Megan the Monday Fairy : A Rainbow Magic Book (9780545295819) Read online

  Off to Fairyland!

  The Time Tower

  A Clever Clue

  Finding the Flag

  Clock-Watching

  Time for Fun

  “I’m glad I’m staying with you during vacation,” Kirsty Tate told her friend, Rachel Walker, as they came out of Fashion Fun, the accessory store on Tippington’s Main Street. “And I hope these sparkly clips will look good with my new haircut!”

  “I’m sure they will,” Rachel said cheerfully. “They’re so pretty.”

  “Thanks,” Kirsty replied. “I wonder how the fairies are,” she added, lowering her voice.

  Rachel and Kirsty shared a magical secret: when they first met each other on a very special trip to Rainspell Island, they also became friends with the fairies!

  “I hope Jack Frost and his goblins are behaving themselves,” Rachel said.

  Cold, wicked Jack Frost and his mean goblins often caused trouble for the fairies. But the girls had helped their tiny friends outwit Jack Frost many times.

  “Look, Rachel!” Kirsty said, peering into a nearby window. “This store wasn’t open the last time I was here. Isn’t it great?”

  The store was called Dancing Days, and the window was full of dance outfits and shoes. There were white tutus, satin ballet slippers with pink ribbons, and sparkly tap shoes.

  “I’d love to be able to tap dance,” said Rachel.

  Just then the door opened and a lady came out, followed by a girl with a long, brown ponytail.

  The girl’s face lit up when she saw Rachel. “Hi, Rachel!” she called.

  “Hi, Karen,” said Rachel with a smile. “Kirsty, this is Karen. She’s my friend from school. And this is her mom, Mrs. Lewis.”

  Karen grinned at Kirsty. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “Rachel talks about you all the time!”

  Kirsty laughed. “Are you learning to dance?” she asked, glancing at Karen’s blue bag.

  “Yes,” Karen replied. “I have tap class at the town hall this afternoon and Mom just bought me some new tap shoes. My old ones were worn out.”

  “That’s because she practices so much!” Mrs. Lewis said, smiling. She glanced at her watch. “We’d better hurry, Karen.”

  “See you later!” Karen called as they left.

  “Maybe you could sign up for Karen’s tap classes,” Kirsty suggested to Rachel as they walked down the street.

  “Good idea,” Rachel agreed. Then she glanced around. “Should we walk home through the park?”

  “Sure!” Kirsty replied.

  The girls walked through the iron park gate and across the grass. The park was filled with colorful flowers, and in the middle was a large brass sundial shining in the light.

  “The sun’s bright today,” Kirsty said.

  Rachel nodded. Then she noticed something that made her heart beat faster — tiny golden sparkles were hovering and dancing above the sundial!

  “Kirsty, look at the sundial!” Rachel gasped. “I think it’s fairy magic!”

  Kirsty’s eyes widened. Rachel was right! And now the golden sparkles were moving. As the girls watched, the fairy dust drifted down to circle around a tiny door in the base of the sundial.

  Rachel frowned. “I’ve seen this sundial hundreds of times, but I’ve never noticed a door before,” she said. Suddenly, the little door burst open and a frog hopped out. He wore a sharp red vest and a gold pocket watch.

  “Hello, Rachel. Hello, Kirsty,” he croaked.

  The girls beamed at him. “You must be from Fairyland!” Rachel guessed.

  The frog nodded. “I’m Francis, the Royal Time Guard,” he explained. “I’m a friend of Bertram’s.” The girls had met Bertram, the frog footman, during one of their fairy adventures.

  “Is everything OK?” Kirsty asked.

  Francis shook his head, looking sad. “The King and Queen of Fairyland need your help!” he croaked. “Will you come with me?”

  “Yes, of course!” Rachel and Kirsty said together.

  “Thank you, girls.” Francis smiled. He reached into his pocket, pulled out some fairy dust, and threw it into the air. Immediately, a dazzling rainbow, shimmering with color, began to rise from the ground.

  “Follow me,” said Francis, hopping onto the end of the rainbow.

  Rachel and Kirsty both stepped carefully onto the rainbow with Francis.

  “Now off we go!” he said with a smile. In a shower of sparkles, the rainbow whisked them off to Fairyland.

  In the blink of an eye, Kirsty and Rachel found themselves in Fairyland! They had transformed into fairies with glittering wings on their backs. In front of them stood the silver palace with its four pink towers, along with King Oberon and Queen Titania.

  The king and queen were surrounded by a group of fairies. Both Rachel and Kirsty could see that they all looked very unhappy. But why?

  Francis jumped off the end of the rainbow and bowed to the king and queen. “Your Majesties,” he announced as the girls stepped off the rainbow, too. “Here are our good friends, Kirsty and Rachel!”

  Queen Titania hurried forward with a welcoming smile on her face. “It’s very good of you girls to come,” she said. “We really need your help!”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Rachel.

  “Is it Jack Frost?” Kirsty added.

  Queen Titania nodded. “Jack Frost has stolen the Fun Day Flags!” she sighed. “And now the Fun Day Fairies can’t make every day fun in Fairyland and the human world.”

  Rachel and Kirsty glanced at the fairies. They looked miserable, and their wings drooped.

  “These are our Fun Day Fairies,” said King Oberon. “Megan the Monday Fairy, Tara the Tuesday Fairy, Willow the Wednesday Fairy, Thea the Thursday Fairy, Felicity the Friday Fairy, Sienna the Saturday Fairy, and Sarah the Sunday Fairy.”

  The fairies managed to smile at Rachel and Kirsty, but they still looked sad. The girls felt sorry for them.

  “How do the Fun Day Flags work?” asked Kirsty.

  “Come with us to the golden pool,” Queen Titania replied, “and we’ll show you.”

  The queen led the way through the palace gardens to the magic pool. They all clustered around as the queen waved her wand over the pool. Immediately, the water began to shimmer with fairy magic.

  “Today Francis, the Royal Time Guard, went to the Book of Days to check which day it was. He does that every morning,” Queen Titania said, pointing at the pool. “The Book of Days is kept in the Time Tower, on the other side of the place gardens.”

  Rachel and Kirsty watched as a gleaming white marble tower appeared on the surface of the pool. The tower had a golden flagpole on top, and a beautiful grassy courtyard full of orange and lemon trees to one side. In the middle of the grassy courtyard was a giant clock. It was made of dazzling white and gold tiles. The girls saw Francis hop inside the tower and over to a large, leather-bound book sitting on a rainbow-colored pedestal.

  “That’s the Book of Days,” the queen explained. “It keeps track of the days of the week in case Francis forgets.”

  As Rachel and Kirsty watched, Francis left the book and went over to a golden cabinet on one side of the room. He took out some bright red material and unfolded it.

  “It’s a flag,” Rachel said.

  “It’s beautiful!” added Kirsty.

  The flag was big and rectangular, with a large sun surrounded by rays of light in the middle. The sun was the same color as the rest of the flag, but it was made of a sparkling fabric. It glittered in the sunlight streaming in through the windows of the Time Tower.
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  “That’s my Monday Fun Flag,” said a sad voice.

  Rachel and Kirsty glanced at Megan the Monday Fairy. She wore a purpley-blue dress with a red sash. Her long, glossy black hair was held back by a red headband. She looked like she should be laughing and having fun, but instead her face was sad.

  In the image in the pool, Francis had now climbed to the top of the Time Tower and was attaching the Monday Fun Flag to the flagpole.

  “Do you see Megan waiting down in the courtyard?” asked Queen Titania as the picture changed. Megan was standing in the middle of the tiled clock, at the spot where the two hands met. She had her wand in one hand and was gazing up at the flag.

  “When the sun’s rays reflect off the shiny parts of the flag, magical sparkles stream down to where Megan is waiting,” Queen Titania explained. “This is how the Fun Day Fairies recharge their wands and make sure that they have enough magic for their special day of the week.”

  “It takes a lot of magic to make sure humans can have fun for a whole day!” Megan added.

  Kirsty and Rachel watched as Francis raised the flag to the top of the flagpole. Down in the courtyard, Megan held up her wand. But just as the sunshine was about to hit the flag, there was a sudden gust of wind. Rachel and Kirsty gasped. Jack Frost was whizzing toward the flagpole on the blast of air. He snatched the Monday Fun Flag from the flagpole and zoomed away, cackling!

  “Oh no!” Rachel cried.

  “Poor Megan,” said Kirsty, putting her arm around the fairy.

  “That’s not all.” Megan sighed, pointing to the pool. “Look.…”

  As Francis hurried down from the flagpole, some of Jack Frost’s goblins appeared and dashed inside the tower. They quickly pulled open the golden cabinet where the Fun Day Flags were kept.

  “Let’s take all the Fun Day Flags!” shouted one.

  “Yes, then we can have fun all the time,” another yelled gleefully. “And nobody else can!”

  The goblins began grabbing the flags from the golden cabinet.

  “Stop!” Francis shouted, hopping through the doorway. He tried to pull one of the flags away from the nearest goblin. “Give those back!”

  “No way!” the goblins cried. They rushed for the door, whooping loudly and waving the flags. Poor Francis was pushed aside as they charged out of the Time Tower.

  “Poor Francis!” Rachel exclaimed, as the pictures in the pool began to fade. “The goblins stole all the flags!”

  Queen Titania nodded. “But Jack Frost doesn’t have them anymore,” she said with a smile. “Watch what happened. …” She waved her wand over the pool again.

  Rachel and Kirsty watched as a new picture appeared. It showed Jack Frost’s ice castle. Three goblins were sliding down the frozen banisters of the staircase, squealing with delight. Four goblins were playing hide-and-seek. One of them peeked out from behind Jack Frost’s ice throne. Other goblins were playing soccer with a solid ball of ice. Some were even skating on the icy floor of the throne room, doing twists and turns and jumps.

  “The goblins are having fun!”

  Kirsty laughed.

  “That’s the power of the Fun Day Flags,” explained Megan.

  Now the picture changed again to show Jack Frost stomping angrily down the hallway toward his bedroom. “Will you stop having fun and get back to work?” he shouted at his goblins.

  Rachel and Kirsty’s eyes widened as Jack Frost opened the bedroom door. A stream of warm water cascaded over him from above.

  “Help!” Jack Frost yelled, jumping around in a fury. “I’m soaked!”

  A second later, a bucket tumbled down from the top of the door. It fell over his head, muffling his voice. Rachel and Kirsty laughed. Meanwhile, the goblins who had set up the trick were peeking around the corner, giggling loudly.

  “That’s it!” Jack Frost roared, yanking the bucket off his head. “I’m fed up with all this fun!” He raised his wand and shouted a spell. “Goblins have no time for fun, so Fun Day Flags, you must be gone!”

  Immediately, a fierce wind whirled through the ice palace. While the goblins watched in dismay, it whisked the flags out the window.

  “So where are the flags now?” asked Rachel, as the pictures faded.

  “Jack Frost’s spell carried them into the human world, where they became bigger,” replied Queen Titania. “But the goblins missed the fun they were having, so some of them snuck off to look for the flags.”

  “That’s why we have to go find the flags before they do,” added Megan. “Will you help, girls?”

  “Of course we will,” said Kirsty.

  “Where should we start?” asked Rachel.

  Francis stepped forward. He took out his pocket watch and opened the lid. Immediately, a cloud of magic sparkles swirled out of the watch, and the Book of Days appeared in his hands.

  “I think there might be a clue in the Book of Days,” he croaked, showing one of the pages to Megan, Rachel, and Kirsty. “Look, instead of saying what day it is, now there’s a poem on the Monday page.”

  Kirsty read the poem aloud:

  “Searching near and searching far,

  I know where the Fun Day Flags are.

  Look for Monday with the shoes.

  Tip and tap are your two clues.”

  “If we figure out what the poem means, we’ll find the flag!” said Rachel excitedly.

  “Tip and tap …” Kirsty repeated thoughtfully. “I wonder what that could mean.”

  Everyone frowned, thinking hard.

  Then, suddenly, Rachel gasped. “Oh!” she said, her eyes shining. “I’ve got it!”

  Everyone turned, looking eagerly at Rachel.

  “Tip and tap!” Rachel said excitedly. “Kirsty, what does that remind you of?”

  Kirsty looked confused.

  “Remember this morning?” Rachel went on.

  Suddenly Kirsty’s face lit up. “You mean Karen and her tap dancing lesson!” she cried. “Do you think the Monday flag might be with Karen’s new tap shoes?”

  Rachel nodded and quickly explained to the fairies and Francis what Kirsty meant. “Karen’s lesson is at the town hall this afternoon,” she added. “We’d better get there right away!”

  “I’ll send you there with magic,” said Queen Titania, raising her wand.

  “I’ll come, too,” Megan announced. “I may not have my Fun Day magic, but I might be able to help with my normal fairy magic!”

  The two girls closed their eyes as Queen Titania showered them with golden fairy dust.

  “Good luck!” the other fairies called.

  A moment later, Kirsty and Rachel could hear the sound of traffic. They opened their eyes to find themselves next to Tippington Town Hall.

  “Where’s Megan?” asked Rachel.

  “Here I am!” called Megan, popping out from behind a nearby mailbox. She fluttered over to Kirsty’s shoulder, hiding herself behind Kirsty’s hair.

  “There’s Karen,” Rachel said suddenly, pointing at the town hall steps.

  Karen looked miserable. She was sitting on the steps with her chin in her hands.

  “Hi, Karen,” called Rachel. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, Rachel,” Karen gulped. “Mom dropped me off a little early for my class, so I put my bag down while I was practicing some steps. But when I turned around, my bag was gone!”

  “Were your new shoes in the bag?” asked Kirsty.

  Karen nodded, biting her lip.

  “Oh, I wish I could help Karen have fun,” Megan whispered in Kirsty’s ear, “but I can’t do that without my Fun Day magic.”

  “Here comes my dance teacher, Miss Henry,” Karen said tearfully. “I don’t want to miss my class.”

  “Karen, what’s the matter?” asked Miss Henry, when she saw Karen’s sad face.

  Karen quickly explained.

  “I can lend you a pair of tap shoes for today, so you won’t miss class,” Miss Henry said kindly. “And afterward, I’ll help you find your bag.”

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nbsp; “And Kirsty and I will look for it while you have your lesson,” Rachel added.

  “Thanks,” Karen said, looking more cheerful as she followed her teacher into the town hall.

  Rachel turned to Kirsty and Megan. “Let’s start by looking around here,” she suggested.

  But Kirsty was frowning. “I can hear a strange noise,” she whispered.

  “So can I,” Megan agreed. “It sounds like someone muttering.”

  Rachel listened, too. “It’s coming from around the side of the building,” she said.

  Megan and the girls went over to the corner and peeked around.

  “It’s a goblin!” Kirsty whispered.

  “And look what he’s holding!” added Rachel.

  The goblin was poking around inside a blue bag. As Megan and the girls watched, he began trying to pull a piece of shiny red material from it.

  “That’s my flag!” Megan cried.

  The goblin got more and more annoyed because the flag would not come out. Suddenly, he looked up and saw the girls and Megan watching him. With an angry shriek, he grabbed the bag and ran away.

  “Get him!” Megan cried, zooming off after the goblin.

  Rachel and Kirsty followed her on foot. Up ahead, the goblin whizzed around the corner and out of sight.

  “He’s gone around the back of the hall,” Kirsty panted.

  “That’s where the Clock Tower is,” Rachel puffed, pointing.

  When the girls and Megan reached the corner, they were just in time to see the goblin dash through the big wooden door at the bottom of the Clock Tower. As they rushed over, the goblin slammed the door shut.

  “He locked it from the inside!” Kirsty exclaimed, pulling on the handle.