“Join our team!” called Lara.
“No, our team!” Oscar yelled. “Ignore her!”
The boy joined Lara’s team, and the game began. This time, it wasn’t as much fun. There were a lot of tackles, and there was even some cheating. Ginny and Jen kept disagreeing about how to referee the match, and it seemed to drag on forever. Then Lara got the ball and began to dribble it toward the goal.
“To me, Lara!” Rachel called. “I’m free!”
But Lara just scowled at her and passed the ball to the new boy instead. The other children immediately moved out of his way—even the opposing team! He had a clear path down the field toward Kirsty’s goal, and she got ready to stop him from scoring. He took a shot and the ball hurtled toward her. She jumped up and caught it … then let it go and made sure that it rolled between the goalposts.
“GOAL!” shouted the new boy, and Jen blew the whistle to show that it was the end of the game.
The new boy’s team cheered wildly as he pulled the hem of his shirt over his head and ran around in circles. Rachel sprinted over to Kirsty.
“You dropped the ball on purpose,” she said. “Why?”
Kirsty shrugged, feeling helpless.
“I have no idea,” she said. “I couldn’t seem to stop myself.”
They looked over to where the new boy was now doing a handstand in celebration. His feet waved in the air.
“Look how big his feet are,” said Kirsty.
“They’re really, really big,” Rachel agreed.
Then they both had the same thought at exactly the same moment.
“He’s a goblin!”
Esther had heard every word, and she couldn’t bear to stay hidden for a moment longer. She fluttered up from the hoodie marking the goal.
“I had to come look,” she said, tucking herself under Kirsty’s hair. “Where’s the goblin?”
Rachel pointed to where the other children were lifting the goblin up on their shoulders, pushing and shoving one another out of the way at the same time.
Esther drew in her breath in shocked surprise.
“Look at his shirt!” she exclaimed.
“He’s wearing a brooch,” said Kirsty. “I’m sure you’re not supposed to wear jewelery during a game.”
“Forget about the rules,” said Rachel. “Look at the brooch!”
Kirsty narrowed her eyes and squinted, then gasped.
“It’s the magical heart brooch!” she cried. “No wonder everyone is being so nice to him, and not to anyone else!”
“We’ll never get it back now,” said Esther, looking miserable.
“Of course we will,” said Rachel in her most encouraging voice. “We’ve found it, so we’re a huge step closer to getting it back. All we have to do is figure out a plan.”
Kirsty was still watching the goblin, who was bragging gleefully about his amazing goal.
“He thinks he’s really good at soccer,” she said. “That gives me an idea. Esther, could you use your magic to make a soccer shirt that the goblin will think is really amazing?”
As quick as a wink, Esther waved her wand and a bright green soccer shirt was hanging in the air in front of Kirsty. There was a sparkly green star on the back, behind the words, “Soccer Star.” Then the shirt gave a little wriggle, folded itself neatly, and landed in Kirsty’s outstretched arms.
“Time for a swap!” said Kirsty, smiling.
She and Rachel hurried over to join the crowd of children. They squeezed through the huddle until they reached the goblin, who was now down on the ground again.
“That was an amazing goal,” said Rachel. “Truly incredible.”
“I know,” said the goblin, blowing on his fingernails and polishing them on his shirt.
“We have this shirt for you, so everyone can see what a star you are,” said Kirsty, showing him the new green shirt.
“Wow, it’s perfect for me!” exclaimed the goblin, his eyes widening. “Give it to me.”
“We can only let you have it as a trade,” said Rachel. “If you’ll let us have your shirt as a souvenir, we’ll give you this one. There isn’t another one like it in the whole world.”
The goblin gazed longingly at the star shirt, but then he shook his head.
“I don’t want to trade,” he said.
“Oh!” said Rachel. “But—”
“Get out of his way,” said Oscar, pushing the girls aside. “You’re crowding him!”
The girls would have tried to persuade the goblin again, but at that moment Ginny called to them from the tent.
“Time for the water-balloon fight! Come and get your balloons!” She held up a bag of balloons.
Jen snatched the bag and went to fill them with water from a tap near the fountain. The children ran over to watch as she made a big pile of colorful water balloons. Rachel and Kirsty followed, Kirsty tucking the shirt into her pocket as she went.
“Hurry up, Jen,” said Ginny. “You’re too slow.”
“I’m faster than you would be,” Jen retorted.
When the pile was finished, everyone surged forward, jabbing one another with their elbows and trying to get to the balloons first. Rachel and Kirsty stood back and waited their turn. But when their turn came, all the balloons were gone. They looked at Ginny, who shrugged.
“Tough luck,” she said. “You should have pushed your way in, like everyone else.”
“We really have to get that brooch back,” Rachel muttered. “Everyone is being so mean!”
The water-balloon fight was already in full swing and the goblin was throwing a lot of balloons, cackling as the children got wetter and wetter. But no one was throwing any balloons at him.
“The brooch is making everyone want to be nice to him,” said Esther, peeking out from under Kirsty’s hair.
The goblin seemed delighted that he wasn’t getting wet.
“I’m the best and you’re the worst!” he jeered at the other children, blowing loud raspberries and dancing around in front of them. “I’m the only one who isn’t wet! I’m the quickest! I’m the greatest!”
He shrieked with laughter and hopped over to the fountain, hurling balloon after balloon at the children.
“He doesn’t want to get wet,” said Rachel, and a little idea popped into her mind. “If we can soak him, maybe he’ll take the shirt off to get dry.”
“But how can we get him wet?” asked Kirsty. “We don’t have a single water balloon.”
“Who needs a water balloon?” asked Rachel with a grin. “He’s standing right next to the fountain!”
The girls ducked out of sight behind the Friends Camp tent and, with a flick of her wand, Esther turned them both into fairies. They flew over the heads of the other children, who were still busy throwing water balloons at one another. The goblin saw the fairies speeding toward him and scowled.
“Leave me alone!” he squawked, jumping up onto the side of the fountain and flinging water balloons at them. “I know what you want, and you’re not getting it!”
“The brooch doesn’t belong to you!” cried Kirsty, dodging a red water balloon.
“Who cares about that?” the goblin shouted. “I love it! It makes everyone want to be my friend. Besides, I need it to bring some friends back to the Ice Castle for Jack Frost.”
He had run out of water balloons now, but the fairies kept flying around his head as they replied.
“If you’re kind to people, they’ll want to be your friend anyway,” said Esther.
“You should tell that to Jack Frost,” added Rachel.
They whizzed around the goblin faster and faster, and he started to wobble. Then he lost his balance and SPLASH! He fell into the fountain.
“Wahhh!” he wailed, pulling himself out and falling onto the grass with a squelch. “I’m soaking wet!”
Kirsty whispered to Esther, who waved her wand again and returned the girls to human size. Kirsty pulled the Soccer Star shirt from her pocket, while Rachel held out a big, fluffy towel. Sh
e wrapped it around the goblin’s shoulders as he was wringing out his shirt, and he pulled it closer around himself.
“We could still give you this nice, dry Soccer Star shirt in exchange for Esther’s magical brooch,” said Kirsty.
The wet goblin looked up at her, shivering with cold. He gazed at the dry shirt with the sparkly star.
“Do you really think I can make friends without the magical brooch?” he asked in a small voice.
“Of course you can!” said Rachel.
“No problem!” said Kirsty.
Esther nodded, and the goblin took a deep breath.
“All right,” he said.
He pulled off the wet shirt and held it out to Esther. As soon as she touched the brooch, it shrank to fairy size. The goblin pulled on the dry shirt and grinned.
“Thank you both for your help,” said Esther, fluttering over to hover in front of Rachel and Kirsty. “I can’t wait to tell the other Friendship Fairies that one of our magical objects is back where it belongs.”
“I hope we’ll see you again soon,” said Rachel.
Esther blew them a kiss, waved, and then disappeared back to Fairyland, leaving a golden shimmer in the air.
Just then, the other children turned and waved to Rachel and Kirsty. The goblin hid behind Rachel’s back.
“Come on,” said Rachel in a kind voice. “Come and join in.”
The goblin was very shy at first, but all the other children were being kind again, and they welcomed him with big smiles.
“Sorry you didn’t get to join in the water-balloon fight,” said Oscar. “I’m afraid we’ve used up all the balloons.”
“Never mind,” said Kirsty. “We can help you clean up!”
Ginny and Jen made a game out of cleaning up, and it wasn’t long before every single burst balloon had been picked up. The goblin held the trash bag while the other children put the balloon pieces into it.
“Thank you,” said Lara, and the goblin gave her a wide grin.
“You’re doing a great job,” Ginny added, patting his bony head.
Jen slipped her arm through Ginny’s and leaned closer.
“I’m sorry for being so grumpy earlier,” she whispered.
“Me, too,” Ginny replied. “I can’t think why I was so unkind.”
Kirsty and Rachel exchanged a smile when they heard this. They knew why kindness had disappeared for a while—and they were delighted to see that it had returned now that Esther had her brooch back.
When the Summer Friends Camp finished for the day, the goblin scampered off to the Ice Castle. Kirsty and Rachel waved good-bye to Lara, Oscar, and the others. They walked back to the Sunny Days Bed & Breakfast, and saw their parents coming back from their hike in the opposite direction.
“Did you have a good time?” asked Mrs. Walker, hugging them.
“It was tons of fun,” said Kirsty.
“We made some great new friends,” Rachel added. “Can we go back again tomorrow?”
Their parents agreed, and the girls shared a secret smile.
“I’m looking forward to more adventures with our fairy friends, too,” Kirsty whispered.
“Oh, Kirsty,” said Rachel, her eyes sparkling. “That goes without saying!”
“I can’t wait to find out what we’ll be doing at the Summer Friends Camp today,” said Kirsty Tate.
She grinned at her best friend, Rachel Walker, who was bouncing up and down on a hoppity hop. They were inside a brightly colored tent in Rainspell Park, where the vacation day camp was based.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be fun,” said Rachel, her blond curls flying around her head as she bounced. “We’ll be together!”
Rachel and Kirsty had been friends ever since their first meeting on Rainspell Island. It was an extra-special place for them because they had also become friends with the fairies during that first visit.
This time they were staying at the Sunny Days Bed & Breakfast with their parents. They had attended the Summer Friends Camp on their first day, and were excited to learn that the teenage girls who ran it, Ginny and Jen, were also best friends. Today was their second day of vacation, and they were both looking forward to finding out what Ginny and Jen had planned.
The tent was already ringing with laughter. Oscar and Lara, who they had met the previous day, were practicing one-handed cartwheels. When they collapsed to the ground, out of breath and giggling, Rachel and Kirsty came over to join them.
“Good morning!” said Lara in a cheerful voice. “It’s great to see you here again. We’re really looking forward to today.”
“We are, too,” said Kirsty. “We were just wondering what we’ll be doing.”
“Wonder no more!” said Ginny’s friendly voice behind them. “We have something really awesome planned for today.”
The children looked around and saw Ginny and Jen standing in the tent entrance, arm in arm. Several other children crowded around them.
“We’re going to paint a mural on the tennis clubhouse,” said Jen, giving a little hop of excitement. “I’m so thrilled that we have the chance to do this. I know you’re all super-creative, and we’re going to make the best mural ever.”
Chattering and giggling, Rachel and Kirsty headed across the park with the others. The clubhouse stood at the entrance to the tennis courts, and Jen and Ginny led everyone around to the back. They saw a small picnic area on a wooden deck, and Jen pointed at the long side wall of the clubhouse.
“This is the wall we’re going to paint,” she said. “They want us to brighten up the picnic area.”
“What are we going to paint?” asked Oscar.
“The theme of the mural is friendship,” said Ginny. “We thought that we could start by painting the word friendship on the wall. Then we can decorate it.”
Jen took out a big book filled with letters and patterns.
Copyright © 2016 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. RAINBOW MAGIC is a trademark of Rainbow Magic Limited. Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and other countries. HIT and the HIT logo are trademarks of HIT Entertainment Limited.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-338-15767-3
First edition, July 2017
Cover design by Angela Jun
e-ISBN 978-1-338-15127-5
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Esther the Kindness Fairy Page 2