Angelica the Angel Fairy Read online

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  The Sparkly Panpipes

  Winter Chaos

  An Old Fairy Friend

  Seeing-Pool Secrets

  Toot, Toot, Toot!

  Pipes of Peace

  The Snow-White Feather

  Sunshine and Snowflakes

  An Unexpected Visitor

  A Thousand Feathers!

  Mischief and Mayhem

  A Helpful Goblin

  The Enchanted Name Scroll

  Christmas Countdown

  A Flicker of Fairy Magic

  The Name Game

  Three New Patients

  The Nice List

  Teaser

  Copyright

  Christmas angels shine and glitter,

  But every year I grow more bitter.

  Why does Santa only treat

  Children who are kind and sweet?

  Pretty gifts beneath the tree,

  Those presents should belong to me!

  Three magic objects in my fist

  Will get my name on Santa’s list.

  Find the hidden letters in the stars throughout this book. Unscramble all 9 letters to spell a special word!

  “The Winter Fair opens in five minutes,” said Rachel Walker, her eyes dancing with excitement. “Are we ready to turn on the twinkle lights?”

  “Definitely!” exclaimed her best friend, Kirsty Tate.

  Kirsty was staying at Rachel’s house for a few days of vacation. The pair had enjoyed a wonderful week ice-skating, drinking hot chocolates, and baking cookies. Time always seemed to fly by when Kirsty and Rachel were together!

  Now it was Saturday afternoon and the friends were dressed in their Brownie uniforms. The girls in Rachel’s troop had been working hard all morning — today was the day of the Tippington Brownies’ Winter Fair! Kirsty and Rachel had volunteered to run the “winter woolies” stall, a tabletop stacked high with mittens, socks, and scarves knitted in rich, festive colors.

  Rachel ran to the back of the hall. When one of the leaders gave the signal, she dimmed the main lights.

  Everyone closed their eyes in the darkness and counted down together. “Three, two, one … go!”

  Flash!

  There was a thrilled gasp, then an explosion of clapping and cheering. The Brownies had transformed Tippington’s plain old town hall into a magical winter wonderland! Stalls lined every wall, each one decorated with fake snow, gold balls, and shiny bows. Strings of glittery lights twinkled from the ceiling. In the kitchen, Mrs. Walker and the other Brownie moms had been busy making hot chocolate and arranging treats, filling the air with the smell of warm cookies.

  The girls had come in the day before to help deck the hall with lights, ribbons, and paper snowflakes.

  Kirsty squeezed Rachel’s hand and smiled. The friends shared a very special secret. From the very first day they met, the pair had been going on trips to Fairyland! They had shared some wonderful adventures with their magical friends. Both girls had made a promise to protect the fairies from Jack Frost and his grumpy goblins.

  “Everybody to their positions, please,” called their Brownie leader. “It’s time to open the doors.”

  There was an excited hustle and bustle as the Brownies rushed to their stalls.

  “We should raise lots of money today,” said Kirsty hopefully. “Look at all these wonderful things!”

  This year, the Brownies had decided to celebrate the true spirit of the holiday season. Instead of spending money on new equipment for the troop, they had chosen to buy gifts for people who weren’t as lucky as they were. Giving to others was what this time of year was really all about.

  “I can’t wait to take a big sack of presents to Tippington Children’s Hospital.” Kirsty smiled. “It must be terrible to be sick at this time of year.”

  Rachel ran over to help another Brownie named Claire unpack the last few ornaments for her Christmas decoration stall.

  “Don’t forget the retirement-home visit, too!” she called back.

  The Brownies had voted to spend half of the money on gifts for the children’s hospital and the other half on the residents of the Greenacre Retirement Home, which was just around the corner from Rachel’s house.

  “Smile, everyone, please,” called the Brownie leader, unbolting the hall doors.

  Kirsty and Rachel swapped thrilled glances as the first shoppers trooped in from the cold. Soon there were customers wandering up and down the aisles, picking up trinkets and treating themselves to yummy things to eat.

  “You can be in charge of the money, Kirsty,” suggested Rachel. “I’ll put things in paper bags.”

  Both girls felt a little nervous at first, but soon they got the hang of things. Before long, the hall was full of people. If the afternoon continued like this, the fair would be a huge success!

  When the line at their stall had calmed down a little, Kirsty walked across to Claire’s decoration table.

  “Claire, could I have some change,” she whispered. “Claire? Oh!”

  Kirsty’s face flushed. Instead of selling decorations, Claire was swinging a piece of garland around. Passing shoppers had to duck out of her way, but their confused faces only made the Brownie burst into giggles.

  “Look at me!” She laughed, knocking a tray of painted ornaments onto the floor.

  Kirsty knelt down to pick them up. What was Claire doing?

  Rachel rushed over to help. “Something’s wrong,” she whispered. “Come with me …”

  “Stand on this,” said Rachel breathlessly, pulling a chair out from underneath the winter woolies table. “You’ll get a better view.”

  Kirsty carefully climbed onto the chair and peered over the shoppers’ heads.

  “Everyone has abandoned their stalls!” She gasped. “And why is that girl munching cookies? They’re supposed to be for sale!”

  Instead of serving their customers, Brownies were running up and down the aisles, calling each other names and shrieking with laughter.

  “Look at the twins,” said Rachel, pointing to the stage.

  Kirsty recognized Josie and Tilly from Rachel’s last birthday party. They were supposed to be running the raffle. Ten people were waiting patiently to drop their tickets off, but the twins were ignoring them. The pair were far too busy helping themselves to the best prizes on the prize table.

  “Every Brownie in the room is causing trouble,” declared Kirsty. “At this rate we won’t even raise a penny!”

  As she stepped down from the chair, Rachel heard the tiniest tinkling sound.

  “Is there something in your pocket?” she asked.

  Kirsty shook her head. Then the tinkling sound chimed again! It was a little louder this time, like a delicate peal of silvery sleigh bells.

  Rachel cupped her hand to her ear. There it was again! Kirsty began to gently lift up the gloves and scarves on the table, peeking hopefully underneath each one. She felt sure there must be a fairy nearby!

  “Look at these,” she whispered, holding up a set of pink knitted mittens.

  Rachel’s heart fluttered. “The sound is coming from inside!”

  A stream of tiny musical notes shimmered around one of the mittens. The notes got brighter and brighter, until a little fairy popped her head out! Kirsty quickly turned the mitten around so no one else could see.

  “Hello again!” said the fairy. “Happy holidays!”

  Kirsty and Rachel beamed at each other. It was their old friend Melodie the Music Fairy. The last time they’d seen Melodie was at King Oberon and Queen Titania’s spectacular 1000th jubilee celebrations.

  “Happy holidays to you, too!” Kirsty said.

>   “How lovely to see you,” added Rachel, wondering if Melodie would know anything about the chaos at the Winter Fair. “Is everything all right in Fairyland?”

  Melodie climbed out of the mitten and smoothed down her pretty pink dress.

  “I’m afraid it’s not.” She frowned. “It’s not all right at all!”

  She explained that a very special musical instrument had been stolen from the Fairyland Palace.

  “We’ve lost a set of sparkly panpipes. They belong to my friend Angelica the Angel Fairy, a wonderful fairy who uses her magic to help us all be as good as we can be. Without the sparkly panpipes, fairies and humans can’t resist the temptation to cause trouble!” said Melodie.

  “That explains why the Brownies are behaving so badly,” said Rachel.

  “I bet I know who took the pipes,” whispered Kirsty. “Jack Frost!”

  Melodie stretched out her gorgeous pink wings and fluttered up to the window ledge.

  “You’re right!” She nodded, perching on the ledge. “But that’s not the only thing he’s taken. Angelica also looks after a snow-white feather and an enchanted name scroll. Santa Claus himself uses the scroll to decide who deserves presents each year. Goodness knows what will happen on Christmas Eve if we don’t get it back!”

  “But that’s only two days away!” cried Rachel. “We’ve got to do something!”

  Kirsty agreed. “We can’t waste a second.”

  Melodie’s face lit up. “Oh, thank you!” She clapped her tiny hands. “Will you come with me to Fairyland? We can’t let Jack Frost and his goblins get away with this!”

  “Of course,” chorused the girls.

  Kirsty cupped the fairy in her hands, then followed Rachel to the big tree. No one would be able to see them behind it! When they were ready, Melodie waved her wand and the enchanting sleigh-bell tune instantly began to play once more. She gently touched each of the friends’ heads with the tip of her wand, pink notes popping like glittering stars.

  “Close your eyes,” sang the fairy, her little voice perfectly in tune with the music.

  The girls felt themselves being swept up and twirled high into the air. It was like riding a magical merry-go-round!

  Kirsty and Rachel opened their eyes to the most wonderful sight in the world. The best friends were hand in hand, sliding down a shimmering rainbow! The musical notes from Melodie’s wand still sparkled and chimed all around them.

  “We’re fairies again!” whispered Kirsty excitedly.

  Rachel wiggled her shoulders and smiled. A perfect pair of gossamer wings were gently uncurling on her back. As the rainbow arched down toward the clouds, she found herself flying along next to Melodie and Kirsty. The friends darted left and right, tumbling and twirling through the wintry sky.

  Soon, red-and-white toadstools came into view below them, dotted up and down the snowy hillsides. Rachel could even see fairies fluttering between the little homes! She smiled and waved, but not one fairy waved back.

  “No one’s very cheerful today,” explained Melodie. “Some fairies are even refusing to clean up their toadstools!”

  “Oh my,” Rachel said. For a fairy, that really was very bad behavior! Without the sparkly panpipes, everyone was struggling to be their normal, helpful selves.

  Melodie led the girls to the shining turrets of the Fairyland Palace.

  “There’s Angelica!” said Melodie, pointing to the Seeing Pool.

  A lonely figure was perched on the edge of the pool, staring sadly into its frozen surface. Her softly feathered wings drooped. The girls could see her sweet face reflected on the ice, framed by a tumble of auburn curls.

  “H-hello,” said Angelica, doing her very best to smile. She was wearing a snow-white dress trimmed with swirling crystals. When the fairy stood up, her silk skirt swished gently around her.

  “We came as soon as we heard,” said Rachel. “We’re sorry that Jack Frost’s been up to no good again!”

  Angelica’s smile faded, her eyes brimming with silvery tears.

  “Each one of my magic objects is truly precious.” She sighed.

  The girls listened carefully as Angelica explained the objects’ special powers.

  “The sparkly panpipes bring peace, and help everyone be well-behaved. The snow-white feather is as pure as our hearts, a symbol of harmony that encourages us all to be gentle and kind.”

  “And the enchanted scroll?” asked Kirsty, her eyes filled with concern.

  Angelica put her face in her hands. “That is the most precious of all! The enchanted scroll records the names of every fairy and child who has been good. I give the scroll to Santa every Christmas Eve before he loads up his sleigh.”

  Melodie put her arm around Angelica’s shoulders.

  “If Santa doesn’t have his list of good children,” Angelica added, “he won’t know where to deliver his presents!”

  Rachel remembered all the children staying in Tippington Hospital. Unless she and Kirsty could help Angelica, their Christmas wouldn’t be happy or peaceful this year!

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll make sure Jack Frost gives everything back.”

  Kirsty nodded, adding, “And before Christmas, too!”

  Angelica’s face filled with hope. “Melodie promised you would help. Thank you so much!”

  At that very moment, a ray of sunlight passed over the Seeing Pool. A stunning golden firebird soared above the fairies’ heads, its plumes the color of flames.

  “Hey!” called a voice. “Wait for me!”

  A fairy in a flowing orange dress glided down to join the group. It was Erin the Phoenix Fairy, rushing to keep up with her best friend, Giggles! As soon as she saw Kirsty and Rachel, Erin’s face lit up.

  “We’ve come to find Jack Frost,” said Kirsty, “but we’re not sure where to start.”

  “Why don’t we ask the Seeing Pool?” suggested Erin, beckoning to Giggles.

  The firebird touched the edge of the pool with the tip of his tail feather and the ice instantly melted. The waters swirled, then parted to reveal a picture.

  “Look!” cried Angelica.

  Rachel peered into the pool and shivered. There was Jack Frost in his castle, blowing noisily on Angelica’s sparkly panpipes! His goblins hooted and laughed as he paraded up and down, blowing with all his might.

  “Those panpipes are fragile!” pointed out Melodie. “What if Jack Frost breaks them?”

  “We won’t let him,” insisted Kirsty.

  “We’ve got to go to the Ice Castle right away,” agreed Rachel. “Right this very second!”

  There was just enough time for Kirsty and Rachel to give Melodie and Erin a quick farewell hug before Angelica whisked them away to Jack Frost’s Ice Castle.

  The friends fluttered nervously above the castle’s jagged towers, which stood cold and unwelcoming in the bitter breeze. Down below them, dozens of goblins stomped noisily around the ramparts.

  “This way!” cried Kirsty, pointing to a crooked turret on the far wing. It was dripping in icicles, each one razor-sharp. The fairies darted into the tower through a cracked window.

  “Toot-toot-tooooot!”

  Inside, the tower echoed with the din of Jack Frost’s terrible pipe-playing. The fairies summoned up all their courage, then fluttered toward the terrible sound. The flights of steps spiraled down and down, finally coming to a stop in front of a pair of huge iron doors. Two goblin guards stood in front, clamping their mittens over their big green ears.

  “What a racket!” complained one. “He’s been hooting and tooting all morning!”

  “When will it stop?” yelled the other, scrunching up his eyes.

  The fairies pressed themselves against the cold stone wall.

  “That’s the Throne Room,” whispered Rachel. “The next time the doors open, try and slip in behind the guards.”

  Angelica and Kirsty both nodded in agreement.

  Suddenly a muffled voice started shouting from inside the Throne Room.

&
nbsp; “Where are my new decorations?” barked Jack Frost. “Take this trash away!”

  “Some people are never happy!” grumbled a goblin.

  Suddenly the great doors creaked opened, giving the fairies the chance they needed. As the goblin scuttled out, Kirsty, Rachel, and Angelica darted noiselessly into the hall. Jack Frost was standing in the center of the chamber, shouting and stamping his foot. A gaggle of goblins scowled and sulked in the corner.

  “I can see my sparkly panpipes,” said Angelica in a hushed voice. “They’re in his hand!”

  The fairies quickly hid themselves in the dazzling ice chandelier that hung over the throne. Kirsty perched herself on a diamond droplet just above Jack Frost’s head.

  “What happened in here?” she wondered, looking around.

  The Throne Room had been decorated for the holidays, but not in a way that the girls had ever seen before. Instead of brightening up the walls with tinsel and holly wreaths, the goblins had strung up spiderwebs and thorns! In one corner a spiky dead tree had been clumsily propped up in an old bucket.

  “Those pesky fairies say this instrument will make anyone well-behaved,” snorted Jack Frost, tooting on the panpipes as hard as he could. “What a pack of lies! You goblins are even more useless than usual!”

  “So what?” a goblin retorted, shrugging his shoulders.

  Jack Frost’s face turned white with rage.

  “So what?” he bellowed. “I told you I wanted the finest decorations in the kingdom and what do I get? Moldy webs and a tree that’s just a dead twig!”

  The dim-witted goblins looked over at the sorry tree, then burst into fits of laughter.

  “I bet there won’t be many presents under that this year!” said one.

  Jack Frost kicked the tree so hard that it fell to the ground.

  “Angelica!” he yelled furiously. “Those panpipes don’t work!”