Chapter 1

The summer rain splashed down,bouncing off the patio table inKatie’s back garden.

“Are you sure you want to playoutside in this weather, darling?”asked Mum, as Katie pulled on herwellies.

“Oh, yes, I don’t mind gettingwet,” said Katie, grinning to herselfas she did up the buttons of herbright-yellow raincoat.

Mum sighed and gave her a

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goodbye hug. “Well, don’t be toolong, darling,” she said. “Let’s havean early lunch and then perhaps wecan watch a film together.”

“OK, that sounds great,” saidKatie. Mum worried that she hadn’tmade any friends in their newvillage yet, and she tried to make upfor it by filling the long summerholidays with fun things to do likewatching films, painting, cookingand visits to Auntie Jane.

As Katie dashed across the backgarden in her raincoat and wellies,she wished she could tell Mum thatshe had made some new friends.Four new friends, in fact.

Well, she had tried to tell Mumabout them but, being a grown-up,Mum had assumed that they wereonly in her imagination. Katieducked under the wire fence into the

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almost-meadow and breathed in thesweet smell of the rain on the lushgreen grass. Underneath the old oaktree stood Katie’s dolls’ house.

This was where her four friendslived.

And they were fairies.Katie crouched down beside the

little house, which looked so cosywith the cheerful polka dot curtains

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hanging in the windows and thesoft glow of the daisy lights beyond.She touched the tiny blue doorhandle with the very tip of her littlefinger and whispered the magicwords, “I believe in fairies, I believein fairies, I believe in fairies.” Shesquealed with excitement as the topof her head tingled. Then a greatwhooshing sound roared in her earsand she shrank down and downand down . . . to fairy size!

Katie hurried into the FairyHouse and her friends rushed up togreet her. Daisy, the kind summerfairy, fussed around her, pulling offher wet coat and finding her a scrapof material to dry her hair on.

Boisterous Bluebell, the springfairy and the naughtiest of the fourby far, tried to pull off her wellies.But they were very stuck, so then

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Rosehip, the fiery autumn fairywith the flame-red hair, gaveBluebell a hand. Snowdrop, the shywinter fairy, grinned out frombeneath her sweep of sleek blackhair and said, “We’ve been makingsomething, come and see.”

Intrigued, Katie followed them intothe kitchen, shuffling along in hersocks. Then she gasped in amazement.There, laid out on the table, were themost beautiful trinkets she’d ever seen.The fairies had been working very, veryhard indeed.

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“They’re lucky charm bracelets,”said Snowdrop.

The bracelets were made of wildflowers and grass stems woventogether, with crystal beads andsilver stars from Katie’s craft setthreaded on to them. Katie pickedone up and was surprised to findthat the flowers were solid to thetouch, as though made of wire andsilk.

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“We put a sprinkle of fairy duston to them,” Rosehip explained, “sothat the flowers will last for ever.”

“No one will ever realize that thelittle bit of extra sparkle is real fairydust!” giggled Rosehip.

“They’re beautiful,” Katie gasped.“Can I have a go at making one?”

They all sat down around thetable and Daisy showed Katie howto thread the beads on to the wildflowers.

“You know, we’re making themfor something,” said Bluebell,looking very pleased with herself.“You see, we’ve had an idea.”

She looked at Snowdrop whoexplained, “If you put thesebracelets on when you turn bigagain, they’ll turn big too, and thenyou could show them to your mumand persuade her to let you sell

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them at her art exhibition onSaturday.”

“Do you think we’d be able tomake enough money to buy anotherone of the birthstones?” askedDaisy, as she threaded beads on to agrass stem.

“Some of them are veryexpensive,” Katie said, “likediamond and emerald, but wemight be able to afford a piece ofturquoise or amethyst.”

“Brilliant!” cried Snowdrop.“So then we’ll be even closer to

completing the fairy task,” finishedRosehip triumphantly.

Katie nodded. She knew howimportant the fairy task was to herfriends. She glanced up at the FairyQueen’s message which Snowdrophad stuck on to the kitchencupboard.

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Fairy Task No. 45826

By Royal Command of the Fairy Queen

Terrible news has reached Fairyland. As you

know, the Magic Oak is the gateway between

Fairyland and the human world. The

sparkling whirlwind can only drop fairies off

here. Humans plan to knock down our special

tree and build a house on the land. If this

happens, fairies will no longer be able to

come and help people and the environment.

You must stop them from doing this terrible

thing and make sure that the tree is

protected for the future. Only then will you

be allowed back into Fairyland.

By order of Her Eternal Majesty

The Fairy Queen

PS You will need one each of the twelve

birthstones to work the magic that will

save the tree – but hurry, there’s not

much time!

Katie and the fairies had alreadycollected seven of the birthstones,and they needed five more. Theyhad also discovered who wasbehind the plans to knock down thetree and build a luxury villa in thealmost-meadow. It was MaxTowner, Tiffany Towner’s father.Tiffany was a horrible bully inKatie’s class who had stopped theother girls from playing with her.

Katie and the fairies didn’t knowexactly when Max Towner wasplanning to knock the tree down,but they were desperately trying tocollect all the birthstones as quicklyas they could.

Katie couldn’t even bear to thinkabout what would happen if theydidn’t work the magic in time. Butshe was sure of one thing – if earthand Fairyland were cut off from one

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another it would be a disaster. Afterall, if the fairies could no longer comedown the sparkling whirlwind, whowould look after all the trees andflowers and animals?

Suddenly there was a BANG anda CRASH outside, which madethem all jump.

For a moment Katie thought thatMax Towner had come crashing inwith the digger already.

Rosehip flew over to the window and

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looked out. “It’s a bird,” she gasped,“and, oh dear, he’s hurt his wing.”

Daisy and Snowdrop went over to look as well. Then, “Aaaaaahhhhhh!”they screamed and shot back across theroom and under the table.

“What’s wrong?” Bluebelldemanded. “Whatever it is, it can’tbe that scary! Let me have a look.”And with that, she zoomed over tothe window and peered out.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”she screamed. She dived under thetable too. “A cat!” she whispered.“It’s enormous!”

Bang! Flap, flap, bang!They all clung together in terror

as the bird threw himself against theside of the Fairy House, making thewhole thing shudder and shake.

“We have to help him!” criedRosehip. “If we don’t, that cat is

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going to gethold of himand. . .” Shetrailed off

with a shudder.She crept out

from underthe table and

began a wobbly flutter across thekitchen to the hallway . . . and thefront door.

“Rosehip, you can’t!” cried Daisy.“It’s OK,” called Rosehip. “If I’m

quick I can open the door and—”But just then the cat took another

swipe at the bird and its big gingerpaw battered the side of the FairyHouse. They all screamed. The housetipped up and rocked back and forth,almost falling on to its side. Rosehippleaded with her friends, almost intears. “I can’t open the door if the

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house falls over. We have to dosomething! We have to help thebird!”

“We can’t!” cried Snowdrop.“It’s too dangerous,” Daisy agreed.But Bluebell looked determined.

“OK, I’ll distract the cat,” she said.“Just wait for my signal, then openthe door.”

Rosehip nodded and flew off.Bluebell took a deep breath, then

flew upstairs and out of her bedroomwindow. Terrified for her, Katie,Daisy and Snowdrop crept to thekitchen window and peered out.They gasped as Bluebell zoomedround near the cat, just out of itsreach. They shrieked as its clawscame slashing through the air rightbeside her. All the cat’s attention wason her. “Now!” she called, andRosehip opened the front door.

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The flame-haired fairy shriekedand threw herself to the floor as thebird came crashing in. He skitteredacross the hallway, flapping hiswings in panic, and squeezedthrough the doorway into thekitchen. Rosehip dived back underthe table and huddled together withthe others, trembling. The bangingand crashing and flapping andskittering was right above theirheads. Poor little Snowdrop lookedabsolutely terrified and Daisy heldher tight. Just then, Bluebell zoomedback down the stairs and appearedat the kitchen door.

“Quick,” she cried. “Let’s hide!”They grabbed each other’s hands

and hurried out, shielding their facesas the bird flapped beside them. Justthen the cat threw itself at the FairyHouse to try and reach the bird. Its

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angry yowlpierced the air.Katie stared infright at theenormous eyelooking in thewindow. As thecat moved shesaw the tag onits collar.As Katie tugged

Daisy upstairs, she hissed, “That’sTiffany’s cat! Typical! He’s as meanas she is!”

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“What if Tiffany’s nearby?” saidRosehip. “She could be even moredangerous than her cat!”

“I didn’t see her when I wentout,” said Bluebell. “I think the cathas just ended up here after chasingthe bird.”

“I really hope you’re right,” saidDaisy with a shudder.

They squeezed into their favouritehiding place, Snowdrop’s wardrobe,and huddled together in the dark,listening to the bangs and crashes of thebird skittering downstairs. Theyscreamed every time the cat’s pawbatted the Fairy House – almost tippingit over as the cat tried to get to the bird.

Now the bird was panicking andflapping around the living room.Rosehip winced as he leapt on to thepiano with a twang! “I hope hehasn’t broken it,” she murmured.

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They held each other tight again,squealing, as the cat pounced oncemore and the whole house teeteredon the brink of falling.

“What if that cat manages to pushthe house over and we all fall outand get eaten up?” cried Daisy.They’d all been thinking that, buthearing it said out loud madeSnowdrop burst into tears.

They stayed in the wardrobe,huddled together, until finally thehouse stopped shaking and therewas silence from downstairs.

“Maybe the cat gave up and wentaway,” whispered Rosehip.

Bluebell put a finger to her lips,then opened the wardrobe door andcrept out. She went to the windowand peered nervously out into thealmost-meadow. “Yes it’s OK, thecat’s gone,” she told them.

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She flew around,looking out ofevery upstairswindow to makeabsolutely sure,and then finallythe other fairiesfelt brave enoughto come out of thewardrobe.

Holding eachothers’ hands

tightly, they crept downstairs, verynervous about what they mightfind.

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