Sky the Blue Fairy (9780545308137) (3 page)

“Oh, no! She's going to be trapped,” Kirsty cried.

Sky's bubble had stopped bobbing in the water. Now it hung very still, frozen into the ice. Rachel and Kirsty could see that Sky looked very scared.

“Poor Sky! We have to rescue her!” Rachel exclaimed. “But how can we melt all that ice?”

“I know!” said Kirsty. “Why don't we look in our magic bags?”

The Fairy Queen had given Rachel and Kirsty bags with very special gifts in them, to use for helping fairies in trouble.

“Of course!” Rachel said. Then she frowned. “Oh, no! I left them in my backpack. It's on the other side of the tide pools, way down the beach!”

“I'll run back and grab the magic bags,” Rachel said, jumping quickly to her feet.

“OK,” Kirsty said. She blew on her hands to warm them up. The frost was making the air very cold. “I'll stay here with Sky. But hurry!”

“I will,” Rachel promised. She scrambled back over the rocks and onto the sandy beach.

Rachel's backpack was lying right where she'd left it. She reached inside and pulled out one of the magic bags. It was glowing with a soft golden light. When she opened it, a cloud of glitter sprayed out. Rachel slid her hand into the bag. There was something inside, smooth like a pebble. She pulled it out and looked closely at it. It was a tiny blue stone, shaped like a raindrop.

Rachel was confused. The stone was pretty, but how could it help?

Just then, the blue stone began to glow in her hand. It became warmer and warmer until it was almost too hot to hold. As it grew hotter, it glowed fiery red. Rachel curled her fingers around the raindrop stone and smiled. They could use it to melt the ice and set Sky free!

She ran back to the tide pool as fast as she could. But when she reached the rocks, she stopped dead in her tracks. Kirsty was still standing by Sky's frozen pool, but she wasn't alone anymore. Two ugly goblins were skating on the ice next to her!

“Go away!” Kirsty was shouting at the goblins, waving her hands.

Rachel could tell that Kirsty was really angry. Rachel didn't feel scared, now that she had fairy magic to help fight the goblins.

“Go away yourself!” one of the goblins yelled rudely at Kirsty. He held his arms out to his sides and slid across the ice on one foot.

Kirsty tried to grab the other goblin, but he dodged out of reach. “Can't catch me!” he cried.

“Hee, hee! The fairy can't get out of the bubble!” The other goblin laughed. His bulging eyes gleamed as he did a little twirl on the ice.

“We're going to get her out!” Kirsty told him. “We're going to find
all
the Rainbow Fairies. And then Fairyland will get its colors back!”

“Oh no, it won't,” said the goblin. He wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue.

“Jack Frost's magic is too strong,” said the other goblin. “You girls can't do anything about it. Hey, look at me!” He pointed one foot behind himself and spun around the pool. But the ice was very slippery. He skidded sideways and crashed right into his friend.

Splat!

“Clumsy!” the other goblin snapped angrily.

“You should have moved out of the way,” grumbled the clumsy one, rubbing his bottom.

Then the goblins tried to stand up. But their feet skidded in all directions and they fell over again in a heap. Rachel saw her chance. She ran to the edge of the pool and threw the magical blue stone onto the ice.

Suddenly, there was a
fizz
and a
bang
! A shower of golden sparks shot into the air and the ice began to melt. A big hole appeared in the center of the pool.

“Ow! Hot! Hot!” yelled the goblins, sliding around on the ice. They scrambled to the edge of the pool and hurried away, their big feet slapping on the rocks as they ran.

“They're gone!” Kirsty said in relief.

Rachel peered into the pool. “I hope Sky isn't hurt,” she said.

All the ice had melted and the water reflected the blue sky again. Sky's bubble was floating just below the surface.

Rachel saw Sky sit up inside the bubble and look around. Her eyes were big and scared, and she looked very pale.

Kirsty put her hand in the water. It was still warm from the magic stone. “Don't be afraid, Sky,” she said. Very gently, Kirsty moved her hand closer to Sky and poked her finger into the bubble.

Pop!

Sky tumbled out of the bubble and into the water. She swam up to the surface, her golden hair streaming behind her.

Kirsty leaned over and fished the fairy out. Sky felt like a tiny wet leaf. Kirsty placed her gently on a rock in the sun. “There you are, little fairy,” she whispered.

Sky propped herself up on one elbow. Water dripped from every part of her, but there were no blue sparkles now. “Thank you for helping me,” she whispered in a weak voice.

Kirsty frowned at Rachel. “Something's really wrong. All the fairies we found before had fairy dust. What happened to Sky's sparkles?”

“I don't know,” said Rachel. “And she looks really pale, almost white.”

It was true. Sky's dress was so pale that the girls could hardly tell it was blue at all.