Ashley the Dragon Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  “Can you all get into small groups, please?” Lucy called just then. “We’re going to have a race, and the first team to reach the center of the Labyrinth wins. Watch out for the bumpy ground, and no running! Ready, set . . . go!”

  The campers all headed off into the maze of tunnels. Rachel and Kirsty struck out alone with Ashley, who flew out of her hiding place to flutter alongside them. If Sizzle was somewhere in the caves, they had to get to the dragon before the goblins or any of the campers found him!

  “Oh!” Rachel gasped suddenly. She stopped and pointed. On the wall ahead, they could see the shadow of a goblin! They could make out his big nose and the bill of the safety helmet he wore on his head. “He must be just around the corner,” Rachel whispered, feeling her heart beat a little faster.

  Rachel, Kirsty, and Ashley moved toward the shadow. But the goblin must have heard the girls’ footsteps because he began running, managing to stay just out of their reach as he thudded through the tunnels.

  As they went by, Kirsty noticed a series of black marks on the walls. “These are strange,” she said as she ran a finger along one of them. It came away black with soot.

  “They must be scorch marks from Sizzle’s sneezes,” Ashley guessed. “We’re getting closer to him!”

  The girls could hear the voices of the other campers coming from some of the nearby tunnels. Then, as they turned around a corner, they bumped right into a group of three goblins — and they all fell over at once!

  Kirsty and Rachel scrambled to their feet, and so did the goblins. Ashley perched on Kirsty’s shoulder, looking worried.

  The goblins seemed nervous about something. “It’s only some silly girls,” one of them muttered, his face a paler shade of green than normal. “Nothing scary.”

  Another goblin scowled. “I wasn’t scared,” he mumbled. “Anyway, come on, we’ve got work to do. We’re on a dragon hunt! And we’re going to catch it before any of those interfering fairies do!”

  Rachel and Kirsty exchanged anxious glances, both thinking frantically. They had to figure out a way to keep the goblins from getting to Sizzle!

  Luckily, a great idea popped into Rachel’s head. She winked at Kirsty, hoping her friend would play along with her. “You should be careful,” she said meaningfully. She spoke directly to the goblin who looked pale and nervous. “Because there are a lot of Pogwurzels in these caves, you know.”

  The goblins stared. “Pogwurzels?” they echoed, their eyes dark with fear.

  Rachel and Kirsty both knew that there were no such creatures as Pogwurzels. But they also knew that goblin mothers often told goblin children that if they didn’t behave, a Pogwurzel would come and get them. A lot of younger goblins still believed in Pogwurzels — and were very scared of them!

  Kirsty hid a smile as she joined the conversation. “Didn’t you know?” she asked the goblins. “Pogwurzels love caves. They like being in dark, scary places — especially if there are goblins to chase.”

  While Kirsty was talking, Rachel asked Ashley in a whisper if she would fly around the corner. “And when you hear me shout the word Pogwurzel, make a really scary sound!” she added.

  Ashley grinned. “Leave it to me,” she whispered back. She slipped away unnoticed.

  Then Rachel pretended to gasp in surprise. “Look — what’s that?” she cried in a frightened voice, pointing behind the goblins. “I think I just saw one!”

  The goblins turned in alarm, clutching one another and looking very scared.

  “There’s another!” Kirsty cried, pointing into a shadowy corner.

  “I want my mommy,” whimpered one of the goblins, staring around nervously.

  “I want to go home!” cried another, his lower lip trembling.

  “There’s a Pogwurzel!” Rachel yelled in a loud voice. Right on cue, Ashley used her magic to create a ferocious-sounding, dragonlike roar!

  “Help!” shrieked the goblins, scattering from the cave. “Let’s get out of here!”

  Ashley fluttered back to the girls, grinning in delight. “That worked splendidly,” she said. “Great thinking — what an imaginative idea! Now let’s keep searching. I can sense that Sizzle is close by, in the center of the maze.”

  “Great! What are we waiting for?” Kirsty said eagerly. “Let’s get through this maze as soon as we can!”

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite that easy. The girls kept walking through the tunnels, but found dead end after dead end. The rocky walls all looked so similar, it was difficult for them to get their bearings. After a few minutes, they felt completely lost.

  Just as Kirsty was starting to worry, they heard a loud sneeze. “Bless you!” she said automatically, and then smiled. “Hey — do you think that’s Sizzle?” But then she frowned. Something strange seemed to be happening to her. It felt as if all her ideas and imagination were draining away. Everything in her mind seemed dull and gray.

  Rachel also felt weird. She shook her head. “Something’s wrong,” she said anxiously. “It’s like a light bulb has been switched off in my head. I know we should be thinking about what to do next . . . but my brain isn’t working.”

  “Mine, neither,” Kirsty said, clutching the sides of her head. “Why can’t we think right? This is horrible!”

  “I think I know what’s happening,” Ashley said. “Don’t worry — Sizzle is causing this problem. Because he’s nervous, his powers are working the opposite of how they should, so your imagination is temporarily disappearing.”

  Almost as soon as she’d finished speaking, all that changed. Suddenly, ideas were pouring into the girls’ heads, almost faster than they could think.

  “Hey — I know what we could do!” Kirsty said, smiling.

  “Oh, yes — I just had a great idea for helping Sizzle, too,” Rachel said excitedly.

  Ashley chuckled. “It looks as if Sizzle’s magic powers are working properly again, and boosting your imagination!” she said.

  It wasn’t just Kirsty and Rachel who were full of ideas. In the tunnels all around them, they could hear other campers talking excitedly. “I just thought of an awesome story about being here in the cave,” a girl in the next tunnel said.

  “A song about a funny cave monster just popped into my head,” cried a boy in delight.

  “You could make up a cool ghost story set in these caves,” a third person said.

  “Everyone’s getting closer to Sizzle and the center of the maze,” Kirsty realized. “We’ve got to find him quickly, before anyone else does!”

  Ashley nodded. “I’ll turn you into fairies,” she said, waving her wand over them. “That way we can all fly together and go much more quickly!”

  Green fairy dust swirled around Kirsty and Rachel, and they found themselves shrinking smaller and smaller, until they were the same size as Ashley. They were fairies again! Kirsty fluttered her wings and zoomed into the air. “Hooray!” she cried. “Let’s go!”

  The three fairy friends flew at top speed through the maze. All around, they could hear pounding footsteps and excited laughter as the other campers tried to find the middle.

  Luckily, the fairies could go much faster than anyone else! Within a few moments they’d reached the center of the maze — and there was a small, green, scaly dragon hovering in midair, with black puffs of smoke coming from his nostrils.

  “Sizzle!” cried Ashley happily.

  At the sound of her voice, the dragon’s ears perked up. A big smile spread across his face when he saw his fairy friend.

  Sizzle raced through the air toward Ashley, growing smaller and smaller as he went. By the time he reached Ashley, he was so tiny that he was able to leap into her arms for a cuddle.

  “Oh, he’s so cute!” cried Rachel in delight, flying over to pet him. Kirsty couldn’t resist either, and Sizzle made the funniest little roaring pur
rs they had ever heard.

  “We’ve got to be close now,” a voice rang out at that very moment. “Hurry — I think it’s this way!”

  The fairies exchanged anxious glances. The other campers were almost there! Ashley quickly waved her wand over Kirsty and Rachel, and, with a flood of glittery sparkles, they turned back into girls.

  “Thank you so much,” Ashley said then. “Now I can take Sizzle back to Fairyland and finish his training. I’d better fly!”

  In one last shower of fairy dust, she was gone — just as Lucy emerged from one of the tunnels. “Kirsty, Rachel, good job!” she cried, smiling. “You’re the first ones here. No one’s ever made it to the center so fast before! How did you find your way so quickly?”

  Other boys and girls were now pouring into the central area from the different tunnels around the cave. They were all chatting and laughing happily.

  Kirsty and Rachel shared a knowing look. “I guess we just used our imaginations,” Kirsty replied.

  “It was a lot of fun,” Rachel added truthfully. She gave Kirsty a secret smile as Lucy went off to talk to some of the other campers. This vacation was already off to an exciting start. And with six of the young magical animals left to find, the girls were sure there were plenty more adventures to come!

  Ashley the Dragon Fairy has her magical animal back! Next, Rachel and Kirsty need to help . . .

  Lara

  the Black Cat Fairy!

  Join their adventure in this special sneak peek. . . .

  “Come on, Kirsty.” Rachel Walker picked up her backpack and smiled at her best friend, Kirsty Tate. “It’s time for our next activity — we’re going on an orienteering expedition.”

  “Oh, great!” Kirsty exclaimed happily, lacing up her hiking boots. “I’m really looking forward to it.” Then she grinned. “But, to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what an orienteering expedition is!”

  Rachel and the other girls in the cabin — Emma, Natasha, Katie, and Catherine — smiled sweetly at Kirsty.

  “Orienteering is when you use a compass and a map to find your way to a meeting place,” Emma explained. “All the different teams try to get there first. It’s a lot of fun.”

  “It sounds fantastic,” Kirsty agreed.

  “I’ve enjoyed all the camp activities so far,” Rachel remarked to Kirsty, as their bunkmates went outside.

  Kirsty nodded. “And it’s been even more exciting since our fairy friends asked us for help!” she whispered.

  On the day the girls arrived at the camp, they discovered that Jack Frost had been up to his old tricks again in Fairyland. This time he and his goblins had kidnapped seven magical animals from the Magical Animal Fairies.

  The magical animals were very rare because they helped spread the kind of magic that every human and fairy could possess — the magic of imagination, luck, humor, friendship, compassion, healing, and courage. The fairies trained the magical animals for a whole year to make sure the animals knew how to use their powers. Then they could spread their wonderful gifts throughout the human and the fairy worlds.

  But Jack Frost was determined to keep the animals from using their magic gifts. He wanted everyone to be as grumpy and miserable as he was! So he and his goblins had stolen the young magical animals and taken them to his Ice Castle. But the animals had managed to escape into the human world, where they were now hiding. Of course, Jack Frost sent his goblins after them, but Rachel and Kirsty were determined to find the young animals first, and return them safely to Fairyland. The girls knew they could count on the Magical Animal Fairies for help.

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  e-ISBN 978-0-545-54915-8

  Copyright © 2009 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Rainbow Magic Limited.

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  First Scholastic printing, March 2012

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