Honey the Candy Fairy Read online

  “Bye, Polly,” Honey called, catching Kirsty’s hands and pulling her toward a pair of bright red doors. “It’s my department next—the Candy Factory,” she announced. The breeze carried the girls and Honey through the doors and out into a sunlit courtyard. Then, the magical wind went away just as suddenly as it had appeared. When it did, the girls were gently set down on the ground again.

  Honey led them along a path to a small orchard. Kirsty and Rachel stared in wonder—the trees seemed to be sparkling!

  “Sugar frosting,” Honey told them with a grin. She broke off a handful of glittering green leaves. “Here, try these.”

  Kirsty and Rachel bit into the sugared leaves, which tasted like sweet, tangy limes.

  “Yummy!” Rachel declared, licking her lips.

  “There are caramel apples growing on those trees,” Honey said, pointing. “And lemon drops over there.” They all watched as a couple of fairies flew close to the trees, picking the treats and putting them in golden baskets.

  Farther along, Rachel spotted some other fairies using long strips of licorice as jump ropes. “What are they doing?” Rachel asked.

  “Strength testing,” Honey told her. “And making sure the licorice is stretchy enough.” She smiled. “Besides, licorice always makes the best jump ropes. You should try it sometime.” The next fairy they saw was making bonbons bounce in and out of a huge jar of pink icing. Fluffy, pink cotton candy flowers grew at her feet, while chocolate mice ran around squeaking.

  Honey filled her party bag with golden fairy dust from a bubbly sugar fountain, then she took the girls to her own stockroom. It was piled high with boxes and jars of fairy candy. “Let’s see…Fizzy Fairies, Strawberry Sparkles, Peppermint Pops, Chocolate Bubbles …” Honey mumbled, loading boxes into the girls’ arms.

  “May we have some toffee, too, please?” Kirsty asked, suddenly remembering the errand her mom had sent her on. It seemed like such a long time ago!

  “Of course!” Honey smiled. She waved her wand, and ajar of toffee appeared on top of Kirsty s pile.

  “Fantastic,” Rachel exclaimed, looking at all of the amazing candy in her hands. “Now Mrs. Twist is going to have a wonderful party for her last day!”

  “Time for me to take you home to your own world,” Honey said, once the girls’ arms were full. She waved her wand again. Rachel and Kirsty found themselves surrounded by amber sparkles. Fairyland seemed to melt away before their eyes, there was a delicious smell of honey, a whirl of colors, and then…

  “Girls? Have you found the candy?” Mrs. Twist was calling.

  Honey, Rachel, and Kirsty were back in the stockroom of the candy store. And the girls were back to their normal size, too.

  “Coming!” Kirsty called, out of breath.

  “I’ll just clean up this mess before I go,” Honey said. She pulled a handful of fairy dust from her party bag and threw it into the air. For a moment, the whole stockroom glowed with golden light—and then the fun began! The gummy worms started wiggling their way back to their jar. The jawbreakers bounced into their jar and whizzed around inside it with a noisy rattle. The gingerbread men hopped into their box, one by one.

  As soon as all the jars and boxes were full, they flew back onto the shelves and lined up neatly.

  Kirsty realized her mouth was wide open as she watched the fairy magic at work. “I wish I could borrow your fairy dust to clean up my bedroom,” she joked. “Honey, that was amazing!”

  Honey gave a little curtsy in midair, then flew over to hug both girls good-bye. “I have to go back to Fairyland now,” she said. “But thank you for saving me and my party bag from the goblin.”

  “And thank you for all this fabulous candy,” Rachel replied.

  “We’ll see you again at the anniversary party,” Kirsty added.

  Honey looked serious for a moment. “As long as those goblins don’t mess everything up,” she said. “Good-bye!” And with a final twirl of her wand and a stream of golden sparkles, she was gone.

  Kirsty breathed in the smell of honey, which was all that remained of their fairy friend. She hated saying good-bye.

  “Come on,” Rachel said, seeing Kirsty’s wistful face. “Let’s take these to Mrs. Twist.”

  The two girls staggered through the door to the shop with all their Fairyland goodies.

  “Goodness, you can carry a lot!” Mrs. Twist exclaimed. “Now, let’s see …” She gave one of the jars a long look. “Fizzing Fairies?” she read aloud. “I don’t remember ordering these.” She unscrewed the lid to find lots of fairy-shaped treats, all beautifully wrapped.

  “Can I try one, please?” a little girl asked shyly.

  “Of course,” Mrs. Twist said with a smile. She raised her eyebrows as she passed the jar around. “Don’t they smell delicious? I think I’ll try one myself.”

  Kirsty elbowed Rachel in delight. She was sure she’d just spotted the fairy on the label giving them both a wink. And as the girls looked closer, they realized that all of the Fizzing Fairies were in the shapes of their magical friends, the Party Fairies.

  “Mmmmm,” all the boys and girls said, licking their lips as Mrs. Twist opened up more of the anniversary party treats. “This is the best candy ever!

  Kirsty and Rachel agreed. The marshmallows were soft and fluffy. The licorice was stretchy and chewy. And the lemon drops were scrumptiously tangy.

  “Freshly picked this morning,” Rachel joked in a low voice.

  Kirsty felt something rustle in her pocket. She put her hand in to find a small bag of toffee, carefully tied with a curly gold ribbon. There was a sticker of a honeybee on the front of the bag. And on the label—in gold, shimmering writing—Kirsty read the words “Made with love and honey in Fairyland.”

  “Wow,” Kirsty said. Then she smiled. “I think we’d better take these home before I start eating them. Don’t they look delicious?”

  The two friends said good-bye to Mrs. Twist and left the store.

  “That was the tastiest trip to Fairyland yet!” Rachel commented.

  Kirsty nodded happily. “Just three days left until the anniversary party,” she said. “I can’t wait!”

  “I hope we get to play Pass the Magic Present,” Rachel added, laughing as she remembered Polly’s game.

  Kirsty laughed, too. “One thing’s for sure,” she said, as she popped a lemon drop into her mouth. “We’re definitely going to have sweet dreams tonight!”

  “Good-bye, Mom!” Kirsty Tate called, waving from the school bus packed with Explorers as it pulled away from the school.

  “Good-bye, Mrs. Tate!” Rachel Walker, Kirsty’s best friend, shouted. She was waving, too.

  As the school bus made its way through the village, Rachel turned to Kirsty.

  “Isn’t it great that your Explorers leader is letting me come to your mini-jamboree?” she said happily.

  “Well, you are staying with me this week, so there’s no way I’d leave you behind!” Kirsty laughed. “And you’re an Explorer, too, even if you’re not in our troop.”

  Rachel nodded. Both she and Kirsty were wearing their Explorer uniforms. “I’m really looking forward to this,” she said eagerly. “What did you do last year?”

  “We met up with another troop of Explorers—just like we’re doing this time—so there were lots of us,” Kirsty explained. “We played games, ran races, and there were prizes. Then we roasted marshmallows around the campfire.” She grinned. “It really was just a big party in the woods!”

  Rachel’s eyes opened wide. “A party?” She gasped. “You know what that means.”

  Kirsty clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh, I didn’t realize!” she said. “We’ll have to be on the lookout for goblins. …”

  “Yes, we’ll have to keep our eyes open,” agreed Rachel, as the school bus came to a stop in a large clearing in the woods. There were already lots of Explorers milling around. The other troop had arrived! “We can’t let the goblins steal any of the Party Fairies’ magic bags,” she a
dded firmly.

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  e-ISBN 978-0-545-35688-6

  Copyright © 2005 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  Illustrations copyright © 2005 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, July 2010

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