Kirsty shivered. The air inside the tent felt frosty. “It’s really cold in here,” she whispered. “Jack Frost must be nearby.”
And, sure enough, in the middle of the room was Santa’s sparkling sleigh, complete with hundreds of presents, eight magical reindeer, and Jack Frost! He was ripping open a package. The ground in front of him was already covered with wads of wrapping paper. He wore a red Santa suit and a fake white beard. But he still looked like his mean, cold self.
“Bring me another present!” he roared, tossing aside the game he’d just opened.
His goblin servants came rushing from every corner of the tent. They were all carrying presents, which they pushed into Jack Frost’s greedy hands. Rachel and Kirsty held their breath nervously as the goblins hurried past their hiding place.
Suddenly, Kirsty spotted something. “Look!” she hissed, pointing at the sleigh. “It’s one of the special presents!” The gold-wrapped package was sitting at the back of the sleigh, on top of a pile of other presents.
“You’re right,” Holly whispered excitedly. “And the third one must still be on the sleigh somewhere, too. It doesn’t look like Jack Frost has opened it already.”
“But how are we going to get them without Jack Frost and his goblins seeing us?” Rachel asked.
“If we stay behind the rocks, we can crawl around to the back of the sleigh without being seen,” said Kirsty.
“And I can help you,” Holly added eagerly. “I’ll distract Jack Frost and the goblins.”
“How?” asked Kirsty.
“I’ll use magic to put myself inside one of the presents that Jack Frost is opening,” Holly replied. “That will give him a surprise!”
“That’s a great idea,” Rachel declared. “We’ll creep around to the back of the sleigh. Then, while Holly creates a diversion, you grab the present, Kirsty. I’ll try to drop the magic crown on Jack Frost’s head.”
“OK. Let’s go,” Kirsty whispered.
Holly nodded. She waved her wand above her head and immediately disappeared.
Rachel and Kirsty began to crawl on their hands and knees toward the sleigh, staying out of sight behind the rocks. Jack Frost was too busy unwrapping presents to notice them.
And, luckily, the goblins were running backward and forward, trying to keep their grumpy master happy.
Their hearts thumping, the girls got closer and closer to the sleigh. The special present was so close now that Kirsty could reach out and touch it.
“Now we just wait for Holly to make her move,” Rachel whispered.
The girls watched Jack Frost tear the paper off another present. “I’m bored,” he grumbled. “Why can’t I get a really nice present?” He threw the wrapping paper on the floor and held up a pretty wooden box. “I wonder what’s inside?” he muttered.
Suddenly, the lid of the box burst open. Holly shot out in a huge shower of glittering red holly berries and fairy dust. Jack Frost and the goblins coughed and spluttered in shock.
“This is our chance!” Kirsty cried, while Jack Frost and his goblins stared at Holly in surprise.
Kirsty reached for the special present. Meanwhile, Rachel pulled the crown out of her pocket and stood up, ready to drop it onto Jack Frost’s head.
“What’s going on?” Jack Frost shouted, rubbing fairy dust out of his eyes. “It’s that pesky Christmas Fairy, isn’t it? Grab her!”
Kirsty had her hands on the present now, and Rachel was leaning over the sleigh with the crown. But just then, one of the goblins spotted her. “Look out!” he screeched, pointing a bony finger at Rachel.
Jack Frost spun around. His cold, hard eyes met Rachel’s, and she felt herself shiver. Quickly, Jack Frost waved his wand. The reindeer galloped off, pulling the sleigh behind them. Luckily, Kirsty was still hanging onto the ribbon that was tied around the special package.
As the sleigh moved away, the present tumbled off and fell safely into Kirsty’s arms.
“I want you to catch that fairy!” Jack Frost roared at his goblin servants as the reindeer galloped toward the tent entrance, taking the sleigh with them. “And those girls, too!”
“Kirsty! Rachel!” shouted Holly, who was zooming up and away from the goblins. “You have to get out of here!”
The reindeer galloped out of the tent and flew up into the air. As the sleigh soared overhead, the shoppers looked up in amazement. They gasped, and then began clapping and cheering, thinking it was some sort of Christmas magic show.
The sleigh flew through the mall and out the big double doors. But back in the tent, the goblins were closing in on the girls, backing them into a corner. “We’ve got you now!” one of them snarled.
“You can’t trick us and get away with it!” sneered another.
Kirsty and Rachel were very scared. “Split up and run for it when I give the word!” Rachel whispered. She waited until the goblins were close to them, and then shouted, “Now!”
Immediately, she and Kirsty ran as fast as they could in opposite directions. The goblins chased after them, but there was a lot of pushing and shoving and shouting. The clumsy goblins bumped into one another and tripped over their own big feet!
In the middle of the chaos, Rachel and Kirsty both headed for the exit. Kirsty reached it first. She noticed that Rachel was nearly there, too, but a goblin was very close behind her. As Kirsty slipped out of the tent, she saw the goblin reach for her friend!
The goblin missed Rachel and fell over, tripping another goblin who was hot on his heels. The girls had escaped from the tent, but they knew that the goblins were right behind them. They didn’t have much time to get away.
“Quick, Kirsty!” Rachel shouted. “Those ropes that hold up the back of the tent — we need to pull them out!”
Kirsty knew exactly what Rachel had in mind. The two girls began pulling at the ropes with all their might.
Suddenly, there was a creaking sound as the ropes gave way. The large white tent wobbled and fell to the ground, trapping the goblins underneath the heavy canvas.
“We did it!” Kirsty gasped. “That was a great idea, Rachel!”
“Yes, but I think we’d better get out of here before those goblins escape,” Rachel whispered. “It’s almost time to meet Mom, anyway.”
“Where’s Holly?” asked Kirsty, looking around.
“Here I am!” called a tiny voice. Holly zoomed over to land on Kirsty’s shoulder. All the shoppers were too busy staring at the collapsed tent to notice the tiny fairy.
“Are you all right?” Rachel asked anxiously.
“I’m fine!” Holly beamed. “Thank you for getting the second present. The Fairy King and Queen will be so happy!”
Kirsty held out the present, and Holly waved her wand over it. Fairy dust filled the air, and the present promptly vanished back to Fairyland.
“I almost got the crown on Jack Frost’s head!” Rachel sighed as she dropped the crown carefully back into her pocket. “But he got away again. And we don’t know where he went.”
“Oh, yes, we do!” Holly told her excitedly. “While you were running from the goblins, I followed the sleigh and spoke to one of my reindeer friends.”
“What did he say?” asked Rachel eagerly.
“He told me that Jack Frost is really annoyed that we keep finding him in the human world,” Holly explained. “He wants to open all of Santa’s presents in peace and quiet. So he told the reindeer to take him to his ice castle right away.”
“His ice castle!” Kirsty exclaimed. “Where Jack Frost lives?”
Holly nodded.
“Do you know where it is, Holly?” Rachel asked.
“Yes,” Holly replied. “It’s a cold, scary place, but I can take you there tomorrow, if you still want to help.”
“Of course, we do!” said Kirsty and Rachel together.
Holly beamed at them. “I’ll head back to Fairyland now and report to King Oberon and Queen Titania,” she went on. “Can you get me out of the mall?”
�
�Of course,” Kirsty said, smiling. While Holly hid behind Kirsty’s scarf, the girls walked quickly over to one of the doors. When nobody was looking, Holly slipped out from behind the scarf, gave the girls a cheery wave, and zoomed up into the sky. The girls watched her fly away until she was out of sight. Then they hurried back through the mall toward the glass elevators, where they had promised to meet Rachel’s mom.
Mrs. Walker was already waiting for them, holding lots of shopping bags. “Hello, girls!” She smiled. “I thought you’d gotten lost! Did you both find everything you needed?”
“Almost!” Rachel replied with a quick glance at Kirsty.
“Did you see Santa’s workshop?” Mrs. Walker went on, leading the way back to the car. “I heard it was beautiful — until the tent collapsed! But some of the parents were complaining that Santa was awfully grumpy.”
Rachel and Kirsty grinned at each other. “He was!” Kirsty agreed.
“I wonder what’s going to happen tomorrow, Rachel?” Kirsty whispered as Mrs. Walker unlocked the car. “Jack Frost’s ice castle sounds scary.”
“I know,” Rachel whispered back. “But we can’t let our fairy friends down.”
“No, we can’t,” Kirsty said firmly. “We have to get Santa’s sleigh and the third present.”
“And this time, we’ll get that magic crown on Jack Frost’s head!” added Rachel. The girls exchanged a smile and climbed into the car. They were both very excited and a little bit nervous about what the next day might have in store!
Rachel opened her eyes and yawned. She sat up in bed and looked over at Kirsty, who was still asleep. It’s Christmas Eve! Rachel thought excitedly. But it would only be a merry Christmas if they managed to get the sleigh and all the presents back to Santa today. If they didn’t, Jack Frost would ruin everything!
Rachel pushed back the blankets and shivered. Even though the heat was on, there was still a chill in the air. She went over to the window and looked outside. “Oh!” she gasped.
It had snowed heavily during the night, and the trees, grass, and shrubs were all hidden under a thick blanket of sparkling white snow.
“What is it?” Kirsty yawned.
“Sorry, did I wake you up?” asked Rachel. “I was just so surprised to see the snow!”
“Snow?” Kirsty gasped. She jumped out of bed and ran over to join Rachel. They both peered out of the frosty window.
“It looks like we’re going to have a white Christmas.” Rachel smiled.
“It’ll be the best Christmas ever,” Kirsty agreed. “As long as we make it back from Jack Frost’s ice castle….”
“Are you scared?” asked Rachel.
“A little,” Kirsty replied. “But I’m not giving up. Are you?”
“No way!” Rachel laughed. “Come on. Let’s get dressed and have breakfast. Then we can go outside.”
The two girls hurried downstairs for scrambled eggs and toast. Then they pulled on their coats and boots, and ran out into the yard. Their feet sank into the soft snow, leaving tracks all over the lawn. It started snowing again, and pretty snowflakes drifted down around them.
Kirsty rolled a snowball in her hands. “Let’s have a snowball fight!” She grinned and threw the snowball at Rachel.
Laughing, Rachel ducked. But before the snowball reached her, it exploded in the air like fireworks. Tiny sparkling red icicles shot in all directions. As Kirsty and Rachel watched in amazement, Holly burst out of the snowball.
“Here I am!” she cried, shaking snowflakes from her red dress. “Are you ready, girls? It’s time to go to Jack Frost’s ice castle!”
“We’re ready!” Rachel said bravely.
Kirsty nodded and checked her coat pocket to make sure she had the magic crown.
Then Holly waved her wand in the air. Berry-red fairy dust drifted down over the girls, and they began to shrink. In a moment, they were fairy-size and had thin wings on their backs.
Holly fluttered up into the air, and Rachel and Kirsty followed her.
“Here we go!” Holly said, waving her wand again.
It was snowing heavily now, and the falling snowflakes began to spin and dance around the girls until Rachel and Kirsty couldn’t see anything at all.
Then, the blizzard of snow cleared as quickly as it had begun. Rachel and Kirsty gasped. They weren’t in the Walkers’ backyard anymore! Instead, they were sitting in a tree, staring at Jack Frost’s ice castle.
The castle stood on a tall hill under a gloomy, gray winter sky. It was built out of sheets of ice. It had five towers tipped with icy blue peaks. The ice glittered and sparkled like diamonds, but the palace still looked cold and scary.
“Be careful,” Holly whispered as a few goblins walked underneath the tree. “There are goblins everywhere. We’ll never get in through the main gate.”
“Maybe we can find a way in from above,” Rachel suggested, looking upward.
“Good idea,” Holly replied. “Follow me!”
The girls trailed Holly as she flew up toward one of the ice-blue towers.
“See what I mean?” Holly said quietly.
Rachel and Holly peered down at the castle below.
Holly was right. There were goblin guards at every door!
“Maybe we can find an open window,” whispered Rachel.
Holly nodded. “Let’s split up and take a look. We’ll meet back here in a few minutes.”
They all flew off in different directions. Kirsty went to look around the tops of the towers, one by one. There were lots of windows, but all of them were locked. She flew back to meet Rachel and Holly.
Rachel was already waiting. “I didn’t have any luck.” She sighed. “Did you?”
Kirsty shook her head sadly.
At that moment, Holly fluttered down to join them.
“Did you get lost?” asked Kirsty.
“I had to hide from one of the goblins,” Holly explained. “He was on guard duty, and he almost spotted me!”
“We didn’t find any open windows,” Rachel told her. “Did you?”
Holly shook her head. “No, but I found another way in!” She grinned. “Follow me.”
Holly led the girls to the roof of the castle and pointed down. “Look!” she said. “A trap door!” Kirsty gasped.
“When I was hiding from the goblin, I saw him lift the trap door and go into the castle,” Holly told the girls. “And I don’t think he locked it on the other side.”
They checked to make sure that there were no goblins around, then flew down to the trap door. It was a slab of ice with a steel ring on the top.
“It looks very heavy,” Rachel said with a frown.
“That’s no problem,” Holly said, smiling. She waved her wand and the trap door suddenly flew open in a whirl of fairy dust.
Below were steps of ice, which led down into the castle. Shivering, Rachel, Kirsty, and Holly flew inside.
“We have to start looking for Santa’s sleigh right away,” Holly whispered to the girls.
“It’s not easy to hide a sleigh and eight reindeer!” said Rachel.
“Maybe they’re in the stables?” Kirsty suggested.
“That’s a good place to start,” said Holly. “But keep a sharp lookout for goblins!”
The friends flew down the winding staircase toward the ground floor of the castle. But as they fluttered around a corner, they bumped right into a goblin who was on his way up the stairs.
“Fairies!” the goblin roared. “What are you doing here?” He tried to grab at Holly, but she darted out of reach. “Help! Fairies!”
Holly, Rachel, and Kirsty turned and flew back up the stairs. But as they reached the next corner, they heard the loud clatter of footsteps. Six more goblins were rushing toward them!
The three friends tried to dodge out of the way, but they were completely surrounded by goblins. Holly and Rachel were both caught right away. Kirsty tried to fly overhead, but one goblin jumped onto another one’s shoulders and grabbed hold of her ankle.
The goblins laughed gleefully. “Now you’re our prisoners!” they cried. “Jack Frost is going to be so happy with us!”
The goblins took their prisoners through the ice castle and into the Great Hall. It was a huge room carved from shining sheets of ice. At one end was Jack Frost’s throne. It was made of glittering icicles that had been twisted into shape.
But Jack Frost wasn’t sitting on his throne. He was in Santa’s sleigh! The reindeer were still harnessed to it, and they were munching on bales of hay. Jack Frost was unwrapping more presents, and the floor was covered with wrapping paper and ribbons.
Rachel, Holly, and Kirsty trembled as the goblins pushed them toward Jack Frost.
“Look what we brought you!” one of the goblins called triumphantly.
Jack Frost looked up at the girls. “You again!” he snarled, staring at them with cold, hard eyes. “You’re always trying to ruin my fun!”
He shook his fist. Rachel gasped as she spotted the present that Jack Frost held in his other hand. He hadn’t opened it yet. It was still wrapped in pretty gold paper and tied with a rainbow-colored bow. It was the third special present that King Oberon and Queen Titania had asked the girls to find!
Rachel glanced at Kirsty and Holly. They’d spotted the present, too! But how were they going to keep Jack Frost from opening it?
Kirsty was thinking the same thing as Rachel. She stared down at the piles of wrapping paper on the floor, and suddenly, she had an idea.
The Rainbow Magic Holiday Collection Page 6