Carrie the Snow Cap Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  “Sorry! Sorry!” muttered the biggest goblin. “But look, we have the wand — you should be proud of us!” He waved it in the air.

  “How are we going to get the wand back now?” Kirsty whispered in dismay as Jack Frost smiled smugly.

  “We’ll have to try to persuade him to give my wand back!” Carrie said in a determined voice.

  She flew closer to Jack Frost, with Rachel and Kirsty right behind her.

  “Actually, that wand belongs to Carrie,” Kirsty called to Jack Frost.

  “And one way or another, we have to get it back,” Rachel added bravely. “It’s really important for the environment.”

  Jack Frost burst out laughing. “More silly fairies who do good deeds!” he jeered. Then he raised his wand and sent a glittering stream of frosty sparkles shooting toward the sea. As the sparkles flew through the air, they formed a bridge from the shore to the ice sheet where the goblins stood.

  The goblins whooped and cheered.

  “Let’s go!” the biggest goblin yelled triumphantly, tucking the wand under his arm.

  “I should give the wand to Jack Frost,” the smallest goblin said, scowling at him, “because I was the one who got it back from the penguins.”

  “No way!” the biggest goblin declared.

  “Well, I haven’t even had a turn at holding the wand yet!” the third goblin complained, trying to grab it from the biggest goblin.

  The goblins began fighting over the wand, until the smallest goblin slipped on the ice.

  “Help!” he shouted as he toppled head-first into the freezing ocean.

  Meanwhile, the third goblin had managed to grab the wand, and now he rushed across the ice bridge toward Jack Frost. He ignored the goblin in the water, and so did the biggest goblin, who dashed after him, shrieking with rage.

  “We’d better help him, girls,” Carrie said quickly.

  The three friends flew down to the goblin who was splashing and spluttering in the cold water.

  A group of seals had surrounded him, stopping him from floating farther out to sea. Summoning all of her magic, Carrie managed to push the goblin out of the water and back onto the icy shore. He stood, dripping and shivering, next to Jack Frost and the other goblins.

  “I’m grateful to you for helping my goblin helper,” Jack Frost called out. “But I still won’t give you the wand!”

  “Be careful, girls!” Carrie gasped as Jack Frost raised his own wand. “He’s going to shoot an ice bolt at us!”

  There was a flash of chilly white as the ice bolt flew from Jack Frost’s wand. But, to everyone’s amazement, it just fell to the ground. The bolt landed at Jack Frost’s feet with a thud, instead of zipping through the air like his ice bolts usually did.

  Frowning, Jack Frost tried again. This time the ice bolt melted and turned to slushy water in midair.

  “Look!” the biggest goblin yelled. “The ice bridge is melting, too!”

  Jack Frost glared up at Carrie, Rachel, and Kirsty, who were hovering a short distance away. “What kind of magic are you using against my icy powers?” he raged.

  “We’re not using any magic,” Carrie replied. “It’s climate change!”

  “The temperature of the earth is rising,” explained Rachel.

  “So the warmer air must be affecting your icy powers,” Kirsty pointed out.

  “Does this mean I might lose my ice magic?” Jack Frost asked in horror.

  Rachel nodded. “If Carrie doesn’t get her wand back, there’ll be no Earth Fairies, and that will be terrible for the environment,” she said. “Then you’ll just be plain old Jack, instead of Jack Frost!”

  Jack Frost was silent for a moment.

  “Very well,” he muttered at last. “I’ll give you your wand back.” He held it out to Carrie.

  Looking relieved, Carrie swooped down to take the wand. But at the last moment Jack Frost changed his mind and snatched it away. Carrie tried again, but once again Jack Frost held on to the wand tightly.

  “I promise to do my very best to keep the snow and ice caps cold if you’ll give me my wand back,” Carrie said earnestly. “But you and your goblins have to help, too. For instance, you shouldn’t be wasting energy.”

  “Maybe you could turn off the lights in your Ice Castle when you’re not using them,” Kirsty suggested.

  “And you could start recycling,” added Rachel. “Maybe you could transform your magic powers into some kind of icy energy that you could use for power in the castle?”

  Jack Frost frowned thoughtfully. Carrie, Kirsty, and Rachel held their breath.

  “Well,” Jack Frost said with a sigh, “I’ll try to think of something. But only because I love the cold, and I can’t bear to see my Ice Castle melt. It has nothing to do with helping you pesky fairies!”

  Then he handed the wand reluctantly to Carrie.

  The moment Carrie touched her wand, a sparkling icy breeze sprang up around the three friends and whisked them off to Fairyland in the blink of an eye.

  A few seconds later they landed in the palace gardens. Rachel and Kirsty smiled when they saw the king and queen and Bertram, the frog footman, waiting for them.

  “Welcome back, Carrie, Rachel, and Kirsty!” the queen called.

  “All of the Earth Fairies have now passed their final exam,” the king announced. “Good job! May I have your wand, please, Carrie?”

  Rachel and Kirsty beamed as Carrie handed her wand to the king. He in turn gave the wand to Bertram, who hopped away with it.

  “We’ll return all the wands when they’re full of Fairyland magic,” the king explained with a smile. “Now, let’s join the other Earth Fairies at the Seeing Pool.”

  They all made their way through the colorful palace gardens toward the golden Seeing Pool. Nicole, Isabella, Edie, Coral, Lily, and Milly waved excitedly at Rachel, Kirsty, and Carrie as they joined them. They all chatted with excitement about their amazing adventures.

  After a while, the queen addressed them. “You’ve made everyone in Fairyland very proud,” she declared. “And now here comes Bertram. Your wands have been powered up, and it’s time for the Fairyland Wand Ceremony!”

  Bertram hopped forward, carrying a tray with seven wands. Rachel and Kirsty could see that the wands now glowed with the brightness of the full moon.

  As the queen handed Nicole the Beach Fairy her new wand, a rainbow of sparkles burst from it. Rachel and Kirsty gasped with delight as the sparkles zoomed up into the sky and floated there on the breeze. This happened six more times as the other six fairies were presented with their wands. Then all the sparkles formed themselves into a glittering, luminous rainbow, high in the sky above Fairyland.

  “Congratulations!” the queen told the Earth Fairies, as Rachel and Kirsty applauded. “You’ve all done very well, but there’s more work to do.”

  Smiling, the seven fairies fluttered up into the air, waving at Rachel, Kirsty, and the king and queen. Then they zipped away in seven different directions, heading into the human world to their special environments.

  “Thank you, girls, for coming up with the idea for the Earth Fairies,” the king said. “But their work is only just beginning!”

  “Yes,” the queen agreed. “The world has many environmental problems, and fairies alone will never be able to solve them all. We need human help!”

  “We’ll keep doing our best,” Rachel promised. But Kirsty was frowning. “But will it be enough?” she asked sadly. “There’s so much to do! There’s polluted air, the melting ice caps, the damaged coral reefs, the trash on the beaches and in the rivers and the parks, and the destruction of the rain forest.”

  “What can two girls and seven fairies really do to save the planet?” Rachel sighed.

  The queen put her arms around the girls. “Every person’s effort makes a difference!” she told them. “If you each get some of your friends to do their part to help the environment, and then those friends tell some more friends and so on . . . just imagine what a big impact th
at will make. And it will all start with two smart young girls like you!”

  Rachel and Kirsty looked at each other, both feeling a rush of pride. Then the king beckoned Bertram to come forward. On the wand tray were two little green bags the girls hadn’t noticed before. The queen handed one of the bags to Rachel and one to Kirsty.

  “Take a look inside,” the queen said with a smile.

  Curiously, the girls peeked inside the bags. Inside were some small golden seeds.

  “They’re magic seeds,” the king explained. “If you plant them and care for them, they’ll grow into big strong trees, a memory of your adventures with the Earth Fairies!”

  “We’ll plant them as soon as we get home,” Kirsty promised.

  “And they’ll remind us that we need to look after the Earth!” added Rachel.

  “Thank you again, girls,” the queen said, lifting her wand. “Now it’s time to send you home!”

  As a mist of fairy dust swirled around the girls, they waved good-bye to their Fairyland friends. Just a few seconds later, Rachel and Kirsty found themselves back in the garden of their cottage. The sun was now shining brightly, and almost all the frost had melted.

  “Oh, there you are!” said Mr. Walker, staggering out of the front door with two heavy suitcases. “We’re ready to leave.”

  Rachel’s mom and Kirsty’s parents followed him out of the cottage.

  “Hasn’t it been a wonderful trip, girls?” Kirsty’s dad said with a smile.

  Kirsty and Rachel nodded eagerly.

  “And now we have lots of ideas about how we can help the environment!” Kirsty replied. “We’re going to pick up litter, and recycle more stuff, and make a difference, wherever we can.”

  “We’re going to try to save energy by turning off lights,” Rachel added. “And can we walk more and take public transportation instead of using the car sometimes? We’re also going to ask our teachers if we can learn more about the environment and hold fund-raising events, and all kinds of other things!”

  “That’s very impressive, girls!” Mrs. Tate smiled. “But why have you suddenly become so interested in the environment?”

  Rachel and Kirsty glanced knowingly at each other.

  “Oh, we met some people here on Rainspell who’ve shown us the importance of taking care of our planet,” Rachel explained.

  “That’s great!” said Mrs. Walker. “We’ll help you all we can.”

  The girls shared a secret smile. What an amazing week it had been!

  “It’s a shame we have to say good-bye, Rachel,” Kirsty said with a sigh. “But we’ll see each other again soon, won’t we?”

  Rachel nodded. “Of course we will,” she exclaimed. “After all, we’re going to have lots more wonderful adventures with our magical fairy friends!”

  Don’t miss any of Rachel and Kirsty’s other fairy adventures! Check out this magical sneak peek of

  “I love making pies at Christmastime,” said Rachel Walker, sifting flour and salt into a heavy mixing bowl.

  “Me, too,” said her best friend, Kirsty Tate, opening a jar of cinnamon and taking a deep sniff. “The ingredients have such a Christmassy, spicy smell!”

  “What does the recipe say next?” asked Rachel as Kirsty washed her hands.

  Kirsty turned the page of the cookbook that was propped up on the kitchen counter.

  “Rub the butter in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine crumbs,” she read.

  Rachel opened the fridge and then frowned.

  “Kirsty, did you already take the butter out of the fridge?”

  “No,” said Kirsty in surprise.

  “That’s funny,” said Rachel. “I was sure we had some.”

  “Maybe we put it somewhere else,” Kirsty suggested. “Let’s look around.”

  They searched high and low, but the butter was nowhere to be found.

  Just then, Mr. Tate walked into the kitchen, looking puzzled.

  “Hello, girls,” he said. “I just found this carton of butter on Buttons’s bed. Don’t you need this to make the pies?”

  “Yes!” exclaimed Kirsty, giving him a delighted hug. “Thanks, Dad!”

  Rachel rubbed the butter into the flour and then added a little water. Soon she had a ball of golden dough. She wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to chill.

  “Should we add the secret ingredient to the pie filling now?” Kirsty suggested.

  Rachel nodded eagerly.

  “It’s an old family secret,” she said with a smile. “Our own kind of magic!”

  Kirsty picked up the jar of cinnamon and tried to unscrew the lid.

  “Oh!” she said in surprise. “It’s stuck! I must have tightened it too much when I put it back on earlier.”

  Rachel tried to open the jar, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “Let’s ask my dad,” she said. “He’s really strong.”

  They hurried to the living room. Their parents were playing cards and listening to carols on the radio.

  “Dad, can you undo this?” asked Rachel, holding out the spice jar. “We think Kirsty tightened it too much earlier.”

  Mr. Walker had to use all his strength to open the jar. At last, it popped open and he handed it back to Rachel.

  “You must be stronger than you look, Kirsty!” he said with a laugh.

  The girls hurried back to the kitchen, eager to add the secret ingredient. But when they reached the doorway, they stopped in amazement.

  “What happened?” Kirsty cried.

  All the drawers and cupboards were open and there was flour all over the kitchen. The dough was sitting on the kitchen counter, and it was covered in dirty fingerprints!

  Suddenly, Rachel saw the top of a green head poking up from behind the kitchen counter.

  “Look!” she exclaimed. “It’s a goblin!”

  Kirsty gasped. “What is he doing here?”

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Rainbow Magic Limited c/o HIT Entertainment, 830 South Greenville Avenue, Allen, TX 75002-3320.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-62232-5

  Copyright © 2009 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  Previously published as Green Fairies #7: Carrie the Snow Cap Fairy by Orchard U.K. in 2009.

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

  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.

  First Scholastic printing, July 2014

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