“What’s wrong with this glue?” Maya frowned. “It makes my fingers sticky, but it won’t work on the cardboard!”
“We have to get Alison’s magical star badge back,” said Rachel.
“I’ll give you three guesses for where to start looking,” replied Kirsty, pointing to the goblins’ table.
The naughty new boys were working on the tallest model rocket the girls had ever seen. The body was made of several boxes glued together, then painted white. There was a rolled-up piece of paper at the top for a nose cone and a row of egg carton engines around the bottom. There were even windows and a door hatch cut out of the sides. As the smug goblins added the finishing touches, they kept stopping to laugh and boo at everybody else’s mishaps.
Rachel peeked across at the biggest goblin. Alison’s magical star badge must still be in his pants pocket! Nothing else would explain his amazing art project.
“I’m going to wash my paintbrush,” she said quietly. “That way I’ll be able to get a closer look at them.”
Rachel pushed her chair back just as Mr. Beaker was walking past with a can of green paint. Splat! Rachel’s elbow knocked against his arm, sending the can spinning across the floor.
“Careful!” he cried.
Tears sprang to Rachel’s eyes. “Oh my gosh!” she sobbed. “Mr. Beaker, I am so sorry!”
Mr. Beaker steadied himself, then stepped out of the paint puddle.
“It’s OK.” He smiled. “It was an accident. Adam and Amina, would you run to the custodian’s office and bring me a mop and bucket?”
“I’ll get some paper towels,” said Kirsty.
The girls tried their best to mop up the paint with the towels, but there was too much of it. As Kirsty stepped back to avoid the green puddle, she skidded on the slippery floor.
“Watch out!” she shouted, sliding right across the room. Kirsty put out her hands to stop herself, but it was too late.
Her arm caught the goblins’ rocket, knocking it off the table!
“Hey!” screeched the bigger goblin, stepping forward to catch the model just in the nick of time. He instantly turned to his goblin friend and jabbed him in the tummy. “That was all your fault!”
The other goblin was furious. “No it wasn’t!” he shouted back.
Kirsty breathed a sigh of relief. The silly pair hadn’t realized that she had knocked it over!
“Over here!” she whispered to Rachel, ducking behind the boxes on Mr. Beaker’s desk.
Rachel rushed over. As soon as the friends were out of sight, Alison flitted out of Rachel’s blazer pocket.
“Stay still,” she said urgently. “I’m going to turn you into fairies.”
Rachel and Kirsty held hands. Suddenly a fountain of fairy dust fizzed all around them, covering them in a sparkling shower of pink and gold.
“It’s happening,” murmured Rachel. “We’re getting smaller!”
In the blink of an eye, Kirsty and Rachel had shrunk down to fairy size. Kirsty unfurled her delicate wings and smiled. It felt wonderful to be magical again!
“Thank you,” gushed Rachel, fluttering over to give Alison a hug.
Alison giggled with pleasure.
“If we’re all tiny,” she reasoned, “Mr. Beaker won’t notice if you take some time away to try to save his art class.”
“Let’s get closer to those goblins,” suggested Kirsty, taking Rachel’s and Alison’s hands.
The fairies flitted across the classroom as fast as their wings would take them. One by one, they darted into the door hatch cut into the side of the goblins’ model rocket. There was just enough room for them to fly up into the center and peek out of the cardboard windows.
Rachel hoped that the goblins wouldn’t see the three little clouds of fairy dust hanging in the air, but she didn’t need to worry. The cranky new boys were still so busy arguing, they didn’t even notice!
“I wonder where my badge is,” said Alison, popping her little head out of the rocket window.
“It can’t be far away,” answered Rachel.
Suddenly Kirsty had a great idea. She fluttered up inside the nose cone and, using all her might, pushed the rolled-up paper off the top of the rocket.
“Maybe if the rocket needs to be fixed, the goblins will have to use the magical gold star badge!” she declared.
“Good thinking,” agreed Rachel, flying down to the bottom of the rocket. With a giant fairy heave, she managed to push the egg carton engines away from the base.
At that very moment, a deafening shout shook the model from top to bottom.
“What happened here?” roared the bigger goblin, noticing the damage. “Who’s been messing with my rocket?”
“Don’t start blaming me again,” complained his friend.
As the bigger goblin picked the rocket up to take a closer look, the loose egg carton engines fell off the bottom. His face turned a horrible purple color.
“It is you!” he fumed, pushing the other goblin back on his chair.
The smaller goblin was indignant. “Why would I want to do that?” he argued, before grumbling under his breath, “You probably knocked it off with your big, clumsy hands.”
Kirsty, Rachel, and Alison clung to the cardboard walls inside the rocket, their hearts pounding.
“It’s obviously not me!” barked the bigger goblin. “How could I mess up the rocket when I have the fairies’ magical star badge?”
With that, the goblin pulled Alison’s badge out of his pants pocket and waved it in the air.
“This could be our chance,” said Alison, pointing out the rocket window.
But suddenly, they found themselves on the move again. Grabbing the broken pieces and some glue in one hand, and the rocket with the fairies inside in the other, the goblin raced across the classroom. He tore right past Amina and Adam with the mop and bucket, straight out of the school building.
“What is he doing now?” cried Kirsty. “Students can’t leave class without permission!”
The friends were knocked around terribly as the goblin ran faster and faster. He headed into the playground before finally setting the rocket down. As soon as the model was steady, Alison, Kirsty, and Rachel snuck out of the hatch door and flitted out of sight. With a wave of her wand, Alison turned the girls back to human size.
Kirsty and Rachel ducked behind the jungle gym and waited. Thinking he was alone, the goblin crouched on the ground and started to glue the broken pieces of cardboard back into place.
“This rocket was all my idea,” he muttered. “Wait ’til they see it fly through the sky!”
As soon as he’d put the model back together again, the goblin started to clamber up the jungle gym. Rachel saw her chance.
“Hey!” she called. “What are you doing with that amazing rocket?”
The goblin’s face broke into a proud smirk.
“Bet you wish you’d made it!” he taunted. “Look at all the awesome features I’ve added.”
Rachel winked at Kirsty. Goblins really were the vainest creatures in the world! The new boy couldn’t resist showing off every detail of his model. While he droned on about how smart he was, Alison fluttered up behind him.
“I think I can get it,” she mouthed, pointing to the badge sticking out of the goblin’s pocket.
But before Alison could swoop down and take it, a sly look crossed the goblin’s face. He rummaged in his pocket, pulled out the badge, and held it up in the air!
“Know what this is?” bragged the goblin, waving the Art Fairy’s gold star badge under Rachel’s and Kirsty’s noses.
Both girls nervously shook their heads. Poor Alison fluttered silently around the back of the goblin, then hid herself in the bib of Kirsty’s apron.
“It’s a badge, obviously!” continued the new boy. “With this, I can make my rocket fly. And not just some silly little distance, either. This will make it soar right across the playground!”
Rachel summoned up all her courage. She stepped closer, tryi
ng to look unimpressed by the goblin’s claims.
“If the badge is really magic,” she challenged, “wouldn’t it have to be inside the rocket somewhere to make it fly?”
Irritated, the goblin thought for a minute. Rachel was right! Then he seemed to remember his door hatch.
“Watch this!” he crowed, opening the little door and shoving the magical badge inside. The goblin lifted the rocket high in the air and hurled it up as hard as he could.
“Good job, Rachel!” chimed a silvery voice.
Alison burst out from Kirsty’s apron and darted into the air. She waved her wand in a circle, sending starbursts and twinkly paint palettes fizzing in all directions.
“Look at the rocket now,” said Rachel, pointing up at the sky.
Alison’s magic had sent the model flying in a loop-the-loop, just like the movement of her wand.
“Are you ready, Kirsty?” she asked, her eyes dancing with excitement.
“Stop it!” barked the goblin.
The rocket arched over the playground before gliding gently down into Kirsty’s outstretched hands. Kirsty immediately opened the door hatch and pulled out the magical badge.
“Here you go, Alison.” She giggled.
Alison thanked her and touched the badge with her wand. It shrank down to fairy size right away. The delighted fairy fluttered and somersaulted above the girls’ heads, filling the air with joyful sparkles of color.
The goblin swiped feebly at the fairy, but he knew his fun was over.
“You two ruin everything!” he shouted, sticking his tongue out at Kirsty and Rachel.
“At least you have your rocket,” said Kirsty, handing the model back to the disgruntled goblin.
“We need to go back inside, Alison,” called Rachel. “See you soon!”
“Good riddance!” blurted the goblin.
Alison blew the girls a kiss and disappeared into the afternoon sky. Kirsty and Rachel skipped back into class, but the goblin didn’t follow them. Instead, he got back to launching his precious toy. He threw the rocket up into the air, but without any fairy magic, it crashed straight back down to the ground again.
By the end of the afternoon, Mr. Beaker’s classroom was a much nicer place to be. Other than the grumpy goblin in the corner, everybody was working quietly and happily on their model vehicles.
“He’s still out there,” whispered Rachel, pointing out the classroom window. The bigger goblin was still storming up and down the playground with his rocket.
“Some goblins never learn.” Kirsty chuckled, fitting the mast onto their model boat. She beamed across the table at Adam and Amina. Their vehicle had beautiful rainbow sails, a cabin in the middle, and a row of round portholes.
Mr. Beaker stood up in front of the whiteboard.
“And the winner for best art project is … Dylan, Maya, and Zac’s terrific passenger train!”
Kirsty and Rachel clapped enthusiastically. The train really did look sensational!
“The vehicle will be displayed in a place of pride in the school lobby,” added Mr. Beaker, “in time for the school superintendent’s visit.”
“But we’re not ready for the superintendent yet!” whispered Rachel. “The School Day Fairies are still missing two badges!”
Kirsty held out her pinkie finger, linking it with her best friend’s. It was the girls’ way of making very special promises to each other.
“We’ll find those magical badges before I go home,” she declared. Kirsty looked determined. The goblins hadn’t gotten the best of them yet. “You and I will never give up on the fairies!”
“I love the smell of libraries, don’t you?” said Kirsty Tate.
She took a deep breath and looked around at the bookshelves of the Tippington School library. Her best friend, Rachel Walker, smiled at her.
“I love having you here at school with me,” she said. “I wish it was for longer than a week!”
It was only the third day of the new school year, and it had already turned into the most fun and exciting time at school that Rachel had ever known. She had lots of friends at Tippington School, but none of them were as special as Kirsty. She had often wished that they could go to the same school. Then Kirsty’s school had been flooded, and the repairs were going to take a week. So for five happy days the best friends were at school together at last.
“It’s turning into quite a week, though,” Kirsty replied with a grin.
Rachel knew that Kirsty was talking about the extraordinary secret they shared. From the time they had met on Rainspell Island, they had been friends of Fairyland. Even though they had often had magical adventures since then, it was always thrilling to meet brand-new fairy friends. And on the first day of this school year, they had been introduced to the School Day Fairies.
“I wonder if we’ll see any of the School Day Fairies today,” Kirsty whispered.
Before Rachel could reply, her teacher clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention.
Copyright © 2014 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. RAINBOW MAGIC is a trademark of Rainbow Magic Limited. Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and other countries. HIT and the HIT logo are trademarks of HIT Entertainment Limited.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 978-0-545-85206-7
First edition, July 2016
Cover design by Angela Jun
e-ISBN 978-0-545-86382-7
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