Honey the Candy Fairy

  A Trip to the Candy Shop

  A Sweet Surprise

  Goblin Trouble

  A Flying Visit

  Treats Galore!

  Home, Sweet Home

  It was a beautiful, sunny day, and Mr. and Mrs. Tate had set the table for lunch outside in the yard. As Kirsty and her best friend, Rachel Walker, sat down to eat, Mrs. Tate suddenly groaned.

  “I knew there was something else I meant to get from town this morning,” she cried. “Toffees for Gran! I promised I’d take her some tonight, and I completely forgot to buy them.”

  Kirsty put down her sandwich. “Don’t worry, Mom. We can go to Mrs. Twist’s Candy Shop after lunch for you,” she suggested. She glanced at Rachel. “What do you think?”

  “Sure,” Rachel said. “I always have time to go to the candy store!”

  The two girls smiled at each other.

  Rachel was staying with the Tates for a whole week. She and Kirsty had met when their families vacationed on Rainspell Island, and they had been best friends ever since. Somehow, whenever the girls got together, they always seemed to have the most wonderful adventures—fairy adventures!

  “That reminds me,” Mr. Tate said. “I saw in the local newspaper that Mrs. Twist is retiring. Her daughters taking over the candy store starting tomorrow. Since this is her last day, Mrs. Twist is throwing a party for all her customers.” He winked at Kirsty and Rachel. “I read something about there being lots of free candy, too!”

  Kirsty nudged Rachel. “Candy and a party,” she repeated. “How exciting!”

  “We love parties,” Rachel agreed, with a grin.

  The two friends shared a special secret. They had been busy all week helping the Party Fairies of Fairyland! The fairies were preparing a surprise celebration for the fairy king and queen’s 1000th anniversary—but mean Jack Frost had plans to throw his own party the same day. All week, he’d been sending his goblins into the human world to ruin people’s parties. Whenever a Party Fairy zoomed in to save the day, a goblin would try to steal her magic party bag and take it to Jack Frost.

  Kirsty and Rachel had been helping the Party Fairies outsmart the goblins, but they knew their work wasn’t done yet. Not if Jack Frost had anything to say about it!

  After lunch, Mrs. Tate gave the girls some money for the toffee, and they set out for the candy store.

  As they turned onto High Street, they saw that a few kids were already crowded outside Mrs. Twist’s shop. But as they came closer, Kirsty and Rachel realized that something was wrong.

  A boy was making a face as he licked a lollipop. And one little girl started to cry. “This candy tastes funny!” she wailed. Kirsty and Rachel went into the shop, wondering what was going on. The tiny store looked very festive. Colorful balloons hung from the ceiling, and party streamers were twisted around the big jars of candy that lined the shelves. Mrs. Twist stood behind the counter as usual — but Kirsty noticed immediately that she didn’t look as cheerful as she usually did.

  “Hello, Mrs. Twist,” Kirsty called. “Is everything all right?”

  Mrs. Twist shook her head sadly. “Not really,” she replied. “It’s my last day. I was hoping to have a wonderful party, but all my candy is spoiled!”

  As Kirsty and Rachel looked around, they could see what Mrs. Twist meant. The saltwater taffy that she was trying to shake from its jar had become one big, sticky lump. The chocolate bars were soft and soggy as if they’d been left out in the sun. And the sour balls were so sour that no one would eat them!

  Rachel nudged Kirsty. “Look!” she said in a low voice, pointing at one of the shelves.

  Kirsty looked and saw a box of chocolate mice. They all had their paws over their eyes as if they were scared of something. The gingerbread men looked worried, too — they were all holding hands. And, to Kirsty’s surprise, a group of gummy worms in a jar were slithering around and actually hissing like snakes!

  She quickly pushed the jar of worms to the back of the shelf before anyone else noticed.

  “Something very weird is going on,” Rachel whispered. Just then, the two friends heard a chorus of high-pitched squeaks come from a package of chocolate bunnies.

  Kirsty nodded. “It’s got to be a goblin!” she whispered back.

  Mrs. Twist put down the jar of taffy, and pulled out a tray of chocolates instead. Then she sighed. “Oh, no! What happened to these?”

  Rachel and Kirsty went over to look. The chocolates had all melted on the tray, and right in the middle was a big hollow spot where something had pressed into the soft chocolate. Rachel nudged Kirsty. She recognized the shape in the melted chocolate immediately—it was a goblin footprint!

  The girls exchanged glances. Kirsty looked at the floor. “If the goblin has chocolate all over one foot …” she muttered to Rachel.

  “… he’ll have left footprints everywhere,” Rachel added in a low voice. Then she pointed down at the floor. “Just like those!”

  The girls quietly slipped away from the store counter to follow the chocolate-footprint trail. It seemed to lead to a door at the back of the store.

  “This is the door to Mrs. Twist’s stockroom,” Kirsty whispered to her friend. “We can’t just sneak in there without asking.”

  Rachel bit her lip. “Well, we can’t just say, ‘Excuse me, Mrs. Twist, we think there might be a goblin in your stockroom,’ either.”

  CRASH! Both girls jumped as they heard a loud noise from the other side of the door.

  “Oh, no! It sounds like the goblin’s making a mess in there,” Rachel whispered.

  Before Kirsty could reply, she heard Mrs. Twist saying, “This is no good. I can’t give people this candy. I’ll have to get new candy from the stockroom.”

  “No!” Kirsty cried immediately. She couldn’t let Mrs. Twist go in there—not with a sneaky goblin on the loose! “I mean, um …” she searched for words, as Mrs. Twist looked at her in surprise. “You shouldn’t leave the shop, Mrs. Twist. Rachel and I will get the candy for you.”

  Mrs. Twist smiled. “Thank you, dear,” she said gratefully. “Bring out anything that looks good to you.”

  Kirsty nodded and carefully pushed open the stockroom door. As both girls peeked into the room, they gasped in horror. Bottles and jars had been knocked over, and there was candy scattered all across the floor. But, worst of all, there was a tiny fairy struggling to hold on to her magic party bag, and there was a grinning goblin who was fighting to tug it out of her hands!

  “It’s Honey the Candy Fairy!” cried Kirsty. “And she’s in trouble!”

  At once, Kirsty and Rachel slipped inside the stockroom and shut the door behind them.

  Honey was wearing a pale yellow dress and lemon-drop-yellow shoes. Her golden-brown ponytail swung back and forth as she tried to save her party bag. “Oh, girls, please help me!” she cried as she saw the friends.

  “Of course we will,” Rachel called back fiercely. Her gaze fell on a large jar of candy. “Jawbreakers!” she exclaimed, unscrewing the lid. “Over here, Kirsty.” Both girls took handfuls of the jawbreakers and began pelting the goblin with the hard, round candy.

  “Ouch!” yelled the goblin, as a jawbreaker bounced off his long nose. He threw up his arms to protect his face—and let go of the party bag. But he released it so suddenly that Honey shot backward into one of the shelves. The wind was knocked out of her, and she dropped her precious party bag!

  “Oh, no!” Honey gasped as shimmering golden fairy dust tumbled out of the bag in a shower of sparkles. The girls and Honey rushed to scoop up the magic dust that was shaped like tiny hard candies, but the goblin was already there, grabbing big glittering handfuls.

  “Just what Jack Frost wanted,” he gloated, stuffing it into his p
ockets. “Now that I’ve got this fairy dust, his party will be better than ever!”

  “Oh, no, it won’t!” Kirsty shouted, grabbing a giant striped candy cane from the floor. Rachel did the same, and the two girls started poking the goblin in the ribs with them. “Ooh! Ah! Ha ha …” the goblin giggled helplessly, as the canes tickled him. “Stop! Stop it!”

  The goblin was laughing so hard that he lost his balance. He stumbled and skidded on the jawbreakers that were all over the floor. “Whoaaaa!” he cried, his arms flailing. And then, “OW!” He fell over.

  All of the fairy dust bounced out of the goblin’s pockets as he landed. The dust started to vanish right before his eyes! The goblin stretched out his green hand to grab it again, but Honey was too quick for him. She waved her wand at the candy canes and muttered some magical words.

  Kirsty and Rachel watched in delight as all the candy canes on the floor started to shimmer with a golden glow. Then they stood up and marched in time over to the goblin.

  Before he could get his hands on any of the vanishing fairy dust, the striped canes began nudging him across the room. “Hey!” the goblin protested, as the canes pushed him backward.

  “Stop that!” But Honey’s magic was too strong for him. The dancing candy canes herded the grumbling goblin right out the back door of the store.

  “That got rid of him!” Rachel laughed, as the door swung shut behind the goblin.

  “Phew.” Honey sighed with relief, smiling at the girls. Then she fluttered down to look at her party bag, and the smile dropped from her face. “Oh, no!” she cried. The fairy dust had all disappeared, and the bag was empty.

  Kirsty glanced around the stockroom. It was a huge mess. There were all kinds of candy on the floor, and jars were turned over on every shelf. “We’d better clean this up before Mrs. Twist sees it,” she said nervously. “It’s going to take forever.”

  “If only I had some fairy dust, I could fix everything,” Honey said, sighing. “But that horrible goblin made me spill it all.”

  “Girls!” came Mrs. Twist’s voice from the store. “Is everything all right in there?”

  “Um, yes! We’re coming,” Kirsty called back quickly. The girls looked at each other in panic. They could hear the shop bell jingling as even more customers came in to buy something sweet.

  What were the girls going to do?

  Honey thought fast. “We’ll have to go to Fairyland and get new candy,” she said. “I’ve made a ton for the anniversary party—you can have some of it. And I can refill my party bag with fairy dust while we’re there, too.”

  Rachel bit her lip. “Do we have time?” she asked. “Mrs. Twist needs the candy right now.”

  “Don’t worry,” Honey assured her. “Once we’ve got the new candy, I’ll send you both back here with magic. It’ll seem like no time has passed at all.”

  “Fabulous!” Kirsty smiled. “What are we waiting for?”

  Honey waved her wand over the girls, and amber sparkles swirled around them. There was a wonderful smell of honey, and the girls felt themselves shrinking. The next thing they knew, they were quickly flying through the air.

  “Here we are,” came Honey’s silvery voice a moment later. “Fairyland!”

  Kirsty and Rachel blinked and looked around. They were the same size as Honey now—and best of all, they each had a pair of glittery fairy wings! Rachel smiled with delight and gave her wings a quick flutter.

  Meanwhile, Kirsty was gazing at the magnificent golden castle that stood before them. Balloons and streamers fluttered from its towers, and joyful music floated from its windows on the breeze. There was the most delicious smell of cakes baking, too.

  “Wow!” exclaimed Rachel. “Who lives here?”

  “Nobody lives here!” Honey giggled. “This is our Party Workshop.”

  Kirsty’s eyes widened. “Bertram showed us some of the inside, but I never realized the outside looked so pretty,” she said. “Still, I guess we are in Fairyland. I should have known it would be beautiful,” she added happily.

  Honey pushed open a golden gate. “This way,” she called.

  The girls followed her into the castle.

  “This is Cherry’s bakery,” Honey told them, as they walked through a large, sunny kitchen.

  Kirsty licked her lips. There were trays and trays of yummy chocolate cakes, strawberry tarts, cheesecakes, blueberry muffins, and lots more. Some fairies were carefully mixing ingredients, while others were icing the cakes with intricate royal designs.

  “Look!” Rachel gasped suddenly. “There’s the goblin who ruined your birthday cake, Kirsty. I’d forgotten that the Fairy Godmother had sent him here.”

  The girls watched as the goblin carefully squeezed pretty icing flowers onto a cake. “And to think he spent all that time messing up cakes,” Kirsty whispered to Rachel. “Actually, he’s very good at making them look beautiful!”

  Cherry the Cake Fairy fluttered over. “I thought it was you two!” She smiled, pressing warm fruit tarts into the girls’ hands. “Try these. They’re made from my new recipe, with fairy blackberries.”

  “Thank you,” Kirsty replied, watching the fairy blackberries glitter with a magical purple light. They almost look too good to eat, Kirsty thought. Almost.

  “Yum,” Rachel said, with her mouth full. “This is the most delicious fruit tart I’ve ever tasted.”

  Kirsty took a bite and closed her eyes happily as the juicy fairy blackberries melted in her mouth.

  Then Honey led the girls to another huge room, filled with brightly-colored balloons. There were twinkling lights strung all over the high, arched ceiling, and shining silver streamers twirling in the air. But best of all was the fountain of glitter in the middle of the room, which sparkled in all the colors of the rainbow. Fairies were collecting the glitter in pots and then stacking them to one side, while Grace the Glitter Fairy fluttered around, organizing her helpers.

  As soon as she saw the girls, she winked and waved her wand at them, sending a swirl of pink glitter shooting toward them in the shape of a heart.

  Rachel and Kirsty smiled and waved, then followed Honey through another door. They found themselves on a golden balcony, overlooking a grand ballroom.

  “We saw this room when Bertram visited us,” Kirsty remembered. “Look, there’s Melodie the Music Fairy — and the frog orchestra!”

  The girls couldn’t help but smile to see so many frogs dressed in fancy red vests and playing their musical instruments.

  “There’s Bertram,” Rachel whispered, giving him a wave. Bertram was so excited to see the girls that he tooted his bugle at all the wrong times in “Happy Anniversary”, as he tried to wave back.

  Kirsty suddenly noticed that there was somebody else in the great hall, too—the Fairy Godmother. The girls held their breath as she flew over to greet them.

  “Hello again, girls,” she smiled. “Have you and Honey been having goblin trouble, by any chance?”

  “You could say that,” Honey agreed. She told the Fairy Godmother what had happened in Mrs. Twist’s candy shop.

  The Fairy Godmother giggled. “Those tricky goblins!” she said. “Well, you should take some magic candy to Mrs. Twist. That will make her customers happy again.”

  “Thank you,” Kirsty replied, her eyes shining.

  The Fairy Godmother’s eyes twinkled as she looked at the girls’ happy faces. Then she lifted her wand and waved it over their heads. “Fly, fairies, fly!” she said. “And keep up the good work.”

  Rachel was just about to reply when she felt herself swept up in a warm, magical breeze. It lifted both girls off the ground and whisked them through the air. The Fairy Godmother waved as they drifted away.

  Honey laughed. She was caught up in the rush of air, too. “It’s a magical wind,” she cried in delight. “A special fairy breeze that will take us to the Candy Factory!”

  The breeze whisked them along the balcony and into another room, where the girls recognized Jasmine the Prese
nt Fairy. She was wrapping gifts in sparkling paper, with long, silky ribbons that tied themselves in perfect bows.

  Rachel turned herself around with her fairy wings so that she could watch Jasmine at work. “How do those ribbons do that?” she asked in awe.

  Jasmine smiled as the breeze took the girls past her. “Fairy dust,” she replied, sprinkling some over a pretty pink ribbon. Immediately, the ribbon flew toward Rachel and tied itself neatly around her ponytail.

  “Thank you!” Rachel called as the breeze pushed her on.

  In the next room, Phoebe the Fashion Fairy was hard at work, surrounded by rolls of glittery fabric, boxes of shiny sequins, and rows of sparkling buttons. There were racks of gowns and outfits in every color imaginable.

  Phoebe called out a cheerful hello — and the shiny golden ball gown she was working on lifted an arm and waved, too!

  Kirsty laughed and waved back. “This is the most exciting place in the world!” she declared. And then she jumped in surprise as the breeze carried them into a very busy room.

  Fairies were dashing all over the place. They were trying to catch a shiny silver package with small pink wings as it zoomed around the room.

  “This is Polly the Party Fun Fairy’s room,” Honey told the girls, as Polly flew over, smiling.

  “This is my new game—Pass the Magic Present,” Polly explained.

  “Fun!” Rachel laughed.

  But Kirsty shrieked and ducked, because the mischievous package had come flying straight at her! She flapped her wings to get out of the way of the laughing fairies who were chasing the present.