The goblin who’d been holding on to the petal looked upset. “It got washed out of my hands by that wave.” He moaned, searching around for the petal. Then, not seeing it anywhere, he turned on the goblin with the wand. “It’s all your fault!” he snapped. “You and your crazy spell!”
“My crazy spell?” the goblin with the wand replied. “Your crazy fingers, you mean. You should have held on to the petal a little tighter! I knew we should never have trusted you to look after it!”
As the goblins argued about whose fault it was, something caught Rachel’s eye. She fluttered over the water for a closer look, then motioned to her friends.
“I’ve found the petal!” she whispered with a bright smile. “Look! There it is, floating on the lake!”
Rachel swooped down to pick up the petal, but it was wet and heavy, so her friends flew to help.
A groan went up from the goblins on the beach when they saw what was happening. “Those awful fairies are going to get the petal now!” the big-eared goblin complained, stomping his foot in rage.
The squinty-eyed goblin lifted the wand high into the air.
“Don’t worry,” he announced. “I’ll take care of —” But the other goblins jumped on him before he could say another word.
“NOOOO!” they all cried together, as the girls laughed.
“No more spells! Look what happened the last time!” the skinny goblin complained, still shaking water from his ears.
Louise waved her wand over the lily petal, shrinking it down to its Fairyland size with a happy smile on her face. Then, holding on to it tightly, she flew back to the goblins. “Next time, don’t take things that don’t belong to you!” she scolded them. “And you can tell Jack Frost that, too!”
The goblins ignored her and stomped off with grumpy faces.
Louise hugged the girls gratefully. “Thanks so much, girls,” she said. “Now I’d better take my petal straight back to Fairyland, where it belongs.” She pointed her wand at the girls and a cloud of fairy dust whirled around them.
All of a sudden, Rachel and Kirsty were their normal size again. They were sitting in the rowboat, with the oars in place!
Louise smiled. “I’ll just get you back onto the lake,” she said, with another wave of her wand.
Rachel and Kirsty grinned in delight as the boat slid gently down the beach and back into the water, all on its own.
“Thanks, Louise!” Kirsty called.
Rachel waved to the little fairy and then took hold of the oars. “Bye!” she said, blinking as Louise vanished in a puff of pale pink sparkles.
Rachel rowed the boat across the lake toward the boathouse. Luckily, Louise’s fairy magic had completely dried the little boat, so the boatman would have no idea that one of his rowboats had been tossed upside down in a giant wave.
“Perfect timing,” Kirsty said happily as they approached the boathouse. “Look — there are our parents.”
Rachel turned to see the four adults strolling toward the boathouse, just finishing their walk. “I bet we’ve had a more exciting time than they have!” She grinned.
“I bet … oh!” Rachel exclaimed in surprise as she saw a single pink water lily unfold on a lily pad nearby. “The lilies are blooming!” she cheered.
“There’s a white one,” Kirsty said, pointing. “Oh, and another pink one. They’re all opening!”
The two friends smiled at each other. “Louise’s petal magic is working again,” Rachel declared. “That was quick!”
It was wonderful rowing back through all the beautiful pink and white lilies. When the girls reached the boathouse, the boatman was shaking his head in amazement.
“And I was saying you’d have to come back to see the lilies in full bloom,” he chuckled. “It’s almost magical the way they’ve all started opening up now!”
The girls nodded, but Kirsty didn’t dare look at Rachel in case she burst out laughing. Almost magical? It was magical! she thought with a smile.
“Hello!” called Mr. and Mrs. Walker, striding up with Buttons alongside them.
“Did you have a good time?” asked Kirsty’s dad.
Rachel looked at Kirsty. “Oh, yes,” she said, grinning. “We had a fairy good time!”
Village Visit
Sneaky Sunflowers
A Cold Spell
Field Trip
Perfect Petals
Sunflower Spectacle
“Welcome to Leafley,” Rachel Walker read out loud as she and her best friend, Kirsty Tate, stopped at the message board outside the Visitors’ Center. “Come and see our beautiful village and our early-blooming sunflowers!”
“Isn’t Leafley a wonderful name for a village?” Kirsty laughed, as she and Rachel waited for their parents to catch up with them. The Tates and the Walkers — plus Rachel’s dog, Buttons — were spending spring break together at the Blossom Hall hotel, which was close to the little village of Leafley.
“You kind of expect a place named Leafley to be full of beautiful flowers,” Kirsty went on.
Rachel nodded, and then looked serious. “But will the Leafley sunflowers be blooming at all, now that the Petal Fairies’ magic petals are missing?” she asked.
Kirsty frowned. “Good question. We haven’t found Charlotte the Sunflower Fairy’s petal yet!” she exclaimed.
At the beginning of their vacation, the two girls had promised to help their fairy friends find the seven magical petals. The petals were very important because their magic helped all the flowers in the human world to bloom beautifully. But mischievous Jack Frost wanted to make flowers grow in the frozen ground around his ice castle, so he had sent his naughty goblins to steal the magic petals and bring them to him. When the fairies tried to stop the goblins in their tracks, it turned into a battle of spells between Jack Frost and the fairies. Then the petals were whirled away into the human world in a cloud of pink-and-white magic. Now Rachel, Kirsty, and the Petal Fairies were trying to return all the petals to Fairyland before the goblins could get ahold of them again.
“We’ve already helped Tia the Tulip Fairy, Pippa the Poppy Fairy, and Louise the Lily Fairy,” said Kirsty. “Maybe we’ll find another petal today.”
“I hope so,” Rachel agreed, as their parents joined them.
“Come on, girls,” said Mrs. Walker, ushering them inside. “These early-blooming sunflowers are supposed to be amazing!”
As they went into the Visitors’ Center, a woman wearing a green T-shirt embroidered with bright yellow sunflowers stepped forward to greet them. “Welcome to Leafley!” she said cheerfully. “My name’s Laura.” She handed Rachel and Kirsty each a large badge, and the girls were delighted to see that they were in the shape of a sunflower with glittering golden petals and dark-brown, velvety centers. They quickly pinned them on.
“You’ve come to visit us on a very special day,” Laura went on. “The judges of the Most Colorful Village Award are coming to Leafley today, and we’re hoping we might win first prize! It goes to the town or village with the prettiest plants and blooming flowers.”
“Has Leafley ever won an award before?” asked Kirsty.
“Never,” Laura replied. “So everyone’s very excited. We’ve even planted some extra sunflowers to impress the judges!”
“Well, you must have a good chance of winning,” said Mr. Tate with a smile. “I’ve heard that the Leafley sunflowers are spectacular.”
Laura’s face fell. “Unfortunately, most of the sunflowers haven’t bloomed as early as they usually do.” She sighed. “There are only a few small ones out at the moment. It’s a real shame, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We’re hoping that the judges will still think Leafley is lovely, anyway.”
Rachel and Kirsty glanced at each other. They knew exactly why the Leafley sunflowers weren’t blooming. Both girls silently hoped that they would find Charlotte the Sunflower Fairy’s magic petal as soon as possible.
“Is that a map of the village?” Kirsty asked curiously, pointing at the
wall behind Laura.
“Yes, it shows the Sunflower Trail,” Laura explained. “If you follow the glittery sunflower stickers on the map, you’ll get to see all the prettiest spots in the village. The trail starts here at the Visitors’ Center, and it ends here, too.”
“Oh, Mom, can Rachel and I follow the Sunflower Trail, please?” Kirsty asked eagerly.
“Yes, of course,” Mrs. Tate answered.
“We thought we’d have a cup of coffee before we walk around Leafley ourselves,” said Mr. Walker. He pointed to the café at the back of the Visitors’ Center. “So why don’t you girls meet us back here in half an hour? Buttons can come with us,” he added, taking the dog’s leash from Rachel.
“You’ll need this, girls,” Laura handed Rachel a yellow envelope, sealed with a sparkly sunflower sticker. “It’s a copy of the Sunflower Trail map for you to follow.”
“Thank you,” Kirsty and Rachel said in chorus.
The girls hurried outside, taking the envelope with them.
“Look, this is the beginning of the trail,” said Kirsty, spotting a sign next to the Visitors’ Center. A golden arrow pointed the way down the lane, and there was a large, glittering sunflower with a smiley face painted next to it.
“And there’s the village,” added Rachel.
As the girls set off along the trail, they could see the first few houses ahead of them. In front, they had neat gardens planted with sunflowers, but hardly any of them were in bloom. The buds that were flowering looked really wilted and unhappy. Their stems were flimsy and their leaves dying.
“We have to find Charlotte’s magic sunflower petal!” Rachel declared. “Maybe then Leafley will have a chance to win the Most Colorful Village Award.”
As she spoke, Rachel pulled the sticker off the back of the envelope that Laura had given them. Suddenly, a stream of dazzling golden sparkles burst out and swirled into the air in a glistening cloud.
“Oh!” Rachel gasped.
“It looks like fairy dust!” Kirsty exclaimed. “Quick, Rachel, see what’s inside!”
Carefully, Rachel pulled the envelope open, and Charlotte the Sunflower Fairy danced out at once. The fairy gave her wand a twirl and smiled happily at the girls!
The little fairy hovered in the air. She shook out her crumpled wings and then straightened her blue pants and matching top. She had dark hair tied in bouncy bunches. Wrapped around her waist was a wide leather belt, fastened with a big, shiny sunflower buckle.
“Hello, girls!” Charlotte cried. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“We thought we might find you here, Charlotte,” said Kirsty. “Is there any sign of your sunflower petal yet?”
Charlotte’s face fell and her wings drooped. “Not yet,” she said sadly. “But I know it’s in Leafley somewhere. We have to find it!”
“We can look for your petal by following the Sunflower Trail,” Rachel promised, showing Charlotte the map.
“But don’t forget that the goblins have a wand full of Jack Frost’s icy magic to help them,” Charlotte warned. “We need to be careful.”
Rachel studied the map as they walked along. “This street is called Sunny Cottage Row,” she announced.
There was a small group of children already on the trail ahead of them, so Charlotte hid behind Kirsty’s sunflower badge. Then the girls walked toward the row of tiny cottages. The brown-and-white houses were very charming with their thatched roofs and colorful gardens of spring flowers. But, as the girls had already noticed, hardly any of the sunflowers were in bloom.
“It’s a shame.” Charlotte sighed, peeking out from behind Kirsty’s badge. “Sunny
Cottage Row is so beautiful when all the gorgeous sunflowers are out.”
As they passed another pretty garden, Kirsty noticed that this one seemed to have a few more sunflowers in bloom than the others they’d seen so far. She stopped and scanned the garden carefully, searching for Charlotte’s petal, but a sudden movement made her jump. Was she imagining things, or had one of the sunflowers actually twitched?
She watched it carefully for a moment, then nudged Rachel. “One of those sunflowers is moving around!” she told her friend. “First it was by the fence, but now it’s over there by the shed!”
“Are you sure?” asked Rachel.
“Which sunflower was it, Kirsty?” Charlotte wanted to know.
Kirsty pointed it out.
“It’s not moving now,” Rachel remarked. Then she gave a gasp. “But that one is! Look, over by the pond!”
Rachel, Kirsty, and Charlotte watched in amazement as the other sunflower ran across the garden, petals bobbing, and stopped near the shed, too.
“That doesn’t look like one of my beautiful sunflowers,” Charlotte said doubtfully.
Rachel frowned, peering over the fence at the flower that had moved. “No, sunflowers don’t have long, pointy green noses,” she agreed.
“That’s a goblin!”
Kirsty and Charlotte looked concerned. Now that Rachel had pointed it out, they could see that the goblin was wearing a headdress of yellow sunflower petals that fit neatly around his face.
“Oh no! It’s even worse than that!” Charlotte announced, staring into the garden at all the sunflowers. “There are lots of goblins!”
She pointed her wand at five more sunflowers, including the one Kirsty had noticed first. The girls’ hearts sank as they realized that Charlotte was right. They were all goblins!
“So that’s why I thought there were more sunflowers blooming in this garden than any of the others.” Kirsty groaned. “They’re goblins in disguise!”
“If they hadn’t moved, we wouldn’t have noticed,” Rachel said. “They blend in so well with their green bodies and their yellow headdresses!”
“We have to find out if the goblins have my magic petal. Right now,” Charlotte declared, and she flew out from behind Kirsty’s badge. “Girls, I’m going to turn you into fairies immediately.”
Rachel put down the map. She and Kirsty stood still and waited for Charlotte to shower them with magic fairy dust. One wave of Charlotte’s wand, and the girls begin to shrink. Soon they had pretty, glittery fairy wings on their backs!
Charlotte, Rachel, and Kirsty zoomed into the garden where the goblins were hiding. Charlotte led the girls behind a large bush and put a finger to her lips. Then they all peeked out between the leaves.
“There’s nobody on the trail now,” called one of the goblins. “Quick!” He motioned to the others, losing a couple of petals from his headdress as he darted across the garden. “Start looking for the magic petal!”
The goblins immediately began a frantic search. They dashed all over the garden, roughly grabbing the sunflowers and pulling their heads down to examine the petals.
“Oh, I can’t watch!” Charlotte gasped, covering her eyes with her hands. “They’re ruining my poor sunflowers.”
Rachel and Kirsty watched anxiously as the goblins stomped through the middle of the flower beds. Maybe Charlotte’s magic petal isn’t in this garden at all, Rachel thought doubtfully. There weren’t very many sunflowers left that the goblins hadn’t already examined. Except for a clump of three plants not far from the bush where Charlotte and the girls were hiding …
Rachel glanced at the three sunflowers. One was much taller than the others, and its sunshine-yellow petals had opened to show the dark brown seeds in its center. It’s very strange, Rachel thought with a frown, but one of the petals seems more golden and sparkly than the others. …
“Oh!” Rachel gasped, then clapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying out too loudly. “It’s the magic petal!” she whispered to her friends.
“Where?” Charlotte asked excitedly.
Rachel pointed out the tall sunflower, and Charlotte’s face broke into a big, beaming smile.
“Good job, Rachel,” she whispered, doing a little dance of joy in the air. “We’d better get ahold of it quickly, before the goblins do.”
C
harlotte whizzed out from behind the bush. Her thin, glittery wings were a blur as she raced toward her precious petal. Rachel and Kirsty followed.
“Oh no you don’t!” yelled a gruff voice from behind them. “That magic petal belongs to Jack Frost!”
Kirsty glanced over her shoulder to see a goblin rushing toward the sunflower. “One of the goblins has spotted us — and the magic petal!” she cried.
“Hurry, girls!” Charlotte called, her wings beating even faster.
Rachel and Kirsty flew faster than they had ever flown before as they dashed after Charlotte.
“I think we’re going to get to the petal first,” Kirsty panted. “The goblin’s not tall enough to reach it.”
But just as Charlotte and the girls arrived at the sunflower, the goblin skidded to a halt on the ground below them. He grabbed the sunflower’s stem and yanked the big flower head down, away from Charlotte and the girls.
The next moment he screeched with triumph as he snatched the magic petal and waved it gleefully in the air. Charlotte, Rachel, and Kirsty looked at each other in horror.
“I found the magic petal!” the goblin yelled to his friends, “but those pesky fairies are after me! Help!”
“Don’t let them get the petal!” another goblin shouted across the garden. “I’ll cast a spell to get rid of them.”
“That goblin has the magic wand!” cried Kirsty.
The goblin had produced the icy wand Jack Frost had given the goblins, and he was pointing it right toward Charlotte, Rachel, and Kirsty.
The Petal Fairies Collection Page 5
