“Oh no!” Rachel cried. “The other two goblins have spotted Kirsty!”
Rachel and Zoe immediately headed toward Kirsty, too. The two goblins who had been early in the relay seemed to have realized something was wrong, because they suddenly started skating much faster.
“They’re going to try to head her off!” Zoe realized.
“Poor Kirsty,” Rachel cried in horror. “She’ll be caught in the middle of all four goblins!”
Rachel and Zoe flew toward Kirsty as fast as they could.
“I’ll turn Kirsty into a fairy,” Zoe decided. “Then she can fly up into the air, away from the goblins.”
“What about the magic lace?” Rachel reminded her. “It might be too heavy for her to carry when she’s a fairy.”
Zoe shook her head. “Don’t worry,” she said. “The magic objects change size according to who’s holding them. When Kirsty becomes a fairy, the lace will magically become fairy-size, too.” Then she bit her lip and flapped her wings harder. “But we need to get to Kirsty before the goblins do!”
Rachel nodded. They had to get to Kirsty in time … otherwise her friend would be trapped by four goblins!
Rachel and Zoe couldn’t let that happen!
Down on the path, Kirsty glanced over her shoulder to see that the two goblins were still behind her, glaring as they gave chase. But when she turned her head and looked forward again, she gasped in shock. Skating straight toward her were the first and second goblins!
Kirsty looked all around, but there was no way out. She couldn’t skate off the path and onto the grass, because there was a tennis court fence on one side and flowerbeds on the other. She was trapped!
The goblins were closing in, and Kirsty felt sick with fright. They were so close now that she could hear them shouting at her to give back the skating lace.
The goblins stretched out their arms, reaching for the magic lace.
“Help!” Kirsty cried, wondering where Zoe and Rachel were, and hoping they would hear her. “Help!”
And then, at the very last second, just as one of the goblins was about to snatch the magic lace, she saw a cloud of bright sparkles swirl around her, and felt herself shrinking down, down, down …
It was such a relief to feel wings on her back and find that she was a fairy again! Kirsty zipped up into the air, flapping her wings as hard as she could. The goblins below jumped up and down, trying to grab a hold of her.
“Kirsty, are you OK?” Rachel cried, as she and Zoe flew over to her. They were out of breath, too!
“Yes,” Kirsty replied faintly. “That was close, though. Thanks, Zoe!”
The three fairies landed on the branch of a nearby oak tree to catch their breath. Instantly, the goblins tried to climb the tree. They still had their skates on, though, so it was a struggle.
Zoe put her hands on her hips and shouted down to them. “Any more trouble from the four of you, and I really will make magic acorns the size of soccer balls drop on you!” she warned. “Then you’ll be goblin pancakes!”
The goblins hesitated. “I don’t want to be a goblin pancake!” wailed one, sliding down the tree trunk.
“Me neither,” the others said in chorus as they stumbled away from the oak. Soon, the four goblins were skating away as fast as they could.
Kirsty handed Zoe the magic lace, smiling.
Zoe looked delighted to have it back. “Thank you so much!” she exclaimed. She touched her wand to the lace, and a flash of bright red sparkles surrounded it. “There,” she said happily. “Now everything will be back to normal with skaters everywhere.”
The three fairies flew down to the ground. Zoe waved her wand over Kirsty and Rachel, magically turning them back to their normal size.
“Thanks again, girls,” she said. “Enjoy the rest of your time in the park. You’ll find skating much more fun now, I promise.”
“Thanks, Zoe,” Rachel replied. “It was great helping you. Good-bye!”
“Good-bye,” Kirsty added.
“Bye, girls,” Zoe said. With a burst of red fairy dust that sparkled in the air for a second, she was gone.
Rachel nudged Kirsty as a group of boys went by on in-line skates, whooping as they pulled off some tricky-looking turns. “Look, everyone’s skating well again,” she said.
Rachel was right. Nobody was falling over anymore. All the skaters and skateboarders looked like they were having a great time as they sped along.
Kirsty grinned. “I bet we’ll be able to skate better now, too,” she said happily. “Come on, let’s find out. I’ll race you to that tree!”
The two friends skated off together, laughing as they went. Another magic object was safely back with its fairy keeper — now there were just four left to find. And Rachel and Kirsty were just the girls to find them!
Spring into Sports
Rachel and Kirsty Join the Team
Fairy Help at Hand
Magic in the Air
Girls Go into Action
A Beautiful Basket
“What should we do after lunch, Kirsty?” Rachel Walker asked as she finished her apple.
Kirsty Tate, Rachel’s best friend, grinned. “You know what I’d really like to do?” she replied. “I’d like to find Brittany the Basketball Fairy’s magic basketball!”
Rachel and Kirsty shared a very special secret. While vacationing on Rainspell Island, the two girls had become friends with the fairies! Now Rachel and Kirsty always helped out whenever there was a problem in Fairyland.
“Remember what Queen Titania said,” Rachel reminded Kirsty. “We have to let the magic come to us.”
“I know, but I’m feeling really impatient today,” Kirsty replied. “If we don’t find all the magic objects before I go home in a few days, Jack Frost and his goblins will win the Fairyland Olympic Cup!”
The Fairyland Olympics were starting at the end of the week, but mean Jack Frost had stolen the Sports Fairies’ seven magic objects. These magical objects made sure that sports were fun and exciting, and also played fairly, in both Fairyland and the human world. But Jack Frost wanted his goblins to use the magic objects to cheat, so they would win every event of the Fairyland Olympics. He had sent the goblins into the human world, to keep the magic objects hidden, and to practice their sports. But Rachel and Kirsty had promised the Sports Fairies that they would try to get the seven objects back before the fairy games began.
Rachel sighed. “The missing objects mean that sports in our world are affected, too,” she added. “I wonder how many basketball games are going wrong right now because Brittany’s magic basketball is missing!”
“Well, we’ve already found Helena’s riding helmet, Stacey’s soccer ball, and Zoe’s skate lace,” Kirsty pointed out.
Rachel nodded. “We can’t let Jack Frost and his goblins win the cup by cheating,” she said seriously. “Especially since King Oberon told us that the cup is filled with good luck. Imagine all the trouble the goblins could cause with lots of luck to help them!”
Just then, Rachel’s mom came into the kitchen. “Girls, have you finished your lunch?” Mrs. Walker asked. “I don’t know if you’ve decided what you want to do this afternoon, but I thought this might be fun.” She put a brochure down on the table.
“Spring into Sports!” Rachel read aloud. “Come and try a new sport at Tippington Rec Center on Tuesday — absolutely free!”
Kirsty opened the brochure. “Look!” she exclaimed. “Bowling, badminton, croquet, baseball, and basketball …” Kirsty glanced meaningfully at Rachel. The Sports Fairies had told the girls that the goblins who had one of the magic objects would be extremely attracted to that sport, especially since the goblins wanted to practice for the Fairyland Olympics. So Rachel and Kirsty knew it was possible that the goblin with the magic basketball might show up at the rec center.
“Why don’t you go and play a couple of sports?” Rachel’s mom suggested, clearing away the plates.
“Good idea, Mom,” said Rachel, jumpi
ng up from the table.
“It does sound like fun,” Kirsty agreed.
The girls pulled on their sneakers and headed into the village. The rec center was just off of High Street. There were fields for football and soccer in front of the building, and games were taking place on all of them. There were even groups of people standing around, waiting for a turn.
“Looks like we’re not the only ones who want to ‘Spring into Sports!’” Kirsty said as they headed toward the glass doors. “Do you think the goblins might be here?”
Rachel nodded. “Maybe, but if they are, it’s going to be hard to spot them with so many people around.”
The girls went inside the rec center and watched a badminton match. Then they peeked into the yoga studio, where a class was taking place.
“Let’s go check out the basketball courts,” Rachel suggested, as they passed the gym. “They’re outside, near the running track.”
When the girls arrived, they found that there were games in progress on all of the basketball courts except for one. Two teams were stretching next to the empty court, ready to start a game.
“Everything looks normal,” Kirsty said quietly. “I don’t see any goblins.”
“Neither do I,” Rachel agreed. Then she noticed a girl hurrying toward them. “Kirsty, that’s my friend Abby, from school!” Rachel exclaimed. She waved at the girl as she rushed past. “Hey, Abby!”
Abby stopped, looking nervous. “Oh, hi, Rachel,” she said. “Sorry, I’m in such a hurry that I didn’t notice you there! Is this your friend Kirsty?”
Rachel nodded.
“Hi, Abby,” said Kirsty. “Is there something wrong? You look kind of worried.”
“Oh, everything’s going wrong today!” Abby replied, heaving a huge sigh. “I’m on a basketball team with my friends, and we were just challenged to a game by some boys who call themselves ‘The Mean Green Basketball Team.’”
“The Mean Green Basketball Team?” Rachel repeated. “What a crazy name!”
“Yes — and they are mean!” Abby told her. “They’ve already easily beaten all the other teams and they acted kind of strange about it. They painted their hands with green paint, and they’re wearing green masks.” She shook her head. “They’re really taking the team name seriously!”
Kirsty felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine. She glanced at Rachel and could see that her friend was thinking exactly the same thing: Could The Mean Green Basketball Team be a group of goblins?
Abby bit her lip nervously. “The problem is,” she went on, “two of our players haven’t shown up. The game is starting in a few minutes, and we don’t even have a full roster! I was just on my way into the rec center to see if I could find some people to help us out. Each team is supposed to have seven players. Five play at a time, and two others rotate in.”
Rachel glanced at Kirsty again. She knew they needed to find out if the green players were goblins, and this was their chance!
“Kirsty and I could play for your team,” Rachel offered. “Couldn’t we, Kirsty?”
Kirsty nodded as a smile brightened Abby’s face.
“Oh, you’d do that?” Abby said, eagerly. “That would be great!”
“But we don’t have uniforms,” Kirsty said, glancing at the warm-up pants she and Rachel were wearing.
“Don’t worry about that,” Abby told her, leading the girls toward the court. “No one does! It’s a practice session, not a real game. I can get you some extra pinnies.”
“OK,” said Kirsty. “But I’d better warn you, I’m not very good at basketball.”
Abby smiled. “Don’t worry. No one’s playing very well today except The Mean Green Basketball Team,” she confessed. “Everyone seems to have butterfingers and two left feet, even me.”
Rachel looked sympathetic. She and Kirsty both knew why everyone was being clumsy. It was because Brittany’s magic basketball was missing.
“Well, we’ll do our best,” Rachel declared in a determined voice, and Kirsty nodded.
“Rachel, I’ve seen you playing basketball at school, and I know you’re good at shooting,” Abby said as they reached the court. “So you can be our secret weapon!”
Rachel blushed. “I’ll try to get a couple of baskets,” she promised.
Abby found two pinnies on the side of the court and handed them to Rachel and Kirsty.
“Rachel, you can play center. Kirsty, you’ll be a forward,” she explained as they ran onto the court. “You can mostly play defense. Now come and meet the rest of the team.”
Abby took Rachel and Kirsty over to a small group of girls, who were standing at one end of the court. They all looked nervous.
“Cheer up, everyone!” Abby exclaimed. “I found two more players!”
The rest of the team brightened up immediately.
“That’s great!” said a tall girl with fair hair. “We’re going to need a full team. The Mean Green Basketball Team players are really good!”
Rachel and Kirsty looked over at The Mean Green Basketball Team. The players were practicing their handling skills at the other end of the court. The team members wore caps to hide their faces and were passing the ball quickly and confidently to one another.
“They’re definitely goblins, Kirsty,” Rachel whispered, catching a glimpse of a pointy green nose under one of the caps.
“I know,” Kirsty agreed quietly. “And look at that goblin spinning the basketball on his finger over there.”
Rachel stared at the goblin and gasped. A faint shimmer of purple sparkles surrounded the ball spinning on his finger! “It’s Brittany’s magic basketball!” Rachel exclaimed in a low voice.
“Yes! Now all we have to do is get it back,” Kirsty pointed out.
“Let’s get started,” called the referee, blowing her whistle. “We’ll scrimmage for just fifteen minutes today.” She flipped a coin in the air and turned to the biggest goblin, who was the captain.
“Heads!” called the captain.
The referee examined the coin. “Heads it is,” she announced. “The Mean Green Basketball Team will start the game.”
The goblins quickly dashed into their positions. The referee blew her whistle. Immediately, the goblin in the center passed the magic basketball to the goblin on his right. Kirsty and another player moved to guard him, but the second goblin threw the ball high over their heads and straight to one of his teammates. In an instant, the ball swished cleanly through the hoop.
“Two-zero,” called the referee as the goblins whooped with glee and gave each other high fives.
Dismayed, Kirsty glanced down the court at Rachel. The goblins were ahead, and no one on their team had even touched the ball yet!
Abby inbounded the ball, but one of the goblins dashed in front of Kirsty and stole it away. Once again, the goblins were in control. After a series of amazing passes, the goblin center sidestepped Kirsty and tossed the ball through the hoop again.
“Four-zero!” the referee shouted.
Rachel watched helplessly as the goblins dribbled the ball swiftly and smoothly and scored lots of baskets. The goblins were too quick for the players on Abby’s team. Rachel realized that this meant the human players weren’t benefiting from the magic of Brittany’s basketball. The girls didn’t have the ball long enough for the magic to rub off, because the sneaky goblins were always stealing it away! Rachel looked across the court at Kirsty and shook her head sadly. At this rate, Rachel realized, they were never going to get Brittany’s magic basketball back!
Then one of the goblins tried to lob the ball high up into the air toward one of his teammates, but Abby jumped up and actually managed to intercept it.
“Abby!” Rachel shouted eagerly, waving her arms. “Over here!”
Abby passed the ball toward Rachel, but just as Rachel was about to catch it, a goblin leaped in front of her and swatted the ball away.
“Oh no!” Rachel sighed. She stood beneath the basket, watching sadly as a goblin dribbled the bal
l speedily down to the other end of the court. As she stood there, a shower of purple sparkles rained down around her. Rachel glanced up in surprise. Brittany the Basketball Fairy was sitting on the rim of the hoop!
Brittany waved at Rachel and fluttered down to join her. She wore a blue-and-purple sports skirt and shirt, and matching basketball shoes. Her blond hair was neatly tied up with ribbons and a purple headband.
“Don’t be sad, Rachel,” Brittany whispered, landing lightly on Rachel’s shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll find another way to get my basketball back.”
“I hope so,” Rachel said eagerly. “It’s great to see you, Brittany!”
The fairy grinned and slipped quickly into the pocket of Rachel’s warm-up pants.
At that moment, the referee blew her whistle. “The Mean Green Basketball Team wins, twenty to zero!” she announced.
The goblins cheered loudly. Meanwhile, Abby’s team trudged away.
“What a blowout!” Abby groaned, as she and Kirsty came over to Rachel. “We hardly touched the ball the entire game. But thanks for playing with us, you guys. We’re going to try some of the other sports now. Do you want to come?”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll look around a little more first,” Rachel said. “We’ll find you later.”
As Abby waved good-bye, Rachel pulled Kirsty to the side of the court. She wanted to get away from the goblins, who were still celebrating.
“Look who’s here,” Rachel whispered.
“Hello, Kirsty,” called Brittany, fluttering out of Rachel’s pocket.
“Oh, Brittany!” Kirsty exclaimed. “Thank goodness you’re here. We really need your help to get the magic basketball.”
The Sports Fairies Collection Page 5
