Sky the Blue Fairy (9780545308137)

“The water's really warm!” Rachel Walker said, laughing. She was sitting on a rock, dipping her toes in one of Rainspell Island's deep blue tide pools. Her friend Kirsty Tate was looking for shells on the rocks nearby.

“Be careful not to slip, Kirsty!” called Mrs. Tate. She was sitting farther down the beach with Rachel's mom.

“OK, Mom!” Kirsty yelled back. She looked down at her bare feet, and a patch of green seaweed beneath them began to move. There was something blue and shiny tangled up in the seaweed. “Rachel! Come over here,” she shouted.

Rachel hopped across the rocks. “What is it?” she asked.

Kirsty pointed to the seaweed. “There's something blue under there,” she said. “I wonder if it could it be . . .”

“Sky the Blue Fairy?” Rachel said eagerly.

A few days before, Rachel and Kirsty had discovered a magical secret. The wicked Jack Frost had banished the seven Rainbow Fairies from Fairyland with a magic spell. Now the fairies were hidden all over Rainspell Island. Until they were all found there would be no color in Fairyland. Rachel and Kirsty had promised the Fairy King and Queen that they would help find the fairies.

The seaweed twitched.

Rachel felt her heart beat faster.

“Maybe the fairy is all tangled up,” she whispered. “Like Fern was when she landed in the ivy on the tower.”

Fern was the Green Rainbow Fairy. Rachel and Kirsty had already found Fern and her sisters Ruby, Amber, and Sunny.

Suddenly, a crab crawled out from under the seaweed at Kirsty's feet. The crab was bright blue and very shiny. Tiny rainbows sparkled across its shell. It didn't look like any of the other crabs on the beach.

Kirsty and Rachel smiled at each other. This must be more of Rainspell Island's special magic!

“Oh, no! Fairy in trouble!” the crab muttered in a tiny voice. It sounded scratchy, like two pebbles rubbing together.

“Did you hear that?” Rachel gasped.

The crab stopped and peered up at the girls with his little stalk eyes. Then he stood up on his back legs.

“What's he doing?” Kirsty asked in surprise.

The crab pointed one claw toward some rocks farther along the beach, under the cliffs. He rushed forward a few steps, then came back and looked up at Rachel and Kirsty again. “Over there,” he said.

“I think he wants us to follow him,” Rachel said.

“Yes! Yes!” said the little crab, clicking his claws. He set off sideways across a large, flat rock.

Kirsty turned to Rachel. “Maybe he knows where Sky is!”

“I hope so,” Rachel replied, her eyes shining.

The crab moved off the rocks and headed across a stretch of sand. Rachel and Kirsty followed him. It was a hot, sunny day. Seagulls flew over the beach on strong, white wings.