I have a plan to make a mess
And cause the fairies much distress.
I’m going to take their charms away
And make my dreams come true today!
I’ll build a castle made of sweets,
And ruin the fairies’ silly treats.
I just don’t care how much they whine,
Their cakes and candies will be mine!
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Map
Poem
Not So Sweet!
Candy Castle
Tracy Twist’s Candy Shop
A Lollipop Trail
Gobbling Goblins!
Lollipop Flowers
Teaser
Copyright
“I can’t wait for you to meet my aunt, Rachel!” Kirsty Tate exclaimed, beaming at her best friend, Rachel Walker. Rachel had arrived that morning to spend spring break with Kirsty in the pretty village of Wetherbury. “Mom invited her to come to lunch today, so you’ll be able to ask Aunt Helen all about Candy Land.”
Rachel grinned. “I can’t wait to meet Aunt Helen, either,” she replied. “Working in a candy factory must be one of the most wonderful jobs in the whole world!”
“I guess it’s almost as wonderful as being a fairy,” Kirsty said, and the girls shared a secret smile. They’d had many thrilling adventures with their fairy friends, and hoped to have a lot more.
“The Candy Land factory is on a hill overlooking Wetherbury,” Kirsty explained. “Aunt Helen gets lots of free treats, and she always brings a big bagful whenever she comes to visit.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting her even more now!” Rachel laughed.
Just then, the doorbell rang and the girls rushed to answer it. Outside stood a smiling blonde woman holding a bulging pink-and-white striped shopping bag. CANDY LAND was written across the side of the bag in sparkly silver glitter.
“Hi, Kirsty,” Aunt Helen said, giving her a big hug. “And you must be Rachel.” She hugged Rachel, too. “I’ve heard so much about you from Kirsty.”
“I’ve heard lots about you, too,” Rachel replied, smiling.
“Then I’m sure Kirsty told you all about Candy Land!” Aunt Helen said, her big blue eyes twinkling. “I thought you might like to try some of our treats.” She handed the bag to the girls.
Rachel and Kirsty peeked eagerly inside.
They could see lollipops, chocolate bars, and piles of other candies wrapped in shiny colored paper. But to their dismay, the treats looked crushed and crumpled, and not at all appetizing. Most unexpected of all, there was a horrible smell inside the bag that made both girls gasp! What could that smell be? Rachel wondered, trying not to wrinkle her nose in disgust. The candy looked and smelled like rotting garbage! But she didn’t want to complain when Aunt Helen had been so nice to bring them the treats. Kirsty was trying to smile politely at her aunt, too.
“Maybe we should wait until after lunch to try them,” Kirsty suggested, closing the bag quickly.
Aunt Helen’s face fell. “The candies are really bad, aren’t they?” She sighed. “Girls, something’s gone terribly wrong at Candy Land. All of the treats look, smell, and taste absolutely awful!”
Rachel and Kirsty were too shocked to say anything.
“We’ve had lots of complaints,” Aunt Helen went on, looking more and more upset. “Tracy Twist from the village candy shop even called the factory to tell us that her customers were very unhappy.”
“Did the factory change the candy recipes?” Rachel asked.
Aunt Helen shook her head. “Our candies have been made the same way for years,” she replied. “All the ingredients are still exactly the same. That’s why it’s so strange!”
“That is strange,” Kirsty remarked, frowning. The treats from Candy Land were usually delicious. What is going on? she wondered.
Mrs. Tate had prepared a delicious lunch. As they ate, Rachel and Kirsty were glad to see that Aunt Helen began to cheer up. After lunch, Aunt Helen said good-bye and hurried back to work at the candy factory. Meanwhile, the girls went up to Kirsty’s bedroom, bringing the Candy Land bag with them.
“Let’s look through the candies,” Kirsty said. “Maybe some of them aren’t so bad.” She and Rachel sat down on the rug and dumped out the bag.
Wrinkling her nose because of the awful smell, Rachel picked up a chocolate bar. She unwrapped the gold foil and took a cautious bite.
“That’s gross!” Rachel spluttered, making a face. “It tastes like dishwashing liquid, really nasty and soapy.”
Kirsty chose a lollipop covered in a shiny gold wrapper. The lollipop was bent out of shape and cracked across the middle, and the wrapper was ripped. The label stuck on the front said strawberry.
“Here goes nothing!” Kirsty murmured, pulling off the wrapper. She licked the lollipop, then groaned. “It smells like old socks — and it tastes like them, too!”
“Let’s not try anything else,” Rachel said. “The others could be even worse!”
Disappointed, the girls began scooping the candies back into the bag. The gold wrapper from the soapy chocolate bar was lying on the rug, and as Rachel went to pick it up, she thought she saw the wrapper move!
Rachel blinked and looked again. Yes, the chocolate bar wrapper was definitely moving on its own! Rachel carefully lifted the wrapper. Underneath, she saw a familiar little figure waving up at her.
“Look, Kirsty, it’s Honey the Candy Fairy!” Rachel exclaimed, excited to see their old friend.
Kirsty’s eyes widened in surprise. “It’s great to see you, Honey!” she said. The girls had been on some wonderful adventures with Honey and the other Party Fairies. They’d helped them retrieve their magic party bags from Jack Frost’s goblins.
“Hello, girls.” Honey fluttered up to perch on the edge of Kirsty’s bed. “I bet you can guess why I’m here, can’t you?”
“Because of the horrible candy from Candy Land?” asked Rachel.
Honey nodded. “Strange things are happening in Fairyland!” She sighed. “We’re in trouble again, girls, and we need your help. Will you come with me?”
“Of course!” Kirsty said immediately, and Rachel nodded.
“You’re our very best friends in the human world!” Honey said gratefully. “Let’s go right away, and I’ll explain everything as soon as we get there.”
With a flick of Honey’s wand, a shower of fairy sparkles swept over the three friends. Rachel and Kirsty grinned at each other. They were off to Fairyland!
A few moments later, Rachel, Kirsty, and Honey floated down into the Fairyland Candy Factory. This was a beautiful, magical orchard where all the candy and yummy treats grew on trees. The girls had been to the orchard before, and had been amazed by all the candy hanging in clusters among the light green sugared leaves. But this time it looked very different.
“What happened?” Rachel asked, looking around the orchard in dismay. The girls could see that the candy trees looked wilted, their sugared leaves withering on the branches. The candy growing on the trees looked pale and sickly instead of fresh and delicious. Kirsty reached up and touched a pink-and-white marshmallow dangling from a branch over her head.
“The marshmallows are rock hard!” she said, shocked.
“And the jawbreakers are as soft as butter,” added Rachel, who was standing beneath a jawbreaker tree. She also noticed that all the chocolates on the tree next to her were melting into a gooey mess and dripping from the branches, leaving puddles on the ground. Even the chocolate fountain was spouting thick gray sludge instead of glossy brown chocolate. This was just like what was happening at Candy Land!
King Oberon and Queen Titania were standing nex
t to the chocolate fountain, deep in discussion with seven other fairies. They all looked extremely worried until the queen noticed Honey, Kirsty, and Rachel hurrying toward them.
“Girls, you’re here!” Queen Titania gasped with relief. “We really need your help. Our beautiful Candy Factory is ruined!”
“And the day after tomorrow is a special royal festival called Treat Day,” the king explained. “We give a basket of special treats to every fairy in Fairyland as thanks for all their hard work. It will be a disaster if there is no candy for the treat baskets!”
The seven fairies nearby looked even more anxious. Their wings drooped miserably. Honey turned to Rachel and Kirsty. “Girls, meet my special helpers, the Sugar and Spice Fairies,” she announced, pointing at each fairy in turn with her wand. “Lisa the Lollipop Fairy, Esme the Ice Cream Fairy, Coco the Cupcake Fairy, Clara the Chocolate Fairy, Madeline the Cookie Fairy, Layla the Cotton Candy Fairy, and Nina the Birthday Cake Fairy.”
“Welcome, girls,” the fairies chorused, waving.
“We hope you can help us,” Lisa the Lollipop Fairy added. She was a pretty little fairy with curly blonde hair. She wore a silky green dress with colorful pink, yellow, and purple stripes, tied in the front with a big purple bow.
“Is Jack Frost up to his nasty tricks again?” Kirsty asked, and all the fairies nodded sadly.
“He’s stolen our seven magical charms!” Lisa explained. “He wants all of our delicious treats for himself, to use for a very special project.”
“What special project?” Rachel asked curiously.
Honey led the girls over to one of the pools of melted chocolate on the ground. She waved her wand and gradually the brown puddle became clear. Then an image began to appear! Rachel and Kirsty could see the Fairyland stream surrounded by lush green hills.
“Look!” Honey pointed at one of the hills. “See that castle?”
Rachel and Kirsty nodded and peered more closely. On top of the hill, a huge castle was taking shape. It was only half built, but there was something very strange about it.
“The castle is made of sweet treats!” Kirsty exclaimed suddenly. “Rachel, see the cupcake turrets and the doors made of cookies?”
Rachel nodded. “And the towers are ice-cream cones!” she added.
The girls could see Jack Frost’s goblins dashing around the castle with wheelbarrows of cupcakes, ice-cream cones, chocolate bars, cotton candy, and other goodies. Jack Frost was standing on the scaffolding, yelling at them.
“Hurry, you lazy good-for-nothings!” he shouted. “I want my castle finished as quickly as possible. I’ve been planning it for ages. Sweet treats are one of my favorite things! Now bring me a lemon cupcake — I’m hungry!”
“See that necklace around Jack Frost’s neck?” Honey pointed her wand at the image in the chocolate
pool. Rachel and Kirsty looked closely at the necklace. It had seven glittering candy charms on it. “Those are the Sugar and Spice Fairies’ magical charms!” Honey went on.
One of the goblins rushed over and handed Jack Frost a cupcake. “I bet those pesky fairies will try to get their magical charms back before Treat Day,” the goblin pointed out.
Jack Frost gave a roar of rage. “Treat Day is canceled!” he snapped. “And I’ll make sure those silly fairies and their human friends don’t interfere!” With that, Jack Frost waved his wand, and a bolt of icy magic surrounded him. When the frosty air melted away, Rachel and Kirsty saw that the Sugar and Spice Fairies’ magical charms had disappeared from the necklace Jack Frost was wearing.
“Now those charms are safe in the hands of my goblins!” Jack Frost cackled smugly. “They’ll be hidden in the human world, so the Sugar and Spice Fairies will never see them again!”
King Oberon sighed as the image in the pool of chocolate faded. “So you see, girls, Treat Day will be ruined unless our Sugar and Spice Fairies get their magical charms back,” he explained. “Without them, the Fairyland Candy Factory will simply wither away.”
“All yummy treats in the human world will be ruined, too,” Lisa the Lollipop Fairy chimed in. “Just like the ones from Candy Land.”
“Girls, will you help the Sugar and Spice Fairies save Treat Day?” Queen Titania asked hopefully.
The girls nodded. “We’ll do our best,” Kirsty replied, determined, and all the fairies clapped happily.
“Lisa will return to Wetherbury with you,” Honey said, pointing her wand at Rachel and Kirsty. “Thank you, girls!” With that, a stream of magical fairy dust whisked Lisa and the girls away, the good-luck wishes of the other fairies ringing in their ears.
“Where should we start searching for the magical charms?” Rachel wondered aloud as soon as they were back in Kirsty’s bedroom.
Lisa thought for a moment. “What about the village candy shop?” she suggested. “The goblins might try to hide my magic lollipop charm among all the real lollipops there.”
“Good idea!” Kirsty agreed. Lisa zipped over to hide in the pocket of Rachel’s skirt, and they hurried downstairs. Kirsty quickly asked her mom for permission to go to the candy shop. When Mrs. Tate said yes, the three friends headed out right away.
“We have to find all seven magical charms,” Rachel said with a frown as she and Kirsty walked down High Street. “Imagine a world where all candy always tasted horrible? It would be awful!”
Kirsty nudged her. “Look, Rachel,” she murmured. “See those kids coming toward us? They’re carrying bags from the candy shop.”
The girls watched as the group of kids came closer. Two of them were unwrapping chocolate bars. The youngest of the three, a little girl, was holding an ice-cream cone.
“Ew! That tastes soapy!” one of the kids complained after taking a big bite of chocolate.
“So does mine,” the other agreed. “It’s the worst chocolate I’ve ever had in my whole life!”
The little girl took one lick of her ice-cream cone and burst into tears. “It tastes gross!” she wailed.
“Oh, no!” Lisa murmured anxiously from inside Rachel’s pocket.
“This must be happening everywhere,” Kirsty pointed out. “The sooner we get all the magical charms back to the Sugar and Spice Fairies, the sooner the treats will taste good again!”
Kirsty opened the door of the village candy shop, and she and Rachel stepped inside. The store was completely empty. The owner, Tracy Twist, sat at the counter looking glum. The store was packed with different kinds of candy and treats in big glass jars. Boxes of chocolates, cupcakes, and cookies were stacked all around.
There were lots of different flavors of ice cream to choose from, and even a cotton candy machine. But the girls couldn’t see a single lollipop.
“Hi, girls,” said Tracy. She looked at Kirsty. “I bet your aunt Helen has told you all about the problems with the Candy Land treats?” Kirsty nodded, and Tracy gave a big sigh. “I’m losing all my customers because everything tastes so awful!” Tracy went on. “And the worst part is, no one seems to know why.”
“Well, we’ve come to buy some lollipops,” Kirsty said, glancing around the store. “Do you have any, Tracy?”
Tracy shook her head. “I sold all my lollipops this morning to a group of boys,” she replied. “I don’t know who they were, but they must belong to some sort of club. They were all wearing matching green clothes.”
Rachel and Kirsty exchanged an excited glance.Goblins?
“They started eating the lollipops before they even left the shop.” Tracy frowned. “They were licking their lips and saying how wonderful they tasted! I was really surprised, because I’ve had so many complaints about the other candy. Maybe there were a few good ones in that batch of lollipops from Candy Land after all.” She shrugged. “My mom used to run this shop. She’d be so disappointed to know that this has happened.” Tracy looked around the shop sadly.
“Those goblins have my magical charm — that’s why the lollipops they bought tasted so good!” Lisa whispered to the girls from
Rachel’s pocket. “But where are those goblins now?”
“Did the boys say where they were going, Tracy?” asked Rachel.
Tracy shook her head. “No, they didn’t.”
“Well, thanks, anyway,” said Kirsty. “I’m sure that all the treats in your shop will be just as delicious as they used to be soon.”
“I hope so!” Tracy sighed.
The girls gave her reassuring smiles and hurried outside.
“We’re on the goblins’ trail!” Kirsty said excitedly. “But I wonder which way they went when they came out of the candy shop?”
Both girls glanced around, but they couldn’t see any flashes of green that might be goblins. Then Rachel gave a yelp.
“Did you spot a goblin?” Kirsty asked eagerly.
“No, but I did spot this!” Rachel replied. She bent down and picked up a lollipop stick lying on the sidewalk. “And look, there’s another one up there.”
“The goblins are gobbling all the lollipops and leaving a trail of lollipop sticks behind!” Lisa exclaimed, peeking out of Rachel’s pocket. “We can find them by following the trail. But it’ll be faster if I turn you into fairies. We can fly much quicker than we can walk!”
There was no one around to see as Lisa whirled up out of Rachel’s pocket and hovered above the girls, sprinkling them with shimmering fairy dust. Instantly, Rachel and Kirsty shrank down to the same size as Lisa. Fluttering their wings with delight, the girls rose up into the air to join their friend.
“Follow the lollipop trail!” Lisa called, and they flew off down High Street together.
“The goblins must have lots of lollipops,” Kirsty said with a frown, looking at the lollipop sticks and wrappers lying all over the sidewalk. “And they’re eating them superfast! Look at all this garbage.”
Lisa the Lollipop Fairy Page 1