Still coughing, Rachel swung her backpack around. Titania, the Fairy Queen, had given the girls bags full of magic gifts to help them rescue the missing Rainbow Fairies.
Rachel opened her backpack. Inside it, one of the magic bags was glowing. Rachel pulled out a folded paper fan from the bag. Puzzled, she opened the fan. It looked like the most beautiful rainbow she had ever seen, with stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Rachel thought for a minute. Then she began to flap the fan at the clouds of cocoa.
Whoosh!
A blast of air from the fan blew almost all of the cocoa away.
“Wow! This fan is amazing!” Rachel said as the last of the cocoa drifted off.
“Look, Rachel!” shouted Kirsty. “They’re over there!”
The goblins had tied Inky’s sneakers together with strawberry licorice. They were dragging her up the road, toward the jelly bean fields.
“We’ve got to save her,” Rachel said, quickly folding the fan and putting it in her pocket. “Come on, Kirsty!”
“I’ll go tell the Sugarplum Fairy,” said one of the elves, and he ran off in the other direction.
Rachel and Kirsty ran up the road after Inky. The goblins had a head start, but Inky was wriggling and squirming so much that she was slowing them down.
The road led right through the jelly bean fields. Tall green plants stood in rows, each one covered with different-colored beans — pink, white, blue-spotted, and chocolate-brown ones. Elves were picking the jelly beans and putting them into big baskets.
Suddenly, Rachel noticed that the goblins were looking greedily at the jelly beans as they ran by with Inky. One of them skidded to a halt. He leaned over the fence and grabbed a big jelly bean from the nearest plant. The other goblin did the same.
“Yummy!” said the first goblin, stuffing the bean into his mouth.
“They’re so greedy!” Rachel panted.
“Yes, but it gives me an idea of how to trick them!” Kirsty puffed. She started to run even faster.
The elves working in the field yelled at the goblins. But that didn’t stop them. They gobbled down one bean after another. They picked beans with one hand and held on to Inky with the other.
“I have an idea,” Rachel whispered to Kirsty. On one side of the road she could see some baskets full of jelly beans that had already been picked. She hurried over and grabbed a basket. Then she held it out toward the goblins.
“Look what I have,” she called. “A whole basketful of beans!”
The goblins’ eyes lit up when they saw the basket. Inky grinned and winked at Kirsty and Rachel. She knew what they were doing.
“Those jelly beans look yummy,” Inky said to the goblins. “I wish I could have one.”
“Be quiet,” snapped the goblin with the bigger nose. He turned to the other goblin. “You hang on to the fairy while I get the beans.”
“No,” said the other one. “You’ll eat them all! You hold the fairy, and I’ll get the beans.”
“No!” roared the first goblin. “Then you’ll eat all the beans!”
Glaring at each other, both goblins let go of Inky and ran toward Rachel.
She quickly threw an armful of beans on the ground and backed away.
The goblins bent down to grab the beans. When they stood up again, Rachel threw another armful back down the hill, away from Inky. Those greedy goblins just couldn’t resist the yummy jelly beans!
While the goblins were busy stuffing themselves, Kirsty rushed over to untie Inky. “Are you all right?” she asked.
Inky nodded and wriggled her feet free from the licorice ropes. “Thank you!”
Rachel put the basket on the ground and ran over to Kirsty and Inky. The goblins pounced on the basket and began arguing over the rest of the jelly beans.
“Let’s get out of here before they realize that Inky is free!” Rachel said.
Suddenly, there was a gentle flapping noise overhead. Rachel looked up to see a huge butterfly with pink and gold wings fluttering above them. On its back sat a fairy with long, red hair.
The butterfly landed lightly on the ground. The fairy climbed off the butterfly’s back and smiled at Inky and the girls. She wore a long green and gold dress and a tiara.
“Hello,” she said. “I am the Sugarplum Fairy.” She looked sternly at the goblins who were crouching beside the empty jelly bean basket. “What are you doing in the Land of Sweets?” she demanded.
The goblins didn’t answer. They were too busy groaning and holding their stomachs.
“Oooh!” moaned the goblin with the big nose. “My tummy hurts.”
“Mine, too,” whined the other one. “I feel sick.”
“They ate too many jelly beans!” Inky said, grinning at Rachel and Kirsty.
The Sugarplum Fairy looked even angrier. “You must be taught a lesson,” she said to the goblins, “since you have stolen so many of our delicious jelly beans.”
“Why don’t you make them pick more jelly beans?” Inky suggested.
“What a good idea.” The Sugarplum Fairy smiled.
“That doesn’t seem like a very bad punishment,” Kirsty whispered to Rachel.
“But just look at the goblins’ faces,” Rachel whispered back.
The goblins looked horrified at the thought of more jelly beans! They tried to get up, like they wanted to run away. But the Sugarplum Fairy waved her hand and a few elves came running out of the jelly bean fields. They marched the goblins into the nearest field and handed them empty baskets. With sulky faces, the goblins started to pick the jelly beans.
“Serves them right!” Inky laughed. Then she looked worried again. “But I still need to get back to my Rainbow sisters.”
“Please, can you help us get back to Rainspell Island?” Rachel asked the Sugarplum Fairy. “We would use fairy magic to fly back, but we don’t know how to get there!”
The beautiful fairy nodded. “We will send you home by balloon!” she said. She waved her wand at the empty jelly bean basket. Rachel and Kirsty watched in amazement as it grew bigger and bigger.
“But where’s the balloon?” asked Rachel.
The Sugarplum Fairy pointed to a tall tree, covered with pink blossoms.
“What pretty flowers,” Kirsty said. Then she took a closer look and began to laugh. “They’re not flowers. They’re pieces of bubble gum!”
“How is that going to help?” Rachel was confused.
Inky grinned at them, her eyes sparkling mischievously. “Leave it to me!” she said. She pulled one of the bubble-gum flowers off the tree, popped it into her mouth, and began to chew.
Then, squeezing her eyes shut tight, Inky blew a huge, purplish-blue bubble. She puffed and puffed, and the bubble grew bigger and bigger. Soon, it towered above them. It was the biggest bubble Rachel and Kirsty had ever seen!
Inky took the bubble out of her mouth and tied a knot in the end. “The perfect balloon!” she said. “Now, we’re ready to go.”
Rachel and Kirsty grinned at each other. What a wonderful way to travel back to Rainspell Island!
The elves helped tie the bubble-gum balloon to the basket. Then, Rachel, Kirsty, and Inky climbed inside.
The Sugarplum Fairy waved her wand at the balloon, showering it with gold sparkles.
“The balloon will take you back to Rainspell Island,” she explained. “Good-bye, and good luck.”
“Thank you,” called Rachel and Inky.
But Kirsty was looking around in dismay. “There’s no wind!” she said. “We won’t be able to get off the ground!”
Rachel looked over at the leaves on the bubble-gum tree. Kirsty was right. They weren’t moving at all!
The Sugarplum Fairy smiled. “Rachel, don’t you
remember what you have in your pocket?” she said.
“Of course!” Rachel exclaimed. “The magic fan!” She took it out of her pocket and unfolded it. Then, she flapped it under the balloon.
Whoosh!
The blast of air lifted the balloon up into the sky. “Good-bye!” Kirsty called, waving at the Sugarplum Fairy and all the elves.
“Thank you for all your help,” Inky said. “Sorry I made such a mess!” she added with a giggle.
The balloon bobbed slowly upward. As it got higher, the wind became stronger, so Rachel put the fan back in her pocket. Big, puffy clouds began swirling around the balloon.
“We’ll be home soon,” Rachel said, trying to sound cheerful.
The wind roared around them, rocking the basket from side to side. Rachel, Kirsty, and Inky hung on to one another and squeezed their eyes shut.
Then, all of a sudden, the wind dropped. The balloon stopped swaying. The air felt warm.
Kirsty opened her eyes. “We’re home!” she gasped.
They were back in Rachel’s attic bedroom at Mermaid Cottage. The balloon and the basket had vanished. The book of fairy tales was lying on the floor, open to The Nutcracker.
“But where’s Inky?” Rachel said.
“I’m in here!” said a small, cheerful voice. The Indigo Fairy popped up from Rachel’s pocket. She wriggled out and fluttered into the air, her wings sparkling with rainbows and showering the room with fairy dust ink drops. The smell of blackberries filled the air as they popped.
Kirsty picked up the book. She turned the pages until she found a picture of the Land of Sweets. “It’s a shame we didn’t get to taste any of that wonderful candy,” she said.
As she spoke, a tiny puff of powdered sugar floated out of the book. Then, a shower of different-colored jelly beans fell onto Rachel’s bed.
“They must be a present from the Sugarplum Fairy!” Inky laughed.
Rachel and Kirsty each popped a jelly bean into their mouth. They were tiny, but they tasted delicious!
“Yum!” said Inky, munching a bean. “Can we take some back to the pot for my sisters?”
Rachel nodded. “Let’s go right away,” she said, filling her pockets with jelly beans. “Your sisters will be waiting for you.” She looked at Kirsty and smiled. They had escaped the goblins and rescued another fairy. They’d even been inside a fairy tale. And, now, there was only one more fairy to find! Rachel and Kirsty were so close to bringing the color back to Fairyland, they could almost taste it!
Only one Rainbow Fairy is still missing! Fairyland will never get its Rainbow Magic back without
Heather the Violet Fairy!
But where is the final fairy? Join Kirsty and Rachel’s adventure in this special sneak peek. . . .
“I can’t believe this is the last day of our vacation!” said Rachel Walker. She gazed up at her kite as it rose in the clear blue sky.
Kirsty Tate watched the purple kite soar above the field next to Mermaid Cottage. “But we still have to find Heather the Violet Fairy!” she reminded Rachel.
Mean Jack Frost had cast a wicked spell that banished the seven Rainbow Fairies to Rainspell Island. And without the Rainbow Fairies, Fairyland had no color! Kirsty and Rachel had already found Ruby, Amber, Sunny, Fern, Sky, and Inky. Now they only had Heather the Violet Fairy left to find.
Rachel felt the kite tug on its string. She looked up. Something violet and silver flashed at the end of the kite’s long tail. “Look up there!” she shouted.
Kirsty shaded her eyes with her hand. “What is it? Do you think it’s a fairy?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” Rachel said, winding in the string.
As the kite came bobbing toward them, Kirsty saw that a long piece of violet-colored ribbon was tied to its tail. She helped Rachel untie the ribbon and smooth it out.
“It has tiny silver writing on it,” Rachel gasped.
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-30814-4
Copyright © 2003 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
Illustrations copyright © 2003 by Georgie Ripper.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Rainbow Magic Limited.
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First Scholastic printing, February 2006
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Inky the Indigo Fairy (9780545308144) Page 2
