BY
MEREDITH BADGER
Fairy School Drop-out: Over the Rainbow
published in 2008 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
85 High Street
Prahran, Victoria, 3181, Australia
The pages of this book are printed on paper approved
by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which promotes
responsible management of the world’s forests.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior
permission of the publishers and copyright owner.
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia
Text copyright © 2008 Meredith Badger
Illustration and design copyright © 2008 Hardie Grant Egmont
Cover and text design by Sonia Dixon Design
Illustrations by Michelle Mackintosh
Printed in China
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Chapter One
Imagine this: You are walking through a park and you see a girl and an old lady hurrying along. The girl looks like a normal, average schoolgirl, except her feet are slightly on the small side and her hair is very, very shiny. Perhaps you decide that the old lady is the girl’s grandmother. She looks like she’s probably saying, ‘Come along, dear. Let’s get home so your old gran can make you a batch of biscuits.’
You smile, thinking, What a lovely granny, and what a typical, ordinary girl. They must be going on a stroll together – the sort we humans go on all the time.
Well, you were right about one thing – the old lady is the girl’s grandmother. But everything else you thought was wrong. Totally, utterly wrong. For a start, there’s nothing typical or ordinary about the girl. She’s a fairy, and her name is Elly.
If you were a fairy expert, you might’ve noticed that she has exactly ten freckles and that her fingers are slightly shimmery. You wouldn’t have seen her wings, though, because they were hidden beneath her clothes.
Her grandmother is a fairy, too. But Elly’s grandmother isn’t exactly lovely.
What she was actually saying to Elly as they hurried through the park was, ‘I don’t know what your parents were thinking, sending you to a human school while they are away. It’s not as if you didn’t already have some very bad habits! I’ve left a message for your mother, telling her that I’m taking you to a proper fairy school. A good, strict one with no humans!’
Elly hurried along beside her grand-mother. She knew better than to argue with an angry Grandmother Knottleweed-Eversprightly.
But at the same time, there were a few things worrying her. For one thing, where exactly were they going?
Elly had lived in this town all her life and she knew where all the fairy schools were. In fact, she’d already been to three of them! Unfortunately, she’d had to leave all three of them, too. Things just always seemed to go wrong for Elly at school.
Something else was on Elly’s mind. Has Grandmother even told my family which school she’s sending me to?
Elly’s mum was a top inventor at Fairy Inc Corporation. She had been called away recently on a top-secret business trip. Elly’s dad and baby sister Kara had gone, too.
But Elly hadn’t been allowed to go. The trip was so secret that her family couldn’t even send Elly any wand messages to let her know where they were and what they were doing. Elly hadn’t heard from them in ages.
I just hope they come back soon! Elly thought, as her grandmother dragged her along by the arm. For such a tiny lady she had a very tight grip.
Grandmother led Elly towards the centre of the local gardens.
‘Um, excuse me, Grandmother,’ said Elly in her politest voice.
‘What, Elinora?’ snapped Grandmother.
‘It’s just that I know there aren’t any fairy schools in this park,’ said Elly.
Grandmother stopped suddenly by the large fountain in the middle of the park. ‘The school I’m taking you to is not in this park,’ she retorted. ‘It’s in Rainbowville.’
Elly looked at her grandmother in surprise. ‘Rainbowville!’ she repeated. Rainbowville was the capital of Fairydom. ‘I’ve never been.’
‘Well, it’s about time you went,’ said Grandmother . ‘Only fairies are allowed in there. It will do you good to be separated from all those ghastly human children.’
Elly frowned, thinking about her human friends Jess and Caitlin at South Street School. Elly had only been at the school for a little while, but it was the happiest time she’d ever spent at any school. For once she was actually doing well at school. She had just started to fit in, too, when Grandmother had arrived and dragged her away!
‘They’re not ghastly. Most of them are really nice,’ Elly said crossly. ‘Much nicer than a lot of fairies I know,’ she added under her breath. ‘Like Gabi Cruddleperry, for instance.’
Gabilotta Cruddleperry had been at Elly’s last fairy school – Mossy Blossom Academy. She and Elly had been enemies ever since Elly had accidentally given her a big moustache on their first day at school. Gabi had been trying to get even with Elly ever since.
‘What?’ asked Grandmother sharply.
‘Nothing!’ Elly replied hastily. ‘I was just wondering – how do we get to Rainbowville?’
Grandmother looked annoyed. ‘Over the rainbow, of course!’ she said. ‘You should know all about the Rainbow Portal from reading the Fairy Code.’
Elly kept quiet. The Fairy Code was a huge rule book that school fairies were supposed to read every day. Whenever Elly tried to read it, however, she fell asleep! But there was no way she could tell Grandmother that. Especially as some Knottleweed-Eversprightly ancestor had helped write it.
‘We need to catch ourselves a rainbow,’ said Grandmother, producing a large, multicoloured umbrella from somewhere in her coat.
Elly looked up at the clear blue sky. ‘I don’t think it’s going to rain,’ she said doubtfully. ‘And besides, just as you get close to a rainbow, it vanishes!’
Grandmother unfurled the umbrella. ‘It’s not a matter of finding the end of the rainbow,’ she explained condescendingly. ‘It’s about getting the rainbow to come to you.’
Elly had to try very hard not to giggle. Everyone knew that rainbows didn’t come to you when you called!
But then Grandmother held the umbrella up and the most extraordinary thing happened. Droplets of water began rising out of the fountain and floating towards the umbrella. Before long, a fine mist hung in the air. Then a rainbow appeared in the centre of the mist, arching up into the sky.
‘Wow!’ gasped Elly.
The rainbow was very bright, and the colours seemed to pulse and shimmer. As Elly watched, the rainbow grew bigger and stronger, stretching up into the sky.
‘Come here,’ instructed Grandmother. She grabbed Elly and jumped onto the rainbow.
Then Elly found herself hurtling up the rainbow. I feel like I’m on a giant roller-coaster, giggled Elly to herself, as she whooshed higher and higher. I wish I could do this on my skateboard!
The rainbow was smooth and slightly spongy to sit on, but completely dry. Elly gripped the rainbow’s sides to steady herself.
Down below, the town got smaller and smaller until Elly could h
ardly see it at all.
With a little bounce, Elly and her grand-mother arrived at the top of the rainbow. Looking down, Elly saw something amazing. On one side of the rainbow was the town she’d grown up in. And on the other side was a vast, magical-looking city, twinkling and gleaming in the sunlight.
Rainbowville! thought Elly excitedly.
‘Hold on very tight, Elinora!’ called Grandmother, as they began zooming down the other side. ‘We’re almost there.’
Chapter Two
The closer Elly and Grandmother got to the ground, the clearer the sights and sounds of Rainbowville became. Tall buildings pointed towards the sky, glimmering and catching the light like they were made from crystal. Around the buildings were beautiful parks, filled with brightly coloured trees and flowers. And everywhere Elly looked, there were hundreds of fairies!
Elly’s parents sometimes talked about Rainbowville, but Elly had never paid much attention. She’d never been all that interested in it. She’d vaguely pictured Rainbowville as a storybook kind of place, with lots of old-fashioned cottages and cobbled streets.
But from up on the rainbow, Rainbowville. actually looked very modern. All the fairies seemed to be wearing very trendy clothes. There wasn’t a tutu in sight!
Some of them weren’t even flying, but riding on skateboards – in mid-air!
I wish I had my skateboard, thought Elly wistfully. Her skateboard was her favourite way to get around, but now it was back on the other side of the rainbow.
And I wish Jess were here. Jess was Elly’s human friend. She lived next door to Elly’s family in Raspberry Drive, and was always interested in Elly’s fairy gadgets. Elly knew Jess would be fascinated by Rainbowville.
Saphie would like it here too, I bet! thought Elly. Saphie was Elly’s best fairy friend at Mossy Blossom. Unfortunately, just like Jess, Saphie was now far away on the other side of the rainbow.
Suddenly, Elly really missed her friends. Coming to Rainbowville would have been a great adventure if her friends were with her, too. But being here with Grandmother wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.
‘Get ready to land, Elinora!’ called Grandmother suddenly.
The ground seemed to be heading towards them at an alarming rate. We’re going to crash! Elly thought.
But just as they reached the end of the rainbow, they slowed down and plopped gently into a large, golden pot full of comfy cushions. A rainbow-coloured mist swirled around them.
‘Is this the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that humans are always talking about?’ asked Elly.
‘Indeed,’ replied Grandmother, tucking the rainbow umbrella under her arm and flying neatly out of the pot. ‘But as usual, the humans got it completely wrong. As you can see, it’s really a pot made of gold, rather than a pot full of gold.’
Elly caught sight of a small pipe sticking up through the base of the pot. The rainbow-coloured mist seemed to be coming out of it.
‘Grandmother, where does that pipe lead to?’ Elly asked curiously.
Grandmother frowned. ‘You ask too many questions, Elinora,’ she said. ‘But if you must know, it leads to the Rainbow Laboratory. That’s where the rainbow is made.’
RAINBOW FACTS
The rainbow is a bridge between
the human and fairy realms.
At the end is a pot made of gold,
rather than a pot full of gold.
The rainbow-coloured mist is made
at the Rainbow Laboratory.
‘Really!’ said Elly. ‘Can we have a look?’
‘Certainly not!’ said Grandmother briskly. ‘The Rainbow Laboratory is top secret. Unlicensed fairies are not allowed in. Now come along and stop dawdling.’
Elly untucked her wings and flew out of the pot, landing beside her grandmother. I wish I could explore Rainbowville by myself, thought Elly longingly.
Then she heard a strange, whirring noise above her. Looking up, she saw what seemed to be a large pen, scribbling in the sky. Large cloud-like letters were forming as it wrote.
Elly’s mouth fell open when she saw what the letters spelt. ‘Grandmother!’ she gasped. ‘That giant pen wrote our names in the sky!’
‘It’s not a giant pen, Elinora,’ Grandmother corrected. ‘It’s a Cloud Writer. It writes the name of anyone who enters or leaves Rainbowville. It’s to make sure no humans wander through accidentally. And it’s also a way of stopping young fairies from sneaking out. Unlicensed fairies like yourself aren’t allowed out of Rainbowville unsupervised.’
Elly gulped. That meant she was trapped here! ‘How does it know who I am?’ she asked.
‘Because of the Sky Scanner, of course,’ said Grandmother crossly, as if Elly should know all about it. ‘It watches to see whoever is entering or exiting Rainbowville. Then it scans them to discover their identity. The visitor’s name is sent straight to the Cloud Writer.’
Elly watched as a breeze blew and the cloud writing disappeared. Then she gave an enormous yawn. ‘Excuse me, Grandmother,’ she said hurriedly, because Grandmother thought yawning was very rude. ‘Suddenly I feel incredibly tired.’
‘Well, of course you do!’ Grandmother replied. ‘Human time and fairy time is different. One fairy day equals a whole week in human time.’ Then she grasped Elly firmly by the wrist. ‘Come along. The sooner we get you settled into your new school the better.’
‘Is it far?’ asked Elly, feeling nervous.
‘Not far at all,’ said Grandmother. ‘Turn around.’
Elly turned. Behind them was a vast building, glowing and twinkling like a jewel. It changed colours, too. One moment it was pink, then it was turquoise, then silvery-blue.
‘It’s so beautiful!’ said Elly, surprised. She hadn’t thought the school would look like this.
‘Of course!’ said Grandmother. ‘It’s the Rainbow Academy for Fairies, after all – the finest and most prestigious school in all of Rainbowville. I went there and so did your mother. And now you are going there. I hope you will add further glory to the Knottleweed-Eversprightly name.’
‘Er, well … I’ll do my best,’ said Elly uncertainly. She didn’t exactly have a great record of doing well at fairy schools.
‘I certainly hope you will,’ replied Grandmother crisply, turning towards the school’s arched front gates.
Elly looked up. The sky was getting dark. All around her, fairies were hurrying home for the night. ‘Excuse me, Grandmother, but isn’t it a bit late to be going to school today? Everyone will have gone by now.’
‘I doubt that very much,’ Grandmother retorted. ‘The Rainbow Academy is a boarding school, after all.’
Elly stared at her grandmother in horror. ‘A boarding school!’ she exclaimed. ‘You didn’t tell me that!’
Grandmother turned to Elly and raised an eyebrow. ‘You don’t have to go there if you don’t want to, Elinora,’ she said.
‘Really?’ asked Elly suspiciously.
‘Of course not,’ said Grandmother. ‘You can always be tutored privately by me. Classes would run from 7am to 7pm everyday, with a 15-minute break for lunch. Every month or so you could have a half-day off.’
Elly gulped and began flying towards the Rainbow Academy. ‘Come on, Grandmother,’ she said quickly. ‘We’d better get there as soon as we can!’
I’m sure mum and dad will come and get me before too long, Elly told herself. I just hope that it’s sooner rather than later …
Chapter Three
Soon Elly and Grandmother were flying through the rainbow-shaped gates of the Academy and up to the front door. Up close, the whole building was slightly see-through, as if it were made entirely of crystals. Elly could see figures moving about inside.
Grandmother rang the doorbell and a moment later it was opened by an elegant fairy with grey wings and a tower of white hair piled high on her head.
At first the fairy looked stern, but her face broke into smiles when she saw Grandmother. ‘Fifibella Knottleweed-Eversprightly!’ she exclai
med. ‘How lovely to see you!’
‘Emerelda Fernyfrond, my dear,’ replied Grandmother warmly. ‘You look wonderful!’
Elly was surprised. Grandmother hardly ever smiled.
‘Madame Fernyfrond and I were students together at the Academy, Elly,’ explained Grandmother. ‘Now she’s the Head Fairy here.’
Grandmother turned back to Madame Fernyfrond. ‘This is my grand-daughter, Elinora. I’m hoping you have room for her, Emmy.’
Madame Fernyfrond studied Elly, and Elly suddenly felt very self-conscious. She remembered the smudge of ink on her nose, and her messy hair. If Madame Fernyfrond was anything like Grandmother, these were things she would disapprove of highly.
But Madame Fernyfrond smiled. ‘There’s always room for a Knottleweed-Eversprightly at Rainbow Academy,’ she said. ‘You have a big reputation to live up to here, Elinora,’ she added, patting Elly’s shoulder. ‘Your mother finished top of her class. And your grand-mother is one of our most famous graduates.’
‘Elinora has picked up some very bad habits from humans,’ said Grandmother disapprovingly. ‘I’m hoping you can help turn her into a proper fairy.’
‘I understand completely,’ nodded Madame Fernyfrond. ‘My own grand-daughter has just started here as well. I suspect she’s also spent far too long around humans, and has started to go quite wild! She’s quite badly behaved and dreadfully rude. Those human children are such a bad influence.’
‘Exactly,’ agreed Grandmother. ‘Which is why I knew Rainbow Academy would be the perfect place to put Elinora on the right path.’
‘I will certainly do my best,’ said Madame Fernyfrond. ‘Elinora can share a dormitory with my grand-daughter. That way I can keep a special eye on the two of them.’
Elly’s heart sank. She didn’t want to share with Madame Fernyfrond’s rude, badly behaved grand-daughter. And she hated the idea of having a ‘special eye’ kept on her.
But Elly knew that if she complained, she would end up being privately tutored by Grandmother!
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