Why have four seasons every year?
I like my weather more severe.
Who needs autumn’s golden leaves?
Who likes fall’s first crisp, light breeze?
I like ice and snow and hail!
My frosty season will prevail.
I’ll steal that fall fairy’s magic things.
Now feel the chill an endless winter brings!
Find the hidden letters in the leaves throughout this book. Unscramble all 7 letters to spell a special autumn word!
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Map
Poem
A Brisk Breeze
Down on the Farm
Squash Blossom Surprise
Endless Summer?
Scarf Snatcher!
A Plan at the Pond
A Plump Pumpkin
An Early Start
A Stuffy Fairy
A Pretty Pumpkin
A Helping Paw
Underground Gourd!
A Leaf of Ruby Red
The Last Day
Whispers in the Woods
Hot on the Trail
All Wet!
A Perfect Fall Day
Teaser
Also Available
Copyright
Down on the Farm
Squash Blossom Surprise
Endless Summer?
Scarf Snatcher!
A Plan at the Pond
“We could not have planned it better,” Kirsty Tate told her best friend, Rachel Walker, in the backseat of the Tates’ car. “It’s the perfect weekend for you to visit. The Fall Festival at New Growth Farm is going to be so much fun!”
Rachel nodded and gave Kirsty a bright smile. She could hardly get a word in! Ever since she had arrived at Kirsty’s house for the long weekend, her friend had been talking about the farm fund-raiser.
“There will be apple picking, arts and crafts, and a giant leaf jump on the last day,” Kirsty explained, too excited to sit still. She fiddled with her seat belt and swung her feet.
“Kirsty, dear,” Mrs. Tate said from the front seat of the station wagon, “I’m looking forward to it, too, but please stop kicking my seat.”
Rachel giggled. It was funny seeing Kirsty so wound up.
Kirsty decided to use her energy to tell Rachel more about the farm. “The best part is that my class has been going there on field trips,” she said. “We feed the chickens, and help water and mulch the plants. We’ve learned a lot from Kyra, the farmer.”
Rachel nodded again.
“I can’t wait for you to see the orchards, and the rows of vegetables, and the duck pond. I know you’ll love it all,” Kirsty told her friend.
“It sounds like a magical place,” Rachel said. She gave Kirsty a sly grin. After all, the two girls knew a lot about magic! They couldn’t tell anyone, but Kirsty and Rachel were special helpers to Queen Titania and King Oberon, the rulers of Fairyland. The girls had worked with many of their fairy friends to outsmart Jack Frost and his tricky goblins. Most of all, they had kept the fairies a secret — if other humans found out about Fairyland, fairy magic would be in great danger.
“I’ll tell you one thing we could have planned better,” Mrs. Tate said after a moment. “The weather.”
It was true. It was supposed to be a Fall Festival, but it felt more like the peak of summer! The sun was blazing hot. It was a perfect day for swimming, but the pools had been closed for two months! It seemed like it was getting even hotter. The weather forecasters couldn’t explain it.
“You can’t plan the weather, I guess,” Rachel said with a laugh, but Mrs. Tate just shook her head.
“I hope the heat won’t keep people away from the festival,” Mrs. Tate worried out loud. “Kyra’s worked so hard to make it perfect.”
“Look! We’re almost there,” Kirsty called out. “Just around this bend.”
But as the farm came into view, Kirsty gasped. All the plants in the field looked dry and wilted. As they drove by, the girls could see piles of rotten fruit on the ground.
“It doesn’t look like I expected,” Rachel said before she could stop herself.
“No,” Kirsty agreed. “Something is terribly wrong.” She looked out at the dry fields. The cows couldn’t even find any grass to nibble on! She knew how much the weather affected farms, but Kyra’s farm had been thriving a week ago. Now it was a mess. Something wasn’t right.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Kirsty whispered to her best friend, “but I hope Jack Frost is up to his old tricks.”
“Kirsty!” Rachel exclaimed in a hushed voice. “How could you hope that Jack Frost is causing trouble on the farm?”
“That’s not exactly what I meant,” Kirsty replied. “I just know something is wrong. I feel awful about what’s happening here. But if it’s Jack Frost’s fault, we can do something about it.”
Mrs. Tate was mumbling in the front seat. “It’s probably this awful heat. Or maybe there are beetles attacking all the plants,” she said to herself. She shook her head as she turned the car onto the farm’s long dirt driveway.
Rachel thought about what Kirsty and her mom had said. If it was the weather or some kind of bug, there was no way the girls could fix that. But if it was nasty Jack Frost, Rachel and Kirsty knew just what to do!
As soon as the engine stopped, Kirsty hopped out of the car. “Come on, Rachel!” she called. “Let’s see how we can help!”
Rachel was at her friend’s side at once. They could definitely help with the farmyard chores, but they might be able to do even more. “Let’s look for signs of Jack Frost and his no-good goblins,” she whispered. Kirsty smiled, happy they had the same plan.
“Hey!” a voice called.
Rachel looked up to see a tall woman in lace-up work boots taking long strides toward them.
“You guys are real troopers, coming out in this heat,” the woman said. She had a long blond braid down her back and crystal-blue eyes. “You must be Rachel.”
Rachel returned her smile. “Yes. I’m visiting Kirsty for the festival. We’re here to volunteer, if you need help getting ready.”
“Yes, indeed,” the farmer said. “I can’t thank you enough. Suddenly, there’s a ton of work to do around here. I’m not sure what’s going on.”
Rachel, Kirsty, and Mrs. Tate listened with concern. “Early this week, as the temperature got hotter, the fruit began to rot and the crops drooped,” Kyra explained. “I can’t seem to water them enough.”
“Could it be some kind of bug?” Mrs. Tate asked.
Kirsty was wondering the same thing. She kept hearing a loud buzzing sound. She noticed that Rachel was looking around, too. Did she hear the same thing?
Just then, the buzzing became clearer. It was a whisper!
“Rachel, Kirsty! Look down!” the whisper said.
The girls locked eyes, then quickly dropped their gazes. They looked around the area near their feet.
There, hidden under the yellow petals of a squash blossom, was a tiny fairy! She was waving her arms up at the girls.
Kirsty quickly shifted her feet so that she was shielding the fairy from view. When her mom gave her a funny look, Kirsty put on a grin and pretended to listen to the adults’ conversation.
“Come over here and look at the corn,” Kyra said to Mrs. Tate.
As soon as the adults were behind the tall cornstalks, Rachel and Kirsty kneeled down.
“Hello!” they both said.
“Hello, Rachel and Kirsty!” the fairy said as she stepped onto the blos
som’s stem. She was dressed in deep plum, golden yellow, and orange, with brown boots and long reddish-brown hair. She wiped teeny beads of sweat from her nose. “Excuse me,” she said with a sigh. “It’s just too hot. I prefer cooler weather. I guess that makes sense, since I’m Autumn the Falling Leaves Fairy.”
Kirsty and Rachel smiled. They loved meeting new fairies!
“The only problem is, unless you help me, there may not be any falling leaves this year,” Autumn said, shaking her head. “In fact, there may not be any fall at all!”
“Oh, no!” Kirsty exclaimed. “No fall? Does it have anything to do with this strange heat wave?”
“It has everything to do with the heat,” Autumn answered. “It’s a long story, but it starts with Jack Frost.”
Rachel and Kirsty weren’t surprised. Jack Frost was always causing trouble! They listened closely to Autumn.
“I’m sure you know that Jack Frost loves winter. The freezing-cold weather fits his icy personality,” Autumn explained. “This year, he couldn’t wait for the cold weather, so he decided to try to trick nature and skip fall altogether.”
“He wanted to go straight from summer to winter?” Kirsty asked, making sure she understood.
“Exactly,” said Autumn. “And he knew just how to do it.”
“What did Jack Frost do this time?” Rachel wondered out loud.
“He stole my three magical objects that get the fall season started,” Autumn answered. “He was very clever. I didn’t even realize that they were gone right away!” Autumn went on to list the three objects. She explained that the first, a scarf, brought the brisk breezes that were the first sign of fall. The second, a pumpkin, made the fall harvest extra magical. The third object was a beautiful ruby-red leaf. The leaf told the trees that it was time for their leaves to change color and fall to the ground.
Rachel looked around. The leaves were still all green and on the trees.
“When summer was almost over,” Autumn continued, “I went to get my three objects out of their hiding place. I always keep them in an old hatbox in my closet. But this time, they were gone!”
“If Jack Frost stole your objects,” Kirsty thought out loud, “why isn’t it winter now?”
“Because that’s not the way nature works,” Autumn told the girls. “The seasons follow a cycle. Summer leads to fall. Fall leads to winter, and so on. It isn’t natural to skip a season.” The fairy sighed again.
“So Jack Frost messed up the cycle,” Rachel reasoned.
“Yes, and now we’re stuck in summer until we can find my magical objects,” explained Autumn. “The one good thing is that Jack Frost didn’t want anyone to know he had the objects, so he hid them with a magical spell. I know that they are somewhere nearby. Now that I’m close, the goblins are trying to find them, too.” She sighed. “If they get the objects, Jack Frost will hide them all over again.”
“Not if we stop him!” Rachel said.
Kirsty put her hands on her hips. “We’ve never let him win, and we’re not going to start now.”
Autumn nodded in agreement. “Then let’s get to work,” she declared. “But first, I have to take off this jacket! I’m so hot, I can barely think!” The fairy was wearing an awful lot of layers. Kirsty could tell she was too warm.
Autumn took off her jacket, and Kirsty tucked it into her pocket. “Let’s hope you need this later,” she said. Then the girls quickly asked Kyra for a chore that they could do around the farm.
“We’re supposed to collect wood for a bonfire?” Rachel whispered to Kirsty after they had talked to the farmer. “It’s hard to get excited about a bonfire in this heat.”
Kirsty could see Rachel’s point. “Well, the Fall Festival is supposed to open with a really big bonfire,” she said. “There will be marshmallows and ghost stories.” Kirsty sighed. “We can’t let Kyra down. Let’s look for firewood `and the goblins.”
“And my scarf,” Autumn added from her hiding spot under Rachel’s ponytail. “It’s a very pretty scarf. The Fairy Godmother knit it just for me. She looks out for all of us in Fairyland and I’ll feel terrible if I can’t get it back.”
Rachel could hear the sadness in their new fairy friend’s voice. There wasn’t much to be happy about right now. The girls could see signs of trouble all over the farm. The workers were rushing around, trying to deal with the thirsty animals and the weary crops. But this was just one farm. The extra-long, extra-hot summer would hurt the farms and the forests everywhere. It would be horrible!
“I know!” Kirsty burst out after they had been collecting wood for a while. “Let’s go down to the pond. There’s lots of shade there.” With the heat, both girls were already exhausted, and the wheelbarrow wasn’t even half full.
As Rachel pushed the wheelbarrow, Autumn flew over and perched on it.
“Girls, one thing to know is that my scarf can make a small area cool, even on a hot day,” the fairy said. “The real magic only happens when I wear it. When I put it on, the cool breezes flow everywhere and fall can begin.”
The girls couldn’t wait for that to happen!
Soon, the pond came into view.
“It’s so pretty,” Rachel said, lowering the wheelbarrow. They could see a wooden dock with a rowboat, lily pads, and a waterfall at one end. A few low quacks came from a family of ducks resting in the shade of a tree.
“They must be too hot,” Kirsty guessed. “The ducks usually swim around those cattails.” She pointed to the other side of the pond, then frowned. “That’s funny. Do you see that silvery glow over there?”
Both Autumn and Rachel gazed across the pond. “It looks like frost!” Autumn cried. “That means it’s chilly. My scarf must be there!” Autumn spun into the air with excitement, then looked at the girls. “Quick! I’ll change you into fairies so we can fly over the pond.”
“Oh, yes!” the girls exclaimed together.
With three whisks of her wand, Autumn cast her spell. Orange and gold glitter swirled around the girls. In a moment, they had both shrunk to fairy-size and had delicate wings on their backs. They took to the air and glided toward the pond.
“I can sense that my scarf is close,” Autumn said. Rachel scanned the area around the cattails for the hand-knit scarf. “Oh, no!” she grumbled. “I spy a goblin!”
Autumn and Kirsty looked at where Rachel was pointing. “There are lots of them!” Kirsty exclaimed with a gasp.
“But only one has my scarf,” Autumn declared, zooming ahead.
The girls flew after her.
The one goblin was racing away from the others. “I found the scarf! I found the scarf!” he chanted as he ran. A lovely, long orange-and-white-striped scarf was wrapped around his neck.
The other goblins were soon sweating and panting. They couldn’t keep up! The goblin with the scarf ran all the way around the pond, still feeling nice and cool. He quickly looked behind him and then jumped into the rowboat. “What a nice, brisk day for a boat ride,” he mumbled, pleased that he had outrun his friends. . . .
But he had not outrun the fairies!
“Not so fast!” Autumn yelled as the goblin pushed the boat into the pond.
“What?” the goblin screeched. “Fairies?”
“You’d better believe it!” Autumn said as Kirsty and Rachel flew up behind her.
“There’s no way you can beat me in this heat,” the goblin said with a laugh. He grabbed the paddles and rowed to the center of the pond. The fairies just watched him, trying to catch their breath.
“Now what do we do?” Rachel asked.
“I need to take a break,” Kirsty confessed.
“That’s right,” Autumn said. “We take a break . . . and make a plan.”
Rachel and Kirsty had a special talent for making plans. They had often tricked the goblins in the past. But as the three friends sat on a tree branch, they co
uldn’t think of a thing to do.
“It’s just so hot,” Kirsty said.
“I don’t have any energy to think,” Rachel agreed.
“I don’t have any energy to move,” Autumn admitted. “I can’t take the heat.”
Just then, the other goblins stumbled around to the dock. They looked at the goblin with the scarf and grumbled.
“He’s so selfish,” one complained. “Why isn’t he sharing?”
“We’re sopping wet, and he’s nice and cool in his boat,” another grouched.
“I think he needs to be taught a lesson,” the tallest goblin declared.
The three fairies watched with interest. “Let’s see what they do,” suggested Rachel. “Maybe they have a plan!”
Rachel, Kirsty, and Autumn watched the goblins from above. Chuckling to themselves, the silly green creatures gathered handfuls of acorns. Then they all walked out onto the skinny dock. The goblin with the scarf was leaning back in the boat, his eyes closed.
“Hey! What was that?” a big-footed goblin yelled.
“It looks like an alligator!” yelled another.
“A hungry alligator,” the tallest goblin agreed.
Then they started to throw acorns into the pond, close to the rowboat.
The three fairies watched silently.
An acorn landed close to the boat and splashed the goblin with the scarf in the face. “Hey, what was that?” he grunted.
“Look out,” a goblin on the dock yelled. “There’s an alligator!”
“What?” cried the goblin in the boat. He grabbed on to both sides of the scarf and clung to it in fear. He stared into the dark water. There was a splash on the other side of the boat. “Whoa! Help me!” he cried. “An alligator would love to eat me. I’d be so tasty!” He scrambled around in the boat, trying to reach the oars, but he accidentally knocked them both in the water.
Autumn the Falling Leaves Fairy Page 1
