“Goblins!” Kirsty murmured.
“I wonder if they have Ava’s bag of sunbeam dust?” said Rachel. “We have to find out, Kirsty!”
Rachel and Kirsty quickly picked out their own dinner and then asked their parents if they could sit with some of the other kids.
Their parents agreed, so the girls hurried over to the picnic table next to the goblins. Some of the kids they’d met earlier were there, and they were talking about the activities at camp. Rachel and Kirsty joined in, but at the same time they were listening to what the goblins at the next table were saying.
“Give that burger back!” one of the goblins yelled. “It’s mine!”
“No way!” answered the other goblin, taking a big bite out of it.
The first goblin made a face at him. “Do you still have that bag of fairy dust in your pocket?” he demanded.
The girls glanced at each other.
“Of course I do,” the second goblin said grumpily through a mouthful of food. “I’m way too smart to lose something as important as that!” He shoved his hand into the pocket of his cargo shorts, but then he frowned. “The bag’s gone!” he groaned. “I must have dropped it.”
“Let me see!” the other goblin demanded. He scrambled across the bench and grabbed his friend, turning his pockets inside out. The other goblin growled in protest.
“You did lose it, you fool!” the first goblin cried, poking the other in the ribs with a breadstick. “What’s Jack Frost going to say when he finds out? We’re in big trouble.”
Kirsty turned to Rachel. “We need to find Ava’s bag of sunbeam dust before the goblins do!” she whispered.
“Let’s eat our food and then we can start searching the campsite,” Rachel suggested. The goblins continued to greedily gobble their dinner, still grumbling about the missing sunbeam dust. Rachel and Kirsty finished eating, but before they had a chance to start their search, Peter called all the kids together.
“Since the sun hasn’t set yet, we can stay up a little later and play a game,” he announced. The kids cheered. “How about hide-and-seek in the Whispering Woods?” He pointed to the forest at the edge of the campsite.
“Perfect!” Rachel murmured to Kirsty. “We’ll be able to hunt for Ava’s bag while we play, and no one will guess what we’re up to!”
“Now go and hide.” Peter covered his eyes and started counting. “One, two, three …”
Rachel, Kirsty, and the others ran toward the Whispering Woods. Kirsty glanced back and saw that the two goblins were still at the picnic table, stuffing themselves with food.
“At least the goblins won’t be looking for the bag yet,” she told Rachel. “They’re too busy eating!”
Once the girls were in the woods, Ava peeked out of Rachel’s pocket. She checked that there was no one around, and then flew out.
“Great job spotting those goblins, girls!” Ava cried. “I know my bag of sunbeam dust is very close by. We have to find it.”
Quickly Ava, Rachel, and Kirsty began to search around the trees. Suddenly they heard Peter shout, “Ready or not, here I come!”
Kirsty looked worried. “We’d better hide,” she said. “If Peter finds us, we’ll be out of the game and we’ll have to go back to camp before we’ve really searched the woods well.”
Kirsty and Rachel hurried toward a large, thick bush. As they reached it, Ava suddenly gave a squeal of surprise.
“There’s already someone hiding there!” she whispered, diving out of sight behind Kirsty’s hair.
Rachel and Kirsty saw Alex, one of the other campers, waving at them from behind the bush. “Come on,” she said with a smile, motioning to them. “There’s plenty of room!”
The girls slipped behind the bush to join her. Almost immediately, they heard footsteps.
“Shh!” Alex put her finger to her lips. “That might be Peter.”
But it wasn’t. Rachel and Kirsty glanced at each other with disappointment as they peeked through the leaves and saw the outline of a pointy nose. It was a goblin—the one who’d lost the bag!
“Hurry up and hide,” Alex called to the goblin. “Peter’s coming!”
“I’m not playing that silly game,” the goblin replied grumpily. “I’m looking for something very important!” And he moved on.
“I hear more footsteps,” Alex warned Rachel and Kirsty.
A moment later Peter walked by, but he didn’t notice them. Alex gave a sigh of relief.
“I’m going to go find my friend Katie and hide with her,” she told the girls. “Do you want to come?”
“Thanks, Alex,” Rachel replied with a smile, “but I think we’ll stay here.”
Alex ran off. Ava quickly flew out from behind Kirsty’s hair.
“Let’s keep looking!” she said.
The three friends continued searching the woods. Rachel was concentrating so hard on looking around, she was startled when a rabbit ran past her. With a smile, she watched the rabbit hop into his hole near the roots of a tree.
Then Rachel’s heart began to thump with excitement. There, caught on the roots of the tree, was a sparkling satin bag.
“I found it!” Rachel gasped.
Ava and Kirsty hurried over to Rachel, but before they could grab the bag, they heard footsteps. They immediately all slipped behind the tree closest to them. But to their horror, the goblin they’d seen a little earlier had appeared.
“Yes!” the goblin cried with glee as he spotted the bag. “I knew I’d find it again!”
“We have to stop him—” Rachel began.
“Wait!” Kirsty clutched her arm. “Someone’s coming.”
As the goblin went to pick up the bag, Peter ran down the path.
“Got you!” he said with a smile, grabbing the goblin by the arm. “You’re out!”
“Let me go!” the goblin complained as Peter led him away. He hadn’t had a chance to pick up the bag. “I’m not playing!”
But Peter didn’t pay any attention. Ava and the girls shared a relieved smile as Peter and the goblin disappeared.
“Now’s our chance!” Ava whispered.
They rushed out from behind the tree. But before they reached the bag, they heard even more footsteps.
“It might be Peter coming back,” Ava pointed out. “Let me turn you into fairies, so you won’t be spotted!”
With one swish of Ava’s wand, Kirsty and Rachel were showered with fairy dust. Immediately, they shrank down to Ava’s size, using their glittering fairy wings to zoom up and hide behind a tree branch with their friend.
“Oh, no!” Rachel gasped in horror. “It’s the other goblin!”
The second goblin began to search around the trees while Ava and the girls all held their breath. Suddenly, he spotted the bag of sunbeam dust and gave a shout of joy.
“I found it!” the goblin yelled. He grabbed the bag and jumped up and down. “Hooray! Now we won’t be in trouble with Jack Frost after all!”
There was the sound of someone running, and the other goblin rushed through the trees.
“Look, I found the magic bag,” the second goblin declared. He proudly dangled it in front of the other goblin’s face.
“Then we’ve got to get out of here right away!” the first goblin panted. “I barely escaped that silly man!”
“We have to get my bag back,” Ava said anxiously as the two goblins hurried off. “What should we do?”
“I think I have a plan!” Kirsty replied.
“Ava, maybe we could distract the goblins with another bag,” Kirsty explained. “A bag that really catches their eye?”
Ava thought for a moment. “I can do that!” she said with a smile.
She flicked her wand, and a cloud of magical sparkles drifted onto the path in front of the goblins. Instantly, a green satin bag appeared.
“Look!” the goblin holding Ava’s bag shouted. “Another bag—and it’s green!”
The goblins picked up the bag and closely examined it.
“It has a picture of two handsome goblins stitched on the front,” said the goblin holding Ava’s bag. “And, look—it’s us!”
Ava and the girls tried not to laugh.
The other goblin opened the bag, and a puff of green dust floated out.
“I like this bag much better,” he said. “The green dust is just like the sunset.”
“This must be the bag Jack Frost wanted us to look for all along!” the first goblin agreed. “Let’s leave the other one here and take this one instead.” He was about to drop the bag of sunbeam dust on the path when the other goblin clutched his arm.
“Wait,” he said. “Maybe we should take both bags to Jack Frost.”
Ava and the girls glanced at one another in horror.
“Do you think so?” the goblin with Ava’s bag asked doubtfully. “I really think Jack Frost would like this green one the best.”
“OK,” the other goblin finally agreed.
Ava, Rachel, and Kirsty breathed sighs of relief as the goblin finally dropped Ava’s bag on the path. Then the two of them went happily on their way, taking the green bag with them.
Ava, Rachel, and Kirsty laughed as they swooped down from the tree. Ava touched her wand to the bag and it immediately shrank to fairy–size.
“Thank you so much, girls!” Ava cried. She hugged her magic bag happily. “This means that sunsets all over the fairy and human worlds can be beautiful and colorful again. Now, you’d better get back to Camp Stargaze.”
With a wave of her wand, Ava made Rachel and Kirsty human size again. Then they hurried through the Whispering Woods.
As they followed the path to the campsite, Peter appeared. Ava immediately hid in Rachel’s pocket.
“Found you!” Peter exclaimed with a grin. “You’re the last ones. Everyone else is back at the camp.”
Rachel and Kirsty shared a secret smile as they followed Peter along the path. When they reached the edge of the Whispering Woods, Ava fluttered out of Rachel’s pocket again. Staying out of sight of the other campers, she opened her magic bag and sprinkled a handful of shimmering golden dust in the air.
“Now you’ll see what a real sunset should look like!” Ava whispered, giving them each a quick hug. “Thanks again for your help. I know the other Night Fairies will be coming to see you very soon!”
And then, in a flash of sparks, Ava vanished and returned to Fairyland.
Kirsty and Rachel gazed up at the sky. All the campers—kids and parents—clapped and cheered as the green sunset slowly began to fade. Soft shades of pink, orange, and gold began to appear until the whole sky was filled with beautiful color. Then the sun began to sink slowly and steadily beyond the horizon.
“It’s the end of our first day at Camp Stargaze, Rachel,” Kirsty said with a smile.
“But it’s the start of a whole new fairy adventure!” Rachel added, her voice full of excitement. “I wonder which Night Fairy we’ll meet next?”
The sun was just setting and the evening was growing cooler at Camp Stargaze. Rachel Walker zipped up her fleece and tucked an arm through Kirsty Tate’s to keep warm. Rachel and Kirsty were best friends, and their families were on vacation together for a week. Exciting things always seemed to happen when the two girls got together. So far, this vacation was already looking like another very magical one!
Kirsty and Rachel were gathered with about twenty other kids at the edge of the campsite. There was going to be a special nighttime walk, and everyone was chatting happily as they waited for it to begin.
“Is everyone ready? Let’s go into the Whispering Woods!” called Peter, one of the camp counselors.
Kirsty and Rachel walked with the rest of the group into the forest. It was cool and dark underneath the leafy trees. Kirsty turned on her flashlight and pointed it ahead. The tall trees swayed in a gentle breeze, and their leaves really did seem to make a whispering sound. “It’s creepy being here in the dark, isn’t it?” she said to Rachel.
“Yeah, it is,” Rachel replied, glancing around. “It makes you wonder what’s hiding in those shadows.”
“Whoooo-oooo-oooo!”
Rachel and Kirsty clutched at each other as they heard a ghostly wailing behind them. They spun around to see two boys, Lucas and Matt, laughing so hard they were doubled over. “Gotcha!” Matt cackled.
“Your faces! You looked terrified!” Lucas added, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
Kirsty and Rachel laughed, too, once their hearts had stopped racing. Those boys! Then Kirsty had an idea, and winked at Rachel. “Oh, my goodness!” she said, pretending to gasp in fright. “Look up there—those two glowing eyes. They’re staring down at us!”
The boys gazed at the tree where Kirsty was pointing—and now it was their turn to look scared.
“No way!” Matt yelped in alarm. Shining out of the darkness were two gleaming lights that looked exactly like the eyes of a wild animal. “What do you think it is? A mountain lion?”
“Hmmm,” said Rachel, pretending to think. “It looks like it’s a really dangerous … firefly. Actually, two!” She and Kirsty giggled. The glittering lights in the tree were only a couple of flickering fireflies—there was nothing scary or dangerous about them. …
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-54956-1
Copyright © 2010 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Rainbow Magic Limited.
Previously published as Twilight Fairies #1: Ava the Sunset Fairy by Orchard U.K. in 2010.
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. RAINBOW MAGIC is a trademark of Rainbow Magic Limited Re. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and other countries. HIT and the HIT logo are trademarks of HIT Entertainment Limited.
First Scholastic printing, July 2011
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