The Dance Fairies Collection Read online

  The girls made their way across the dance floor, dodging the wacky dancing that was going on around them. It didn’t get any easier as they moved closer to the goblin. A crowd had gathered around him, and everyone was trying to copy his disco moves.

  “I thought Jack Frost told his goblins that they had to stay hidden while they had the ribbons,” Kirsty said to Rachel over the thumping music.

  “He certainly isn’t hiding.” Rachel laughed. “But he is in disguise,” she added, swerving to avoid a boy who had just managed to trip over his own feet. “Ow!” She gasped as somebody else barged right into her, knocking her to the floor.

  Kirsty bent down to help her friend up. When the girls were both standing again, they realized that something terrible had happened: the goblin had vanished!

  “Oh no!” said Rachel, frantically looking around. “Where is he?”

  “I can’t see him anywhere,” Kirsty replied. “But look, the people who were near him are dancing badly now, just like everyone else. He must be gone.”

  Rachel suddenly spotted something strange. “Hey,” she said. “Look at that mirror ball up there, Kirsty. Is it my imagination, or is it shimmering more brightly than the others?”

  She and Kirsty gazed up at the mirror ball — and then jumped with surprise as a tiny fairy darted out from behind it in a cloud of green sparkles.

  “It’s Jade the Disco Fairy!” Kirsty cried.

  The girls shielded their eyes from the bright lights as Jade waved at them and fluttered down to land on Kirsty’s shoulder. Luckily, everyone else was so busy dancing badly and bumping into one another that they didn’t notice the tiny fairy!

  Jade had long blond hair. She wore a jade green halter top and cool pants with a green, swirly print on them. On her feet she wore pretty, high-heeled green sandals.

  “Hello, Jade,” Rachel said as they moved to the side of the dance floor where it was a little quieter. “Did you see the goblin?”

  “I certainly did,” Jade said, rolling her eyes. “And I’ve never seen such a terrible outfit! It’s enough to give disco a bad name! Those shoes — I mean, really!”

  Kirsty laughed. “Did you see where he went?” she asked. “We lost him.”

  Jade shook her head. “I lost track of him, too,” she replied, “but he can’t have gone far. If he has my ribbon, I can guarantee that all he’ll want to do is dance! He’s bound to stay near the music.”

  “Well, he’s not in the gym anymore,” Rachel said. “But maybe he’s close.”

  “Let’s go out into the hallway,” Kirsty suggested, walking toward a nearby door. “We can start looking there.”

  The girls and Jade went out the door. It was cooler and quieter in the hallway, though they could still hear the beat of the music from the disco. They hurried along the hall, looking into the classrooms they passed.

  The first two rooms were empty, but as Kirsty popped her head around the door of the third, she smiled. The goblin was dancing on top of the desks and singing really badly to the disco music!

  She drew her head back quickly before he spotted her. “He’s in there!” she whispered to Rachel and Jade. “What should we do?”

  “Do?” Jade replied. “We’ll go right in there and ask for my ribbon back, that’s what we’ll do! Come on!”

  Jade zipped into the classroom, with Rachel and Kirsty right behind her. The goblin was now dancing on a desk right under a solar system mobile that dangled from the ceiling. He was having a great time, shimmying along to the music, his big high shoes banging loudly on the desktop with every step.

  Jade fluttered over to him, and the girls gathered by his desk.

  “I believe you’ve got my disco ribbon,” Jade said. “And I’d like it back now, thank you very much!”

  At her words, the goblin pushed his huge sunglasses off his face and almost fell off the desk in surprise.

  “Go away! Can’t you see I’m dancing?” he asked rudely, flicking his sunglasses down onto his nose again, and turning his back on the three friends.

  Rachel watched him strutting his stuff. “I hate to say this, but he’s actually very good,” she said in a low voice.

  “I can’t believe he can dance like that in those huge platforms!” Kirsty agreed.

  Jade didn’t look so impressed. “Hmmmph!” she sniffed angrily. “He doesn’t have anything to do with it. It’s all my ribbon’s magic. He couldn’t do the Hokey Pokey without that ribbon!”

  The goblin danced around, clapping his hands in time to the music.

  As he whirled around to face the girls again, he looked annoyed to see that they were still there. Then a sly smirk appeared on his face. “Hey, why don’t you come and join me?” he suggested. “I could teach you my disco routine!”

  Kirsty and Rachel shook their heads, backing away. “No way,” Rachel replied. “We know you just want to freeze us!”

  “And we’re not going to fall for any of your tricks,” Kirsty told him.

  The goblin gave a cackle. “Well, you’re not getting this ribbon back!” he said, pulling a length of sparkly green ribbon out of his pocket. “Maybe I’ll freeze you anyway, just for the fun of it!”

  He made a leap toward the girls, but Jade quickly waved her wand and turned them into fairies, so that they could zoom out of his way.

  Kirsty grinned as she flapped her delicate wings and fluttered out of the goblin’s reach. Being able to fly was so much fun — and useful, too!

  The three fairies circled the goblin’s head as he glared at them. “Leave me alone!” he growled, climbing back onto the desk. “Can’t a goblin dance in peace?”

  “Not with my ribbon, you can’t,” Jade insisted. “Now hand it over, or we’ll buzz around your head like annoying mosquitoes until you do!”

  “Then I’ll have to swat you like mosquitoes!” snarled the goblin, making another leap for them. He held his big hands flat like flyswatters. As he did, the sparkly green disco ribbon flew out from between his fingers and looped around the model of Saturn on the solar system mobile above his head.

  The goblin reached up and tugged at it, but the ribbon was caught on Saturn’s rings and wouldn’t budge. “Silly thing!” The goblin moaned, jumping up and down and yanking at it with all his might.

  The solar system mobile swung back and forth, but the ribbon held fast.

  Jade’s eyes lit up. “This could be our chance to get my ribbon back!” she said to Rachel and Kirsty in a low voice. “How can we get the goblin to let go of the other end?”

  Kirsty grinned. “Tickle him!” she suggested.

  On previous fairy adventures, she and Rachel had discovered that the goblins were extremely ticklish.

  Jade chuckled. “That’s a fabulous idea,” she said. “I’ll tickle the goblin with my wand, and you two can fly to the mobile and untangle the ribbon while he’s distracted.”

  “Let’s do it!” Rachel said eagerly.

  Jade murmured some magic words. Her wand suddenly grew much longer and sprouted a super-tickly, feathery tip! “There,” she said with a smile. “Let’s see if this does the trick.”

  She flew down toward the goblin and poked the feathery wand under his arm as he pulled on the ribbon.

  He immediately shrieked with laughter and lowered his arm. “Ooh! Ooh! Stop it!” he yelped, still holding onto the ribbon and making the planets on the mobile crash together above his head.

  Jade didn’t stop. She wiggled the wand under his chin next, and the goblin collapsed in giggles.

  “Ooh, no! No!” he cackled. “Stop!”

  But the little fairy was a blur. She flew all around the goblin, tickling him on the backs of his knees and behind his big ears until he was helpless with laughter. The girls watched as the goblin’s grip on the ribbon began to slip.

  Kirsty and Rachel flew up to the mobile and began trying to untangle the ribbon from Saturn’s rings. By now, the goblin was laughing uncontrollably. His sunglasses flew off because his whole body was shaking wit
h giggles! The goblin dropped to his knees, squirming and laughing, and then, to the girls’ delight, he dropped the end of the disco ribbon.

  “It worked!” Kirsty whispered excitedly, gazing at the dangling ribbon. “Quick, Rachel, we just have to untie this end and we’ll have it!”

  “There!” Rachel cried, as the tangled end of the ribbon came free. She reached out to grab it, but before she could get a proper grip, the ribbon slipped right through her fingers and fell onto the goblin’s head!

  “Oh no!” Rachel cried, swooping down to try and retrieve the ribbon.

  The goblin, feeling the soft ribbon land on his head, was so surprised that he stopped laughing. Then he realized what had happened. With a look of glee on his face, he grabbed the ribbon, stuffed it into his pants pocket, and jumped down from the desk. “Can’t catch me!” he yelled. Sticking his tongue out rudely at the three girls, he ran straight out of the classroom.

  Jade shook her wand, turning it back to normal at once. “After him!” she cried.

  Jade, Kirsty, and Rachel flapped their wings hard, zoomed across the classroom, and soared back into the hallway after the goblin.

  Kirsty noticed that the goblin was having a hard time running in his platform shoes. He was very wobbly and stumbled a few times, but he still managed to stay ahead of the girls.

  “Why is he so wobbly?” Kirsty asked Jade. “I thought the ribbon helped him keep his balance, even with those humongous shoes.”

  “It does,” Jade replied. “Just as long as he’s disco dancing.” She grinned. “But now that he’s running instead of dancing, the ribbon’s magic doesn’t help.”

  Rachel, Kirsty, and Jade flapped their wings even harder, but they weren’t catching up to the goblin.

  “We can’t let him get away!” Rachel cried.

  The goblin ran past a door that led into the gym, and the three fairies raced after him. As they passed the open door, one of the sparkly disco balls caught Kirsty’s eye — and then a brilliant idea popped into her head!

  “Jade,” she called quickly, “do you think you could use your magic to make a big mirror ball like the ones hanging from the ceiling in the gym?”

  Jade frowned. “Yes, of course,” she said. “But why?”

  “There’s no time to explain,” Kirsty said, “but could you make one appear, please, and turn me and Rachel back into girls, too?”

  “Sure,” Jade replied, looking confused. She stopped flying and waved her wand over Kirsty and Rachel. With a flurry of green sparkles, the girls’ wings disappeared, and they were normal girls again.

  Jade waved her wand a second time and a stream of green fairy dust swirled toward Kirsty. Instantly, a sparkly green mirror ball appeared in Kirsty’s arms.

  “He’s getting away!” Rachel called urgently, as the goblin got closer to the end of the hallway.

  “Yes, but not for long, if you can bowl another strike!” Kirsty said, shoving the mirror ball into Rachel’s hands. “Go ahead, Rachel! Bowl that goblin over!”

  Rachel laughed as she realized what Kirsty had in mind. “I’ll do my best,” she said, bending down. Keeping her eye on the running goblin, she took careful aim and bowled the mirror ball.

  Whoosh! Along the hallway it rolled, perfectly straight, heading directly for the goblin. CRASH! It whacked right into the goblin’s platform shoes and sent him flying!

  “STRIKE!” Rachel, Kirsty, and Jade cheered, hurrying down the hall to where the goblin lay sprawled on the floor.

  “Great bowling, Rachel!” Jade declared.

  “Thanks,” Rachel said with a grin. “Now where’s the disco ribbon?”

  As the girls arrived, the goblin was desperately trying to get to his feet. But he couldn’t catch his balance as he tried to stand in his huge platform shoes.

  Thump! Down he went again. This time, the ribbon spilled out of his pocket. Kirsty rushed forward and grabbed it before the goblin could even think about using his freezing magic on her.

  “Thanks, Mr. Goblin,” she said, cleverly ducking out of the goblin’s way.

  The goblin kicked off his platform shoes in a rage and got to his feet, rubbing his hip where he’d fallen on it. He scowled at the girls.

  “Dumb shoes! I would have gotten away if it hadn’t been for them!” he complained. He stomped off without another word, his big green feet slapping against the floor.

  “Here you go, Jade,” Kirsty said proudly, holding the disco ribbon up to the little fairy.

  Jade waved her wand and green sparkles swirled all over the ribbon, shrinking it back to its Fairyland size.

  “Thank you, girls,” Jade said, smiling as she reattached the ribbon to the end of her wand. A burst of sparkles surrounded the wand and the ribbon as they came together, and the ribbon seemed to glow an even deeper green.

  “That’s more like it,” Jade said, twirling her wand with a smile on her face. “Disco divas everywhere will move and groove a whole lot better now!”

  “Great,” Rachel said, beaming. “No more stepping on toes at the school disco then, I hope!”

  Jade shook her head. “Definitely not,” she replied. “When you go back, you’ll see that everyone is having a much better time in the gym.”

  “Hooray!” Kirsty said, and then she strained to listen as a new song started up. “Oh, I love this one!” she exclaimed, doing a little dance on the spot.

  Jade grinned and kissed both girls. “Thanks again,” she said. “Now go and have some fun. I can see that Kirsty’s dying to be a disco diva herself!”

  “I’ll do my best.” Kirsty laughed. “Bye, Jade!”

  “Bye,” Rachel added, waving at the fairy. “Come on, Kirsty, let’s hit the dance floor!”

  Jade fluttered away down the hallway, leaving a trail of green sparkles in her wake. Then Kirsty and Rachel boogied their way back into the school gym. The dance floor was full, and everyone was having fun. But, best of all, nobody was falling over or bumping into each other anymore!

  The two friends made their way onto the packed dance floor and joined in the dancing.

  “I’m so glad we helped find the disco ribbon,” Rachel called over to Kirsty with a grin. “This is so much fun!”

  Kirsty nodded. “I know,” she replied. Then she looked up and saw that there was a new mirror ball hanging from the ceiling — an extra-sparkly, green mirror ball that sent thousands of jade-green lights whirling around the room with every spin.

  “I love helping the fairies,” Kirsty said to Rachel, pointing out the mirror ball with a grin. “And I can’t wait to find another one of the dance ribbons!”

  Rock ’n’ Roll Party

  Rebecca in a Spin

  A Glimpse of Goblins

  Goblins Revealed!

  The Magic Singing Stick

  Rockin’ Goblin

  “Are you ready yet, Mom?” Kirsty Tate called up the stairs. “Rachel and I are dying to see your costumes!” She grinned at her best friend, Rachel Walker, who was standing next to her.

  “We’ll be down soon,” Mrs. Tate called back from the bedroom.

  Kirsty and Rachel sat down on the bottom stair to wait.

  “I wish we were going to the rock ’n’ roll party with my mom and dad.” Kirsty sighed. “It sounds like fun, and we might find Rebecca the Rock ’n’ Roll Fairy’s magic ribbon there!”

  Rachel nodded. “The Dance Fairies are depending on us,” she reminded Kirsty.

  Rachel and Kirsty had become friends with the fairies during their vacation on Rainspell Island, and now the girls were always eager to help whenever the fairies had a problem.

  The main cause of trouble in Fairyland was mean Jack Frost and his goblins. A few days earlier, Jack Frost had asked the Dance Fairies to visit his ice castle and teach his goblins how to dance. But it was all a trick, so the goblins could steal the Dance Fairies’ magic ribbons!

  When the king and queen of Fairyland had demanded that Jack Frost give the ribbons back, he refused. Instead, he sent seven of h
is goblins tumbling into the human world, each clutching one of the ribbons. Now, during their school break, Kirsty and Rachel were helping the Dance Fairies find their ribbons.

  “We’ve gotten off to a good start,” Kirsty remarked. “We already found Bethany the Ballet Fairy’s ribbon, and Jade the Disco Fairy’s, too.”

  “But if we don’t find the rest, all the other kinds of dance will keep going wrong, and dancing won’t be fun anymore!” Rachel sighed.

  “Yes, and I guess the dancing at the rock ’n’ roll party tonight will be ruined, since Rebecca’s rock ’n’ roll ribbon is still missing,” Kirsty replied with a worried frown.

  “Do you remember how Bethany told us that the magic ribbons are attracted to their own kind of dancing?” Rachel asked. “Maybe the goblin who has Rebecca’s ribbon will be at the rock ’n’ roll party!”

  “Girls, we’re ready!” Mr. Tate yelled from upstairs, and Kirsty and Rachel turned around.

  When Mr. and Mrs. Tate came downstairs, the girls’ eyes widened with delight. Kirsty’s dad was wearing jeans and a black leather jacket. Kirsty’s mom was wearing a sleeveless black top and a full white skirt embroidered with black musical notes. She wore a high ponytail tied with a red ribbon.

  “You both look fantastic!” Kirsty gasped.

  “You look like you just walked out of the movie Grease!” Rachel added. “Will everyone be dressed up like you?”

  Mr. Tate nodded. “There will also be demonstrations of rock ’n’ roll dancing,” he explained, “and an Elvis impersonator. Elvis Presley was a famous rock ’n’ roll singer, you know.”