The Dance Fairies Collection Read online

  “Of course I can!” Rebecca nodded. “The microphone won’t last forever, though. It will dissolve into fairy dust after a few hours.”

  “That should be long enough,” said Rachel. “I’m sure the goblin will have lots of fun with the microphone while it lasts.” She swooped down to whisper in the goblin’s ear. “Would you like to sound like Elvis?” Rachel asked.

  The goblin nodded eagerly.

  “Well, we can give you a magic singing stick of your very own!” Kirsty said. “Follow us!”

  Rebecca and the girls led the goblin away from the stage and into an empty room. First, Rebecca scattered purple fairy dust over Rachel and Kirsty to make them human again. Then, with another flick of her wand, a tall, shining silver microphone appeared in a burst of purple sparkles.

  “Oh!” The goblin clapped his hands in delight. “How does it work?”

  Rachel went over to the microphone. “You sing into this, and it makes you sound like Elvis,” she explained.

  Rachel sang Love Me Tender into the microphone and was completely surprised when her voice came out deep and manly, just like Elvis Presley’s!

  Kirsty and Rebecca laughed.

  “Ooh! I want it!” the goblin shrieked excitedly, jumping up and down. “Give me the magic singing stick RIGHT NOW!”

  “We’ll swap the magic singing stick for the magic ribbon,” Kirsty said. “But you know, this kind of fairy magic doesn’t last forever. In a few hours it’ll dissolve away into fairy dust.”

  The goblin barely hesitated. “That’s OK,” he said, shoving the ribbon at Rachel and grabbing the microphone stand.

  Rebecca gave a little squeal of delight. She immediately shrank the ribbon down to its Fairyland size. It then floated out of Rachel’s hand and reattached itself to Rebecca’s wand. As it did, the ribbon had a purple glow and lavender sparkles swirled all around it.

  Just then, the second goblin rushed into the room.

  “He thawed out!” Rachel whispered. “We got the ribbon back just in time!”

  The second goblin glared at his friend. “Why does that pesky fairy have her ribbon back?” he demanded.

  “I traded it for this magic singing stick!” the first goblin explained, proudly stroking the silver microphone.

  “What?” the second goblin shrieked. “What’s Jack Frost going to say when he finds out that you traded the magic ribbon for a silly silver stick?”

  “It’s not silly!” the first goblin snapped. “Listen!” And he began to sing.

  The second goblin looked very impressed when he heard his friend’s wonderful Elvis voice. “I want a magic singing stick!” he declared, trying to grab the glittery microphone.

  “It’s mine!” the first goblin roared. And, picking up the microphone, he ran off with the other goblin in hot pursuit.

  “I think that’s the last we’ll see of them for tonight!” Rebecca laughed. “Girls, I simply can’t thank you enough. You’ve been amazing!” She grinned happily at Kirsty and Rachel. “And now I must go straight back to Fairyland and tell everyone the good news!”

  Just then, they heard the sound of applause from the hall.

  “Linda and Will are back onstage,” Rebecca went on. “And their rock ’n’ roll dance should go well, now that I have my ribbon back.” She waved her wand at the girls, and the magic ribbon sparkled. “Good luck finding the other ribbons, and keep a sharp lookout for more goblins!” Rebecca called. She vanished in a cloud of purple sparkles as the girls waved good-bye.

  Kirsty and Rachel rushed back into the hall to join Mr. and Mrs. Tate. They were just in time to see Will and Linda launch into a very complicated dance routine of steps, kicks, and twists which they performed with perfect timing, neither of them missing a beat. Then Will lifted Linda high over his head. There was a gasp of amazement from the audience as she jumped right over him and landed gracefully on the other side.

  Rachel and Kirsty grinned at each other.

  “Everything’s fine now that Rebecca has her rock ’n’ roll ribbon back,” Rachel whispered.

  “But there are still four more ribbons to find,” Kirsty pointed out with a smile. “I wonder what our next fairy adventure will be?”

  Tapping Trouble

  Tasha Turns Up

  The Big Freeze

  Tasha’s Tumble

  Perfect Timing

  Happy Tapping

  “Wow,” Kirsty Tate said, as she followed her mom through the door of Wetherbury College’s main building and saw the crowds inside. “It’s really busy in here!”

  Her friend, Rachel Walker, who was staying with Kirsty over school break, nodded in agreement. She took off her hat and stuffed it in her pocket as she looked around. “There’s a pottery stand,” she said, pointing it out. “Ooh, and look, they’re decorating cakes over there!”

  The girls had come with Kirsty’s mom to the college Open House. This was a special event where people could find out more about all the different courses the college offered. Since Mrs. Tate was taking a wood-carving class at the college, she’d volunteered to help out at the woodworking stand and answer any questions people might have. All around the hall there were display tables showing different skills taught at the college.

  “There’s the wood-carving stand,” Mrs. Tate said, pointing it out to the girls. “That’s where I’ll be all morning, OK? But you can wander around and look at everything else. There’s lots to see.”

  Rachel and Kirsty said good-bye and headed off around the room. They saw a man at the pottery stand making a vase on a potter’s wheel. Then they watched as a makeup artist transformed somebody into a zombie at the special effects makeup stand. It was amazing how the thick white makeup and some fake blood running down his chin made the volunteer look completely different.

  “Spooky,” Kirsty whispered to Rachel with a shudder.

  The makeup artist smiled at the girls. “You can create almost anything with the right makeup,” she told them.

  The “zombie” grinned. “It’s pretty strange being turned into something else, though!” he said.

  Rachel and Kirsty exchanged a smile. They knew all about being turned into something else. Thanks to their fairy friends, they’d been turned into fairies many times!

  Only a few days earlier, Rachel and Kirsty had been plunged into another fairy adventure, this time helping the Dance Fairies find their missing magic dance ribbons. So far, the girls had helped find three of the ribbons, but four others were still lost.

  Just as Rachel was thinking about the Dance Fairies, Kirsty gave her a nudge.

  “Look!” she said, pointing. “Tap dancers!”

  Rachel turned to see. At the far end of the room, some girls in sparkly red tap shoes were practicing a routine. Rachel winced as one of them clumsily dropped her black cane on another dancer’s foot. Almost immediately, the girl next to her tripped over it.

  “Kirsty, did you see that?” she whispered. “Their dancing is falling apart already!”

  Kirsty nodded. “And we both know why,” she replied. “It’s because Tasha the Tap Dance Fairy’s ribbon is still missing!”

  The girls had learned that the Dance Fairies used their ribbons to make sure that dancing, both in Fairyland and in the human world, went as smoothly as possible. Unfortunately, Jack Frost, a powerful and selfish fairy, had stolen the magic ribbons because he wanted his goblins to dance well at his parties.

  When the fairy king and queen heard that the dance ribbons had been stolen, they went straight to Jack Frost’s ice castle to get them back. But Jack Frost saw them coming and cast a spell that sent the ribbons into the human world, with a goblin to guard each one.

  Without their ribbons, the Dance Fairies could not work their special magic, and dancing everywhere was going all wrong!

  “Excuse me,” came a voice from behind the girls.

  Rachel and Kirsty turned to see a girl who was about their age, dressed in a leotard like the other tap dancers. “Have you seen a pair of
red tap shoes and a black cane anywhere?” she asked. “I won’t be able to be part of the performance if I don’t find them.”

  Kirsty shook her head. “Sorry, we haven’t seen them,” she replied.

  The girl sighed. “Maybe they fell out of my bag in the parking lot when Mom dropped me off,” she said.

  “We’ll go and look for them if you want,” Rachel offered.

  The girl’s eyes brightened. “Oh, thank you,” she said. “I’ll keep looking in here. I’m Ashleigh Hart, by the way.”

  “We’re Kirsty and Rachel,” Kirsty replied, smiling, as Ashleigh waved and set off to search the rest of the room.

  Kirsty and Rachel turned toward the entrance, but then stopped. They both heard a faint tapping sound. It was in perfect time to the tap dancers’ music!

  Tap-tap-tap-tappity-TAP! Tap-tap-tap-tappity-TAP!

  Rachel looked over at the dancers eagerly. Did this mean the magic tap dance ribbon was nearby, helping the dancers?

  But the girls in the sparkly red tap shoes weren’t actually dancing at all! If they’re not making the tapping sound, then who is? Rachel wondered.

  Tap-tap-tap-tappity-TAP! Tap-tap-tap-tappity-TAP!

  “I think it’s coming from over here,” Kirsty said, walking toward the corner of the room.

  Rachel followed. There was nothing there except a table with some leaflets on it, but the tapping definitely got louder as she and Kirsty approached. Curiously, the girls peeked under the table.

  Rachel and Kirsty smiled to see a tiny fairy, with her eyes closed, tap dancing her way through an amazing routine at super-speed. It was Tasha the Tap Dance Fairy, of course! Nobody else would have been able to dance so beautifully while the tap dance ribbon was missing. The fairy wore a stylish black vest, black tights, tap shoes, and a bright red skirt.

  Kirsty gave a polite cough and Tasha’s eyes flashed open.

  “Oh, hello,” she said. “You caught me! I just couldn’t resist dancing when I heard the music.”

  “You’re really good!” Rachel told her. “I’ve never seen anyone tap dance so fast before.”

  Tasha smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “But it’s a shame the other tap dancers are having problems.” She sighed. “If only my tap dance ribbon were safely back on my wand where it belongs, then they wouldn’t keep messing up!”

  “Do you have any idea where your ribbon is?” Kirsty asked.

  Tasha shook her head. “No,” she said, “but I’m hoping it might be around here. Keep your eyes open for any goblins, girls!”

  Rachel glanced around nervously. The goblins were Jack Frost’s sneaky helpers, and she and Kirsty had managed to outwit them in the past. This time, though, Jack Frost had given the goblins a special power. As long as a goblin had one of the magic dance ribbons, he also had the power to freeze people.

  Kirsty and Rachel never liked meeting the goblins, but now they felt even more nervous than ever about running into them. No one wants to be turned into an ice cube!

  “We were just about to go outside,” Kirsty told Tasha. “One of the dancers lost her shoes and cane, and we said we’d help look for them.”

  Tasha looked thoughtful. “Lost her shoes and cane?” she repeated.“I wonder if they’re really lost, or if somebody is borrowing them!”

  “Like a goblin?” Rachel quickly suggested. “It’s just the kind of thing a goblin would do!”

  Tasha nodded, her eyes sparkling. “We’d better keep an eye out for goblins while we’re looking for the shoes and cane,” she said.

  “Maybe we’ll find your tap dance ribbon, too,” Kirsty added hopefully. She pulled her coat pocket open. “Tasha, do you want to hide in here?”

  Tasha fluttered out from under the table and dove into Kirsty’s pocket. Her glittery wings shimmered under the bright lights in the room. “Let’s go!” she said eagerly.

  As the girls walked outside, Kirsty pulled her scarf a little tighter around her neck, and Rachel put her hat back on.

  The college parking lot was directly in front of them. “Let’s walk around the outside,” Kirsty suggested. “A pair of red tap shoes shouldn’t be too hard to spot.”

  Kirsty and Rachel set off around the parking lot, keeping an eye out for the shoes and cane. They also thought they might see a flash of green and a scurrying goblin, but there was no sign of any goblin mischief.

  Suddenly, Tasha zoomed out of Kirsty’s pocket and twirled in the air, gazing out around the parking lot. “I can sense my ribbon!” she declared. “I’m sure it’s somewhere nearby.”

  By now, the girls had done a full circle of the parking lot and were back outside the main entrance. Rachel pointed to a path leading around the side of the college. “How about looking down there?” she suggested.

  Tasha nodded. “Good idea,” she agreed. “My ribbon can’t be far away.”

  The three friends walked along the path. They could hear the tap dance music again now, drifting out of an open window.

  “What was that?” Tasha whispered suddenly, hovering in the air in front of the girls.

  Rachel and Kirsty stopped to listen. Kirsty couldn’t hear anything except the music at first, but then she heard a tap-tap-tap-tappity-tap in perfect time to the rhythm.

  “Those are definitely tap shoes!” Rachel said excitedly.

  “And the tapping isn’t coming from inside the building,” Tasha added. “So it must be somebody else!”

  “A goblin!” Kirsty and Rachel whispered at the same time.

  The girls crept a little farther down the path and peeked cautiously around the next corner. There, tapping away and humming to the music, was a goblin. On his feet were sparkly red tap shoes, and in his hand was a cane with Tasha’s magic ribbon tied around it in a neat bow!

  “Could he look any sillier?” Tasha muttered, holding back a laugh. “Come on,” she said to Kirsty and Rachel. “Let’s go and get my ribbon back!”

  Kirsty, Rachel, and Tasha headed toward the goblin. He was far too busy dancing to notice them.

  “I’ll take my ribbon back now, please,” Tasha said in a firm voice.

  The goblin jumped in surprise, then glared at her. “Can’t you see I’m trying to dance?” he asked, annoyed. “I’ve lost my place now!” He rolled his eyes, then turned away and began tapping again.

  “Well, that’s too bad, because we’ve come to get the cane and shoes back, too,” Kirsty told him. “They don’t belong to you!”

  The goblin stomped his foot and spun around. “You’re ruining my concentration!” he said. “How am I supposed to dance when I keep getting interrupted?”

  “I’ve had enough!” Tasha snapped. “That’s not your ribbon to be dancing with. Give it back!”

  Just then, someone must have turned the volume up inside the building, because the music suddenly got louder. The goblin launched into another dance routine, twirling his cane in his hand as he tapped his feet.

  He’s good, Rachel thought, but she knew he was only dancing well because the magic ribbon was close to him. The dance ribbons were so powerful that they could turn even the clumsiest dancer into something special — just as long as he was close enough to the ribbon.

  The goblin seemed totally absorbed in his dancing. His eyes were shut tight in concentration as he tapped to the beat. Gradually, he started tapping away from the three friends and toward where the music was drifting out of one of the college’s side doors.

  “What’s he doing?” Kirsty hissed. “If he’s not careful, someone will see him.”

  “I thought the goblins were supposed to be hiding,” Rachel said in a low voice. “But he’s not even trying.”

  Tasha grinned. “That’s because of the ribbon,” she explained. “It makes whoever has it seek out music. Whenever they hear a tune, they have to dance. Once they’re dancing, they forget about everything else!”

  “Well, hopefully he’ll forget about us,” Kirsty said, hurrying after the goblin. “And then we can grab the ribbon while he’s distract
ed.”

  The girls and Tasha followed the goblin right up to the door, but as he opened it, he noticed them and stopped.

  “Are you still here?” he snapped. “Well, I’m warning you, don’t come any closer or I’ll freeze you!”

  And with that, he slipped through the door and slammed it shut, right in the girls’ faces!

  “Hey!” cried Kirsty. She ran to the door and turned the handle, but it was stuck.

  “Oh no!” she cried. “It won’t open! We’ll lose him!”

  “It’s OK, there’s a window open up there,” Tasha said, pointing. “I’ll fly in and keep track of him.”

  Rachel and Kirsty pushed against the door as Tasha zipped in through the open window. “Do you think he locked it?” Rachel panted.

  “I don’t know. Whoa!” Kirsty cried as the door suddenly flew open.

  She and Rachel tumbled inside just in time to see Tasha wave her wand. A stream of fairy magic whizzed through the air and over to the tap dance ribbon. Immediately, the ribbon began to untie itself from the cane in the goblin’s hand. Rachel and Kirsty watched excitedly as Tasha rushed forward to grab it.

  But at that same moment, the goblin spun around and touched the fairy with his gnarly green finger. “FREEZE!” he shouted. Tasha instantly turned to ice.

  No longer able to fly, the little fairy dropped toward the ground like a tiny winged icicle.

  As Tasha tumbled toward the floor, Rachel pulled off her hat and dove forward, holding it out in front of her. Fortunately, Rachel was just in time to softly catch Tasha in the hat before the frozen fairy hit the floor.