The girls exchanged glances. They knew why he was struggling with the jump. It was because Zoe the Skating Fairy’s magic lace was missing. That meant skaters and skateboarders everywhere were having trouble!
Nobody else knew it — not even their parents — but Rachel and Kirsty had a wonderful secret. They were friends with the fairies, and had helped them many times! This time, they had been called to Fairyland by King Oberon and Queen Titania. The king and queen had asked them to help the Sports Fairies find their magic objects. When the magic objects were where they belonged — either with their fairy keepers, or in their lockers — they ensured that sports were fun and safe for everyone in the human world and in Fairyland. But when the objects weren’t where they were supposed to be, their magic only worked on those who were very close to the object itself.
The Fairyland Olympics were less than a week away, and Jack Frost was set on winning the prize — a golden cup full of fairy luck. That was why he’d ordered his goblins to steal the magic objects from the Sports Fairies’ lockers. He wanted his goblin team to win all the events, and get the prize.
Whenever the Sports Fairies did not have their special objects, things went terribly wrong with sports all over the world. Kirsty and Rachel had already helped find Helena the Horse-riding Fairy’s magic riding helmet and Stacey the Soccer Fairy’s magic soccer ball. But there were still five magic objects missing!
“I hope we find Zoe’s magic lace soon,” Rachel said, as she stepped shakily onto the path and glided forward. “I don’t feel very confident on my skates today.”
Kirsty nodded. “I don’t, either,” she replied. “But remember what Queen Titania always says: We shouldn’t go looking for fairy magic. It will find us!”
The girls set off along the path, leaning forward and swinging their arms to help them skate faster. It was hard work, though, and they kept losing their balance.
“I usually skate much better than this.” Kirsty sighed as she wobbled around a corner.
Whoosh! Just then, four young skaters, wearing identical tracksuits and in-line skates, zipped past the girls at an amazing speed. Rachel and Kirsty almost fell over in surprise.
Rachel stared at them. “Well, it doesn’t look like they are having any trouble,” she remarked.
The girls watched the group, who were now skating in a diamond formation. They looked like young boys. But then, as the one in the front turned to say something to the one at the back, Kirsty noticed that he had a greenish tint to his skin.
“They’re goblins!” Kirsty gasped.
Rachel nodded. “Yes,” she said, “and since they’re all skating so well, I bet they’ve got Zoe’s magic lace with them!”
“After them!” cried Kirsty. She and Rachel did their best to skate faster, but it was no use. The girls were just too slow and shaky. They could tell that there was no way they were going to catch up with the speedy goblins.
“What should we do?” Rachel asked. “The goblins are already way ahead of us.”
“And, look, the path goes through the woods at the next bend,” Kirsty pointed out. “They’ll be out of sight soon.”
The girls rolled to a stop by a tree, both feeling hopeless. They watched as the goblins shot under the trees.
“Maybe we should take off our skates and run,” Rachel suggested. “Then we’d be faster.”
“We still wouldn’t be as fast as the goblins,” Kirsty replied. “They’re flying!” She sighed. “If only we had fairy wings and could really fly!” she added. “Then we’d be able to catch up with them.”
Just then, the girls heard the sound of silvery laughter above their heads. When they looked up, they saw Zoe the Skating Fairy zip out of the tree. She flew down and hovered in the air in front of them! The girls had already met Zoe, and all the other Sports Fairies, when they’d first started their adventure. They were delighted to see her again. Zoe had long red hair, and wore a sporty tank and leggings. A pretty blue pendant hung around her neck, sparkling in the sunshine.
“Did someone say they’d like some fairy wings?” she asked, smiling and twirling her wand between her fingers. “I can help with that.”
“Oh, thank you,” Rachel said eagerly. “We spotted four goblins on skates, Zoe, and we’re sure they have your magic lace. They’re skating incredibly well!”
“Unlike everyone else here today,” Kirsty added, as a girl on rollerskates veered off the path nearby, barely missing a large bush.
Zoe winced as the girl fell face-first onto the grass. Luckily, she was wearing a helmet and wasn’t hurt.
“Oops!” Zoe said. “I see what you mean, girls. Come behind this tree so you’re out of sight, and I’ll turn you into fairies.”
Kirsty and Rachel did as she asked, and Zoe waved her wand over them.
Immediately, a shower of sparkling fairy dust surrounded the girls and transformed them into tiny fairies!
Rachel fluttered her wings in delight. “Come on!” she cried. “Let’s catch up with those goblins.”
“Fly high,” Zoe reminded the girls. “We don’t want anyone in the park to spot us.”
The three fairies sped through the air until they saw the goblins down below.
“They’re lining up,” Kirsty noticed. “What are they doing?”
Rachel stared. The goblins had split up, so that each one was the same distance away from the next.
“Is it some kind of trap?” she wondered nervously.
The friends watched as the goblin at the back of the line began skating along the path toward his friend. “He’s got my magic lace!” Zoe exclaimed, pointing at a glittering object in his hand. “What’s he doing with it?”
As the goblin reached his friend, he handed the lace to him. Then the second goblin skated off, while the first goblin stopped and watched him go.
“They’re practicing for a relay race,” Kirsty realized.
“And they’re using the magic lace as a baton!” Rachel added.
Up ahead, the fairies could see that a third goblin was waiting in position, near a cluster of oak trees. Seeing the oak trees gave Rachel an idea.
“Zoe, I know it’s not the right season for acorns, but do you think you might be able to use your magic to put some into those trees?”
“I sure can,” Zoe replied, “but why?”
“If we can get to the trees before the third goblin starts his part of the race,” Rachel explained, “we can shower him with magic acorns. Then, while he’s distracted, we could swoop down and grab the lace!”
“That’s a great idea!” Kirsty cried. “We’d better hurry, though. The second goblin will be ready to hand off the lace soon.”
The three fairies sped along as fast as they could. Zoe pointed her wand at the trees, and Rachel and Kirsty smiled as they saw hundreds of sparkling fairy acorns appear among the leaves.
Meanwhile, down below, the second goblin had handed off the lace. The third goblin immediately set off on his skates through the trees, clutching the magic lace. As he did, Zoe waved her wand again and the tree branches began to shake. Soon, lots and lots of glittering green acorns showered down all around him.
“Help!” yelled the goblin, covering his head with his hands. “What’s happening?”
“There’s the lace!” Zoe exclaimed, spotting it between his fingers. “If I use my magic to keep the branches still, will you two try to get it?”
“Of course,” Kirsty replied eagerly.
Zoe touched her wand to the branch in front of her, and all the trees stopped showering acorns. Kirsty and Rachel immediately swooped down toward the goblin’s hand.
Unfortunately, now that the acorns had stopped falling, the goblin had uncovered his head and was staring up at the tree. He soon noticed Kirsty and Rachel speeding toward him!
“Where did you come from?” he cried, trying to skate away from them.
But there were so many acorns on the ground that the wheels of one skate jammed and the goblin lost his balance. His
arms flailed, and the sparkling lace fell from his grip and dropped to the ground.
Rachel’s eyes lit up as she saw it fall, and she lunged for it. Her fingers were just about to fold around the magic lace when the goblin thundered to the ground — and landed right on the lace.
Rachel and Kirsty were barely able to dart out of the way in time to avoid being squished. They looked at the goblin, and then at each other. There was no way they could get the magic lace now that the goblin was sitting on it!
The goblin picked himself up and grabbed the lace once again. Then he stuck his tongue out at the fairies. “Keep your sparkly acorns to yourself!” he snapped. “You’re not getting the magic lace, and that’s that!” Picking his way carefully through the acorns, he skated off toward the fourth goblin, farther down the path.
Zoe put her hands on her hips. “Oh, we almost had it!” She sighed. “Well, we’ll just have to make a new plan.”
Rachel and Kirsty nodded and, together, the three friends flew after the goblin. When they caught up, they could see that the relay was over, and the four goblins were now shouting at one another. The friends perched on a branch to listen.
“If you can’t go faster than that, we’ll drop you from the team!” the first goblin said, scolding the third.
“If you skate like that in the Fairyland Olympics, we’ll lose,” the second goblin added. “Jack Frost will be furious!”
“It wasn’t my fault,” the third goblin argued. “I was attacked!”
“Attacked?” laughed the fourth goblin. “By what?”
“By … an army!” the third goblin declared. “An army of fairies. They bombarded me with magic acorns!”
“Tiny little acorns?” the first goblin sneered. “So what?”
“No, no,” the third goblin protested. “Not tiny little acorns. Enormous acorns. Acorns the size of soccer balls!”
Kirsty and Rachel tried not to laugh out loud as the goblin’s story became less believable by the minute.
“They came at me from all angles,” he went on dramatically. “I could have been squished at any moment!”
The other goblins were wide-eyed. “Oh no, not squished!” the second one repeated, glancing around nervously.
The third goblin nodded. “I was lucky to escape alive,” he boasted. “I had to fight heroically to save the magic lace.”
“Good work,” the first goblin said, clapping him on the back. “How did you keep it safe?”
The third goblin hesitated. “Um … ” he began.
Rachel, Kirsty, and Zoe smiled at one another. He didn’t want to admit that he’d kept the lace safe by sitting on it!
“I … I was just able to keep it out of their way,” he replied at last.
Just then, a voice shouted from across the park, “Doughnuts! Come and get your yummy doughnuts! Free samples! Try before you buy!”
The girls looked around to see a man setting up a doughnut stand nearby. The goblins saw it, too.
“Oooh, doughnuts,” the fourth goblin said, licking his lips. “I’m hungry!”
The first goblin shook his head. “We don’t have time for doughnuts,” he said seriously. “We need to keep practicing. And we’re supposed to be eating healthy food before the Olympics, not junk!” He ignored the fourth goblin’s dismayed look and began giving orders. “So, we’ll do the same practice run again, ending at this tree, OK?” He pointed to a large oak by the side of the path. “Like before, come back here for a time-check as soon as you’ve completed your part of the race. Now, everyone get in position!”
With a last longing look at the doughnut stall, the fourth goblin trudged back to his position. So did the others.
Kirsty looked thoughtfully at the hungry goblin. Just how much does he want a doughnut? she wondered. Enough to fall for a trick?
“I’ve got an idea,” Kirsty whispered to her friends. “Zoe, do you think that you could make me look like a goblin?”
Zoe looked at Kirsty thoughtfully. “I think so,” she replied. “I’d just have to turn your clothes into a tracksuit, make you the right height, and tint your skin green.” She wrinkled her nose. “But if the goblins look closely at you, they’ll be able to see you’re not a real goblin.”
“If my plan works, that won’t matter,” Kirsty replied.
“What is your plan?” Rachel asked curiously.
“Well, we need to get that hungry goblin to leave his spot on the race track. Then I’ll take his place,” Kirsty explained. “When the third goblin skates up and hands over the magic lace, I’ll skate away with it!”
“That’s a great idea!” Zoe cried. “And the lace’s powers will mean you can zoom off extra fast!” she added.
“But how will we persuade the goblin to leave the track?” Rachel asked.
The doughnut man began shouting again, and Kirsty grinned.
“If you had a doughnut, Rachel, you could tempt the goblin with it. Then he might go to the doughnut seller and get one for himself,” she said. “That way, Zoe will make me look like a goblin, and I’ll stand in his place, ready to get the lace.”
Zoe beamed. “One doughnut coming up!” she cried, waving her wand. With a fizz of fairy dust, Rachel grew to her usual size, and a warm, frosted doughnut appeared in midair. It hovered there for a moment, then drifted into Rachel’s hand.
“Ooh, pleased to eat you,” Rachel said with a giggle. The doughnut smelled delicious. Then she winked at her friends. “Here I go!”
Rachel carefully climbed down the tree and skated toward the goblin. She waved the doughnut so that its yummy scent drifted under his nose. Then she took a bite. “Mmm-mmm!” she said loudly.
The goblin stared at her and licked his lips.
“This is soooo delicious,” Rachel said, taking another nibble.
The goblin glared at her. “Go away!” he snapped. “I’m trying to concentrate on the relay, and you’re distracting me.”
“Sorry,” Rachel said innocently. “It’s just that this doughnut is scrumptious.”
The goblin watched her take another bite, then a sly look crossed his face. Suddenly, he reached out an arm and grabbed at the doughnut. Rachel darted out of the way.
“Give me that!” the goblin ordered greedily.
“Get one for yourself,” Rachel replied. “The man over there is giving out free samples.”
The goblin glanced over his shoulder longingly, but then he frowned. “It will be my turn to race soon,” he said. “I’d better not.”
“Oh, you’ve got plenty of time,” Rachel told him. “Better not wait too long, though. The doughnut man may not have very many left …”
The goblin looked panicked at the thought of missing out on a sweet treat! With one last look at Rachel’s delicious doughnut, he quickly skated off.
Rachel looked up at Kirsty and Zoe as they flew down to the ground. She was ready to put their plan into action!
“It’s goblin time for you!” Zoe said to Kirsty, waving her wand.
Sparkly red fairy dust whirled around fairy-sized Kirsty. She tingled all over, then felt herself getting bigger and bigger. Soon she was about half her human size. When she looked down, she saw that she was wearing a tracksuit and her hands had turned green.
“Wow!” Rachel said. “You really could pass for a goblin.”
“But she’s not as sneaky as a real one,” Zoe added.
“I’ll go and wait in the fourth goblin’s place on the track,” Kirsty said.
“OK,” Zoe replied. “We’ll meet you by the oak tree that marks the finish line. Good luck!”
Kirsty stepped onto the path and looked over her shoulder to see where the third goblin in the relay was. He was skating right toward her, so she whipped her head back around again. She didn’t want him to get a good look at her face. Her heart pounded with excitement. She hoped her plan was going to work!
She could hear the third goblin’s skates as he came closer, so Kirsty slowly began skating. She stretched her hand out behind
her, so she was ready to take the lace. Then, just as she felt the third goblin putting the magic lace into her palm, she heard an annoyed voice cry, “Hey! It’s my turn!”
Kirsty turned and saw that the fourth goblin was back. He was munching his doughnut and looked surprised to see her in his place. Kirsty could only think of one thing to do — she grabbed the lace from the third goblin and took off at top speed before either of the goblins could catch her!
“What’s going on?” she heard the fourth goblin yell as she sped away.
Meanwhile, Zoe had transformed Rachel back into a fairy. The two fairies had flown to the finish line, and watched everything from above. They saw the third and fourth goblins stare at each other, and then at Kirsty, who was now skating away. Then the fairies saw the goblins suddenly realize that Kirsty wasn’t a goblin at all!
“We’ve been tricked!” the goblin with the doughnut shouted furiously. “It was all your fault, giving her the magic lace like that! Couldn’t you tell it wasn’t me?”
“It wasn’t my fault!” the third goblin retorted. “If you had stayed in your position like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened!”
“Well, we need to catch her,” the goblin with the doughnut said. “Right now!”
The two goblins began skating after Kirsty. Now that they no longer had the magic lace, they couldn’t go as fast as before, but they kept skating, puffing and panting as they went.
Rachel noticed that the two goblins who had skated the first part of the relay had doubled back. They were now heading toward the finish line, too, but from the opposite direction. One of them nudged the other and pointed ahead at Kirsty, who was racing toward them.
The Sports Fairies Collection Page 4