There are seven special animals,
Who live in Fairyland.
They use their magic powers
To help others where they can.
A dragon, black cat, phoenix,
A seahorse, and snow swan, too,
A unicorn and ice bear —
I know just what to do.
I’ll lock them in my castle
And never let them out.
The world will turn more miserable,
Of that, I have no doubt!
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Map
Poem
Ha, Ha!
Follow that Phoenix!
A Close Call
Caught in the Net!
Joking Aside
Go, Go, Giggles
Teaser
Also Available
Copyright
Kirsty Tate held her breath, trying to keep her fingers steady on the camera. A little brown sparrow stood only a few steps away, pecking at something on the ground. The bird was crouched at the edge of a forest clearing, framed by leafy trees and bushes, with sunlight shining through. Kirsty pressed the button on top of the camera. Click! There — perfect.
“Fabulous,” said her best friend, Rachel Walker, who was crouching next to Kirsty. She took her pencil and checked off the sparrow’s picture on a list she held on a clipboard. “That makes five birds we’ve found and photographed,” she said, feeling good. “The sparrow, thrush, blackbird, robin, and magpie. We just need the chickadee now, and we’re done.”
The two girls were spending a week of their spring break at an outdoor adventure camp. Today was Nature Day! All the campers had been put in pairs and given a list of plants, animals, or insects to track down and photograph. At the end of the day, they were going to gather around the campfire and share their discoveries with everyone.
Rachel and Kirsty sat down on a fallen log to look at the birdwatcher’s guidebook they had been given. Rachel flipped through until she found a page about the chickadee. “Here we are,” she said, looking at the photograph. “So, it has a black head and throat, a short bill, and a snowy white chest. Well, that should be easy enough to spot.”
“It says here that the chickadee is acrobatic and clever, and has a funny call: chickadee, dee, dee,” Kirsty said, reading aloud. She tilted her head to one side, listening hard. “I can’t hear anything like that,” she said after a moment.
“I’ll take a look with these,” Rachel said, picking up their binoculars and scanning the glade. She moved them around slowly, spotting clumps of primroses and nodding daffodils, but no chickadees. The only bird she could see was a robin perched on a tree stump. Rachel giggled to herself as a joke suddenly popped into her head.
“What’s so funny?” Kirsty wanted to know.
“I just thought of a joke,” Rachel said. “Which bird steals from the rich to give to the poor?”
“I don’t know,” Kirsty replied.
“Robin Hood!” Rachel giggled.
Kirsty smiled. “I like that,” she said. “I’ve got one, too. Which bird tells the best jokes?”
Rachel shrugged. “I give up,” she answered.
“A comedi-HEN!” Kirsty replied. Both girls laughed.
“My turn,” Rachel said. “Why does a hummingbird hum?”
“I don’t know,” Kirsty said.
“Because it forgot the words of the song!” Rachel cried, bursting out laughing. Kirsty, too, was helpless with laughter for a few minutes.
Kirsty recovered after a while and wiped her eyes. Then she caught sight of something unusual up in the tree tops. “Hey — what’s orange, red, and yellow, and perches on a branch?”
“I don’t know,” giggled Rachel, thinking it was another joke. “What is orange, red, and yellow, and perches on a branch?”
“No, no,” Kirsty said. “I mean it. There’s a bird up there, and it’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. Look!”
Rachel peered up with her binoculars. She blinked in surprise as the bird came into view. It was as big as a parrot, with a long, trailing plume of orange, red, and yellow feathers that shined brightly in the sunlight, almost like fire. “Wow,” she said with a gasp. “What is it?”
Kirsty began leafing through the guidebook to see if she could find a picture that matched the unusual bird. The pages included nothing like it!
Then the girls were startled by a sudden bright burst of laughter. Somehow, it didn’t sound human. “What was that?” Kirsty whispered, staring around.
The laughter filled the air again — and Rachel aimed her binoculars at the strange bird. To her amazement, it was tipping its head back, with its beak open, making the laughing sounds! “It . . . it’s the bird!” she said, nudging Kirsty. “The bird is laughing. It must be magic!”
Kirsty’s mouth fell open in delight as she realized something. “Yes — you’re right,” she said, smiling. “I bet it’s the magic phoenix from Fairyland!”
Rachel nodded. “Of course,” she agreed, feeling a prickle of excitement. “The missing phoenix — right here in front of us!”
Nobody else at the outdoor adventure camp knew, but Rachel and Kirsty had a secret task to complete that week. They were helping the fairies track down the seven missing magical animals! Jack Frost had stolen the animals, but they had all escaped from his Ice Castle and found their way into the human world.
The magical animals were important to the fairies, because they helped spread some very special qualities around the fairy and human worlds — qualities such as imagination, luck, humor, and friendship. However, since the animals were so young, they weren’t in full control of their powers yet. The Magical Animal Fairies needed to find their animals and take them safely back to Fairyland before they caused any trouble . . . but this hadn’t been easy so far. Jack Frost had sent his goblins to track down the magical animals, too. He didn’t want humans or fairies to enjoy their unique gifts. Instead, he wanted everyone to be as miserable as he was!
“I just realized,” Rachel said, as they gazed up at the amazing creature. “The phoenix’s magical gift is humor, isn’t it? That’s why we’ve been telling jokes and laughing so much. Just being near the bird is doubling our sense of humor!”
“Oh, yes,” Kirsty said. “I bet you’re right. Well, we need to catch him and return him to Fairyland before any goblins show up and spot him. That way, the joke will definitely be on them!”
“Let’s think of a plan,” Rachel said. Just as she spoke, the phoenix took off in a glorious flash of color. It was a breathtaking sight! The creature flapped his vibrant wings, and the brilliant shades shimmered in the sunshine.
“Quick, let’s follow him,” Kirsty said, jumping to her feet and running through the trees.
Luckily, the phoenix’s extraordinary feathers made him easy to see, but he was fast, and the girls had to race to keep up. Running while gazing up at the sky was tricky! Rachel almost tripped over some long tree roots that were sticking out of the ground.
After a few minutes, the bird landed on a rock at the other side of a shallow stream. He folded his wings, staring around with bright eyes. The girls didn’t dare get too close in case they scared him away, so they sat down on the grassy bank of the stream and talked in quiet voices.
“Maybe we could lure him over here with some food,” Kirsty said thoughtfully. “But what do phoenixes like to eat?”
“Scottsdales,” Rachel joked, as she broke out in laughter. “Get it? Phoenix and Scottsdale are both cities in Arizona,” she explained between giggles.
Kirsty smiled, too, but then shook her head. “No — we have to be serious. We’ll never think of a plan if we keep making each other laugh.”
Rachel nodded. “Yes, you’re right,” she said. “Maybe . . .” Then she stopped because she felt a strange tingling sensation in her pocket, where she had stuffed the birdwatchers’ guidebook. She quickly pulled it out . . . and saw that a page in the middle was glowing with a golden light. This definitely looked like fairy magic!
Heart thumping, she flipped quickly to the glowing page and opened the book. She held it out so both she and Kirsty could see. It showed a picture of a very pretty fairy with wavy auburn hair. She wore an orangey-red dress and sandals, and had a flower tucked in her hair.
“Fun Facts about Erin the Phoenix Fairy,” Rachel read aloud.
Kirsty huddled closer to read. “Oh, wow,” she said, laughing as she saw the list of facts about Erin:
1. She likes making people laugh.
2. She doesn’t like it when Jack Frost and his goblins steal things from Fairyland.
3. Her favorite thing in the world is training phoenixes to help spread humor throughout the human and fairy worlds!
“Oh, look, there’s a joke,” Rachel said, pointing to the bottom of the page. “Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?” asked Kirsty.
“Fairy,” said Rachel.
“Fairy who?” asked Kirsty.
Rachel was just about to point out that no punchline had been printed, when they both heard a tinkling laugh. Then a tiny voice finished the joke: “Fairy pleased to meet you!”
A jet of sparkles jumped off the page . . . and Erin appeared right in front of their eyes!
Erin fluttered her sparkly wings and grinned. “Hello!” she said in her tiny voice. “How nice to see you again. Tell me, do you know what gets bigger the more you take away from it?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel replied with a smile. “What does get bigger the more you take away from it?”
“A hole!” Erin replied, clapping her hands together.
Kirsty and Rachel didn’t laugh. They both understood the joke, but for some reason, they didn’t find it very funny.
Erin’s smile turned to a frown. “Ahh,” she said. “I think Giggles the phoenix must be nearby. He’s very clever, but he hasn’t finished his training. Sometimes, by accident, he zaps the humor out of a joke instead of putting it in.”
“Giggles is nearby,” Kirsty told her. “Look — he’s just over there on the rock.” She pointed to where the phoenix was perched behind the fairy’s back, and Erin immediately spun around.
A wide grin crossed her face and she opened her mouth to call to him. But at that very moment, two boys from the camp rushed out from the bushes. Erin had to dart quickly out of sight behind a tree, and Giggles flew away from the noise, high up into the treetops.
“Hi, Tommy. Hi, Jason,” Kirsty said, recognizing the boys. “What are you up to?”
“We’re trying to find all the butterflies on our list,” dark-haired Tommy replied as he held up a clipboard and guidebook. “We were hiding behind the bushes when we spotted a golden butterfly fluttering around you two.”
“We think it’s a clouded sulpher, which is the last one on our list,” Jason added, pushing his glasses up his nose as he spoke. “Did you see which way it went?”
Uh-oh. Rachel was alarmed when she realized that the boys must have seen Erin, and mistaken her for a butterfly! Rachel’s mind went blank with panic. What should she say to throw the boys off? “Um . . .” she began, thinking wildly. Then she realized that she could actually tell the truth. “I haven’t seen a butterfly all day,” she replied honestly. “We’ve been too busy birdwatching.”
“Bird chasing, more like,” Kirsty added.
The boys nearly fell over laughing, clutching their stomachs.
Jason was laughing so hard he almost dropped his camera!
Rachel and Kirsty exchanged surprised glances. Kirsty’s comment hadn’t been that funny! “Giggles must be at it again,” Rachel whispered to Kirsty. “But this time he’s zapped too much humor into a joke!”
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Kirsty spotted Erin waving at her from a distance. Kirsty watched, confused, as Erin threw a ball of magic golden sparkles up along the bank of the stream, where it hovered in midair. Kirsty smiled as she realized what Erin was trying to do. How clever! “Hey, I can see something golden over there,” she said to the boys, pointing at the shimmering ball of glitter. “Look!”
The boys stopped laughing and turned to see where Kirsty was pointing. Erin seemed to be working some magic that was making the ball flutter around so that, from a distance, it did look a lot like a butterfly. “Cool! Thanks, Kirsty,” Tommy said. “Come on, Jason, let’s go!”
The boys raced off toward the magic golden sparkles, and Erin flew out from her hiding place.
“Phew,” she said. “That was a close one. Humans can never find out about the fairies, or our Fairyland home.”
“Except for us,” Rachel added.
Erin smiled. “Yes, except for the two of you, of course. But you help us all the time and we trust you. Other humans might not be as friendly.”
The fairy gazed up to where Giggles had been perched in one of the trees. “Oh,” she said in dismay. “Giggles flew away! I didn’t see him go — did either of you?”
Kirsty shook her head. “No,” she said. “I didn’t dare look up at him with the boys here. We wouldn’t want them to see him.” She stared around hopefully at all the treetops, but there was no sign of the phoenix’s bright feathers. “Oh, no.” She groaned. “Where could he be? We’ve got to find him again — and fast!”
The three friends headed out along the edge of the stream in search of Giggles. Rachel and Kirsty took turns with their binoculars, while Erin pulled out her own pair of tiny fairy binoculars to look through.
“Hey, look,” Rachel said, after they’d been walking for a few minutes. “There are some other birdwatchers over there, up in the tower. They’re all dressed up and everything!”
She passed the binoculars to Kirsty so her friend could see. The tower was built of wood and was as tall as the oak trees surrounding it. At the top of the tower was a viewing platform, where four birdwatchers stood. They were all dressed in camouflage clothes so they would blend into the trees. The birdwatchers also wore wide-brimmed green hats, and each had a pair of fancy binoculars.
“Wow, they’re taking it very seriously,” Kirsty commented. “They even painted their faces green, so they match the leaves.” She looked up at them again and noticed that one of the birdwatchers was now jumping up and down excitedly, pointing at something upstream. His friends all turned and looked — and then they began to jump up and down, too!
As one of them jumped extra high, his hat fell off. Kirsty gasped as she got a better look at his face.
“Rachel, Erin!” she cried, as she saw what a long green nose the hatless birdwatcher had. “They aren’t birdwatchers with painted faces — they’re goblins!”
Erin let out a little squeak of alarm. “Why are they so excited?” she wondered, turning her binoculars in the direction the goblins had been pointing. Then she took a sharp gasp. “Oh — I know why!” she exclaimed. “They saw Giggles! He’s perched on a log about fifty feet from the viewing tower!”
“We have to get to him first,” Rachel said. “Look — that goblin is carrying a net. We can’t let them catch poor Giggles!”
“Come on,” Kirsty said, and she and Rachel began running along the stream, with Erin flying above their heads. The goblins, meanwhile, were all pushing and shoving each other in their rush to get down the steps of the wooden tower.
As the girls got closer, the goblins stomped down the last few steps and raced off. One had a net clasped in his hand.
“We won’t be able to catch up with them on foot,” Rachel panted. “Erin, can you turn us into fairies? We’ll be able to go much faster if we can fly.”
“Of course,” Erin replied, quickly waving her wand over the girls. A stream of orange fairy dust floated out from her wand tip and swirled all around Kirsty and Rachel. As the magic sparkles touched them, the girls felt themselves shrinking smaller and smaller . . . until they were the same size as Erin. Now they each had a pair of shimmery wings! With a few quick flutters, Rachel and Kirsty had zoomed up into the air to join their friend.
“After them!” Kirsty cried excitedly, flapping her wings as hard as she could. She, Erin, and Rachel all zoomed through the air, being careful to fly high so the goblins wouldn’t notice them.
It’s very hard to fly this fast through the trees! Rachel thought, swerving around a pine tree so she didn’t snag her wings on its dark green needles. It was like a fairy obstacle course! They were zipping over and under branches, dodging the tree trunks, and diving out of the way of the birds and butterflies that were flying through the woods.
Down below, the goblins were all running at a great speed. There, farther ahead, was Giggles, sitting on a log and preening his long tail feathers.
“Watch out, Rachel!” Erin called suddenly. Rachel quickly turned her attention back to where she was going — and saw that a robin was headed straight for her!
With a cry of alarm, Rachel swerved out of the way at the last second, and the robin passed by safely. Rachel’s wings trembled with shock at the near-miss. If the robin’s sharp beak had accidentally caught one of her wings, it would have been a disaster!
Erin the Phoenix Fairy Page 1