“I made them,” said Buttercup in her soft, quiet voice. “I’m so glad you like them.”
The fairy princesses led Holly into the banquet room, where the walls were covered in sparkling red-and-green bunting. At one end stood a Christmas tree even bigger than those she’d seen in the entrance hall. It was covered with so many sparkling baubles, gifts and ribbons that Holly could hardly see any green beneath at all. The baubles floated above the branches, glistening with fairy-dust, making the tree look extra magical. At the top was a silver star that spun slowly, giving off showers of silver glitter as it moved. At the other end of the room was a mirrored dance floor in front of a stage.
Suddenly, a fairy-bunny tooted on a trumpet. “That’s to announce the start of dinner,” explained Bluebell. She pointed to the circular dining tables that were dotted across the room. “All the seats have place names, so I hope you can find yours OK.”
Holly nodded. “Thank you, Bluebell. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
The room started to fill with beautifully dressed guests in all different types and colours of ball gowns. Holly said hello to a couple of fairies she knew, including Willa from Jewel Forest and Honey from Shimmer Island.
Holly fluttered among the tables, looking out for her name. It didn’t take her too long to find the seat where the name “Holly” danced above the plate in sparkling fairy-dust – how magical!
Holly sat down on the cushioned red velvet chair and turned to say hello to her neighbour. To her delight, it was Princess Buttercup!
“Hello!” said Holly.
Buttercup grinned. “Hi, Holly! Oh, I can’t wait for the banquet to begin – we’ve got lots of yummy food that we chose especially for the ball.”
“Holly, is that you?” said a smooth voice behind her.
Holly turned to see who was sat the other side of her and squealed in delight – it was Snowdrop, from Dream Mountain! The two fairies were cousins and great friends – although they didn’t see each other very often, as they lived so far apart. They had always found it funny that they both had wintry names. Snowdrop’s waist-length hair had been piled up in a stunning bun on the top of her head, and she wore a gorgeous pink floor-length gown with sequins at the hem and on the sleeves.
“You look beautiful,” said Holly.
“Thank you, Holly – and so do you!”
Moments later, the first course of the Snowflake Ball banquet was served by the fairy-helpers – tiny fairies with double wings who worked at the palace.
Holly stared at the food before her. It looked too good to eat! Star-shaped tomatoes were placed around the edge of the plate, and there were ribbons of beetroot piled in the centre with a scattering of pink walnuts on top. She pulled her Christmas cracker with Snowdrop, and they gasped as it shot out a burst of fairy-dust. This was followed by a tiara, which spun around and nestled on Holly’s head, and a tiny present wrapped in golden paper. Holly opened it and let out a squeak of happiness – it was a snowflake ring that perfectly matched her dress!
Soon, everyone had pulled their magical crackers and started to eat their food. It tasted delicious! Fairy-helpers passed around fresh warm bread rolls straight from the oven, which Holly quickly spread with glitter-butter from a little bowl on the table.
The next course was a Christmas pie filled with potatoes, turkey, parsnips and smooth, creamy gravy. After she’d finished the last mouthful, Holly wasn’t sure she could eat another thing – but then the fairy-helpers brought around snow cones, asking each guest which flavour they’d like.
“Oh, strawberry and lime, please!” said Holly. It was her favourite.
As the fairy-helpers cleared the tables, a band started up on the stage. Snowdrop nudged Holly. “The band is from Dream Mountain!” she told her. “The fairy princesses asked them to come along especially.”
Holly looked over and gasped – the band was a group of dragonflies, which darted in and out of little silver harps to make the music.
Soon Holly was on the dance floor, along with the rest of the guests. They twirled and spun around, dancing to “Christmas Tree Flutter”, “Fairy Special Christmas” and lots of other Christmas songs. Time passed so quickly that Holly couldn’t believe it when the fairy-bunny blew on the trumpet once more. Was it time to go home already?
As everyone turned to look at the bunny, she squeaked, “It is now midnight – officially Christmas Day! Please could I ask everyone to go outside?”
The fairies began filing out of the rear banquet-room door. Whatever can it be? wondered Holly.
Holly was very glad of her faux-fur wrap as the fairies stood shivering in the palace gardens, waiting to find out what was going on. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the most amazing shower of shooting stars began to fly out over Lily-pad Lake. Red stars, green stars, yellow stars and purple stars – Holly had never seen anything like it before!
Princess Rosa came up beside Holly. “We have mermaid guests from Glitter Ocean too – they’re having a party in the lake, so they can see the shooting star display just as well as we can!”
That’s a lovely idea, thought Holly, glad that the mermaids weren’t missing out.
The shooting stars kept coming, and were now spinning in circles like Catherine wheels. Everyone oohed and aahed and clapped as the stars kept shooting above them, but Holly’s eye was suddenly drawn by something else, just off to the right of the stars. If she wasn’t mistaken, it looked like a tiny sleigh pulled by unicorns. Had the Snow Queen returned? A shiver of excitement ran down her spine.
The display ended with a burst of silver stars that rushed up into the air, darted about and, to Holly’s delight, spelled out the words “Merry Christmas”!
Everyone whooped and cheered, then hugged each other.
“That was incredible!” Holly said to Rosa as she gave her a huge hug. “Thank you so much!”
The guests began to make their way back inside the palace, chattering about the shooting stars and how wonderful they were. Just when Holly didn’t think the ball could get any better, she spotted an enormous pile of presents that had appeared under the Christmas tree in the banquet hall.
All the fairy guests stood around the tree in awe. “The Snow Queen has been!” said Bluebell, dancing from foot to foot.
The fairy princesses started handing out the presents to their guests. When Holly opened her parcel, she shrieked in delight – there, nestled in silver tissue paper, was a beautiful woollen stocking, just like the ones Buttercup had made! She showed her present to Snowdrop, who had unwrapped a gorgeous pink scarf, threaded with moth-silk.
“I can’t wait until next year to use it.” Holly stroked the soft knitted stocking. “Actually, I’m going to put it up on my mantelpiece right away – then I can admire it all year round!”
As she was talking, Holly noticed movement from behind the last few presents still underneath the Christmas tree. She squinted at them and moved closer.
“SURPRISE!” Summer and May jumped out from the presents, waving tinsel. “Merry Christmas!”
“Oh my fairyness!” cried Holly, her heart almost thumping right out of her chest with excitement. “I can’t believe it! Were you invited to the ball all along? It’s so lovely to have you here!” Just when she’d thought all of her wishes had come true, this was the best surprise of them all!
Summer, who was dressed in a beautiful royal blue satin gown, beamed. “No, we weren’t invited – well, not at first, anyway…”
May, who wore a gorgeous turquoise maxi-dress, leant close to Holly’s ear. “We were at my house having dinner when the Snow Queen appeared,” she explained in a whisper. “We couldn’t believe it. She told us she’d arranged a last-minute invitation!”
“She brought us here in her sleigh,” added Summer. “It was such a magical ride!”
Holly grinned. She knew just how magical it was. But not quite as magical
as this very moment, she thought as she hugged her two best friends and wished them a very Happy Christmas. The Snow Queen had thought of the most perfect way to thank Holly – inviting Summer and May!
The band began to play once more and everyone fluttered back on to the dance floor. The ball was far from over. The three friends danced and twirled each other about, singing along to the Christmas songs and laughing. Now all of Holly’s wishes had really come true. She’d never forget such a wonderful Christmas, especially now she got to share it with the best and kindest friends in all of fairyland!
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“Please could you pass me the petal pancakes, Buttercup?” asked Violet, eyeing the tall stack of fluffy pink cakes hungrily. “They look delicious.”
“They are,” said Bluebell, pouring rose-coloured syrup on to her second helping. “I think they might be the nicest I’ve ever tasted.”
Buttercup passed the silver plate of pancakes to her friend. It was a sunny Saturday morning and the fashion fairy princesses – Violet, Rosa, Buttercup and Bluebell – were having breakfast on the jewelled patio of Glimmershine Palace. All around them the glittering pink and purple flowers of the palace’s gardens fluttered in the gentle breeze.
“It’s such a beautiful day,” said Buttercup, taking a sip of nectar from the flower-shaped glass in front of her. “I can’t wait to get down to the palace stables.”
“Oh look,” said Violet, “here’s Ferdinand with the fairy-mail. I wonder if he has anything exciting for me.”
Ferdinand was a beautiful metallic blue firefly and a fairy-flyer. The fairy-flyers picked up and delivered the fashion fairy princesses’ fairy-mail from all over Sparkle City.
Violet looked a little disappointed as Ferdinand buzzed quickly past her chair. He also passed Rosa and Bluebell but landed gently next to a surprised Buttercup.
“I wasn’t expecting anything,” said Buttercup excitedly as she thanked Ferdinand and reached into his saddlebag. When she pulled out her hand, she was holding a large gold glittering shell.
“What a beautiful shell,” said Bluebell.
“It looks like it came from Glitter Ocean,” said Rosa, peering closer. “Do you know someone from Glitter Ocean, Buttercup?”
“Only my Great-aunt Melinda. She’s a mermaid and lives near Coral Castle with the other merpeople,” answered Buttercup, examining the shell carefully, “but I haven’t heard from her since last year’s Annual Fairy Festival.”
“Aren’t you going to open it?” said Violet, desperate to know what was inside. “Perhaps it’s a present.”
Buttercup looked at the large, flat shell in her hand and tried to open it with her delicate fingers, but nothing happened.
“Let me have a go,” said Violet, reaching for the shell.
“Violet, it’s Buttercup’s invitation. Let her open it,” said Rosa gently. “Buttercup, why don’t you try using a little fairy-dust? Perhaps it was closed with fairy magic.”
“Good idea, Rosa,” said Violet. “Sorry, Buttercup, I was only trying to help.”
Buttercup took out a small pouch of fairy-dust from the skirt of her dress and sprinkled a little over the shell. With a puff of golden glitter, the shell opened to reveal a shining yellow invitation…
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2014
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd 2014
Text copyright © Scholastic Ltd, 2014
Cover copyright © Pixie Potts, Beehive Illustration Agency, 2014
Inside illustration copyright © David Shephard, The Bright Agency, 2014
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eISBN 978 1407 14752 9
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Holly and the Christmas Wish Page 3