Rachel and Kirsty dashed to catch up to them. “We can’t let them get away!” Kirsty cried.
The girls found Emma hovering outside the market door.
“Oh, dear!” she said. “My jellybean trail led those goblins right to the magic egg. What bad luck!”
“They’re headed for the park,” Kirsty said, pointing. “We can catch up if we hurry.”
The girls ran fast and nearly caught up to the goblins. But the goblins kept going! They ran right into the woods at the edge of the park.
“We could lose them in the trees,” Rachel worried.
“But we won’t,” Emma said. “Hold still!”
Emma waved her wand and fairy dust sprinkled out and swirled around the girls. The whirling cloud of glittering dust swept them off of their feet. The girls could feel themselves getting smaller, but they weren’t afraid. This had happened to them before.
“We’re turning into fairies!” Kirsty cried happily.
“Now we can all fly around the trees and catch up to the goblins,” Emma told them.
Rachel took off. “Let’s go!”
Rachel was the first to reach the goblin carrying the magic egg. She swooped down and tried to grab it, but the goblin spotted her.
“Hey, it’s a fairy!” The goblin scowled. “Hands off my egg!”
He tossed the egg to another goblin.
Kirsty flew as fast as she could, hoping to scoop the egg out of the air. But the other goblin jumped up and grabbed it.
“Ha, ha! You can’t get it!” the goblin taunted, holding up the egg.
Emma flew down and tried to take the egg from him. But one of his friends warned him. “Behind you!”
The goblin turned and saw Emma just in time. He threw the egg to another one of his friends.
“This is a fun game!” the goblin said with a nasty smile. “Keep away from the fairies!”
Kirsty flew up to Rachel. “They’re too fast!”
At that moment, Emma began to sing a song. It didn’t have any words. But it sounded pretty, almost like a bird singing.
Rachel and Kirsty looked at each other. Why was Emma singing at a time like this?
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Five beautiful blue jays swooped down from the trees, drawn by Emma’s song. She had called them to help!
“Friends, please help us get the magic egg back from these goblins!” Emma called out.
The birds dove at the goblin holding the egg. They pecked at his head with their black beaks. Startled, the goblin dropped the magic egg. One of the blue jays broke free and grabbed the egg in its claws before it reached the ground.
“Get those birds!” the goblin cried.
But the blue jays dove at the other goblins. The goblins were so scared that they forgot all about the magic egg! Instead, they shrieked and ran away.
Giggling, Emma sprinkled fairy dust on Rachel and Kirsty again, and they turned back into girls. One of the blue jays flew up and gently dropped the egg in Rachel’s palm.
“Thank you so much, my friends!” Emma told the blue jays.
The birds flew in a circle around the girls and Emma, tweeting happily. Then they sailed off into the trees.
“We did it!” the girls cheered.
“Yes, we did,” Emma said happily. “And now I’ve got to get this magic egg back to Fairyland. I’ll give it to the king and queen so they can keep it safe.”
Emma waved her wand and sprinkled fairy dust over the egg, shrinking it back to fairy-size. Then Emma took the egg from Rachel.
“Good-bye, girls—thanks for your help!” Emma said, blowing them each a kiss. “I’ll see you soon!” Then she vanished.
“At least one magic egg is safe,” Rachel said.
“That’s good,” agreed Kirsty. “But now, we’d better get back to Mr. Hopper’s and buy those eggs for my mom.”
Back at the market, the girls found one carton of eggs that the goblins hadn’t broken. They also found a crowd of happy—but confused!—customers.
“Hey, my chocolate bunny isn’t melted anymore,” said one man.
Another woman chomped on some jellybeans. “And these are delicious!”
“It looks like the Easter candy is yummy again,” Kirsty remarked.
Rachel grinned. “Maybe we should try some, just to be sure.”
That night, the girls nibbled on chocolate chicks while they dyed Easter eggs. Mrs. Tate gave them six small cups. The girls put a pellet of dye in each cup and added some vinegar. Soon different bubbling bright colors filled the cups: pink, yellow, green, purple, blue, and orange.
“It’s almost like fairy magic,” Kirsty whispered as she dipped an egg into the yellow dye.
“I hope they turn out bright and beautiful,” Rachel worried. “The magic egg that gives Easter eggs their extra sparkle is still missing.”
“And so is the egg that helps the Easter Bunny,” Kirsty added.
Kirsty gently put her yellow egg on a paper towel to dry. As she did, the shell started to crack and break. The egg started to wiggle. Then Emma popped out of the egg and flew up with a giggle!
“I’m sorry I broke your egg,” she said. “It’s just such a fun way to get into your world.”
“That’s okay, we have a lot,” Kirsty said. “We’re dyeing them for the big Easter egg hunt tomorrow at Daffodil Field. Wetherbury holds one every year on the day before Easter.”
“That sounds like fun,” Emma said. She scratched her head and looked nervous. “But we’re so close to Easter, and we still haven’t found the Easter Bunny!”
“We still have a whole day to find him,” Rachel assured her.
“Yes, and you still have us to help you,” Kirsty reminded her.
Emma brightened. “You’re right! If anyone can find the Easter Bunny, we can!”
“Are you sure it’s okay if we head out early?” Kirsty’s mom asked as she put on her coat. “We volunteered to help hide the eggs for the big Easter egg hunt, so we need to beat the crowd.”
It was the morning before Easter. Rachel and Kirsty had stayed up past their bedtime, whispering about all the adventures they’d had the day before. Now they were finishing the delicious blueberry pancakes Mrs. Tate had made for breakfast.
“It’s fine, Mom,” Kirsty said, smiling. “We’ll meet you at Daffodil Field when the Easter egg hunt starts.”
That will give us some time to figure out how we’re going to find the rest of the missing eggs, Kirsty thought. And the Easter Bunny, too!
Outside, a car horn beeped. Mrs. Tate gave each of the girls a quick kiss. “See you later! I bet you’ll both find lots of eggs,” she said before hurrying out the door.
Rachel yawned. “How many eggs do they hide for the egg hunt?” she asked Kirsty.
“There must be hundreds!” Kirsty replied, her eyes shining brightly with excitement. “The entire field is covered with blooming daffodils. The eggs are hidden all over the field.”
“That sounds pretty,” Rachel said dreamily.
Just then, the air over the table shimmered for a moment.
“I love daffodils!” a voice called out cheerfully. Emma appeared in the air, flapping her wings and grinning. “They’re always in bloom at Easter.”
Rachel waved hello to her fairy friend. “You should come to the egg hunt,” she suggested.
Kirsty nodded. “You would love it. Besides, an Easter egg hunt would be a perfect hiding place for a magic egg, wouldn’t it?”
Emma clapped her hands together. “Oh, you’re right!” she cried happily. “Can we go there now?”
Kirsty looked at the clock. “They don’t let kids on the field until the eggs are hidden. But even if we leave now, we won’t have to wait for long.”
“Then let’s go!” Emma said eagerly. “Tomorrow is Easter. Time is running out!”
The girls quickly cleaned up their breakfast dishes, changed out of their pajamas, and headed to Daffodil Field. Their walk took them through Wetherbury, past the downtown shop
s.
Emma started to shiver as they passed the pet shop. “There’s that magical feeling again,” she said, looking around. Mr. Hopper’s store was right down the street. “I wonder what it could be.”
“Yesterday we found the magic egg in the market after you shivered,” Kirsty said. “Maybe there’s another one there.”
“We could check,” Rachel suggested.
“Okay, but be on the lookout for Jack Frost’s goblins,” Emma warned. Then she darted out of sight into Kirsty’s sweater pocket.
Things were much cleaner and quieter in the market that morning. There were no long lines of people making complaints. The jellybeans and broken eggs had all been cleaned up. But behind the counter, Mr. Hopper looked sad.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Hopper?” Kirsty asked.
Mr. Hopper had gray hair and a round face. He pushed his eyeglasses up on his nose when he saw Kirsty.
“Oh, it’s nothing, dear. Tomorrow is Easter, after all, and that’s a happy day,” he said, trying to smile. “And my chocolate has stopped melting. But today, I found that all of the eggs in the refrigerator were rotten! I had to throw them away.”
Rachel and Kirsty glanced at one another. They knew why the eggs were rotten!
Mr. Hopper pointed to the refrigerator case, which was empty. “It’s terrible not to have any eggs for Easter,” he went on. “But I have a new shipment coming in this afternoon. I hope those eggs are all right.”
“I’m sure they will be,” Kirsty assured him.
Mr. Hopper patted her on the shoulder. “That’s nice of you to say. Is there anything I can get for you?” he asked.
“Not right now,” Kirsty replied. There were clearly no more magic eggs at Mr. Hopper’s market. There were no eggs at all! “We’re going to Daffodil Field.”
“Have fun, girls,” Mr. Hopper said with a smile.
As the girls left the market, Emma flew out of Kirsty’s pocket.
“This is terrible,” Rachel said. “Those eggs are going bad because the magic egg is missing. We have to find it so Mr. Hopper has some eggs to sell!”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Kirsty said. “Maybe we can find it at Daffodil Field.”
Emma fluttered between the girls.
“I didn’t get that magical shiver in the market. It’s very strange.”
‘I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” Rachel assured her. With that, the girls continued their walk to Daffodil Field. As they got closer, they could hear the sound of the excited crowd. Parents and kids waited along the edge of the field for the event to start. The children clutched colorful Easter baskets.
Rachel gasped at the sight. Hundreds of daffodils bloomed in the grass! The yellow flowers were so bright they looked like the shining sun. The field was so big that Rachel couldn’t even see where it ended.
“It’s so pretty!” she cried.
“I’ll have to paint a picture of this when I get home,” Emma said, peeking out of Kirsty’s pocket. “Everyone in Fairyland would love to see it!”
Kirsty’s dad started talking through a megaphone.
“The Easter egg hunt will begin when the whistle blows!” Mr. Tate announced. “Please don’t step on the daffodils as you search. There are plenty of eggs for everyone!”
“Oh, dear,” Emma said, suddenly looking nervous. “There are so many kids here. What if one of them finds a magic egg before we do?”
“Don’t worry,” Rachel said. “I can run really fast.”
“Me, too,” Kirsty added. “Besides, we know what we’re looking for. I’m sure we’ll spot one of the magic eggs, if it’s here.”
The girls walked to the starting line and each grabbed a basket.
Tweeeeet! Mr. Tate blew his whistle.
“Let the Easter egg hunt begin!” he cried.
Rachel and Kirsty raced between the rows of daffodils. They spotted many eggs as they ran. Strangely, the eggs weren’t bright colors—yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, or orange. The colors were faded, and some were even brown or gray.
“Yuck!” Rachel exclaimed, stopping to look at an egg.
“We need to find the magic egg that helps make all Easter eggs bright and beautiful,” Emma reminded the girls quietly. “Without that egg’s magic, the Easter eggs won’t look pretty.”
Kirsty stopped and scanned the field of daffodils. “We’re looking for an egg that’s white, with a picture painted on it,” she said. “That should stick out in this yellow and green field.”
Rachel pointed to an area up ahead. “Maybe it’s by those big daffodils over there,” she suggested.
The girls hurried toward the big daffodils, and Emma fluttered along beside them. They were a few rows away when Emma suddenly stopped in midair.
“Wait,” she warned. “I don’t think those are daffodils. Look!”
The daffodils were moving! Not only that, they were talking, too!
“There are so many eggs here! How are we supposed to find a magic egg?” one of the daffodils grumbled.
“Just keep looking,” another daffodil said crossly. “Jack Frost will be angry if we don’t find one.”
“They’re goblins!” Rachel realized.
“We’d better duck,” Kirsty whispered, crouching down.
The girls got a closer look at the goblins in disguise. Each goblin wore a hat on his head that looked like a yellow daffodil. His green body and clothes looked like a flower stem. And he had a fake green leaf strapped to each arm. There were at least seven goblins dressed as daffodils!
The goblins started to get loud and rowdy as they searched for the egg.
“It’s over there!” one yelled. “No, it’s over there!” another one shouted. The goblins tripped over each other as they scrambled to find the magic egg. “Ow! You’re stepping on my petals!” a goblin whined. “We’d better get moving,” Rachel said. “We can’t let those goblins beat us to the egg this time!”
The girls started looking through the daffodils once more. They hadn’t gotten far when they heard the sound of a child crying.
“Oh, no!” Emma cried. “Someone is in trouble.”
The girls hurried toward the sound of the crying child. They found two little girls and a boy standing around a pile of broken eggs. Luckily, there were no goblins around. But something still wasn’t right.
Rachel wrinkled her nose. “Those eggs are smelly!”
Kirsty nodded. “They look rotten.”
One of the little girls was crying. “These Easter eggs aren’t nice. I want my mommy!”
Rachel and Kirsty heard the sound of the goblins getting closer.
“Something smells nice and stinky!” one of the goblins said.
“Just like Mom’s cooking! Yum!” agreed another goblin.
Emma peeked out from her hiding place inside Kirsty’s pocket. “We have to get these kids away, quickly!” she warned. “Otherwise, they might see the goblins.”
Kirsty thought fast and turned back to the children. “We saw some pretty eggs over there,” she said, pointing far away from the goblins.
The sad little girl wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Really?”
Kirsty nodded. “Why don’t you go look for them?”
The kids brightened and scampered away quickly.
Rachel frowned. “Kirsty, that was a lie!”
“I know,” Kirsty replied. “I don’t like lying. But we had to get them away from the goblins, and that was the only thing I could think of to do.”
“Well, now we have to find the magic egg fast!” Rachel said. “If we don’t, the whole Easter egg hunt will be ruined.”
Emma flew out of Kirsty’s pocket. “I’ll have a better view if I fly over the field,” she said.
“But then everyone might see you,” Kirsty reminded her.
Emma thought for a moment, then grinned. “I have an idea.”
She waved her wand in a circle. Rainbow-colored sparkles appeared like tiny fireworks in the air. Then she called out in
a singsong voice:
“Help me please, my butterfly friends.
The goblins are up to their evil ends.”
Rachel and Kirsty watched, amazed, as the air filled with beautiful butterflies! Their wings shimmered in the sunlight. Some were blue, some were yellow, and some were orange.
Emma laughed and flew up into the middle of the crowd of butterflies. She flapped her delicate wings. “See? If anyone spots me, they’ll think I’m a butterfly!”
“Great idea!” Rachel said. “We’ll keep looking down here while you search from the sky.”
Emma and the butterflies flew off across the field.
“Finally, that pesky fairy is gone!” a voice cried out.
The girls froze. The daffodils around them jumped up. But they weren’t daffodils at all. Rachel and Kirsty were surrounded by goblins!
“Ha! Our plan worked!” a goblin cried, gesturing to his friends. “We’ll stay and keep these girls out of the way. The other goblins will follow that fairy to the magic egg!”
The group of goblins laughed.
Rachel and Kirsty were a little bit afraid—but just a little bit. They had outsmarted Jack Frost’s goblins before.
“What should we do?” Kirsty whispered to Rachel.
“Run past them?” Rachel suggested.
“Maybe, but there are a lot of them,” Kirsty replied. “They might catch us.”
“Hey! No talking!” a goblin snapped.
Kirsty smiled sweetly. “Sorry. We were just saying how pretty you all look!”
The goblins frowned.
“Pretty? We’re not pretty! We’re goblins!” one of them protested.
“But you look like pretty flowers,” Kirsty said.
The goblins grumbled. Rachel smiled at Kirsty. She knew what her friend was trying to do.
Emma the Easter Fairy (9780545549288) Page 2