“I don’t want a doggie, a pig, or a whale, ” he shouted. “But send to that rock big pieces of hail! ” The smallest goblin pointed the wand at the rock.
“Don’t point that thing at me!” the big goblin shouted in alarm. He jumped up and ran for cover. As he did, the magic petal fell off his foot and landed on the rock.
Danielle immediately swooped down to grab it, followed closely by Kirsty and Rachel. But big, icy pieces of hail suddenly began to rain down onto the rock from the sky.
Kirsty gasped in horror when she saw how huge the hailstones were. It’s like playing dodgeball with humongous frozen kickballs! she thought. She and her friends zipped back and forth to avoid being hit.
Just as Danielle reached out for the daisy petal, a hailstone struck her shoulder and sent her spinning toward the ground. Rachel and Kirsty immediately flew to help her, managing to catch her in midair.
They each took one of the fairy’s arms and helped her fly safely to the edge of the clearing, away from the hailstorm.
“Are you OK, Danielle?” Kirsty asked. Danielle looked very shaken, and Rachel bit her lip as she waited for the fairy’s reply.
“I’m OK, but I lost my wand!” Danielle exclaimed, rubbing her shoulder.
“I must have dropped it when I got hit.”
“Look, there it is!” Rachel said, pointing back at the rock. Through the shower of hailstones, they could see the wand lying next to the magic petal.
Danielle, Kirsty, and Rachel looked at one another, wondering what to do next.
Just then, there was a shout from one of the goblins.
“There’s the magic petal!” he cried, pointing at the rock.
“And that’s a fairy wand next to it!” added another goblin in delight.
The goblins gathered around the rock, staring at the petal and Danielle’s wand. No one dared to get too close, because the hailstones were still raining down with full force.
“The fairies can’t get the magic petal now, but neither can we!” the big goblin said, scowling at the goblin with the wand. “What a silly spell!”
“Danielle, maybe if Rachel and I were human again, we could dodge the hailstones and grab the petal,” Kirsty suggested.
Danielle’s wings drooped. “But I can’t turn you back to normal without my wand,” she said. She looked as if she were about to cry.
“Maybe I can help!” said a kind voice behind them.
Danielle, Kirsty, and Rachel spun around. To their amazement, a girl was standing among the trees, smiling at them!
Kirsty and Rachel were so surprised, neither of them could say a word. The fairies were supposed to be a secret! The two girls were the only humans who knew about them. What was going to happen now?
“Don’t worry,” the girl said quickly. “I won’t tell anyone. I’ve always wanted to see a fairy, but I never, ever thought I would!”
Danielle smiled and turned to Rachel and Kirsty. “It’s OK,” she said. “She’s going to be our friend!” And she fluttered over to the girl. “I’m Danielle, this is Rachel, and this is Kirsty.”
“My name’s Rebecca Wilson,” the girl replied, watching with delight as Danielle, Rachel, and Kirsty hovered in front of her.
“Well, Rebecca, we really need your help!” Danielle explained. “But you must promise never to tell anyone that you’ve met the fairies.”
“I promise,” Rebecca said seriously.
Quickly, Danielle explained about Jack Frost and his goblins stealing the magic petals.
Rebecca looked horrified. “Jack Frost must be very mean!” she said. “What can I do to help?”
“Oh!” Kirsty gasped, as she suddenly thought of something. “Rachel, why didn’t we bring one of our umbrellas with us?”
“Oh, that’s too bad. We could have given it to Rebecca, and she could have run through the hailstones and grabbed the petal for us,” Rachel agreed.
Rebecca looked confused. “I have an umbrella in my backpack,” she said, reaching into her bag and taking out a pink umbrella. “But I don’t see any hailstones!”
Danielle laughed. “Come and look!”
Danielle and the girls led Rebecca to the edge of the clearing, where the goblins were still standing around the rock.
“I’ll get the magic petal!” one of them was boasting. He reached out for it, but quickly jumped back as hailstone hit his hand. “Ouch!”
“Leave this to me,” said another goblin importantly. He made a grab for the petal and then he, too, pulled his hand back. “Ow, that hurt!”
“Jack Frost wants that petal!” the big goblin declared. “And if we bring him the fairy wand, too, he’ll be so impressed!”
“Now I see why you need the umbrella!” whispered Rebecca. “I’ll hold it for you.”
“Thank you!” Danielle, Rachel, and Kirsty chorused.
Rebecca walked bravely out into the clearing with Danielle and the girls flying beside her.
“Um — Hail, hail, please go away nice and quick, ” the smallest goblin chanted. He was desperately trying to think of a spell to stop the hail.
“That’s horrible!” the others complained. Suddenly, the goblins noticed Rebecca and the girls. Rebecca quickly opened her umbrella and pointed it straight at the goblins. They shrieked with fright and started to back away. Rebecca hurried forward. When she held the umbrella over the rock, the hailstones bounced right off it.
“They’re going to get the magic petal and the fairy wand!” shouted the big goblin. He frowned as Danielle, Rachel, and Kirsty darted under the cover of the umbrella. “We need that spell!” the goblin growled.
“We don’t like this nasty hail! ” the smallest goblin yelled. “I wish we could all go home! ”
“That doesn’t even rhyme!” another goblin yelled furiously.
Meanwhile, Danielle had grabbed her wand, and Kirsty and Rachel had picked up the magic petal together.
“Hail, hail, go away, ” shouted the smallest goblin, waving the wand, “And don’t come back until May! ”
Immediately, the hailstones stopped. Danielle, Rachel, Kirsty, and Rebecca exchanged panicked looks as all the goblins hurried forward to block their escape.
“Leave my friends alone!” Rebecca said bravely, waving her umbrella.
“Oh no you don’t,” insisted the smallest goblin as the others stuck out their tongues. “We’re taking that petal to Jack Frost!”
Rachel thought fast. She turned to Danielle and whispered something in her ear.
Danielle’s worried face broke into a big smile. She waved her wand back and forth, and a shower of fairy dust fell onto the daisy pillow, which was still lying on the ground. Quickly, the magic sparkles changed the pillow back into the chain of daisies.
As Danielle, the girls, and Rebecca watched, the daisy chain flew into the air and began to wind itself tightly around the goblins.
“Help!” shrieked the smallest goblin. “What’s happening?” He raised his wand to try to cast another spell, but he couldn’t lift his arm. The daisy chain was wrapped too tightly around it!
“Let us go!” yelled the biggest goblin as the daisy chain tied itself into a neat little bow.
“It’s a bouquet of goblins!” said Rachel with a grin, watching as the goblins struggled helplessly.
“My petal magic has made the daisy chain extra-strong!” laughed Danielle. Then she, Kirsty, Rachel, and Rebecca hurried out of the clearing. Behind them, they could hear the goblins fighting and arguing as they tried to break out of the daisy chain.
“It will take the goblins a while to get free,” Danielle went on. “And, by then, I’ll have taken my beautiful petal back to Fairyland!”
With a wave of Danielle’s wand, the daisy petal shrank down to its Fairyland size. Then it floated out of Kirsty’s and Rachel’s hands and over to Danielle. Another sprinkling of fairy magic made Rachel and Kirsty their normal size again, too.
Rebecca looked very surprised. “I didn’t know you were girls, too!” she
exclaimed.
The girls nodded.
“Rachel and Kirsty are best friends with the fairies,” Danielle explained. “And now you’re one of our friends as well!”
“I’m glad I was able to help!” Rebecca said as Rachel and Kirsty grinned at her. “Now I’d better get back, or my family will wonder where I am. We’re having a picnic on the other side of the woods.”
“Thank you for your help, and good-bye!” Danielle called, waving.
“Yes, thank you, Rebecca!” said Rachel and Kirsty together.
“Good-bye!” Rebecca called, as she made her way through the trees. “I’ll never, ever forget the day I met a real fairy!”
“We’d better go too, Rachel,” Kirsty said after Rebecca was out of sight.
Danielle nodded. “Thank you so much for all your help, girls,” she told them. “Now, you only have one more magic petal to find. Good luck!” And, holding her daisy petal tightly, Danielle disappeared in a shower of fairy dust.
“Wasn’t Rebecca nice?” remarked Rachel, as she and Kirsty hurried back to their parents.
Kirsty nodded. “I don’t know what we would have done if she hadn’t shown up!” she replied.
When they stepped out of the woods, Buttons rushed to meet them, his tail wagging.
Their parents were napping on the picnic blanket, but Mrs. Tate sat up as the girls ran over.
“We saved you some muffins,” she said kindly, motioning to the picnic basket. “Did you have a nice walk?”
The girls nodded, laughing at Buttons who was now rolling around on his back in a patch of springy white daisies.
“Well, I certainly didn’t notice all those beautiful daisies when we were on our way up the hill!” Mrs. Tate said, looking around her. The grass was now starred with the little white flowers. “Aren’t they pretty?”
Rachel and Kirsty nodded and shared a secret smile. All the daisies were blooming beautifully now that Danielle’s magic petal was back in Fairyland — where it belonged!
Roses Need Rescuing!
Maze Magic
Pink Lightning
A Frosty Atmosphere
Frozen Flowers
A New Friend
“Here we are, the Chaney Court Flower Show,” Mr. Walker said, looking at the steady stream of people heading toward the entrance. He smiled at his daughter, Rachel, and her best friend, Kirsty Tate. “What a flower-filled week we’ve had!”
“We love flowers!” Rachel said, giving Kirsty a secret smile.
“Especially since we met the Petal Fairies,” Kirsty agreed in a whisper.
The girls linked arms as they followed their parents into the field where the flower show was taking place. The two families had been spending spring vacation together, and the girls had been helping the Petal Fairies find their missing magic petals. They had found six petals so far, but there was still one more to track down — the rose petal.
“What’s in here?” Mr. Tate wondered aloud, as they approached a large tent. “Ah, the rose tent,” he said, reading the sign on the entrance.
Kirsty and Rachel exchanged excited glances. Maybe the missing rose petal would be inside! A group of people were leaving the tent as the Tates and the Walkers approached.
“How disappointing,” a man said gloomily. “I’ve never seen such unhealthy flowers!”
The Tates and the Walkers stepped inside the tent and Rachel saw that the man was right. All the roses were drooping, their petals faded and withered.
Rachel bit her lip. She and Kirsty knew exactly why the roses weren’t doing well. The Petal Fairies’ magic petals helped flowers grow in Fairyland and around the world. But cruel Jack Frost had sent his goblins to steal the petals. He wanted to use the petals’ magic to make flowers bloom around his ice castle. When the Petal Fairies had tried to stop the goblins, the magic petals were caught in a whirl of spells and ended up in the human world! Now that the petals were missing, flowers everywhere were wilting and dying.
“Let’s go and see some of the gardens instead,” Mr. Walker suggested, looking sadly at the drooping roses.
Rachel turned to Kirsty as they left. “Most of the flowers should be beautiful because we’ve already found the six other petals and sent them back to Fairyland,” she whispered.
Kirsty nodded. “But we have to rescue these roses! I bet all the dark pink flowers in the show are dying,” she added.
The Petal Fairies had told the girls that each magic petal looked after its own type of flower, and other flowers of a particular color. The rose petal helped roses and all dark pink flowers grow.
“We’ve got to find the petal before the goblins do,” Rachel whispered. “It’s their last chance to take a petal back to Jack Frost. I’m sure they’ll be trying extra hard to find this one!”
The girls knew that the goblins were trying to find the fairy petals for their boss. And to make things even harder for Kirsty and Rachel, Jack Frost had given his goblins a wand full of his icy magic to use against them.
As the two families wandered down the path, Kirsty could see that the display gardens were lined up in one long row, each in a separate area.
“What a beautiful Japanese garden!” her mom exclaimed, stopping at the first garden. “Look at that bamboo.”
“And isn’t the fountain pretty?” Mrs. Walker added.
Rachel couldn’t concentrate on the Japanese garden, though, because she’d just spotted the sign outside the next area. It read “Fairy Garden.”
She nudged Kirsty. “Look!”
The fairy garden had an iron gate at its entrance and was filled with flowers in all colors of the rainbow. There was a winding path made of glittering stones, and a bench perfect for relaxing … and looking for fairies!
“Mom, can we go into the fairy garden?” Kirsty asked.
Mrs. Tate smiled. “Of course,” she said. “Why don’t we split up and meet you later? How about one hour from now in the refreshments tent?”
“Perfect!” Kirsty said, as her parents waved good-bye and walked on to look at the other gardens. “Come on, Rachel! The Petal Fairies would love it here,” Kirsty said, pushing open the gate and walking in.
“Definitely,” Rachel agreed, following her friend. Then, suddenly, she stopped. “Kirsty, look!”
Kirsty followed Rachel’s gaze to see a large, healthy-looking rose bush covered with dark pink flowers in the back corner of the garden. “The magic petal must be near that bush.” Kirsty gasped. “Otherwise, the roses wouldn’t look so beautiful!”
“Yes,” Rachel said happily. “So — Uh-oh!” She broke off as she noticed that the rose bush was rustling. “It’s moving!”
Kirsty’s smile vanished. “What if the goblins are in there?”
Luckily, there was nobody else in the garden, so the girls were able to tiptoe down the path and over to the rustling roses. Cautiously, they peeked around the side of the bush.
Seven horrible goblins were pulling all the roses off the bush! They were wearing little boys’ clothes, clearly hoping to blend in with the other visitors at the show. The goblins were busy picking through the roses to find the magic petal.
“Ugh, pink!” the girls heard one goblin complain. “Such an ugly color!”
“Green is much better,” another agreed.
Kirsty looked at Rachel with wide eyes, wondering how they were going to find the petal before the goblins did.
Just then, a silvery voice echoed through the air behind them. “Hello, girls! I love your pink outfits.”
Kirsty and Rachel spun around to see a smiling fairy fluttering in the air!
“Ella!” Kirsty cried, stepping away from the rose bush so that she could speak to the fairy without being overheard.
“We’re so glad to see you!” Rachel added.
Ella the Rose Fairy had long, dark, wavy hair and wore a pink dress with a sash around the middle.
As she opened her mouth to speak to the girls, an excited cry came from behind the rose bush.
/> Kirsty, Rachel, and Ella all peeked through the leaves. To their dismay, they saw that one of the goblins was holding
out his hands … and the magic rose petal was lying in them!
Rachel thought quickly. “Ella, could you use your fairy magic to make the petal float out of his hands — and over here, to us?” she suggested.
“Yes!” Ella replied eagerly, pointing her wand at the bush.
A stream of sparkles swirled from the tip of her wand and over the thorny branches.
The girls held their breath as they watched the sparkles surround the magic petal, lift it into the air, and carry it back over the bush. The plan was working!
But then a green hand appeared and snatched the petal back.
“Oh, no you don’t. You’re staying with us!” the girls heard a goblin say.
“What’s going on?” another asked. Then three goblin faces appeared around the side of the bush.
“We should have guessed,” sneered one. “It’s those silly girls with a silly fairy.”
“Searching for the petal, are you?” another gloated. “Too bad!”
“May I please have it?” Ella asked sweetly. “It is mine, you know!”
“Not anymore, it isn’t!” The goblin holding the petal laughed. “It’s ours. And we’re bringing it to Jack Frost. He’ll be very happy with us!”
Just then, one of the goblins burst out laughing, pointing at the girls and Ella. “Look at them, all wearing yucky pink!” he cackled.
“Pink stinks!” another yelled. “We’re out of here!”
And with that, the goblins rushed out of the back of the fairy garden, taking the rose petal with them.
The Petal Fairies Collection Page 9
