“Thanks, Midnight,” Rachel whispered.
“You, too, Cara,” Kirsty added.
Rachel and Kirsty talked quietly together at breakfast the next morning.
“Kelly could have gotten hurt in the woods last night,” Rachel said with concern.
Kirsty nodded. “Jack Frost has gone too far. It’s one thing to spoil everyone’s fun, but now he’s putting some campers in danger!”
After breakfast, Bollie made an announcement.
“In one hour we’ll be starting our volleyball tournament,” she said. “You have free time until then.”
“Perfect!” Kirsty said to Rachel.
They put away their breakfast dishes and raced to the edge of the woods.
“Cara? Are you there?” Rachel called out.
They heard a noise from one of the trees and looked up to see Cara chatting with a robin on a branch. She flew down when she saw the girls.
“I had a feeling I’d see you two this morning,” she said, smiling.
“We need to get back that magic compass, fast!” said Rachel.
“I know,” Cara said. “But the goblins are guarding Jack Frost’s camp. It won’t be easy.”
“Still, we have to try,” Kirsty said.
“Now that’s what I call camp spirit!” Cara cried. “Follow me, girls! Midnight helped me make a trail last night.”
She pointed her magic wand at the path. Glittery craft beads lined the trail.
“See? We just follow the beads!” Cara said happily.
The path took them right to Camp Frost. But before they could hide, they heard a voice above them. “Those girls are back! Everyone to your positions!”
“Oh, no!” Cara cried. “Jack Frost has goblin guards in the trees!”
A small army of goblins ran out of the cabins. Each one held a slingshot, and they started shooting acorns at the girls!
“Run!” Rachel yelled.
The girls ran as fast as they could, with Cara flying right behind them. They didn’t stop until they reached the edge of their own camp.
“That was close,” Rachel said, catching her breath.
“You’re telling me,” Kirsty said. “We need a way to get past those goblin guards.”
“But for now, you girls had better get back to camp,” Cara told them. “I’ll meet you back here when you have more free time.”
Rachel and Kirsty nodded and waved as they ran off.
Back at camp, they found Bollie playing with Kelly and some of the young campers on the playground. Kelly was telling the others about her adventure the night before. “I didn’t see any fairies, but I saw another camp on the other side of the woods,” Kelly was saying. “There were a bunch of boys wearing green uniforms.”
Rachel nudged Kirsty. Kelly must have seen the goblins!
“That sounds like a Forest Scout camp,” Bollie said. “There used to be a boys’ camp on the other side of the woods, but it closed years ago. They must have reopened it.” The camp counselor smiled at Rachel and Kirsty. “I remember when I was your age. The girls raided the boys’ camp with water balloons. That was a lot of fun.”
“That does sound like fun,” Rachel agreed, grinning.
Bollie snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it—we should raid the Forest Scouts today!”
“Oh, no,” Kirsty said under her breath. She looked at Rachel with wide eyes.
If Bollie carried out her idea, she would be leading the campers right to Jack Frost and his goblins!
“Are you sure that raiding the boys’ camp is a good idea?” Kirsty asked nervously.
“Of course!” Bollie said. “It’s a summer camp tradition!”
Rachel pulled Kirsty aside. “Maybe it’s not so bad,” she whispered. “There are lots of goblins, and only you, me, and Cara to face them. If all of the girls here raid the camp, we might be able to get past the goblin guards. Then we could get to the magic compass.”
“But then everyone will know that goblins are real,” Kirsty reminded her. Rachel frowned. “I forgot about that.” Kirsty was thoughtful. “You know, the goblins look a lot like regular boys when you first see them. Maybe we could do the raid when it’s starting to get dark, so none of the girls can see them very well.”
Rachel nodded. “Good idea!”
The girls walked back over to Bollie.
“A raid would be fun,” Kirsty said. “What if we do it around sunset tonight? That will give us time to plan.”
“That sounds great,” Bollie agreed. “We can figure out our strategy this afternoon.”
“And we know how to get to the boys’ camp,” Rachel quickly added, thinking of the trail of beads. “We saw it last night when we found Kelly.”
“Perfect!” Bollie said.
The next few hours went by like a regular camp day. They played volleyball, ate lunch, and started weaving potholders in the craft cabin. Then Bollie called all of the older campers together for a meeting in the mess hall.
“Here’s the plan,” she said. “The Forest Scouts have a camp on the other side of the woods. Right after dinner, we’re going to raid them. We’ll run up to the camp, pelt them with water balloons, and then make a run for it.” She held up a brown grocery bag filled with packages of balloons. “We’ve got a lot of balloons to fill!”
The Rowdy Raccoons set up next to an outdoor faucet and started an assembly line, filling up balloon after balloon. When they had no empty balloons left, Rachel and Kirsty walked around the back of the mess hall.
Before they could call Cara’s name, the fairy appeared in front of them. Her wings now looked like the wings of an orange-and-black butterfly!
“I know about the plan,” she said. “I’ve been disguised as a butterfly all day, listening in.”
She waved her wand, and her wings turned back to their normal color.
“Bollie is a great counselor,” Cara went on. “This plan is just what we needed! While the goblins are dodging water balloons, the three of us can go look for the magic compass.”
The fairy winked and disappeared, and the girls headed into the mess hall for dinner. Everyone was so excited about the raid that they could barely eat their chicken and mashed potatoes!
When dinner was all cleaned up, Bollie blew her whistle. “Rowdy Raccoons, Silly Skunks, and Cheerful Chipmunks, please line up for the big raid!”
The older girls clapped and cheered. Bollie motioned to Rachel and Kirsty.
“You two, front of the line,” she said. “We need you to lead the way.”
The other campers grabbed buckets of water balloons and lined up behind Rachel and Kirsty. They walked to the woods and then headed down the path lined with glittering beads.
“Can we sing a camp song?” Madison asked.
“Not this time,” Bollie told her. “We want this to be a surprise.”
“It want be much of a surprise if those goblin guards are still in the trees,” Kirsty murmured to Rachel.
Soon they came to the trail near Camp Frost. Rachel and Kirsty looked up. There was no sign of the goblin guards yet.
“Luckily, goblins are lazy,” Rachel told Kirsty in a low voice. “They must be taking a break.”
Kirsty turned to Bollie. “We’ll go up ahead and scout things out.”
The two girls carefully made their way along the path. Through the trees, they could see goblins outside the cabins. They were playing volleyball—or trying to!
“Owl You threw the ball at my nose!” one goblin complained.
“It slipped out of my fingers!” another goblin protested.
“They’re arguing! Perfect,” Kirsty said, just as Cara appeared in a cloud of sparkles.
“Are we ready to go?” Cara asked.
The girls nodded.
“I’ll go tell Bollie,” Rachel said, running back down the path.
A few seconds later, Bollie and the other campers came jogging toward Camp Frost.
“Camp Oakwood is the best! Better than all the rest!” Bollie cha
nted. The other girls joined in.
The goblins froze. They stopped arguing and looked toward the forest. Then …
SPLAT! The water balloons started flying!
“Oh, no! It’s clean water!” a goblin yelled. “Yuck!”
“Run for cover!” the other goblins cried. They started dashing around the camp, bumping into one another.
Rachel and Kirsty knew they had to act fast, while the goblins were distracted. They ran toward the cabins.
“I’m sure Jack Frost has the magic compass in his cabin,” Cara said, appearing in the air next to them.
As they reached the main cabin, Rachel threw open the door. A blast of freezing cold air rushed out.
Just inside the door, a tall man with spiky white hair and a long, pointy nose faced them.
“Jack Frost!” Kirsty cried.
The wicked fairy held up his hand and opened his palm. The magic compass glittered against his pale skin.
“Are you looking for this?” he asked with a grin.
Cara bravely flew right up to Jack Frost.
“Give that back!” she said firmly. “The magic compass doesn’t belong to you.”
Jack Frost just laughed. “It’s mine now, little fairy!”
“But that compass keeps campers from getting lost,” Rachel told him. “And last night, Kelly got lost in the woods.”
“She could have gotten hurt,” Kirsty added. “That’s just plain mean, Jack Frost!” “Hmph!” Jack Frost scowled. “I just wanted to have fun camping, like everybody else!” “Why can’t you have fun camping?” Kirsty asked.
“Oh, I can make crafts and swim in a lake if I want to,” Jack Frost replied, rolling his eyes. “But at night, campers sit around a campfire and roast marshmallows and sing songs. I can’t do that, because the fire is too hot!”
“So you wanted to ruin everyone else’s time at camp, just because you can’t sit around a campfire?” Rachel asked.
Jack Frost nodded. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Cara from the air. “And now, I’ll take back that friendship bracelet and water bottle!”
Cara struggled to get free from Jack Frost’s grip. He reached for her backpack with a long, pointy, finger.
“Wait!” Kirsty cried. “How about a trade?”
Jack Frost stopped. “What kind of trade?”
Kirsty raised an eyebrow. “I bet Cara could make you a magic fire that feels cold, not hot. Couldn’t you, Cara?”
The little fairy nodded. “Of course! Campfire magic is one of my favorites!”
“With a magic fire, you and your goblins could roast marshmallows and sing campfire songs all night long,” Kirsty told Jack Frost.
His pale eyes gleamed with excitement. “That would be wonderful!”
“I’ll only do it if you give me the magic compass,” Cara said. “Do we have a deal?”
Jack Frost was silent for a moment. Then he opened his palm and freed Cara. “Deal!” he said.
Cara flew up into the air and waved her magic wand. Glittery blue sparks whirled around her as she began her fairy spell.
“Fire, fire, burn so nice.
Burn with flames as cold as ice!”
Poof! A roaring campfire appeared outside the door of Jack Frost’s cabin. He slowly walked up to it and passed his hand over the flames.
“They’re positively freezing!” he cried. “How marvelous!”
“Now it’s time to fill your end of the bargain,” Rachel reminded him.
Jack Frost held out the magic compass. Cara waved her wand over it, shrank it down to fairy-size, and slipped it in her backpack.
“Come on,” Kirsty said. “Let’s go before he changes his mind.” The girls ran outside to see the goblins still fleeing from the water balloons. They were all bumping into one another!
Then Bollie blew her whistle. “We’re out of balloons, girls! Let’s retreat!”
The girls turned and raced back down the forest path, hollering and squealing with excitement.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” Cara told Rachel and Kirsty, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m going to tell the king and queen that we found the magic compass!”
The fairy vanished in a whirl of sparkles, and the girls chased after the other campers.
By the time they got back to camp, it was dark. Some of the other counselors had started a campfire.
“Great raid, girls!” Bollie said, catching her breath. “Let’s celebrate with some s’mores!”
The campers gathered around the fire to make the tasty treats with toasted marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.
“This is delicious!” Kirsty said after her first bite.
“I wonder if Jack Frost knows how to make s’mores?” Rachel asked with a smile.
The happy chatter of the campers filled the camp. Then, in the distance, the girls heard a strange howling.
“What’s that?” Bollie wondered.
The girls got quiet as they listened. It sounded like boys singing in horrible, off-key voices.
“The more we get together,
Together, together.
The more we get together,
The nastier we’ll be!”
Bollie shook her head. “Sounds like those Forest Scouts to me.” Rachel and Kirsty looked at each other and grinned. They knew the truth. Those terrible singers were goblins!
The next morning, the girls woke to bright sunshine streaming through their cabin windows. The other Rowdy Raccoons were still asleep. Suddenly, a robin appeared at the window. She gently tapped her beak against the glass.
“That looks like Cara’s friend,” Kirsty said.
The two girls quietly went outside and sat on the cabin steps. Cara flew up to them.
“Rise and shine, campers!” she said cheerfully. “I have something for you.”
Cara opened her backpack and took out three glittery friendship bracelets.
“Ooh, they look just like the magic bracelet!” Kirsty cried happily.
“There’s one for each of you, and one for Kelly,” Cara said. “King Oberon and Queen Titania felt just terrible when they heard how she got lost.”
“Thank you so much, Cara!” Rachel said.
Cara gave each girl a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks to you, campers everywhere will have a great time this summer!”
“Will we see you again?” Kirsty asked.
Cara nodded. “If you need me, just call my name. But right now, I’ve got to go referee a game of volleyball.”
The fairy flew up toward the trees. The robin joined her, and the two of them swooped and swirled in the sky. “See you soon, Cara!” Rachel and Kirsty called, waving. The girls spotted Kelly a little while later at breakfast. Rachel winked at Kirsty, then handed Kelly one of the special friendship bracelets.
“This is for you,” she said. “It’s just like ours, see?”
Kelly’s eyes got wide. “It’s so pretty! It looks just like a magic fairy bracelet.” She stopped. “Do you think fairies are real?”
Rachel and Kirsty smiled at each other. They could never tell Kelly their secret—but they didn’t need to.
“They’re real if you believe in them,” Rachel said.
Kirsty nodded. “Rachel’s right. If you believe in fairies, they’ll always be with you.”
Kelly smiled. “I knew it!”
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-46170-2
Copyright © 2011 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
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Cara the Camp Fairy Page 4