returned to Fairyland,” Kirsty whispered to Rachel. “Maybe we’ll find it today.”
After breakfast, the girls spent the morning wrapping Christmas presents. They kept an eye on the weather. To their delight, the snow fell heavily all morning, and by lunchtime the backyard was covered with a thick, white blanket of snow.
After lunch, the girls slipped on their coats and boots.
“Mom, can Rachel and I go to the park?” Kirsty asked. Mrs. Tate nodded.
“Make sure you’re home in time for dinner. Hopefully, the lights will be fixed by then,” she added with a smile, “otherwise I’ll have to start serving your dad his meals under the tree!”
Rachel and Kirsty laughed, and rushed out the back door. They stomped through the snow in their boots, and by the time they got to the park their cheeks were pink and glowing.
The park was full of people. Some were building snowmen, others were sledding and having snowball fights. But Rachel and Kirsty quickly found a quiet spot, not far from a group of six children who were building a snowman.
“Let’s make the snowman’s body first,” Kirsty suggested, rolling a snowball in her mittened hands. She put it on the ground, and she and Rachel began to roll it around in the snow so it got bigger and bigger. Then they made a smaller snowball for the head.
“See if you can find some pebbles, Rachel,” Kirsty panted, as she lifted the snowman’s head onto the top of his body.
Rachel dug around in a flowerbed and managed to find a small handful of pebbles. She and Kirsty pressed the pebbles into the snowman, giving him eyes, a mouth, and four buttons down his chest.
“Isn’t he handsome?” Kirsty said with a grin.
“Not without a nose!” Rachel laughed. “I’ll look for a twig or something.”
“Will this do?” called a tiny voice.
The girls spun around and stared up at the sky. Stella the Star Fairy was flying toward them, clutching a long, thin carrot in her arms!
“Perfect!” Kirsty agreed, as Stella landed on the snowman’s head. She took the carrot and stuck it right in the middle of the snowman’s face.
“What are you doing here, Stella?” asked Rachel.
“Do you think the glass ball might be nearby?” added Kirsty eagerly.
Stella nodded and flew over to sit on Rachel’s shoulder. “Look over there,” she whispered, pointing to the group of children nearby. “And take a good look at that snowman!”
Wondering what Stella meant, Rachel and Kirsty glanced over at the group of children. They had finished their snowman and were now having a snowball fight. The girls edged closer to the other snowman, staring at it curiously.
It wasn’t like any snowman they’d ever seen before. For a start, it looked mean! It had a big nose made with a large, pointed stone, a grinning mouth made of black pebbles, and enormous feet of snow.
“It looks like a snow goblin!” Kirsty said slowly. Then she gasped and pointed at the children. “And if that’s a snow goblin, who are they?”
“Maybe they’re Jack Frost’s goblins in disguise!” Rachel whispered.
“Exactly!” Stella replied. “In which case, they might have the glass ball.”
“I think we need to take a closer look,” Kirsty said firml
y.
Trying to keep out of sight, the girls made their way around the flowerbed and closer to the snowman. None of the children noticed them. They were too busy hurling snowballs at each other.
The girls peered at them, but they were so bundled up in hoods, scarves, and coats that it was hard to tell if they were goblins or not.
As the girls watched, one of the children was hit in the face by a big snowball. With a screech of rage, he tore off his wet scarf, revealing a mean, green face!
“They are goblins!” Kirsty exclaimed.
“I’ll get you for that!” the goblin yelled, shaking the snow from his big nose and stamping his foot. “I’m going to shove a snowball down the back of your neck!”
“You’ll have to catch me first!” the goblin who had thrown the snowball jeered. He kicked lumps of snow at the other goblin, then ran away to hide behind a tree, laughing his head off.
“The glass ball might be around here somewhere,” Rachel said hopefully. “Maybe we should look for it.”
“We’ll have to get a bit closer,” Kirsty said, creeping forward.
“Please be careful, girls,” Stella whispered anxiously.
Rachel and Kirsty began to edge toward the goblins. Stella sat on Rachel’s shoulder and peeked out from under her hood. Snowballs were flying everywhere! As Kirsty, Rachel, and Stella watched, a goblin wearing a red scarf threw a snowball so hard that he slipped and fell on his face.
“Ha, ha, ha!” the other goblins roared with delight.
Moaning and grumbling, the goblin scrambled to his feet. “Stop laughing at me!” he spluttered through a mouthful of snow. Then, as one of the laughing goblins bent to make another snowball, the goblin with the red scarf rushed over and shoved a snowball down the back of his blue coat.
“Arggh!” yelled the goblin in the blue coat. “That’s cold!”
“They’re so covered in snow, they look like snow goblins themselves!” Kirsty muttered, trying not to laugh. Rachel giggled, then covered her mouth with her hand. She didn’t want the goblins to notice her!
Suddenly, Kirsty frowned. “What’s that goblin doing over there?” she whispered.
Until now, neither Stella nor the girls had noticed that one goblin was sitting on the ground, cross-legged, rolling snowballs. He had obviously decided that the best way to win the fight was to gather lots of snowballs in advance. There was already a large pile of them beside him! As he carefully rolled another, a goblin in a green hat dashed over and tried to take a snowball from the top of the heap.
Looking furious, the sitting goblin dropped the snowball he was holding, and slapped the other’s hand. “Make your own snowballs!” he shouted, and went back to rolling snowballs.
Kirsty looked at him a little more closely, and then nudged Rachel. “Look,” she hissed.
Rachel saw that there was something round and sparkling in the goblin’s lap, but it wasn’t a snowball. It was pure white, even whiter than the snow, and it flashed and glittered in the sunlight with every color of the rainbow.
“It’s the magic glass ball!” Stella whispered in delight.
“It’s beautiful!” Rachel sighed. “We have to get it back.”
“But how?” Kirsty murmured thoughtfully.
The girls and Stella watched the goblins, wondering how they could get ahold of the glass ball. The sitting goblin was much more interested in snowballs than the glass ball, but he kept glancing up suspiciously to check that none of the other goblins were trying to steal from his snowball pile. That made it tough for the girls to get close to him without being seen!
Meanwhile, the snowball fight was getting fiercer. The goblin in the blue coat had hurried off to hide behind a tree and shake the snow out of his clothes. But the one in the red scarf snuck around the other side of the tree, threw an armful of snow over his rival, and then ran off to hide behind two other goblins.
Yelling with rage, the goblin in the blue coat ran after him and flung a big snowball at his enemy. Unfortunately, it hit the two other goblins. They shrieked with fury.
Now almost all of the goblins were covered in snow and ready to fight!
They started taking sides — the goblin in the red scarf and his two friends, against the goblin in the blue coat and the one in the green hat.
“Hey!” the goblin in the red scarf shouted to the sitting goblin, as he and his teammate were pelted with snowballs. “Come and help us! It’s two against three here!”
The sitting goblin grinned and jumped to his feet. He didn’t realize that as he did so, the glass ball fell off his lap and landed softly on the snowy ground. He quickly scooped up his snowballs and ran to join the fight.
Rachel and Kirsty glanced at each other.
“Let’s try and grab the glass ball!” Rachel whispered.
Kirsty nodded.
As the goblins hurled snowballs at each other, Kirsty and Rachel began to edge their way toward the glass ball. It lay there, sparkling prettily, but just as Kirsty was about to stretch out her hand and pick it up, a large snowball suddenly hit her on the shoulder. “Stop them!” shouted a gruff goblin voice.
The girls had been spotted, and all six goblins were now running in their direction, flinging snowballs at them!
“Quick!” Rachel gasped, as a snowball hit her on the arm. “Behind that tree!”
Forced to leave the glass ball where it was, Rachel and Kirsty dashed behind the tree. A huge shower of snowballs followed them.
“How are we going to get the glass ball back now?” Rachel panted. “We can’t get past six goblins!”
“Wait!” Stella said suddenly. She flew up to a branch of the tree, her eyes shining. “I’ll turn you girls into fairies, and then we’ll all be small enough to dodge the snowballs!” she declared happily.
“But if the goblins are throwing snowballs at us, that means they know we’re here,” Kirsty pointed out. “And we don’t want them to see us.”
“Oh yes, we do!” laughed Stella. “We want the goblins to see us and pelt us with snowballs!”
Kirsty and Rachel stared at Stella, confused.
“How will it help to have lots of snowballs thrown at us?” asked Rachel.
“Trust me!” Stella told her with a grin. “My plan is going to work. I’m sure of it!”
Rachel and Kirsty had no idea what Stella was up to, but they both loved being fairy-size. They waited eagerly while Stella waved her wand and scattered magic fairy dust over them. A moment later, they had shrunk to the same size as their fairy friend. Magical fairy wings shimmered on their backs.
“Here we go!” Stella said, fluttering out from behind the tree. “Now make lots of noise, girls, and make sure the goblins see us!”
Still confused, Kirsty and Rachel zoomed up into the air behind Stella and headed toward the goblins.
“Yoo-hoo!” Rachel called, waving her arms.
“Over here!” yelled Kirsty.
While Stella and the girls had been behind the tree, the goblins had been stockpiling snowballs.
Now they looked up, and their warty faces darkened with rage.
“Here come those pesky fairies!” one goblin shouted.
“Get them!” snarled another.
All of the goblins began hurling snowballs at Rachel, Kirsty, and Stella.
“This is scary!” Kirsty panted as a large snowball whistled past her ear. Now that she was so tiny, the snowballs seemed as big as houses!
“Good job, girls!” Stella called, as Rachel fluttered out of the way of another snowball. “Now, watch!”
As yet another snowball whizzed past Stella, she lifted her wand and sprinkled magic fairy dust over it. Rachel and Kirsty watched curiously as the snowball changed in midair to become an exact copy of the magic glass ball.
“Look!” shouted the goblin in the blue coat. “One of you just threw the glass ball instead of a snowball! What a fool!”
“Who’re you calling a fool?” yelled the goblin with the hat, tossing a snowball at hi
m instead of at Stella and the girls.
“Stop it!” the first goblin panted, dodging out of the way. “We have to get the glass ball back!”
Arguing and grumbling, the six goblins chased after the fake glass ball, which had fallen to the ground just below Rachel, Stella, and Kirsty.
“Keep those fairies away from the glass ball!” shouted one of the goblins. As they ran, the goblins all began hurling snowballs at Stella, Rachel, and Kirsty again.
“Can you see the real glass ball, girls?” called Stella.
Rachel and Kirsty peered through the storm of snowballs. The glass ball had rolled to a stop near the edge of the flowerbed.
“I see it!” Rachel shouted.
“Good,” Stella replied, raising her wand again. “You go and get it while I give the goblins something else to chase!”
She waved her wand, and suddenly the air was full of magic sparkles. This time, to Kirsty and Rachel’s amazement, all the snowballs flying through the air turned into glass balls!
“What’s going on?” yelled the goblin in the red scarf, hardly able to believe his eyes. He skidded to a halt as the glass balls began to fall to the ground around him. The other goblins banged right into him. They all ended up in a snowy heap!
“Pesky fairies! Which is the real glass ball?” one goblin spluttered. They all began to scramble around, picking up the fake ones.
In the meantime, Kirsty and Rachel swooped down to the edge of the flowerbed.
“We’ll both have to lift the glass ball, now that we’re fairy-size,” Kirsty said as she landed on the ground. “And we’ll have to do it quickly, before the goblins see what we’re up to!”
Stella the Star Fairy Page 2
