Eva the Enchanted Ball Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  “I’ll clean up your new outfit so you can show it off,” Eva went on, “and there will be dancing, and the Fairyland Orchestra will play beautiful music. . . .”

  “There will be fabulous food, too,” Rachel said, as melted ice cream dripped loudly off the tables onto the floor.

  Jack Frost looked excited for a moment, but then his expression became suspicious. “That sounds too good to be true,” he muttered darkly. “What’s the catch?”

  “All you have to do,” Kirsty told him, “is apologize to Eva and hand back her tiara. What do you think?”

  There were a tense few moments while the fairy friends waited for Jack Frost’s response. Kirsty and Rachel were expecting him to sneer at their offer. They braced themselves for more bolts of icy magic to come their way. But to their surprise, he just nodded eagerly.

  “Sorry,” he muttered through gritted teeth. He scooped the paper chains off the fairies, then held the tiara out to Eva. “All right, you can have it back, I guess,” he grumbled.

  Eva beamed as she shook out her wings and fluttered into the air. Kirsty and Rachel flew up, too, glad to be free once more. Eva gave her wand an expert whirl and the tiara shrank down to fairy-size, zipped through the air, and then landed neatly on Eva’s head.

  She put a hand up to touch it and looked happier than Kirsty and Rachel had ever seen her. “Thank you,” she said, bending into a polite curtsy to Jack Frost. “That was the right thing to do. Now I have my magic back, and I can use it to make a night we’ll all remember! Let me see . . . I’ll do outfits first.”

  She waved her wand in Jack Frost’s direction and the ice-cream stains vanished from his coat, much to his delight. Then she waved her wand at Kirsty and Rachel, and their clothes transformed into the most beautiful ball gowns they’d ever seen. Rachel was now wearing a lilac gown with gathered folds of silk, and Kirsty wore a pink gown with layers of yellow tulle. Both girls had matching tiaras woven with rosebuds and sparkling silver jewels.

  “You look just like a princess,” Kirsty marveled, gazing at Rachel.

  “So do you!” Rachel replied happily.

  Eva smiled proudly at their words. “Now to make our way to the Fairyland Palace,” she said. “Let’s go outside and I’ll rustle up the perfect form of transportation to take us there.”

  Outside, the goblins had given up hunting for fairies and were throwing snowballs at one another. With another wave of her wand, Eva conjured up a glass horse-drawn carriage. It looked just like the one the Princess Fairies had taken to the palace for the ball at the start of the girls’ adventure. The four white horses wore purple and gold harnesses with matching feathery plumes on their heads.

  “Cool!” marveled one of the goblins. “Is that for us?”

  “There’s not enough room for you, I’m afraid,” Eva replied, “but you can follow behind us on these.” She waved her wand again, and some magnificent golden sleds appeared on the snow. The goblins whooped with excitement and ran over to them. One goblin even managed to remember to say “Thank you!”

  Kirsty, Rachel, Eva, and Jack Frost climbed into the glass carriage, and the four horses began trotting carefully through the snow.

  “You’re like a fairy godmother, Eva,” Rachel said, unable to stop smiling. “This is all so wonderful.”

  “I guess it might be all right,” Jack Frost agreed, fingering his bow tie. “With someone as handsome as me there!”

  It didn’t take the horses long to arrive at the palace, and as the carriage came to a stop, the palace doors burst open.

  Down the marble steps hurried King Oberon, Queen Titania, and the six other Princess Fairies. They were all overjoyed to see the safe return of Kirsty, Rachel, and Eva.

  The three friends climbed out and said hello, but Jack Frost stayed in the carriage, looking awkward. He wasn’t sure that the other fairies would welcome him.

  “I have my tiara back, and I’d like to throw a ball for everyone to celebrate,” Eva declared. “And the guests of honor will be Kirsty and Rachel, who have helped us so bravely and kindly.”

  “Hooray!” the other fairies cheered.

  Kirsty felt her cheeks turn red. “It was fun,” she said. “Thanks for asking us.”

  “We’ve invited an extra guest to the ball,” Rachel said. “Someone who’s had a change of heart recently. Jack Frost!”

  A chorus of gasps and whispers came from the fairies as Jack Frost clambered out of the carriage and stood before them. The smiles had vanished from everyone’s faces.

  “Are you sure he can be trusted?” King Oberon asked suspiciously. Kirsty and Rachel held their breath. Was their plan of inviting Jack Frost about to go horribly wrong?

  Jack Frost glared at the king and queen. Then he swallowed hard.

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I promise I will be on my best behavior for the ball. So will the goblins.”

  The king and queen exchanged a glance, and Queen Titania gave a little nod. “In that case, you’re welcome here,” she said.

  Princess Eva raised her wand once more. “Let the ball begin!” she declared.

  It wasn’t long before the ball was in full swing. The Fairyland Orchestra played wonderful music, and everyone wore their best clothes and danced all evening. Some of the Dance Fairies helped Kirsty and Rachel practice their ballroom dance steps until they both felt confident about their footwork.

  True to their promise, Jack Frost and the goblins behaved themselves. They even showed fairly good table manners when the feast was served, with only a small food fight while the plates were being cleared away. And Princess Eva was the perfect hostess, using her magic to make sure that everyone had a fantastic time.

  Then, as the clock struck midnight, the music stopped, and the king, the queen, and the Princess Fairies all approached Kirsty and Rachel.

  “It’s time for you to return to your own world,” Queen Titania said, taking Kirsty and Rachel by their hands. “Thank you again — and we hope to see you soon.”

  “And enjoy the ball at the Golden Palace,” Eva added with a smile. “I have a feeling it’s going to be every bit as enchanting as this one.”

  Rachel and Kirsty were barely able to say good-bye to all their fairy friends before they were lifted into a magical, sparkly whirlwind that took them back to the Golden Palace. They found themselves in their bedroom again, still wearing the beautiful ball gowns and tiaras Eva had given them.

  “Look at our party dresses — they’re perfect now,” Rachel said, pulling hers out of the wardrobe. “Eva must have used her magic to make them as good as new again.”

  “I’m still going to keep my ball gown on, aren’t you?” Kirsty said, twirling happily in front of the mirror.

  “Definitely,” Rachel replied. “Come on, let’s go downstairs. The grand ball should be starting any minute.” She giggled. “I feel every bit as princessy as the Princess Fairies themselves, going to our second ball of the night,” she said. “Especially dressed like this!”

  Kirsty and Rachel made their way down to the ballroom where lots of people were already dancing. Kirsty was sure she spotted some extra sparkly lights around the room that hadn’t been there before — and the ceiling seemed to be decorated with tiny twinkling stars, too! She wondered with a smile if they were thanks to Eva’s magic.

  The music sounded great and everyone was enjoying themselves as they danced. Nobody was stepping on anyone’s toes, and no one was tripping over anything. The girls knew it was because Princess Eva had her magic tiara back. Hooray for fairy magic!

  “We’ve had so much fun here,” Kirsty said, waving to some of the other kids who were wearing dresses almost as pretty as hers. “I’m going to be sad to leave the Golden Palace tomorrow.”

  “Me too,” Rachel said, gazing around at Caroline and Louis; Mrs. King, the palace cook; and Jean,
the animal keeper. They were all dressed in their finest and dancing happily. “But I’m sure this won’t be the last of our fairy adventures, Kirsty.” She grinned. “Now . . . may I have this dance?”

  Laughing, Kirsty took Rachel’s hand. “You may,” she replied in her best princess voice. And the two girls spun onto the dance floor together.

  Rachel and Kirsty have helped all seven of the Princess Fairies find their tiaras. Now it’s time for them to help

  Florence

  the Friendship Fairy!

  Join their next adventure in this special sneak peek. . . .

  Rachel Walker pulled a large scrapbook from underneath Kirsty Tate’s bed, and the two best friends opened it between them. It was their memory book, full of souvenirs from all the exciting times they’d shared together.

  “That vacation on Rainspell Island was really special,” Rachel said, pointing at the ferry tickets and map that had been stuck inside.

  “I know,” Kirsty replied, smiling. “It was the first time we met each other — and the first time we met the fairies, too!” She lowered her voice. “I wonder if we’ll have a fairy adventure this week.”

  “I hope so,” Rachel said, feeling her heart thump excitedly at the thought. She was spending her school vacation with Kirsty’s family, and had been wondering the same thing herself. Somehow, extra-special things always seemed to happen when she and Kirsty got together!

  The girls kept looking through their book. There was the museum pamphlet from the day they’d met Storm the Lightning Fairy; tickets to Strawberry Farms, where they’d helped Georgia the Guinea Pig Fairy; plus all sorts of photos, postcards, maps, petals, and leaves. . . .

  Kirsty frowned as she spotted an empty space on one page. “Did a picture fall out?” she wondered.

  “It must have,” Rachel said. “You can see that something was stuck there before. I think it was a picture of the fairy models we painted the day we met Willow the Wednesday Fairy. I wonder where it went.”

  As the girls turned more pages, they realized that photo wasn’t the only thing missing. A map of the constellations that Kirsty’s gran had given them the night they’d helped Stephanie the Starfish Fairy had vanished, and so had the all-access pass they’d had for the Fairyland Olympics. Each time they turned a page, they discovered something even worse.

  “Oh, no! This photo of us at Camp Stargaze is torn,” Rachel said in dismay.

  “This page has scribbles all over it,” Kirsty cried. “How did that happen?”

  “And where did this picture come from?” Rachel asked, pointing at a colorful image of a pretty little fairy. She had shoulder-length blonde hair that was pinned back with a pink, star-shaped clip. She wore a sparkly lilac top and a ruffled blue skirt with a colorful belt, and pink sparkly ankle boots. “I’ve never even seen her before!” She bit her lip. “Something weird is going on, Kirsty. You don’t think —”

  Before Rachel could finish her sentence, the picture of the fairy began to sparkle and glitter with all the colors of the rainbow. The girls watched, wide-eyed, as the fairy fluttered her wings, stretched, and then flew right off the page in a whirl of twinkling dust!

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  e-ISBN 978-0-545-51306-7

  Copyright © 2011 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Rainbow Magic Limited.

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  First Scholastic printing, August 2012

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