The goblin didn’t seem to care. He just gave a mean cackle. “You pesky girls will be next unless you leave me alone,” he told them. “So stay away!”
Then he stuck his tongue out, knotted the ribbon around his cane, and danced off down the hallway.
Rachel looked down at Tasha, who was still frozen solid inside her hat. The fairy’s dark hair twinkled with frost, and her face had an icy blue tint to it.
“Oh, Tasha,” Rachel said, gently blowing on her to try to warm her up. “Tasha, can you hear me?”
“How about holding her in your hands?” Kirsty suggested. “They might be warmer than the hat.”
Rachel agreed and carefully scooped the frozen fairy into her cupped hand. But at that moment, the girls heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Before Rachel could even think about hiding Tasha, a woman appeared.
Kirsty gulped. How were they going to explain a frozen fairy?
Before she could think of anything to say, the woman began to speak.
“What a pretty ice sculpture!” she cried, looking at Tasha. “So delicate! So lifelike! I didn’t realize the college offered an ice-sculpting course.”
Rachel could only manage a small smile in response. Both girls heaved a sigh of relief as the lady smiled back and went on her way.
“Phew,” Rachel said. “That was close!”
Kirsty was about to reply when a tiny, fairy-sized sneeze came from Tasha. Both girls looked down hopefully and smiled as Tasha opened her eyes. Shivering, she stood up on Rachel’s hand and rubbed her arms.
“Tasha! Are you all right?” Kirsty asked anxiously.
Tasha sneezed three more times, flapped her wings tentatively, and then smiled. “I’m fine,” she said. “Luckily, the goblins’ freezing power isn’t strong enough to freeze anyone for long. The magic wears off quickly. And now I’m more determined than ever to get my tap dance ribbon back!”
Rachel nodded. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s find that goblin!”
Tasha flew back into Kirsty’s pocket and the girls headed down the hallway, in the same direction that the goblin had gone. On their way, they caught a brief glimpse of Ashleigh in one of the classrooms, still hunting for her missing things.
“I hope she doesn’t see you-know-who wearing her shoes,” Kirsty muttered to Rachel as they went past.
They reached the main room, where the music was still playing. Kirsty looked over to where the tap dancers had been practicing and gasped in amazement. She couldn’t believe who was dancing along with them. It was the goblin!
“Look at him!” Kirsty squealed, shocked to see him in such a busy, public place. “I can’t believe nobody else has noticed him!”
Rachel stared hard. The goblin was very visible, tap dancing right in front of the speakers. “Oh, and look,” she said, noticing something else. “The dancers around him are doing much better now. It must be because they’re near the magic ribbon!”
The girls edged closer, not sure what to do. They wanted to grab the ribbon, but they didn’t want to draw any more attention to the goblin.
“Look at that little green guy!” they heard a man say just then. “What a wonderful dancer!”
“He must have had his makeup done at the special effects stand,” the man’s friend replied. “I guess he’s supposed to be some kind of goblin?”
“He does look kind of weird, with those big rubbery ears,” another person commented. “They can do amazing things with makeup these days!”
Rachel had to clap her hand over her mouth to stop herself from giggling. Kirsty had to stifle a laugh, too.
“We’ve got to get him out of here,” Tasha said. “It’s fine as long as people think he’s in costume, but what happens if someone realizes that he really is a goblin?”
Kirsty nodded, looking serious again. “That would be a disaster,” she agreed. “And what if Ashleigh comes back and sees him dancing with her tap shoes and cane?”
“I don’t know.” Rachel sighed, looking anxious. “He’s desperate to be near the music. He’s as close as he can get to the speakers! How are we going to draw him away?”
Kirsty thought hard. The goblin was looking very pleased with himself. He was obviously enjoying his performance, and was even showing off to the other dancers! All his bragging gave her an idea.
“What if we challenge him to take part in a dance competition with you, Tasha?” she suggested. “I bet he won’t be able to resist trying to prove that he’s the better tap dancer!”
Tasha grinned. “That sounds like an excellent plan!” she agreed.
As soon as the dance routine was finished, Kirsty and Rachel went over to the goblin, and Tasha popped her head out of Kirsty’s pocket so only the goblin could see.
“Hey!” she called to the goblin. “You know, you’re not bad at tap dancing, but you’ll never be as good as me.”
The goblin looked annoyed. “Not bad?” he spluttered. “I’m the best tap dancer in the world!”
Tasha laughed. “No way,” she replied. “I’m the Tap Dance Fairy. I’m obviously the best!”
The goblin stopped dancing and stamped his foot. “No, I am!” he snapped.
Kirsty interrupted. “Why don’t you two have a competition to settle it?” she suggested.
“Yes, if you’re as good as you think you are, you should be able to follow Tasha’s steps,” Rachel told the goblin. “Or are you worried she’ll be better than you?”
“No way!” The goblin snorted. “Just you watch. I’ll do it, and I’ll win!”
Kirsty smiled. “Oh, and there’s one more thing,” she added. “If you’re better than Tasha, we’ll stop bothering you about the tap dance ribbon and you can keep it. But if you lose, you have to give it back.”
The goblin hesitated, looking suspiciously from Tasha to Kirsty.
“Are you worried I’ll win?” Tasha teased.
The goblin snorted. “As if!” he scoffed. “Of course you won’t win. Let’s go!”
Rachel smiled. “Let’s find an empty classroom,” she suggested. “Then we’ll have more space for dancing.”
The girls, the goblin, and Tasha all left the hall and found an empty room close by, where they could still hear the tap dance music.
Tasha hopped onto a desk. “Ready?” she asked the goblin. He nodded. “Then watch!”
She launched into a routine, tapping her tiny fairy heels and toes on the desktop, and finishing with a flourish of her cane.
“Easy,” the goblin said with a sneer. He then copied her steps perfectly.
“OK,” Tasha said. “Let’s try another one.” She tapped out a much more complicated routine.
This time the goblin simply shrugged. “No problem,” he said, and copied the routine perfectly once again. “Is that the best you can do?” He smirked.
Tasha raised an eyebrow. “I’ll show you the best I can do,” she responded. And, with that, she threw herself into a third routine, her shoes tapping like crazy on the desktop, her cane a blur as she twirled and twisted it in front of her.
The goblin’s mouth fell open as she finished.
“Ta-da!” Tasha cried, twirling her cane on one finger. The goblin gulped.
“Ready when you are,” Rachel prompted.
The goblin squinted his eyes at her and began tapping. Kirsty could tell that he was trying his best, and he didn’t look all that bad, but the routine was just too tricky for him. He tripped over his own feet after a few moments.
Tasha smiled. “I win,” she said, stretching out a hand for the ribbon.
The goblin shook his head, panting. “No,” he argued. “That wasn’t fair. The girls were trying to distract me, and … and these shoes were too tight, and …”
Rachel was outraged to hear so many excuses. “Tasha won the ribbon, fair and square!” she said.
Tasha gave Rachel and Kirsty a secret wink. “All right,“ she told the goblin. “I’ll give you one last chance. I bet you can’t do this!”
She beg
an dancing again — and the girls could see that it was a simpler routine this time. But at the end, she tossed her cane high in the air with one hand, before catching it easily with the other.
The fairy gave the girls a meaningful smile. She’s plotting something, Kirsty thought. But what?
The goblin began to dance the routine, mimicking Tasha’s steps exactly. The ribbon on the cane fluttered as he tapped like crazy.
Then, as the goblin neared the end of the routine, Rachel and Kirsty both realized what Tasha was planning.
She’s hoping the goblin will toss the cane into the air like she did, Kirsty thought. And if he does, maybe Rachel or I can catch it!
Kirsty held her breath as the goblin tapped his last steps.
“Now!” Tasha shouted to the girls, as the goblin flipped the cane into the air.
Kirsty darted forward with her arm outstretched and her gaze fixed on the falling cane. The goblin realized he’d been set up, and he jumped up to try and catch the cane, too.
But Kirsty was taller and she reached it first. “Got it!” she cheered, as her fingers closed around the cane.
She quickly untied the magic ribbon and gave it to Tasha, who shrank it down to its Fairyland size and reattached it to her wand. A flurry of sparkles and tiny top hats whirled around the wand as it met the ribbon. The ribbon itself shimmered with fairy magic.
“That’s better!” Tasha beamed. “Thanks, Kirsty!”
The goblin looked like he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. “But …” he stuttered. “But …” He stomped his foot. “You tricked me!” he yelled.
Rachel shook her head. “Tasha won that ribbon fairly when she danced better than you,” she told him. “But you wouldn’t give it to her. So what choice did we have?”
The goblin glared. “Thieves! Cheats!” he yelled. “Tricksters!”
Tasha looked serious. “Jack Frost shouldn’t have taken the ribbons in the first place,” she reminded him. “He’s the thief, not us!”
“And you’re a thief, too,” Kirsty said to the goblin, “stealing someone else’s tap shoes and cane like that!”
The goblin stuck his tongue out. “Well, you’re not getting the shoes back,” he said, glancing down at them. “I’m keeping them to dance with.” And as if to prove it, he started dancing. But without the ribbon’s magical powers, he had no sense of rhythm or balance. Just seconds later, he tripped and landed on the floor.
His face turned dark green with anger, and he took off the shoes and threw them into a corner of the room.
“Dumb shoes!” he muttered, then jumped to his feet and stomped off in disgust.
Tasha pointed her wand at the shoes. A stream of fairy dust and little top hats swirled from the tip of her wand and floated gently over to them. The shoes began tip-tapping their way across the floor to the girls!
Rachel laughed as she bent down and picked up the tap shoes. “Thanks, Tasha,” she said.
“I should be thanking you two,” Tasha replied. “You’ve both been wonderful, but now I must return to Fairyland with my ribbon! Good-bye, girls.” And, blowing kisses to Rachel and Kirsty, Tasha disappeared in a shower of ruby red sparkles.
Rachel and Kirsty waved good-bye and then went to look for Ashleigh.
“Oh, thank you!” Ashleigh beamed when she saw her shoes and cane. “You saved the day! We’re just about to start our show.”
“You’re welcome,” Rachel said, smiling.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you dance,” Kirsty added.
Rachel and Kirsty watched as Ashleigh ran over to join the rest of her dance class, ready for their performance. The teacher introduced the dance and turned on the music.
Rachel and Kirsty couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit nervous as they watched — they’d seen so many dance performances go wrong lately! But this one went perfectly, and Ashleigh was a great dancer.
“And it’s all because Tasha has her ribbon back again,” Kirsty said happily.
“Yes,” Rachel agreed with a grin. “I love helping the fairies!”
Jessica Makes an Entrance
Enter the Goblin
Goblin Takes a Bow
Kitchen Chaos
Making a Splash
Jessica Jazzes Things Up
“I’m sooo excited!” Kirsty Tate said happily, as she smoothed down the satin skirt of her long purple dress. “I’ve never been to a grown-up party before!”
“Me neither,” Rachel Walker, Kirsty’s best friend, agreed. Like Kirsty, she was dressed in a brand-new outfit, a floaty cream-colored dress with sequins around the hem and neckline. Along with Kirsty’s parents, the girls were on their way to a party at the home of Alexander Willow, a friend of Mr. and Mrs. Tate.
“It’s not far now,” Mr. Tate replied, steering the car down a dark, narrow country lane. “You’re going to have a great time, girls. Alexander’s a producer of Broadway musicals, and he always throws wonderful parties!”
“There’s going to be a jazz band and lots of dancing!” added Mrs. Tate.
In the back of the car, Kirsty and Rachel exchanged a knowing glance. While Rachel was staying with Kirsty over their school vacation, the two girls had been helping their very special friends, the Dance Fairies. The fairies’ magic dance ribbons were missing. The ribbons were very important because their magic helped make dancing fun, in both Fairyland and the human world. The ribbons also made sure that dance performances went well. But Jack Frost had stolen the ribbons. He wanted their magic powers to help his goblins learn to dance.
When the king and queen of Fairyland had demanded that the ribbons be returned to the Dance Fairies, Jack Frost cast an icy spell that sent seven of his goblins tumbling into the human world. Each goblin clutched one of the magic ribbons. The goblins were supposed to keep the ribbons hidden, but so far Kirsty and Rachel, with the help of the Dance Fairies, had managed to get four of them back.
“Jessica the Jazz Fairy’s ribbon is still missing,” Kirsty whispered eagerly. “Maybe the goblin who has her ribbon will be at the party tonight!”
Rachel nodded. The girls knew that the magical ribbon was drawn to its own type of dance. “I hope so, too, Kirsty,” Rachel whispered. “We have to get the ribbon back, or else the party will be ruined!”
“What kind of dancing will there be, Mom?” Kirsty asked as Mr. Tate drove between two iron gates and up a long, winding driveway. “Rachel and I don’t really know what jazz dance is!”
Mrs. Tate nodded. “Jazz music is very modern, and so is jazz dance,” she explained. “You’ve probably both seen lots of jazz dancing in musicals.”
“Oh, great!” Rachel exclaimed happily, “I love that kind of dancing!”
Kirsty stared out of the car window, her eyes wide. “I’ve never seen such an enormous garden!” she said. “Rachel, look at that pond with the mermaid fountain in the middle.”
Rachel gazed out the window. “And look at the house!” she added, pointing.
The manor house in front of them was huge and looked very old. Its stone front was beautiful and impressive, with lots of windows and a large wooden door. Rows of cars were already parked outside, and people were climbing out of them. The women were dressed in long, elegant ballgowns in a rainbow of colors, and the men all wore tuxedos and stylish suits.
As they entered the hall of the manor, the girls looked around eagerly. The house was lit by tall white candles. The flickering flames filled the hall with a warm yellow glow. Golden chocolate coins had been scattered over the antique tables, and large gold platters piled high with cupcakes had been placed here and there.
“Oh, this is gorgeous!” Kirsty sighed.
Everyone else was making their way through the house toward the back garden, so the Tates and Rachel followed.
The garden was even more spectacular than the house. Kirsty and Rachel stared open-mouthed as they walked past exotic plants in huge china pots, a rippling turquoise swimming pool, and an intricate maze made of neatly
trimmed hedges.
A white tent had been set up in the middle of the garden for the party.
As the girls walked in, they could see gold stars sparkling from the ceiling of the tent. Tables and chairs had been set up for the guests. A jazz band sat on a stage at the back, playing a catchy tune that quickly had Kirsty and Rachel tapping their toes.
“Nobody’s dancing yet, thank goodness!” Rachel whispered, noting the empty dance floor in the middle of the tent.
“Everyone’s too busy eating and talking,” Kirsty whispered back, watching the waiters who were carrying trays of drinks and offering them to the guests. “But there are lots of places for a goblin to hide!”
Rachel nodded. “We’ll just have to keep looking,” she said determinedly, scanning the party tent.
“That’s Alexander over there, girls,” said Mrs. Tate, pointing to a tall, blond man who was chatting with other guests. “We’ll introduce you later, but I can tell you want to explore. Why don’t you go and have a look around now?”
“Thanks, Mom,” Kirsty said. She and Rachel wandered off, winding between the chairs and tables.
“Would you like a fruit juice cocktail, girls?” asked a waiter. He was holding a tray that had two tall crystal glasses on top, decorated with pretty paper umbrellas. “They’re delicious.”
“Yes, please!” Kirsty and Rachel said at the same time, each taking one of the glasses.
Rachel took a sip. “Yum!” she exclaimed as the waiter hurried off. “It is delicious!”
Kirsty raised the glass to her lips to take a sip herself. But then she gasped aloud. There, sitting on the rim of the crystal glass, twirling the umbrella and smiling up at her, was Jessica the Jazz Fairy!
The Dance Fairies Collection Page 6
