Holly the Christmas Fairy Read online

  Contents

  Santa’s Missing Sleigh

  A Magical Mistake

  Christmas Chaos

  Buttons on the Loose!

  Grumpy Goblins

  Holly’s Magic Trick

  A Narrow Escape

  Christmas Shopping

  Santa’s Workshop

  Not the Real Santa!

  The Chase Is On!

  The Great Escape

  The Night Before Christmas

  Winter Wonderland

  The Ice Castle

  Caught!

  A Magical Journey

  A Fairy Merry Christmas

  “Only three days to go!” Rachel Walker said, sighing happily. She was attaching Christmas cards to long pieces of red ribbon, so that she could hang them on the living room wall. “I love Christmas! Don’t you, Kirsty?”

  Kirsty Tate, Rachel’s best friend, nodded. “Of course,” she replied, handing Rachel another pile of cards. “It’s a magical time of year!”

  Rachel and Kirsty laughed, and touched the golden lockets they both wore around their necks. The two girls shared a wonderful secret. No one else knew it, but they were friends with the fairies! Kirsty and Rachel had visited Fairyland several times when their fairy friends needed help. The first time, they had rescued the Rainbow Fairies after they were cast out of Fairyland by nasty Jack Frost. Then Jack Frost and his goblin servants had stolen the magical tail feathers from Doodle, the rooster that controlled the weather in Fairyland. The girls had helped the Weather Fairies get all of Doodle’s feathers back.

  In return, the Fairy King and Queen had given Rachel and Kirsty each a gold locket. The lockets were full of magical fairy dust. The girls could use it to take them to Fairyland whenever they needed help from the fairies.

  “Thanks for inviting me to visit,” said Kirsty, cutting another piece of ribbon. “Mom says she and Dad will pick me up on Christmas Eve.”

  “We might get some snow before then!” Rachel said, smiling. “The weather’s getting much colder. I wonder what Christmas is like in Fairyland.”

  Just then, the door opened and Mrs. Walker came into the room. She was followed by Buttons, Rachel’s friendly, shaggy dog. He was white with gray patches and had a long, furry tail.

  “Oh, girls, that looks great!” Rachel’s mom exclaimed when she saw the cards hanging on the wall. “We’ll go over to Hillfields Farm and pick out a Christmas tree tonight.”

  “Hooray!” Rachel cried. “Can Kirsty and I decorate it?”

  “We were hoping you would!” Mrs. Walker laughed. “You can get the decorations out of the garage after lunch.”

  “Buttons seems to love Christmas, too,” Kirsty said, smiling. The dog was sniffing around the cards and ribbons.

  “He does,” Rachel replied. “Every year, I buy him some doggie treats and wrap them up. And every year, he finds them and eats them before Christmas!”

  Buttons wagged his tail. Then he grabbed the end of a ribbon in his mouth and ran off, trailing red ribbon behind him.

  “Buttons, no!” Rachel yelled. She and Kirsty ran after him to get the ribbon back.

  When the girls had finished hanging the Christmas cards, they had some hot soup for lunch. Then Rachel took Kirsty out to the garage to find the boxes of decorations.

  “It’s getting colder,” Kirsty said, shivering. “Maybe it will snow!”

  “I hope so,” Rachel replied. She switched on the garage light. “The decorations are up there.” She pointed at a shelf above the workbench. “I’ll stand on the stepladder and hand the boxes down to you.”

  “OK,” Kirsty agreed.

  Rachel climbed up the ladder and began to pass the boxes down. They were full of silver stars, shiny tinsel, and glittering balls in pink, purple, and silver.

  “I hope you have a fairy for the top of the tree,” Kirsty joked as Rachel handed her a box.

  “No, we don’t!” Rachel laughed. “We’ve always had a silver star, but it’s getting old now. Be careful, Kirsty,” she continued, lifting another box off the shelf. “This one has all sorts of things sticking out of it.

  “Oh!” Rachel gasped in surprise.

  The gold locket around her neck had caught on a tiny, sparkling wreath made of twigs. The locket burst open, scattering both girls with fairy dust.

  “Oh, no!” Rachel cried, scrambling down from the ladder.

  “What should we do?” Kirsty asked.

  But they didn’t have time to do anything. Suddenly, both girls were caught up in a swirling cloud of fairy dust that swept them off their feet. The sparkles whirled around them, glittering in the pale winter light.

  “Kirsty, we’re shrinking!” Rachel cried. “I think we’re on our way to Fairyland!”

  The girls weren’t scared. This had happened to them before! But as they whirled through the clouds toward Fairyland, Rachel felt a little embarrassed. She hadn’t meant to use her magic fairy dust at all — it was an accident!

  “Don’t worry,” called Kirsty, noticing the look on Rachel’s face. “It will be great to see our fairy friends again.”

  Soon the girls spotted the red-and-white toadstool houses of Fairyland below, and then the silver palace with its four pink towers. As Rachel and Kirsty drifted closer to the palace, they could see a crowd of fairies waving at them. There was King Oberon and Queen Titania with the Rainbow Fairies and all of the Weather Fairies, too.

  Even Doodle, the fairy rooster, had come to greet them. “Hello!” called Ruby and Sunny. “It’s wonderful to see you!” cried Pearl and Storm. As the girls landed on the ground, the fairies crowded around them.

  Rachel quickly tried to explain. “I’m sorry,” she gasped. “We didn’t mean to come. It was an accident.”

  The queen smiled. “No, it wasn’t an accident!” she said in her silvery voice. “Fairy magic made your locket open. I’m afraid we need your help again, girls!”

  The two friends turned to look at each other in surprise, their eyes wide.

  “Is it Jack Frost again?” Kirsty asked.

  “We’ll tell you all about it,” replied the queen. “But first …” She waved her wand at Rachel’s locket. It filled with fairy dust again and swung shut.

  “Now,” the king said, turning to the fairies. “Where is Holly the Christmas Fairy?”

  Kirsty and Rachel watched eagerly as Holly came forward. They had never met the Christmas Fairy before! She had long dark hair, and wore a red dress that was exactly the same color as a holly berry. Her dress had a hood with fuzzy white trim. Even though Holly was the Christmas Fairy, she looked awfully sad.

  “Holly is in charge of putting the sparkle into Christmas,” Queen Titania explained.

  “That’s right,” Holly said, sighing. “I organize Santa’s elves and I teach the reindeer to fly. It’s my job to make sure that Christmas is as sparkly and happy as possible.”

  “But this year, Jack Frost is causing trouble,” the king told them. “He had said he was sorry for everything he’d done and promised to behave.”

  “But now, he’s up to his old tricks again,” Queen Titania added.

  “What happened?” Rachel asked.

  “Well, Jack Frost sent a letter to Santa Claus asking for presents,” the king revealed. “But he got a letter back! It said that he’d been so naughty, he wouldn’t get any presents at all this year!”

  “We’ll show you what Jack Frost did next,” said the queen. She waved her wand over a small pool of blue water on the ground. The water bubbled and fizzed, and then became smooth as glass.

  Pictures appeared on the surface. Kirsty and Rachel could see a big log cabin at night. It was surrounded by deep snow, and icicles hung from the wooden roof. The cabin
was full of toys! There were dolls, puzzles, bikes, games, and books, all lying around in huge piles. Kirsty and Rachel had never seen so many toys.

  “Oh!” Kirsty gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth. “Rachel, look!”

  In the corner of the cabin stood a beautiful wooden rocking horse. Someone was painting gold patterns onto the rockers. He was dressed in red and white, and had a jolly face with a long white beard.

  “It’s Santa Claus!” Rachel cried happily.

  Then the picture changed to show the outside of the cabin again. There, the girls could see Santa’s sleigh. It was silver and white, and sparkled with magic. Eight reindeer were harnessed to the sleigh. They were all waiting patiently, shaking their antlers every so often.

  Lots of little elves wearing bright green scurried around the sleigh, filling it with presents. The bells on the tips of their hats tinkled merrily as they rushed back and forth with armfuls of presents.

  Kirsty and Rachel were so excited, they almost forgot why they were watching. But then, just as the sleigh was filled with presents, Jack Frost appeared.

  As Kirsty and Rachel watched, Jack Frost peeked out from behind the log cabin. When the elves had left the sleigh, he ran over to it and jumped in. Grabbing the reins, Jack Frost shouted a spell to make the reindeer obey him. And then, the sleigh lifted off the ground and zoomed off into the starry night sky.

  As soon as the elves saw what was happening, they chased Jack Frost. But the magic sleigh was much too fast for them to catch.

  “Oh, no!” Kirsty cried. “He stole Santa’s sleigh!”

  “So now you see why we need your help,” said Queen Titania as the pictures faded away. “Holly has to find Santa’s sleigh and return it before Christmas Eve. Otherwise, Christmas will be ruined for children around the world!”

  “We think Jack Frost has taken the sleigh to your world,” Holly added. “He loves parties, so he won’t want to miss Christmas. Will you help me track him down?”

  “Of course we will,” Rachel and Kirsty replied together.

  Holly smiled. “Thank you!” she cried, giving both girls a hug.

  “Where should we start?” asked Rachel.

  “Like usual, the magic will come to you,” Queen Titania said with a smile. “You will know when you’re on the right track. And Holly will help. But there is just one more thing you need to know….” The queen waved her wand over the pool again. The girls watched as an image of three presents appeared in the water. They were wrapped in beautiful golden paper and tied with big bows that glittered in every color of the rainbow.

  “These three presents were on the sleigh when Jack Frost took it. They are very special,” the queen explained. “Please try to find them all!”

  “We’ll do our best,” said Kirsty, while Rachel nodded.

  The king stepped forward, holding a golden bag. “This will help you defeat Jack Frost,” he said. He opened the bag and showed the girls a sparkling fairy crown. “It has powerful magic. If Jack Frost puts this on his head, he will immediately be brought here, where he will appear before me and Queen Titania.”

  Kirsty took the bag and put the strap over her shoulder.

  “Good luck, Rachel and Kirsty!” called the queen. She raised her wand and sent another shower of fairy dust whirling and swirling around the girls.

  “We’re back!” Rachel said as the sparkling clouds of fairy dust cleared. The girls were in the Walkers’ garage again.

  “And we’re back to normal size,” Kirsty added, brushing a speck of fairy dust from her jeans. “Poor Holly. I hope we can help her.”

  “We’ll find Jack Frost!” said Rachel. “But we’d better take these Christmas decorations inside now. Mom will wonder where we’ve been.”

  Kirsty dropped the tiny golden bag into her pocket for safekeeping. Then she helped Rachel carry the boxes into the house. Once the girls were inside, they started looking through the decorations.

  “I see what you mean about this star,” Kirsty said, holding up a big, tattered silver star.

  “Maybe Mom will let me buy something new for the top of the tree,” replied Rachel. “I’d love to have a fairy this year!”

  The girls spent the rest of the afternoon sorting through the decorations. Rachel’s dad got home from work at six o’clock, and then they all went to Hillfields Farm to pick out a Christmas tree.

  “It looks like everyone else had the same idea!” Rachel’s mom said as the car pulled up outside the farm. Lots of people were looking at Christmas trees.

  There seemed to be hundreds of trees in all shapes and sizes.

  “At least there are plenty of trees!” Kirsty laughed.

  “And we’ll find the perfect one,” Rachel added, climbing out of the car.

  The two girls hurried across the parking lot, and Mr. and Mrs. Walker followed with Buttons. The evening was cold and clear, and stars glittered in the dark sky.

  “Don’t pick one that’s too big,” called Mrs. Walker. “We’ll never get it through the front door.”

  Rachel and Kirsty wandered up and down the rows of trees. But they couldn’t seem to find one that was just right. They were all too big, too small, too bushy, or too skinny.

  Then Rachel’s eyes fell on a tree up ahead. The needles were so green and shiny they almost seemed to glow in the frosty air. That tree looks perfect, she thought as she went over to it. It’s not too big and it’s not too small. Suddenly, Rachel spotted a bright red glow, right in the middle of the tree. Then a tiny face peeked out at her.

  “It’s me!” Holly cried, waving her wand and sending sparkly red holly berries bouncing around the tree branches.

  Rachel laughed. “Kirsty, over here!” she called.

  Kirsty rushed over. “What are you doing here, Holly?” she asked. “Is Jack Frost nearby?”

  But before Holly could answer, there was a shout from Mrs. Walker. Buttons ran past the girls, his leash trailing along behind him. He was barking loudly.

  “Stop him, girls!” cried Mrs. Walker. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He pulled the leash right out of my hand.”

  “We’ll catch him, Mom,” Rachel called. “Keep an eye on our tree.”

  Holly hopped inside Kirsty’s pocket, and then the girls ran after the excited dog. Buttons had left the farmyard and was racing toward an oak tree.

  Suddenly, Kirsty saw a shadow jump out from behind the tree and head for an old barn. Even though it was dark, she could just make out a pointed nose and big feet.

  “Oh!” she gasped. “I think Buttons is chasing one of Jack Frost’s goblins!”

  “I knew they were around here somewhere!” Holly cried. “Quick! After him!”

  Buttons was standing outside the barn, sniffing at the door.

  “The goblin must be inside,” Rachel whispered, grabbing the dog’s leash. Quickly, she hooked it over a nail in the barn wall, and gave Buttons a pat. “Wait here, Buttons,” she whispered. “We won’t be long.”

  “Let’s look inside,” Kirsty suggested. She pulled the barn door open and they all peeked in. A cold blast of icy air swirled around them. The girls and Holly could see across the barn to the big doors on the opposite side. Those doors were wide open, and a sparkling trail led out of the barn and up into the sky. They could just make out a glittering silver shape traveling very fast. It was Santa’s missing sleigh!

  “Jack Frost was here,” Kirsty said, looking disappointed. “We just missed him!”

  “That must be why it’s so cold,” Holly agreed with a shiver.

  The barn was full of bales of straw. Looking around, Rachel noticed that there was wrapping paper scattered all over them. “Jack Frost has been opening Santa’s presents!” she said. “Isn’t he awful?”

  “Shh!” Holly whispered. “Goblins!”

  Two goblins had just rolled out from behind one of the straw bales. They were fighting and yelling at each other.

  “It’s mine!” shouted one goblin with a wart on his nose.

&nb
sp; “No, it’s mine!” yelled the other.

  “Look,” Rachel said. She pointed at the present the goblins were arguing over. “It’s one of the three special presents that the queen asked us to look for!”

  “We have to get that present back,” said Holly.

  “The other two presents must still be on the sleigh,” Kirsty added. “I don’t see any more of that special gold wrapping paper anywhere.”

  The goblins were still fighting, rolling around on the floor of the barn.

  “Give it to me!” yelled the warty one. “There might be Christmas cookies inside, or fruitcake, or —”

  The other goblin licked his lips. “I’m going to eat them all!”

  “What are we going to do?” Rachel whispered. “How are we going to get the present back?”

  Kirsty frowned. “I have an idea,” she said. “That goblin seems to like Christmas cookies. Holly, could you use your magic to make it smell like cookies?”

  Holly’s eyes twinkled. “Of course,” she replied.

  “We’ll tell the goblins there’s a big plate of cookies in the hayloft,” Kirsty continued. “They’re so greedy, they’ll go and look. And they can’t climb the ladder and hang on to the present at the same time. We’ll be able to grab it!”

  Rachel and Holly beamed at her.

  “Great idea!” said Holly. “One magic Christmas cookie smell coming up!” She flew toward the goblins.

  Rachel and Kirsty watched anxiously as Holly fluttered over the goblins’ heads. They were so busy fighting, they didn’t even notice her.

  Holly waved her wand in the air. A few seconds later, the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted around the barn. Even Rachel and Kirsty, who were standing outside, could smell it.