“We found it!” exclaimed Jennifer, clasping her hands together. “But how are we going to get it away from the goblin?”
“I have an idea,” said Kirsty. “Let’s fly down into the booth and hide. If Jennifer can disguise me as a goblin, maybe he’ll let me take over the styling.”
The three little fairies dropped down into the booth and hid behind the full-length mirror in the corner. They saw the goblin take out a pair of scissors and start to trim the customer’s hair. Quickly, Jennifer waved her wand over Kirsty’s head and said a spell:
“While the stylist gives a trim
Change fairy fair to goblin grim.
Give her skin of greenish hue
And don’t forget her hair of blue!”
At once, Kirsty’s fairy wings disappeared and she grew to goblin-size. Her skin turned green and her nose became long and pointy. Finally, her hair turned ice-blue. Kirsty gave a little twirl. The transformation was complete!
“How do I look?” she asked with a grin.
“Awful,” said Rachel, smiling at her. “It’s perfect!”
Kirsty waited until the customer got up to leave. Then, before the next customer could come in, she stepped out from her hiding place. Rachel and Jennifer watched from behind the mirror, keeping their fingers crossed for their friend.
“I’ve come to give you a break,” said Kirsty to the goblin. “If you want, I’ll take the next customer. Just give me the scissors and the hairbrush.”
She reached out her hand, and Rachel and Jennifer held their breath. The goblin seemed to be thinking about it. His hand moved toward the hairbrush in his pocket . . . but then he shook his head.
“Jack Frost said that I’m the only one allowed to do hair,” he said, pulling the brush through his own blue locks.
“You look tired. Maybe I could be your assistant?” Kirsty suggested.
The goblin walked over to the full-length mirror and gazed at himself.
“No,” he said. “I’m the only goblin with the skills to be a stylist.”
Kirsty bit her lip. Rachel and Jennifer were just on the other side of that mirror, and Jennifer’s golden fairy glow was lighting up the bottom edge. Kirsty hoped that the goblin would be too busy admiring himself to notice, but when he looked down at his humongous feet, he gave a yelp of surprise.
“What’s that?” he demanded, pointing at the golden glow. “What’s going on?”
Rachel and Jennifer swooped out from behind the mirror.
“Quick, grab the magic hairbrush!” Jennifer cried.
“Fairies!” squealed the goblin, clutching the glittering hairbrush in his hands. “Leave me alone!”
He ran out of the booth and vanished, disappearing into the crowd of shoppers.
“I’ll follow him!” Rachel exclaimed.
She darted after the goblin as Jennifer waved her wand and turned Kirsty back into a fairy. Then they followed Rachel as fast as they could. She was flying high above the crowd, close to the ceiling of the mall where no one would see her.
“Can you see him?” Kirsty asked her best friend as soon as they reached her.
“Yes, he just ran into Posh Puppies,” said Rachel. “Come on!”
The three friends swooped down and entered the dog-grooming salon. It was very noisy inside, with the sound of hairdryers and the happy yaps of pampered pets. Suddenly, there was an uproar of barks from the far end of the salon, and the girls saw a swish of long blue hair. All the dogs in the salon started to bark and race toward the far corner.
“Stop!” squealed the owner, as a poodle bounded over her head.
“Calm down!” cried an assistant, as a shampoo-covered Pekingese sprang out of her arms.
“This is all the goblin’s fault!” Jennifer groaned.
There was now a squirming, hairy pile of sweet-smelling dogs in the corner. Not one of them was listening to the owner. Then the girls saw the blue-haired goblin scramble out from under the pile and run toward the door.
“Don’t lose sight of him!” cried Kirsty.
They hurried out of the shop and flitted above the shoppers again as the goblin weaved his way through the crowd far below.
“He went into Finishing Touch,” said Rachel.
The three friends flew down and slipped inside the accessories store. They were just in time to see the goblin zip away, still loosely holding the magic hairbrush in his hand. Rachel swooped toward him, hoping to grab it. She reached out, but only managed to grasp the end of his long blue hair. To her astonishment, the hair started to slip off his head. It was a wig!
Rachel flew back up to Kirsty and Jennifer, who were hovering near the ceiling.
“It’s no use,” she said. “I couldn’t get the hairbrush. But I found out that he’s wearing a wig.”
“Yes, and look how much he loves it,” said Jennifer.
The goblin hadn’t realized that the fairies were in the store with him. He was standing in front of a mirror, straightening the wig and patting down some stray strands of hair.
“That gives me an idea,” said Kirsty. “We can’t get the hairbrush, so let’s try to get his wig, instead. Then maybe he’ll be willing to do a swap.”
“Great plan!” said Rachel, smiling at her friend. “Look, he’s leaving — let’s follow him.”
The goblin scurried out of the store and disappeared into the Sweet Scoop Ice Cream Parlor. Rachel, Kirsty, and Jennifer hovered above the entrance.
“OK, Rachel, get ready,” said Kirsty. “As soon as he comes out, we’ll swoop down and pull off his wig.”
“And remember, you can’t let anyone see you,” said Jennifer.
The girls nodded, not taking their eyes off the entrance. Soon, the goblin stepped out, looking all around to try and spot the fairies.
“Now!” cried Kirsty.
She and Rachel zipped down and flew underneath the ends of the wig so that no one nearby would see them. Then they pulled with all their fairy strength!
“YOWCH!” squawked the goblin as his blue hair slipped off his head.
He grabbed at it and held on tightly. Rachel and Kirsty tugged as hard as they could, but the goblin’s grip was too strong. With a jerk, he managed to pull it out of their hands. But then he lost his balance and fell over! The wig flew through the air and landed in a trash can with a loud SPLAT.
The goblin wailed and scrambled to his feet. He grabbed the wig out of the can and put it back on his head. It was smeared with scraps of food and sticky ice-cream wrappers. The goblin sniffed sadly and tucked the magic hairbrush safely back into his pocket. Then he shuffled over to the waterfall, where he began to try to wash out the mess.
Rachel and Kirsty felt terrible. They flew over to a little ledge on the inside of the fountain, hidden from the passing shoppers. Jennifer came to join them, and they all looked up at the goblin.
“We’re really sorry,” said Kirsty. “We didn’t mean to mess up your wig.”
“It’s ruined,” said the goblin, sniffing again. “Pesky fairies.”
Suddenly, Rachel had a wonderful idea.
“Listen,” she said in a kind voice. “I think there’s a way that we can all be happy again. Jennifer’s magic can make your wig as good as new. All you have to do to is give her back her magic hairbrush. What do you say?”
The goblin didn’t need to think about it for even a second! He loved his wig more than anything he had ever owned. He immediately held out the magic hairbrush.
As soon as Jennifer touched the hairbrush, it shrank to fairy-size. Instantly, the goblin’s long blue hair was clean and silky again. He squealed with delight and leaned over to see his reflection in the fountain pool.
Kirsty and Rachel turned to each other and smiled.
“Kirsty, your hair isn’t cr
ooked anymore,” said Rachel. “It looks great!”
“And your braids are neat and straight,” Kirsty added.
“That’s the power of the magical hairbrush,” said Jennifer, giving a little twirl of joy on the spot.
The goblin was trying out different hairstyles with his long blue hair. As he tied it in pigtails, Jennifer took Kirsty and Rachel by the hands.
“It’s almost time for me to go back to Fairyland,” she said. “I can’t wait to tell the other Fashion Fairies the good news! But first, I need to turn you back into humans again.”
She rose into the air and the girls followed her. From high above the mall, they could see that the shoppers no longer had blue hair.
“Thank goodness things are back to normal,” said Kirsty.
“Look — the line is gone at the Ice Blue Hair Salon,” Rachel noticed.
The goblins with clipboards were still standing outside the booth, shouting.
“Step right up, step right up, get your blue hair here!”
“Blue hair special today!”
But the passersby were just laughing and shaking their heads. Rachel, Kirsty, and Jennifer flew down behind the booth, where no one could see them. Then, with a wave of Jennifer’s wand, the girls became human again.
“Thank you for helping me find my magic hairbrush,” Jennifer said. “I’d like to give you a special gift in return — something you can wear at the fashion show.”
Two ribbons of fairy dust streamed from her wand. One landed on Rachel’s head, and the other on Kirsty’s head. Instantly, two pretty violet barrettes appeared in their hair. They sparkled with fairy dust.
“Thank you,” said Rachel, her eyes shining with delight.
“They’re beautiful,” Kirsty added.
“Good-bye, girls,” said Jennifer, with a beaming smile. “Good luck at the fashion show!”
“Good-bye, Jennifer!” said the girls. “Thank you!”
The little fairy disappeared with a tiny sparkling pop, and Rachel and Kirsty stepped out from behind the booth. The goblins with clipboards were trudging away, muttering grouchily at each other.
“Come on,” said Rachel, looking at her watch. “It’s time to meet Mom at the salon.”
The girls hurried back through the mall until they reached Snip & Clip. Mrs. Walker was just walking out of the salon. Her hair was pulled back in an elegant, sleek style.
“Mom, you look gorgeous!” Rachel exclaimed, giving her a kiss.
“Your hair looks fabulous,” Kirsty agreed.
“Yours, too,” said Mrs. Walker happily. “I’m not sure why I thought it looked bad earlier.”
“Hello!” called a cheerful voice.
They turned and saw Mr. Walker coming toward them.
“Dad, what happened to your cool spiky blue hair?” Rachel asked with a grin.
His hair was back to normal. Mrs. Walker looked confused.
“I can’t imagine your dad ever having spiky blue hair,” she said.
“You don’t have to imagine it,” said Kirsty, stifling a giggle. “Look up there!”
She pointed at the mall TV screen. There was a huge close-up of Mr. Walker from earlier that day — complete with his spiky blue hairdo!
As Mrs. Walker giggled helplessly, Mr. Walker’s cheeks turned pink.
“I don’t know what came over me,” he said. “It was as if I was under a spell that made me want to have blue hair.”
“Thank goodness the spell wore off!” said Mrs. Walker, kissing him on the cheek.
Rachel and Kirsty exchanged a secret glance. Mr. Walker had no idea that his joke about the spell was true!
“We still have to find two more magic objects to break Jack Frost’s Ice Blue spell completely,” said Kirsty in a whisper.
“We can do it,” said Rachel, her voice confident. “After our adventures today, I feel like we can do anything!”
Kirsty and Rachel helped Jennifer find her magic brush. Now it’s time for them to help
Brooke
the Photographer Fairy!
Read on for a special sneak peek. . . .
“This place is so beautiful,” said Kirsty Tate, gazing around at the lush green grass, the bright flowers, and the potted palms. “Isn’t it funny seeing a garden up so high!”
She was standing in the middle of the roof garden on top of the brand-new Tippington Fountains Shopping Center. The glass-fronted Roof Garden Café was at the far end. Next to the café was a glass elevator that took visitors down to the mall.
“It must be even prettier when the sun’s shining,” replied her best friend, Rachel Walker. “All the glass must really sparkle.”
They both looked up at the gray rain clouds that were gathering overhead.
“Yes, it’s too bad that it isn’t a sunny day,” Kirsty agreed.
All week long, the girls had been involved in the design competition at the new shopping mall. There was a fashion show planned for the next day to celebrate the end of the mall’s first week.
“I think this is the best place to have a photo shoot, even if the weather isn’t perfect,” said Rachel with a smile.
Kirsty’s and Rachel’s outfits had been among those chosen to be in the fashion show. Today, the winners were taking part in a photo shoot for The Fountains Fashion News magazine. Supermodel Jessica Jarvis and designer Ella McCauley were there, too. They had been special guests at the shopping mall all week, and now they were helping the kids make sure that their colorful, imaginative clothes looked as good as possible. Kirsty was wearing the dress that she had made out of scarves, and Rachel had put on her rainbow-painted jeans.
Cam Carson, the photographer, was busy organizing the winners into groups.
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-53931-9
Copyright © 2012 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
Previously published as Fashion Fairies #5: Matilda the Hair Stylist Fairy by Orchard U.K. in 2012.
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 2013
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Jennifer the Hairstylist Fairy Page 2