by Banks, Rosie
By now the entire pile of embers was shining red and yellow with heat.
“Look!” said Summer, pointing up at the afternoon sky. “The reindeer are coming back!”
The magnificent flying herd swooped in low over the pile of embers, warming their bellies. Their glossy coats shone in the red and yellow light.
“Watch out!” one called as he swooped by. “On the mountain!”
“What do you mean?” called Jasmine, but the reindeer had already flown away.
The girls heard one last pop from the heat — the final ember catching light — followed by an enormous crack! that echoed around the valley.
“What was that?” Ellie asked her friends, covering her ears as the sound bounced off the igloos and the walls of the winter palace.
“I think it was Queen Malice’s thunderbolt breaking!” said Jasmine, racing toward the lake to look.
Ellie, Summer, Trixi, and the brownies followed behind. When they got to the spot where the thunderbolt had been, all they could see were little black shards scattered on the pink snow.
“We’ve broken the spell!” Jasmine cried.
A huge shout rose from the crowd of brownies. They all hugged one another, then came forward to take their necklaces from the pile.
Blizzard gave necklaces to Jasmine, Summer, and Ellie, and the girls put them on, smiling as they felt the heat of the ember warming them right through.
“Hooray!” Blizzard smiled. “Thank you, Summer, Ellie, and Jasmine!” All the brownies started cheering again.
Suddenly the cheering was drowned out by a horrible chorus of cackling laughter. The noise seemed to be coming from higher up the mountain.
As everyone looked up, they saw that a huge group of Storm Sprites was snowboarding down toward them, holding buckets full of water.
“The thunderbolt may be broken, but we’re not giving up!” one sprite called to them.
“Yeah!” said another. “We’re going to soak those everwarm embers and put them out for good!”
The sprites howled with laughter as they raced toward the town square, holding their buckets ready.
“Oh no!” Flurry gasped. “If the embers get wet before they’re up to full strength, we might never be able to light them again!”
“Don’t worry!” Blizzard grinned. “I know how to handle this.” He scooped up an armful of snow, and before the girls had time to say anything, there was a neat pile of snowballs on the ground. Blizzard picked one up and threw it at the nearest sprite, hitting him right on the nose!
“Good idea!” Summer giggled, throwing one of the snowy lumps at a sprite as he whizzed by.
Everyone started to pick up snowballs and hurl them at the sprites. Even Trixi joined in the fight, using her pixie magic to send snowballs flying toward the nasty creatures, and knocking three of them over with one blast from her ring!
Flurry gave a low whistle, and seconds later the herd of flying reindeer landed in the square. He and some other brownies rushed toward the reindeer and jumped on their backs.
“Come on!” Flurry called to the girls.
“I think I’ll stay here on solid ground!” Ellie replied, shaking her head and throwing a snowball at the same time.
Summer and Jasmine threw one more snowball each and then ran over to the waiting animals.
“Go ahead and climb up,” one of the reindeer told Summer with a smile.
“Thank you!” Summer breathed, gently stroking his velvety nose. She quickly clambered up onto his strong back and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“This is going to be great!” Jasmine said as she climbed up on another reindeer.
Blizzard made another pile of snowballs and gave everyone an armful before hopping on a reindeer. “Let’s go!” he called.
The reindeer raced off along the road, and then suddenly lifted right off the snow and into the air!
“We’re flying!” Summer squealed. She held on tight as her reindeer flew over the snowboarding sprites.
“Take that!” Jasmine shouted gleefully as she pelted a Storm Sprite from above.
“And that!” Summer joined in, flying nearby.
The sprite squealed as the snowballs rained down from above.
Ellie saw her chance, and launched a surprise attack from in front of him, throwing a snowball that hit him right in his middle. “And THAT!” she yelled triumphantly.
The sprite fell over and dropped his bucket, splashing water everywhere. “Hey!” he wailed, half covered in snow.
“Get out of my way, Big Ears!” shouted another sprite snowboarding behind him.
“You get out of my way, Stinky Shorts!” snapped the first sprite.
But the snowboarding sprite was going too fast to stop, and he fell straight over the one on the ground! His bucket of water flew high in the air and landed on the big-eared sprite’s head.
As the girls watched, the two sprites started rolling down the hill in a tangle of skinny gray arms and legs, collecting more and more snow as they went.
“Aaah!” another sprite squealed as the giant snowball picked up speed behind him. He desperately tried to snowboard out of the way, but he got caught up, too!
The snowball continued to tumble down the mountain, rolling over sprites as it went. It gradually began to slow down as it crossed the town square, and then it landed in a big heap a few feet from the pile of everwarm embers.
Ellie, Trixi, King Merry, and the brownies cheered. Summer and Jasmine’s reindeer flew in circles to celebrate, then landed gently. Summer, Jasmine, and Blizzard ran over to the others, their faces flushed with excitement.
“That was amazing!” Summer grinned. “And we stopped those nasty sprites!”
The girls all looked at the sprites. They were still lying in a pile of snow, looking very dizzy.
“We’ll make sure they can’t bother us anymore,” Blizzard said with a grin.
He and the other snow brownies went over and formed a circle around the sprites, then started their low chanting again. Suddenly the sprites went very still, and pink icicles formed on their noses and their bony fingers.
“We’re turning them into ice statues for a little while,” Blizzard told the girls. “It won’t hurt them, but it should keep them out of mischief!”
Just then they heard a shriek from high up on the mountain slope. The girls looked up and could just make out a dark shape at the mountain’s peak. It was Queen Malice’s wolf-sled. The queen was standing up in the back, shaking her fist in fury.
“You girls haven’t seen the last of me, or my thunderbolts!” she screeched. “I’ll ruin all the fun in the Secret Kingdom — just you wait and see!” And with that, she stamped her thunderbolt staff and the wolf-sled sped away.
At that moment it suddenly got dark, and fat pink flakes started falling from the sky.
“The snow cloud!” exclaimed Ellie, pointing up at the sky.
The others looked up just in time to see the gap in the cloud close. The weather crystal’s spell had broken, and now Queen Malice’s horrible snow cloud completely covered the sun.
“Quick,” said Summer. “We have to get embers into all the buildings to keep them warm!”
Summer, Ellie, and Jasmine rushed around the town, helping the brownies put an everwarm ember in every home and in all the lanterns around Ice-Skate Lake. The pink ice glimmered beautifully in the glowing light, and Ellie, Jasmine, and Summer stood and watched the snow falling onto it.
“It doesn’t matter how cold it gets now!” Summer said cheerfully. “The everwarm embers will keep everyone nice and cozy!”
Flurry rushed over, beaming happily. “All the embers are in place,” he declared. “Would you like to come to a snowball cafe and have something to eat?”
Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine looked at one another and grinned. “Yes, please!” they all said at the same time.
Soon the girls were snuggled cozily in a snowball cafe, sitting around a fireplace full of everwarm embers and eating speci
al, warm ice cream desserts that had been magically baked on the embers.
“Look!” Ellie said, pointing outside.
The Storm Sprites had thawed out and were jumping up and down and rubbing their arms, trying to get warm. As the girls watched, one of them stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at them.
Trixi sighed. “They don’t seem to have learned their lesson. They’re just as rude and naughty as ever!”
Everyone crowded around the window and watched as the sprites flapped away.
“It’s stopped snowing!” Blizzard realized, pointing outside. “Let’s go and have some winter fun!”
All the brownies leapt up and ran outside.
“Come on, girls!” Flurry called as he headed out the door. “Now we can show you just how magical Magic Mountain really is!”
Summer stared around in amazement. The snow had only just stopped, but suddenly there were brownies sledding, skiing, and snowboarding everywhere she looked! “Everyone’s having such a good time!” she giggled.
“That’s all thanks to you,” said Flurry. “And now you get to enjoy Magic Mountain, too!”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to go on the ice slides?” Trixi asked Jasmine.
“Oh, yes, please!” Jasmine shrieked.
“Then follow us,” called Blizzard as he and Flurry led the girls to a cable with lots of funny benches dangling from it. “These will take us up to the ice slides!” he said, pointing to the benches, which were moving slowly up the mountain. He and Jasmine jumped onto the first chair and were scooped away.
“Wheeee!” Jasmine cried as the chair went up the mountain.
Flurry and Ellie sat on the next chair and Summer followed with King Merry. Soon they were all being carried up the mountain toward the ice slides, which twisted down the slopes like giant iced-over water slides.
“Oh dear,” muttered Ellie, when she saw how high up they were.
“Don’t be scared,” Flurry said as they reached the top and jumped off the chairlift. “You just sit on the slide and whoosh all the way down — it’s fun!”
“Woo-hoo!” Jasmine laughed, jumping straight onto the slide and pushing off. “Here goes!”
Next, Blizzard zoomed down, followed by Ellie, who was holding tightly onto Flurry.
King Merry slipped as he sat down and ended up going down the whole slide bottom first! Summer came close behind him, giggling as she went.
After the slide, Jasmine lay down in the pink snow and made an angel shape with her arms and legs. “I’d like to play in the snow every day!” she said happily.
“Ooh, I don’t think I would,” said Ellie. “It’s been lovely to visit Magic Mountain, but I like being warm!”
“I like everywhere in the Secret Kingdom,” said Summer. She gave a big yawn. “But right now I’m looking forward to snuggling up in bed.”
Trixi looked at the sun, which was slowly getting lower in the sky.
“Yes, I think it’s time for you to go home,” she agreed.
“I suppose so,” said Jasmine reluctantly. “Can we come back soon?”
“I certainly hope you will,” King Merry replied, nodding so hard that his crown slipped down over one eye. “I don’t know how I’d handle my frightful sister without you!”
The king got up and hugged each girl in turn, and Trixi gave them each a tiny kiss on the nose.
“Ahem!” coughed Blizzard loudly.
Everyone turned to look at the little brownie, who blushed bright red.
Then Flurry gave him a poke, and he held up his arms to Summer. He had an icy pink hourglass in his little hand.
“Um …” mumbled Blizzard. He seemed to get a little braver as he saw everyone smiling at him. “King Merry agreed we should give this to you as a thank-you present. It’s an icy hourglass. It freezes time for a little while.”
“Like this,” said Flurry, taking the hourglass from his friend and turning it over. Immediately everything froze still. Flurry took Blizzard’s hat off and put it on back to front. When Flurry flipped the hourglass again, everything unfroze.
“Hey!” Blizzard grumbled, realizing that his hat was on backward.
The girls giggled.
“Thank you,” said Jasmine, taking the hourglass. “I’m sure this will be useful during our adventures!”
Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine said good-bye to everyone, and then Trixi tapped her ring. A magic whirlwind began to form around them, sweeping them away as the brownies waved good-bye.
When they opened their eyes again, everything was dark. Their outdoor clothes were gone, and they could feel sleeping bags underneath their bare feet.
Summer grabbed the Magic Box and put it on her bed. With a flurry of sparkling lights, the box opened, revealing the six compartments inside. Jasmine carefully slipped the hourglass in next to the weather crystal. It fit perfectly!
Summer got up again to place the box back on its shelf. “What a lovely adventure we had,” she sighed, crawling under her blanket. Suddenly she felt very tired. “And now there’s only one thunderbolt left to find. Where do you think we’ll go next?”
But there was no reply from her two friends — they were already fast asleep.
In the next Secret Kingdom adventure, Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine visit
Glitter Beach
Read on for a sneak peek …
“Hi, Mom! I’m home!”
Ellie Macdonald ran into the empty kitchen through the back door. She shrugged her schoolbag off her shoulders and put it down carefully. After all, there was something very special inside! At the bottom, wrapped up in her school sweater, was a mysterious wooden box.
As she opened her bag, Ellie felt a flicker of excitement. She and her best friends, Summer Hammond and Jasmine Smith, were the only ones who knew that the box was much more than an ordinary jewelery box. It had been made by the ruler of a magical land called the Secret Kingdom, where incredible creatures like fairies, mermaids, unicorns, and pixies lived. It was a wonderful place, but it was in terrible trouble.
When everyone in the land had decided they wanted kind King Merry to rule rather than his horrible sister, Queen Malice, the evil queen had sent six thunderbolts crashing into different parts of the kingdom. Each thunderbolt had the power to make trouble and bring great unhappiness. Ellie and her friends had promised to help stop the nasty queen. Whenever one of her thunderbolts caused a problem in the Secret Kingdom, a riddle would appear in the lid of the Magic Box to tell the girls where they were needed. When they had solved it, Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine would be whisked away to the kingdom to try to help. They had already had five wonderful adventures, and Ellie couldn’t wait for the magic to work again!
Ellie pulled the Magic Box out of her bag and looked hopefully at the carvings of amazing creatures that covered every side, and the glittering jewels that decorated its mirrored lid. If only the lid would start glowing, that would mean it was time for her and her friends to return to the Secret Kingdom. But all she could see was her own reflection, her red curls falling messily around her face.
Ellie sighed and carried the box to the hall carefully. She caught sight of her mom through the window, tidying up the hanging baskets in the front yard. Ellie avoided her and headed for the stairs, clutching the Magic Box.
“RARRRRR!” With a loud yell, Molly, Ellie’s little sister, jumped out from where she had been hiding beside the hall table.
Ellie almost dropped the box in shock. “Molly!”
Molly whooped in delight. “I made you jump, Ellie!” She was four and looked just like Ellie had when she was little, with red curls that reached to her shoulders, and mischievous green eyes. She loved to play tricks on her big sister. “What’s that?” she asked curiously, spotting the box in Ellie’s arms.
“Nothing.”
“Let me see!” Molly tried to look.
“It’s just an old box, Mol,” Ellie told her hastily. The last thing she wanted was Molly looking in the Magic Box! Inside it were six wooden
compartments, and five of them were filled with the special objects Ellie and her friends had collected on their adventures.
There was a magic map of the Secret Kingdom, a tiny silver unicorn horn that let the person holding it talk to animals, a cloud crystal that could be used to control the weather, a pearl that could turn the holder invisible, and an icy hourglass that could be used to freeze time.
If Molly found those things she’d want to know where they had come from, and the girls couldn’t tell anyone about the Secret Kingdom!
Read
Glitter Beach
to find out what happens next!
Summer, Ellie, and Jasmine have been friends since they were little, and they’ve made lots more friends in the Secret Kingdom. But if you went to the Secret Kingdom, who would your best friend be? Take our quiz to find out!
Do you like your friends to be …?
A — kind
B — magical
C — mean
What would you like to do with your best friend?
A — sit on a snuggly throne
B — cast spells
C — throw horrible thunderbolts at people
If your best friend was scared of something, what would it be?
A — stink toads
B — not being able to protect her friends
C — nothing, because everyone is scared of her
Which place would you like to visit with your friend?
A — a beautiful enchanted palace
B — a glittering beach
C — a dark and scary castle
If your best friend had a favorite hobby, what would it be?
A — inventing magical devices
B — helping friends in need
C — making other people sad
Text copyright © 2012 by Hothouse Fiction Limited.
Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Orchard Books.