Gwen the Beauty and the Beast Fairy Read online

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  Fairy Tale Creatures

  The Missing Pin

  Come to Me!

  Get That Pin!

  Two Beasts

  Creatures on Parade

  Teaser

  Copyright

  The Fairy Tale Fairies are in for a shock!

  Cinderella won’t run at the strike of the clock.

  No one can stop me—I’ve plotted and planned,

  And I’ll be the fairest one in all of the land.

  It will take someone handsome and witty and clever

  To stop storybook endings forever and ever.

  But to see fairies suffer great trouble and strife,

  Will make me live happily all of my life!

  “When I get back home, I’m going to try to make some of this fairy tale food,” Kirsty Tate said. “These Peter Pancakes are delicious!”

  “And so is this Fairyland Fruit Salad,” agreed her friend, Rachel Walker.

  The two girls were in the big dining room at Tiptop Castle. The tables were filled with boys and girls who had come for the Fairy Tale Festival. Each day, the festival organizers had fun activities planned for them.

  Just being in the castle was like living inside a fairy tale. The meals were served on pretty silver plates, and all the food had a fairy tale theme. The Peter Pancakes were shaped like fairy wings. The Fairyland Fruit Salad came in a crystal goblet with a tall stem.

  Kirsty sighed. “I wish this festival never had to end,” she said, taking another bite of pancake.

  A hush came over the room as Amy, one of the organizers, stood up. She was dressed as a princess in a pink dress with a pointy pink hat on top of her blond curls.

  “Good morning, fairy tale fans!” she began. “We have a very exciting event planned tonight. It’s the Creature Costume Party!”

  The kids all began to whisper excitedly.

  “There are many marvelous creatures in fairy tales,” Amy said. “Unicorns, dragons, talking bears—the possibilities are endless. We have set up the ballroom with all the supplies you will need to make your costumes for tonight. So have fun, and use your imaginations. There will be prizes for the best costumes!”

  Kirsty turned to Rachel. “It’s fun that we get to make our own costumes!”

  Rachel nodded. “I know. What do you think we should be?”

  “I don’t know.” Kirsty frowned. “A unicorn would be fun.”

  “I bet a lot of people are going to be unicorns,” said Rachel, looking thoughtful. “To win a prize, we should be something really different. Like a … a griffin!”

  “What’s a griffin?” asked Kirsty.

  “It’s a half-lion, half-eagle,” Rachel said.

  “A griffin sounds interesting,” Kirsty agreed. “Or maybe we could be some kind of sea serpent!”

  “We should look at the fairy tale books in the reading room,” Rachel suggested. “I’m sure we’ll find some good ideas there.”

  “That sounds like a great plan,” Kirsty said.

  Then Rachel looked around the dining room. She lowered her voice so only Kirsty could hear her. “Besides making our costumes for the party tonight, we also need to keep an eye out for the Fairy Tale Fairies.”

  “And for mean Jack Frost,” Kirsty added.

  Kirsty and Rachel were friends with the fairies in Fairyland. On their first day at Tiptop Castle, Hannah the Happily Ever After Fairy had come to see them. She took them to Fairy Tale Lane in Fairyland.

  There they learned that Jack Frost was causing trouble again. He had stolen the magic object belonging to each of the Fairy Tale Fairies! Jack Frost wanted the fairy tales to be all about him.

  Now the fairy tale characters were missing from their stories. Kirsty and Rachel had helped the Fairy Tale Fairies find four magic objects so far. But they still had three more objects to find—and three fairy tales to save.

  “So far, every character we’ve met has been somewhere in the castle,” Rachel said.

  “Or on the grounds,” Kirsty added. “The Frog Princess was hopping across the lawn.”

  “And Jack Frost was nearby every time!” Rachel said.

  The girls finished breakfast and left the dining room. They walked through the grand entrance hall. A glittering chandelier shimmered over their heads. In front of them, two suits of armor stood guard in front of a wide staircase.

  Rachel was about to open the door to the reading room when Kirsty nudged her.

  “Rachel, look!”

  A tall man came down the staircase. He wore a fancy blue velvet suit and a shirt with a ruffled collar. But his hands and face were covered in brown fur! He had pointy ears, a black nose, and tusks, too.

  “That must be one of the fairy tale organizers,” Rachel guessed. “He’s dressed like Beast from Beauty and the Beast.”

  Then they heard the sound of tinkling bells. The doorknob Rachel had just been holding shimmered with fairy magic. When the magic settled, a tiny fairy was perched there.

  “That is the Beast!” she cried.

  “Quick! In here!” Kirsty whispered.

  The fairy followed the girls as they ducked into the reading room. The Fairy Tale Festival was full of amazing sights. But Kirsty and Rachel would have a hard time explaining to everyone that they knew a real fairy!

  “Hello again, Kirsty and Rachel,” the fairy said. “I’m Gwen the Beauty and the Beast Fairy. I met you on Fairy Tale Lane.”

  Auburn curls bounced off her shoulders. She wore a pretty blue skirt with white polka dots and a white blouse with a skinny blue ribbon around the collar. A bright yellow cardigan sweater topped off the outfit.

  “If that is the Beast out there, that means that Jack Frost is up to no good,” Rachel said.

  Gwen nodded. “Jack Frost has my magic rose pin,” the fairy explained. “Without it, I can’t control the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. So that’s why the Beast is wandering around this castle. He is lost and very confused.”

  “Poor Beast!” Kirsty said.

  “Did somebody say Beast?” asked a voice behind them.

  The girls turned around. A young woman was standing by one of the tall bookshelves. She wore a long, pale blue skirt that touched her brown boots, and a white blouse with puffy sleeves. Her big, dark eyes looked worried.

  “Is your name Beauty?” Rachel asked.

  The woman nodded. She gazed at all the books, which were stacked up to the ceiling. “I am looking for a magical book that my friend Beast gave me,” she said. “One moment I had it, and the next moment, I didn’t. It must be in here somewhere. But this doesn’t look like Beast’s library at all.”

  “We have to help her!” Kirsty whispered to Gwen and Rachel.

  “The best way to help her is to find my missing rose pin,” replied Gwen. “That is the only way to get her and Beast back to their fairy tale.”

  “We have to find Jack Frost,” Rachel whispered.

  Beauty ran to another of the tall bookshelves. “I must find my book!” she muttered to herself.

  “What book is she looking for?” Kirsty asked.

  “In the fairy tale, Beast gives Beauty a magical book,” Gwen explained. “When she reads from it, the book will grant any wish she wants.”

  “That’s right!” said Rachel. “I remember reading that in the story.”

  Kirsty shuddered. “Imagine what Jack Frost would do if he had that book. He would probably wish to rule all of Fairyland!”

  Rachel’s blue eyes went wide. “Oh no! What if he already has the book?”

  Suddenly, they heard a voice behind one of the big shelves.

/>   “Welcome Beauty, banish fear.

  You are the real princess here.

  Speak your wishes, loud and true.

  And this book will obey you.”

  Gwen’s wings fluttered. “I know that voice! That’s Beauty’s book speaking!”

  The girls raced toward the sound of the voice. Gwen flew above their heads. They turned a corner and there was Jack Frost!

  Jack Frost hadn’t seen them yet. Gwen motioned the girls to hide behind a bookshelf.

  “Okay, book, I’m going to speak my wishes,” Jack Frost was saying to the thick book. It had a leather cover decorated with flowers and leaves.

  The girls noticed Gwen’s pin glittering on Jack Frost’s shirtfront.

  “There it is!” Gwen whispered.

  Then they heard the book speak. “Wait, you’re not Beauty! Good-bye and go away!” it said. And then it slammed shut!

  “But I am Beauty! This is my fairy tale now!” Jack Frost cried. He angrily stomped his foot.

  Just then, the real Beauty ran up the aisle toward Jack Frost. Before the girls or Gwen could do anything, she reached out to grab the book. “That’s mine! Beast gave it to me. What are you doing with it?” she asked Jack Frost.

  Jack Frost scowled. “No way! It’s mine now!” he yelled, clutching the book to his chest. With a flash of light and a cloud of icy magic, Jack Frost disappeared from the library.

  “No!” Beauty yelled. “Oh dear. I must find Beast!” Beauty turned and hurried out of the library.

  “Poor Beauty.” Gwen looked distraught. “I’m going to follow her and make sure she’s okay. You girls keep an eye out for Jack Frost,” she told them. “I’m sure he’s still somewhere in the castle.”

  “We’ll look everywhere for him!” Kirsty promised as Gwen fluttered away.

  “We should start inside the castle, and then go outside,” Rachel suggested.

  The girls quickly began their search. Downstairs, they looked in the dining room, the ballroom, and the kitchen. Then they went upstairs and walked up and down every hallway looking for him. Finally, they climbed the castle’s tall turrets.

  Rachel gazed out the window at the castle grounds below.

  “He could be anywhere,” she said with a sigh.

  “We’ve got to keep looking,” said Kirsty. “Think of poor Beauty and the Beast, lost outside their fairy tale!”

  Rachel nodded. “Let’s go.”

  They ran all the way downstairs and began searching the castle grounds. First, they looked in the courtyard. The water in the shell-shaped fountain bubbled happily, but there was no sign of Jack Frost.

  They walked over the moat, but they didn’t see Jack Frost there, either. They walked through the rose garden. They saw Beauty happily smelling the roses, but there was no sign of Jack Frost.

  Kirsty spotted Gwen hiding in a rose bloom.

  “I think Beauty’s okay for now,” she said. “But the sooner we get my magic rose pin back, the better!”

  The girls nodded. Gwen tucked herself into Rachel’s pocket so they could continue their search without anyone spotting her.

  Then the sound of a bell rang across the castle grounds.

  “Is it time for lunch already?” asked Rachel.

  “We’ve been looking for Jack Frost all morning!” said Kirsty. She patted her stomach. “I guess I am pretty hungry.”

  “The organizers will be worried if we don’t show up,” Rachel said. “Let’s eat fast and keep looking for the rose pin.”

  The girls went back inside the castle and quickly ate their lunch of Princess Pasta Salad and cucumber sandwiches cut into crown shapes. Gwen kept out of sight in Rachel’s pocket.

  As they ate, Rachel and Kirsty noticed the other kids at their table were talking about the costumes they were making. Some of them had paint streaks on their faces and glitter on their clothes.

  “We have been so busy looking for Jack Frost, we forgot about our creature costumes!” said Kirsty.

  Rachel looked thoughtful. “Well, we’ve looked everywhere we can. I think we can probably start our costumes after lunch. Besides, Jack Frost usually turns up when we least expect him, anyway!”

  Kirsty nodded. “That’s for sure.”

  “I hope you’re right, girls,” Gwen whispered. “If he doesn’t show up soon, we might have to visit his Ice Castle.” She shuddered. No fairy was a fan of his frozen palace.

  The girls finished lunch and headed for the ballroom. Tables had been set up with all kinds of craft supplies: felt, fake fur, feathers, glue, pom-poms, and more. Groups of kids crowded around the supplies, or spread their work-in-progress costumes on the floor.

  Kirsty’s eyes went wide. “I think everything in the craft store is here!”

  “We should look around,” said Rachel. “Maybe we’ll get an idea for our costumes.”

  As they approached the tables, they heard a loud, demanding voice coming from a corner of the room.

  “Obey me, book! I am Beauty!”

  “I know that voice!” Kirsty cried.

  None other than Jack Frost stood behind one of the craft tables in a corner of the ballroom. He was angrily shaking Beauty’s book. Gwen’s magic rose pin still glittered on his shirt. Even though Jack Frost was being loud, no one was paying much attention to him.

  “Everyone must think he’s practicing his fairy tale character for the ball tonight,” Rachel guessed. “Let’s sneak over there and see what he’s up to.”

  “Be careful girls,” Gwen whispered.

  Kirsty and Rachel ducked behind the table next to Jack Frost. He slammed down the book and frowned.

  “If this book won’t make my wishes come true, then my goblins will!” he cried. He clapped his hands, motioning four green goblins toward him. The goblins were all dressed as fairy tale animals, so the girls hadn’t immediately noticed them in the crowd of kids. One was dressed as a bear, one as a cat, one as a wolf, and one as a mouse.

  “I want to use all this stuff to make a beautiful princess dress. Once I’m dressed like Beauty, this book will have to obey me!” said Jack Frost. “I need some glitter. Glitter, come to me!”

  The goblins looked at one another and scratched their heads.

  “I want the glitter to magically come to me,” Jack Frost growled. “That means one of you needs to go get it for me!”

  The goblin dressed as a cat nodded and ran to find glitter. He knocked over a box of feathers in the process, and they flew all over the ballroom.

  “Yarn, come to me!” Jack Frost yelled, and the goblin dressed as a bear leaped up, looking for yarn. He ran up to a boy holding a ball of green yarn and grabbed it right out of his hands.

  “Hey!” cried the boy.

  “Feathers, come to me! Ribbons, come to me!” Jack Frost yelled, and the other two goblins jumped into action.

  The one dressed as a mouse tried to grab the feathers that were floating in the air. He bumped into a nearby table, and tubs of paint and glue crashed to the ground.

  The goblin dressed as a wolf hurried up to a girl holding a long blue ribbon. He took it right from her!

  “Give that back!” the girl yelled. The ballroom quickly descended into noisy chaos as kids and goblins started to argue.

  “Oh dear,” whispered Gwen. “This is a disaster!”

  Kirsty turned to Rachel. “We have to stop Jack Frost and his goblins before this gets any worse!”

  Rachel nodded. The girls stood up—and found themselves staring right into the face of the mouse goblin.

  “Hey, it’s those girls!” the goblin called out.

  “Get them!” Jack Frost yelled.

  Kirsty grabbed Rachel’s hand.

  “Run!” she cried.

  The mouse goblin lunged for them and then tripped over a spilled bag of fuzzy pom-poms. The other three goblins charged after them from across the room.

  “They’re so fast!” Rachel cried, looking over her shoulder.

  Kirsty quickly pulled her behind a big bi
n of fabric.

  “But the goblins will find us here,” Rachel said.

  Kirsty grinned. “Not if we put on a disguise.”

  Rachel knew exactly what Kirsty was thinking. She grabbed a long piece of blue fabric. “Got it!” Rachel said.

  The girls quickly wrapped the fabric around themselves. They wrapped it from their feet to their heads, leaving room for their eyes. They finished just as the goblins ran up.

  Kirsty jumped up first.

  “Aaaargh!” she cried. “We are the …”

  “… the blue mummies!” Rachel said, jumping up next to her.

  “Aaaah!” wailed the mouse goblin, covering his eyes.

  “Blue mummies!” yelled the bear goblin.

  “I want my mommy!” cried the wolf goblin.

  “I don’t remember reading about blue mummies in my fairy tale book,” the cat goblin said. But his friends were already tugging him away from the girls as fast as they could.

  Rachel pulled the blue fabric away from her face and grinned at Rachel. “It worked!” she cried, unwinding the rest of her costume.

  Gwen fluttered up out of her pocket, and hovered behind the fabric bin. “Good job! Now, I think it’s time I turned you girls into fairies. Those goblins are sure to be back any moment.”

  Kirsty and Rachel looked at each other and smiled. They loved being turned into fairies!

  “Crouch down again, so no one will see you,” Gwen said. Then she waved her wand.

  The air glittered with fairy magic. Tiny, sparkling roses with stems appeared in the air. The glittering magic surrounded Kirsty and Rachel. They could feel themselves getting smaller as tiny wings sprouted on their shoulders.

  The girls fluttered up to a large chandelier in the center of the room. With all the glitter and feathers drifting through the air, they knew no one would notice them.

  Below, they could see that the goblins had returned to running around, grabbing whatever items Jack Frost needed. Most of the actual kids were abandoning their costumes and leaving the ballroom.