The three friends grinned at one another. “Perfect,” Morgan said. They flew down and landed behind a thick bush so she could work some fairy magic without being seen. She waved her wand, and once again, a stream of glittery sparkles swirled out and floated around Kirsty and Rachel. Moments later, Kirsty felt her nose and ears becoming much bigger and more pointy.
Rachel giggled. “You look just like a goblin!” she said.
Kirsty’s eyes grew wide as she saw Rachel. “Is that really you?” she gasped. “You look so scary!”
Rachel had turned into a ghostly figure—a shapeless, white, gleaming ghost, with dark, hollow eyes and a sad mouth.
“Good,” she replied. “Let’s go and scare those goblins!”
“Try to do it quickly,” Morgan advised. “These disguises use up a lot of magic. They won’t last very long. Good luck!”
Rachel hid behind a tree and watched Kirsty join the goblin group. Kirsty tried to look as casual as possible, but her heart was pounding fast. She was next to the goblin who was sitting on the bag of magic dust! “Time for a ghost story!” she announced. “Is everyone listening?”
The goblins seemed happy to hear a story, and they sat down quickly, all eyes on Kirsty.
“Once upon a time …” Kirsty began in a low, spooky voice. She told them a story about a haunted house where ghostly pogwurzels lurked—goblins were very scared of pogwurzels! It wasn’t long before her audience was shivering and clutching at one another for comfort.
“The goblin creeped through the house,” Kirsty went on, dropping her voice even lower. “And then, all of a sudden …”
“BOO!” shouted Rachel, leaping out from behind the tree.
“Aarrrrrghhh!” screamed the goblins, all jumping up in fright. “Help!”
This was Morgan’s cue to swoop in and grab her bag of magic dust. But, just then, one of the goblins pointed at Rachel. “Hey! That’s not a ghost—it’s a pesky girl!” he shouted.
Kirsty gulped. Oh, no! Rachel’s magic disguise was wearing off. When she glanced down at herself, she realized hers was, too! “Quick, Morgan!” she called out—but she was too late. The goblin who’d been sitting on the bag whirled around and grabbed it before Morgan could reach it. He rushed out of the campfire ring, followed by the rest of his gang.
Morgan waved her wand and turned Kirsty and Rachel back into fairies. “After them!” she called. “Come on!”
The three fairies soared after the racing goblins, who were charging through the dark woods at top speed. Rachel, Kirsty, and Morgan soon spotted the goblin with the bag right at the front of the pack. He glanced over his shoulder, and a nervous look came over his face as he saw the three fairies flying behind him. “Here—take this!” he shouted, tossing the bag of magic dust to one of his friends.
The other goblin caught the bag, but just as Rachel, Kirsty, and Morgan headed toward him, he threw it to another goblin, who caught it and kept running.
The chase went on through the woods with the goblins throwing the bag to one another. The fairies became more and more frustrated as they swerved from goblin to goblin, trying to keep up! Dry sticks and leaves snapped beneath the goblins’ big, flat feet as they thudded between the tall trees. Rachel was beginning to worry. How were they going to get Morgan’s bag back from so many goblins? Then she noticed the stars that were twinkling in the night sky. They reminded her of all the tiny white flowers she and Kirsty had seen in Starry Glade earlier that evening. It seemed like ages since the two of them had slid down the hill there.
“Wait!” she whispered to Kirsty and Morgan as an idea popped into her head. “I just thought of something! Remember how we fell down that steep slope into Starry Glade earlier?” Kirsty nodded. “Well, if we could lead the goblins that same way, maybe they will slip down the hill, just like we did,” Rachel went on. “And if they do …”
“We can fly in and grab my bag of night dust!” Morgan finished with a smile. “I know the glade you mean, and we’re not far away. Come on, let’s see if your plan works.”
The fairies caught up with the goblins as they raced along. Every time the path forked, Morgan would zip ahead and hover at the start of the path they didn’t want the goblins to take. “Give me my bag!” she’d call, with her hands on her hips.
“No way!” the goblins would yell, always turning down the other path. Then Kirsty, Rachel, and Morgan would high-five each other in secret. This was just what they wanted!
Eventually, they steered the goblins onto the path that ran down to Starry Glade. Kirsty, Rachel, and Morgan raced over their heads. “I can see the bag!” Kirsty cried loudly. “Let’s get it!”
The goblin carrying the bag panicked and glanced around for someone to throw it to.
But as he looked away from the path, he slipped on the pine needles—and let go of Morgan’s bag. It went flying into the air!
Rachel and Kirsty raced toward the bag, while Morgan used her magic to turn it to its usual Fairyland size. “Caught it!” cheered Kirsty, as she grabbed hold of the satiny material. She then flew up high with it in her hands.
Below them, the goblins were slipping and sliding and falling over one another in a tangle of arms and legs. Kirsty and Rachel smiled as Morgan flew over to join them. “Oh, good job!” Morgan exclaimed, taking the bag and hugging both Kirsty and Rachel. “And just in time—it’s almost midnight!” She grinned. “Come on, let’s leave these goblins here and hurry back to your camp’s midnight feast. We might be able to turn it into a night full of fun after all!” She took out a pinch of her night dust and muttered some magic words that sent the sparkly gold dust spiraling into the trees. “There,” she said. “That’s a start. Let’s see what’s happening now.”
The three friends flapped their wings and set off through the dark woods again. As they got near the clearing where their feast was taking place, a yummy smell drifted up to them.
“Mmmm … They’ve got the hot dogs cooking!” Rachel realized, with a big grin.
“And look—you can see the campfire from here!” Kirsty exclaimed, pointing ahead to where bright flames were blazing. The twigs crackled and snapped.
Morgan smiled. “I’ll turn you back into girls, so you can join your friends and family,” she said, waving her wand.
In the next moment, Kirsty and Rachel felt themselves growing all the way back to their usual sizes, with their feet firmly on the ground again. “Now, you were supposed to be collecting more firewood, weren’t you?” Morgan remembered. “Here, this will save you the work.” She waved her wand again, and a pile of dry sticks and branches appeared in both Rachel’s and Kirsty’s arms. “Perfect for the fire!” Morgan smiled. Then she kissed each girl on the cheek and waved good-bye. “I’d better fly around and make sure that all the other midnight feasts are going as well as yours,” she told them. “Thanks again—oh, and watch for a big surprise!”
Before the girls could ask what she meant, Morgan had vanished.
Kirsty and Rachel dumped their firewood in a pile near Peter, and went back to their places at the campfire. “Marshmallows, girls?” Mrs. Tate asked, offering them the bag.
“Yes, please!” they replied eagerly.
The rest of the midnight feast was lots of fun. Everyone enjoyed toasting (and eating!) the sweet, gooey marshmallows, as well as devouring the hot dogs, potatoes, and chili. There was even time for a campfire singalong before the midnight fireworks!
“Oooh!” “Ahhhh!” Everyone sighed as bright flashes of color glittered and glowed against the midnight sky. And then, just as Kirsty and Rachel thought the night couldn’t get any more perfect, the last set of fireworks went off with an extraordinary series of bangs. Some sparkly writing appeared in the sky.
“Enjoy the Midnight Magic!” Peter read aloud in surprise.
“Wow! How did that happen?” someone asked.
Peter looked baffled. “I have no idea,” he confessed, scratching his head. Rachel and Kirsty grinned at each other. They knew that M
organ must have “helped” the fireworks with some of her magic. But that, of course, was going to stay their very special secret!
“Hold on tight, Kirsty,” Rachel called to her best friend, Kirsty Tate. “We’re almost there!”
“I’m right behind you, Rachel!” Kirsty called back.
The girls were walking carefully across the wobbly bridge in the Forest Fun Adventure Playground. The wooden bridge was part of a high–ropes course. It was strung between two trees wag above the ground. It swaged and wobbled gently as the girls moved across it, making them shriek with laughter.
“Oh, this is too much fun!” Kirsty gasped. “I love Camp Stargaze, Rachel. There’s so much to do here.”
The girls and their parents were spending a week of summer vacation at Camp Stargaze, and the Forest Fun playground was in a clearing in the woods on the edge of the campground. There was a treetop walk, a few hideouts, and two ziplines next to each other, as well as the wobbly bridge. The biggest tree in the clearing, the one the girls were heading toward on the wobbly bridge, had a wooden treehouse in its branches. There was also a twisty slide that wrapped around the tree’s trunk and led down to an underground fort built below the roots of the tree.
It was late afternoon Just after snack time, and the girls were still enjoying the warmth of the summer sun.
“I know,” Rachel agreed. “Camp Stargaze is amazing. And not only that, we’re in the middle of another exciting fairy adventure, too!”
“Rachel, Kirsty!” a voice shouted. “We’re over here.”
The girls glanced up and saw their new friends Matt and Lucas hanging out of one of the treehouse windows. Rachel and Kirsty wobbled to the end of the bridge and went to join them inside the treehouse.
“Have you been on the ziplines yet?” Lucas asked with a grin.
Kirsty shook her head. “I think I need to recover from the wobbly bridge first!” she replied.
Matt was still hanging out of the window. “Look, Lucas,” he said, pointing down at the ground below them. “There’s your mom and Lizzy.”
Lucas’s mom and his little sister were wandering through the clearing. They waved up at the treehouse, and Lucas, Rachel, Kirsty, and Matt waved back.
“Let’s go down the twisty slide and say hi!” Rachel suggested.
The top of the silver slide was just outside the treehouse door. Rachel climbed onto it and then immediately shot down with a shriek of surprise.
“It’s really slippery!” she cried as she disappeared from view.
“Watch out, Rachel!” Kirsty yelled as she jumped on the slide, too. “Here I come!”
Laughing, Rachel zoomed around the trunk of the tree, then through the trapdoor the underground house at the bottom. She tumbled off the end of the slide and onto a soft cushion. Kirsty came flying into the underground house a few seconds later, and the two girls grinned at each other.
“Here come the boys!” Rachel said as they heard Matt and Lucas sliding toward them.
First Matt, and then Lucas, tumbled into the underground house. Next, all four of them climbed out and ran to join Lucas’s mom and Lizzy. They were staring very closely at a large, leafy bush.
“What are you looking at?” Lucas asked curiously.
“Porcupines,” Lucas’s mom replied.
Both her and Lizzy’s eyes were wide with delight. “Look!”
Rachel and Kirsty peeked into the bush, and saw two small porcupines scampering around in the leaves.
“Aren’t they cute?” said Rachel as the porcupines scurried back and forth.
Just then, Kirsty heard a rustling noise in the undergrowth behind them. She spun around and caught a glimpse of gray fur and a black-and-white striped head. Quickly, she nudged Rachel.
“There’s a badger over there!” Kirsty whispered.
Rachel, Lucas, and the others watched in amazement as the badger came into view. He was sniffing through the leaves in search of something to eat.
“This is great!” Matt said, looking excited as the badger hurried past, not even noticing them. “I’ve never seen a badger or a porcupine during the day before.”
Kirsty frowned. “Matt’s right,” she said to Rachel. “Don’t porcupines and badgers usually come out at night?”
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-54959-2
Copyright © 2010 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Rainbow Magic Limited.
Previously published as Twilight Fairies #4: Morgan the Midnight Fairy by Orchard U.K. in 2010.
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First Scholastic printing, July 2011
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