The Dance Fairies Collection Read online

“Listen!” said Bethany suddenly. “I can hear someone giggling!”

  “It’s coming from the other side of the stage,” Rachel said.

  The friends hurried across the curtained stage, weaving their way in and out of the motionless dancers. As they neared the other side, they saw a very strange sight.

  A goblin wearing pink tights was struggling to get into a fluffy white tutu. He had jammed a pair of dainty white ballet shoes onto his feet, and he had tied a pink bow around his head.

  “Oh!” Bethany gasped. “That’s my ribbon! It’s larger now that it’s in the human world, but I’d know it anywhere!”

  Rachel and Kirsty put their hands over their mouths to muffle their giggles.

  “I thought the goblins were supposed to be hiding,” Kirsty whispered. “This one isn’t doing a very good job!”

  “The magic of the ribbons is so strong that anyone who has one can’t help but dance!” Bethany explained, fluttering out of Rachel’s pocket. “Come on, let’s get my ribbon back!”

  The goblin was so busy trying to squeeze into the tutu, he didn’t notice Bethany and the girls until they were right in front of him. Kirsty was glad that he didn’t seem to have a magic wand, either.

  “Give my magic ribbon back, please!” Bethany said firmly.

  The goblin scowled at her. “Go away, pesky fairy!” he muttered. “I’m not giving the ribbon back! I like being good at dancing. And, even better, I’m ruining the ballet for everyone else! Jack Frost is going to be very happy with me.”

  “That’s mean,” Kirsty said.

  The goblin looked thoughtful. Suddenly, he smiled sweetly at Kirsty. “Well, OK,” he said. “You can take the ribbon, but you’ll have to untie it for me. I tied it too tightly.”

  Rachel frowned, feeling suspicious. Why was the goblin being so nice all of a sudden?

  “Kirsty, don’t —” Rachel began. But she was too late. Kirsty had already stepped forward to undo the ribbon. As she did, the goblin touched her wrist and said, “Freeze!”

  Instantly, poor Kirsty was frozen stiff.

  The goblin roared with laughter.

  “Oh no!” Rachel gasped, staring in horror at her frozen friend.

  “Jack Frost must have given the goblins freezing powers,” Bethany guessed. “So that’s what he meant when he said there was more to the goblins than meets the eye!”

  The goblin stepped forward and reached a big green hand toward Rachel.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Bethany cried, waving her wand over Rachel and transforming her instantly into a tiny fairy. Rachel zoomed away from the goblin and joined Bethany, out of his reach.

  The goblin chuckled. “You can’t touch me, or I’ll freeze you, too!” Still laughing, he ran onto the stage.

  Rachel and Bethany flew after him. “What are we going to do about Kirsty?” Rachel asked anxiously.

  “Don’t worry, Rachel,” Bethany said, as they perched in one of the cardboard trees that was part of the scenery. “The spell will wear off soon, and Kirsty will be fine.”

  On the stage below them, the goblin had begun to dance. Rachel’s eyes widened as he performed perfect jetés, pirouettes, and arabesques.

  “He’s a wonderful dancer!” she said.

  “It’s only because he has my magic ribbon,” Bethany scoffed. “We have to get it back!”

  Rachel watched the goblin move around the stage, and in and out of the wings. He was touching all the ballerinas and stagehands as he went past them, and Rachel guessed he was making sure they all remained frozen.

  Suddenly Rachel noticed the large, pale moon made out of tissue paper, hanging from the top of the stage. It was suspended in the air from a rope. As she looked at it, an idea popped into her head.

  “Bethany,” she whispered, “if the goblin was underneath the paper moon, we could drop it down to startle him, and grab the ribbon!”

  “Great idea, Rachel!” Bethany agreed eagerly. “The moon is very light, so it won’t hurt him. But how will we get the goblin to stand underneath it?”

  Rachel frowned. Before she could suggest anything, she saw Kirsty hurry onto the stage. Kirsty was keeping a close eye on the dancing goblin, but she was also looking around for Rachel and Bethany.

  “The freezing spell must have worn off, and Kirsty’s looking for us!” Rachel whispered to Bethany. “Maybe she can help us get the goblin underneath the moon.”

  Bethany nodded. “We’ll have to be careful, though,” she whispered back. “We don’t want the goblin to guess what we’re up to!”

  The little fairy waved her wand. A few magic sparkles drifted downward, making Kirsty look up and see her friends in the tree.

  Rachel immediately pointed at the moon and then at the goblin, trying to explain to Kirsty that they needed him to stand underneath the moon.

  Rachel could see her friend frowning in concentration as she watched. Did she understand what Rachel wanted her to do?

  For a moment, Kirsty looked confused. Then she nodded and turned away. “I want that ribbon,” she called to the goblin. “And don’t even think about trying to freeze me again!”

  The goblin scowled at her. “I can freeze you any time I want!” he snapped back.

  “I don’t think so!” Kirsty said in a teasing tone.

  Rachel and Bethany watched hopefully as Kirsty steadily moved closer to the moon.

  “I’ll show you!” The goblin chuckled, skipping gleefully toward her.

  Just a little closer! Rachel thought, holding her breath. Kirsty took a step back and the goblin followed, his hand stretched out to freeze her. Now he was right underneath the paper moon.

  With a flick of her wrist, Bethany sent a burst of fairy sparkles toward the rope that held up the moon.

  The rope untied itself and the moon dropped down, knocking the goblin to the floor.

  “Agghh!” the goblin yelled in surprise.

  Quick as a flash, Kirsty whipped the magic ribbon off the goblin’s head. He sat up, looking furious but not hurt. Kirsty tried to jump aside as the goblin grabbed at her wrist, but she wasn’t quick enough. Rachel’s heart skipped a beat as the goblin shouted, “Freeze!” once again.

  But this time, nothing happened!

  Kirsty looked relieved and waved up at her friends. “I’m fine!” she called.

  Bethany and Rachel flew down to join her.

  “It looks like Jack Frost only gave you the freezing power for while you have the ribbon,” Bethany told the goblin with a grin.

  Looking extremely grouchy, the goblin stuck his tongue out at her. “Well, we still have the other magic ribbons!” he snapped. “And I’ll make sure we hang onto them!” Scowling, he jumped up and ran off.

  “Thank you so much, girls!” Bethany said joyfully. She sent a stream of magic fairy dust toward the ribbon in Kirsty’s hand. It floated over to the little fairy, shrinking down to its usual Fairyland size. As the girls watched, the ribbon reattached itself to Bethany’s wand in a cloud of pink sparkles, shining an even deeper pink color as it did.

  “Now hurry back to your seats while I fix everything here on stage,” Bethany told Rachel and Kirsty. “Everyone will be unfreezing soon, and the performance will begin. Now that I have my ribbon back, it should all go perfectly!”

  “Good-bye!” Rachel and Kirsty called to the fairy, hurrying toward the stage door. As they went, they saw the dancers and stagehands beginning to unfreeze.

  “Let’s get this show on the road!” one of the stagehands declared.

  Rachel and Kirsty grinned at each other. Then they quickly bought a program and dashed back to their seats.

  “Just in time, girls!” Mr. Tate whispered as they sat down. “The ballet’s starting.”

  Rachel and Kirsty gazed eagerly at the beautiful scene on the stage once again. The paper moon was back in its proper place, and Bethany was seated on top of it! The little fairy waved at them before vanishing in a puff of silvery-white sparkles.

  “This is going to be great!”
Rachel sighed happily as the dancers began to pirouette across the frozen lake on stage. “But we can’t forget that we have six more magic ribbons to find.”

  “Yes, and we’ll have to be careful now that the goblins have new freezing powers,” Kirsty whispered. “Still, I can’t wait for our next fairy adventure!”

  Girls Go Dancing

  Groovy Goblin

  Goblin Goes Missing

  Ribbon in Reach

  Bowled Over

  Disco Divas

  “Strike!” cheered Kirsty Tate, as Rachel’s ball sent all ten pins flying at the end of the bowling lane.

  “Hooray!” Rachel cried in delight.

  “That’s your third strike today!” Kirsty’s dad said, smiling. “Good job, Rachel.”

  “And it looks like you won the game, too!” Mrs. Tate added, gazing up at the electronic scoreboard.

  The girls went to see. Sure enough, flashing green letters spelled out ‘RACHEL WINS’ on the screen.

  “Yay!” Rachel said. “I’m having the best vacation ever — and it’s only just begun!”

  She and Kirsty grinned at each other. Rachel was staying with Kirsty’s family for their school break, and the two girls always had exciting adventures whenever they were together. Fairy adventures! This time was no different. Only yesterday, they’d met the seven Dance Fairies, who’d asked for their help. The girls had said yes right away. They loved helping the fairies!

  “Well, girls,” Mr. Tate said as the scoreboard flashed ‘GAME OVER.’ “It’s time to take off your bowling shoes and put on your dancing shoes. You have the school disco tonight, remember?”

  “I can’t wait,” Kirsty said eagerly, turning to her friend. “Rachel and I love dancing, don’t we?”

  Rachel nodded, knowing Kirsty was thinking about the Dance Fairies. “Definitely,” she replied. “Come on, let’s go!”

  Once they were back at the Tates’ house, the girls got changed in Kirsty’s bedroom. Rachel was wearing a pretty purple party dress, and Kirsty picked out a pink sparkly top and a pair of black pants.

  “I can’t wait to see all your friends again,” Rachel said, brushing her hair in front of the mirror. “It’ll be great to dance with them tonight.”

  Kirsty went over to check that her door was closed properly. “We might even get to see another one of the Dance Fairies, too!” she added in a low voice.

  “I hope so,” Rachel said eagerly. Yesterday, she and Kirsty had met all seven Dance Fairies and been magically whisked away to Fairyland. There, they’d learned that the Dance Fairies’ magical ribbons had been stolen by Jack Frost.

  The fairies had explained that the ribbons made it so that dancing went smoothly and was fun for everyone in Fairyland and in the human world, too. Jack Frost had stolen the ribbons because he wanted his goblins to be able to dance well at a party he was throwing.

  Together with the Dance Fairies and the fairy king and queen, Rachel and Kirsty had gone to Jack Frost’s ice castle to try and get the ribbons back.

  But when he saw them coming, sneaky Jack Frost had sent all the ribbons into the human world, with a goblin to guard each one.

  Yesterday, the girls had helped Bethany the Ballet Fairy find the goblin with her ballet ribbon. They’d gotten the ribbon back, but they’d been shocked to discover that Jack Frost had given his goblins a new magical power. While they had the ribbons, the goblins could freeze anything just by touching it!

  Kirsty picked up a barrette and began fastening it in her hair. Then she stopped and looked at Rachel with a worried expression. “I just thought of something,” she said. “What if the school disco is all messed up because the disco ribbon is still missing?”

  Rachel bit her lip. “I hope not,” she said. “It would be awful if the school dance was ruined. We’ll have to look for the goblin and hope that we can get the magic ribbon back to Jade the Disco Fairy before anything goes wrong.”

  Kirsty nodded. “I don’t like the thought of meeting another goblin who can freeze us.” She shivered. “But we have to try and save the disco!”

  “See you later, girls,” Mrs. Tate said, as she dropped Kirsty and Rachel off at the school. “Have fun!”

  “Bye, Mom! We will,” Kirsty replied, waving. She and Rachel walked toward the doors. They could hear music pounding as they approached. The girls exchanged hopeful looks.

  “The disco seems to be going all right so far,” Rachel said optimistically. “I mean, the music’s playing, so it hasn’t been cancelled or anything.… ”

  Kirsty pushed open the doors. “Oh, and look!” she cried happily. “The gym is all decorated. It’s so pretty!”

  Rachel and Kirsty gazed around the large gymnasium. Balloons and streamers were pinned high in the corners of the room, and colored lights flashed on the dance floor. Above their heads, sparkling mirror balls hung from the ceiling, sending tiny rainbow reflections spinning all around the room.

  “Wow!” said Rachel. “It looks great … but no one is dancing.”

  The girls looked at the empty dance floor. There were clusters of girls and boys all around the room, but nobody was actually dancing to the music.

  “Maybe it’s a good thing,” Kirsty said in a low voice. “Since the disco ribbon isn’t on Jade’s wand, everyone’s dancing would probably be really bad, anyway.”

  Rachel was about to agree when the song changed and two adults took to the dance floor, with self-conscious smiles on their faces.

  Kirsty’s eyes widened. “It’s Mr. Collins and Mrs. Adams!” she said.

  “It looks like they’re trying to get the disco started,” Rachel added, watching as the teachers began to dance. Mr. Collins started shaking his hips to the music, but somehow this caused his legs to go in opposite directions. He slipped and went flying into Mrs. Adams! Mrs. Adams wobbled as he crashed into her, and her arms flailed as she tried to keep her balance.

  Kirsty looked at Rachel. “Oh no,” she said. “I was afraid this would happen!”

  Rachel nodded. “We really need the disco ribbon!”

  People around the room were giggling because the two teachers seemed to be getting worse by the second. Mrs. Adams trampled Mr. Collins’ toes, then he knocked her glasses off as he attempted to do a groovy finger-pointing move!

  “They are so bad.” A girl standing near Kirsty and Rachel giggled to her friends. “I can’t believe they’re such awful dancers!”

  “Come on, we can’t be any worse than they are,” one of her friends replied. “Let’s go and show them how it’s done!”

  The group of girls edged onto the dance floor and started dancing, keeping a safe distance from the clumsy teachers. Then a few others joined them, followed by some boys. It seemed like the teachers’ awful dancing had given everyone else a bit of confidence. In just a few minutes, the empty dance floor was packed.

  “Should we dance, too?” Rachel asked, turning to Kirsty.

  But Kirsty looked alarmed as she stared at the dancers. “It’s getting dangerous out there, if you ask me!” she replied. “Look!”

  Rachel turned back to see that it wasn’t just the teachers who were dancing badly now. Nobody could dance well at all! As Rachel watched, she saw one girl lose her balance and crash into her friend. Then, on the other side of the room, she saw a boy fall over, dragging a couple of guys down with him.

  “I’ve never seen such horrible dancing,” Rachel whispered to Kirsty in dismay. “Someone’s going to get hurt pretty soon!”

  Kirsty nodded. “We really need to find the ribbon,” she whispered back, “before this turns into a total disaster! Come on, let’s start looking.”

  Rachel scanned the room, wondering where they should begin their search. Her gaze fell upon a dancer in the far corner. He was short, dressed in white flared pants and high platform shoes. A huge pair of sunglasses hid most of his face. “Ooh,” she said to Kirsty, pointing at the dancer. “He has good moves, doesn’t he?”

  Kirsty watched the boy. “Yes, he doe
s,” she agreed. “How strange that he’s such a good dancer, when everyone else is so terrible.”

  Rachel frowned. “Actually, the people who are dancing near him aren’t that bad, either,” she said.

  The girls stared at the boy as he whirled around the dance floor.

  “I don’t recognize him,” Kirsty said after a minute or two. “I’m sure I haven’t seen him at school before. I wonder if he’s someone’s little brother.”

  Just then, the song ended and the girls edged forward, trying to get a better look at the dancing boy as he came to a stop.

  Kirsty frowned. He had unusually pointy ears, and even though the flashing disco lights were making everyone’s faces turn funny colors, she was sure she could see a greenish tint to his skin.…

  “Rachel!” Kirsty gulped. “I think that boy is really a goblin! Look at his ears!”

  Rachel gazed across the dance floor. “You’re right!” she exclaimed. “He must be the goblin with the disco ribbon! That’s why he’s such a good dancer.”

  Kirsty nodded. Her eyes were fixed on the goblin who was now dancing to the next song, bouncing to the beat on his gigantic platform shoes. “And that’s why everyone near him is dancing well,” she added. “The disco ribbon’s magic is affecting them, too!”

  “Let’s try and get closer,” Rachel suggested, “and see if we can spot the magic ribbon.”

  Kirsty agreed. “We might even be able to grab it without him noticing, once we know where the ribbon is. He’s totally wrapped up in the music.”