She elbowed Kirsty. “They’re goblins!” she whispered. “And I think they see the shell!”
Rachel was right. The divers were goblins! Even worse, they were heading straight for the sparkling piece of shell that lag in the corner of the cave.
“Quick!” Kirsty cried. “We’ve got to get there first!”
The three fairies and Echo swam as fast as they could toward the shimmering piece of shell. But before they or the goblins could reach it, a small pink crab scuttled over and picked up the shell piece in its pincers.
“That’s definitely part of the golden conch,” Ally said in excitement, as sparkles of light from the shell shone through the water. “Come on!”
Before the fairies could get there, however, the goblins reached the crab first. One of them held out his hand. “Give it here, Stalk-Eyes,” he ordered rudely.
The little crab held tightly to the shell, and some other, bigger crabs emerged from behind a rock to form a protective circle around their friend. They snapped the water with their pincers to keep the goblins away.
“How can we get rid of those goblins?” Rachel wondered, as one of them made a grab for the shell piece.
She turned to Ally. “Could Echo and the other dolphins chase them away? What do you think?”
Ally grinned. “You bet,” she said, and whispered something to Echo. Echo nodded, her mouth falling open in a smile. She made a series of clicks and whistling sounds to the other dolphins.
Immediately, all the dolphins rushed toward the goblins, who looked absolutely terrified at the sight. “Don’t eat me!” cried one. “Help! Swim for your life!”
“Aaaarrrghh!” yelled the other goblin. “Mommy!”
The frightened goblins turned and swam off as fast as they could. Rachel giggled. She loved it when a plan worked out!
“Now we just need to persuade the little crab to trade us,” Ally said thoughtfully, picking up a small stone from the seabed. She waved her wand, and a stream of silvery light danced through the water and all around the stone. Ally’s magic had turned it into a gleaming white pearl!
Ally swam over to the crab. “Look at this beautiful pearl,” she said, holding it out to show him. “Would you like to trade it for that piece of broken shell?”
The crab immediately dropped the piece of golden conch shell and picked up the pearl, looking very happy.
“Thank you.” Kirsty smiled, reaching out to take the piece of shell.
“Look out!” Rachel shouted suddenly, as the goblins, followed by Echo and the other dolphins, shot back through the grotto. The goblins and dolphins were going so fast that they caused a current of water to sweep through the cave. The shell lifted right off the seabed and surged away from the three fairies.
Kirsty lunged for it, but before she could grab the piece of shell, a goblin snatched it up and swam quickly out of the grotto.
“After him!” called Ally. “Don’t let him get away!”
Kirsty, Rachel, Ally, and Echo chased after the goblin. He swam all the way up to the surface. As the others followed, they suddenly heard a lot of noise. Once their heads broke the surface of the water, they discovered the source of all the racket.
“It’s a water-skiing show!” Kirsty cried in alarm, swerving to avoid a speedboat as it roared past her. All around them speedboats zoomed along, towing water-skiers and wakeboarders behind them. Up on the beach, a crowd of spectators watched the action.
Just then, the girls saw one wakeboarder fly right past the goblin who was holding the piece of golden conch shell. He stretched out a hand and grabbed the piece of shell—and they realized that he was a goblin, too!
They watched in dismay as he zoomed away at an amazing speed. “We’re never going to catch up with him,” Rachel said. “There’s no way we can swim that fast.”
“No,” said Ally, “but the dolphins can, can’t they?” She grinned and leaped out of the water and onto Echo’s back, taking hold of her back fin. Then she gave a whistle, and two other dolphins swam over to Kirsty and Rachel. “Ladies, your carriages await.” Ally smiled. “Jump on board!”
Kirsty and Rachel didn’t need to be told twice! They both flew out of the water and onto their own dolphins, clinging tightly to their fins., “And off we go,” Ally cheered. “Come on, Echo!”
Echo and the two other dolphins surged through the sea, and Rachel almost fell off her dolphin’s back in surprise. It was going so fast, she felt like she was flying!
A huge cheer went up as the spectators on the beach spotted the dolphins. The three fairies hunched low by the animals’ fins, not wanting to be seen. The dolphins were closing in on the wakeboarding goblin. Suddenly, all three of them leaped out of the water at once, making the goblin jump in surprise.
The startled goblin lost his balance and tumbled into the sea, dropping the piece of the golden conch shell as he fell!
“Oh, no!” he yelled in dismay, trying to catch it. Echo was too quick for him, though. With another graceful leap into the air, she caught the piece of shell in her mouth and dove back into the water.
The other two dolphins that Kirsty and Rachel were riding on followed. Once they were all a safe distance from the goblins, the girls slipped off their backs.
“Thank you,” Kirsty said, patting her dolphin’s silver nose. “I enjoyed that so much.”
Meanwhile, Ally was hugging Echo, delighted to have the piece of golden conch shell. “Good girl, Echo,” she said happily. “And great job, Kirsty and Rachel! I’d better take Echo and this piece of shell back to the Fairyland Royal Aquarium now, but I’m sure we’ll meet again. I’ll change you two back into your human form first. Thanks for everything!”
Kirsty and Rachel hugged the smiling fairy and Echo, too. They would never forget their wonderful dolphin adventure!
Ally waved her wand and a stream of silver sparkles surrounded them all, so that everything seemed to blur before their eyes. When the sparkly whirlwind died down, the girls were back on the beach at Lea-on-Sea, behind the very same cluster of rocks where they’d started their fairy adventure.
“We were only gone for a minute,” Kirsty said as she looked up to check the time on the clock tower. Then she smiled at Rachel. “That was the most exciting minute of my life, I think!”
Rachel was smiling, too, as she gazed out at the waves tumbling onto the shore. “I can’t wait for our next ocean adventure,” she said. “I think this is going to be a very magical vacation!”
“Look at the lighthouse, Rachel!” Kirsty Täte exclaimed to her best friend, Rachel Walker. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Rachel shaded her eyes from the sun and gazed at the lighthouse. The tall, newly-painted red and white building stood proudly among the rocks at the harbor entrance. “It’s very nice,” Rachel agreed. “It looks so much better than it did before.”
“Everyone in town helped raise the money to renovate the lighthouse and turn it into an artists’ studio,” Kirsty’s gran explained. Kirsty and Rachel were spending their spring vacation with her in the coastal town of Leamouth. “There’s been a lot of work going on since the last time you were here.”
As they approached the lighthouse, they saw that a line of easels overlooking the ocean had been set up outside. There were people sitting at some of the easels, painting views of the water and the lighthouse. “Maybe you’d like to explore the lighthouse for a while, girls, while I’m at my painting class,” Gran suggested as she headed for an empty easel. “It’s been renovated inside, too, and there are lots of paintings on display. Even the big old lantern right at the top is working again. It’s just for show, though. Ships don’t need it to tell them where the shore is anymore.”
Leaving Gran to unpack her paints and brushes, the girls wandered over to the lighthouse. The door was open, and Rachel and Kirsty went inside.
“Let’s climb right up to the top,” Rachel suggested.
“Good idea,” said Kirsty, heading for the narrow spiral staircase. The walls on either s
ide of the steps were hung with watercolor paintings, pencil sketches, and collages of different views of Leamouth. The girls stopped occasionally to take closer looks.
“I can’t believe the big lantern is working again, can you?” Kirsty asked as they climbed higher. “Last time we were here, the bulb was broken and Shannon had to use her fairy magic to make it light up.”
“Yes, we had to stop that cruise ship, the Seafarer, from hitting the rocks,” Rachel remembered. “That was almost a disaster, thanks to Jack Frost and his goblins!” She glanced up the stairs as they approached the top of the lighthouse. “The lantern is probably only turned on at night—”
Suddenly Rachel broke off, her heart pounding. They were almost at the top of the stairs now and she could see a sparkling golden glow ahead of them, coming from the lantern room.
“What is it, Rachel?” Kirsty asked curiously from behind her.
“I can see a light coming from the lantern!” Rachel declared.
“Why would the lantern be turned on?” Kirsty asked, confused. “It’s the middle of the day.”
“That glow isn’t from a lightbulb,” Rachel replied, “I think its fairy magic!”
Breathless with anticipation, the two girls ran up the last few steps and into the room at the very top of the lighthouse. Sure enough, the lantern was glowing with a magical golden light.
“Look, Rachel!” Kirsty cried, pointing at the mirrors surrounding the lantern. “There are lots of fairies!”
“But they all look the same,” Rachel said, sounding confused. Then she burst out laughing. “Kirsty, it’s only one fairy!” Rachel explained. “Those are just reflections.”
The girls heard a tinkling little laugh, and a tiny fairy flitted out from inside the lantern. She had long brown hair with straight bangs, and she wore a patterned dress, gladiator sandals, and a chunky beaded bracelet on her wrist.
“It’s me, girls,” she cried, “Amelie the Seal Fairy!”
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e-ISBN 978-0-545-54861-8
Copyright © 2010 by Rainbow Magic Limited.
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First Scholastic printing, March 2011
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Ally the Dolphin Fairy Page 2