Tess the Sea Turtle Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  A Magic Sandcastle

  Turtle Trouble

  Follow the Leader

  Pogwurzel Panic

  Pearl and a Plan

  Four Found, Three to Go!

  “Should we build another tower, Kirsty?” Rachel Walker asked her best friend, Kirsty Tate.

  The two girls were kneeling on the beach making an enormous sandcastle. They’d been working on it all day in the sunshine. The castle had turrets and towers and archways.

  “Oh, yes, what a great idea!” Kirsty said with a grin. She picked up her bucket. “Let’s start decorating the castle, too. We can use those pretty pink and white shells we found earlier.”

  Carefully, Rachel began to build the tower. Kirsty poured the shells out of her bucket and began sorting through all of them. “Look, Kirsty, the sun’s starting to set,” Rachel pointed out, noticing that people were packing up and leaving the beach. “We’ll have to go back to your gran’s soon.” The girls were spending their spring vacation in Leamouth with Kirsty’s gran.

  Kirsty’s face fell. “I know we’ve had a good time at the beach, Rachel,” she sighed, “but we haven’t seen even a single magic fairy sparkle all day! I was hoping we were going to find another missing piece of the magic golden conch shell.”

  “Me, too,” Rachel agreed. “But don’t forget what Queen Titania always says—we have to wait for the magic to come to us!”

  On the first day of their vacation, the girls had been thrilled to receive an invitation to the Fairyland Ocean Gala. They’d seen their old friend, Shannon the Ocean Fairy, there as well as the other Ocean Fairies and their magic creatures. The highlight of the gala was to be the moment when Shannon played the beautiful golden conch shell. This would make sure that there was peace, harmony, and order in all the oceans of the world for the next year.

  But before Shannon had a chance to play her magic song, Jack Frost and his goblins had burst into the gala. On Jack Frost’s orders, the goblins had grabbed the golden conch shell. As they argued over it, the conch shell had fallen to the ground and smashed into seven shining pieces!

  Jack Frost had immediately raised his ice wand and scattered the pieces in different hiding places throughout the human world. Shannon, Rachel, Kirsty, and all the fairies had been horrified. They knew that without the golden conch shell, there would be chaos and confusion in oceans everywhere.

  “It doesn’t look like any magic is going to come to us today, though,” Kirsty remarked. She began pressing rows of tiny, creamy shells onto the sides of the sandcastle. “But at least we’ve helped the Ocean Fairies find three pieces of the golden conch shell so far.”

  “And we know that four of the magic ocean creatures are still guarding the four missing pieces,” Rachel pointed out.

  Luckily, Queen Titania had acted quickly against Jack Frost’s spell. The queen had used her own magic to send the Ocean Fairies’ magic creatures out into the human world. They would guard the shell pieces until they were safely returned to Fairyland. When all the pieces were back, the golden conch shell could magically repair itself and Shannon would be able to play it at last.

  “Isn’t our castle great, Rachel?” Kirsty said proudly, sitting back on her heels to take a look. There was hardly anyone left on the beach now except for the two girls.

  Rachel nodded. “It looks a bit like the Fairyland Palace with all those towers,” she replied. “Except our castle isn’t so sparkly, of course!”

  Suddenly Kirsty gave an excited cry. “Are you sure, Rachel?” she asked with a big smile. “Look in there, under that archway!”

  Rachel bent forward on her hands and knees and peered inside the sandcastle. Then she saw it! A glittering, golden light was shining right in the very center of the castle.

  “Kirsty, I think it’s a fairy!” Rachel gasped as she spotted a tiny figure dancing gracefully through the sandy rooms. “It’s Tess the Sea Turtle Fairy!”

  Tess fluttered over to the archway and waved up at the girls. She wore cropped blue pants and a pale blue sparkly T-shirt with an aquamarine sweater over it. Her silky blond hair was parted into two bouncy braids.

  “Girls, I’m so glad to see you,” Tess called in a silvery voice. “Come and join me inside your beautiful sandcastle!” She pointed her wand at Rachel and Kirsty, and a stream of sparkles swirled around them. The girls felt themselves shrinking like they had so many times before. In the twinkle of an eye, they were fairy-size with beautiful wings just like Tess’s.

  Quickly, Rachel and Kirsty flew under the archway and joined their fairy friend inside the sandcastle.

  “We’re really happy to see you, Tess!” Kirsty beamed at the fairy. “Have you found another piece of the golden conch shell?”

  Tess nodded. “I think so,” she replied. “My magic sea turtle friend, Pearl, is guarding it. But it’s in a tropical place far away from here. Will you come with me, girls?”

  “Of course we will!” cried Rachel eagerly.

  “Gran isn’t expecting us home for a little while,” Kirsty added. “Let’s go right away!”

  Waving her wand, Tess flew around Rachel and Kirsty as they hovered in the air.

  Immediately, a dazzling cloud of fairy sparkles surrounded the girls. They closed their eyes and felt themselves whisked away from Leamouth beach. They raced through the air at a speed that took their breath away.

  Suddenly the air felt much warmer. Rachel and Kirsty opened their eyes and saw that they were flying over a tropical beach. The ocean was a clear turquoise blue, and the sand was a pure, soft white. Palm trees hugged the shore, their leafy fronds waving in the breeze. Dusk was falling and the pink and gold sun was sinking slowly into the rippling water.

  “Isn’t it beautiful?” Kirsty sighed happily. She peered down at the beach as it began to get a little darker. “I wish we’d gotten here a bit earlier so that we could see it all in the daytime.”

  Rachel was squinting down at the beach, too. “What are those?” she asked, sounding puzzled. “They look like little polka dots, but they’re running around. And there are lots of them!”

  At first Kirsty couldn’t tell what Rachel meant, but as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could also see little round shapes. They were scurrying across the sand in every direction.

  “Let’s fly closer,” said Tess, “and then you’ll be able to see what they are!”

  Curious, Rachel and Kirsty followed Tess as she floated down the beach.

  “Oh!” Kirsty exclaimed suddenly. “They’re baby sea turtles!”

  “They’re so cute!” Rachel laughed.

  The little green turtles were using their tiny flippers to move across the beach away from the ocean. As the girls watched, sand flew in all directions and more baby turtles began to appear from holes in the ground.

  “Those are the ones that have just hatched,” Tess explained. “The mother turtle buries her eggs under the sand.”

  “But why are all the baby turtles running away from the ocean?” Kirsty asked.

  Tess sighed. “When baby sea turtles hatch, they should head straight for the water,” she explained. “But the poor little things are confused, like the other ocean creatures, because we haven’t found all the pieces of the golden conch shell yet!”

  Kirsty and Rachel shared an anxious glance. “What will happen to them?” Kirsty asked. “Can we help?” “Maybe we can carry them to the ocean and put them in the water,” Rachel suggested.

  “No, there are just too many!” Tess replied, glancing down at the hundreds of tiny turtles below them. “We have to find Pearl. Then she’ll be able to lead the babies safely to the ocean.”

  “Should we fly around and look for her?” asked Rachel.

  Tess nod
ded. “But stay close to the beach,” she told them.

  Rachel and Tess flew off in different directions along the beach. Kirsty drifted over to the palm trees and began zigzagging slowly between them, looking carefully for Pearl. Suddenly a loud voice erupted from the treetops overhead and made Kirsty jump.

  “My feet are cold and wet! I HATE having cold, wet feet!”

  Kirsty froze in midair. She glanced up, but couldn’t see anything. Quickly she flew back to the beach.

  “Rachel! Tess!” Kirsty called to her friends. “Over here!”

  “Have you found Pearl?” Rachel asked eagerly as she and Tess rushed to join Kirsty.

  “No, but come and listen to this!” Kirsty told them. She led Rachel and Tess over to the palm trees. As they hovered there, they heard a shrill, complaining voice above them.

  “My feet are cold and wet, too! There’s horrible, itchy sand between my toes!”

  Kirsty glanced at Rachel and Tess. “Did you hear that?” she whispered. “Goblins!”

  Tess frowned. “It definitely sounds like goblins,” she replied. “We all know they don’t like having cold, wet feet! Let’s take a look.”

  Tess flew up toward the voice, and Rachel and Kirsty followed. Suddenly they heard the sound of Tess’s tinkling fairy laughter.

  “Girls, these are the prettiest goblins I’ve ever seen!” she called.

  Surprised, Rachel and Kirsty flew higher. Then their eyes widened and they also burst out laughing. Four beautiful scarlet-and-blue parrots were perched on the top of the palm tree. As Tess and the girls watched, one of the parrots opened his beak and squawked, “I hate sand!”

  “I hate sand!” the parrot sitting beside him repeated fiercely.

  “The parrots are mimicking the sound of the goblins grumbling and arguing!” Rachel said with a grin.

  “That means there have to be goblins around here somewhere,” Kirsty pointed out.

  Tess nodded. “So it’s even more important that we find the missing piece of the golden conch shell before the goblins do,” she said anxiously. “I wonder where Pearl is. She’s the only one who can help us.”

  “Let’s keep searching,” said Rachel.

  Tess and the girls flew off along the beach again, above the baby turtles who were still scurrying around. It was almost dark now, but there was a large pale moon. Stars were beginning to sparkle in the midnight-blue sky.

  “Doesn’t the moonlight make everything look magical?” Kirsty remarked. She stared out over the waves gently lapping on the shore. Then she blinked, wondering if she was seeing things. Was that a gold glow out there on the water, glittering in the light of the moon?

  “There’s something shiny and sparkly in the ocean!” Kirsty shouted with excitement. “I think it might be a missing piece of the conch shell!”

  Rachel and Tess looked over in the direction Kirsty was pointing.

  “It looks like the waves are carrying it to the shore,” Rachel said, her eyes fixed on the sparkling glow.

  “Come on, girls!” Tess cried, heading for the water.

  Rachel and Kirsty rushed after her. The three friends stopped and hovered in the air as the glowing object floated closer to the beach.

  “It’s not a missing piece of the conch shell,” Tess exclaimed happily. “It’s Pearl!”

  Rachel and Kirsty watched the magic green sea turtle swim gracefully through the waves and onto the shore. Pearl’s beautiful shell glittered with fairy magic as she pulled herself higher up on the sand with her strong flippers.

  “I’m so glad you found us, Pearl!” Tess flew down and patted the turtle’s head. “We need your help.”

  “The baby turtles are running away from the ocean, instead of into it,” Rachel explained. “And we know there are goblins around here somewhere, because the parrots are talking just like them!” Kirsty added.

  Slowly Pearl nodded her head. Her dark eyes were wise and kind. “Pearl thinks that the missing piece of the shell is around here somewhere, but she’s not quite sure where,” Tess explained to the girls. “She saw it bobbing around on the waves, but then she lost sight of it. It might have washed up on the shore.”

  “Maybe we should look after the baby turtles first, and lead them safely to the water,” Kirsty suggested. “I’m worried about them! Then we can start searching for the shell.”

  Rachel glanced down at the beach below them. To her surprise, she saw that the baby turtles had stopped wandering aimlessly away from the ocean. Instead, they were all scuttling along the beach, heading the same way in one big crowd.

  “What’s going on?” Rachel wondered. Then, at the front of the crowd of turtles, she spotted a group of three kids walking along the beach. One of them was carrying a bucket. “Look,” Rachel said in surprise, “I think the baby turtles are following those boys!”

  “Let’s find out,” Tess said. She flew off with Rachel and Kirsty right behind her. Pearl followed them along the sand.

  As Tess and the girls got closer to the boys, they noticed something very strange.

  “Why are they wearing big straw hats and sunglasses?” Kirsty whispered, frowning. “The sun went down already, and it’s dark!”

  “Look at their footprints, too.” Tess pointed down at the sand. “They have very big feet for kids.”

  “And very big ears!” Rachel said in a low voice, spotting large, pointy ears sticking out of the straw hats. “They’re not boys at all. They’re goblins!”

  Tess, Kirsty, and Rachel shared worried glances.

  “Why are the baby turtles following them?” Kirsty asked, confused, glancing down at the large crowd of turtles still scurrying along behind the goblins.

  Tess grinned. “Well, the turtles have only just hatched,” she replied. “And since they’re green, and so are the goblins, the babies think the goblins are grown-up turtles!”

  Rachel and Kirsty couldn’t help but laugh.

  “I wonder if the goblins know they’re being followed?” said Rachel.

  “And I wonder what the goblins have in that bucket!” Kirsty whispered.

  Suddenly, the biggest goblin happened to glance around and see the baby turtles. He let out a shriek and peered nervously down at the tiny creatures.

  “Look!” the goblin yelled, squinting through the darkness. “We’re being followed by… I don’t know what they are!

  The other two goblins spun around. “What are you so scared of?” the goblin with the bucket asked scornfully. “They’re tiny, whatever they are. They can’t hurt us!”

  “They can if they’re baby pogwurzelsl” the third goblin said. All three goblins let out frightened yelps this time.

  “Ooh, pogwurzels!” cried the goblin with the bucket, backing away from the baby turtles. “I hate pogwurzels even more than I hate sand between my toes!”

  “Shoo!” shouted the biggest goblin. He whipped his straw hat off and began flapping it at the baby turtles. The others did the same. “Go back to Pogwurzel Land!”

  The baby turtles stayed where they were.

  “They’re going to attack us!” the goblin with the bucket shouted as the turtles came closer. “Run for your lives!”

  All three goblins raced off along the beach in a panic, leaving the turtles behind them.

  “After them!” Tess cried.

  Tess and the girls flew after the goblins while Pearl followed behind, keeping an eye on the baby turtles.

  When the goblins spotted Tess, Rachel, and Kirsty flying overhead, they scowled at them and ran even faster.

  “Pesky fairies and scary pogwurzels!” The biggest goblin groaned. “Go away!”

  Kirsty noticed that the goblin holding the bucket was looking awfully worried. He gripped the bucket tightly with both hands, keeping it very close to him.

  “What’s in your bucket?” Kirsty called as she, Tess, and Rachel new alongside the goblins.

  “None of your business!” the goblin yelled. “I’m not telling you that we found—”The biggest goblin
skidded to a halt and clapped his hand over the first goblin’s mouth.

  “Don’t tell them anything!” he ordered angrily. “Those fairies are just trying to trick us into telling them that—”

  Quickly the third goblin clapped his hand over the biggest goblin’s mouth.

  “Don’t tell them our secret, blabbermouth!” he shouted.

  Furiously, the biggest goblin slapped his hand away.

  “Now the fairies and the pogwurzels know that we have a secret!” he snapped. “You’ve said too much!”

  “No, I haven’t!” the third goblin retorted. “They don’t know that we found the—”

  “Shhhh!” The first and second goblins hushed him frantically. “Don’t say anything!”

  “I think there’s a missing piece of the golden conch shell in that bucket,” Kirsty whispered to Rachel and Tess. “I’m going to take a look!”

  As the goblins argued about what they should or shouldn’t say, Kirsty flew toward the goblin with the bucket. Just as she was about to peek inside it, the goblin spotted her.

  “Leave me alone!” he shouted, whipping the bucket away from Kirsty.

  “Let’s help Kirsty by distracting the goblins,” Tess murmured to Rachel, and they flew to join her.

  “Be careful;“ Rachel called. “The baby pogwurzels are catching up with you!

  All three goblins moaned in terror as Tess and Rachel fluttered around them.

  “The pogwurzels are going to nibble our toes!” the goblin with the bucket yelped.

  As he turned to glance at the baby turtles, who were indeed getting closer, Kirsty saw her chance. She flew down once again. This time, she managed to get a glimpse inside the bucket.