Elle the Thumbelina Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Poem

  The Storytelling Festival

  A Magical Library

  Into the Pages

  The Flower Prince

  Brave Thumbelina

  Woodland Wedding

  Teaser

  Copyright

  The fairies want stories to stay just the same.

  But I’ve planned a funny and mischievous game.

  I’ll change all their tales without further ado,

  By adding some tricks and a goblin or two!

  The four magic stories will soon be improved

  When everything that’s nice and sweet is removed.

  Their dull happy endings are ruined and lost,

  For no one’s as smart as handsome Jack Frost!

  Rachel Walker skipped along the riverside path, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the scent of flowers in the air. Her best friend, Kirsty Tate, did a cartwheel beside her and laughed. It was always exciting to spend a weekend together, but this weekend was going to be extra special. They were going to the Wetherbury Storytelling Festival, and they could hardly wait.

  “Hurry up, Mom!” called Kirsty, looking back down the path. “It’s almost time!”

  Their favorite author, Alana Yarn, was going to be sharing her best storytelling tips, and the girls were really looking forward to seeing her.

  “Don’t worry, we won’t be late,” said Mrs. Tate with a smile. “Look, the festival tents are just up ahead. Besides, my cartwheeling days are over, Kirsty.”

  “I’m never going to stop doing cartwheels, even when I’m grown up,” said Kirsty.

  She grinned at Rachel.

  They reached the bright festival tents, which were decorated with bunting and huge book pages.

  “They look like they come from a giant’s book,” said Rachel in delight.

  “I do miss getting lost in storybook worlds,” said Mrs. Tate. “The books I loved best as a child were filled with imaginary things like magic and fairies.”

  Kirsty and Rachel exchanged a smile. They knew that fairies were real, not imaginary! In fact, they had lots of fairy friends, but they were the only two people who knew about it.

  “Oh, look!” Kirsty exclaimed.

  She pointed to where a boat was moored by the riverbank. There was a sign on the path beside it that said, Story Barge, and the boat itself was piled high with books. A man was standing on the barge, smiling at them.

  “Are you here to see Alana Yarn?” he called.

  The girls nodded, and Mrs. Tate smiled.

  “Have fun, both of you,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

  She hugged them good-bye and then they skipped over to the Story Barge.

  “Welcome to the Storytelling Festival,” the man said. “Alana Yarn is about to start. Have a seat over there on the lawn. She won’t be long!”

  Rachel and Kirsty hurried over to where a large group of children was sitting on cushions. They were in a circle around a bench that was shaped like a book. There weren’t very many empty cushions left, but the girls found two next to each other and sat down.

  “I feel like I might burst, I’m so excited!” said Rachel.

  “Me too,” Kirsty replied. “I can’t believe that Alana Yarn is actually going to be here!”

  They had read all of Alana Yarn’s books, and had even waited in a long line at the bookstore when a new one came out. The other children in the group looked thrilled, too.

  “She’s here!” someone exclaimed.

  Heads bobbed and necks craned as everyone tried to see the famous author. Rachel and Kirsty glimpsed a mane of curly black hair. Then Alana Yarn took her seat on the book-shaped bench and smiled at her audience. She had a wide, warm smile and sparkling blue eyes with thick, black lashes.

  “Welcome to the Wetherbury Storytelling Festival,” said Alana. “I hope you’re as excited as I am about this weekend. I want you all to be inspired to tell stories yourselves, and to let your imaginations soar. At the end of the weekend, you will all have the chance to tell a story of your own, using the new skills you’ve learned. Are there any questions?”

  Rachel felt as if she was bubbling over with questions! She raised her hand, and Alana nodded at her.

  “How do you bring a story to life?” she asked.

  “Sometimes the simplest way is the best,” Alana replied. “Right now we’re going to begin by reading aloud.”

  There was a stack of books beside her, which she handed around to the crowd of children.

  “Make sure everyone gets a copy,” she said.

  When Rachel and Kirsty got their copies, Kirsty gave a little squeak of happiness. The book they were going to read was Thumbelina—one of her favorite stories.

  “Follow along with the story in your own book,” said Alana, opening her copy and starting to read aloud. “Once upon a time, there was a woman who longed for children but had none. At last, she went to visit a fairy and said … ”

  Rachel and Kirsty were swept up in the story. Alana had a lovely reading voice, and the girls felt as if they could almost see tiny Thumbelina in her happy home, sleeping in her little walnut-shell bed.

  “One night, when Thumbelina was asleep under her rose-petal quilt, a goblin crept in through the window,” Alana read. “The goblin thought that Thumbelina would make a pretty wife for him, so he scooped her up from her walnut-shell bed and jumped out of the window into the garden.”

  Kirsty and Rachel glanced at each other.

  “That isn’t how the story is supposed to go,” Kirsty whispered.

  “But that’s what it says in the book,” Rachel replied in a low voice. “Look!”

  Kirsty frowned and put up her hand. Alana stopped reading.

  “Is everything all right?” she asked in a kind voice.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” said Kirsty, “but I think these books have a mistake in them. Thumbelina is supposed to be carried away by a toad, not a goblin.”

  “Oh!” said Alana, looking surprised. “I’m certain that it’s a goblin. After all, that’s what the book says.”

  All the other children in the circle shot puzzled glances at Kirsty. They obviously thought that she was wrong, too.

  “She’s right,” said Rachel in a loud voice.

  But the other children were shaking their heads and making shushing noises. Alana started reading the story again, and Kirsty looked at Rachel with a worried expression.

  “Something’s wrong,” she whispered. “I know this story very well and there definitely aren’t any goblins in it!”

  Just then, the empty cushion beside Rachel gave a little quiver. Kirsty and Rachel stared at it in astonishment. The other children were looking at Alana, so no one else noticed as the cushion hopped, shook, and jumped. Then, surrounded by a sprinkle of pale blue fairy dust, a beautiful fairy fluttered out from under the cushion.

  “Hello!” she said in an excited whisper. “I’m Elle the Thumbelina Fairy, and I’ve come to take you both to Fairyland!”

  Rachel and Kirsty were so surprised that they stared at Elle in silence for a moment. She was as tiny as Thumbelina herself, with long, wavy hair and an exquisite pale blue dress. Her wings were light pink with curled tips, and her shoes were a delicate shade of lilac.

  “Will you come?” Elle asked. “We need your help!”

  “Of course we will,” said Rachel.

  “But how can we leave now? We’re surrounded by other children.”

  Elle smiled.

  “Stories make their own magic,” she whispered. “The others are too spellbound by the story to notice what’s happening.”

  She waved her wand, and ther
e was a flurry of blue confetti and glittering thimbles. The girls closed their eyes as the magic whirled around, and when they opened them again, they were standing in a vast library. They had been transformed into fairies, and their gossamer wings were fluttering on their backs.

  “Welcome to the Fairyland Library,” said Elle, giving a delighted twirl.

  “It’s incredible,” Rachel whispered.

  “It’s the kind of place I’ve dreamed about,” said Kirsty.

  The high shelves were a treasure trove of beautiful books with spines in every color of the rainbow. The arched ceiling was made of glass, flooding the room with natural light. Three deep, comfy chairs with plump cushions were arranged in a horseshoe shape, and three other fairies were curled up on them.

  “I’d like to introduce you to the other Storybook Fairies,” said Elle, leading Rachel and Kirsty forward. “This is Rosalie the Rapunzel Fairy, Ruth the Red Riding Hood Fairy, and Mariana the Goldilocks Fairy.”

  The other fairies jumped up and smiled at Rachel and Kirsty.

  “It’s wonderful to meet you,” Rachel said, recovering from the surprise of being whisked to Fairyland. “But why have you brought us here?”

  “I’m afraid that Jack Frost and his goblins have done something truly terrible,” said Elle, sinking into one of the chairs.

  She raised her wand and pointed it at one of the bookshelves. A large book swept itself off the shelf and opened in midair to a big, blank page. As it hovered there, blurry pictures began to appear on the page. As the pictures grew clearer, the girls each drew a sharp breath.

  “It’s a picture of this library,” said Kirsty.

  “With Jack Frost and his goblins sneaking around inside,” Rachel added. “What did they do?”

  “They took our most precious belongings,” said Elle.

  The girls watched the picture in the book. Jack Frost undid the golden clasp of a wooden box. He raised the lid and scooped the contents into a bag, laughing. Then he handed the bag to a goblin, threw the box on the floor, and left the library.

  The picture faded, and the book closed itself and slotted back into its place on the shelf.

  “What was in the box?” asked Rachel.

  “Four magical objects that have power over the stories we protect,” said Elle. “Whoever holds the objects has control over the stories. We use them to make sure that the stories go as they are supposed to, so every story ends happily.”

  “What is Jack Frost using them for?” Kirsty asked.

  “He and his goblins are using our magical objects to actually go into the stories and change them,” said Elle. “They want the stories to be all about them.”

  Kirsty and Rachel exchanged a worried glance.

  “So that’s why there was a goblin in the Thumbelina story,” said Rachel.

  “They could spoil the stories forever,” said Elle, looking very upset. “We have to do everything we can to stop them, and that’s why we thought of you. We know that you have always been good friends of Fairyland.”

  “We will help in any way we can,” Kirsty promised. “Just tell us what you would like us to do.”

  “Help me get my magical thumb ring back,” Elle pleaded. “We’ll have to go into the story and find the goblins.”

  “Into the story?” Rachel repeated. “Is that possible?”

  Elle gave a little smile.

  “This is Fairyland,” she said. “Anything is possible!”

  She flicked her wand, and another book flew from the shelf and into her waiting hands. It had a pale blue cover, and a single word was written on the front in silver letters: Thumbelina.

  “Come a little closer,” said Elle.

  Rachel and Kirsty stood on either side of her, and then she waved her wand. In a cloud of rainbow-colored glitter, the girls were swept inside the story of Thumbelina.

  Kirsty and Rachel found themselves standing in a cottage. White lace curtains covered the tiny windows, and there was a jug of wild flowers on the wooden kitchen table.

  “Oh, we’re human again!” Rachel exclaimed.

  “Yes,” said Elle. “The storybook world is the same size as the human world. Look.”

  She pointed to a little walnut shell on a nearby windowsill. It was even smaller than she was.

  “This must be Thumbelina’s bed,” Kirsty exclaimed, hurrying over to examine it. “Yes, look, Rachel! There is a tiny pillow and a beautiful quilt made from a rose petal.”

  Rachel came forward, too, and then paused.

  “Do you hear that?” she asked. “It sounds like someone crying.”

  “Maybe it’s Thumbelina!” said Kirsty.

  She flung open the window and looked down. Among the bright flowers in the window box was a tiny man wearing a golden crown. His face was buried in his hands, and he was crying as if his heart were broken.

  “It must be the flower fairy prince,” said Rachel in a soft voice. “He is supposed to marry Thumbelina at the end of the story.”

  “That’s right,” said Elle. “He’s a cousin of the Petal Fairies.”

  The little prince heard them speaking and looked up. He looked horrified when he saw the girls peering down at him.

  “Giants!” he cried, jumping to his feet. “Please, don’t eat me!”

  “Don’t be scared,” said Kirsty. “We’re not giants—we’re human girls. And we don’t want to eat you—we want to help you!”

  “No one can help me,” groaned the prince, sinking back down into the flowers.

  “Why?” asked Elle, flying out the window to hover beside him. “What happened?”

  “My dearest love, Thumbelina, has been taken from me by three bright green monsters,” said the prince. “They snatched her from her walnut-shell bed and ran off with her.”

  “Did they have big feet?” Rachel asked.

  “And long noses?” Kirsty added.

  The prince nodded, and the girls exchanged knowing glances. Goblins!

  “I tried to follow them,” he said. “I ordered them to bring her back to me. But they just laughed and said that a tiny prince was no match for them, and they were right. There was nothing I could do to get Thumbelina away from them, so I came back here, hoping for a miracle.”

  “Try not to worry,” Rachel said in a soothing voice. “We know exactly who those goblins are, and we’ve come to help. We’ll rescue Thumbelina and we’ll get Elle’s magical thumb ring back, too.”

  “Do you know where the goblins took Thumbelina?” Kirsty asked. “Could you take us there?”

  The prince looked at the girls with a doubtful expression.

  “I only know how to fly there,” he said. “I’m not sure I could lead humans on foot.”

  “That’s not a problem for us,” said Elle.

  She waved her wand, and in a whoosh of sparkles, Rachel and Kirsty shrank to fairy size. The prince looked at them in astonishment as they fluttered toward him.

  “How marvelous!” he exclaimed. “Follow me, and I will lead you to where I last saw them.”

  He zoomed up into the sky on flower-petal wings, and the three fairies followed him. Rachel and Kirsty gazed down at the storybook world as they flew overhead. They passed over a forest and at last reached a wide, burbling stream. There was an island in the middle of the stream, and the prince stopped, hovering in midair.

  “There,” he said, pointing down to the island. “There they are.”

  Three goblins were standing around a tree stump in the center of the island. The fairies and the prince flew closer and perched on a low-hanging tree

  branch. The goblins did not notice them. They were in the middle of a loud argument.

  “I should be the one to wear the magical thumb ring,” a short goblin was saying. “After all, I’m the one who captured her. She should marry me!”

  He was holding up a silver thumb ring. Then a long-nosed goblin shoved him, knocking the ring onto the tree stump.

  “No way!” the long-nosed goblin said, grabbing the
ring. “It fits my hand much better than yours.”

  “I’m the oldest, so the ring should be mine!” shrieked a knobby-kneed goblin, snatching the ring and kissing it.

  “She doesn’t want to marry any of them,” said the flower prince. “I am hoping that she wants to marry me! But where is she?”

  They looked around, and then the prince drew in a sharp breath and grabbed Kirsty’s arm.

  “There she is,” he said. “Look—on the tree stump.”

  The fairies looked and saw a tiny girl, no bigger than a human thumb, running back and forth across the tree stump. She was trying to grab the ring that the goblins were throwing around, but she was much too small.

  “Come on, let’s go help her!” the prince exclaimed.

  “Wait,” said Rachel, putting her hand on his arm. “We have to get Elle’s thumb ring back, too, or you and Thumbelina won’t get your happily ever after ending.”

  “But we can’t leave her there with those goblins!” the prince cried.

  “We need to distract them,” said Kirsty, thinking hard. “Could you swoop down toward them and try to keep them talking to you? Maybe we can get the thumb ring while they’re not looking.”

  The prince nodded.

  “I love Thumbelina!” he declared, throwing his tiny hands in the air. “I will do whatever it takes to rescue her from the goblins!”

  The flower prince swooped down toward the goblins, shouting as he flew.

  “Let Thumbelina go!” he demanded. “You don’t belong in our story!”

  The goblins jumped up and darted toward him, raising their hands and trying to swat him like a fly.