The fairies stared at the Ice Lord as he stammered.
“He’s really not used to saying this word,” said Kirsty.
Jack took a deep breath.
“I l-l-love you, too,” he said.
Rachel and Kirsty shared a smile.
“It’s good to hear Jack Frost talking about happy feelings for a change,” said Rachel.
“It’s a truly happy ending,” said Kirsty. “All except for the mess that Chompy and Jack Frost made on the farm. How are we going to explain it?”
“You won’t have to,” said Billie, tucking Chompy under her arm. “Follow me.”
They all fluttered over Greenfields Farm and Billie waved her wand, sprinkling fairy dust across the farm. When it landed, the broken signs were instantly fixed and the torn banners were repaired in a flash. The hay bales rolled back into position and all the stray pieces of straw were swept up.
“Are you going to take Chompy back to Fairyland now?” Rachel asked.
“Yes,” said Billie. “Chompy and the rest of the magical baby animals are best looked after by Farmer Francis at Fluttering Fairyland Farm.”
“It’s such a lovely place,” said Kirsty. “I hope we can see it again some day.”
“How about today?” Billie asked with a smile. “Would you like to come for another visit right now?”
“Yes, please!” Rachel and Kirsty said together.
The three fairies flew down to where Jack Frost was still cuddling his snow geese.
“You should come to Fluttering Fairyland Farm, too,” Billie said to Jack Frost. “I want to show you what a farm is like when the animals want to be there.”
Jack Frost nodded, and Billie raised her wand. A sparkling flash of fairy dust whooshed around the little group, surrounding them with bands of light. They were dazzled by it, and when the light faded, they blinked and gazed around in wonder. They were once more standing on the lush green grass of Fluttering Fairyland Farm. Farmer Francis was in front of them, and he smiled when he saw Jack Frost cuddling the snow geese.
“I see that Billie, Rachel, and Kirsty have shown you that the pets you already have are special,” said Francis.
Jack Frost had a real smile on his face, and everyone could see that for once, he was feeling truly happy.
“Your animals are nice,” Jack Frost said to Billie. “But my snow geese are the best.”
“That’s exactly how you should feel about your own pets,” said Billie. “And I’m glad you like ours, too. But please don’t take them away from us again.”
“You can visit the animals at the farm whenever you want,” said Farmer Francis.
“I would like that,” said Jack Frost. “But right now I am going to take my snow geese back home to the Ice Castle.”
The mother snow goose snuggled into him and he stroked her feathers. He darted a suspicious look around for a moment, and then lowered his voice.
“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t kind enough to you both,” he whispered. “I want to make it up to you with lots of love and cuddling.”
The snow geese honked happily and Jack Frost looked around again.
“Why is he looking so worried?” asked Kirsty.
“I think he’s checking that there are no goblins around,” said Rachel, laughing. “He wouldn’t want them to hear him being so nice.”
Farmer Francis turned to her and smiled.
“You and Kirsty are always welcome visitors, too,” he said. “There are four animals here who will always be grateful to you.”
He stepped aside, and the girls saw the other three Farm Animal Fairies, together with their magical baby animals. The fairies flew over to hug Rachel and Kirsty, and the animals gathered in, too, all happily back to their normal selves.
“Thank you again, for everything,” said Billie. “We wouldn’t be here without you.”
Rachel and Kirsty gave each of the magical animals a cuddle. Then, as the fairies waved good-bye, Billie raised her wand. In a blink, the girls found themselves standing beside the goat pen. They were back on Greenfields Farm.
Gilbert was exactly where he belonged—standing by the arched bridge and bleating.
“He’s back to normal,” said Kirsty.
“And at last, all the baby farm animals are themselves again,” said Rachel. “Thank goodness.”
They shared a happy glance as Harriet appeared around the side of the farmhouse. She waved at them.
“The official opening is about to start,” she called. “Come on—you don’t want to miss it after all your hard work.”
Rachel and Kirsty raced across the farm to join her. Niall was waiting for them at the front of the farmhouse, together with Kirsty’s parents. They all walked down to the main entrance gate, sharing a lovely feeling of excitement.
“This is going to be a wonderful day,” said Rachel happily.
“I hope we’ve thought of everything,” said Harriet.
Niall squeezed her hand and smiled.
“The visitors will love it,” said Mrs. Tate in a confident voice. “You have turned Greenfields Farm into the perfect family day out.”
There were lots of people at the main gate, and a red ribbon had been hung across the entrance. At the front of the crowd were two girls who looked about the same age as Rachel and Kirsty.
“Those girls are Emily and Isabel,” said Niall. “They won our competition to officially open the farm and be the first-ever visitors. Rachel and Kirsty, after the ceremony, will you show them around?”
Rachel and Kirsty nodded at once. They always loved the chance to make new friends.
“Emily and Isabel look really nice,” said Kirsty. “I can’t wait to show them all the sweet baby animals.”
Niall and Harriet greeted the visitors and gave Emily and Isabel a special pair of enormous golden scissors.
“They make me feel as if we’ve shrunk to fairy size again,” Rachel whispered, smiling at her best friend.
Emily used the giant scissors to cut the red ribbon.
“We now declare Greenfields Farm open for visitors,” Isabel announced.
The crowd clapped and cheered, and then Harriet brought Emily and Isabel over to meet the girls.
“Rachel and Kirsty will show you around the farm,” she said. “I hope you have a wonderful day.”
Rachel and Kirsty linked arms with Emily and Isabel, and together they walked up toward the animals.
“What would you like to see first?” Rachel asked the two girls.
“The lambs,” said Emily.
“The ducklings,” said Isabel.
The girls laughed, sharing the excitement of their new friends. Soon they were running around the farm together, hurrying from baby animal to baby animal, until Emily and Isabel had seen almost every single one.
“Just Gilbert left to visit,” said Kirsty at last. “And we know where he’ll be.”
Sure enough, when they reached the goat pen, Gilbert was standing on the arched bridge.
When he saw Rachel and Kirsty, he let out a happy bleat and clomped down from the bridge. There was a big crowd of people watching him, and they cheered and smiled when they saw how much Gilbert loved his visitors. Laughing, the girls petted him, but Emily and Isabel hung back.
“Don’t be afraid,” said Rachel, looking up at them. “He’s really sweet. He might try to nibble your clothes, but he won’t hurt you.”
Emily and Isabel stepped closer. At first they were nervous, but after a few moments they realized how gentle the baby goat was. Soon all four girls were petting Gilbert, and he was delighted.
“He’s gorgeous,” said Emily.
Kirsty waved to her parents in the crowd, and smiled as they came toward her with Harriet and Niall Hawkins.
“We want to thank you both for all your help getting the farm ready,” Niall said. “Thanks to you, all our baby animals have been well cared for while we’ve been so busy. The grand opening is going splendidly. Everyone seems to be having a great time.”
“It’s been hard work,” Harriet added. “But it’s all worth it now that we can see how much the visitors are enjoying our farm.”
“Our hard work was worth it, too,” Rachel whispered into her best friend’s ear.
“And lots of fun as well,” Kirsty whispered back.
Niall and Harriet looked happy and relaxed now that everything was going so well. Rachel and Kirsty felt relaxed, too, knowing that Jack Frost would not be causing any more trouble for the Farm Animal Fairies.
“I wonder when we’ll have our next adventure with our fairy friends,” said Rachel.
“Right now, I want to have an adventure with our new human friends,” said Kirsty, grinning at Emily and Isabel. “An adventure exploring Greenfields Farm. Let’s go!”
“It was so nice of your mom to invite me on this trip,” Rachel Walker said to her best friend, Kirsty Tate. She looked out at the blue waves churning around the ferry and took a deep breath.
“The trip was my mom’s prize for winning a painting contest. It was for her favorite travel website,” Kirsty explained. Kirsty was proud of her mom. Mrs. Tate’s oil painting was beautiful—a stunning close-up of the details of a deep green pine-tree branch, dusted with crystal-white snow. The painting’s background was of the serene landscape of snow-covered hills. “I’ve never been to Snowbound Island before, and this is the weekend of their famous Winter Wonder Festival.”
“I’ve never been to a winter resort, either, but the photos on the website looked almost exactly like your mom’s painting,” Rachel said.
“Maybe that’s why she won!” Kirsty mused. “You know, my mom said she was looking forward to sleeping in and having breakfast in bed, but I’m just excited to get out in the snow.”
“I know. We haven’t had any snow at home at all.” Even though it was well into December and almost time to celebrate the winter holidays, the weather had been dreary and rainy.
“My dad checked the forecast. They’ve had tons of snow on the island,” Kirsty said.
“I think he was right,” Rachel said, pointing.
Kirsty turned to see the sweetest tuft of land. It looked almost like a glacier, rising right out of the crashing waves. From this distance, they could see the ski slopes, treeless paths that curved down the steep mountainside. There was also a large, wooden building with smoke puffing out of the chimney. Kirsty guessed it must be the lodge. As the ferry chugged closer, the water became choppier. Rachel lost her balance, and both girls laughed as they grabbed the railing.
“I can’t wait!” Rachel admitted. “I don’t know if I want to ski or skate first.”
“Or snowshoe or sled,” Kirsty added, and then paused. “On second thought, sledding is my first choice. Definitely.”
Just then, a door to the boat’s cabin opened, and Mr. Tate poked his head outside. “Brrrrr,” he said as the wind gusted by. “The captain said the sea is too cold and unruly, so you two need to come inside. There are huge waves and chunks of ice. It’s getting dangerous.”
Copyright © 2017 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. RAINBOW MAGIC is a trademark of Rainbow Magic Limited. Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and other countries. HIT and the HIT logo are trademarks of HIT Entertainment Limited.
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ISBN 978-1-338-20700-2
First printing 2018
Cover design by Angela Jun
e-ISBN 978-1-338-20701-9
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Billie the Baby Goat Fairy Page 2