Heather the Violet Fairy (9780545308168) Read online

  Cold winds blow and thick ice forms,

  I conjure up this fairy storm.

  To seven corners of the human world

  the Rainbow Fairies will be hurled!

  I curse every part of Fairyland,

  with a frosty wave of my icy hand.

  For now and always, from this day,

  Fairyland will be cold and gray!

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  Message on a Kite

  A Magical Ride

  The Seventh Fairy

  Fairy Spells

  Time for a Rainbow

  Very Special Gifts

  Also Available

  Copyright

  “I can’t believe this is the last day of our vacation on Rainspell Island!” said Rachel Walker. She gazed up at her kite as it flew through the clear blue sky.

  Kirsty Tate watched the purple kite soar above the field next to Mermaid Cottage. “But we still have to find Heather!” she reminded Rachel.

  Jack Frost had cast a wicked spell that banished the seven Rainbow Fairies to Rainspell Island. And without the Rainbow Fairies, Fairyland had lost all of its color! The Fairy King and Queen had asked Kirsty and Rachel to help find the fairies. The girls had already found Ruby, Amber, Sunny, Fern, Sky, and Inky. Now they had only Heather the Violet Fairy left to find.

  Rachel felt a tug on the kite’s string. She looked up. Something violet and silver flashed at the end of the kite’s long tail. “Look up there!” she shouted.

  Kirsty shaded her eyes with her hand. “What is it? Do you think it’s a fairy?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Rachel said, pulling in the string.

  As the kite came floating toward them, Kirsty saw that a long piece of violet-colored ribbon was tied to its tail. She helped Rachel untie the ribbon and smooth it out on the ground.

  “It has tiny silver writing on it,” Rachel said.

  Kirsty crouched down to have a closer look. “It says, follow me.”

  Suddenly, the ribbon was swept up by the breeze. It fluttered across the field.

  “It must be leading us to Heather!” Kirsty said, jumping up.

  Rachel gathered up her kite. “Mom, is it OK if we go exploring one last time?” she called.

  Mrs. Walker was talking to Kirsty’s mom in the yard outside Mermaid Cottage.

  Kirsty’s family was staying in Dolphin Cottage, right next door. “Of course, as long as Kirsty’s mom agrees,” Mrs. Walker replied.

  “It’s fine by me,” said Mrs. Tate. “But don’t go too far. The ferry leaves at four o’clock.”

  “We’ll have to hurry!” Rachel whispered to Kirsty.

  The girls ran through the soft, green grass, following the ribbon. It bobbed and drifted on the breeze.

  Suddenly, the ribbon flew out of sight behind a thick hedge.

  “Where did it go?” Kirsty wondered.

  “Through here!” Rachel said, pulling back one of the branches.

  Kirsty followed her friend through the hedge. Luckily, the leaves weren’t too prickly. On the other side, they found a path and a gate. There was a sign on the gate, in purple paint, that read: SUMMER FAIR TODAY!

  Kirsty and Rachel walked through the gate and into a pretty garden. There were stalls full of cotton candy and ice cream at the edge of a smooth, green lawn. People roamed every­where, chatting and laughing.

  “Isn’t this great?” Rachel said, looking around in surprise. A woman with a little girl holding a bunch of balloons smiled at her.

  Suddenly, Kirsty spotted the ribbon fluttering toward a merry-go-round at the far end of the lawn. It wrapped itself around the golden flagpole and danced in the breeze like a tiny flag.

  “It must be leading us to the merry-go-round!” Kirsty said.

  She grabbed her friend’s hand and they ran across the grass together.

  The merry-go-round was as pretty as a fairy castle. Rachel stared at the circle of wooden horses on their shiny golden poles. They were beautiful!

  “Hello there!” called a friendly voice behind them. “I’m Tom Goodfellow. Do you like my merry-go-round?”

  Rachel and Kirsty turned to see an old man with white hair and a kind smile. “Yes, it’s wonderful,” Rachel said.

  Kirsty watched the wooden horses rising and falling in time to the cheerful music. “Look, Rachel.” She gasped. “The horses are all painted in rainbow colors! There’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.”

  Rachel looked more closely. Through the spinning horses, she could see that the pillar in the center of the merry-go-round was decorated with a picture of rainbow-colored horses galloping along a beach.

  Just then, the merry-go-round slowed down and the music stopped. Mr. Goodfellow climbed up to help the riders off their horses. “All aboard for the next ride!” he called. Lots more excited children began to climb up onto the horses.

  Mr. Goodfellow smiled down at Rachel and Kirsty. “How about you two?” he asked, his blue eyes twinkling.

  “We’d love to take a ride on your merry-go-round!” said Kirsty. “Quick, Rachel, there are only two horses left!” She scrambled up onto one of them. A name was painted, in gold, on the saddle. “My horse is named Indigo Princess,” Kirsty said, stroking the horse’s shiny coat.

  Rachel climbed onto a pretty horse next to Kirsty’s. It had a lilac-colored coat and a silver mane. “Mine is named Prancing Violet.”

  “Hold on, everyone!” Mr. Goodfellow called out.

  The music started and the merry-go-round began to turn. Prancing Violet and Indigo Princess swooped up and down on their painted poles.

  Rachel laughed out loud as the merry-go-round spun faster and faster. The garden flashed by, and the flowers and paths disappeared in a blur. The sounds of music and laughter faded away.

  Rachel’s heart skipped a beat. Now, the only horse she could see was Kirsty’s horse, Indigo Princess. Suddenly, she could feel Prancing Violet’s hooves thudding on the ground beneath her.

  Kirsty felt a sea breeze whirling through her hair. Indigo Princess seemed to toss her head and kick up sand as she galloped along.

  “Wow!” Kirsty exclaimed, tasting salt spray on her lips. “This is like riding a real horse!”

  “It’s awesome!” Rachel agreed. She felt as if they were racing along a beach, just like the horses she’d seen in the painting on the merry-go-round.

  But before Rachel could say anything else, the horses began to slow down. The sandy beach faded away, and the sound of music returned. The merry-go-round came to a smooth stop.

  Kirsty patted Indigo Princess’s neck as she dismounted. “Thanks for the special ride!” she whispered. Then she turned to Rachel. “This merry-go-round is definitely magical, but where is Heather the Violet Fairy?”

  Rachel slipped off of Prancing Violet’s saddle and frowned. “I don’t know,” she said. Then she heard a tiny laugh coming from behind her. Rachel turned around. There was nobody there, just the picture on the pillar in the middle of the merry-go-round.

  Rachel blinked. There was a fairy riding the violet-colored horse in the picture! She wore a short purple dress, high purple knee socks, and ballet slippers. A few purple flowers were tucked behind one of her ears.

  “Kirsty!” Rachel whispered, pointing. “I think we found Heather the Violet Fairy!”

  Mr. Goodfellow was still helping the other riders off the horses. Q
uickly, Rachel and Kirsty squeezed past the other horses to look more closely at the pillar.

  “Heather must be trapped in the painting!” Rachel said.

  “We have to get her out!” Kirsty said.

  “Yes,” Rachel agreed. “But what can we do with all these people around?”

  Just then, almost as if he had heard them, Mr. Goodfellow clapped his hands. “Follow me, everyone. The clowns are here!”

  A cheer went up as everyone ran across the lawn toward the clowns. Rachel and Kirsty were left alone.

  “Now’s our chance!” Kirsty said.

  Rachel had an idea. “I know! Let’s use our magic bags,” she said. Titania, the Fairy Queen, had given Kirsty and Rachel bags of special gifts to help them rescue the Rainbow Fairies.

  “Of course! I have mine here.” Kirsty put her hand in her pocket and took out her magic bag. It was glowing with a soft, golden light. When she opened it, a cloud of glitter fizzed up into the air.

  Kirsty slipped her hand into the bag. She felt something inside, long and skinny like a pencil. It was a tiny golden paintbrush.

  Kirsty was confused. “What good is that? We don’t want to paint any more pictures.”

  “Maybe Heather knows what we can use it for,” Rachel suggested. “Amber told us how to help her when she was trapped in the shell, remember?”

  “Good idea,” Kirsty said. As she bent closer to the pillar, the tip of the brush touched the painted fairy’s hand.

  Suddenly, the whole picture glowed, and the fairy’s tiny fingers moved!

  A single violet-scented petal floated down from the picture. “Look!” Rachel gasped.

  “The brush is working some magic on the painting!” Kirsty whispered.

  She began to stroke the brush all around the outline of the fairy.

  At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, the picture glowed even brighter. The fairy shivered. “That tickles!” she said with a tiny laugh.

  The magic brush was lifting Heather out of the painting!

  Rachel checked to make sure that no one was watching them. Then, with Kirsty’s last stroke, the fairy sprang out of the painting, her wings flashing like jewels. Purple fairy dust shot everywhere, turning into violet-scented flowers that floated around her.

  “Thank you so much for rescuing me!” said Heather, floating in front of them. She held a purple wand, tipped with silver. “I’m Heather the Violet Fairy! Who are you? Do you know where my Rainbow sisters are?”

  “I’m Rachel, and this is Kirsty,” said Rachel. “Your sisters are all safe in the pot at the end of the rainbow.”

  “Hooray!” Heather did a twirl of excitement, scattering violet sparks around the girls. “I can’t wait to see them again.”

  Kirsty held out her hand and Heather landed gently on it. Kirsty hid her from view until the girls had run through the garden, past all the people watching the clowns. They ran out of the gate and down the path that led to the woods.

  Deep inside the woods was a peaceful clearing with a willow tree on one side. The pot at the end of the rainbow was hidden under its long branches.

  As soon as Rachel and Kirsty reached the clearing, there was a shout from inside the pot. Inky the Indigo Fairy zoomed out. “Heather! You’re safe!” she cried. “Look, everybody! Rachel and Kirsty have found our missing sister!”

  The other Rainbow Fairies were close behind Inky. Sunny even flew out of the pot on the back of a huge bumblebee! The air flashed and fizzed with scented bubbles, flowers, leaves, stars, ink drops, and tiny butterflies. Bertram the frog hopped out from behind the pot with a huge smile on his broad, green face.

  As the fairies flew up to hug and kiss Heather, her blossom-filled fairy dust mingled with theirs, and the smell of violets filled the clearing.

  “We knew you were coming,” said Amber the Orange Fairy, doing a cartwheel in the air. “I’ve been feeling extra magical all morning!”

  Rachel and Kirsty held hands and danced in a circle. They’d done it! They had found all seven Rainbow Fairies!

  “And who is this?” Heather asked Sunny the Yellow Fairy, reaching out to tickle the queen bee under her chin.

  “This is Queenie,” said Sunny, kissing the bee’s furry head. “She rescued my wand after the goblins stole it.”

  Ruby the Red Fairy’s wings sparkled as she fluttered down and landed on Rachel’s shoulder. “Thank you, Rachel and Kirsty,” she said.

  “You are true fairy friends,” added Fern the Green Fairy, drifting onto Kirsty’s hand. “And now that we’re all together again, we must use our magic to make a rainbow that will take us back to Fairyland.”

  Suddenly, Rachel heard a strange crackling sound. She spun around. The pond at the edge of the clearing wasn’t blue anymore. It was white and cloudy with ice! Rachel and Kirsty and the fairies looked at one another in alarm.

  “Goblins!” they whispered. Sky the Blue Fairy shivered with fright and fluttered closer to Sunny and Queenie for protection.

  Inky’s tiny teeth chattered. “B-b-but it can’t be. The Sugarplum Fairy kept them in the Land of Sweets, picking jelly beans!”

  Just then, a harsh, cackling laugh rang out. The bushes parted, and a tall, bony figure walked into the clearing. Icicles hung from his clothes, and there was frost on his white hair and eyebrows.

  It was Jack Frost!

  “So, you are all together again!” Jack Frost cackled. His angry voice sounded like icicles snapping in half.

  “Yes, thanks to Rachel and Kirsty,” Ruby answered bravely. “And now we want to go home to Fairyland!”

  Jack Frost gave a laugh like hailstones cracking against a window. “I will never allow that!” he told them. But before Jack Frost could do anything, Ruby the Red Fairy flew high into the air.

  “Come on, Rainbow Fairies! Now that we’re together again, all of our Rainbow Magic has come back. This time, we must try to stop Jack Frost with a spell. Follow me!” she called.

  Immediately, Inky shot to her sister’s side, and turned to face Jack Frost with her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face. The other fairies flew to join them, and they all lifted their wands, chanting together:

  Kirsty held Rachel’s hand and watched, feeling very scared. Would the spell work?

  A rainbow-colored spray shot out of each wand and a shining wall of raindrops appeared. It hung like a waterfall between the fairies and Jack Frost.

  Rachel and Kirsty both held their breath.

  “It will take more than a few raindrops to stop me!” Jack Frost hissed. He pointed one bony finger at the shimmering wall.

  At once, the raindrops turned to ice. They dropped onto the frosty grass, like tiny glass beads, and shattered.

  All the fairies looked horrified. Sunny and Sky gave cries of dismay, and Inky clenched her fists. Fern, Amber, and Ruby hugged one another tightly. Heather hovered off to one side, looking like she was thinking hard.

  Rachel and Kirsty stared in alarm as Jack Frost lifted his hand again.

  Then Heather flew forward, waved her wand, and cried:

  A gleaming bubble popped out of the end of Heather’s wand. It grew bigger and bigger. It looked like it was made of pale lilac glass. Jack Frost started to laugh, and stretched out his icy fingers. But before he could do anything else, there was a loud fizzing sound. Jack Frost disappeared!

  Rachel blinked.

  Heather’s spell had trapped Jack Frost inside the bubble! It bobbed gently down onto the grass. Jack Frost pressed his hands against the shiny wall and looked furious.

  “Great job, Heather!” Fern exclaimed.

  “Quick, everyone. We must get into the pot and make a rainbow to take us back to Fairyland!” Heather urged. “Jack Frost could still escape!”

  Rachel and Kirsty held the branches of the w
illow tree out of the way so that the fairies could fly through.

  Heather’s tiny eyebrows shot up as a squirrel scampered down the willow tree’s trunk, toward the pot. “Who are you?” she asked.

  “This is Fluffy,” said Fern, stroking the squirrel. “He helped me escape from the goblins.”

  “Fluffy and Queenie will have to go back to their homes now,” said Sky sadly.

  “Can’t they live with you in Fairyland?” Rachel asked.

  “No, their homes are here, on Rainspell Island,” Fern explained. “But we’ll come and visit them, won’t we?” All the fairies nodded and Sunny wiped away a tiny tear.

  Fern reached up to give Fluffy one last hug. Her sisters fluttered around, saying good-bye to Queenie and Fluffy.

  “Thank you again for all your help,” said Ruby.

  Queenie buzzed good-bye as she flew away. Fluffy gave a farewell flick of his tail, then scampered off.

  Heather fluttered in front of Rachel and Kirsty. “Would you like to come to Fairyland with us? I’m sure Queen Titania and King Oberon will want to thank you.”

  Rachel and Kirsty nodded eagerly. Heather smiled and waved her wand, sprinkling the girls with purple fairy dust.

  Kirsty felt herself shrinking. The grass seemed to rush toward her. “Hooray! I’m a fairy again!” she cried.

  Rachel laughed as wings sprang from her shoulders.

  Just then, there was a yell from inside the giant bubble.

  Rachel and Kirsty looked around.

  Jack Frost was looking very scared. His face was bright red, and drops of water ran down his cheeks. He was melting!