Nora the Arctic Fox Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  “Let the fox cub go!” one of the dogs yelped, and the others barked loudly in agreement.

  “You dogs are as useless as my silly goblins!” Jack Frost clapped his hands over his icy ears.

  As Jack Frost continued to rant at the dogs, Nora flew silently over to the sled to check on Dazzle. Kirsty and Rachel were following her when Kirsty glanced down and spotted something furry sticking out of one of the pockets of Jack Frost’s coat.

  “It’s Nora’s magic key chain!” Kirsty whispered to Rachel.

  “Let’s grab it!” Rachel suggested.

  The girls fluttered down behind Jack Frost so he couldn’t see them.

  “How dare you disobey me!” Jack Frost shrieked at the dogs. He was having a tantrum now and stamping his feet in the snow. “I order you to move!”

  “Not until you let the fox cub go,” the lead dog barked.

  Kirsty and Rachel hovered beside Jack Frost’s pocket. They were so close to Nora’s furry, fox-shaped key chain, they could see the faint magical glow that surrounded it.

  “NOW!” Kirsty whispered. She and Rachel darted forward and together they lifted the key chain gently out of Jack Frost’s pocket. Carrying it between them, they flew straight over to Nora, who was talking softly to a weary Dazzle. Nora stared at the charm as if she couldn’t believe her eyes, and her face lit up with pure joy.

  “Aren’t you clever, girls!” she declared. “Where did you find it?”

  “In Jack Frost’s pocket!” Rachel replied as she and Kirsty handed her the key chain. The very second Nora touched it, the key chain magically shrank to its fairy-size.

  “I want my mom,” Dazzle squeaked. “I don’t like that frosty man!”

  “We’ll take you home to your mom, Dazzle,” Nora told her. She showed the fox cub her charm. Dazzle cheered up immediately when she saw its magical glow. Eagerly, she jumped out of the sled. Unfortunately, at that moment, Jack Frost happened to glance around. His face darkened when he spotted Nora, Rachel, and Kirsty.

  “I’m fed up with fairies!” Jack Frost roared. “Always following me around, sticking your nose into my business!” He charged toward them, trying to swat Nora and the girls away. “And keep your hands off that fox cub—she’s going to be the prize exhibit in my special zoo!”

  Skillfully, Nora, Rachel, and Kirsty avoided Jack Frost’s flailing arms and flew back toward Miko’s sled. Dazzle also dodged Jack Frost and scampered after them, her eyes fixed on the key chain Nora was holding. Miko was still gazing rapturously up at the colorful display in the sky and didn’t even notice when Dazzle jumped into his sled. Then Nora waved her wand, and her magic quickly restored the girls to their normal size.

  “I’m tired of you fairies always messing everything up!” Jack Frost howled, stomping around in frustration and kicking snow everywhere.

  “You shouldn’t have tried to steal animals for your horrible old zoo, then!” said Rachel.

  “You can’t just collect animals like marbles,” Kirsty reminded him. “Animals need to be treated with love and care.”

  “Oh, how boring!” Jack Frost sneered. “Why do you fairies always have to spoil all my fun?” Still complaining, he vanished in a shower of icy magic. Smiling happily, Rachel and Kirsty climbed into Miko’s sled.

  “Thank you for your help, girls,” Nora said gratefully, landing on Rachel’s shoulder. She pointed her wand up at the sky again and, as the lights began to fade, she snuggled down into Rachel’s scarf, out of sight.

  “That was the most amazing Northern Lights display I’ve ever seen!” Miko turned to look at the girls, his eyes wide with excitement. “It was so magical, I even thought I saw some fairies flitting around in the night sky!”

  “Oh, you probably just saw some snowflakes,” Rachel said quickly.

  “Or maybe it was us!” Kirsty whispered in her ear.

  Then Miko noticed Dazzle on the seat next to him. “And you found the missing fox cub!” he exclaimed, stroking Dazzle’s thick fur. “Should we take her home?”

  “Yes, please!” Dazzle squeaked.

  “Yes, please, Miko,” Rachel said, winking at Kirsty.

  Swiftly, Miko released Jack Frost’s dogs and hitched them to his own sled. Then they sped off across the snowy plain, back toward the den. As they got closer, Dazzle began to get very excited.

  “Hooray!” she barked. “I’m going home!”

  Miko stopped the sled outside the den and Dazzle, Rachel, and Kirsty jumped out together.

  “I need to go straight to my grandmother’s,” Miko said. “I’m very late. Good-bye to you all!”

  Rachel and Kirsty thanked Miko and waved as the boy shot away across the snow. Then Dazzle raced toward the hole, but before she reached it, her brothers and sisters came tumbling out. They were followed by their mother, home from hunting.

  “Dazzle’s home!” the cubs barked in chorus, rushing to nuzzle noses with their sister.

  “Thank you so much,” the mother fox said as Dazzle nestled against her. “I’ve been very worried about her.”

  “She’s safe now,” Nora told them. “And I’ll see you again very soon!” She turned to the girls and raised her wand. “Now, I think we should go back to the Fairyland Nature Reserve and tell everyone we’ve found my key chain at last!”

  As Dazzle and her family called good-bye, a flash of sparkles from Nora’s wand circled Rachel and Kirsty and carried them away from the snowy land. In the twinkling of an eye, the girls and Nora arrived at the Fairyland Nature Reserve where a crowd had gathered to meet them. All the other Baby Animal Rescue Fairies were there, as well as King Oberon and Queen Titania. Rachel and Kirsty were also delighted to see Bertram the frog footman, Fluffy the squirrel, and Queenie the bee.

  “Look!” cried Kitty the Tiger Fairy. “Nora has her key chain back, which means our magic is complete once more!”

  “Now we can protect wildlife everywhere again,” Mae the Panda Fairy said happily.

  There were cheers and everyone applauded loudly. Then Queen Titania stepped forward. “Girls, we thank you for coming to our rescue,” she said with a sweet smile. “You have proved yourselves to be true friends over and over again.”

  “We’re glad we could help,” Rachel told her. “And we did have lots of fun talking to the animals!”

  “Yes, we really loved it,” Kirsty added. “But we know the magic can’t last now that all the Baby Animal Rescue Fairies have their key chains back again.”

  “Well, maybe the magic can last for a little while longer,” the queen replied. “Long enough for you two girls to join us for a celebration party with the animals here at the Fairyland Nature Reserve, maybe?”

  There were more cheers as the girls glanced at each other in delight.

  “We’d love to!” said Rachel.

  “And thank you very much, Your Majesty!” Kirsty added.

  The party at the Fairyland Nature Reserve was so enchanting, Rachel and Kirsty really didn’t want to leave. The Party Fairies had done all the organizing. They’d decorated the nature reserve with lanterns and candles, and they’d hung sparkly lights in the trees. The Music Fairies played beautiful music, and there was a huge table with delicious food, including seven spectacular frosted cakes shaped like the Baby Animal Rescue Fairies’ key chains. The girls had a wonderful time dancing with the fairies and chatting with the different animals who all came to thank them for helping to keep them safe.

  But at last it was time for the girls to return to Wild Woods, and everyone gathered to see them off.

  “Once again, girls, all our thanks,” King Oberon said warmly. “Enjoy the rest of your last evening at Wild Woods!”

  “We will!” Rachel said.

  “Good-bye, everyone,” Kirsty called as Queen Titania pointed her wand at them.

  “Good-bye! Good-bye!” With the shouts of their fairy friends ringing in their ears, the girls were whisked away by the queen’s magic. Almost instantly they found themselves back in the woods. Ahead of th
em they could see Becky leading the others to a clearing on the side of a hill. Rachel and Kirsty rushed after them.

  “What an amazing adventure!” Kirsty said breathlessly.

  “It was fantastic!” Rachel agreed, her eyes shining.

  When they reached the middle of the clearing, there was a fabulous view of the black night sky with the big full moon and silver stars overhead.

  “And now I want to present you all with one final badge as a reward for completing the week’s work,” Becky announced, and she held up a big, star-shaped gold badge with JUNIOR RANGER written on it.

  Rachel and Kirsty were thrilled as they lined up to receive their badges with the other volunteers.

  “Now you’re all officially junior rangers!” Becky laughed as, bursting with pride, the girls pinned their badges to the middle of their backpacks. “I think we should celebrate.” Becky began to hand out brownies and cups of hot chocolate.

  “We’ve had two celebrations today.” Rachel sighed happily, sipping her hot chocolate. “How great is that?”

  But Kirsty was staring toward the edge of the clearing. “Look, Rachel,” she whispered softly. “Some of our friends are here!”

  Rachel looked and saw the owl they’d met that evening, sitting in a tree. He was hooting softly, but now, of course, the girls couldn’t understand what he was saying. The badger they’d seen earlier was sniffing around the bottom of the tree, and as the girls watched, the shy little fawn they’d made friends with a few days ago appeared. Then rabbits and squirrels started popping out of the undergrowth, staring at the girls with bright eyes.

  “I think they’ve come to say good-bye!” Rachel guessed.

  “And there’s something else, too …” Kirsty pointed out seven tiny, twinkling lights flitting among the trees.

  “Could they be the Baby Animal Rescue Fairies?” Rachel breathed excitedly. “Oh, Kirsty, I can’t wait for our next magical adventure with our fairy friends!”

  Don’t miss any of Rachel and Kirsty’s other fairy adventures!

  Check out this magical sneak peek of

  Rachel Walker strolled over to the grand doors of Tippington Town Hall and peered outside. There were buses pulling up and lots of people milling around, but no sign of the very special person she was looking for, her best friend, Kirsty Tate!

  Rachel’s school was taking part in an exciting competition. Four schools from different parts of the country were competing in two different events; a spelling bee was going to be held today at Tippington Town Hall and a science fair was to take place at the Science Museum tomorrow. At the end of the week, there would be a dance at Rachel’s school!

  Rachel was part of the Tippington School spelling bee team, but the most exciting thing was that Kirsty’s school was also taking part in the competition. Kirsty was part of the science team and this meant that she was coming to Tippington!

  “Rachel! Over here!” called Kirsty. Rachel turned around and there was Kirsty! She was standing with three other children and a friendly-looking teacher.

  “There you are! I was wondering when you’d get here!” said Rachel, running over to Kirsty and giving her a big hug.

  “We came in through the side entrance,” said Kirsty with a smile. “This is my teacher, Mrs. Richards, and this is my science team!”

  Just then, an official-looking man in a fancy suit appeared on the stairs leading up to the auditorium. “Attention please, everyone! I am your host for today’s competition. Will the four teams taking part in the competition please make their way to the backstage area? Members of the audience should take their seats in the auditorium.”

  The four spelling bee teams started to make their way to the backstage area.

  “I’ll join you in a minute!” Rachel called to her team. “I’m just going to walk Kirsty to her seat.”

  The girls split off from the main group of students and teachers in the hall, and made their way toward a side entrance. As they strolled along, something in one of the trophy cases caught Kirsty’s eye. “Rachel, what is that?” she asked, stepping closer.

  “It’s just the light shining on the Tippington in Bloom cup, isn’t it?” replied Rachel, still walking toward the auditorium.

  “I think it’s something even more special than that!” whispered Kirsty happily, tugging on Rachel’s arm. Rachel stopped suddenly. There, sitting on the edge of a shiny trophy surrounded by a magical glow, was a beautiful little fairy!

  Copyright © 2013 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  Previously published as Baby Animal Rescue Fairies #7: Anna the Arctic Fox Fairy by Orchard U.K. in 2014.

  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, January 2015

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-72311-4

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