Inky the Indigo Fairy (9780545308144)

by Meadows, Daisy; Ripper, Georgie (ILT)

  Cold winds blow and thick ice forms,

  I conjure up this fairy storm.

  To seven corners of the human world

  the Rainbow Fairies will be hurled!

  I curse every part of Fairyland,

  with a frosty wave of my icy hand.

  For now and always, from this day,

  Fairyland will be cold and gray!

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  A Fairy-tale Beginning

  The Land of Sweets

  Look Out!

  Stop Those Goblins!

  A Perfect Punishment

  The Bubble-gum Balloon

  Teaser

  Also Available

  Copyright

  “Rain, rain, go away,” Rachel Walker said with a sigh. “Come again another day!”

  She and her friend Kirsty Tate stared out of the attic window. Raindrops splashed against the glass, and the sky was full of purplish-black clouds.

  “Isn’t it a terrible day outside?” Kirsty said. “But it’s nice and cozy in here.”

  She looked around Rachel’s small attic bedroom. There was just enough room for a brass bed with a patchwork quilt, a comfy armchair, and an old bookshelf.

  “But you know what the weather on Rainspell Island is like,” Rachel pointed out. “It could be hot and sunny very soon!”

  Both girls had come to Rainspell Island on vacation. The Walkers were staying in Mermaid Cottage, while the Tates were in Dolphin Cottage next door.

  Kirsty frowned. “Yes, but what about Inky the Indigo Fairy?” she asked. “We have to find her today.”

  Rachel and Kirsty shared a wonderful secret. They were trying to find the seven Rainbow Fairies, who had been cast out of Fairyland by mean Jack Frost. Fairyland would be cold and gray until all seven fairies had been found again.

  Rachel thought of Ruby, Amber, Sunny, Fern, and Sky, who were all safe now in the pot-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow. Only Inky the Indigo Fairy and Heather the Violet Fairy were left to find. But how could the girls look for them while they were stuck indoors?

  “Remember what the Fairy Queen said?” Rachel reminded Kirsty.

  Kirsty nodded. “She said the magic would come to us.” Suddenly, she looked scared. “Maybe the rain is Jack Frost’s magic. What if he’s trying to stop us from finding Inky?”

  “Oh, no!” Rachel said. “Let’s hope the rain stops soon. But what should we do while we wait?”

  Kirsty thought for a minute. Then she walked over to the bookshelf. It was filled with dusty old books that looked like they hadn’t been read in a long time. She pulled one out. It was so big that Kirsty had to use two hands to hold it.

  “The Big Book of Fairy Tales,” Rachel read out loud, looking at the cover.

  “If we can’t find fairies today, at least we can read about them!” Kirsty grinned.

  The two girls sat down on the bed and put the book on their knees. Kirsty was about to turn to the first page when Rachel gasped. “Kirsty, look at the cover! It’s purple. A really deep purplish-blue.”

  “That’s indigo,” Kirsty whispered. “Oh, Rachel! Do you think Inky could be trapped inside?”

  “Let’s see,” Rachel said. “Hurry up, Kirsty. Open the book!”

  But Kirsty had spotted something else. “Rachel,” she said. “It’s glowing.”

  Rachel looked more closely. Kirsty was right! Some pages in the middle of the book were shining with a soft bluish-purple light.

  Kirsty opened the book. The ink on the pages was glowing indigo, too. For a minute, Kirsty thought that Inky might fly right out of the pages, but there was no sign of her. On the first page of the book was a picture of a wooden soldier. Above the picture were the words: The Nutcracker.

  “Oh!” Rachel said. “I know this story. I went to see the ballet at Christmas.”

  “What’s it about?” Kirsty asked.

  “Well, a girl named Clara gets a wooden nutcracker soldier for Christmas,” Rachel explained. “He comes to life and takes her to the Land of Sweets.” They looked in the book and saw a colored picture of a Christmas tree. A little girl was asleep next to it, holding a wooden soldier.

  On the next page there was a picture of snowflakes whirling and swirling through a dark forest. “Aren’t the pictures great?” Kirsty said. “The snow looks so real.”

  Rachel frowned. For just a minute, she thought the snowflakes were moving. Gently, she put out her hand and touched the page. It felt cold and wet!

  “Kirsty,” she whispered. “It is real!” She held out her hand. There were white snowflakes on her fingers.

  Kirsty looked down at the book again, her eyes wide. Just then, the snowflakes started to swirl from the book’s pages, right into the bedroom. They moved slowly at first, then faster and faster. Soon the snowstorm was so thick, Rachel and Kirsty couldn’t see a thing. But they could feel themselves being swept up into the air by the spinning cloud of snow.

  Rachel yelled to Kirsty, “Why haven’t we hit the bedroom ceiling?”

  Kirsty reached for Rachel’s hand and held on tight. “Because it’s magic!” she replied.

  Suddenly, the snowflakes stopped swirling. Rachel and Kirsty found themselves standing in a forest, with their backpacks at their feet. Tall trees towered around them and crisp white snow covered the ground. The girls certainly weren’t in Rachel’s bedroom anymore.

  Then Rachel realized where they were. “Kirsty, this is the forest that was in the picture,” she said, grabbing her friend’s arm. “We’re inside the book!”

  Kirsty looked frightened. “Do you think Jack Frost brought us here?” she asked. “Or his goblins?” Jack Frost’s goblins were always trying to keep Rachel and Kirsty from finding the Rainbow Fairies.

  “I don’t know,” Rachel replied. Then she frowned. There was something strange about this snow. She bent down and gently touched a snowdrift. “This isn’t snow.” Rachel laughed. “It’s powdered sugar!”

  “What?” Kirsty looked amazed. She scooped up a handful and tasted it. The powdered sugar was cool and sweet.

  “Maybe this isn’t Jack Frost’s magic after all,” Rachel said.

  “What’s that?” Kirsty asked, pointing.

  Rachel could see a pink and gold glow coming through the trees. “Let’s go find out,” she said.

  The girls picked up their backpacks and headed toward the glow. It was hard walking through the powdered sugar. Soon their sneakers were covered in the sugary snow.

  Crack!

  Rachel jumped as a loud noise echoed through the trees.

  “Sorry,” said Kirsty. “I stepped on a stick.”

  “Wait,” Rachel whispered. “I just heard voices!”

  “Do you think it could be goblins?” Kirsty whispered back, looking scared again.

  Rachel listened. The voices were louder now. She sighed with relief. “No, they sound too sweet to be goblins’ voices.”

  Rachel and Kirsty hurried toward the edge of the forest. When they came out of the trees, they saw that the glow was coming from a beautiful pink and gold archway.

  “Look, Kirsty,” Rachel gasped. “It’s made of candy!”

  Kirsty stared. The archway was made of pink marshmallows and golden caramel.

  Then the girls heard the voices again, and they spun around. Two people dressed in fluffy, white coats were talking to each other and scooping powdere
d sugar into shiny metal buckets. They had round, rosy cheeks and small, pointy ears. They were so busy that they hadn’t noticed Rachel or Kirsty yet.

  “I think they’re elves!” Kirsty whispered. “But they’re the same size as we are. That means we must be fairy-sized again.”

  “We don’t have any wings this time, though,” Rachel whispered back.

  Suddenly, one of the elves spotted them. She looked very surprised. “Hello!” she called. “Where did you come from?”

  “I’m Rachel and this is Kirsty,” Rachel explained. “We came here through the forest.”

  “Where are we?” Kirsty asked.

  “This is the entrance to the Land of Sweets,” said the first elf. “My name is Wafer, and this is my sister, Cone.”

  “We’re the ice-cream makers,” added Cone. “What are you doing here?”

  “We’re looking for Inky the Indigo Fairy,” Kirsty told them. “Have you seen her?”

  Both elves shook their heads. “We’ve heard of the Rainbow Fairies,” said Wafer. “But Fairyland is far away, across the Lemonade Ocean.”

  “Maybe you should ask the Sugarplum Fairy for help,” Cone said. “She’s so smart, she’ll know what to do. She lives on the other side of the village.”

  “Could you take us to her?” Rachel asked eagerly.

  The elves nodded. “Follow us,” they said together. Then they led Rachel and Kirsty through the candy archway.

  On the other side of the arch, the sun shone down warmly from a bright blue sky. Flowers made of whipped cream grew underneath chocolate trees. Squishy pink and white marshmallow houses lined the street, which was paved with jelly beans.

  “Isn’t this great?” Kirsty laughed. “It’s like being inside a giant candy store!”

  “And it all looks yummy!” Rachel agreed.

  There were elves everywhere! Some had shiny buckets like the ice-cream makers, and others carried tiny, silver hammers. There were gingerbread men, too, looking very stylish in their bright bow ties and chocolate buttons. Then a whole line of tiny wooden soldiers in polished black boots marched across the street in front of them, and Rachel spotted a sparkling pink sugar mouse scurrying between their feet. Kirsty and Rachel smiled at each other. What a fun place this was!

  The two elves led Rachel and Kirsty down the street. Suddenly, an angry-looking gingerbread man hurried out of one of the houses and bumped into Cone.

  “Hello, Buttons,” Wafer said. “Are you in a hurry?”

  “What’s the matter?” Cone asked. “You look upset.”

  The gingerbread man held out his hand. “Look at my best bow tie!” he said. “It was red when I hung it out to dry, and now it’s this color!”

  Rachel and Kirsty gasped. The bow tie was purplish-blue!

  “Inky!” they both said together.

  The ice-cream elves looked confused.

  “I think this means that Inky the Indigo Fairy is close by,” Rachel explained.

  “We’d better help you find her before she causes any more trouble,” Cone said. Then she frowned as a small boy elf ran toward them. He had one hand over his mouth, and he was laughing.

  “Scoop!” called Wafer. She turned to Rachel and Kirsty. “He’s our little brother,” she explained. “Scoop, what are you giggling about?”

  Still laughing, Scoop took his hand away from his mouth. Rachel and Kirsty stared. The little elf’s mouth was stained indigo!

  “What happened?” Cone gasped.

  “I had a drink from the lemonade fountain,” Scoop said between giggles. “All the lemonade is a purplish-blue color. It made my tongue tingle, too!”

  “That sounds like more Rainbow Fairy magic!” Kirsty said.

  “Where’s the lemonade fountain?” Rachel asked the elves.

  “In the village square,” replied Cone. “Just around the corner.”

  “Thanks for your help,” said Kirsty. She grabbed Rachel’s hand and they ran off.

  As soon as Rachel and Kirsty turned around the corner, they skidded to a halt. In the middle of the village square was a pretty fountain. Bright purplish-blue liquid bubbled up from a fountain shaped like a dolphin. A crowd of elves, soldiers, and gingerbread men stood around the fountain. They were all talking at once, and they sounded angry! A polka-dotted jack-in-the-box bounced back and forth with a grumpy look on his face.

  A swirl of indigo fairy dust shot up from the middle of the crowd. As the dust fell to the ground, it changed into blackberry-scented ink drops.

  Rachel and Kirsty stared at each other. Fairy dust could only mean one thing. They had found another Rainbow Fairy!

  “Inky!” Rachel called as she and Kirsty pushed their way through the crowd. “Is that you?”

  “Who’s that?” called a tiny voice.

  Inky was standing by the edge of the lemonade fountain. She had neat blue-black hair and twinkling, dark blue eyes. She was dressed in indigo jeans and a matching jacket that were covered with sparkly patches. Her wand was indigo, tipped with silver.

  The fairy stared at Rachel and Kirsty with her hands on her hips. “Who are you?” she asked. “And how do you know my name?”

  “I’m Kirsty, and this is Rachel,” Kirsty explained. “We’ve come to take you back to your Rainbow sisters.”

  “We’ve found five of your sisters so far,” Rachel added. “We’re going to help you all go home to Fairyland.”

  “That’s wonderful news!” Inky cried. “I’ve been so worried about them.”

  “How did you get to the Land of Sweets?” Kirsty asked.

  “The wind blew me down the chimney of Mermaid Cottage, and into the The Nutcracker book,” Inky replied. “I’ve been in the Land of Sweets ever since. But I can’t go back to Fairyland and break Jack Frost’s spell without my sisters. I have to get back to Rainspell Island first.”

  Before Rachel and Kirsty could say anything else, the crowd started shouting again.

  “Look what she did to the lemonade fountain!” grumbled one elf.

  Inky grinned at him. “I didn’t mean to,” she said. “The lemonade looked so yummy, I just had to take a drink. And that’s when it turned indigo.”

  “And what about my bow tie?” snapped Buttons. He had followed Kirsty and Rachel to the fountain.

  “I was really tired after walking through the forest,” Inky explained. “I used your bow tie as a pillow while I took a little nap.”

  The crowd started to mutter angrily again.

  Quickly, Rachel stepped forward. “Wait,” she said. “Have you all heard about the Rainbow Fairies and Jack Frost’s spell?”

  The crowd listened as Rachel told them the whole story. When she’d finished, they didn’t look angry anymore.

  “I’m so sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused,” Inky said. “Can you please tell us how to get back to Rainspell Island?”

  “The Sugarplum Fairy can help you,” said the jack-in-the-box, with a little bounce. “Her home is just past the jelly bean fields.”

  “That’s where we were going,” Kirsty said.

  “Come on, then!” Inky cried. She jumped forward and took Rachel and Kirsty by the hand.

  “Good luck!” everyone called.

  Rachel and Kirsty walked along the road toward the jelly bean fields while Inky darted out eagerly ahead of them. Just outside the village was a huge rock made of hardened caramel. It was as tall as a marshmallow house! Elves were tapping the rock with little hammers to break off pieces. Other elves picked up the pieces and put them into silver buckets.

  Kirsty nudged Rachel. “That looks like hard work,” she said. “They don’t seem to be collecting much caramel at all!”

  Rachel peeked into one of the buckets as an elf walked past. Kirsty was right. There were only a few
chips of caramel in it.

  “Is there something wrong with the caramel?” Inky wondered.

  The elf with the bucket overheard her. “It’s really hard today,” he grumbled. “It almost seems like it has been frozen.”

  “Frozen!” Kirsty said in alarm. “Do you think that means Jack Frost’s goblins are here, in the Land of Sweets?”

  The girls knew that whenever the goblins were close by, they brought frost and icy weather.

  Inky looked scared. “I hope not,” she said.

  Just then, a loud, rumbling noise made them all jump. “Look out!” someone cried. An enormous wooden barrel was rolling down the street, right toward them! And running behind it were two goblins with big, mean grins on their faces.

  “We’ve got you now, Inky!” shouted one of the goblins.

  For a minute everyone froze. Then Inky leaped into action and gave Rachel and Kirsty a push. “Quick! Get out of the way!” she yelled.

  The girls jumped aside just in time. The elves dropped their hammers and buckets. They ran out of the way, too, bumping into one another in their panic.

  Crash!

  The barrel smashed right into the caramel mountain. Then it cracked open. Cocoa powder spilled out in a sticky brown cloud.

  “Inky! Kirsty!” Rachel coughed, digging her way through the cocoa. “Are you OK?”

  “I think so!” Kirsty sneezed. “Achoo!”

  “HELP!”

  Kirsty heard Inky’s frightened voice. But she couldn’t see her through the cocoa cloud.

  “Help!” Inky shouted again. “The goblins got me!” Her voice was getting fainter.

  “Quick, Rachel!” Kirsty said. “Do you have our magic bags?”