“I can’t undo the zipper!” cried the goblin in checked pajamas.
“That tricky fairy used magic to keep it shut!” said another goblin in a panic. “We’re stuck!”
The goblins writhed and wriggled and squawked, but they couldn’t get out of the sleeping bag. Rachel and Kirsty giggled, and Selena hovered above the goblins.
“Now,” she said, “are you goblins ready to make a deal?”
“We’ll never give you the bag!” shouted one goblin.
“Jack Frost would yell at us for a month and lock us in the dungeons!” said another.
“But I’m guessing you took the magic sleeping bag without his permission,” Rachel said thoughtfully. “I bet he’s already upset with you.”
“How did she know that?” whispered the eye-masked goblin loudly.
“You don’t like this fairy sleeping bag, do you?” asked Selena.
Six green heads shook from side to side.
“It’s smelly!” said one goblin.
“It’s too soft!” said another.
“I could use my magic to make you each a wonderful goblin sleeping bag,” said Selena. “All you have to do is give back the magic sleeping bag and all the ordinary sleeping bags and backpacks that don’t belong to you.”
The goblins went quiet for a minute. Their heads moved closer together as they whispered and argued.
Kirsty bit her lip anxiously. The seconds were ticking by, and it was almost time for them to be back at the bus. They couldn’t leave the goblins here in the rest stop!
Then she noticed that a goblin in a pair of polka-dot pajamas was looking very red in the face. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.
“I’m too hot!” he moaned. “It’s too squished in here. You can have the sleeping bag. Just let me out!”
“Yes, let us out!” shouted the other goblins. “We agree! We agree!”
With a wave of her wand, Selena opened the zipper and the hot, sweet-smelling goblins tumbled out of the bag. They kicked it over to the girls.
“Now you have to keep your side of the bargain!” demanded the skinny goblin.
“Of course,” said Selena with a big smile.
There were six loud popping noises, and each goblin found a stinky green sleeping bag under his arm. They all sniffed eagerly.
“Mmm, cabbages!” said the eye-mask goblin.
“Moldy fruit!” squeaked another.
“Mine’s all lumpy,” said the goblin with the orange socks. “I think it’s full of rocks. Yippee!”
And with that, the goblins rushed off in the direction of the parking lot.
The girls turned to Selena.
“Can you use your magic to send them back to the Ice Castle?” asked Kirsty. “I don’t like the idea of taking them to our giant sleepover!”
“I’m sorry,” said Selena. “My magic isn’t strong enough for that. But as soon as I’ve returned the magic sleeping bag to its rightful home, I’ll come back to help you at the sleepover. After all, we still have to find my other two magic objects!”
Selena tapped her wand gently on the magic sleeping bag. With a flurry of glistening sparkles it returned to fairy-size. Another wave of her wand sent all the ordinary sleeping bags and backpacks back to the bus.
“I’ve made sure that all the goblins will sleep for the rest of the trip, so they’ll stay out of trouble,” she said. “Thank you both so much for helping me! I’ll be back as soon as I can to help you look for the snack box and the game bag. Then all sleepovers can be fun and happy again.”
“We’ll do whatever we can to help,” Rachel promised with a big smile.
As Selena disappeared in a swirl of shimmering fairy dust, Kirsty looked at her watch.
“Oh, no. We only have thirty seconds until we need to be back at the bus!” she said. “Rachel — run!”
The girls sprinted back through the rest stop, dodging the crowds of people. They ran to the bus, climbed on board, and dropped into their seats, panting and giggling.
“Cutting it close, girls,” said Mr. Ferguson, tapping his watch. He winked. “All right, we’re all here now. Next stop, the National Museum!”
Rachel turned to Kirsty and grinned. Both girls were ready for the next part of their big sleepover adventure!
A Vanishing Act
The Purple Group
Treasure Hunt Trouble
Finders Keepers
A Lesson in Manners
The bus rolled along a wide street in the center of the city. Kirsty and Rachel pressed their noses up against the window. It was almost dark, but each tree along the pavement was lit up with sparkling lights.
“I wonder if Selena will be waiting for us inside the museum,” said Kirsty quietly. “We still have to find the enchanted game bag and the sleepover snack box so all sleepovers will be fun again!”
The bus pulled up in front of the National Museum. It was an amazing building! Tall pillars stood on either side of the large entrance, and the words National Museum were carved into the stone above the door.
Mr. Ferguson stood up at the front of the bus. “We’re here!” he announced. “Now remember, there are going to be a lot of different groups at the museum tonight so stay close to me.”
Kirsty and Rachel eagerly filed off the bus. The square in front of the museum was crowded with kids, and there were still more buses pulling up. Chatter and laughter filled the air. Kirsty and Rachel held each other’s hand tightly and gazed around.
There were some kids in school uniforms and others in ordinary clothes. The girls saw lots of Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, too. Ten kids were wearing green T-shirts with NORTHBROOKS JUNIOR CHOIR printed on them in white letters. Teachers and group leaders were calling out instructions, and backpacks and sleeping bags were being hoisted onto shoulders. It was very busy and exciting, and for a moment the girls forgot about everything except watching the crowd of kids.
“OK, everybody,” said Mr. Ferguson in a loud voice that made them jump. “Grab your things from the luggage area and line up in pairs.”
“Oh, Kirsty!” Rachel exclaimed. “We have to get to the luggage area and make sure that the goblins aren’t up to trouble!”
“But we’re at the back of the line!” said Kirsty.
The girls tried to squeeze their way to the front, but Mr. Ferguson noticed and stopped them.
“No pushing, girls,” he said. “Your backpacks aren’t going to walk off by themselves, don’t worry.”
“No,” said Kirsty under her breath, “but they might walk off with goblin legs underneath them!”
“Selena cast a spell to make the goblins sleep,” Rachel reminded her. “I just hope that they’ll be out of sight at the back of the luggage area, and nobody will spot them.”
It seemed to take forever until the kids in front of them had collected their bags. At last, it was their turn! Making sure that Mr. Ferguson didn’t see them, the girls picked up their things and peered into the shadows at the back of the luggage area. The lights from the trees lit up the space, and the girls could see that, except for a few bags, the space was empty!
“There’s nothing there!” said Rachel.
“No goblins and no goblin sleeping bags,” Kirsty agreed. “But they were supposed to be asleep!”
Rachel remembered something.
“Selena said that her spell would make the goblins sleep ‘for the rest of the trip,’” she said. “They must have woken up as soon as we arrived at the museum. They probably climbed out before we got off the bus.”
“Maybe they’ve gone back to the Ice Castle,” said Kirsty hopefully.
The girls looked around at the crowds of kids heading into the museum. If the goblins were among them, they would be really tough to spot. Rachel shook her head.
“I don’t think they’ve
gone home,” she said. “Keep watching out for them, Kirsty. I have a feeling that there’s more goblin trouble ahead!”
Kirsty and Rachel joined the back of the line, and Mr. Ferguson led them all into the museum. They found themselves standing in the main entrance hall. For a minute, all thoughts of goblins left their minds.
The glass dome ceiling seemed to be miles above their heads, and through it they could see the moon and stars shining. The floor was covered with black and white tiles. A flight of wide stone steps curved up to the galleries, and long hallways led off to the sides. In the center of the entrance hall stood a life-size dinosaur model, its jaws gaping.
“ROOAARRR!”
Everyone squealed and giggled as the recording echoed through the air. Then a smiling, dark-haired lady walked toward them, holding a clipboard.
“Good evening, kids,” she said. “My name is Charlotte. I just need to sign you in, and then we can get the fun started.”
Mr. Ferguson shook hands with Charlotte.
“Thirty children from Wetherbury School,” he said.
Charlotte marked off their names on her clipboard.
“Welcome to the National Museum,” she said with a big smile. “We’re so excited to have you all here. You are going to be in the Purple Group. You can leave your backpacks and sleeping bags in the storage room for now. It’s over there in the corner.”
She handed Mr. Ferguson a bag of purple hats.
“Everyone must wear one of these to show which group they’re in,” she said. “The first game will be a gallery treasure hunt, and each group will be in a different gallery. The Purple Group is going to be in the Roman Gallery.”
“What sort of treasure are we going to be looking for?” asked Rachel.
“Each group will follow clues to find a letter of the alphabet,” Charlotte explained. “When all the letters are put together, they’ll make the name of a place in the museum. That’s where the midnight feast and storytelling will be held!”
It sounded wonderful! There were lots of excited mutters and whispers among the kids. But Kirsty was worried.
“Selena’s enchanted game bag is still missing,” she whispered to Rachel. “Without it, the treasure hunt game might go wrong. That would ruin the midnight feast and the storytelling, too!”
“Don’t worry,” said Rachel. “We won’t let Jack Frost and his goblins mess things up for everyone.”
The girls put their belongings in the storage room and followed Charlotte to the Roman Gallery. When they reached the gallery, Charlotte handed an envelope to each pair of kids.
“Somewhere in this gallery, a letter of the alphabet has been hidden,” she said. “It’s your mission to find it and bring it to the main entrance hall. The clues in these envelopes will help you. Good luck, and have fun!”
The kids rushed into the Roman Gallery, tearing open the envelopes. Kirsty and Rachel looked around quickly. There were no goblins in sight.
“They’re not here,” said Rachel. “Quick, Kirsty — open our clue!”
Kirsty opened the envelope and took out a green card.
“That’s funny,” said Rachel. “I would have expected the card to be purple for the Purple Group.”
The clue read:
Harder than glass and
richer than crowns,
you’ll find me on fingers
and fabulous gowns.
“What does it mean?” Kirsty wondered. “Something that’s harder than glass . . . diamonds?”
“Yes!” Rachel cried. “They’re found on fingers, too — in rings!”
“There’s a diamond exhibition in the museum,” said Kirsty. “Maybe we’re supposed to look in there?”
“But Charlotte said that our clues would be about something in this gallery,” Rachel replied. She frowned and paused for a minute. “Kirsty, something doesn’t seem right!”
Suddenly, a boy in a green hat came running through the door.
“Hey, I think I got one of your clues by mistake,” he announced, holding up a purple card.
“Mr. Ferguson, my clue doesn’t make sense,” said Hannah at the same time. “It’s all about sea life.”
Everyone started talking at once and holding up their clues. Rachel saw red, green, blue, and yellow cards being waved in the air.
“I’m sure that our clues are supposed to be printed on purple cards,” she said. “I think all the clues have been mixed up.”
Kirsty and Rachel looked out through the door. They could see kids in different colored hats running between the galleries. Charlotte was standing in the middle of them all, frantically checking her clipboard.
“This is all because the enchanted game bag is missing,” said Rachel in a low voice. “Oh, Kirsty. The treasure hunt is going to be ruined! I wish there was something we could do.”
“Maybe there is,” said Kirsty, her eyes shining.
She pointed at the display behind Rachel. One of the ancient Roman vases was glowing! Suddenly, Selena zoomed out of it and waved at the girls through the glass display cabinet. Then, with a tiny flash of fairy dust, she appeared outside of the cabinet.
The girls crouched down behind the display as Selena fluttered over and perched on Kirsty’s knee.
“I have good news!” she said, her cheeks pink with excitement. “I’ve seen the enchanted game bag! A boy wearing a red hat has it in his bag.”
Kirsty gasped. “How did he get it?”
“One of the goblins must have dropped it,” said Rachel thoughtfully. “I bet the boy saw it and picked it up.”
“Let’s go and find him now,” Selena pleaded.
Rachel and Kirsty nodded, but before they could move they saw a very short kid rushing past the door of the Roman Gallery. He was wearing a green hat pulled low over his face, but that didn’t fool the girls for a minute.
“That was a goblin!” cried Kirsty.
“Oh, no. I hope they didn’t get the enchanted game bag back!” said Selena.
“Quick, let’s follow him,” said Rachel.
“It’ll be easier if you’re fairy-size, like me,” Selena declared.
The girls ducked into an alcove where they couldn’t be seen. Selena waved her wand, and for a moment a shimmering star of fairy dust hung in the air in front of the girls. Then it dissolved into hundreds of miniature stars that enveloped Rachel and Kirsty in a magic glow. They closed their eyes and felt themselves shrinking to fairy-size, their toes and fingertips tingling. When they opened their eyes, they were hovering in the air beside Selena, fluttering their delicate wings.
“Come on,” said Rachel. “We have to catch that goblin!”
They flew out of the Roman Gallery and spotted the goblin running down the stone staircase. All the groups were upstairs and the museum was closed, so the main entrance hall should have been empty. But when the girls reached the bottom of the staircase, they saw that the big reception desk was fully staffed — by five goblins!
One goblin was tearing entrance tickets off a long strip, and another was wearing headphones and listening to a museum tour. A third was pressing all the buttons on the cash register and making them beep. The skinniest goblin was sitting on a revolving chair while another goblin spun him around and around, giggling.
Selena and the girls hid behind the dinosaur model as the goblin in the green hat rushed up to the desk.
“I can’t find the pesky kid who picked up the fairy bag,” he wailed. “They all look the same to me.”
“We’ll all have to go and look,” said the skinny goblin. “Come on!”
Rachel looked at Kirsty and Selena in alarm. “We have to find that boy before the goblins do!” she said in an urgent whisper.
Kirsty and Selena nodded, determined. Together, the three fairies immediately flitted back up to the gall
eries, and zoomed off in three different directions. This was a race against time!
Rachel darted down a long hallway, peering closely at any boy she saw wearing a red hat. But none of them was carrying anything that looked like a magic object. Then she noticed a boy sitting alone on a bench in the Dinosaur Gallery. He was wearing a Boy Scout uniform and a red hat. Unlike most of the other kids, he still had his bag with him. He unzipped it and pulled out a bottle of water.
As he was drinking, Rachel saw that there was a faint glow coming from the bag. This had to be the boy who had picked up Selena’s enchanted game bag! She fluttered off to look for Kirsty and Selena.
They were both hovering at the top of the stairs, having searched everywhere else.
“I found him!” Rachel said in excitement. “Follow me!”
When Rachel, Kirsty, and Selena flew into the Dinosaur Gallery, they were shocked. A goblin was creeping up behind the boy — and his little green hand was just about to grab the boy’s bag!
At the last moment, the boy stood up and picked up his bag. The goblin’s hand closed on empty air, and the girls all heaved sighs of relief.
“That was close,” said Kirsty.
“The goblins don’t give up that easily,” said Rachel. “Look!”
The boy had stopped beside a model of a green-skinned dinosaur. His bag was on his back, but he hadn’t zipped it up properly. And hanging off the back of the dinosaur was the goblin in the green hat!
This time, the goblin actually got his hand into the bag. Then the boy seemed to sense that something was wrong. He turned sharply, but the goblin had slid back behind the dinosaur.
Selena the Sleepover Fairy Page 2