Coco the Cupcake Fairy Read online

  “Oh, you’re such a goody-two-shoes!” sneered the first goblin.

  The short goblin tried to grab the cupcakes back. When he did, all three of them started to wrestle.

  “We have to get that cupcake charm back!” Rachel whispered to Kirsty and Coco. “Listen, while the goblins are fighting, maybe we could sneak up on them?”

  “Let’s try it,” agreed Coco. “It’s dangerous, but I can’t stand to see my cupcake charm in that goblin’s hand any longer!”

  The three fairies tiptoed out from behind the cupcakes as quietly as they could and fluttered down to the middle tier of the cake stand.

  “So far, so good,” Kirsty whispered. “The goblins are too busy arguing to notice us.”

  They flew down to the bottom tier. Still, none of the goblins noticed them.

  “Now for the tricky part,” said Rachel.

  She led the way across the bakery until they were hovering inches behind the short goblin’s hand. He clutched Coco’s magic cupcake charm tightly, but his attention was on the other goblins. Rachel reached out toward the charm . . .

  Suddenly, the first goblin spotted her! “Fairies!” he yelled.

  “Where?” shouted the short goblin.

  “Hide!” cried Coco.

  The short goblin spun around and bumped into a display table. Cupcakes tumbled everywhere.

  “Pick them up!” he squawked. “We can’t damage a single one!”

  By the time the goblins had picked up the cupcakes, each fairy had landed on top of a cupcake and posed like a candy decoration. Rachel, Kirsty, and Coco stood as still as they could while the goblins hunted all around the shop for them. They looked behind displays and peered up at the ceiling, but couldn’t find the fairies anywhere.

  “They must have left,” the first goblin said eventually. “All this searching has made me hungry, though.”

  He turned to the display table and picked up the cupcake that Rachel was perched on. His mouth opened wide, and Rachel gave a tiny gasp of fear. He was about to eat her!

  “Quick, Coco!” exclaimed Kirsty, rising into the air. “We have to save Rachel!”

  As they zoomed upward, Rachel darted away from the goblin’s mouth, holding her nose so she couldn’t smell his bad breath. The goblin screeched and swatted at her as if she were a fly.

  “There they are!” he squawked. “Get them! Stop them!”

  Rachel, Kirsty, and Coco zigzagged as fast as their wings could carry them, dodging the furious goblins. Bakery boxes flew into the air and cake stands crashed to the floor as the goblins ran through the shop. But the short goblin still had the magic charm in his hand, and the fairies were getting tired. They had to think of something fast!

  Suddenly, Kirsty had an idea.

  “Rachel, remember how I slipped on that icing earlier?” she panted. “If Coco can cover the floor in icing, that might stop the goblins.”

  As quick as a flash, Coco waved her wand. Instantly, the floor of Cupcake Corner was covered with a thick layer of gooey icing. The goblins slipped and slid across it, waving their arms to try and catch their balance.

  “They look like three bad ice-skaters!” said Kirsty with a giggle.

  “HELP!” squealed the short goblin, as his feet slipped in opposite directions.

  With a plop, he landed on his bottom in the icing. The magic cupcake charm flew into the air, and Rachel dove toward it.

  “Stop her!” howled the goblin.

  The other two goblins leaped toward the charm, but they bumped their heads together and crashed to the floor, groaning. Rachel caught the beautiful charm and handed it to Coco. At once, it shrank to fairy-size! All three fairies breathed a big sigh of relief.

  Coco waved her wand, and the icing on the floor disappeared. The cupcake stands and boxes were cleaned up in the blink of an eye. The goblins angrily scrambled to their feet.

  “Give that back!” the short goblin demanded.

  “Absolutely not,” said Coco calmly. “It belongs to me.”

  “You should stop being so greedy,” Rachel declared.

  “And tell Jack Frost to stop being greedy, too,” added Kirsty.

  The first goblin clapped his hand over his mouth with a horrified expression.

  “What are we going to do about Jack Frost’s cupcake throne?” He groaned. “Without the charm, we’ll never find enough cupcakes for him!”

  Coco gave Rachel and Kirsty a wink, and then waved her wand. A small cupcake with a tiny throne on top floated through the air toward the goblins.

  “Jack Frost’s never going to fit on that!” exclaimed the short goblin.

  “It’ll have to do,” grumbled the second goblin.

  He grabbed the cupcake and they all scurried out of the shop, arguing about who should be allowed to carry it.

  “It’s time for us to become human again, I think,” said Rachel.

  The three friends fluttered down behind the counter, and Coco turned the girls back to their normal size.

  “I’m so grateful for your help, girls,” she said, her eyes shining with happiness. “Now that I have my charm back, I know that cupcakes everywhere will be perfect again.”

  “We loved helping you,” said Kirsty with a beaming smile. “Please tell the other Sugar and Spice Fairies that we’re always here if they need us.”

  Coco blew them each a kiss, then twirled around and disappeared in a flurry of sparkling fairy dust. At that moment, the baker came out of the kitchen.

  “Your cupcakes are all ready, sir —” he began, stopping when he saw that Jack Frost wasn’t there anymore.

  “I . . . um . . . I think he’s gone,” said Rachel.

  “But I just made two hundred cupcakes for him!” the baker groaned. “What a waste! I’ll never sell all of them this afternoon — it’s almost closing time. At least I haven’t put his picture on all of them yet.”

  He looked really upset, and the girls felt sorry for him.

  “I have an idea,” said Rachel. “How about having a special cupcake sale out on the street? Everyone will be on their way home from work. We’ll help, if you’d like.”

  The baker smiled. “That’s a wonderful idea,” he said. “Thank you, girls! You can bring the cupcakes outside once I set up the table.”

  Half an hour later, there was a huge crowd of people outside Cupcake Corner. Rachel and Kirsty couldn’t fill the cake boxes fast enough! Everyone stopped at the cupcake sale on their way home from work, and most of them bought a box of cupcakes to take home as a treat.

  “This blue frosting is so yummy!” said a gray-haired man, filling his briefcase with cupcakes.

  “My family will love these for dessert tonight,” said a window cleaner, popping two cupcakes into her bucket.

  By closing time, all of the beautifully decorated cupcakes had sold out.

  “I’m sorry, girls, there isn’t a single blue cupcake left for you to take home,” said the baker. “But there will always be free cupcakes for you at Cupcake Corner. Thanks so much for your help!”

  “Thank you!” exclaimed Kirsty. “That was fun!”

  As they walked back to Kirsty’s house, the girls talked about the day’s adventures.

  “I can’t believe how much has happened today,” said Kirsty. “We helped three fairies find their charms!”

  “Yes, and we had yummy lollipops and delicious ice cream,” Rachel remembered, licking her lips. “It’s too bad that we won’t have any cupcakes tonight, though.”

  They reached Kirsty’s house and went inside. In the kitchen, their cupcakes were still cooling. But they looked very different from before. . . .

  “These cupcakes are perfect!” Kirsty said with a gasp. “I don’t understand it — I thought we’d ruined them!”

  “I think Coco must have stopped here on her way back to Fairylan
d,” said Rachel with a little smile. “Look.”

  She pointed to two of the cupcakes. The words Thank you! were written on them in sparkly gold icing. Rachel and Kirsty exchanged delighted grins.

  “What beautiful cupcakes!” exclaimed Mrs. Tate, coming into the kitchen. “Cupcake Corner certainly does make perfect treats! Did you get those to thank Aunt Helen for the tickets to Candy Land?”

  The girls glanced at each other, then nodded happily. They knew that Coco had left the cupcakes for them, but they didn’t mind giving them to Aunt Helen. After all, they weren’t greedy like Jack Frost and his goblins!

  “Are you looking forward to your tour of Candy Land tomorrow?” asked Mrs. Tate as she started getting dinner ready.

  “Definitely!” said the girls together.

  “We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for Jack Frost and his goblins, though,” Rachel whispered as they set the table.

  “Yes, they still have four of the Sugar and Spice Fairies’ charms,” Kirsty agreed. “They’re bound to be up to no good.”

  “And we’re bound to be there to stop them,” said Rachel with a laugh. “I can’t wait for our next magical adventure!”

  Rachel and Kirsty found Lisa, Esme, and Coco’s missing magic charms. Now it’s time for them to help

  Join their next adventure in this special sneak peek. . . .

  “I’m so looking forward to this!” Rachel Walker told her best friend, Kirsty Tate, her voice brimming with excitement. The two girls were walking up one of the hills that overlooked Wetherbury. “I’ve never been to a candy factory before. I can’t wait to see inside Candy Land.”

  “Me, neither,” Kirsty agreed happily. “Wasn’t it nice of Aunt Helen to arrange a tour of the factory for my birthday?” Kirsty’s aunt worked in Candy Land’s cookie department.

  “Yes, and your birthday isn’t until tomorrow, so it’s almost like having an extra treat!” Rachel pointed out as they climbed higher up the hill. Ahead, they could see the factory and the big pink-and-white Candy Land sign over the wrought-iron gates. “Do you think we might get to try some treats while we’re on the tour?” Rachel asked eagerly.

  Kirsty grinned. “I hope so!” she replied. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the chocolate being made. My favorite kind is the Sticky Toffee Galore — it’s a yummy toffee covered with chocolate!” Then Kirsty’s smile faded. “Remember, though,” she went on, “some of the treats might not taste very good, since Jack Frost and his goblins have the Sugar and Spice Fairies’ magic charms.”

  Rachel nodded solemnly. Yesterday, right after she’d arrived to spend spring break with Kirsty, their old friend Honey the Candy Fairy had appeared to whisk the girls off to Fairyland. There they had met Honey’s helpers — the seven Sugar and Spice Fairies! They looked after all the delicious, mouth-watering treats in Fairyland and the human world.

  Rachel and Kirsty were very upset when they found out that Jack Frost and his goblins had stolen the Sugar and Spice Fairies’ magic charms. But they couldn’t believe it when they found out why Jack Frost needed the charms — he’d ordered his goblins to build him a castle made entirely of candy and treats!

  To make things worse, King Oberon and Queen Titania had explained to the girls that Treat Day was coming up very soon. On Treat Day, the king and queen gave each fairy in Fairyland a basket full of yummy treats to thank them for their hard work all year. But this year there wouldn’t be any treat baskets at all if the magic charms weren’t returned to the Sugar and Spice Fairies.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Rainbow Magic Limited c/o HIT Entertainment, 830 South Greenville Avenue, Allen, TX 75002-3320.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-62241-7

  Copyright © 2013 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  Previously published as Sweet Fairies #3: Coco the Cupcake Fairy by Orchard U.K. in 2013.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Rainbow Magic Limited.

  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. RAINBOW MAGIC is a trademark of Rainbow Magic Limited. Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and other countries. HIT and the HIT logo are trademarks of HIT Entertainment Limited.

  First Scholastic printing, March 2014

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