Kirsty stifled a giggle.
“It’s okay, girls,” she reassured them. “You’re not in the water anymore. Remember?”
Sasha and Avery smiled sheepishly.
Rachel bent down to look at her leg. As she did, Blossom popped out from behind some flowers.
“Oh! It was you!” Rachel whispered. “You startled me.”
“Sorry!” Blossom whispered apologetically. “I wanted to get your attention. I tried using my wand to dry the girls’ dresses, but my powers are too weak! We have to find the ribbon, otherwise this wedding—and the royal wedding in Fairyland—will be a complete disaster.”
“If the goblins took it, they can’t have gone too far,” Rachel mused. “Maybe they’re hiding somewhere in the garden.”
“You and Kirsty will have to find the ribbon on your own,” Blossom explained softly. “I can’t let the flower girls see me!”
“Who are you talking to?” Tamara asked Rachel curiously.
“Oh, no one,” Rachel said as she quickly stood up. “I must have been thinking out loud about how much that mosquito bite hurt.”
Kirsty had noticed Blossom and Rachel chatting before the fairy darted back to the maple tree to hide from the flower girls. Then Kirsty saw something else—a goblin hiding behind the green and red pagoda! Suddenly, she came up with a plan. She leaned over and quickly whispered her idea to Rachel. Maybe she and Rachel wouldn’t be completely on their own after all.
“That just might work!” Rachel told her friend. Then she turned to the flower girls. “Ready, girls? We’re going on a gnome hunt!”
“What’s a gnome hunt?” Ashlyn asked.
“Yeah,” Sasha chimed in. “And how is that going to fix our dresses?”
“Well,” Kirsty began, thinking quickly. “Um, gnomes are creatures that live in gardens—including this one. Sometimes garden gnomes can be very mischievous. They like to take things that aren’t theirs—like Talia’s ribbon!”
Talia looked down and realized that her ribbon was missing from her dress. The little girl’s eyes went wide, but for once, she didn’t cry. She seemed totally engrossed in the tale of the garden gnomes.
“That’s right,” Rachel agreed, quickly jumping in. “But if we can find the ribbon and get it back, then everyone’s dresses will magically be fixed!”
She glanced at Kirsty nervously. Would the girls go for it? Avery looked a little skeptical, but the younger girls all seemed to believe the tall tale.
“Wow!” Sasha said. “Cool. Let’s start looking!”
Rachel and Kirsty each took one of the twins, and the other girls spread out across the Japanese garden.
“We’re going on a gnome hunt!” Mila sang as she skipped across the little wooden bridge over the koi pond. “Oh! Is that a gnome?”
She pointed at a goblin on the other side of the bridge. The goblin quickly dashed behind a tree.
“Yes!” Rachel shouted. “That’s definitely a gnome: green skin, pointy ears, and a long nose.”
Avery’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
“Wow,” she said slowly. “They are real. Let’s go after it!”
The girls raced after the goblin. He darted between the trees and suddenly disappeared.
“Hey, where did it go?” Mila asked. “It was just here a minute ago.”
Rachel and Kirsty tried to stay positive.
“Let’s keep looking, girls,” Rachel said encouragingly.
“This is just like I Spy!” Sasha exclaimed. “And I’m pretty sure I didn’t spy that fountain earlier.”
She pointed to a funny statue in the middle of the koi pond. It was green and goblin-shaped, spitting a fountain of pond water into the air. And to top it off, there was an ivory-colored ribbon around the statue’s waist.
“That’s not a fountain, that’s a gob—I mean, a garden gnome!” Kirsty shouted, catching herself just in time. For this plan to work, the flower girls had to think the goblins were imaginary garden gnomes, not goblins from Fairyland!
“Catch that gnome!” Mila cried.
The goblin realized he’d been spotted. He froze like a deer caught in a car’s headlights. Uncertain of what to do, the goblin grabbed his nose and jumped into the pond.
“Cannonball!” he shouted as he flung himself into the water, splashing the girls on the bank for a second time.
Avery shook herself off but remained focused.
“Rachel?” she asked. “Can gnomes hold their breaths underwater?”
“Um, well, yes,” Rachel replied slowly. “But not forever. He’ll have to come up for air sometime.”
Sure enough, the goblin surfaced a few seconds later, spluttering and spitting out mouthfuls of water. He saw the girls waiting on the bank and quickly swam in the other direction. Then he dashed up and over the bridge. Another goblin poked his head out from behind a tall pine tree. The fountain goblin handed the ribbon to the new goblin. Then he turned and ran back in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, the goblin with the ribbon climbed up the pine tree. Once he was high enough to be out of reach of the girls below, he stuck his tongue out at them.
“Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah,” he teased. “You can’t catch me!”
Avery jumped up and down, grabbing for the ribbon. But the goblin was too high.
“Maybe I can just climb up after him,” Ashlyn suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Kirsty replied. “But he’d probably just go higher.”
“And we wouldn’t want you to fall and get hurt,” Rachel added. “We’ve got to come up with another plan.”
She looked around the garden for a ladder or another tool that she and Kirsty could use, but there was nothing around but flowers and more trees. Then a beautiful monarch butterfly zipped by and landed on Kirsty’s arm.
“Look!” Rachel pointed to her friend’s arm.
“Oh!” The flower girls gasped as they gathered closer to look at the butterfly. They seemed to forget all about the ribbon for a minute.
“It’s so pretty,” Tamara said softly. Her sister nodded her head in agreement.
Rachel watched the butterfly softly opening and closing its wings. If only she and Kirsty were tiny and had wings like the butterfly! Then they could zoom up into the treetops and get the ribbon back. Suddenly, she caught Kirsty’s eye.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Kirsty asked her friend.
Rachel broke into a grin. “There’s only one way to find out!”
“Okay, girls,” Kirsty told the flower girls. “It’s your job to keep an eye on that gnome. Don’t let him out of your sight! Rachel and I have to discuss something quickly. But we’ll be right back.”
Then she and Rachel stepped a few feet away.
“Psst!” Rachel whispered into the trees. “Blossom, we need you!”
The little fairy fluttered out from behind a tree.
“Do you have the ribbon?” she asked hopefully.
Kirsty shook her head and pointed to the goblin in the tree. He was busy throwing pinecones and making faces at the girls below him as he waved the ribbon tauntingly. But the girls weren’t scared. They were collecting the pinecones in their flower-girl baskets, making pretty arrangements with the rose petals. And Talia and Tamara couldn’t stop laughing at his silly faces.
“But we have an idea for getting it back,” Kirsty explained quickly. “Can you turn us into fairies? Then we can fly up to the top of the tree and grab it.”
Blossom shook her head.
“My magic powers are too weak right now,” she said sadly. “And besides, it would be tough to explain that to the flower girls, wouldn’t it?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Rachel said slowly, still trying to come up with a solution. Then she had an even better idea. “What if we weren’t the ones to fly up there?”
“What do you mean?” Kirsty asked, leaning forward eagerly to hear her friend’s plan.
Rachel pointed to the spot on Kirsty’s arm where the butt
erfly had landed just a few moments earlier.
“What if Blossom used just a tiny bit of her magic to ask a few butterflies to help us?”
“That’s a great idea!” Kirsty agreed. Blossom nodded her head happily.
“Now that, I can do,” she agreed with a smile.
With a small flick of Blossom’s wand, a stream of sparkling flowers and butterflies appeared. The flowers hung in the air for a second before they gently popped and disappeared like bubbles. But the butterflies fluttered closer to the fairy. Kirsty and Rachel watched with delight as the fairy whispered to the butterflies, who then flew off into the trees.
At first, nothing happened. But a moment later, the butterflies returned along with a few sparrows.
“There they are!” Blossom said, fluttering her wings happily as the birds and butterflies flew right up to the goblin. A bright orange monarch landed right on his nose.
“Ah!” the goblin yelled. “There’s a bug on my face! Get it off! Get it off!”
He swatted at the butterfly, but it just darted away from him each time. Then two more butterflies joined in, landing on his ears.
“Ooh, ohh!” he shouted between giggles. “Get off me! That tickles. Stop it!”
Below him, the flower girls burst out laughing.
“It looks like those butterflies are tickling him,” Ashlyn said as she covered her mouth with her hand.
The butterflies continued to create a distraction while the birds flew up to the treetop. One sparrow grabbed each end of the ribbon and quickly carried it back to Blossom. Before the flower girls even realized what had happened, Blossom grabbed the ribbon and darted out of sight.
Rachel and Kirsty knew it had shrunk back to fairy-size and was safe again.
“Thanks!” Blossom mouthed as she peeked out from behind a tree and dropped Talia’s non-magical ribbon in front of Rachel and Kirsty. Rachel bent down to scoop it up before the flower girls noticed. Then she and Kirsty watched as the fairy pointed her wand at the girls and their damp, dirty dresses. In the blink of an eye, the dresses were dry, clean, and wrinkle-free. Blossom waved to Rachel and Kirsty.
“Bye, girls!” she whispered. “I’ve got to get back to Fairyland for the royal wedding. But I’ll see you soon. Keep a close eye on my ribbon!”
Kirsty gave the fairy a quick wave before she disappeared with a flutter of her wings.
“Wow!” Avery marveled. “We’re clean and dry again. Those garden gnomes really are magical!”
“And here’s your ribbon back,” Rachel said as she tied it around Talia’s waist.
“Thanks!” The little girl said, bursting into a huge grin. Then she pointed to something behind them. “Look! It’s the bride!”
Sure enough, Rachel and Kirsty turned to see Aunt Angela, the beautiful bride, and the rest of the wedding party hurrying toward them, followed by a flustered-looking photographer.
“So sorry to keep you all waiting,” the photographer apologized with a shake of his head. “Everything seemed to go wrong for me this morning. I just can’t explain it.”
Rachel elbowed Kirsty and glanced at her knowingly.
“Now that Blossom has her ribbon back, order and harmony has returned to weddings everywhere!” Rachel whispered happily to Kirsty.
Her friend nodded and smiled.
“Yup, looks like it!” she agreed.
“Let’s take some photos!” Aunt Angela said with a brisk clap of her hands. “I’d like all the flower girls to stand here on this little bridge. But don’t fall in!”
Kirsty, Rachel, and the girls laughed nervously. Aunt Angela had no idea what had happened when she had been gone, but no one was going to tell her now that everything was back on track.
The flower girls were on their best behavior as they took their places. As Avery reached up to fix her hair, her sister gasped.
“Be careful!” Ashlyn said softly. “There’s a butterfly on top of your head!”
Sure enough, the girls quickly realized that a butterfly had landed on each girl. Some were perched on their baskets of flowers, while others were on a shoulder or in Avery’s case—her head!
“They decided to stay for the photos!” Mila said with a giggle.
Aunt Angela looked puzzled, but the bride was absolutely delighted.
“Those butterflies will look beautiful in the photos,” she said happily. “What a perfect start to my wedding day.”
Rachel and Kirsty couldn’t have agreed more.
After the photo shoot, Kirsty and Rachel helped lead the flower girls across the Botanical Garden to the rose garden, which is where the wedding ceremony was going to take place.
“These roses are so beautiful,” Kirsty said with a sigh. “And they smell so good, too. Isn’t this a lovely place for a wedding?”
Rachel took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the roses. Then she sneezed.
“Achoo!” Rachel rubbed her eyes. “Well, I guess—if you don’t have allergies!”
Kirsty giggled. The rose garden really did look wonderful. There was a small stage set up under an arbor of flowers with white folding chairs arranged in a semicircle facing it. Each chair had a perfect pink rose tied to its back.
Aunt Angela was busy lining up the bridal party at the back of the garden behind some moveable screens. Meanwhile, the guests were beginning to arrive and take their seats. The flower girls lined up behind the ring bearer, a boy who was around six years old. His dad was the best man.
“When’s this going to start?” Talia whined. “I’m hungry.”
“Great!” Kirsty replied. “Because we have just the thing.”
Luckily, she and Rachel had packed a bag just for this reason. Rachel reached into her backpack and pulled out a box of granola bars, which she distributed to the girls.
“Yum!” Avery said with a smile. “Thanks.”
The girls were quiet as they ate their snacks, which meant that Kirsty and Rachel could overhear the best man and his son talking.
“What do you mean, you left them at the hotel?” the man asked. He sounded angry.
“I thought you were going to bring the rings,” the boy replied. “You told me I wasn’t old enough. But we can go back to the hotel together to get them.”
“We don’t have time!” the father said impatiently. “The ceremony is about to begin. I thought I could trust you, but I guess I was wrong.”
The little boy seemed very upset by his father’s words.
“Uh-oh,” Kirsty whispered to Rachel. “That doesn’t sound good!”
Rachel nodded, her face serious. Her aunt and the best man were busy talking now, and Rachel had a feeling it was about the rings.
“Oh, get it away from me!” one of the bridesmaids cried. It was the bride’s sister, and she was shooing a giant fuzzy black-and-yellow bumblebee. But the bee continued to buzz around her head. The bridesmaid jumped backward to try to avoid the bee and ended up knocking the bride into a thorny rose bush.
“Ouch!” the bride cried as the thorns scraped her arm.
“Sorry,” the bridesmaid replied. “Are you okay? That bee just wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“I’m fine,” the bride snapped. “But you almost tore my dress—and ruined my wedding!”
The bride’s sister looked hurt, and the bride still seemed very angry even though nothing terrible had actually happened to her or the dress.
“Kirsty,” Rachel whispered. “I just had an awful thought. What if Jack Frost and his goblins got ahold of Blossom’s flower crown?”
“Oh, Rachel, that would be terrible,” Kirsty exclaimed. “But that would explain why everyone keeps snapping at people they love! The crown helps love stay strong in good times and bad.”
As if to prove that something wasn’t right, Talia leaned over and pinched her twin for no reason. Tamara burst into tears and rushed into the arms of one of the bridesmaids, who also happened to be the girls’ mother.
“Something’s definitely wrong in Fairyland,” Rache
l groaned.
“But what can we do to help?” Kirsty asked.
“You girls can do me a huge favor!” Aunt Angela exclaimed as she suddenly appeared at Kirsty’s side. “We need some new rings right away. The best man and the ring bearer left the real ones at the hotel, and there isn’t enough time to go get them. So we need something else to use during the ceremony, or the wedding can’t go on. You’re both very creative: Do you think you can find something in about twenty minutes?”
Rachel and Kirsty exchanged a glance.
“Sure, Aunt Angela,” Rachel replied confidently. “You can count on us.”
“Great,” her aunt replied. “Thanks, girls. You’re real lifesavers.”
As soon as Aunt Angela was out of earshot, Rachel whispered her idea to Kirsty. They would have to use their magic lockets to get to Fairyland. There, they could help Blossom get her crown back while also searching for some stand-in rings. They knew that time would stand still in the human world while they were away.
Rachel and Kirsty dashed out of the rose garden and ducked behind some tall lavender bushes. Then both girls grabbed the lockets they wore around the necks.
“One, two, three!” Kirsty said.
On three, the girls opened their lockets and sprinkled the glittery fairy dust over their heads. In just a few moments, they would be in Fairyland.
The girls found themselves shrinking to fairy-size, surrounded by a cloud of glittery pink dust. They fluttered their wings gently as the sparkly fog cleared and they landed in front of Fairyland Palace.
There was obviously a big event happening—there were royal purple flags and banners hanging from every window and doorway, and there was a long lavender carpet leading up to the castle entrance.
Bertram the Frog greeted the girls at the front door. He was wearing a fancy black tuxedo.
Blossom the Flower Girl Fairy Page 3