Nora the Arctic Fox Fairy

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  Moonlight Magic

  Paw Prints in the Snow

  Sled Ride

  Dazzle in Distress

  The Seventh Key Chain

  Farewell to Wild Woods

  Teaser

  Copyright

  “Isn’t it a beautiful evening?” Rachel Walker remarked to her best friend, Kirsty Tate. They stared up at the night sky dotted with tiny, glittering stars. The evening air was warm and still, and above the trees the moon shone with a pale, silvery light.

  “It’s a perfect way to end our week at Wild Woods,” Kirsty agreed. The girls had volunteered to spend part of their summer vacation at the nature reserve near Kirsty’s home, learning how to be junior rangers. Now it was their last day, and all the volunteers were waiting outside the wildlife center for Becky, the head of Wild Woods, to join them for a special evening.

  “It’s really nice of Becky to take us on a moonlit walk,” Rachel said. “I hope we see lots of different animals.”

  “Becky said it was a special treat because we’d all worked so hard,” Kirsty reminded her. “Even though we also have our badges as proof!”

  Both girls gazed proudly at the pockets of their backpacks, which were covered with badges. Every time they’d completed their tasks successfully, Becky had given them a badge, and the girls had six so far.

  There was a murmur of excitement as Becky hurried out of the wildlife center, carrying a bag of equipment.

  “We have a wonderful evening for our walk,” Becky said. “But to make the most of it, you’ll all need one of these!” She took a flashlight out of the bag and turned it on. Rachel and Kirsty were surprised to see the flashlight glow red. “These flashlights have special red filters that allow you to see in the dark,” Becky went on, handing the flashlights out. “But they won’t disturb wildlife like a bright yellow beam would. So keep your eyes peeled for animals that only come out at night!”

  “And we should keep our eyes peeled for fairies, too!” Kirsty whispered to Rachel excitedly.

  While they were working at the nature reserve, the girls had also been helping the seven Baby Animal Rescue Fairies. The fairies had been busy protecting wildlife from Jack Frost and his goblins. When Rachel and Kirsty arrived at Wild Woods, they’d been delighted to meet their old friend from Fairyland, Bertram a frog footman. Bertram had taken them to visit the Fairyland Nature Reserve, but Jack Frost and his goblins turned up to ruin everyone’s fun. Jack Frost had announced that he wanted animals for his very own zoo! With one bolt of icy magic from his wand, he’d stolen the Baby Animal Rescue Fairies’ magic, animal-shaped key chains. Then Jack Frost had given the special charms to his goblins and sent them spinning away to the human world. He had ordered the goblins to find animals for his zoo.

  Rachel and Kirsty had offered to help the Baby Animal Rescue Fairies get their key chains back, so the fairies worked their magic and gave the girls the power to talk to animals.

  “It’s been so much fun talking to all the animals we’ve met,” Rachel said as everyone followed Becky into the woods. “And the magic has helped us rescue six baby animals from Jack Frost and his goblins, too.”

  “Now we only have Nora the Arctic Fox Fairy’s key chain to find,” Kirsty pointed out. “Then all wildlife will be safe from Jack Frost, and the animals won’t end up in his private zoo!”

  “Let’s stay a little behind the others,” Rachel suggested. “Just in case we do meet a fairy!”

  Becky led the junior rangers down a winding path through the trees, with Kirsty and Rachel at the rear. Suddenly, they heard a hooting noise.

  “Hoo! Hoo!”

  “An owl!” Becky declared, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Keep still, everyone.”

  Seconds later a brown and white owl swooped past them, its amber eyes glinting in the moonlight. Everyone gasped with delight.

  The owl landed in a tree near the girls, and gazed down at them.

  “Lovely evening,” the owl hooted softly.

  “Yes, it is,” Kirsty murmured, hoping the others wouldn’t hear.

  After walking for a short distance, Becky came to another stop. “Here are some tracks in the dirt,” Becky said, pointing at the ground. “Can anyone guess what animal made these footprints?”

  The junior rangers gathered around her. Rachel and Kirsty were about to join them when they heard a noise in the bushes close by.

  “It was I who made those tracks!” whispered a deep voice.

  Rachel pointed her flashlight into the undergrowth. The girls saw a badger sniffing around in the leaves, his eyes bright in the moonlight.

  “Oh, hello!” Kirsty said.

  “Good evening,” the badger replied, scurrying busily away.

  “We’d better go,” Rachel said, noticing that Becky and the others had moved on.

  Rachel turned off her flashlight. As she did, Kirsty spotted the glimmer of something deep in the undergrowth. It was glittering in the moonlight. Kirsty wondered if it was another animal. But, if so, what on earth could it be?

  “Rachel, there’s something sparkly among the leaves!” Kirsty whispered.

  This time both girls turned their flashlights on. And there, in the red glow, they saw Nora the Arctic Fox Fairy perched on a branch right in front of them!

  “Hello, girls!” Nora called. She waved up at them and grinned.

  “Have you been expecting me, girls?” Nora asked, twirling up into the air. She wore a blue dress printed with red hearts, and a snug vest made of white faux fur. The ends of her long blond hair were dip-dyed gorgeous shades of pink and purple.

  “We have been looking for you, Nora,” Kirsty replied.

  “We only have one key chain left to find now,” Nora said, landing on Rachel’s shoulder. “Mine! Girls, I need your help. A little fox cub named Dazzle has gone missing. I don’t know if Jack Frost has anything to do with her disappearance, but we must find Dazzle and bring her safely home.”

  “Of course!” Kirsty replied. “We’re ready!” The girls turned off their flashlights and with one flick of Nora’s wand, fairy sparkles floated gently down around them. Then Rachel and Kirsty were lifted off their feet and swept far away from Wild Woods.

  Just a heartbeat later, the girls found themselves in an icy, frozen land. The snow-covered ground glittered beneath the moonlit sky, and a harsh wind was blowing, whipping up flurries of snowflakes in the distance.

  “Where are we?” Kirsty asked. She was glad that Nora’s magic had provided both girls with hooded parkas, wool-lined boots, and cozy hats, scarves, and mittens.

  “I thought foxes lived in forests or fields,” Rachel added, puzzled. She couldn’t see a single tree or plant anywhere on the frozen landscape.

  “Girls, this is the Arctic tundra,” Nora explained. “Arctic foxes live near the North Pole, and the ground is frozen here for most of the year. Not much can grow.”

  Kirsty could see tracks in the thick snow around her feet. “These are paw prints,” she said, looking more closely. “And they’re fairly small, too. I wonder what animal made them.”

  “Let’s follow the trail,” Nora suggested.

  The girls walked across the crisp, deep snow, Nora flying alongside. After a few moments they arrived at a mound of snow with a small hole dug in the side.

  “This is a fox’s den,” Nora told them. “I think Dazzle and her family live here. Let’s go inside.”

  Nora shook her wand and a few fairy sparkles, shining brightly against the white snow, tumbled gently onto Rachel and Kirsty. Immediately, the girls began to shrink, stopping only when they were the exact same size as Nora herself.
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br />   The three of them flew into the foxhole. As they moved along the network of tunnels, going deeper underground, Kirsty was surprised by how warm and sheltered it felt beneath the blanket of thick snow.

  At last, they reached the den. Rachel exclaimed in delight as she spotted four fox cubs cuddled together, their long, fluffy tails curled neatly around them. The cubs had thick fur, as white as the snow, and adorable little faces with small black noses and bright black eyes.

  “Hello, cubs,” Nora said. “Has Dazzle come home yet?”

  The cubs looked worried.

  “No, she hasn’t,” the biggest cub squeaked anxiously.

  “And we can’t tell our mom because she’s out hunting,” added one of the others.

  “We’ll find Dazzle and bring her home,” Nora told the fox cubs.

  “Thank you!” they barked in chorus.

  Nora and the girls said good-bye to the fox cubs and then set off through the maze of tunnels again. When they reached the surface, Kirsty zoomed out of the hole first, only to be hit by a swirling mass of snow that knocked the breath out of her.

  “Oh!” Kirsty gasped, realizing it had begun snowing heavily while they were inside the hole. She tried to flutter upward, but the snow was falling so thickly, it was impossible to fly. The huge snowflakes knocked Kirsty out of the air, forcing her to land on the ground. Rachel and Nora fought their way through the blizzard and joined her.

  “What are we going to do?” Rachel panted despairingly, shaking the snow from her hood. “How on earth are we going to find Dazzle if we can barely get off the ground?”

  Kirsty, Rachel, and Nora stared at one another in dismay. Then, to her surprise, Kirsty heard the sound of jingling bells, followed by the noise of dogs yapping.

  “Someone’s coming!” Kirsty said breathlessly.

  Rachel peered through the whirling snowflakes. She could just make out a wooden sled pulled by dogs skimming across the snow. A young Inuit boy dressed in warm clothes was holding the dogs’ reins, urging them on.

  “Maybe he can help us,” Rachel suggested eagerly.

  Nora nodded. “Quickly, girls, let me turn you back to your human size before he disappears!” she said.

  The girls immediately ducked behind a snowdrift so that Nora could work her magic. Then they waded out again, hoping the boy hadn’t gone very far. To Rachel’s relief, she saw that the sled had stopped nearby.

  “Good luck, girls,” Nora told them. “I’d better hide!”

  Rachel tucked the little fairy safely inside her hood. Then she and Kirsty hurried through the falling snow toward the boy. He was speaking to his dogs, patting their heads, one by one.

  “Hello!” Kirsty called, brushing the snowflakes from her nose.

  The boy turned and gazed at them in surprise. “Hello,” he replied. “I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone! Who are you?”

  “I’m Rachel, and this is Kirsty,” Rachel explained.

  “I’m Miko,” the boy said, his dark eyes warm and friendly. “I’m going to visit my grandmother, but I think something’s wrong with one of my dogs.”

  Kirsty glanced at the dogs. They had thick brown and white fur and curling tails, and they looked fit and strong, but Kirsty could hear one of them whimpering softly.

  “Oh, my paw really hurts!”

  Rachel heard it, too, and she and Kirsty exchanged a knowing glance.

  “Maybe I could check the dogs for you, Miko,” Kirsty suggested.

  “Thank you,” Miko said gratefully.

  While Kirsty went to find the injured dog, Rachel stayed with Miko. “This place is amazing,” Rachel said as more snow settled around them, glittering like white diamonds in the silver moonlight. “There’s so much snow and ice! Does it ever melt?”

  “Yes, in summer the snow disappears,” Miko explained. “The summer season is very short here, but the sun shines all the time, even at midnight!”

  “That’s amazing!” Rachel gasped.

  “Something even more amazing happens here in winter,” Miko told her. “If you’re lucky, you can see the Northern Lights!”

  “The Northern Lights?” Rachel repeated.

  “It’s a big, colorful display of lights in the night sky,” Miko said. “My dad explained to me exactly how nature makes the Northern Lights happen, but I just like to think of it as something magical and beautiful.”

  By now Kirsty had found the whimpering dog. She knelt down next to him.

  “What’s the matter?” Kirsty whispered, concerned.

  “I have something stuck in my paw,” the dog panted, holding up one of his front legs. “Please help me!”

  Gently, Kirsty checked the dog’s paw and right away she spotted a sharp sliver of ice stuck in his soft pad. Grasping the ice with her mittened hand, she eased it out carefully.

  “Thank you!” the dog barked.

  “Your dog’s fine now,” Kirsty called to Miko. “He had some ice stuck in his paw, but I took it out.”

  “Poor Shika!” Miko hurried over to pat the dog. “Thank you, Kirsty. I’m sure Shika would say thank you, too, if he could.”

  Kirsty laughed. “Yes, I’m sure he would!” she agreed.

  “Now, is there anything I can do to help you?” Miko asked. “I see you don’t have a sled. Can I take you somewhere?”

  “We’re searching for a missing fox cub,” Kirsty explained. “Would you help us look for her?”

  “Of course!” Miko agreed eagerly.

  Then Rachel heard Nora whisper urgently to her from inside her hood.

  “Rachel, look—in the distance!”

  The snow had stopped falling now and Rachel could see across the frozen plain. There, silhouetted against the stark white landscape, she could see another sled zooming along. This sled was nothing like Miko’s simple wooden one, though—it was blue, and much fancier. Rachel could see that the sled was decorated with glittering icicles twisted into wintry shapes. The driver was wearing a coat with a hood pulled over his face as if to disguise himself, but Rachel could see he was tall and thin with a long nose and a frozen beard.

  “Look, Kirsty, it’s Jack Frost!” Rachel gasped. “I bet he kidnapped Dazzle!”

  “Let’s go after him!” Miko cried.

  Rachel and Kirsty jumped onto the sled behind Miko. He gathered up the reins and called out to the dogs, who immediately took off, pulling the sled along with them. Kirsty gasped as the freezing wind whirled around them, turning her cheeks red. She was utterly amazed at the speed they were traveling as they glided smoothly across the snow, the dogs running as fast as they could.

  “We’re catching up!” Rachel said as they got closer to Jack Frost’s sled.

  As Miko got closer to Jack Frost, Kirsty leaned forward to look into the other sled. She caught a glimpse of a ball of white fur on the seat next to Jack Frost.

  “It’s Dazzle!” Kirsty gasped.

  “STOP!” Rachel yelled at the top of her lungs. “Let that little fox cub go!” Jack Frost turned and shot her a freezing glare, but he didn’t stop.

  “No way!” Jack Frost roared. He was so loud he scared Miko’s dogs, and they started barking. “My useless goblins were lousy at collecting animals, so I decided to get one for myself! And an Arctic fox is the perfect creature for the zoo at my Ice Castle!”

  “What’s he saying?” Miko asked. “I can’t hear because of the dogs.”

  “He wants the fox cub for his zoo,” Kirsty explained.

  “His zoo?” Miko exclaimed, shocked. “That’s terrible!”

  “How can we get Dazzle back, Kirsty?” Rachel wondered as Jack Frost yelled at his dogs to go even faster.

  Kirsty thought hard as Miko’s dogs, unsettled by Jack Frost, continued to bark noisily. Suddenly, the dogs themselves gave her an idea.

  “Rachel, I’m sure Jack Frost’s dogs would stop if we told them their master had kidnapped a little fox cub!” Kirsty whispered hopefully. “But we’d have to do it without Miko seeing that we can talk to animals.�
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  “Great idea,” Rachel agreed. “I’m sure we could find a way to distract Miko.” She suddenly remembered her conversation with Miko earlier and smiled. “I think I know how!”

  Quickly, Rachel took off her hood and Nora peeked out.

  “Miko told me the Northern Lights are magical and amazing,” Rachel went on. “I’m sure they would distract him while we try to rescue Dazzle!”

  “Let’s see what I can do,” Nora whispered, pointing her wand at the black night sky.

  The girls watched a shower of dazzling sparks burst from the wand like an exploding firework. Immediately, great ribbons of green light tinted with pink and violet formed across the sky, swirling and dancing in the darkness like giant flames.

  “Look, Miko!” Rachel shouted, pointing at the sky.

  “It’s the Northern Lights!” Miko gasped excitedly, slowing the sled down to get a better look.

  “Let’s go, girls,” Nora said. One wave of her wand transformed Rachel and Kirsty into fairies once more. Then they zoomed off toward Jack Frost’s sled, while Miko stopped and gazed in awe at the spectacular lights above them.

  Jack Frost had also slowed down a little to enjoy the magical display. He was so entranced, he didn’t notice the fairies fly past him. “This light show must have been put on in my honor!” Rachel heard him murmuring boastfully.

  Nora and the girls flew until they were right above the dogs pulling the sled.

  “Please stop!” Kirsty begged them. “Your master has kidnapped a baby animal!”

  “Kidnapped?” all the dogs barked together in amazement, and they came to a dead stop. They stopped so suddenly that Jack Frost was almost thrown out of the sled.

  “Come on, move!” Jack Frost shouted, shaking the reins. “MOVE!” But the dogs stayed where they were. Grumbling loudly, Jack Frost climbed out of the sled, leaving Dazzle huddled miserably on the seat.