The goblins still looked suspicious, but they did as Molly said. Molly put Flash’s bowl down on the grass, and Flash immediately jumped out and swam over near the jar to keep Clown company.
“Ready?” Molly called, lifting her wand.
Kirsty looked quickly across the yard to make sure no one was watching. She was relieved to see that they were out of sight of her parents and the Wainwrights. “Ready!” she agreed, and Rachel nodded.
“Get on with it!” the golfer goblin said rudely.
Molly waved her wand, and a light shower of turquoise fairy dust swirled and sparkled around Rachel, Kirsty, and the goblins. The two girls caught their breath as they immediately shrank to fairy size. The goblins shrank, too, then looked down at themselves in disgust.
“I hate being fairy-size!” the fishing-net goblin grumbled.
“It’ll be worth it when we win,” the golfer goblin said.
In the meantime, Molly had waved her wand again. Now a long, shiny blue rope appeared on the grass. Then a sparkly line of golden glitter showed up across the middle of the rope, dividing it into two equal sections.
“The team that pulls the other over the line wins,” Molly announced, fluttering to join the girls. “Ready?”
“No!” snapped the golfer goblin. “We have to discuss our team plan.” He picked up one end of the rope. “I’m standing at the front.”
The goblin who’d caught Flash tried to grab the rope. “No, I want to be at the front!” he roared.
“You should be at the back,” one of the kilt-wearing goblins chimed in. “You’re the biggest.”
“He’s the biggest goofball, you mean!” said the golfer goblin scornfully. “Now let’s get on with it.”
Kirsty glanced over at Rachel, trying not to smile. The goblins were arguing already, and they hadn’t even started yet!
“Let’s go over the rules one more time,” Molly said. “Whoever wins the tug-of-war gets both fish.”
The goblins nodded impatiently. Kirsty picked up one end of the rope, and Rachel stood behind her. Then Molly waved her wand, and three fairy sparklers appeared next to the pond.
“Those sparklers tell us when to start,” Molly explained. “When the third one shoots glitter into the air, we tug!” She put down her wand and grabbed on to the rope behind Rachel.
“Get ready,” yelled the golfer goblin, who was at the front of his team.
Whoosh! The first sparkler burst, sending red sparkles everywhere. A second later, the next one sent out a swirl of amber glitter.
“Get ready!” Kirsty whispered to Rachel and Molly. Whoosh! The third sparkler exploded, and green glitter flew into the air.
The girls and Molly began to pull with all their might. So did the goblins! At first, the contest was very even. Neither team could pull the other toward the line. But the goblins did have two more members on their team. At last, they began to pull Molly and the girls toward the line, a little bit at a time.
Flash looked very nervous as he swam around and around in the air. Kirsty’s heart sank. She dug her heels into the grass, trying to hold on, but it was tough. She could hear Molly and Rachel panting behind her.
“We’re winning!” yelled the golfer goblin gleefully. “Come on, pull harder!”
He gave the rope a huge tug. As he did, he stepped on the toe of the goblin behind him.
“Ow!” shrieked that goblin, letting go of the rope. “You clumsy fool!” He poked the golfer goblin sharply in the back.
The golfer goblin spun around, letting go of the rope, too. “Who are you calling a fool?” he snarled.
“Don’t let go!” shouted the other three goblins.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” yelled the golfer goblin, shoving the goblin behind him.
“Pull as hard as you can!” Kirsty whispered to Rachel and Molly, as all five goblins started snapping at one another.
The girls and Molly began to tug at the rope even harder than before. To their delight, they began dragging the arguing goblins closer and closer to the sparkling golden line!
At first, the goblins didn’t even notice.
Then, suddenly, the golfer goblin gave a cry of rage. “We’re losing! Pull harder!”
The goblins stopped fighting, but two of them had lost their grip on the rope. As they struggled to grab on to it again, the girls and Molly pulled them even closer to the line.
“You’re not trying!” yelled the golfer goblin, who was red in the face. He strained at the rope and managed to pull Kirsty toward him a little. But as he did, he jabbed the goblin behind him in the ribs with his elbow.
“Aargh!” That goblin dropped the rope and doubled over in pain.
“What are you doing?” shouted the one behind him. He took one hand off the rope to give him a shove.
“We’ve got them now!” Kirsty panted. “PULL!”
The golfer goblin’s big green toes were almost on the line. With one mighty effort, the girls and Molly yanked him across to their side. Although they tried to dig in their heels, the other goblins came tumbling after him, one by one.
“We won!” Kirsty cried.
The goblins looked very shocked . . . and very grumpy. They instantly started arguing about which one of them was to blame.
“The contest is over!” Molly announced, picking up her wand. “Give back Clown, please.”
“No!” snapped the golfer goblin.
Kirsty and Rachel looked at each other in shock.
“The contest wasn’t fair!” the golfer goblin continued.
“Of course it was fair!” Rachel said.
“And you agreed to the rules!” Kirsty pointed out.
“We don’t care. We’re not giving back the fish!” the golfer goblin told them. The other goblins cheered.
“Well!” Molly put her hands on her hips. “I knew goblins were mean, but this is just terrible!” Then she smiled at Rachel and Kirsty. “Don’t worry, girls,” she whispered. “I have an idea.”
With a flick of her wand, Molly sent a swirl of magic fairy dust toward Rachel and Kirsty. In the blink of an eye, the two girls were back to their normal size.
“Go and get Clown, girls,” Molly said, her green eyes sparkling. “After all, we won the contest, fair and square!”
“Hey!” shouted the golfer goblin, jumping up and down angrily. His voice was so tiny, Rachel and Kirsty could hardly hear what he was saying. “You can’t do that! Stop them!” The tiny, fairy-size goblins scurried over as Rachel and Kirsty headed for the jar. But they were too small to stop the girls. Kirsty carefully tipped Clown back into the pond, and he swam away happily. Flash watched, looking pleased. Then he swam back to his fishbowl, shimmering all the way. Molly picked up the bowl, blew a kiss to Flash, and flew down to the goblins.
“You should have stuck to our agreement!” she said, shaking her head. She waved her wand again. Rachel and Kirsty watched as the goblin’s fishing net lifted into the air and drifted toward the goblins, surrounded by sparkling magic.
The net floated down over the goblins, trapping them underneath.
“Help!” they shouted furiously. “Let us out!”
“You’ll find a way to escape when you learn to work together,” Molly told them.
“What will happen to them?” asked Rachel quietly.
Molly grinned. “My spell will wear off in a little while, and then the goblins will be back to their normal size again,” she replied. “But by then, I will have taken Flash back to Fairyland. The other fish will be safe! And the goblins will have to hurry back to Jack Frost and tell him they’ve failed again.”
Flash swam to the top of his fishbowl, and shiny rainbow-colored bubbles poured from his open mouth.
“Flash says thank you for all your help, girls,” Molly translated, “and so
do I.” She glanced at the goblins, who were still arguing under the fishing net. “The goblins won’t cause any more trouble today, so go and enjoy your barbecue,” she said. “Good-bye!” she cried, blowing the girls a kiss as she vanished in a swirl of sparkles.
Kirsty beamed at Rachel. “Wasn’t Flash sweet?” she said. “I’m so glad Molly’s got him back.”
“Me, too,” Rachel agreed. “Now we only have one magic pet left to find. And only one more day before I have to go home!”
Kirsty nodded. “I hope we find Penny the Pony Fairy’s magic pet tomorrow,” she said.
“Girls!” Mrs. Tate called suddenly from the patio. “The food’s ready.”
“Great,” said Kirsty eagerly. “I’m starving after that tug-of-war!”
“So am I!” Rachel laughed. “We really worked up an appetite!” The girls hurried across the yard, leaving the grumbling goblins behind.
Rachel and Kirsty have found six of the missing fairy pets. Can they find the final pet and help
Penny
the Pony Fairy?
Take a look at this special sneak peek!
“Let’s go, Jet!” Kirsty Tate shook the reins and Jet, the black pony she was riding, set off along the forest trail. Kirsty grinned over at her best friend, Rachel Walker, who was sitting on a chestnut mare named Annie. The two girls had come to Bramble Stables for an afternoon pony ride. “This is a perfect day for riding,” Kirsty said happily, feeling the warm sun on her face.
“And the perfect way to end our visit together,” Rachel agreed.
The girls exchanged a secret smile.
“We still need to find Penny the Pony Fairy’s pet pony,” Kirsty said thoughtfully. “I really hope we can rescue her before you have to go home, Rachel.”
Rachel nodded. “Well, we’re definitely in the right place to spot her,” she said. “This is pony heaven!”
Suddenly, Kirsty spotted a flash of green disappearing in the trees. What’s that? she murmured to herself, peering through the leaves. But then she gasped. “Oh, Rachel, look,” she whispered. “It’s a goblin!”
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-29547-5
Copyright © 2006 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Georgie Ripper.
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First Scholastic printing, June 2008
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