Kirsty frowned. It was impossible to hear a tiny fairy voice over this racket! Luckily, Keira knew just what to do.
She lightly tapped her wand against her ear, then whispered a spell to stop the horrible din:
“Fairy magic, all around,
Find a way to stop this sound!”
There was a flurry of golden stars as each of the friends suddenly felt a pair of earplugs slip into their ears.
Kirsty gave Keira a thumbs-up, enjoying the quiet. Even though they still couldn’t hear one another, it was a relief to shut out Jack Frost’s booming orders. She couldn’t help thinking that the goblins would feel much better if they had earplugs, too. . . .
That’s it! thought Kirsty. Keira had just given her a wonderful idea!
Keira watched Kirsty point to the earplugs in her own ears and then gesture to the goblins. The clever fairy understood at once. If the goblins had earplugs, too, then they wouldn’t be able to hear any of Jack Frost’s schemes!
Keira gently tapped her ear with her wand once again, repeating the spell at the top of her voice. The wand sent a burst of golden stars streaming into the courtyard. The glittering stars flew over Jack Frost’s head, but he was too busy ranting to look up. One by one, the stars landed on the goblins stumbling around the yard. As they touched the goblins’ heads, a pair of earplugs slid into each one’s ears. Soon every goblin in the castle was wearing a pair.
“Peace at last,” one said, grinning.
“Can’t hear a word now,” boomed his crony. “Fantastic!”
Jack Frost chose that moment to hand out a job to each of the goblins. He pointed a bony finger at each one in turn. The goblins stared helplessly, not hearing a word he said.
“Get going!” he thundered, once he’d finished. “You all have lots to do!”
The goblins didn’t move an inch. Instead of leaving, they just stared at their master. Jack Frost twisted his face into an angry scowl.
“Get going!” he repeated, bellowing even louder into the magical megaphone. “You heard me! Get on with it!”
Keira, Kirsty, and Rachel shared a silent smile. They couldn’t hear what Jack Frost was saying either, but they could tell their plan was starting to work!
The goblins began to mill aimlessly around the courtyard. Without clear orders, they were useless! They saw that Jack Frost was trying to say something, but not one of them wanted to take their earplugs out again.
Jack Frost’s face turned purple with rage.
“What’s wrong with this thing?” he snarled, shaking the megaphone and peering inside it.
Rachel spotted her chance. As quick as a flash, she darted inside the other end of the magical megaphone.
Jack Frost narrowed his eyes, trying to see what was suddenly blocking his view. Rachel wiggled up through the megaphone and burst out of the other end, right into Jack Frost’s face!
“Argh!” he yelled, jumping back in shock.
Keira zoomed out from behind the pillar, rushing eagerly toward her precious possession.
“That’s mine!” she cried happily, lifting the magical megaphone high into the air. As soon as her hand touched the megaphone it shrank down to fairy-size.
Jack Frost howled with anger.
“Goblins!” he ordered. “Grab those fairies now!”
Kirsty and Rachel followed Keira up into the air, being careful to fly out of Jack Frost’s reach.
“Pesky fairies!” he fumed. “Come back here or I’ll send my goblins after you!”
Jack Frost glared at his goblins, but they simply grunted, shrugged, and scratched their heads.
“They can’t hear a word he’s saying!” Keira chuckled, pulling her earplugs out. She motioned for Kirsty and Rachel to do the same. Once they had removed them, all three sets of plugs magically disappeared into thin air.
“What a worthless bunch!” barked Jack Frost, storming up and down the courtyard. “Can’t you do anything I tell you?”
“What’s up with him?” sniffed one of the goblins, nudging a pal in the ribs.
The other goblin couldn’t hear his friend, but laughed anyway. Jack Frost did look pretty silly stomping around the courtyard.
“Time to go!” Keira beamed, pointing her wand at Kirsty and Rachel. The fairy’s cheeks glowed with pleasure as a dazzling fizz of stars whisked the trio far away from the Ice Castle. The last things that Kirsty and Rachel heard were Jack Frost’s shouts echoing in the distance.
“That was quick!” Rachel gasped, soon spotting the familiar pink towers of the Fairyland Palace shining up ahead.
“Look!” added Kirsty. “There’s Queen Titania.”
The friends landed gracefully in the palace garden, just beside the enchanted Seeing Pool.
“Welcome back!” said the queen, walking over to greet them.
Keira’s eyes danced with pleasure as she held up the magical object for the queen to see.
“The magical megaphone is safe,” the fairy said with a smile. “Thanks to Kirsty and Rachel.”
Queen Titania held out her hands to the girls.
“I cannot thank you enough for your help,” she said. “Now directors everywhere will be able to continue making movies for us all to enjoy.”
Kirsty and Rachel both curtsied, then turned around to share a hug with Keira.
Helping Keira again had been an amazing adventure, but it was time that they went back to Mrs. Croft’s garden. The best friends felt much happier knowing that the dress rehearsal could now go on without a hitch.
“Good-bye, Keira,” said Rachel. “We’ll let you know how filming goes on The Starlight Chronicles.”
“Yes, please!” replied Keira. “Now that the magical megaphone is safe, I’m sure that Julianna will put on a sparkling performance.”
Kirsty told Keira and the queen about an extra-special scene that they were filming the next day. She and Rachel were due to play their parts as extras in the grand fairy wedding!
“Would you like to come and watch, Keira?” asked Rachel.
Keira’s face flushed with pleasure.
“Thank you, girls!” she replied. “I would love to come!”
After everyone said good-bye, Keira hugged Kirsty and Rachel. With a wave of her wand, she turned them back to human-size and sent them back home in a shower of sparkles. The next time the friends met, the girls would be in front of the cameras!
“This vacation is going to be hard to beat.” Kirsty laughed as they arrived in Mrs. Croft’s garden.
“It’s about to get even more exciting,” added Rachel. “Tomorrow we’re going to be movie stars!”
Camera Catastrophe
Keira's News
Goblin Hide-and-Seek
Movie Mischief
Fairy Movie Stars
“Take your places, everyone!” called the director. “We’re filming in five minutes.”
Kirsty and Rachel were both feeling very excited. It was finally time for them to play their parts as extras in The Starlight Chronicles.
“I can’t wait to show our costumes to Keira,” whispered Kirsty, smoothing down her frothy tulle skirt.
Keira the Movie Star Fairy was due to arrive at any moment. After their adventure with the magical megaphone the day before, she had promised to come and watch them shooting their scene.
“You look just like a fairy helper,” said Rachel, smiling at Kirsty.
“You, too,” replied her best friend.
The girls had butterflies in their stomachs, but they couldn’t wait to hear the director say “Action!” Soon they would be standing in front of the cameras with Julianna Stewart, the film’s beautiful leading lady.
All the extras had spent a wonderful morning in the hair-and-makeup department. The wardrobe person had dressed each girl in a pale pink gown made of floaty material and embroidered with tiny sparkling stones. Their hair had been curled into tumbling ringlets and topped with twinkling tiaras. Filmy chiffon wings completed their transformation into fairy helpers.<
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The first scene to be filmed was in the fairy princess’s bedroom. The pretty set had been built inside Mrs. Croft’s quaint old cottage. Kirsty, Rachel, and the other extras would be helping the fairy princess on the morning of her wedding.
“I hope I can remember where to stand!” said an extra named Angel.
Her friend Emily bent down to tie the ribbons on her satin slippers.
“My hands are shaking with excitement!” she said breathlessly.
“Just do what I do,” said a sweet voice. “You’re all going to be wonderful, I know it!”
Rachel and Kirsty spun around to see Julianna stepping onto the set. The star looked radiant in her flowing gown. Her skirts swished as she moved, making each shimmering layer catch the light beautifully. She was carrying a bridal bouquet of peach-colored flowers from Mrs. Croft’s garden.
“You look perfect!” exclaimed Rachel, thinking about all the real fairies she had seen in Fairyland.
Julianna smiled happily at the girls.
“Thank you,” she replied. “Break a leg, everyone!”
Angel and Emily looked confused.
“That’s how actors say ‘good luck,’ ” explained Julianna. “It’s an old theater tradition.”
The movie crew came into the room and started to get the cameras ready.
Large, dazzling spotlights shone onto the sparkling set as the director held up his special movie clapboard. The clapboard listed the name of the movie, the name of the scene, and the number of takes they’d done to get the scene right. Kirsty and Rachel held their breath with excitement.
“Here we go,” the director said. “Quiet on set, please. Lights, camera . . .”
The girls waited to hear the word action, but nothing happened.
“The clapboard is stuck,” said the director, frowning.
The flustered crew tried to get the clapboard working again, but it refused to snap shut. An assistant ran up and passed the director two thick wooden sticks.
“I found these in the props department,” he explained.
The director grabbed the sticks and then called for everyone to be quiet.
“Lights, camera . . . ACTION!” He knocked the sticks together to signal everyone to start the scene.
Kirsty, Rachel, and the other extras began to arrange the fairy princess’s dress, just as they had been told. The girls tried very hard not to look into the cameras that surrounded them.
“This is my last day as a fairy princess,” said Julianna. “Today I shall become a —”
“Stop, please!” cried a voice, cutting Julianna’s speech short.
“Who said that?” demanded the director.
One of the camera operators waved his hand to get the director’s attention.
“My camera just . . . stopped,” he stammered. “I don’t understand.”
The director frowned, then held up the pieces of wood and clapped them together again.
“One more time, please,” he called, after the camera had been fixed. “From the top.”
“That means ‘from the start,’ ” Julianna whispered to the girls.
She started to say her lines, but then there was a loud cry from the back of the room.
“Now my camera won’t record!” exclaimed a second camera operator.
Another operator scratched her head. “Mine’s the same!”
The exasperated director jumped down from his chair. Everyone on the set gathered around the cameras and started talking at once.
“Something funny is going on around here,” whispered Rachel. “I can feel it!”
The director stomped out of the room in search of more cameras, and the rest of the movie crew trailed after him, chattering loudly. The other extras followed them, but Kirsty grabbed Rachel’s arm.
“Wait,” she said quietly. “Look — that camera’s glowing!”
The friends stared as the shimmer spread around the camera lens. Then, in a flurry of golden stars, Keira whooshed out of the lens. The tiny fairy darted into the room and hovered in front of the girls.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” said Rachel excitedly.
But Keira didn’t look happy at all. “Girls, something terrible has happened,” she said. “While I was getting ready to come here, Jack Frost broke into my movie studio and stole my enchanted clapboard!”
Rachel and Kirsty were horrified.
“He was very angry when we took the magical megaphone back,” remembered Kirsty. “I bet this is his revenge!”
“What does the enchanted clapboard do?” asked Rachel.
“It makes sure that filming always goes the way it’s supposed to,” Keira explained. “Without it, even a big-budget blockbuster will end in disaster.”
“That must be why filming is going wrong today,” guessed Kirsty. “We haven’t even been able to get through one scene. Where could Jack Frost have hidden it?”
Keira looked even more worried than she had before.
“All we know is that he gave the enchanted clapboard to his goblins,” she said.
Suddenly, there was a muffled, squawking giggle from outside the door, followed by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. The friends looked at one another in surprise.
“That sounded like a goblin,” said Kirsty. “Do you think one of them could have brought the enchanted clapboard here?”
“It sounded like he was going upstairs,” Rachel added. “Oh, no! There’s another crew filming in Mrs. Croft’s guest bedroom.”
“We can’t let him disturb any more filming,” said Keira. “Come on!”
Keira darted under Rachel’s ringlets, and then the girls ran out of the room and up the old wooden staircase. They were just in time to see a green foot disappear around the top of the landing.
“A goblin! We have to stop him,” panted Rachel, reaching the top of the stairs.
There were a couple of rooms with half-open doors, but the goblin was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did he go?” asked Kirsty. “We have to find him!”
“We can’t just walk into the rooms,” said Rachel. “If the movie crew sees us, they’ll send us downstairs.”
“Let me turn you into fairies,” said Keira. “That will make it easier to look around without being seen.”
“Good idea!” said Rachel.
Keira waved her wand and a cascade of golden fairy dust fizzed over the girls’ heads. It twinkled in their hair and they shrank to fairy-size in the blink of an eye. Soon they were no taller than the cottage’s baseboards. They fluttered the filmy wings that had appeared on their shoulders.
Rachel zoomed into the air and looped the loop — it was wonderful to be a fairy again!
Suddenly, they heard a muffled squeak from behind the nearest door, which was slightly ajar.
“I’d recognize that sound anywhere,” said Kirsty. “Goblins! Come on!”
One by one, the three friends swooped through the crack in the door into Mrs. Croft’s bedroom. Sure enough, two goblins were bouncing up and down on the bed as if it were a trampoline. One was plump, and the other was skinny and had a warty nose.
Rachel clutched Kirsty’s arm in excitement. The goblin with the warty nose had a large clapboard under his arm!
“That’s my enchanted clapboard!” said Keira. “Oh, those naughty goblins!”
“It’s my turn to play with it,” the plump goblin complained in a loud whine. “You’ve had your turn. Jack Frost told us to bring it here and learn about making movies, and that’s what I want to do!”
The skinny goblin did a somersault and clutched the enchanted clapboard even more tightly.
“Why should you have it?” he said. “It’s mine!”
“It doesn’t belong to either of you!” declared Rachel, fluttering forward. “Give it back to Keira right now!”
“Fairies!” cried the skinny goblin.
He lost his b
alance and bounced off the bed with a loud crash.
“Shhh!” said the three friends together.
They didn’t want the movie crew to come in and find the goblins! The skinny goblin stood up, rubbing his head and scowling.
“That was your fault,” he said. “Silly, pesky fairies!”
“Give me back my enchanted clapboard!” Keira demanded.
“No!” snapped the goblin.
He raced to the door, wrenched it open, and shot out at top speed. The plump goblin followed him, and Kirsty groaned.
“We have to stop the goblins before the movie crew sees them,” she said.
“And we have to get the enchanted clapboard back,” Rachel added. “Otherwise the whole movie will be completely ruined!”
Keira, Rachel, and Kirsty zoomed out onto the landing. At the top of the stairs, the goblins were playing tug-of-war with the enchanted clapboard.
“Mine!” squawked the plump goblin, yanking the magical object toward him.
“Mine!” wailed the warty goblin, pulling just as hard.
Suddenly, the girls heard footsteps coming from behind one of the closed doors.
“What was that noise?” said a voice.
Rachel gasped. “Someone’s coming!”
At that moment, the plump goblin lost his balance and both goblins tumbled right down the stairs.
The door opened and a blond woman peered out. Behind her, the girls could see a room full of flustered filmmakers. Two actors with red faces were scratching their heads, while the crew examined their cameras.
“I don’t understand it,” one of them said to himself. “Nothing seems to be wrong with it — but it just won’t work!”
Keira the Movie Star Fairy Page 3
