Katie the Kitten Fairy Read online

  “Should I climb up and get it?” Rachel offered.

  Before Katie could reply, Shimmer started meowing again. The fairy listened, then looked over at the nearby playground. “Good idea, Shimmer,” she said, smiling. Then she turned back to the girls.

  “Thanks for the offer, Rachel, but Shimmer has someone else in mind for the job,” she explained with a grin. She pointed her wand in the direction of the playground. “See that boy in the red shirt at the top of the jungle gym?” she asked.

  “The one with black hair?” Kirsty said, squinting.

  Katie nodded. “That’s the one,” she replied. “Would you ask him if he can help you get the kitten down from the tree?”

  “OK,” Kirsty agreed, confused.

  “Trust me,” Katie said. “It’s very important that it is that boy who rescues this kitten.”

  She winked at the girls. Shimmer meowed loudly, as if he was agreeing with Katie.

  “All right.” Rachel laughed. “Come on, Kirsty!”

  Shimmer shrank back down to fairy pet size. He and Katie hid in the tree while Rachel and Kirsty ran over to the playground. The dark-haired boy had just jumped off the jungle gym when the girls arrived.

  “Hello,” Kirsty said, giving him a friendly smile. “I’m Kirsty, and this is Rachel. Could you help us rescue a kitten? It’s stuck in a tree.”

  “We saw how good you are at climbing,” Rachel explained. “We were wondering if you could climb up the tree and get it down?”

  “Sure,” the boy replied eagerly. “My name is James, and I love cats. Where’s the kitten?”

  The girls pointed out the elm tree. James yelled over to tell his dad where he was going. Then he followed Kirsty and Rachel to the tree.

  James looked up at the kitten. “Don’t worry, little kitten! I’ll have you down in two minutes,” he called, and began to climb.

  Kirsty and Rachel watched as he clambered higher and higher. Just as he was about to reach the branch that the tabby kitten was perched on, the kitten jumped down onto James’s shoulder and butted its head gently against the boy’s cheek.

  Kirsty blinked. It looked like a haze of amber-colored sparkles surrounded James and the kitten. She glanced at Rachel and they both grinned knowingly — more Pet Fairy magic!

  James carefully carried the tabby kitten all the way back down to the ground. “It’s so tiny,” he marveled, stroking the kitten gently. “I wonder where it lives.”

  “He doesn’t have a collar or a name tag,” Kirsty said. “It looks like a stray.”

  “Here comes my dad,” James said as a tall, dark-haired man strolled over. “Dad, look! We found a lost kitten!” His eyes brightened suddenly. “Hey, Dad — can we keep it?”

  James’s dad smiled. “Your mom and I have been talking about getting you a pet,” he said. “But we can’t just take this one without checking to make sure it doesn’t belong to someone else.” He looked around to see if the kitten’s owner was somewhere in the park.

  “We’ve been here for a while,” Kirsty said politely. “Nobody seems to be looking for the kitten.”

  “Please?” James asked quickly, as soon as his dad hesitated. “We can take it home with us, and call the animal shelter from our house.” He stroked it again. “Oh, it’s purring, Dad. It likes me!”

  James’s dad ruffled his son’s hair. “OK, then,” he said. “If nobody’s reported the kitten missing, then I think you can keep it.”

  “Hooray!” cheered James, beaming from ear to ear. He tickled the tabby kitten under its chin, and the kitten purred even louder. “Do you think Dusty would be a good name?” James wondered out loud.

  Rachel nudged Kirsty. She had spotted a few more flecks of fairy dust twinkling in the air around James and the kitten! “Oh, Dusty would be a wonderful name,” she said, trying not to giggle.

  “Well, then, Dusty,” James’s dad said, petting the kitten, “we’d better take you home!”

  The girls watched as James and his dad walked away happily with their new kitten.

  “Good work, girls!” Katie exclaimed as she came out from her hiding place in the tree. “I think Dusty and James will be very happy together.”

  Shimmer scampered along a tree branch, purring loudly to show that he agreed, and the girls laughed.

  “Fairy magic is wonderful!” Rachel said with a smile. She watched as Shimmer sniffed at a beetle on a nearby leaf and gave a tiny, fairy-size sneeze.

  Just then, Kirsty heard a rustling sound from a little higher up in the tree. She looked up to see a goblin — and then another — and then another! She gasped. There was a whole chain of grinning goblins hanging down from one branch of the tree! The lowest goblin was dangling just above the branch where Shimmer was perched. He was reaching out to grab the magic kitten!

  “No, you don’t!” cried Kirsty, scooping up Shimmer just in time.

  “Give it to me!” the goblin growled, lunging after the kitten.

  Shimmer meowed in alarm as the goblin’s fingers came within a whisker of him. But the goblin had reached too far, and the other goblins couldn’t hold on to him. They all tumbled to the ground, landing in a big green heap of tangled arms and legs!

  “Ouch! You’re squishing me!” grumbled one goblin.

  “Get off!” groaned another.

  Katie grinned at the girls. “Come on! Let’s go while we have the chance,” she said.

  Kirsty held out her hands and let Shimmer run through the air to Katie as they walked away from the pile of grumpy goblins. “I don’t think Jack Frost will be very happy when they come back empty-handed,” Kirsty said, glancing back over her shoulder. The goblins were still bickering!

  “No, Jack Frost won’t be happy,” Katie agreed. She suddenly shivered. “He’ll send them out again to look for another fairy pet!” She cuddled her kitten tightly at the thought of it. “Let’s get you safely back to Fairyland, Shimmer,” she said in her sweet voice.

  “Good-bye, girls — and thank you for everything.”

  Katie hugged the girls in turn, and then Shimmer nuzzled his tiny nose against each of their faces.

  “Good-bye, little Shimmer,” Kirsty said, giggling as his fur tickled her nose. “It’s been nice to meet you.”

  “Tell the other Pet Fairies that we’ll keep looking for their lost pets,” Rachel added, blowing Katie and Shimmer a kiss.

  “We will,” Katie promised. “Good-bye!” She tucked Shimmer carefully under one arm, then waved her wand.

  A shower of amber-colored lights twinkled around Katie and Shimmer, and then they were gone.

  Rachel and Kirsty smiled at each other and headed for home. After all the excitement, they were both hungry! “I’m so glad we found a nice home for Dusty,” Rachel said happily. “Everything worked out perfectly. It couldn’t have gone better!”

  Kirsty slipped her arm through Rachel’s as they walked out of the park gate. “I can’t wait to find another one of the lost fairy pets,” she said excitedly. “It looks like another fairy adventure isn’t far away!”

  Katie the Kitten Fairy found her kitten, Shimmer. Now Rachel and Kirsty must help

  Bella the Bunny Fairy!

  “Isn’t it a perfect day for a party?” Kirsty Tate said, looking up at the sapphire-blue sky.

  Her best friend, Rachel Walker, nodded and handed Kirsty a chocolate egg. Rachel was staying with Kirsty for spring vacation, and the girls were hiding Easter eggs. They were getting ready to throw an Easter party for Jane, Mr. and Mrs. Dillon’s five-year-old daughter. The Dillons lived down the street from Kirsty.

  “There are some great hiding places here,” Rachel said. She gazed around the beautiful yard with its green grass and colorful flowerbeds. She knelt down and hid the egg under a shrub. “Jane and her friends will love the Easter egg hunt!”

  �
�It’ll be fun,” Kirsty agreed, hiding an egg behind the birdbath.

  “How many kids are invited to the party?” Rachel asked.

  “Eleven!” Kirsty replied, her eyes twinkling. “Mr. and Mrs. Dillon are so glad that we’re helping out! They’ve been friends with my mom and dad for a long time, and Jane is really sweet.” Then she lowered her voice. “Do you think we’ll find another one of the missing fairy pets today, Rachel?”

  “I hope so,” Rachel whispered back. “Let’s keep our eyes open!”

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  e-ISBN 978-0-545-29534-5

  Copyright © 2006 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Georgie Ripper.

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

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  First Scholastic printing, March 2008

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