Evelyn the Mermicorn Fairy Page 2

  The goblin climbed back into the boat, and the fairies fluttered over to join Topaz. As the goblins rowed away, Topaz nuzzled each of the fairies. Evelyn threw her arms around Rachel and Kirsty.

  “Thank you for being with me today,” she said. “Without your help, I would never have found the blue gem.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Kirsty. “I just hope that we can help you find the other gems soon.”

  “Me, too,” said Evelyn. “Without them, people and fairies will lose their confidence.”

  “Let’s go and get your wand back,” said Kirsty. “Then we can start making a plan to find the other gems.”

  Rachel smiled at her.

  “It’s great to hear you sounding confident again,” she said. “Race you to the Fairyland Palace!”

  Evelyn did a spin and fluttered into the air. Kirsty and Rachel both cheered and then followed her.

  Jack Frost’s Magical Snowflake

  A Speech in Goblin Grotto

  Magical Mice

  Green-Goo Distraction

  Back to the Ocean

  The towers of the pink Fairyland Palace glimmered in the sunshine. Rachel, Kirsty, and Evelyn fluttered down and landed on the polished steps. At once, the doors were flung open. Bertram the frog footman bowed and smiled at them.

  “Her Majesty Queen Titania is waiting for you at the Seeing Pool,” he said.

  “Thanks, Bertram,” said Rachel. “It’s great to see you again!”

  The fairies zoomed around the palace to the gardens. They swooped under an archway of roses and landed beside the sparkling Seeing Pool. They had been here many times before, but they had never seen so many fairies gathered around the shining water.

  “It looks as if everyone from the festival is here,” said Kirsty.

  Queen Titania was standing among the fairies. Rachel, Kirsty, and Evelyn curtsied to her.

  “I knew that you would come,” she said.

  “We got Topaz’s blue gem back, thanks to Rachel and Kirsty,” said Evelyn.

  “But Jack Frost still has the other two gems,” said Kirsty. “Without them, people and fairies are going to lose the confidence to speak their minds and help others.”

  “We must find the gems,” Rachel said.

  “Let’s find out what the Seeing Pool can tell us,” said the queen.

  She held her wand out over the water, and at once a picture appeared. It was as clear as a reflection in a mirror. Jack Frost was standing over a young goblin, clutching Topaz’s pink gemstone in his hand.

  “Take this to the goblin village and hide it,” he said.

  The goblin, who was wearing a knitted hat and sparkly orange sandals, snatched the gemstone. He threw it up into the air and caught it again, squawking with laughter.

  “Do you think this is a joke?” snarled Jack Frost. “Those fairies will try all sorts of tricky things to get that gem.”

  “I’ll hide it,” the goblin promised, puffing out his chest. “Those sneaky fairies can’t trick me.”

  “Of course they can,” Jack Frost sneered. “But I’m going to give you something that will stop them.”

  He pulled a small blue object from his cloak. It twinkled in the daylight, and the goblin gasped.

  “I love it,” he said. “What is it?”

  “It’s a magical snowflake,” said Jack Frost. “If any fairies bother you, just throw this at them. It’ll turn into a net and send them straight to the Ice Castle dungeon.”

  “You’re a genius,” said the goblin, staring at Jack Frost in awe.

  Jack Frost threw back his spiky head and cackled with delight. Then the water of the Seeing Pool rippled, and the picture faded away.

  Queen Titania turned to the fairies with a serious expression.

  “With the magical snowflake, the goblin can send any fairy to the Ice Castle dungeon,” she said. “It will be dangerous and difficult to get the pink gemstone.”

  “I don’t care how dangerous it is,” said Evelyn. “Topaz and the other mermicorns are depending on me to help them. I’ll go to the goblin village.”

  “We’ll go with you,” said Rachel at once. “Kirsty and I have been to Goblin Grotto before, and we might be able to help.”

  “Thank you,” said Evelyn with a relieved smile.

  Queen Titania handed Evelyn her wand. The other fairies clapped and called, “Good luck!” and “Be careful!” Then Rachel, Kirsty, and Evelyn curtsied to the queen and zoomed off into the blue sky. Glancing over her shoulder, Kirsty saw dozens of fairy wings glimmering and fluttering below. The queen’s hand was raised as she waved good-bye.

  “We can’t let them down,” Kirsty said fiercely. “We must get the gemstone and take it back to Topaz.”

  By the time the fairies reached Goblin Grotto, the cold was making them shiver. They landed in a narrow side street. Cobbles poked through gray snow, dirty from goblin feet. The street was lined with the goblins’ huts, and icicles hung from the eaves.

  “Time for a little mermicorn magic,” said Evelyn, smiling.

  She reached up and broke off the biggest icicle. As soon as her wand touched it, the icicle started to shimmer like pearl, showing all the colors of the rainbow.

  “It reminds me of Topaz’s horn,” said Rachel.

  Evelyn tapped each of them on the shoulder with the icicle. At once, they stopped feeling cold.

  “It’s like wearing an invisible coat,” said Kirsty.

  “The magic will last until the icicle melts,” said Evelyn.

  She attached the icicle to the eaves again and looked around. There wasn’t a goblin in sight.

  “Where shall we start looking?” she asked.

  “Let’s go to the center of the village,” said Rachel. “That’s where we’ll find the goblins.”

  She led the way along the street toward the square in the middle of the village. As they got closer, they heard someone shouting.

  “What’s that?” Evelyn whispered in a trembling voice.

  They were close to the central square now. Carefully, they peeped around the corner. A goblin was standing on an upside-down wooden crate, surrounded by a crowd of other goblins. They were staring at him with their mouths hanging open.

  “And another thing!” he was shouting. “I’m not afraid to say that I like playing Guess That Goblin, even though some goblins think it’s a children’s game. Just because I’m young, that doesn’t mean I’m not smart. I’ve got amazing ideas and plans. Jack Frost knows how wonderful and smart I am. You’re all going to be sorry for laughing at me for saying the moon is made of green cheese. I can prove it.”

  “He seems a bit confused,” said Evelyn. “Even for a goblin.”

  “Oh my goodness,” said Rachel. “Look at his feet.”

  The loud young goblin was wearing sparkly orange sandals and a blue knitted hat.

  “He must be the goblin that we saw in the Seeing Pool,” said Kirsty. “He’s got the pink gemstone.”

  “Of course,” said Evelyn. “That’s why he feels so confident in front of all these other goblins. The pink gemstone gives you the courage to speak your mind.”

  “We can’t go up to him now,” said Rachel. “All the goblins are staring at him.”

  But at that moment, the young goblin jumped down from his crate and stomped off down an alleyway.

  “We have to follow him,” Kirsty whispered. “We’ll just have to hope that the other goblins don’t see us.”

  Keeping their fingers crossed, the fairies stayed in the shadows and fluttered along the side of the square.

  “There are his footprints,” said Rachel, pointing to a set of enormous goblin prints in the snow. “They will lead us right to him.”

  The fairies slipped into the tumble-down alleyway. They followed the prints until they reached a hut tucked in between two threadbare fir trees. It was hard to tell if the hut was as shabby as the alleyway, because it was covered in pictures. Rachel spotted several posters for Frosty and his Gobolicious Band. Th
ere were leaflets for goblin shops and even recipes with photographs of green-goo cupcakes and sludge sausages.

  “I’ve never seen a goblin hut like this before,” said Rachel.

  “What now?” asked Kirsty. “As soon as the goblin spots us, he’ll throw the magical snowflake.”

  “We have to get in without being seen,” said Evelyn. “But how?”

  “There’s no way we can get in,” said Rachel. “The huts are tiny inside. The goblin would see us right away. Besides, there’s hardly enough room for a mouse to creep in under the door, let alone a fairy.”

  “Oh!” said Kirsty suddenly. “You’ve given me an idea. Evelyn, could you turn us into mice? If we were that small, we could creep in under the door.”

  “Yes, and we should be able to keep out of the goblin’s sight,” said Evelyn.

  Just then, they heard goblin voices at the far end of the alleyway.

  “They’re coming this way,” said Rachel. “Hurry.”

  Evelyn raised her wand and whispered a spell.

  Ears and tail, small and light,

  Good at keeping out of sight.

  Change these fairies into mice;

  We’ll find the gemstone in a trice!

  A wisp of sparkling fairy dust spiraled from her wand and rippled from Rachel to Kirsty and then back to Evelyn. As soon as it touched them, they felt fur tickling their faces.

  “My ears are getting bigger,” said Kirsty with a giggle.

  She reached up to touch them and realized that she had paws instead of hands.

  “We’re tiny,” said Rachel, looking at Kirsty and Evelyn. They had all become small, brown field mice.

  “Those goblin voices are getting closer,” said Evelyn.

  Twitching their whiskers, the three mice scurried under the goblin’s door and pressed themselves up against the wall of the hut.

  The young goblin was sitting in front of a feeble fire, rubbing his bony hands together. He had kicked off his orange sandals, but his hat was still perched on top of his knobbly head.

  “No silly fairies are going to find my hiding place,” he said, squawking with laughter. “I’ll be the first goblin ever to beat the fairies and follow Jack Frost’s orders. I’ll be made chief goblin. I’ll get medals. I’ll make the others call me ‘sir.’ ”

  He reached out to a pile of green-goo cupcakes on a little table and shoved one into his mouth.

  “They’ll never guess I’ve hidden it in my chimney,” he said, spraying green crumbs across the floor. “And even if they do, they’re not going to want to singe their little wings.”

  The mice exchanged worried glances.

  “The goblin’s right,” Kirsty whispered. “We can’t get into the chimney as mice or as fairies!”

  “I have an idea,” said Rachel. “If the goblin thinks that we’ve guessed his hiding place, he might move the gemstone himself.”

  “And then we would have a chance to take it back,” said Kirsty.

  “We have to let him hear us,” said Evelyn.

  Rachel and Kirsty looked at her in surprise.

  “Do you mean that you want us to get caught?” Rachel asked.

  “No,” said Evelyn. “But what if the goblin hears fairy voices talking about his hiding place?”

  Rachel and Kirsty ran around the edge of the hut. Kirsty stopped by the fireplace and Rachel scurried behind a large, moldy marshmallow.

  Evelyn put her paws over her mouth to make it sound as if she was outside.

  “He’s in here,” she called.

  The goblin leaped to his feet and pulled out the magical snowflake.

  On the other side of the room, Rachel said, “We have to get in. He can’t catch us all with that magical snowflake.”

  “They can see me!” the goblin squeaked.

  He raced to the door and bolted it shut. Then he ran to the window and shut the curtains.

  “Let’s fly down the chimney,” said Kirsty. “That’s a good hiding place.”

  “Oh, no you don’t,” muttered the goblin. “I’m smarter than you.”

  He sprang toward the fireplace and reached up inside the chimney. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding a small velvet pouch.

  “I’ll fool them,” he whispered.

  He dropped the pouch into a cracked glass jar on the mantelpiece. Then he sat down, but he didn’t relax. He sat bolt upright, watching the chimney. Rachel and Kirsty ran back around the room to where Evelyn was waiting.

  “We have to distract him,” said Rachel. “If he sees a fairy, he’ll use the magic snowflake.”

  Kirsty looked at the table where the green-goo cupcakes were piled up. She smiled, and her whiskers bristled.

  “The goblin wouldn’t like two little mice nibbling his cakes,” she said. “If we can keep him watching us, maybe Evelyn can turn back into a fairy and take the gemstone without him noticing.”

  “It’s risky,” said Rachel. “If he turns around and sees her, he’ll send her to the dungeon.”

  “We won’t let him turn around,” said Kirsty. “We’ll be the strangest, most annoying mice he’s ever seen. We just can’t let him know that we’re really fairies.”

  “Let’s try,” said Evelyn. “Let’s do it for the mermicorns.”

  Rachel and Kirsty scampered around to the back of the goblin’s chair. The space between the floor and the chair was just big enough for them to squeeze through. It was dark and dusty under there. They crawled past snoozing spiders and stale cupcake crumbs.

  “I see the goblin’s legs,” Rachel whispered.

  “Go left,” said Kirsty. “The table’s at the side of the chair.”

  Side by side, the two mice edged out from underneath the chair. They each chose a table leg.

  “How do we climb up?” Kirsty asked.

  “I think we just dig our tiny little claws in and use our tails to balance,” said Rachel, her whiskers twitching as she smiled. “I’m hoping it comes naturally.”

  Silently, they climbed up the table legs, going faster and faster. They reached the top at the same time. A mountain of green cakes towered above them.

  “Those cakes smell really bad,” Rachel whispered.

  “Let’s each choose one,” said Kirsty. “Then we just have to do everything we can to keep him looking at us.”

  They each pulled a cake toward them, and then Rachel let out a loud SQUEAK! The goblin turned to look at her.

  “Hey, get off my cakes!” he yelled.

  He swiped at the little mouse, but she dodged him and started nibbling. Before he could try to hit her again, Kirsty squeaked, too.

  “Get out of here!” the goblin screeched.

  He snatched at the mice, trying to catch them, but they were too quick for him. Kirsty and Rachel ran left and right, leaping over his hand and even swinging under the table with their tails. “You squeaky little pests,” he yelled. “Come here!”

  In between leaps and swings, Rachel saw Evelyn fluttering in front of the mantelpiece. But just as she reached for the jar, the goblin started to turn around.

  SQUEAK! The mice sprang through the air and landed on the front of the goblin’s knitted hat. Clinging on with their front paws, they jumped down and pulled the hat over his eyes.

  “Help!” the goblin shrieked. “Mouse attack!”

  He spun around, trying to swipe at the dangling mice. Just as he snatched the hat from his head, Evelyn grabbed the velvet bag from the jar and waved her wand.

  “Fairies!” the goblin shouted.

  He flung the magical snowflake at Evelyn, just as she and the mice disappeared in a twinkling of fairy dust.

  Rachel and Kirsty blinked, and saw that they were fluttering above the blue ocean.

  “We’re fairies again,” said Rachel. “Thank goodness.”

  Evelyn put her arms around them, and all three of them twirled around in the air, laughing. “That was close,” Evelyn said. “It’s thanks to you that I’m safe, and that I have this.”

  S
he took the pink gemstone out of the velvet pouch, and it seemed to glow more brightly.

  “How will you tell Topaz that you’ve got it back?” Rachel asked.

  “I think she already knows,” said Evelyn. “She has a very special connection with the gems.”

  She flew down and held the gem in the water. At once, the water began to whirl around, changing from blue to pink. The whirlpool spun faster and deeper. Then a spiral horn rose out of the water.

  “Topaz!” cried all the fairies at once.

  Evelyn placed the gem back in Topaz’s necklace, and then they all put their arms around the mermicorn’s neck. She nuzzled them gratefully.

  “There’s one more gem to find,” said Evelyn. “But before we go looking for it, how about a swim with a mermicorn?”

  Rachel and Kirsty exchanged an excited smile.

  “Yes please!” they exclaimed.

  Topaz whinnied and splashed in the waves. It looked like she was ready for a celebratory swim, too!

  Return to Mermicorn Island

  The Amazing Advisor

  Going Fishing

  Magical Bubbles

  Pearl’s Present

  Evelyn, Rachel, and Kirsty had fun diving through the foaming waves with Topaz, but they didn’t play for long. Jack Frost still had the green gemstone, and without it none of the fairies would have the confidence to help others. Soon, the three friends were hurrying along a marble hallway in the Fairyland Palace.