Alison the Art Fairy

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  Best Friends Together

  Puzzling Pictures

  A Sticky Situation

  Model Magic

  Blast Off!

  Enchanted Skies

  Teaser

  Copyright

  It’s time the School Day Fairies see

  How wonderful a school should be—

  A place where goblins must be bossed,

  And learn about the great Jack Frost.

  Now every fairy badge of gold

  Makes goblins do as they are told.

  Let silly fairies whine and wail.

  My cleverness will never fail!

  “Lunchtime already!” exclaimed Rachel Walker, closing her math book. “I wonder what kind of sandwiches Mom packed today.”

  “I can’t believe I’m really here at school with you!” Kirsty Tate said with a smile.

  Rachel nodded happily. Being in the same class as her best friend really was a dream come true! Kirsty normally went to school in Wetherbury, but heavy rain over the summer had flooded the classrooms. Now the school was closed for a week while the damage was repaired.

  Mrs. Tate and Mrs. Walker had been chatting on the phone when Rachel came up with the idea of inviting Kirsty to Tippington. By the end of the call it was decided—Kirsty would stay with the Walkers for the week and go to school there. At first Kirsty had felt a little nervous about starting the school year somewhere new, but the thought of sitting next to her best friend in every class was so exciting! Since she’d started yesterday, she’d loved getting to know Rachel’s school. Everybody had been really friendly, apart from the pair of naughty goblins that had joined the class pretending to be new boys! Only Kirsty and Rachel had figured out who the screeching voices, pointy noses, and green uniforms really belonged to.

  “Get out of my way!” yelled one of them now, barging to the front of the class.

  “Nope!” grunted the other. “I’m getting my lunch first!”

  Kirsty’s teacher, Mr. Beaker, frowned at the noisy pair.

  “Settle down, please,” he said sternly. “You’ll cause an accident if you push and shove.”

  The goblins were fighting so loudly they didn’t hear a word Mr. Beaker said. As they struggled to get through the door, they bumped into a table, knocking over a stack of cardboard boxes. Egg cartons, paper towel rolls, and empty tissue boxes tumbled all over the floor. Kirsty and Rachel rushed to pick them back up again.

  “Those awful goblins!” whispered Rachel. “I hope they don’t cause any more trouble.”

  Kirsty watched the pair barge out of the room with Mr. Beaker on their heels.

  “I have a horrible feeling they might,” she said ruefully.

  During one of their first classes together, the girls had met someone amazing—Marissa the Science Fairy. Kirsty and Rachel had been friends with the fairies ever since their first trip to Rainspell Island. The girls were always ready to help them outwit Jack Frost and his army of goblin servants. This time, however, Jack Frost really had gone a step too far. He’d sent his goblins to steal four magical gold star badges belonging to the School Day Fairies—Marissa and her friends Alison the Art Fairy, Lydia the Reading Fairy, and Kathryn the Gym Fairy. He had a rotten plan in mind for the badges, too. The vain Jack Frost had set up his own school for goblins, filled with classes all about him!

  The poor School Day Fairies had been dismayed. They needed their badges to make subjects interesting and help lessons run smoothly. Until the precious objects were back where they belonged, classes in Fairyland and the human world were in trouble.

  “I don’t want another science lesson like yesterday,” said Rachel, giving a little shudder. The morning had been full of mishaps until Kirsty and Rachel had figured out what was happening. The rowdy new boys had turned out to be two of Jack Frost’s naughtiest students, a pair so full of mischief that they’d even been expelled from his goblin school! Before leaving Jack Frost’s frozen kingdom, the goblins had stolen all four magical badges and fled to the human world. Kirsty and Rachel had managed to return one badge to Marissa, but they still needed to find the other three.

  “We have to be ready for anything,” said Kirsty, picking up an armful of cardboard. “If the goblins are still in school, the badges must be here somewhere, too.”

  “But Marissa said that King Oberon and Queen Titania will be visiting the Fairyland School in a few days,” remarked Rachel with a sigh. “We have to get the badges back before then.”

  “There isn’t much time,” agreed Kirsty.

  “Time for what?”

  The friends spun around. Mr. Beaker had walked back into the classroom! Rachel’s cheeks turned red. She hoped that the teacher hadn’t overheard their conversation—nobody else knew about the fairies. Before she could think of an answer, Kirsty piped up.

  “I was just telling Rachel that it’s time to go out to the playground!”

  Mr. Beaker nodded, then sat down at his desk.

  “Thanks for picking up those boxes, girls,” he said gratefully. “I’ve been collecting them all summer.”

  “What are they for?” Rachel wondered aloud.

  Now Mr. Beaker was the one looking mysterious.

  “It’s for a special art project,” was all he would say. “You’ll find out more after lunch.”

  Kirsty and Rachel exchanged excited smiles. Art was one of their favorite subjects!

  As soon as they’d eaten their sandwiches and fruit, Rachel took Kirsty out to the playground.

  “Look, Amina and Adam are over there!” cried Rachel, pointing to her friends.

  “Should we go say hello?” suggested Kirsty.

  Amina and Adam were in a quiet corner, kneeling side by side on the blacktop.

  “Mr. Beaker said we could use chalk to create some playground art,” explained Amina, “as long as we wash it off every Friday.”

  “Or it rains first!” Adam grinned, pointing up to the sky.

  Amina handed a box of chalk to Rachel and Kirsty. “Want to try?”

  The girls replied at once. “Yes, please!”

  “I know just what to draw,” declared Rachel, pulling out a piece of red chalk. “A fairy!”

  She imagined Ruby the Red Fairy fluttering in the sky. She could just picture the shape of her dainty wings and the rosebuds in her hair. Next to her, Kirsty tipped out the rest of the colors of chalk.

  “Why don’t I draw a rainbow for the fairy to fly over?” she suggested.

  Rachel beamed. She couldn’t help but notice the secret twinkle in Kirsty’s eye! Soon the girls’ chalk picture began to take shape.

  “Something’s not right,” said Rachel, standing back to look at it better. Somehow Ruby’s cheerful face had creased up into a frown! Her wand was crooked, too.

  “My poor rainbow.” Kirsty sighed. “It’s turned into a smudgy mess!”

  Amina and Adam weren’t doing much better. They had tried to draw a happy farmyard scene, but it had just come out as scribbles.

  “I don’t want to do this anymore,” said Adam, putting down the chalk and standing up. “Let’s go play on the swings.”

  Amina followed him, leaving Rachel and Kirsty by themselves.

  Rachel wrinkled her nose. “I would never draw Ruby without a smile,” she remarked. “Do you think this has something to do with the missing badges?”

  “Y-yes!” stuttered Kirsty, grabbing Rachel’s arm and pointing down at her chalk rainbow.

  Rachel gasped. The blurry pinks, yellows, and blues had started to shimmer and glow! A magical haze billowed over the ground, glinting with colorful twinkles. A tiny dot in the middle started to get bigger and big
ger until … ting! A magical fairy appeared!

  As soon as she spotted Kirsty and Rachel, the fairy did a happy twirl.

  “Hello again!” she chimed in a singsong voice. “I’m so happy I found you!”

  The fairy waved her wand with a flourish. A cloud of tiny artist’s palettes instantly popped into the air around her. Each one was a perfect miniature, complete with brushes and ovals of brightly colored paint.

  “We met yesterday, didn’t we?” asked Kirsty, remembering their trip to the Fairyland School.

  “You’re Alison,” added Rachel, “Alison the Art Fairy!”

  Alison giggled with pleasure. She really did look as pretty as a picture. Her sunny blond hair tumbled in waves around her shoulders, topped off with a dusty pink beret. She wore a bright, polka-dotted T-shirt with a slogan on it, jangly beads, and a maxi skirt in different shades of pink.

  “It’s tie-dyed,” she said proudly when she noticed Kirsty and Rachel admiring her skirt. “I made it myself!”

  The cheerful little fairy was full of chatter until the messy chalk drawings on the ground caught her eye.

  “Oh dear,” she said forlornly. “You can probably guess why I’m here.”

  Kirsty glanced nervously over her shoulder, then knelt down next to Alison.

  “Is it your gold star badge?” Kirsty whispered.

  Alison nodded furiously.

  “I really need to get it back. My magical badge makes sure that all art lessons are full of fun and go smoothly! Imagine a world without beautiful drawings, paintings, and sculptures! What a terrible, gloomy thought … ”

  With that, the fairy’s voice trailed off. Rachel glimpsed the tiniest silver tear trickle down Alison’s cheek.

  “We’ll put things right,” she replied kindly. “The goblins can’t get away with this!”

  Kirsty took Rachel’s hand, her face full of determination.

  “We’ll find your badge in no time,” she promised.

  Alison’s face brightened at once. But before she could say another word, a group of children ran past.

  “You need to hide,” whispered Rachel. “Can you fly into my pocket?”

  Quick as a flash, Alison darted into Rachel’s jacket pocket and ducked out of sight. A trail of tiny stars glittered in the air behind her for just a second, disappearing one by one.

  Kirsty and Rachel waited as more of their classmates galloped past them. A big circle of children had formed on the other side of the playground. Even Adam and Amina had stopped swinging and joined the crowd.

  “What’s happening over there?” asked Rachel, catching Amina’s arm.

  “It’s the new boys,” she answered breathlessly. “Come and see what they’ve done!”

  “Is it something against the rules?” guessed Kirsty.

  “Oh no,” replied Adam. “They made the most amazing chalk drawing ever!”

  Kirsty raised an eyebrow at Rachel.

  “The goblins are up to something already,” she said, just loudly enough for Alison to hear.

  Kirsty and Rachel grabbed their backpacks and ran over to get a better look.

  “What do you think?” squawked one of the goblins, seeing their curious faces. “Better than your silly scribbles, isn’t it?”

  “Who’d want to draw a fairy, anyway?” barked the other one. “Our drawings are the best!”

  For once, the goblins were absolutely right. The blacktop was covered with the most eye-catching, astonishing chalk art the girls had ever seen.

  “It’s Jack Frost’s Ice Castle!” said Rachel.

  Every detail was perfect. The castle had spiky turrets, frosty icicles, and a forbidding oak door. The picture glistened in blues, whites, and silvers, creating a feeling so wintry it made Kirsty shiver.

  “Look,” she whispered under her breath, “they’ve even added the new goblin school. There’s the playground on the side.”

  “No goblin could have drawn this on his own,” added Rachel.

  “They must have Alison’s gold star badge with them right now!” Kirsty replied urgently.

  Kirsty gazed at the two smug goblins bragging about their handiwork. Although the other children didn’t recognize the Ice Castle, they couldn’t help but be impressed by the glittering colors and intricate shapes. Kirsty edged a little closer to the bigger and more boastful goblin.

  “I’ll sign autographs if you want,” he was crowing to the crowd, “but only if you give me some candy!”

  Kirsty blinked. She was sure she could see the tip of the magical badge poking out of his green pants pocket!

  “I think I can get it,” she mouthed to Rachel, reaching out her hand.

  Kirsty’s fingers trembled as she got closer and closer to the badge. Rachel held her breath …

  Rrrinnnggg!

  Quick as a flash, Kirsty pulled back her hand. The goblin with the magical badge groaned as the children picked up their backpacks and drifted away.

  “Don’t go!” he yelled. “Watch me draw something else. Look at how awesome I am!”

  “That’s the bell for the end of lunch,” said Rachel firmly. “We have to go back to class.”

  The goblin blew a raspberry at her and followed his friend inside. The naughty pair didn’t even bother picking up their chalk before they left.

  “I was so close,” Kirsty said when she and Rachel got back inside. Alison peeked out of her hiding place.

  “It was a very good try,” she said cheerfully. “If that bell had rung a second later, you would definitely have gotten my badge back.”

  Rachel gave Kirsty’s hand an encouraging squeeze. “At least we know where the badge is now,” she said. “We just have to outsmart those goblins.”

  Alison pointed her wand down the hall. “Time to hide again,” she reminded them. “Mr. Beaker is starting the lesson.”

  When Kirsty and Rachel walked back into the classroom, there was an excited buzz in the air. Mr. Beaker had covered the tables with old newspapers and laid out glue, scissors, and paintbrushes. In the middle of every table he’d also stacked interesting piles of old boxes and cardboard tubes.

  The children laughed and chatted as they put on their art aprons. Some picked up the boxes on their tables and started to play with them. Across the room, the silly goblins were using paper-towel tubes as pretend swords, then bashing each other on the head.

  “They’re making mischief already,” warned Kirsty. “Look.”

  Mr. Beaker clapped his hands three times, then waited for everybody to settle down.

  “This afternoon I’m giving you an art challenge,” he announced. “Every table should work together as a group. You have one hour to use the cardboard boxes in the middle to make a model vehicle. The group who makes the best one will get a gold star, and the vehicle will be put on display for the school superintendent’s visit in two days.”

  The teacher held up a model of a car that he’d made earlier.

  “I glued this together myself, then painted the outside with blue paint,” he continued. “I bet you can come up with something even more creative … Oh!”

  Before Mr. Beaker could finish talking, the car’s wheels dropped off! One by one, all four of the disks went tumbling across the classroom.

  “I don’t know what happened there,” he muttered, sitting down to get a better look at the little car. At the same moment, the pile of extra boxes on the desk beside him fell over. Mr. Beaker winced as an empty egg carton bounced off his head. Bop!

  The goblins roared with laughter. Their hoots got even louder when the egg carton landed on top of Mr. Beaker’s model car, breaking it into pieces.

  “How strange,” the teacher mumbled to himself, looking sad. “I’m sure it was glued properly … ”

  “Are you all right, Mr. Beaker?” asked Rachel.

  “Yes, thank you,” he replied. “OK, class, time to get started.”

  Kirsty and Rachel were in a group with Adam and Amina. They passed around the boxes on their table, wondering wh
at to make.

  “Why don’t we forget about wheels,” suggested Kirsty, “and make a sailboat instead? We always see such nice ones when we go on vacation. Do you remember, Rachel?”

  Rachel’s face lit up. She’d never forget the pretty sailboats on Rainspell Island!

  “Oh yes!” she exclaimed. “We could use this shoebox as the boat, then cut the sails out of a cereal box.”

  “I’ll cut out the sails,” offered Adam.

  “And I’ll start on the boat,” replied Amina, reaching for the shoebox. She’d leaned over to take the box from Rachel when an ugly green hand grabbed the other side.

  “I want that!” snapped a goblin voice. “We need it for our rocket!”

  Before Rachel and Amina could argue, the goblin had stuffed the shoebox under his arm and scuttled back to his table.

  “Let him have it,” said Kirsty. “We can use this other box instead.”

  She reached for the glue, but somehow it tipped over, covering the table and boxes in white goo.

  “It’s everywhere!” exclaimed Rachel.

  The group tried to peel the glue off, but a lot of the boxes tore and broke into sticky pieces.

  “What a terrible start to making our boat,” groaned Amina.

  “Look at my sails,” added Adam. “They’re all stuck together in a big wedge.”

  Rachel and Kirsty felt their hearts sink. This art class was an absolute disaster! The girls would have to find Alison’s missing badge—fast. But where should they start?

  While Adam and Amina tried to rescue the sailboat, Rachel and Kirsty moved their chairs closer together.

  “We’re not the only ones having trouble,” Kirsty whispered into her best friend’s ear. “Look over there.”

  Rachel turned to the next table. Dylan, Maya, and Zac were trying to build a model train, but they couldn’t get the cars to stick together.