Penelope the Foal Fairy Read online

  “Good thinking, Kirsty,” Rachel said.

  Penelope raised her wand and spoke the words of a spell.

  “Frisky thinks that he’s a pig.

  So we’ll lay a trail of acorns big!

  Then we’ll find a game a foal will enjoy,

  And he’ll be such a happy boy!”

  Instantly, a trail of golden fairy dust whooshed out of the wand tip and swirled across the garden to an open lawn. There it hopped across the grass, placing an acorn wherever it touched the ground. At the far end of the lawn was a slope leading to a big, muddy ditch. Kirsty and Rachel smiled.

  “That’s perfect for Frisky,” said Rachel.

  Frisky spotted the acorns at once and oinked with delight. He rushed toward them, snuffling. He started to gobble them up. Jack Frost stumbled after him, waving his arms and shouting. Frisky took absolutely no notice. He was having a wonderful time.

  Jack Frost kept on running, trying to catch the little foal. Penelope, Rachel, and Kirsty fluttered above the last acorn.

  “Get ready to catch Frisky as soon as he reaches us,” said Kirsty.

  The foal gobbled up the last acorn and the fairies zoomed down to catch him. But Jack Frost was close behind, and he flew through the air, snatching Frisky and splashing down into the muddy ditch below. SPLOOSH! Mucky water shot into the air and drenched the fairies’ delicate wings, bringing them all tumbling down into the ditch. Frisky squirmed away from Jack Frost as the fairies started to wade out of the ditch, shaking mud from their wings.

  “Frisky, it’s me,” Penelope said.

  Frisky looked confused, and tried to run away. But his little hooves slipped in the mud and he slid sideways, knocking all the fairies over again. Jack Frost clawed his way toward the foal. Then he slipped and fell flat on his face in the mud.

  “This way, Frisky!” Kirsty said.

  “Over here,” Jack Frost called, wiping mud from his eyes.

  The foal darted sideways and the Ice Lord managed to catch him. But Frisky squirmed away again, sending a spray of mud into Jack Frost’s open mouth. As Jack Frost sputtered, Frisky ran into the waiting arms of Kirsty and Rachel.

  Penelope flew to the magical foal’s side and gave him a gentle cuddle. He gave a little snorting noise and snuggled closer to her. He snuffled … and then he let out a loud, horsey neigh.

  Rachel, Kirsty, and Penelope exchanged delighted smiles as Frisky whinnied with joy.

  “He’s back to being a normal foal again,” said Rachel. “Well, a normal magical foal.”

  “Now we just have to persuade him to get out of the mud,” said Penelope with a laugh.

  “Let’s get ourselves out of the mud first,” said Kirsty, gazing down at her dirty jeans and T-shirt. “It’s lucky we were wearing our oldest clothes.”

  Laughing, they helped one another out of the mud, holding on to Frisky to make sure that he didn’t scamper off again. Then Penelope waved her wand, and instantly their clothes were clean and dry once more.

  “Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Jack Frost hissed, crawling out of the ditch on his hands and knees. “This is all your fault.”

  His clothes were soaked. His spiky hair was dripping with globs of mud. Even his eyelids had mud on them. He stood up and glared at Penelope.

  “Give him back to me,” he demanded.

  “You know I’m not going to do that,” said Penelope in her gentle voice.

  “I’ve lost the duckling, the lamb, and the foal,” Jack Frost wailed. “How am I going to have a petting zoo now?”

  “They weren’t yours to begin with,” said Kirsty.

  “It’s not fair,” Jack Frost complained, slumping down onto the grass. “Everyone’s so mean to me. No one wants me.”

  Just then, Rachel noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw that Snowdrop and the mother snow goose had followed Jack Frost as fast as their little legs could carry them. Now they were gazing at him with longing expressions.

  “It’s not true that no one wants you,” Rachel said. “You’re just not looking in the right place.”

  But Jack Frost wasn’t in the mood to listen. He got up and stomped away with a grumpy expression. The snow geese followed him, and the girls sighed.

  “I hope that he starts paying attention to them again soon,” said Kirsty. “I want them to be happy, just like Penelope and Frisky.”

  “As soon as the magical farm babies are back where they belong, I’m sure Jack Frost will notice the snow geese again,” said Penelope.

  “That’s another good reason to find the last missing animal,” said Rachel. “Everyone should be with their pets, just like you and Frisky.”

  Kirsty nodded. “All pets deserve to be as happy as Frisky!”

  Penelope smiled at Frisky. He was still rolling around in the ditch.

  “Things are starting to get back to normal,” she said. “Now I need to take Frisky back to the Fluttering Fairyland Farm.”

  “Farmer Francis will be so glad to see him,” said Kirsty.

  “He’ll be very happy,” said Penelope. “But before I can return him, I need to take you two back to Greenfields Farm.”

  She held out her arms, and Rachel and Kirsty shared a hug with her.

  “Thank you for helping me find Frisky,” she said. “Thank you with all my heart.”

  “We’re so happy to be able to help you and the other Farm Animal Fairies,” said Rachel.

  Penelope smiled and raised her wand. Everything around Rachel and Kirsty seemed to shimmer and blur. Then they were surrounded by lush green grass. The four horses in the paddock were still there. But the foals were no longer rolling around in the squishy mud, squealing and snorting like piglets—they were back in the paddock where they belonged, frisking around. The horses looked on as the little foals played together.

  “Well, they seem to be having lots of fun,” said Kirsty, laughing.

  “It’s so good to see them back to normal again,” said Rachel.

  “Yes,” Kirsty agreed. “But they do look rather grubby. Let’s give them baths and groom them so they’re ready for the photo shoot.”

  The girls hurried back to the gate and collected their buckets of soapy water. Then they caught the playful foals and washed each one nice and clean before brushing their coats and manes until they gleamed.

  “Now we have to get their photos taken before they get dirty again,” said Rachel, clipping a halter around each foal’s neck.

  “Harriet said that they would wait for us in the barn,” said Kirsty, gathering up the grooming equipment.

  They hurried to the barn and found Blossom still standing outside. She gave a loud moo as she watched the girls lead the foals into the barn. Harriet and Niall were inside setting up a camera.

  “We’ve made a lovely play area for them,” said Niall when he saw the girls. “Wow, they have never looked cleaner. Come on, foals.”

  Harriet and Niall took lots of photos for the website and posters as the little foals played and frisked around together. Rachel and Kirsty watched the photo shoot, and even Blossom wandered in to find out what was going on.

  In the farmhouse that evening, the girls sat down around the kitchen table with Mr. and Mrs. Tate. Harriet and Niall were holding the new poster between them.

  “I can’t wait to see it,” said Rachel, squeezing her best friend’s hand.

  Smiling, Harriet and Niall laid the new poster out on the table. Everyone smiled at the funny photos of the foals.

  “It’s perfect,” said Mr. Tate. “The poster looks great and the photos will bring visitors flocking to the farm.”

  “The girls did a wonderful job of grooming the foals,” said Harriet. “One of them is so clean that it’s almost as if it’s sparkling.”

  Kirsty and Rachel leaned over and looked closer at the picture.

  “The foal is sparkling,” Kirsty whispered in Rachel’s ear. “It’s Frisky. How did he get on the poster?”

  “It must be fairy magic,” Rachel replied.

  It was good to know that Frisky was safe. But they also knew that they couldn’t relax yet. Their fairy friends still had to get one more magical farm animal back.

  “Billie can trust us to help bring Chompy home,” said Kirsty. “We won’t let Jack Frost turn tomorrow’s grand opening into a disaster.”

  The girls exchanged a secret smile.

  “You’re right,” said Rachel. “The Farm Animal Fairies can depend on us—and so can Greenfields Farm!”

  The sun was shining brightly on Greenfields Farm, and the fresh early-morning breeze made it the perfect spring day. Butterflies and bees were already busy around the flowers and bushes. Rachel Walker and her best friend, Kirsty Tate, were walking away from the farmhouse, feeling a very special kind of excitement.

  “The big day has finally arrived,” said Kirsty, pausing to take a long, deep breath of fresh country air. “I can’t wait for the grand opening to start!”

  The girls—together with Kirsty’s parents—had been staying at the farm during spring break to help the Tates’ friends, Harriet and Niall Hawkins, get the farm ready to welcome visitors.

  “I want to be sure that everything is perfect,” said Rachel.

  The girls had been given the very special job of looking after the baby farm animals. They had loved every minute of it, and this morning they had woken up extra early so that they could check on all the baby animals before the grand opening.

  “Let’s visit the ducklings first,” said Kirsty.

  They walked past the barn and along the winding path that led to the duck pond. As soon as they had walked between the trees, they saw the glittering water of the pond, with its tall cattails and its happy ducks. Lots of little ducklings were quacking as they spla
shed around.

  “They all look fine,” said Rachel. “Shall we check the lambs next? I love the way they bounce around when they see us. It’s as if they’ve got springs in their hooves.”

  In the sheep pasture, the lambs bounced just as lambs should, and Rachel and Kirsty gave them some food and patted their fluffy white wool. Their eager baaing made the girls smile.

  “Foals next,” said Kirsty. “I wonder if they will still be clean after the bath we gave them yesterday?”

  “No way,” said Rachel, laughing. “You know how much they love rolling in all those muddy puddles.”

  Sure enough, when they arrived at the stables, they found all the foals coated in mud, neighing happily as they rolled and splashed.

  “I’m so glad they’re all OK,” said Kirsty. “Thank goodness Jack Frost and his pesky goblins haven’t caused any more trouble.”

  “At least not yet,” said Rachel.

  Copyright © 2017 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. 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.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN 978-1-338-20698-2

  First printing 2018

  Cover design by Angela Jun

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-20699-9

  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 Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

 

 

  Daisy Meadows, Penelope the Foal Fairy

 

 

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