The Dance Fairies Collection Read online

  Cover

  Map

  Poem

  The Dance Fairies #1: Bethany the Ballet Fairy

  The Dance Fairies #2: Jade the Disco Fairy

  The Dance Fairies #3: Rebecca the Rock ’n’ Roll Fairy

  The Dance Fairies #4: Tasha the Tap Dance Fairy

  The Dance Fairies #5: Jessica the Jazz Fairy

  The Dance Fairies #6: Serena the Salsa Fairy

  The Dance Fairies #7: Isabelle the Ice Dance Fairy

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Fairies in a Whirl

  Jack Frost Spells Trouble

  Ribbons Whisked Away

  Frozen!

  Mooning Around

  Back on Track

  “I’m really looking forward to this!” exclaimed Rachel Walker to her best friend, Kirsty Tate. “I love ballet.”

  “Me, too,” Kirsty agreed. She raised her voice above the noise of the train as it rattled over a bumpy stretch of track. “I’ve never seen Swan Lake before.”

  “I’ve heard that this is an amazing production,” Kirsty’s mom said. “The scenery is supposed to be gorgeous.”

  “Well, let’s hope it keeps Dad awake!” Kirsty laughed, glancing at her dad. He was fast asleep in the corner seat. “I’m so glad you could come, Rachel. We’re lucky that your school started its vacation the day before ours. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gotten here in time.”

  Rachel nodded. Because their families lived so far apart, she was staying with Kirsty for the whole week of school break.

  “We’ll be in the city soon,” said Mrs. Tate, as the train pulled into a station. “This is the last stop before we get there.”

  Kirsty stared out the window as the train slowed down. Suddenly, her eyes were drawn to an icy blue flash that streaked past the window. Curious, Kirsty leaned forward to take a closer look.

  To her amazement, she saw seven little fairies tumbling through the air! They were caught in the middle of a tiny, icy whirlwind. As Kirsty watched, the fairies all landed in one of the flower baskets that was hanging from the station roof.

  Kirsty and Rachel shared an amazing secret. They were best friends with the fairies! They had often helped the fairies defeat mean Jack Frost and his goblins, who were always causing trouble. Now it looked like their fairy friends might need the girls’ help again!

  Almost bursting with excitement, Kirsty glanced at Rachel. But she could tell that her friend hadn’t spotted the fairies.

  “Mom, I’m hungry,” Kirsty said quickly. “Do you think Rachel and I could go and get a snack from the dining car?”

  Mrs. Tate nodded. “But don’t eat too much,” she warned. “Remember, we’re going out for dinner after the show.”

  Kirsty nodded as she and Rachel got up from their seats.

  “Rachel, I just saw seven fairies on the station platform!” Kirsty whispered, as soon as they’d left the train car.

  Rachel looked thrilled. “Seven fairies!” she exclaimed. “All at once? Where?”

  “Right here!” Kirsty said, pulling down the window right next to the basket where the fairies landed. “Hello!” she called softly, hoping the fairies would hear her.

  The fairies were sitting among the pansies and dusting themselves off. At the sound of Kirsty’s voice, one of them looked up and saw the girls. She let out a tiny gasp, and a moment later all seven fairies were zooming toward Kirsty and Rachel. They flew inside the train, and Kirsty quickly shut the window.

  “You’re Rachel and Kirsty!” one of the fairies declared happily. “I’ve seen you with the king and queen in Fairyland.”

  The girls smiled at the tiny fairy, who was dressed in a sparkling white tutu and pink ballet shoes.

  “Are we ever happy to see you,” the fairy went on. “We’re the Dance Fairies. I’m Bethany the Ballet Fairy, and this is Jade the Disco Fairy, Rebecca the Rock ’n’ Roll Fairy, Tasha the Tap Dance Fairy, Jessica the Jazz Fairy, Serena the Salsa Fairy, and Isabelle the Ice Dance Fairy.”

  Rachel and Kirsty smiled at the fairies. The girls couldn’t help but be dazzled by their beautiful outfits. The fairies managed to smile back, but the girls could see that their eyes were sad and their glittery wings drooped.

  “Is something wrong?” Rachel asked.

  Bethany nodded. “It’s Jack Frost!” she announced miserably. “He just cast a spell that sent us all out of Fairyland. That’s why we’re here, in the human world. But the worst part is that he’s stolen our magic dance ribbons!”

  “Oh no!” Rachel exclaimed. “Jack Frost’s up to his old tricks again!”

  “What exactly do the ribbons do?” asked Kirsty.

  “They make sure that all dancing goes well and is fun, both in Fairyland and in the human world,” Bethany explained. “But the ribbons will only work properly if they are each attached to the right fairy’s wand. If we don’t get our ribbons back, nobody will be able to dance well ever again!”

  Rachel and Kirsty stared at each other in shock.

  “That’s terrible!” Kirsty said.

  “Is there anything we can do to help?” Rachel asked.

  Bethany smiled gratefully at them. “Thank you, girls!” she cried. “Even though Jack Frost’s spell sent us into the human world, a little bit of fairy magic must have protected us. After all, it brought us here to you! Will you come to Fairyland with us, so that we can tell the king and queen what happened?”

  “We’d love to, but what about my mom and dad?” asked Kirsty. “They’ll wonder where we are.”

  “Fairy magic will make sure that, when you return to the human world, no time has passed,” Bethany reassured them.

  Rachel and Kirsty grinned while Bethany showered the girls with white-and-pink glittering fairy dust. As the magical sparkles floated down around them, the girls shrank to fairy-size. Shimmery wings appeared on their backs.

  The next moment, the girls were whisked through the air in a cloud of fairy dust. In no time at all, they were hovering above the golden Fairyland palace.

  The king and queen were strolling in the palace gardens. They looked extremely surprised to see the seven Dance Fairies, plus Rachel and Kirsty, fluttering toward them.

  “Good afternoon, Dance Fairies!” King Oberon called. “And welcome, Kirsty and Rachel.”

  “How are you, girls?” asked Queen Titania, smiling kindly at Kirsty and Rachel. “Do you need our help?”

  “No, Your Majesty,” Rachel replied, shaking her head.

  “It’s us, Your Majesties,” Bethany declared. “The Dance Fairies need Rachel and Kirsty’s help. Jack Frost has stolen our magic dance ribbons!”

  The king and queen both frowned.

  “He sent us all somersaulting into the human world, too,” Bethany went on. “But, luckily, fairy magic led us to Kirsty and Rachel. We all came back to Fairyland to tell you about it.”

  “Let’s see exactly what happened,” said Queen Titania, leading the way to the golden pool in the palace gardens. The queen waved her wand over the pool and nodded at Bethany.

  The Ballet Fairy immediately touched her wand gently to the water. Ripples began to spread across its surface.

  “As Your Majesties already know, Jack Frost was annoyed because whenever he throws a party, none of his goblins can dance properly!” Bethany explained. “So today, Jack Frost asked the all the Dance Fairies to teach the goblins how to dance.”

  “We thought that maybe Jack Frost had changed his ways and wanted to be friends with us,” Jade the Disco Fairy added. “But we were wrong!”

  Everyone watched as a picture appeared in the pool. Rachel and Kirsty saw the seven Dance Fairies knocking on the door of Jack Frost’s ice castle.

&nb
sp; “Are those the magic ribbons?” asked Kirsty, pointing at the fairies’ wands in the picture. Each fairy had a ribbon trailing from the tip of her wand.

  Bethany nodded as the picture changed to show Jack Frost opening the door. His cold, sulky face broke into a smile when he saw the Dance Fairies waiting outside.

  “Come in!” he cried. “We’re all ready for you!”

  Rachel and Kirsty watched as Jack Frost led the Dance Fairies into the throne room. His goblin servants were lined up, dressed in their finest clothes. They wore oversize hats with large feathers, embroidered vests, and velvet pants. Rachel and Kirsty smiled. They’d never seen the goblins looking like this before!

  Jack Frost sat on his magnificent ice throne and watched as the Dance Fairies began the lesson.

  The goblins were terrible dancers! They stumbled across the throne room, tripping over their own feet, as well as one another’s. Then they started arguing. Their yelling drowned out the beautiful music that the Dance Fairies had conjured up.

  But as Rachel and Kirsty watched, the Dance Fairies quickly began to work their magic. Gradually, the goblins stopped bumping into each other and arguing. They began gliding around the room in time to the music, instead.

  Kirsty nudged Rachel. “Look, even Jack Frost is enjoying himself!” she pointed out.

  Jack Frost was sitting on his throne, merrily tapping his foot along to the music. But suddenly, he jumped up from his seat with a spiteful smile on his face. “NOW!” he bellowed.

  Immediately, the goblins dashed forward and grabbed all seven ribbons from the Dance Fairies’ wands. Whooping with glee, they began waving the ribbons triumphantly in the air.

  The fairies were taken completely by surprise, but they quickly raised their wands to cast a spell.

  Unfortunately, they were too late! Jack Frost was already pointing his wand at the fairies, shouting a spell of his own. “Come, freezing wind and ice and snow. To the human world, Dance Fairies, GO!”

  Instantly, an icy wind whistled through the throne room. Rachel and Kirsty watched in horror as the Dance Fairies were swept up in the freezing whirlwind and carried out of the window.

  “So that’s how we ended up in the human world.” Bethany sighed, as the images in the pool faded. “And that’s how Jack Frost got our ribbons!”

  “We must get the ribbons back,” King Oberon declared.

  “We’ll all go to Jack Frost’s ice castle immediately!” Queen Titania decided, waving her wand.

  Kirsty and Rachel heard a bell tinkling in the distance. A few moments later the sound of hooves echoed in the air, and a carriage made of shining crystal pulled up outside the palace gates. The carriage was drawn by six unicorns with gleaming white coats and crystal horns. They came to a halt, tossing their snowy manes and neighing softly.

  “Look, it’s Bertram!” Rachel pointed out as the king and queen led them over to the carriage.

  Bertram, the frog footman, was sitting at the front of the carriage. He gave the girls a friendly wave.

  Kirsty and Rachel climbed in and sat down next to the king and queen on pink velvet cushions. The Dance Fairies perched on the unicorns’ backs as the carriage set off through Fairyland.

  It wasn’t long before they’d left the beautiful green meadows behind. Rachel and Kirsty shivered as the temperature began to fall.

  “There’s Jack Frost’s ice castle,” Rachel said. The girls had visited the castle before, but it still looked very scary. It stood on a tall hill under a gloomy sky, and it was made of huge sheets of ice. Its towers were topped with icy blue turrets.

  “And there’s Jack Frost!” Kirsty added, as a head poked out of one of the windows.

  Jack Frost scowled when he saw the carriage approaching. He quickly ducked back inside the castle again.

  “Somehow, I don’t think he wants to return the magic ribbons!” Rachel remarked.

  The carriage pulled up beside the castle, and Bertram hopped down to help everyone out. But as they made their way toward the heavy castle door, it was suddenly flung open. Jack Frost stomped out.

  “You’re too late!” he snapped. “The ribbons are gone, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

  A great shriek above their heads made Rachel, Kirsty, and all the fairies glance up. They saw a goblin fly out of one of the castle windows. He was carried through the sky by a giant whirlwind, and he clutched a pink ribbon in one hand.

  “That’s my magic ribbon!” Bethany cried. She tried to fly toward the shrieking goblin, but the icy wind pushed her back. In fact, the wind was so strong that Rachel, Kirsty, and the others could hardly keep their feet on the ground.

  “There are more of them!” Rachel shouted, pointing upward.

  Six more goblins were tumbling through the air. Each of them held on to a different ribbon.

  “I command you to return the magic ribbons, Jack Frost!” King Oberon cried. Battling against the wind, the king lifted his wand and murmured some magic words. The wind immediately died down, but the goblins had already vanished. Rachel and Kirsty glanced at each other in dismay.

  “You’re coming with us, Jack Frost!” King Oberon said sternly. “And you’ll stay under guard at our palace until all the ribbons are returned to the Dance Fairies.”

  “Oh, but you’ll never get the ribbons back!” Jack Frost cackled. “I’ve told my goblins to hide in the human world, and that’s where they will stay! Besides …” he added, pausing and looking even sneakier than usual. “Even if the fairies do find my goblins, they’ll learn that this time there’s more to them than meets the eye!” He laughed even louder.

  King Oberon sighed and waved his wand again. A swirl of fairy dust lifted Jack Frost off his feet and swept him into the royal carriage.

  The doors slammed shut and Jack Frost’s smile vanished.

  “Girls, the goblins are hiding in the human world with the dance ribbons!” said Queen Titania, turning to Rachel and Kirsty. “Will you help the Dance Fairies get them back?”

  Rachel and Kirsty nodded solemnly.

  “Each ribbon is drawn to its own type of dance,” Bethany explained. “Each ribbon’s magic will pull the goblin toward places where that style of dance is taking place.”

  “Oh!” Rachel exclaimed. “We’re going to the ballet tonight. Maybe the goblin with the ballet ribbon will be there!”

  Bethany looked very excited. “I’ll come with you, just in case!” she said.

  Queen Titania was already lifting her wand to shower them with magic. “Good luck!” she called.

  Looking more hopeful, the other Dance Fairies waved good-bye, as Queen Titania’s magic whisked Bethany, Rachel, and Kirsty away. A moment later they were back on the train.

  “We’d better go and buy a snack, or Mom will wonder why we’re empty-handed!” Kirsty said, as Bethany hid in Rachel’s pocket.

  “We’re almost there, girls,” Mrs. Tate said when Kirsty and Rachel returned from the dining car. Mr. Tate had woken up, and they were gathering their things.

  Outside the station, they all took a cab to the ballet. As they went into the theater and found their seats, Rachel and Kirsty were amazed to see how beautiful it was. There were tiers of gold balconies, a domed roof painted with ballet scenes, and golden chairs with plush red cushions.

  “Are you OK, Bethany?” Rachel whispered as the lights began to dim. Immediately the fairy peeked out of Rachel’s pocket and smiled.

  The curtain rose, and Kirsty and Rachel gasped as they gazed at the wintry scene before them. A huge frozen lake surrounded by leafless trees covered most of the stage, and a full moon hung in the sky. Everything was covered with frost that sparkled under the bright stage lights. Dancers in feathery white tutus were posed here and there.

  “It’s beautiful!” Rachel gasped with delight, and Kirsty nodded in agreement.

  They waited breathlessly for the ballet to begin, but none of the dancers moved a muscle. Rachel and Kirsty glanced at each other as the audience began mumbl
ing in confusion.

  “Why aren’t the ballerinas dancing?” whispered Mrs. Tate.

  “It’s all very strange!” Mr. Tate added.

  “Something’s not right,” Bethany whispered to Rachel and Kirsty. “And I’m sure it has to do with Jack Frost’s goblins!”

  The dancers still didn’t move. The curtain fell, and the whispering of the audience grew louder.

  “We have to try to save the ballet!” Bethany said urgently.

  Rachel nodded. “We need to find that goblin!” she said.

  “Dad, can we go get a program?” Kirsty asked quickly.

  Mr. Tate nodded. “Don’t be long, though,” he said. “I’m sure the curtain will rise again soon.”

  “We should start looking backstage,” Bethany told the girls as they hurried out into the lobby.

  “But we need to make sure that no one sees us,” Kirsty pointed out anxiously.

  They ran to the back of the theater.

  Cautiously, Rachel pushed open the stage door. A doorman sat in a little booth just inside the entrance.

  “He’s not moving,” Kirsty whispered.

  “And look!” Rachel added, as they went further backstage. “Neither is anyone else!”

  All around them were stagehands who had been moving scenery and dancers who had been warming up. But every single person was now completely frozen in place.

  “They’re as cold as ice!” Kirsty said, touching one of the dancer’s arms. “Maybe Jack Frost has given his goblins a wand of ice magic.”