“What’s that?” asked Kirsty. Even though her idea hadn’t worked, she was still hoping there was some way they could get Zadie’s thimble back.
“A fabulous cape, just like Jack Frost’s!” the goblin declared. He ran back to the booth and began digging through the piles of fabric. “None of this is good enough,” he muttered in disgust.
“What kind of fabric are you looking for?” Rachel asked.
“I want my cape to be bright green, just like me,” the goblin replied. “And it should be very sparkly on the outside, but oh-so-soft on the inside.”
A plan instantly popped into Rachel’s head. “I’ve seen some special fabric exactly like that!” she announced. “We’ll get it for you.”
“Hooray!” the goblin cheered. He began tap-dancing happily around in his big, shiny green shoes.
The girls darted off behind the booth again, and Zadie zoomed up out of Rachel’s pocket.
“Zadie, you heard what the goblin said,” Rachel whispered. She grinned and raised an eyebrow. “Can you use your magic to make the soft, sparkly fabric he described? I have an idea!”
“Sparkly on the outside, soft on the inside,” Zadie repeated with a smile. “Yes, I can do that!”
She waved her wand in the air, and the girls saw a misty cloud of magic fairy dust floating around them. A long piece of beautiful green fabric appeared out of thin air and floated down into Rachel’s and Kirsty’s arms. The fabric was the exact same shade as the goblin’s skin, and full of thin gold threads that sparkled in the sunlight.
“It’s beautiful!” Kirsty exclaimed.
“And it’s so soft,” Rachel added, stroking the delicate fabric. “He’ll love it!”
Kirsty folded up the fabric, while Zadie dove back into Rachel’s pocket. Then they all hurried back to the goblin.
“Here we are!” Kirsty said, holding up the fabric with a flourish.
“Oh, wow!” the goblin gasped, wide-eyed. He reached out and gently touched the fabric. “It’s so soft. It’s exactly what I wanted.”
He tried to take the fabric, but Kirsty pulled it back out of his reach.
“You can only have it if you return Zadie’s magic thimble,” she said firmly.
The goblin’s face darkened. “No! I’m not giving it to you!” he shouted, and tried to grab the fabric again. But the girls were ready for him! Kirsty dodged quickly out of his way. She began circling the goblin and winding the sparkling green fabric around him. Rachel took the other end of the fabric. Between them, the girls wrapped up the goblin from his shoulders to his feet like an Egyptian mummy!
“We know you have Zadie’s thimble,” Kirsty told the trapped goblin. “Now, where is it?”
“I won’t tell you!” the goblin snapped, squirming desperately to free himself. But as he wriggled around, trying to escape, his hat fell off. Rachel spotted something shimmering on top of his head.
“It’s Zadie’s thimble!” Rachel gasped.
Zadie immediately flew out of Rachel’s pocket and zoomed toward the thimble perched on the goblin’s big green head. But before she could reach it, the goblin began yelling.
“A pesky fairy is trying to steal my magic thimble!” he shouted to the other goblins, who’d been too busy playing to notice what was going on.
The goblins all came racing over. Rachel, Kirsty, and Zadie desperately tried to grab the thimble first, but the captured goblin hopped around, trying to avoid them as best he could. Then one of the other goblins made a giant leap forward and grabbed the thimble from the top of the goblin’s head.
All of the goblins whooped with triumph.
“We have to keep this safe for Jack Frost!” the goblin with the thimble declared. He glared at Rachel, Kirsty, and Zadie. “You can’t have it!”
“That thimble is mine!” said the goblin in the suit, wriggling out of the green fabric. He tried to snatch the thimble back, but the other goblin wouldn’t give it up. “I need it, or I won’t be able to sew my beautiful clothes anymore.”
“You’ve had your turn,” snapped the goblin with the thimble. “Now I want a chance to use it!”
“Me too! Me too!” the other goblins cried. They began arguing loudly.
Their squabbling gave Kirsty an idea, so she murmured a few words to Zadie and Rachel. Zadie nodded and pointed her wand at a scrap of green velvet lying on the nearby booth. A few magic sparkles instantly transformed the velvet into a gorgeous embroidered vest with a green satin lining.
The goblin with the thimble saw the vest and his face lit up. “Oh, I wish I could make beautiful clothes like that!” He sighed, grabbing the vest and slipping it on. “And now I can, since the magic thimble is mine!”
The other goblins began yelling at him again.
“It’s not yours, it’s Jack Frost’s!”
“I want a turn! I want to make myself a fancy green vest, too!”
“Give me that thimble back right now — I had it first!”
“Wait!” Rachel stepped in front of them. “None of you will be able to sew beautiful clothes if you keep arguing over the thimble like this!”
She looked at the goblins, who were all glaring back at her. “Listen, Zadie will show you all how to make beautiful clothes. She’ll teach you how to sew — but only if you give her the magic thimble.”
Rachel held her breath. Would the plan work?
The goblin with the thimble frowned. He glanced at the other goblins, who all looked interested in what Rachel was saying.
“If we just give the thimble to Jack Frost, we’ll never learn how to sew!” the goblin in the suit pointed out.
The goblin holding the thimble stroked his vest thoughtfully. Then he nodded. “All right,” he agreed, reluctantly, and he offered the thimble to Zadie. With a cry of relief, the little fairy swooped down to him. The instant Zadie touched the thimble, it became fairy-sized. She popped it right onto her finger with a big smile on her face.
“Thank you,” Zadie told the goblins. “But we won’t start our sewing lessons now, because you shouldn’t have stolen my thimble in the first place!” The goblins began protesting loudly, but Zadie held up her wand for silence. “We’ll start our lessons as soon as I’ve returned my thimble to Fairyland,” she said firmly. “But for now . . .”
Rachel and Kirsty smiled as another burst of fairy magic from Zadie’s wand created matching green vests for all the other goblins. The goblins whooped with joy and they put the vests on. They all walked off, admiring themselves. Zadie laughed and flew back to Rachel and Kirsty.
“It’s time for me to go home now,” Zadie said happily. “Girls, I can’t thank you enough! You’ve been complete superstars. Everyone in Fairyland is going to be so excited when I tell them that you’ve helped us again. Good-bye — see you very soon!”
“Good-bye,” the girls called. Zadie disappeared in a shower of sparkles, waving her thimble at them in farewell.
“Let’s take all these green things back to Artie’s workshop,” Rachel suggested, pointing at the goblins’ booth.
The girls quickly gathered everything and hurried through the market square. When they arrived back at the sewing workshop, they were both relieved to see that everyone, including Artie, was looking a lot happier.
“Girls, our sewing projects are back on track!” Artie called to them. “Oh, what a wonderful pile of materials you’ve collected.”
“Looks like everything’s OK now that Zadie has her thimble again,” Rachel whispered to Kirsty, picking up her half-finished shoulder bag.
“At least now my poor little teddy bear won’t lose his stuffing!” Kirsty joked.
Later that day, the girls rushed back to Daffodil Cottage. They couldn’t wait to show Mrs. Tate their sewing projects.
“What a gorgeous shoulder bag, Rachel!” Mrs. Tate exclaimed. “I love the velvet flower on the front. A
nd that’s such a sweet teddy bear, Kirsty. Great work, you two.”
Rachel and Kirsty beamed proudly at each other.
“I’ve been working on a sewing project of my own while you were gone,” Mrs. Tate went on. She handed each of the girls a beautiful pink art apron with purple ties.
“Oh, Mom, these are awesome!” Kirsty gasped. “Look, Rachel, our names are embroidered on the front.”
“I love it!” Rachel declared, trying her apron on immediately. “We can wear them whenever we do arts and crafts, Kirsty.”
“I’m so glad you like them,” said Mrs. Tate with a smile. “Now, should I try sewing that loose button on your shirt again, Kirsty?”
Kirsty shook her head. “No, thanks, Mom. Now that Rachel and I have learned to sew, we’re going to do it ourselves,” she said with a grin.
The girls ran upstairs to Kirsty’s room, still admiring their aprons. But when Kirsty pulled the shirt out of her closet, she gave a cry of surprise.
“Rachel, look! The button’s already been sewn back on — with really sparkly thread!”
“Fairy magic!” Rachel laughed. “And see, there’s something else — a special, sparkly message from Zadie. It’s stitched inside the hem of the shirt.”
“It says ‘thank you.’ ” Kirsty grinned at her friend. “Isn’t that amazing, Rachel? I’m so glad we helped another one of the fairies find her magic object.”
“Let’s hope we can find the others in time to save Crafts Week from total disaster!” added Rachel.
Rachel and Kirsty have found Kayla’s, Annabelle’s, and Zadie’s missing magic objects. Now it’s time for them to help
Join their next adventure in this special sneak peek. . . .
Rachel Walker sat up and yawned, then smiled as she remembered where she was. It was early in the morning, but the sun was already soaking through the canvas of her tent. She looked over at her best friend, Kirsty Tate, who was still curled up in her sleeping bag. So far, their vacation on Rainspell Island had been full of adventure!
“I wonder what today will bring,” she whispered to herself.
Rachel leaned back on her pillow and thought about everything that had happened since they’d arrived. It was Crafts Week on the island, and so far the girls had tried pottery, drawing, and sewing. There were lots more crafts left to try, plus a competition and exhibition at the end of the week.
Things had got even more exciting when they met Kayla the Pottery Fairy, though. Rachel and Kirsty were secret friends with all the fairies. Now they were spending spring break together on their favorite island, and they were in the middle of a magical adventure!
Kirsty stirred in her sleep and rolled over. Rachel sat up and unzipped the tent flap. Sunlight spilled into the tent, turning everything golden. Kirsty yawned and opened her eyes.
“Good morning,” she said, stretching her arms. “I was having a great dream. I think I sleep even better in the tent than I do in the bed and breakfast!”
Kirsty’s family was staying at a little b and b in the village and Rachel’s family was camping. The girls had decided to spend every other night at each place all week, and it was turning out to be a lot of fun!
“I think I can hear Mom making breakfast,” said Rachel, wriggling out of her sleeping bag. “Come on, I’m starving!”
The girls got dressed and pulled on their sandals.
“What crafts should we do today, Rachel?” asked Kirsty.
“Well, you know it’s my mom’s birthday today,” Rachel said. “I’d love to make something to give her later at the party.”
Mr. Walker had organized a surprise party for his wife, and the girls could hardly wait. Just then, there was a tap on the tent flap.
“Come in!” said Rachel and Kirsty together.
Mr. Walker came into the tent and put a finger to his lips. He looked very excited.
“I just want to show you the present I got for your mom,” he whispered to Rachel. “I had them handmade by Carrie Silver, who runs the jewelry shop down by the waterfront.”
He held out a tiny velvet box. Rachel took it and opened the lid. Sitting on a bed of ivory silk was a pair of gold earrings shaped like seashells.
“They’re beautiful,” she said in a soft voice.
“Really pretty,” Kirsty agreed.
Rachel picked up one of the earrings — but then something awful happened. The seashell fell off of the rest of the earring. It was broken!
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-72319-0
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First Scholastic printing, March 2015
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Zadie the Sewing Fairy Page 2