“Rachel, look!” Kirsty laughed as Jessica rose to her feet, still holding the umbrella. Balancing daintily on the edge of the glass, the tiny fairy waved up at the girls. She wore a silky pink dress with a deeper pink sash and a matching long, pink feather boa around her neck. High-heeled silver shoes sparkled on her feet, and golden curls tumbled down her back.
“Hello, girls,” Jessica called softly, putting down the umbrella. “I’ve come to find my ribbon!”
Quickly, Kirsty and Rachel hurried over to a quiet corner of the tent, away from the other guests. Jessica took a cautious look around, then fluttered from the glass onto Kirsty’s shoulder.
“Is your ribbon here, Jessica?” Rachel asked eagerly.
Jessica nodded. “I’m sure it is!” she replied. “The magic of my ribbon probably brought the goblin here, since the party has a jazz theme!”
“Ladies and gentlemen!” came a loud announcement from the stage, making Rachel and Kirsty jump.
The girls turned to see what was going on. The saxophone player from the jazz band had stepped up to the microphone and was grinning at the audience.
“As a special birthday present for Alexander, the cast of his new musical, Jazz It Up! is going to perform a number from the show — just for him!” the musician explained.
The guests broke into applause and cheers. Alexander Willow looked surprised, but happy.
“Oh, this is going to be a disaster without Jessica’s magic ribbon!” Rachel said anxiously, as the dancers ran onto the stage to more applause. The women were dressed in short sequined skirts and vests while the men wore black pants, white shirts, and silk scarves knotted around their necks. They all had sparkling top hats on their heads.
Jessica looked very sad.
“This would be an amazing performance if only the jazz ribbon was in its proper place on my wand!” She sighed heavily.
The jazz band struck an upbeat tune as the dancers quickly took their places. They began to strut across the stage, throwing their arms up into the air in sequence and singing,
Jazz it up!
Join us tonight and
Jazz it up!
“I can’t watch!” Rachel groaned, covering her eyes with her hands.
Kirsty knew exactly how Rachel felt, but she forced herself to keep looking. The men and women had separated into two groups, still singing along to the music as they began to dance.
“Those are fantastic fan kicks,” Jessica murmured approvingly as the women high-kicked their way across the stage. “And those barrel jumps and hip rolls are right in time with the music.”
Kirsty watched curiously as the male dancers performed split jumps and the women danced around them. They were all doing really well, and nothing had gone wrong yet!
“Rachel?” Kirsty nudged her friend. “It’s OK. Their number is going fabulously!”
“Oh!” Rachel peeked through her fingers and then smiled at Kirsty. “But that means …”
“My ribbon must be very close by!” Jessica chimed in excitedly.
Kirsty nodded, searching the stage for a goblin or the magic ribbon. At first, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But suddenly, her gaze was drawn to one of the dancers at the back. He was smaller than the others and it seemed strange that his silk scarf was tied around his face instead of his neck. He appeared to be the best dancer on the stage.
“Look!” Kirsty said, pointing him out to Rachel and Jessica as the dancers did a final spin. “There’s something kind of funny about that dancer, isn’t there?”
Jessica frowned as she watched. The dancers were now lifting off their top hats and passing them down the line to the next person as they crossed the stage, but the smallest dancer refused to take his hat off. It clearly annoyed the girl behind him.
At that moment, Kirsty and Rachel both noticed that, unlike the others, the smallest dancer had a pink silk ribbon tied around his top hat.
“I recognize that ribbon!” Jessica announced, her voice trembling with excitement. “That dancer is a goblin in disguise — and he has my magic jazz ribbon!”
“That explains why he was dancing so well — and why the others were, too!” Rachel exclaimed as the music finished. The dancers all took their bows to loud applause.
“Let’s follow the dancers as they come offstage. We can try to get the ribbon back,” Kirsty suggested.
The audience was still applauding, so the dancers took a second bow.
“They were amazing, weren’t they?” said a woman at a table near Rachel and Kirsty. “I can’t wait to see the show on Broadway!”
“And wasn’t that young boy at the back excellent?” her friend remarked.
“Luckily, nobody realizes he was a goblin,” Rachel whispered to Kirsty, looking relieved.
“We’d better hurry backstage,” Kirsty replied. “We might get a chance to grab the ribbon as the goblin comes offstage.”
Jessica quickly ducked out of sight behind Kirsty’s hair and the two girls headed backstage. There, they quickly hid behind a rack of costumes near the wings. The three friends watched the dancers walking offstage.
The goblin was last in the line. But instead of following the other dancers, he hurried to the front of the stage and took another bow on his own, carefully holding the top hat on his head. The audience laughed and continued to clap. The goblin made another sweeping bow, still holding on to the top hat. This time, he bent over so low that the hat almost touched the ground.
“He’s having too much fun to leave the stage!” Kirsty laughed. The goblin waved graciously at the audience and bowed a third time.
The girls watched in amusement as the saxophone player went over to the goblin and took his arm.
The goblin pulled himself free, skipped over to the side of the stage, and bowed again. The saxophone player frowned and hurried after the goblin, but the goblin managed to dodge him and run to the other side of the stage. The audience was now in fits of laughter.
“They think it’s all part of the show!” Rachel whispered.
At last, the saxophone player managed to grab the goblin’s arm and march him away.
“Remember that the goblin has the freezing power Jack Frost gave him,” Jessica reminded Rachel and Kirsty. “So don’t get too close to him.”
The girls carefully peeked around the rack of costumes as the goblin finally came offstage. He hummed and skipped along happily, very proud of himself. But then he stopped suddenly. He pulled his silk scarf away from his face slightly and revealed a long, green, pointy nose. In fact, it was the longest, pointiest goblin nose Rachel had ever seen!
She glanced at Kirsty and could tell that her friend was thinking exactly the same thing. None of the goblins had small noses, but this one was huge!
The goblin sniffed the air cautiously. Then he sniffed again, so hard that Rachel could see his nostrils quivering. To her horror, he spun around and walked toward the rack of costumes.
“I think the goblin sniffed us out!” Rachel whispered nervously to Kirsty and Jessica. “He’s coming straight toward us!”
“We have to do something!” Kirsty whispered.
“I’ll turn you into fairies right now!” Jessica said quickly. “Then we’ll be able to fly away if the goblin spots us.”
She waved her wand and deep pink sparkles floated down around Rachel and Kirsty, shrinking them right where they stood. Glittery, glimmering fairy wings appeared on their backs, and the two girls smiled with delight. They’d been fairies many times before, but it was always so much fun.
“Now stay as still as you can!” Jessica said softly.
All three of them held their breath as they waited for the goblin to pull the rack of costumes aside and find them. But nothing happened. Confused, Rachel, Kirsty, and Jessica peeked out again, just in time to see the goblin disappearing through the exit in front of their hiding place.
“He’s going outside,” Rachel whispered with a sigh of relief.
“We’d better follow hi
m!” said Jessica.
But as they zoomed after the goblin, they heard the band strike up another melody.
“I think the dancing’s starting,” Kirsty pointed out.
“Then we have to get the ribbon back fast, or it will be a disaster!” Jessica said firmly.
“Follow that goblin, girls!”
Jessica and the girls flew out the exit and after the goblin. He was hurrying across the garden toward the manor.
The three friends followed him into the house. Once inside, he stopped, pulled down his scarf, and sniffed the air again. Then he raced off down a long, twisting hallway.
“He can smell something!” Jessica whispered, as they flew after him. “But what?”
Ahead of them, the goblin had stopped in an open doorway. He was now sniffing the air very hard, with a look of delight on his face.
“I can smell it now, too. It’s fresh-baked brownies,” Kirsty said. “We must be near the kitchen.”
Jessica and the girls flew down the hall and hovered just behind the goblin. He didn’t notice them because he was peeking eagerly into the kitchen. A cook, wearing a white apron, was taking a tray of delicious-looking chocolate brownies out of the oven. She put it down on the kitchen counter and reached into the oven for a second tray.
The goblin tiptoed into the kitchen. As Jessica, Rachel, and Kirsty watched, he reached up and stole one of the fresh-baked brownies! But he dropped it almost immediately with a loud squeal.
“Ow!” he yelped, jumping up and down, and blowing on his fingers. “It’s hot!”
The cook whirled around and frowned at him.
“Well, it serves you right for trying to take a brownie without permission!” she said, putting down the second tray. “Let me check your hand to make sure it isn’t burned.”
“I don’t want you to,” the goblin muttered rudely, putting both hands behind his back.
“Don’t be silly!” the cook scolded.
As the goblin sulkily held out his hand, Jessica glanced at Rachel and Kirsty in alarm. “What is she going to think when she sees the goblin has green hands?” she whispered.
Rachel and Kirsty watched anxiously as the cook stared at the goblin’s fingers.
“Why are your hands so dirty and green?” the cook said, frowning. “Have you been rolling around in the grass?”
The goblin shrugged and didn’t reply, sticking his bottom lip out grumpily.
“Wash your hands, and then you can have a brownie,” the cook instructed him.
“I don’t want to wash my hands!” the goblin said, his face breaking into a sly smile. “But I do want to freeze YOU!”
He jumped forward, touched the cook, and shouted, “Freeze!”
Instantly, the cook was frozen solid, and Jessica, Rachel, and Kirsty gasped in horror. The goblin happily began stuffing himself with brownies.
“The poor cook!” Jessica sighed. “Isn’t it lucky that the goblin’s magic doesn’t last long? The freezing spell will wear off soon. At least the cook won’t remember being frozen.”
“This could be our chance to grab the ribbon,” Kirsty pointed out. “The goblin’s busy gulping down brownies!”
“You’re right,” Jessica whispered. “I’ll try to use my magic to untie the ribbon from his hat.”
Rachel and Kirsty nodded, and flew to hover over the goblin. Jessica waved her wand, and a shower of deep pink sparkles surrounded the goblin’s top hat. As they did, the ribbon began to untie itself.
Their hearts pounding, Kirsty and Rachel flew down to grab the jazz ribbon.
“I wonder if there are any more brownies in the oven,” the goblin mumbled greedily. He turned around and spotted Rachel and Kirsty reaching toward his top hat.
“Freeze!” the goblin yelled, leaping into the air to touch them.
“Eek!” Kirsty squealed, darting to her left as Rachel dodged to the right. Both girls managed to avoid the goblin’s outstretched fingers, but he climbed onto a stool and then onto the kitchen counter to try to reach them.
“Let’s get out of here!” Jessica called, whizzing over to the door. Rachel and Kirsty were quick to follow. As they flew out the door, they glanced back to see the goblin firmly re-tying the ribbon to his hat. Then he jumped off the counter and dashed after them.
“Now he’s chasing us!” Rachel cried as they flew down the corridor with the goblin right behind them.
Jessica led the way out of the house. “Girls, we have to stay away from the goblin or he’ll freeze us!” she called as they sped across the garden. “But I need to get my ribbon back somehow!”
Kirsty saw the goblin charging out of the house toward them, holding onto his top hat. “Here he comes!” she cried.
Meanwhile, Rachel was staring at the swimming pool up ahead. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.
“Quick, Jessica, can you make me and Kirsty human-size again?” Rachel asked urgently. “I think there’s a way to stop the goblin and get the ribbon back!”
Jessica nodded, raised her wand, and showered the girls with sparkles.
Instantly, Rachel and Kirsty shot up to their normal size again.
“I’m not scared of you!” the goblin yelled, still rushing toward them. “I can freeze you no matter what size you are!”
“Come on, Kirsty!” Rachel grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her over to the side of the pool. Jessica hovered above them. “When I count to three, jump out of the way!”
The goblin was racing down the path toward the girls, getting closer and closer.
“One,” Rachel whispered.
The goblin grinned with glee as he got closer. “You can’t escape me now!” he declared.
“Two,” Rachel murmured.
The goblin leaped toward the girls and shouted “Freeze!” At that moment, Rachel yelled, “THREE!”
Kirsty jumped one way and Rachel jumped the other, but the goblin was going so fast he couldn’t stop.
He kept running toward the pool. For a second he teetered there, on the edge with a look of horror on his face. But then he lost his balance and hit the water with a loud splash.
“Help!” the goblin sputtered, thrashing around in the pool.
Jessica flew down and sent a stream of sparkling, dark-pink fairy dust toward his top hat. Once again, the magic ribbon untied itself.
“Grab hold of one end,” Jessica told the goblin. And then, with a second swirl of sparkles, she sent the other end of the ribbon flying through the air toward Rachel and Kirsty. The girls grabbed hold of it and pulled the goblin over to the steps at the side of the pool. He crawled out, grumbling and shivering, still clutching his end of the ribbon.
“This ribbon doesn’t belong to you,” Rachel told him, as she and Kirsty held on to their end just as tightly. “You’d better give it back!”
The goblin stuck out his tongue. “No way!” he retorted, still shaking with cold.
Jessica flew down to join them. “You look cold,” she said to the goblin. “How about I make you warm and dry with my magic?”
“Ooh, yes!” the goblin said eagerly.
“Well, if I do, then I want my ribbon in return!” Jessica said firmly, raising her wand and looking questioningly at the goblin. “What do you say?”
The goblin frowned. “But I like the ribbon,” he grumbled. “And Jack Frost told me to keep it!”
“Oh, but think how nice it would be to be warm and dry!” Kirsty put in. She winked at Rachel and Jessica. They all knew that goblins hated being cold and wet!
The goblin looked uncertain. “It would be nice,” he agreed slowly.
“And we won’t tell Jack Frost you gave us the ribbon,” Rachel promised.
The goblin glanced at Jessica. “But can you make me really, really warm?” he asked.
Jessica nodded.
“OK, you can keep the ribbon, then!” the goblin declared, dropping his end of the jazz ribbon.
Rachel and Kirsty glanced at each other in delight, and Jessica tapped the go
blin’s top hat with her wand. As sparkling pink fairy dust swirled down around him, drying him off, the goblin’s face broke into a big smile.
“Ooh, I’m warm all over!” He sighed happily. “Even my toes are toasty!” He skipped off happily across the yard.
Rachel and Kirsty let go of the magic ribbon and it floated over to Jessica. As it did, it shrank down to its Fairyland size. Then it reattached itself to her wand, and it glowed an even deeper, more vivid pink.
“Hooray!” Jessica cried, stroking her ribbon as it waved gently in the evening breeze. “We did it, girls! Thank you a million times for all your help!”
Rachel and Kirsty grinned at each other.
“The party should go well now,” Kirsty pointed out.
“Of course it will!” Jessica declared. “You go and enjoy yourselves — you deserve it!” And with a wink, the little fairy disappeared in a cloud of pink fairy magic.
The girls hurried back to the tent, but when they went inside, they were both disappointed by the scene in front of them. The music had stopped, some of the tables and chairs had been knocked over, and a couple of people were limping off the dance floor, shaking their heads and looking very sad.
“Oh no!” Rachel groaned. “It looks like the dancing’s been a disaster!”
“I think they must have bumped into each other!” Kirsty added, pointing at two people who were sitting on the floor, looking dazed and rubbing their heads.
Suddenly, Rachel spotted Mrs. Tate sitting on one chair with her leg propped up on another. The two girls quickly ran over to her.
The Dance Fairies Collection Page 7
