“What do we do now?” asked Kirsty.
They were near another one of the giant TV screens. Rachel glanced up at it.
The commentator was stammering, “Okay, and, um … now back to the studio!” Meanwhile, the goblin swung the door of the booth open and began to stomp out, dragging the bag of soccer balls behind him.
“The goblin’s coming!” Rachel exclaimed, pointing to the top of the stairs.
The girls started up the steps. They saw the goblin appear above them with the mesh bag of soccer balls.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Stacey shouted.
Startled, the goblin jumped and let go of the bag. All the balls tumbled out of it, bouncing down the steps toward the girls.
“It’s raining soccer balls!” Rachel gasped, trying to dodge the balls.
“Look out for Stacey’s magic soccer ball, Rachel!” Kirsty called, darting from side to side.
“That’s fancy footwork, girls!” Stacey called approvingly as Kirsty and Rachel sidestepped the flying soccer balls. The goblin was rushing down the steps toward them now, trying to gather the black-and-white balls up in his arms. Then Rachel noticed that one of the soccer balls heading toward her was surrounded by tiny golden sparkles.
Stacey’s magic soccer ball! Rachel thought, her heart pounding with excitement. She reached out for the special ball, but the goblin had spotted it at exactly the same moment. He dropped the other balls immediately and ran after Stacey’s ball.
“Get out of my way!” the goblin yelled, shoving Rachel aside. She stumbled, and the magic soccer ball bounced past her. The goblin wildly grabbed at it, but missed.
The soccer ball bounced to the bottom of the steps, and Rachel and the goblin both raced after it. But at that very moment, one of the stadium officials came around the corner. He spotted the magic soccer ball and instantly scooped it up into his arms.
“Oh no!” Rachel gasped, dismayed. She glanced at her fairy friend.
Luckily, Stacey had managed to duck out of sight as soon as the official appeared, and she was now peeking anxiously out from behind a lock of Kirsty’s hair.
“What’s going on here?” the official asked sternly, staring at the goblin. “We’ve been searching for these soccer balls everywhere. A ballboy is supposed to look after the balls, not lose them!”
The official thinks the goblin is a ballboy! Rachel realized. He must be wearing one of the official ballboy outfits.
“Pick up all these soccer balls, please,” the official went on.
Scowling, the goblin did as he was told. He shoved the soccer balls back into the bag one by one. Rachel and Kirsty began to help. Maybe we’ll still have a chance to get the magic soccer ball back, Kirsty thought hopefully.
“Oh, don’t bother with that, girls,” the official said with a smile. “The game will be starting soon, and you don’t want to miss it. You should go find your seats.”
Reluctantly, Rachel and Kirsty moved away. They watched as the official put the magic soccer ball into the mesh bag with the others. Then he took the bag from the goblin and headed down a corridor that led to the back of the stadium.
“Come on,” he said to the goblin. “We need to find the other ballboys and girls.”
The goblin smirked at Kirsty and Rachel before skipping off after the official.
“Oh no!” Stacey flew out from behind Kirsty’s hair, looking very sad. “Where’s he taking my ball? We have to get it back!”
“That’s going to be tough,” Kirsty said with a frown. She pointed at a sign on the wall of the corridor that read: PRIVATE — NO PUBLIC ACCESS. “We aren’t allowed into the official areas of the stadium. The goblin’s only allowed in because that man thinks he’s a ballboy.”
Stacey winked at her. “Well, with a little bit of magic, anything’s possible. Maybe they could use a couple more ballgirls?” She waved her wand and, in a shower of dazzling fairy dust, Kirsty and Rachel’s outfits changed. Now they were both wearing dark blue tracksuits, exactly like the goblin’s.
“Let’s go!” Rachel cried.
The three friends hurried down the hallway. They couldn’t see the goblin or the official, so they began checking the rooms along the corridor. They peeked inside them, but there was no sign of the goblin or the soccer balls.
As they got near a turn in the corridor, they heard voices coming from a room. Its door was open.
Rachel and Kirsty peeked around the door. Inside, they could see a large group of ballboys and ballgirls. Each of them held a soccer ball, and they were listening closely to a man at the front of the room.
“And remember, it’s important to get the ball back into play as soon as possible,” the man was saying.
Kirsty nudged Rachel. “There’s the mesh bag that held the soccer balls,” she whispered, pointing at the bag that was now lying empty on the floor.
“But where’s Stacey’s magic soccer ball?” Rachel whispered back, searching all the balls in the room for the telltale sparkle of fairy magic. “Nobody in here seems to have it.”
“The goblin’s not here either,” Stacey said with a frown. “He must have gotten away with my ball.”
“We’d better go,” Kirsty murmured. “Otherwise, that official might see us and call us into the meeting.”
The girls slipped away quietly and headed down the hall.
“Where should we look for the goblin now?” asked Rachel.
The girls stared at each other in desperation. All of a sudden, they heard a croaky voice singing a soccer cheer:
“Go, goblins, go! Kick it high, Kick it low. Win, goblins, win! Crush their toes, Kick their shins.”
“‘Kick their shins’? That’s not a very nice cheer,” Rachel said.
“Then it’s the goblin, for sure!” Stacey cried.
“After him!” Kirsty shouted.
Stacey and the girls darted around the hall corner. Ahead of them, they saw the goblin. He was still singing to himself in his croaky voice. He was running along and expertly dribbling a soccer ball ahead of him, occasionally flicking the ball up with his toe and then heading it forward.
“Wow!” Rachel panted as they chased after him. “He’s better than some of the Tippington Rovers players!”
“That’s the magic of my soccer ball at work,” Stacey told her.
“He’s getting away from us even though he’s dribbling that soccer ball,” Kirsty pointed out as the goblin headed toward a door at the end of the corridor.
“Girls, you’ll be much faster if you’re fairy-size.” Stacey said, raising her wand.
Rachel and Kirsty skidded to a halt, and Stacey showered them with fairy dust. They instantly shrank to become tiny fairies, with glittering wings on their backs!
As Stacey and the girls swiftly flew down the hallway together, the goblin swung the door open and skipped outside. He didn’t even bother to close the door behind him again.
A moment later, Stacey, Kirsty, and Rachel reached the door and peeked outside.
“Oh, it’s the stadium parking lot!” Rachel exclaimed.
“But where’s the goblin?” asked
Kirsty, staring at all the buses and cars parked in neat rows. A lot more soccer fans were arriving now. It was getting close to the start of the game!
“He must be somewhere in the parking lot,” Stacey decided. “We’ll have to search for him, but we can’t let anyone see us.”
Rachel and Kirsty nodded and followed Stacey high up into the air. They hovered above the parking lot so they could get a good view of everything below them, but they saw no sign of the goblin anywhere!
“Maybe we should split up and search each part of the parking lot more carefully,” Kirsty suggested.
Rachel was about to reply when a strange sight caught her eye. A bus was heading very slowly toward one of the parking lot exits, zig-zagging from side to side.
“Look at that bus,” Rachel said to her friends. “Why is it leaving before the game has even started?”
“
That’s strange,” Stacey agreed.
“Let’s check it out,” Kirsty suggested, zooming downward.
Rachel and Stacey followed. As the three of them drew even with the bus, they peeked through the windows.
“It’s full of goblins!” Kirsty cried, looking up and down the packed bus.
“What are they doing here?” asked Rachel anxiously.
“It’s the Goblin Olympic Soccer Team,” Stacey explained, looking worried. “They must all be hoping to practice with my magic soccer ball.”
The goblins were dressed in white jerseys that had a picture of Jack Frost on the front. They all looked extremely proud of themselves, bouncing up and down in their seats, and singing loudly:
“Go, goblins, go!
Kick it high,
Kick it low.
Win, goblins, win!
Crush their toes,
Kick their shins.”
“They’re not very sportsmanlike, are they?” Stacey said, frowning. “Soccer players never kick shins on purpose.”
“But where’s the goblin with the magic soccer ball?” asked Kirsty.
Rachel soon spotted him. The goblin they’d been chasing was now driving the bus, his face creased in concentration.
“Look, girls,” Stacey whispered, pointing her wand at the goblins’ feet. Rachel and Kirsty glanced down and saw the magic soccer ball rolling around on the floor of the bus.
“Let’s find somewhere else to practice our soccer skills,” shouted the goblin driver to the rest of the team.
“We’ve wasted lots of time, though,” moaned a goblin at the back of the bus. “Just because you got the magic soccer ball mixed up with a lot of the humans’ soccer balls.”
“Well, I found it again, didn’t I?” the goblin at the wheel answered. “Anyway, I was just checking out the stadium to find somewhere for us to practice. I didn’t know some silly humans were going to be playing a game here today!”
“Can’t you drive any faster?” demanded another goblin.
“At this rate we won’t get out of the parking lot before the Fairyland Olympics start in six days!” another added.
“Oh, be quiet!” the goblin at the wheel snapped. “We’ve got the magic soccer ball, and that’s all that matters. Those pesky fairies won’t stand a chance of beating us in the Fairyland Olympics!”
The goblins cheered loudly. Meanwhile, Stacey, Rachel, and Kirsty looked at one another with concern.
“How are we going to get the magic soccer ball back?” Kirsty whispered as they hovered beside the slow-moving bus. “There are too many goblins around!”
Rachel thought for a moment. “Maybe we can distract the driver while Stacey sneaks onto the bus and gets her soccer ball,” she suggested.
“Good idea,” Stacey agreed. “When I try to pick up the ball, it will immediately shrink to its Fairyland size. It’s going to be difficult for me to get close to it while it’s rolling around on the floor of the bus. You’ll have to buy me as much time as you can, girls.”
“We will!” Kirsty said in a determined voice.
Stacey pointed her wand at the driver’s window and, with a few sparkles of fairy magic, it slid open a crack.
“Good luck, girls,” Stacey whispered as the three of them quickly zipped in through the open window.
Kirsty and Rachel both felt very nervous as they watched Stacey zoom down toward the magic ball. Would their plan work?
“Let’s give this goblin a surprise, Kirsty,” Rachel whispered.
Kirsty nodded, and followed Rachel. The two fairy friends landed on top of the steering wheel.
“Hello!” Rachel called, waving up at the goblin.
“Remember us?” Kirsty added.
The goblin’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Are you girls or fairies?” he asked, scratching his head in confusion. Then he let out a cry of rage. “Ooh, you’re both!” He took his hands off the steering wheel and began swatting furiously at the girls.
As Rachel and Kirsty dodged out of his way, the bus began to swerve wildly. Kirsty glanced down and saw that the magic soccer ball was rolling around all over the place. Stacey couldn’t get close to it at all!
“Look out!” Rachel gasped suddenly, as she saw that the bus was heading right for a row of parked cars.
“Hit the brakes!” Kirsty shouted.
Looking scared, the goblin slammed on the brakes. The bus jerked to a halt, barely nudging one of the cars on its bumper. Rachel, Kirsty, and the goblins breathed sighs of relief.
“Don’t panic!” the goblin driver shouted. “I have everything under control.”
But, at that very moment, the airbag inside the steering wheel inflated. It got bigger and bigger until it covered the goblin’s head.
“Help!” sputtered the goblin. “I’ve been attacked by a giant balloon!”
But, instead of rushing to help their friend, the other goblins on the bus roared with laughter. Rachel and Kirsty grinned at each other, then searched around for Stacey. Now that the bus had stopped, she was able to reach her magic soccer ball. As soon as she touched it, it quickly shrank to its Fairyland size.
With a bright smile, Stacey scooped up her precious soccer ball and zoomed upward to join Rachel and Kirsty. “Thanks, girls!” Stacey laughed. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
The three of them fluttered through the open window again, just as the driver-goblin struggled free of the airbag. He glanced down and scowled when he saw that the soccer ball was gone.
“Those fairies stole the magic soccer ball!” he shouted.
The goblins scrambled off the bus as quickly as they could to race after Stacey and the girls. The three fairies hovered in midair, just out of reach.
“You goblins had better go home and start practicing your soccer skills,” Stacey said sternly. “Because now you won’t have the magic soccer ball to help you!”
The goblins grumbled and moaned when they saw the sparkling soccer ball tucked safely under Stacey’s arm.
“Why didn’t you stop them from taking the ball?” shouted the driver-goblin to his friends.
“Don’t blame us!” the other goblins insisted. “This is all your fault!”
“Off you go, back to Fairyland,” said Stacey.
The goblins muttered grumpily and stuck out their tongues at Stacey and the girls as they stomped off.
“They have a lot of soccer practicing to do now,” Stacey said with a grin. “But if they do win at the Fairyland Olympics, at least they’ll have won fair and square. Now I need to go right back to Fairyland and tell everyone the good news. But first, there are a few things I must make right. …”
Stacey touched the magic soccer ball with her wand, and a sparkling burst of golden light fizzed briefly around it. Rachel and Kirsty watched as Stacey checked that the car the bus had bumped into wasn’t damaged. Then she pointed her wand at the bus. A burst of fairy dust surrounded it, rolling it gently back into an empty parking space.
Finally, Stacey led Rachel and Kirsty back into the stadium. There, another cloud of fairy dust turned the girls back to their normal sizes and returned them to their original outfits.
“Thank you again, girls,” Stacey said, her eyes twinkling. “Everything will be fine with the game between Tippington and Compton now, and it’s just about to start. Go and have a good time!”
Rachel and Kirsty waved as Stacey flew high above their heads. “Good-bye,” they called.
Stacey waved back and blew the girls a kiss. Then, with a sly smile, she began dribbling her magic soccer ball from toe to toe in midair. The next second, she and the ball both vanished in a cloud of fairy sparkles.
“Now we can really enjoy the game, Kirsty,” Rachel said happily as they rushed back to their seats. “It’s great to know that Stacey has her soccer ball back.”
Kirsty grinned and nodded. “Yes — and let’s hope the Tippington Rovers win!” she cheered.
Skating Struggles
An Unexpected Show
er
Kirsty’s Sweet Idea
Trick or Treat?
Kirsty Races Into Trouble
Flying High
Rachel Walker held on tightly to the railing as she stood up on her in-line skates. “Whoa-a-a!” She laughed, as her feet rolled in different directions. “How are you doing, Kirsty?”
Kirsty Tate, Rachel’s best friend, was still sitting on the grass, tying the laces on her skates. She fastened the top straps, then smiled up at Rachel. Kirsty was staying with Rachel’s family for a week during the spring vacation. Today, the girls had come to Oval Park, which was near the Walkers’ house.
“All right … I think,” Kirsty replied, clutching Rachel’s hand and standing up. Then she grinned. “We must be crazy to be skating today after everything that’s happened with the Sports Fairies,” she said, wobbling on her wheels.
“At least we’ll be nice and safe,” Rachel reminded her, tapping on Kirsty’s helmet. “And this is such a good place to skate, I’m sure we’ll still have fun.”
The girls really were being safe — with helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads, just in case one of them fell down. And Rachel was right! The park was perfect for skating, with a wide, smooth path that circled the grassy meadow. Lots of skaters and skateboarders were practicing their tricks and skills. It was a warm sunny day, with a fresh breeze rustling through the leaves in the trees, making the yellow daffodils sway back and forth.
Unfortunately, the skaters and skateboarders seemed to be getting lots of bumps and bruises today. Kirsty and Rachel watched as a boy on a skateboard mistimed a jump and fell off his board onto the grass nearby. He wasn’t hurt but he looked very confused. “Why can’t I do that jump today?” the girls heard him mutter to himself.
The Sports Fairies Collection Page 3