“Well, you can’t say we didn’t warn you,” Rachel shouted, turning the faucet on all the way. “Here comes the flood!”
Water poured into the playhouse. Through the window, the girls and Phoebe could see the goblin bobbing around helplessly as the water level rose.
Then he floated against the small chair he’d used to keep the door shut. He accidentally kicked the chair aside, and the playhouse door flew open.
“Help!” cried the goblin, as a huge wave of water gushed out of the door, carrying him along on top of it.
“I didn’t know goblins could surf!” Rachel laughed as he sailed past her. She stretched out an arm and snatched Phoebe’s party bag from his hands. “Got it!” she declared happily, passing the bag to Phoebe.
The goblin shrieked and flopped around in the river of water, trying to get to his feet. But it was impossible. The rushing stream carried him all the way down the backyard to the Ingles’ koi pond. SPLASH! The goblin spilled right into the pond.
Kirsty, Rachel, and Phoebe couldn’t help giggling as they watched the goblin climb out, dripping wet and with a huge clump of weeds stuck to his head. He looked very glum.
“I’m almost tempted to twirl my wand to give him a special outfit,” Phoebe laughed. “A swimsuit, goggles, and a nice, flowery swim cap!”
SQUISH, SQUISH, SQUISH!
The goblin stomped away, defeated.
“I think that’s the last we’ll see of our soggy friend today,” Kirsty said with a grin.
Rachel ran to turn the water off, and then waved frantically at Phoebe and Kirsty. “Mrs. Ingle’s back with Charlotte!” she yelled. “I just heard the car!”
Kirsty’s face fell. Not only was the whole backyard a mud pit now, but the playhouse was a mess, the big, red Jell-O mold was ruined, and she and Rachel were all wet, too! How were they going to explain everything to Mrs. Ingle?
“Leave it to me,” Phoebe said quickly. “You keep Charlotte’s mom talking. I’ll fix the playhouse first and then the dining room. Now, hurry!”
Kirsty and Rachel ran into the house to find poor Charlotte looking more upset than ever. “The cleaners said they’d never seen anything like this paint,” she explained sadly. “They tried all kinds of things to get it off my dress, but nothing worked.”
Mrs. Ingle put a comforting arm around her daughter. “Never mind,” she said. “You’ve got lots of other nice things to wear. I know that dress is special to you, but you’ll just have to choose something else.” She glanced over at Kirsty and Rachel as Charlotte began to trudge upstairs. “And you two should change, too,” Mrs. Ingle added. “The party’s going to start any minute.” A frown appeared on her face as she noticed Rachel and Kirsty’s wet clothes. “You look soaked. Are you all right?”she asked.
“Um …” Kirsty began, not sure how to explain.
“We’re fine,” Rachel said quickly. “We just got a little wet when we were washing up the things for the icing, that’s all.”
Mrs. Ingle’s frown lifted. “I’d completely forgotten about the cupcakes,” she said. “Did you get them all decorated?” She walked toward the dining room door.
“Well, um, we …” Rachel mumbled, crossing her fingers as she followed Mrs. Ingle into the room.
Could Phoebe possibly have had time to magically clean up the playhouse and fix everything in the dining room? Rachel and Kirsty weren’t sure … but they were about to find out, ready or not!
Kirsty and Rachel should not have worried. Phoebe had worked wonders! The cupcakes were neatly arranged on their plate, and the Jell-O was its perfect wobbly self again. Nobody could even imagine that a Party Fairy had fallen into it just twenty minutes earlier!
Kirsty blinked as she noticed a tiny glimmer of sparkly red light flicker around the table, then vanish quickly. She turned to Rachel, and Rachel nodded. She had seen it, too. One last sparkle of fairy magic!
Luckily, Mrs. Ingle had not noticed anything—she was too busy admiring the cupcakes. “You’re talented, girls,” she said. “I couldn’t have decorated them more beautifully myself—thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome,” Kirsty said, smiling with relief. “Now, we’d better go and get changed.”
Just then, there was an excited cry from upstairs. “Kirsty, Rachel! Come here … now!”
Kirsty and Rachel rushed up to Charlotte’s room. To their amazement, hanging on the closet door were three beautiful party dresses. One was a deep red, covered in golden hearts, with a matching headband. A tag hanging from the sleeve said CHARLOTTE in pretty, sparkly writing.
The other two dresses had tags that read KIRSTY and RACHEL. Kirsty’s dress was pink with a lilac dragonfly embroidered near the hem, and Rachel’s dress was purple with pink butterflies around the neckline.
“This is the most beautiful dress ever,” Charlotte whispered, stroking the shimmering red material. “But where did it come from?”
Rachel opened her mouth, but couldn’t think of a single thing to say. How could they explain that the three outfits were fairy gifts, created by Phoebe the Fashion Fairy?
“Happy birthday, Charlotte!” Kirsty cried, thinking quickly. “It’s our present to you. We, um, went and got it while you were out—just in case the cleaners couldn’t fix your dress.”
“And here’s a little something else, too,” Rachel added, pulling the present they’d wrapped earlier out of the bag. “Happy birthday!”
“Oh, thank you!” Charlotte cried happily, hugging both girls.
As Charlotte started opening the present, Kirsty suddenly nudged Rachel.
Rachel turned to see what her friend had spotted. To her delight, the dragonfly and butterflies on their party dresses were fluttering their delicate embroidered wings and sparkling with golden lights. She grinned at Kirsty — they were both going to be wearing magic dresses!
Charlotte was pulling off the last piece of wrapping paper. “What a pretty necklace!” she exclaimed, holding it up. “I love it.”
Kirsty and Rachel stared. The silver headband they’d wrapped for Charlotte back at Kirsty’s house had been turned into a golden necklace with three, heart-shaped red beads strung in the middle.
Phoebe’s work again, I bet, Kirsty thought, smiling.
Charlotte pulled on her dress and Rachel fastened the necklace around her neck.
“I have to go and show Mom,” Charlotte said, twirling around happily.
“Thank you so much. This is turning out to be the best birthday I’ve ever had!”
As soon as Charlotte had left the room, Phoebe peeked out from behind a curtain. With a smile, she waved her wand. Kirsty and Rachel suddenly found themselves wearing their new party dresses! Their old clothes were neatly folded in piles on the bed.
“Oh, Phoebe, these dresses are just gorgeous,” Kirsty declared, standing in front of the mirror. “Thank you!”
“I feel like a fairy all over again, wearing this,” Rachel added, dancing around in her new dress.
Phoebe’s cheeks blushed pink. “Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, looking incredibly happy. “I’m just doing my job. Glad to help!” Then she smiled. “Anyway, I should be thanking you for saving my party bag from the goblin.”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Kirsty grinned.
“We’re glad to help, too.” Rachel laughed.
“Just doing our job!” they chorused together.
Phoebe came over and hugged them both.
“Have a wonderful party,” she said. “I have to fly back to Fairyland now.”
Kirsty and Rachel waved good-bye as Phoebe disappeared in a swirl of glittering fairy dust.
Then the doorbell rang downstairs. “Charlotte’s friends are here,” Kirsty said with a grin. “Let’s go and have some fun. I think we’ve earned it today.”
“We definitely have,” Rachel agreed. “I can’t wait for our next adventure!”
“Look at all those booths, Rachel,” Kirsty Tate said, pointing down the street where she lived. “This is go
ing to be a great party!”
All of Kirsty’s neighbors were rushing around setting up booths and tables outside their houses. There were all kinds of things going on, from games and raffles to booths selling homemade jams and cakes. Delicious smells wafted toward the girls from the barbecue at the other end of the street. The road was closed to traffic, and people were already milling around in the sunshine, enjoying the fair.
“I think having a street party is a great idea,” Rachel Walker, Kirsty’s best friend, said with a grin. “I wish we had one on our street back home.” Rachel had come to stay with Kirsty for the week of school break.
Kirsty was opening the last box of books. “We’d better hurry and put these on the table,” she said. “Lots of people are showing up now.”
“I’m glad the block party is today, before I go home tomorrow,” Rachel said, helping Kirsty arrange the books around the booth that Mr. and Mrs. Tate were running. “I hope we raise lots of money for charity.”
“We always do,” said Kirsty happily, neatly stacking the books. “People come to the party from all over town. But”—she lowered her voice—”we’ll have to be extra-careful this year, won’t we?”
Rachel nodded seriously. “Yes,” she agreed. “A party means we have to keep our eyes out for goblin mischief!”
“I’m not going to let Jack Frost’s goblins ruin our block party,” Kirsty said in a determined voice. “Or the king and queen’s celebration!”
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-35690-9
Copyright © 2005 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
Illustrations copyright © 2005 by Georgie Ripper.
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