“We saw Doopie by Mallow’s tree, but she ran away before we could ask her,” Raina explained. She handed Cocoa’s notebook back to her. “I wrote it all down here so we could try to piece the story together.”
“This mystery is getting stranger and stranger,” Cocoa said, fluttering her wings.
Raina sat down on the ground beside her friends. “We fell asleep before Mallow returned to his tree,” she said. “Can you believe it?” She shook her head. “Of all the times to get tired!” Raina continued sadly, “I am so worried about the book. And I really don’t want any other Candy Fairy in Sugar Valley to know that it’s lost. They may start to panic!”
“We’re going to try again later today,” Berry said. “I’m definitely not a night owl! It is hard to stay up all night.”
“We were thinking we could have Sun Dip at Mallow’s tree so we can catch Mallow as soon as he wakes,” Berry told Cocoa and Melli. “Our best chance of talking to Mallow is to get him when he first wakes up.”
Melli spread some food out before her friends. “Have some breakfast,” she said. “I was in Fruit Chew Meadow this morning and picked these fruits.”
“Tell them what you just told me,” Cocoa urged Melli.
“Tell us what?” Raina asked. “What’s wrong now?”
Melli sighed and finished putting the fruits out on a blanket. “Well, it’s not much more than sugar fly gossip, I think,” she said slowly. She looked over at Cocoa, who nodded to go ahead. “There is some buzz about goblins in Sugar Valley,” Melli finally said.
The thought of goblins in Sugar Valley made Raina gasp. Once before, the fairies had heard about the mischief goblins could cause across the Vanilla Sea by melting candy, but that had turned out to be a friendly, lost dragon. Goblins were worse than Mogu and could cause much more trouble.
“We thought of checking the marshmallow tracks to see if those were goblin tracks, but we don’t have the Fairy Code Book,” Melli went on. She glanced at Raina. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re right,” Raina told her. “The Fairy Code Book would have stories about the goblins and how to deal with them.”
Berry stood up. “We can’t send a sugar fly message to Dash with this information. Those sugar flies will spread that gossip faster than jam on bread.”
“We have to find Blue Belle first,” Raina said. “She’ll have to come by this morning for food.”
“Send a message to Dash to return to Gummy Forest,” Cocoa said. “We need to make a plan if these goblin rumors are true.”
“Think, Raina,” Melli said. “We’ve never seen a goblin before. You must remember some story that can help.”
“Goblins are sticky creatures and move quickly,” Raina said quietly. She closed her eyes and tried to recall the pages in the book that spoke of goblins. “They are greedy and like gooey candy.” She opened her eyes and looked around at her friends. “And I am very certain that it would be dangerous to all Candy Fairies if they ever got the Fairy Code Book.”
A Looooong Day
Dash’s hand covered her gaping mouth. “Holy peppermint!” she said when she heard the goblin news. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Raina said sadly. She had spent all day trying to find more answers about goblins in one of her many books. Now that all her friends were together at Mallow’s tree, she hoped the owl would wake soon.
“This is stickier than I thought,” Dash said, settling down on the branch by her friends. “No Candy Fairy ever wants to hear about goblins.” She narrowed her eyes. “Wait, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Melli heard the rumors this morning, and then we checked all of Raina’s books,” Berry said. “We didn’t want to send the news with a sugar fly. We wanted to try to keep the news quiet until we knew for sure.”
Raina saw that Dash was upset and flew next to her. “We spent the day trying to find books with information about goblins,” she said. She hung her head. She was finding it hard to focus and remember details from the Fairy Code Book. This was so not like her!
“We have no time to rest!” Dash said, springing up into the air. “Who knows where the book is and who is reading the stories and recipes!”
“Dash!” Berry grumbled. “That is not helping!”
Dash flew down and landed next to Raina. “I’m sorry, Raina,” she said. “I guess we are all feeling stressed.”
“The longer the book is missing, the more I feel we’ll never see it again.” Raina dropped her head into her hands. “What will Princess Lolli say when she and Prince Scoop return to Sugar Valley? They will be so disappointed in me!”
“She’ll understand,” Melli told her. “When has Princess Lolli ever gotten mad at you?”
“I’ve never lost the Fairy Code Book before,” Raina said, full of gloom. “How could I have been so careless?”
No one said a word.
“No one close your eyes,” Raina instructed.
“Don’t worry,” Dash said. “I am not missing Mallow this time!”
As the daylight faded, there was rustling inside the tree. The five friends perked up, inched forward on the branch, and peeked inside the hole.
There was Mallow! He stood in the center of his home with his frosted white wings spread open. He blinked his wide blue eyes and adjusted to the dim light of the fading day.
Raina didn’t want to frighten Mallow. She had seen how being so eager had scared Doopie away. She held up her hand to her friends. She wanted to be the one to speak.
“Good evening, Mallow,” she said.
“Whooo, whooo. Good evening,” Mallow replied. He inched his way over to the edge of the hole and just sat.
Hmm, that’s strange, Raina thought. She wondered why Mallow didn’t try to fly out of the tree. But then she noticed that he seemed to be leaning to the right and one of his wings was not spread as far out as the other one was. “Mallow, are you okay?” she asked.
Mallow ruffled his feathers and tried to straighten his wing. Dash saw him close his eyes. It looked like he was in pain.
“You’re hurt!” said Raina. “What happened to you?” she asked, moving closer.
“Oh, noooooo,” Mallow said. He turned his head around.
“Please, let me help you,” Raina said.
Mallow looked at Raina and sighed. “My left wing is hurt.”
Raina nodded. “Yes, I thought something looked wrong with you. My friends and I want to help you. Will you let us?”
The owl blinked a few times and then spun his head around to see the Candy Fairies lined up on the branch. He sighed again. “Whooo, whooo. Yes, I will.”
The fairies took out the healing bag they had brought with them. After reading in one of the Lupa stories about having a first-aid kit handy, Raina insisted that they bring one to the marsh. Dash put some mint syrup on Mallow’s wing, and the owl sighed.
When Mallow looked calmer, Raina leaned in closer. “Mallow, there have been many strange things happening near Peppermint Grove and Gummy Forest. We know Dash saw you in the middle of the day yesterday. And now we wonder how you hurt yourself.”
Mallow, with his big round eyes, looked as though he might cry. He started to speak softly. “There was something crumpling out in Gummy Forest,” he told them. When I went to see what was happening, I clipped my wings.” He swung his head in a full circle.
“You can’t fly?” Dash asked.
Raina knew this news was not easy for Mallow to share. And all her friends had the same aching feeling. Not to be able to fly would be the worst fate. Mallow must have felt embarrassed.
“Once I arrived home, Doopie brought me some mint filling to soothe my wound,” Mallow said. “But it will take more time to heal.”
“So that is why Doopie was here!” Dash exclaimed.
“Shh,” Berry scolded her. “Let Mallow finish.”
Mallow backed away a little. “There is more,” the owl confessed. “The noises I heard were made by greedy troublemakers.”
�
��What?” all the fairies said at once.
Mallow lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Goblins,” he said. “Goblins have come to Gummy Forest. That’s whoooooo. And they took the Fairy Code Book.”
Bitter News
Goblins in Gummy Forest?” Raina gasped. Her wings started to beat faster. “The rumors were true!”
“Oh, Mallow!” Melli cried. “Did the goblins hurt you?”
Mallow stood tall. “I could outfly a goblin even with a wounded wing,” he boasted.
Raina knew the proud owl was very puffed up about his flying. “Tell us what happened,” she urged him.
“The other night, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I saw goblins in Peppermint Grove,” Mallow hooted. “There were two goblins, and they were very careless. They broke many candy canes as they ran.”
“I knew there was something strange about those broken candy canes!” Dash exclaimed. She slapped her hand on her knee. Dash flew over to a branch closer to Mallow. “Were you following the goblins when I saw you in Marshmallow Marsh?”
Mallow spun his head and nodded at Dash. “Yes,” he said. “I didn’t want to worry you. Goblins are sneaky and get around quickly. I could tell that they were looking for something, and I wanted to keep following them.”
“Gooey gumdrops! They must have been hunting for the Fairy Code Book,” Raina said. The pieces of the mystery were starting to make sense. “I wish you had warned me that goblins were around, Mallow.”
The owl sighed. “Whoooo. I thought that I could protect Sugar Valley, whooo. And now I have made things terribly sour.”
Raina felt bad for the owl. She knew how he was feeling. Often she wished that she could solve problems without anyone’s help. “Oh, Mallow,” Raina said softly. “We all have to work together. Especially when goblins are involved.”
Mallow looked down. “I should have told you about seeing goblins in Gummy Forest, Raina,” he said. “A thousand hoots of apology.”
“No use being sorry now,” Berry piped up. “We have a book to find . . . and some gooey goblins.”
“I was afraid she was going to say that,” Melli whispered to Cocoa.
Raina spread her wings. “They wanted the Fairy Code Book,” she said, “and now they have it.” She looked around at her friends. “They will try to make our candy . . . and surely they will ruin the crops.”
“What makes you so sure?” Cocoa asked.
Raina twisted her hair around her finger. “I may be fuzzy on all the stories in the Fairy Code Book right now,” she said, “but I can tell you this. Goblins can’t make candy on their own. They may have the recipes, but they have no magic.”
“So why steal the Fairy Code Book?” Melli asked.
“With the book, they have a better chance of learning some secrets,” Raina said. “Now the marshmallow in Gummy Forest makes sense. That is a candy mishap for sure.”
“I guess the question is,” Berry said, “can they learn to make the candy, even without magic? Or make existing candy sour?”
Feeling all eyes on her, Raina took a deep breath. “I am not sure,” she said. “But sure as sugar, they can make a huge mess.”
“Whooo,” Mallow said. “This is bitter news.”
Raina’s head was pounding. Now that she knew who had the book, she knew the fairies had to get it back—fast.
“Mallow, you stay here and keep the mint syrup on your wing,” Raina told him. “My friends and I are going to head back to my library. Maybe I have another book on goblins that will help us with this case.”
“Now she’s sounding more like Raina,” Dash said with a grin.
“Actually, it sounds like Lupa,” Berry said. “Maybe Lupa has a case like this in another book?”
“I’m not sure,” Raina said, thinking hard. “But sure as sugar, I’m going to look.”
“We can outsmart those goblins!” Dash exclaimed.
“Hold on,” Melli said. “I think we need to let Princess Lolli know what is happening, now that we know for sure that it’s more than just rumors that there are goblins in Sugar Valley.”
Raina knew Melli was right. It broke her heart. “I’ll write a sugar fly message,” she said slowly. “Maybe by the time Princess Lolli and Prince Scoop get home we’ll have some good news.”
“I’ll let the Candy Castle guards know too,” Cocoa said. “We should tell them to keep a lookout.”
“Thank you,” Raina said. She was happy that her friends were around to help.
“Let’s come up with a trap,” Dash said.
“Thinking like Lupa again,” Melli said.
“I’m glad!” Berry added. “That’s what we need. A good detective. But how do you trap goblins?”
Raina scratched her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “With something sticky,” she said.
Melli’s hand shot up in the air. “Caramel!” she shouted.
Raina laughed. “Yes, caramel—and lots of it.” She nodded. “Yes, I think we can catch goblins . . . and get the book back.”
Perfect Plan
At home and surrounded by her books in her library, Raina finally felt better than she had over the past two days. Now that she knew that the goblins had taken the Fairy Code Book, she knew what to research. The Fairy Code Book would have an answer, but there were other books to read. She reached for Lupa Stories and opened the large book on the table. Her friends circled around her.
“Yes, of course,” she said. She turned a few pages. “What a great idea!” Her mind was racing as she quickly read the story of Lupa and the goblins.
“What?” Dash asked. “Raina, tell us what you are reading.”
Raina peered over the top of the book and smiled at her friends. “Lupa had to face goblins too,” she said. “And she says here that caramel is the perfect trap. Goblins love the sweet, gooey treat, and it’s the perfect glue for holding them still!”
“You just have to have enough,” Dash said.
“If the goblins were trying to make gummy candy and got marshmallow,” Raina said, thinking out loud, “I think I know how we can trap them.”
“How?” Dash asked. “Just think of all the candy disasters that could happen in Sugar Valley if the goblins keep this up!”
Raina felt her anger bubble up inside her. “Let’s leave a trail of notes leading the goblins to the key to the Fairy Code Book,” she said. “The trail will end with a caramel trap.”
“I think we should add some candy with the notes to make things choc-o-rific and gooey,” Cocoa added.
“Good thinking, Cocoa,” Raina said. “No one is greedier than a goblin.”
“Lupa would be so proud of all of us,” Berry said.
“Well, she’d be proud if we catch the goblins,” Raina told her, “and get the Fairy Code Book back safely.”
Dashed yawned. Her yawn made Cocoa and Melli yawn. And once Cocoa and Melli yawned, Berry and Raina yawned as well.
“It is late,” Raina said. She looked at her friends and saw the tired looks in their eyes. “We need to get some rest, but first we must set the traps and make the clues.”
“What should the clues say?” Cocoa said.
“I’ll handle that,” Raina told her. “You, Melli, and Dash fly to Caramel Hills for the caramel for the trap.”
Raina saw the worry in Dash’s eyes. A smile slowly appeared on Raina’s face. “The goblins aren’t Candy Fairies,” she told Dash. “They won’t be able to figure out all our secrets in one night. And that makes all the difference.”
Dash fluttered her wings. “I’m glad that I’m a Candy Fairy!”
“Me too!” Berry exclaimed. “Now let’s set up the trap and then get some rest.”
Dash, Melli, and Cocoa sped off to Caramel Hills with large buckets to scoop up the gooey treat. Meanwhile, Berry and Raina thought of clever clues to get the goblins toward the trap.
“How does this sound?” Raina asked. “ ‘If you want to know the real secret of Candy Fairies candy
, follow this trail to Gummy Lake. A sweet surprise is there for you.’ ”
“Sugar-tastic!” Berry exclaimed. She pulled a few sugarcoated candies from her bag. “And a few of these left on the trail won’t hurt!”
“A good way to a goblin is through his stomach!” Raina said, giggling.
For the first time since the Fairy Code Book was gone, Raina felt sure of herself. “I think this plan is going to work,” she said to Berry.
Soon Melli, Dash, and Cocoa returned to Gummy Forest.
“You asked for caramel, and now you’ve got it!” Cocoa boasted. She proudly showed off full buckets of melted caramel straight from Caramel Hills.
“Mmm,” Dash said, licking her lips. “There’s nothing as sweet as fresh, smooth caramel from the hills.”
“Or as sticky,” Cocoa said. She made a sour face as she tried to rub off the caramel stuck on her hands.
“This trap just has to catch the goblins,” Raina told them. “Thanks for getting the caramel.”
Working together, the fairies set the trap in the moonlight. They poured the caramel into a ditch near Gummy Lake and then spread wide gummy leaves over the top.
“Now the goblins won’t see the trap,” Berry said.
Cocoa hung a large piece of chocolate from a gummy oak on the other side of the caramel trap. “Just to make sure the goblins walk into the caramel,” she said, smiling. “Who could resist chocolate?”
“Hopefully not goblins,” Raina said.
“Sure as sugar, we are going to catch goblins tonight,” Berry said.
“Thanks for staying here tonight,” Raina said as her friends settled into sleeping bags for the night.
“We wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Cocoa said. “I can’t wait to see goblins.”
“I can,” Melli said, pulling her blanket over her face.
“There’s no campfire, but could you tell a story?” Dash asked. She looked at Raina with her big blue eyes.
“There was once a fairy who had the sweetest friends in Sugar Valley,” Raina began. She paused as she watched her four friends curled up in sleeping bags. “There was no greater treat for them than being together.”
Marshmallow Mystery Page 3