Through the Fairy Door - Childrens Book

Elaine and Laura Nelson Illustrated by Ste Johnson

To Jessica and Eva with love x x

Elaine and Laura Nelson Illustrated by Ste Johnson

Chapter 1 Rowena and Mummy were waiting for Ruth to come out of school.

Mummy was chatting to the other mummies but Rowena was bored.

She wished she could go to choir rehearsals like Ruth but she wasn’t old enough yet.

“Why don’t you run around with your friends?” asked Mummy.

Lily and Lola were chasing Freddie round the playground and Rowena watched them for a while. Usually she loved playing with them but today she felt grumpy and didn’t want to join in.

She was hot and tired and thirsty.

“I want to go home,” she complained.

“In a minute,” said Mummy. “You know we have to wait for Ruth.”

Rowena went over to sit in the shade of the huge beech tree at the edge of the playground. It was cool there and she sat very still, watching a ladybird crawling along a blade of grass.

She remembered the little nursery rhyme that Mummy had taught her and she recited it to the ladybird:-

“ Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home, Your house is on fire and your children are gone.

All save the youngest - her name is Anne And she’s hidden under the frying pan!”

Suddenly the ladybird spread its wings and flew away.

“That’s not very nice!” said a little voice. Rowena turned round and saw a tiny fairy, no bigger than a mouse, peeping out of a little door in the tree trunk.

“You’ve scared her. She’s gone to make sure her children are safe.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry,” said Rowena. “I love ladybirds. I didn’t mean to scare her. Can she understand me?”

“Of course she can understand you,” said the fairy.

“Are you real?” Rowena asked the fairy.

“You do ask some strange questions,” replied the fairy. “Are you real?”

“Of course I am,” said Rowena.

“Well then!” said the fairy. “That’s that!”

Rowena stared at the fairy. She had never seen anything so lovely. The fairy had black hair, tied in thick stubby plaits which hung over her shoulders. She had twinkling green eyes and rosy cheeks and on the bridge of her little turned-up nose was a dusting of freckles. She wore a red velvet waistcoat and soft red pointed boots and her skirt was like a ballet tutu made of white flower petals. On her head was a little red pointed cap like a flower. But best of all were the two gossamer wings that shimmered behind her.

“It’s rude to stare,” said the fairy. “And close your mouth. You’ll get a fly in it if you gawp like that!”

Rowena closed her mouth quickly. This afternoon was starting to get interesting!

Chapter 2 “Well,” said the fairy. “I think you had better come with me to apologise to that poor ladybird and make sure she has found her children.”

“But I’m only a little girl! My Mummy won’t let me go off with a stranger,” said Rowena, even though she desperately wanted to go with the fairy.

“Of course!” cried the fairy. “I know that! Your Mummy is very sensible and I would never put you in danger. However, fairies have special rules and we have fairy time, which means we can go to Fairyland in the twinkling of an eye and be back before anyone knows you’ve gone! When your Mummy was a little girl she probably visited Fairyland but when little girls and boys grow up they are so busy looking after their own children that they usually forget about it. Now, close your eyes; I’m going to sprinkle you with fairy dust.”

Rowena squeezed her eyes tightly and as she did so she heard a sound like a hundred tiny bells tinkling. Her arms and legs began to tingle and her head felt as though it was spinning. There was a whooshing sound and then Rowena heard the fairy shouting, “Come on! Open your eyes now!”

Rowena peeped out from under her eyelids and what she saw made her squeal with excitement. She had shrunk to the size of the fairy, who was flying round her and calling, “Hurry up, Rowena!”

“How do you know my name?” asked Rowena.

“I know the names of all the children at your school,” replied the fairy. “I watch you all at playtime. I know you and your sister Ruth and all your friends. I know you are really a kind child and that is why I am taking you with me to Fairyland to find the ladybird.”

“How can we get to Fairyland?” asked Rowena.

“You must believe,” said the fairy. “First of all I will give you a pair of wings and then we’ll be off at once.” She took Rowena by the hand and they walked around the tree until they came to a spider’s web. In the middle of it sat a huge spider, nearly as big as the fairy and Rowena.

“Oh help!” cried Rowena, trying to hide behind the fairy. “I don’t like spiders!”

“Charming!” said the spider. “What a rude girl! I’m not exactly fond of you, either.”

The fairy frowned at Rowena. “You must stop upsetting the creatures,” she scolded. “The spider might not look pretty to you but she can make the most beautiful things. I was just about to ask her to make you some gossamer wings.”

Rowena apologised to the spider. “I’m very sorry,” she said, “I didn’t mean to be rude.”

She watched in amazement as the spider began to pull silk from her abdomen and spin it into a beautiful and delicate pair of wings. When the wings were ready the spider fixed them gently onto Rowena’s shoulders and the fairy sprinkled them with more fairy dust. Rowena felt the wings begin to flutter.

The fairy held her hand and they flew up into the air, waving goodbye to the spider.

Rowena could hardly believe it! She was on her way to Fairyland.

Chapter 3 Flying was the most wonderful thing that Rowena had ever done.

She didn’t feel at all scared, only excited and happy. She felt that she didn’t have to think about how to fly; the fairy had said ‘just believe’ and it had happened naturally.

They flew up through the branches of the beech tree, the fairy holding Rowena’s hand tightly.

“Don’t let go,” called the fairy. “You need to get used to flying before you can do it on your own.”

“It’s OK,” said Rowena, “I can do it.” She pulled her hand away from the fairy. “Look,” cried Rowena, “I can fly!” And she darted away like a butterfly wearing school uniform!

“Be careful!” shouted the fairy. “Look where you’re going.” But it was too late. Rowena collided with a branch and her dress got caught on a twig.

“Help!” she yelled as she hung upside down, her legs kicking and her wings fluttering uselessly. “I’m stuck!”

A huge crow with glossy black feathers flew down and settled on a branch above Rowena.

“Who are you? What are you doing up here?” it cawed.

“Don’t ask silly questions,” said Rowena crossly. “If you can’t help me, leave me alone.”

The fairy landed on the branch next to the crow. “Don’t worry, Cuthbert Crow,” she said. “This is Rowena and she has only just got her wings. She needs to learn how to fly safely.”

Cuthbert Crow cawed again and bent his head towards Rowena. His grey beak looked enormous and sharp and suddenly Rowena did feel scared. “Help me, fairy!” she shouted. “He’s going to peck me!”

“Don’t make such a fuss!” laughed the fairy as Cuthbert Crow gently lifted Rowena free and set her down on the branch next to him.

“Oh, thank you,” whispered Rowena, feeling rather embarrassed and ashamed that she had been disobedient.

The fairy made Rowena sit next to Cuthbert Crow while she gave her a flying lesson. After she had explained what to do, the fairy asked Rowena to turn and hover, go forwards and backwards, up and down, swerve and do somersaults. “That’s better,” said the fairy. “Now we can be on our way, if you promise to be careful and always look where you are going.”

“I promise,” said Rowena. “Goodbye, Cuthbert Crow; thank you for helping me.”

Rowena followed the fairy higher and higher, through the rustling leaves of the beech tree towards the sunlight. At the very top of the tree the fairy alighted on a branch and beckoned to Rowena who landed next to her. She parted the leaves

and there to her astonishment Rowena saw a little door, just like the one at the base of the tree where she had first met the fairy.

“Is this the way into Fairyland?” asked Rowena.

“It is one of the ways,” replied the fairy. “There are doors into Fairyland all around you. You just have to know how to find them.” The fairy knocked softly and the door was opened by a squirrel wearing a uniform and holding a whistle and a flag.

“Come in, come in,” chattered the squirrel.

“You’re just in time.”

“What does he mean? Just in time for what?” asked Rowena.

“You’ll see,” said the fairy, as she led Rowena through the door.

Chapter 4 As the door closed behind her, Rowena looked around and discovered that she was standing on a station platform.

“All aboard!” shouted the squirrel, but Rowena couldn’t see a train.

Instead, in front of her were five birds’ nests, neatly woven from twigs and with two mossy green seats inside each one. A sort of umbrella made of ferns hung over them to form a roof and they were joined together by silken ropes.

“Jump in!” said the fairy and Rowena followed her into the first carriage. Rowena noticed several more fairies climbing into the other carriages.

“Fasten your seat belts!” called the squirrel and the fairy showed Rowena how to tie the pink satin ribbons round her waist. The squirrel blew his whistle and waved his flag and the carriages began to move.

“The fairy railway is like your trains,” explained the fairy. “You can get on at any station and all the carriages go to Fairyland. It works by magic (and fairy dust of course).”

“What is fairy dust?” asked Rowena.

“It is the wonderful secret thing that helps fairies to make magic,” explained the fairy. “We fairies collect the ingredients at twilight when the stars begin to twinkle and we store it in bottles so that we can use it to make wishes come true. It is made from all sorts of lovely things like stardust, moonbeams and the scent of flowers, babies’ smiles and giggles and the soft white feathers which fall from doves as they fly home to roost, icing sugar and candyfloss, summer breezes and snowflakes, kisses and kindness.”

Now the carriages began to speed up and Rowena saw that they were travelling along a silver track through the clouds. Up and down they went, twisting and turning, like a fairground ride. It was great fun and several times Rowena’s tummy gave a leap as their carriage bounced along. Suddenly they entered a tunnel and tiny sparkling lights appeared in the roof of the carriage. Rowena was admiring them when the carriage slowed down and came to a stop at another station. “Is this Fairyland?” she asked.

“Next stop,” replied the fairy as they waited for more fairies to join the fairy railway.

“Please may I ask you a question?” said Rowena politely. “What is your name?”

“Oh!” laughed the fairy, “didn’t I introduce myself? I am Leila, the Ladybird Fairy. It is my job to help the ladybirds and that is why I was so worried when you upset the ladybird at your school by repeating that silly nursery rhyme. All the fairies have a special job; some of us look after the animals, birds and insects while some of us care for the flowers and plants. Other fairies are busy looking after babies and little children like you. Each baby is given its own fairy to watch over it.”

“Did I have a fairy when I was a baby?” asked Rowena.

“Of course!” replied Leila, “but I don’t expect you have ever seen her. She is called Crystal and she is still your fairy. I will take you to meet her when we have made sure that the ladybird isn’t worried about her children.”

“Does Ruth have a fairy too?” Rowena wondered.

“Yes, she is called Sparkle and we can meet her too,” replied Leila. “Most fairies are very shy so you don’t often see them, but they love children and it is considered a great honour for them to be invited to live with their own child. If you invite your own fairy into your home and fix a fairy door with a key and some fairy dust AND YOU ARE VERY GOOD your own fairy will be able to live with you and travel to and from Fairyland! I will tell you more about it when we meet Crystal.”

Just then the carriages began to move again. Rowena was having such fun that she had forgotten she felt thirsty but Leila took two little bottles out of her pocket and offered one to Rowena. “Drink it up, it’s nectar,” she said, and Rowena found it was the most delicious drink she had ever tasted.

This adventure was getting better and better!

Chapter 5 Now the fairy railway began to climb up the side of a steep mountain and soon Rowena gave a shiver. “Here,” said Leila the Ladybird Fairy, “wrap yourself in one of these,” and she pulled out two thistledown shawls from a drawer under her seat.

Rowena thanked the fairy. “Now I’m as warm as toast,” she smiled, tucking the shawl round her knees and making sure she didn’t damage her wings.

“Toast!” cried Leila, “What a good idea!”

She reached into the drawer again and brought out slices of warm golden toast, dripping with butter. The two little fairy girls ate every scrap and licked their fingers.

“Delicious!” said Rowena.

“Scrumdidillyumtious!” giggled Leila.

At the very top of the mountain the carriages stopped for a moment and Rowena could see the whole of Fairyland laid out below. It was so beautiful! There were woods and meadows, lakes and rivers, little fields and paths, all peaceful under a blue sky with fluffy white clouds drifting along. In the centre was a little town with a station and beneath a hill just beyond was a pale pink castle with turrets and towers.

One tower was much taller than the rest and a golden flag fluttered above it. “That is where we store the fairy dust before we put it into the bottles,” said Leila. “Hold tight now!” she cried. “Here we go!”

The carriages shot forward and whizzed down the mountain at top speed. The wind whistled in Rowena’s ears and she screamed with excitement. It was such fun that she didn’t want the ride to end, but soon they reached the station where another squirrel helped them to fold their shawls and untie their seatbelts.

“Welcome to Fairyland!” smiled Leila. “Let’s go and find the ladybird.” They held hands and flew out of the station, past a busy market place which was full of fairies and over a little stream towards a wood.

“There she is!” Leila called.

Rowena looked down and saw a mummy ladybird on a tree stump, surrounded by little ladybirds. She was holding a frying pan!

The two little fairy girls landed softly on the grass and Leila gently stroked the mummy ladybird’s glossy spotty back. “This is Rowena and she is really sorry she upset you,” said Leila. “Did you find your children?”

“All save the youngest, her name is Anne,” said the mummy ladybird. “I’ve looked under the frying pan but she isn’t there. And my house wasn’t on fire!”

“Oh dear!” said Rowena. “I really am so sorry about the nursery rhyme. I’ll never say it again. Now I’ll help you find Anne,” and she flew up and down calling Anne’s name. Soon she spied a red and black spotty shape and swooped down to find a little ladybird sitting under a toadstool and crying into a big hankie.

“I can’t find my mummy!” sobbed the ladybird. “I was supposed to stay at home with my brothers and sisters but I ran off to play hide and seek with Miranda the Mischievous Fairy and I got lost.”

“Is your name Anne?” asked Rowena.

“Yes,” sniffed the little ladybird. “How did you guess?”

“Come with me,” said Rowena. “I know where your mummy is!” She led the ladybird back to where her mummy and her brothers and sisters were waiting.

There was lots of hugging and kissing and the mummy ladybird thanked Rowena again and again.

“All’s well that ends well!” said Leila. “Now let’s go and meet your own fairy Crystal.”

Chapter 6 Their way back to the little town took them along the river bank past the Fairy Queen’s castle. Suddenly Rowena and Leila heard the sound of trumpets and they looked round to see the Fairy Queen coming out of the front door of the castle, surrounded by a group of fairies, elves and little animals. She was very beautiful, with long silver hair and dressed in a white gown trimmed with thistledown which sparkled as she moved. Her wings were silver and she wore a diamond crown. Leila curtseyed to the Queen and Rowena quickly copied her.

“Who is this, Leila?” asked the Fairy Queen.

“Your Majesty, this is Rowena who is visiting Fairyland today. She has been helping me to find a lost ladybird.”

The Fairy Queen smiled kindly at Rowena.

“That is very good of you, my dear,” she said. “The creatures are very special to us and we love to take care of them. It makes us happy when children are kind to them too. I hope you will enjoy your time in Fairyland but I must say goodbye now because I am going to visit

the fairies who live at the far side of my kingdom. I will be back at twilight to organise the preparation of the fairy dust. Perhaps you would like to help.”

Rowena thanked the Fairy Queen and both she and Leila curtsied again as the Queen stepped gracefully onto the back of a lovely white swan which was floating on the river waiting for her. Some of her attendants climbed onto the backs of ducks and geese and the procession set off, gliding through the water while Leila, Rowena and the remaining fairies waved goodbye. The two little fairy girls were about to continue their journey to meet Crystal when a very odd noise made them look round in amazement.

“Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” they heard.

The noise was coming from a fairy riding a bicycle at top speed down the hill towards the tower where the fairy dust was stored. Her feet were not on the pedals. Oh no! Her legs, in red and black stripy tights, stuck out on either side of the bicycle and her head was thrown back as she yelled with excitement. Her blond curls streamed behind her and her mouth was wide open.

“This is funnnnnnn!” she shouted.

“It’s Miranda the Mischievous Fairy!” sighed Leila. “Whatever is she doing now? She’ll have an accident if she isn’t careful.”

Too late! The bicycle crashed into the fairy dust tower and Miranda was catapulted off and landed in

the river with a splash! Leila and Rowena rushed to pull her out.

“Are you hurt? You should have been wearing a cycle helmet!” they exclaimed anxiously as the soggy little fairy stood dripping on the river bank, covered in weeds.

“No, I’m fine. Don’t fuss!” replied Miranda. “That was such fun! I must have another go!”

“But your wings are wet!” cried Leila. “You can’t fly till they have dried out!”

“I don’t care,” pouted Miranda. “I can go really fast on this bicycle and the breeze will dry my wings.”

She turned to pick up the bicycle but what she saw then stopped her in her tracks. Where the bicycle had collided with the fairy dust tower there was now a large hole in the brickwork and the precious fairy dust was pouring out and blowing away on the breeze.

“Oh jellywobbles!” she exclaimed. “Silly me!” And Miranda hopped onto the bicycle and pedalled away as fast as she could through the cloud of fairy dust.

Rowena and Leila stared at the hole, then at the cloud of fairy dust. Whatever could they do? Without the fairy dust there would be no fairy magic!

Chapter 7 Leila began to wave her little magic wand wildly backwards and forwards over the hole that Miranda’s bicycle had made but the dust just kept pouring out. There was now a thick, glittering cloud blowing towards the town.

“It’s no use!” sobbed Leila. “My magic isn’t strong enough! When I do magic I only use a tiny sprinkling of fairy dust; I can’t control this massive cloud! If only the Fairy Queen hadn’t gone away she could have solved the problem. Her magic is the strongest in Fairyland!”

Three little fairies wearing yellow and black sports kit put their hands up. Rowena was amazed to see that they each wore golden trainers with tiny fluttering wings on the heels. “We’ll help!” they chorused. “We are Binkie, Babs and Bonnie. We are the fastest flyers in Fairyland. Shall we fly after the Fairy Queen and ask her to come back straight away?”

“Oh please do!” agreed Rowena and the trio whizzed off like a swarm of busy bees.

“Please don’t cry Leila,” said Rowena, turning to her friend. “We must keep calm and put on our thinking caps.”

Rowena thought really, really hard for a minute, her hands in her pockets and a frown of deep concentration wrinkling her forehead.

Suddenly she grinned at Leila. “I have an idea that just might work,” she said. “There is some building work going on at my school. The builders are making a new window in our classroom so they have had to knock a hole in the wall. They have put a tarpaulin over the hole until they have finished fitting the new window.”

“What’s a tar puddle?” asked Leila, wiping her tears away with the corner of her skirt. “I don’t think we have any of those in Fairyland.”

“Not a tar puddle, a tarpaulin!” laughed Rowena. “It is a big, strong, waterproof sheet that you can use to cover things,” she explained. “It would stop the fairy dust escaping while we wait for the Fairy Queen to get back.”

Leila looked as though she was about to start crying again. “What could we use as a tar pickle?” she sniffed. “I’ve never seen one here!”

“A tarpaulin, you funny fairy!” giggled Rowena. “I will put on my thinking cap again.”

Once again she stuffed her hands deep into her pockets and the frown of concentration reappeared on her forehead. Leila fluttered round her anxiously as the fairy dust continued to billow out of the hole.

“I’ve got it!” exclaimed Rowena. “Let’s use the golden flag from the top of the tower. It is just the right size.”

Twin fairies in matching green and silver suits who had been watching the catastrophe rushed forward. “We will help!” they chorused. “Let us get the flag for you. It will take two of us to carry it.”

“Thank you, Timmy” said Leila.

“I’m Tommy!” he replied. “Can’t you see we have our names on the front of our tee shirts?”

Leila looked closely at the twins.

The first one had ‘T * M M Y’ written across his chest. The second one also had ‘T * M M Y’, exactly the same. Where there should have been ‘O’ or ‘I’ there was a big splodge of blackberry juice!

“Never mind!” she said. “Just go! Quick as you can!”

The twin fairies shot up into the air and soon returned carrying the golden flag, which they draped over the hole. The other fairies brought ropes to tie the flag in place and put heavy stones on the corners to hold it down.

At last the dust cloud had stopped and the fairies gave a huge cheer of relief.

Rowena blushed till her ears were pink as the fairies crowded round to congratulate her.

“Rowena has saved the day!” they shouted. “Three cheers for Rowena!”

Chapter 8 The sound of trumpets caused the fairies to look round and they saw the Fairy Queen hurrying towards them, followed by her retinue. She reached out her arms to hug Rowena. “You have saved Fairyland, Rowena!” she said softly. “How can we ever thank you?”

Rowena blushed to the roots of her hair as the Fairy Queen praised her. “Your tarpaulin has done the trick, Rowena. I have asked the builder fairies to bring some new pink bricks and make some strong mortar to stick the bricks together. At twilight the fairies will have to work really hard collecting the ingredients to make more fairy dust. Now, though, is a time for celebration! We must have a party in your honour!”

The Fairy Queen led the way into her castle and Rowena gasped with delight when she saw the wonderful feast that had been magically prepared for them in the twinkling of an eye. There was every sort of delicious food you could imagine and lots more that you could never have dreamed of and in the centre of the table was a massive tower of fairy cakes! Bunting and balloons of every colour hung from the ceiling and fairy lights twinkled everywhere.

“Come and sit next to me, Rowena,” called Leila. “I want to introduce you to someone you have been waiting to meet.” A dear little fairy dressed in soft mauve and purple like a tiny crocus flew over to join them. Her shoes sparkled like diamonds and in her hair were tiny crystals which glittered as she moved.

“Hello darling!” she said as she kissed Rowena’s cheek and sat down beside her. “It is lovely to see you here in Fairyland. I am Crystal, your own fairy, and I have watched you since you were a little baby. I am so happy that Leila brought you to Fairyland and that you were able to help us. I hope you will come again so that I can show you all the wonderful things we have here and we can play together.”

“That would be brilliant!” smiled Rowena.

Another fairy, who was dressed like Crystal but in silver and pink like a tiny rose covered in dewdrops, flew across to greet Rowena. “Hi, I’m Sparkle!” she smiled, “your sister Ruth’s fairy. I have been watching over her since she was a tiny baby. I used to sing lullabies to her when she couldn’t sleep.

Welcome to Fairyland!”

Rowena was speechless! She opened and closed her mouth but no words came out. She was so happy.

All her dreams had come true! She was having the most wonderful adventure and she had met her very own fairy as well as Ruth’s own fairy. She had learned to fly and now she was the guest of honour at a party in Fairyland!

“Eat up!” laughed Leila. “You look like a goldfish!”

As Rowena and her fairy friends tucked into the scrumptious food a little figure sneaked up to the table and grabbed a fairy cake in each hand! Rowena recognised Miranda, the Mischievous Fairy, but the other fairies were so busy eating and chattering that they hadn’t noticed her. Miranda winked at Rowena.

“Thanks for sorting out that little problem with the fairy dust tower,” she whispered. “I don’t know why accidents always seem to happen to me!”

Just then, Sparkle and Crystal caught sight of Miranda. They both opened their mouths to tell her off but Miranda knew what was coming.

“Bye Rowena!” she grinned. “I think it’s time I left!” and she darted out of the door in a great hurry.

“She is just cheeky and full of mischief,” sighed the fairies. “She’ll never change!”

Chapter 9 Just then, the trumpets sounded again and the Fairy Queen led the fairies outside where it was dusk and the stars were beginning to twinkle in the deep blue sky. Each fairy had a little net fixed to the end of her wand.

“We must all work extra hard this evening,” explained the Fairy Queen.

“Please may I help?” asked Rowena.

“Do you know how fairy dust is made, Rowena?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied Rowena shyly. “Leila explained it to me.

She told me that the fairies collect the ingredients at twilight when the stars begin to twinkle and they store it in bottles so that they can use it to make wishes come true.”

“That is quite right, Rowena,” said the Fairy Queen. “We pour all the ingredients into the top of the tower and our friend the peacock flies up and uses his beautiful tail feathers to stir everything together and make the fairy dust. There is a little tap at the base of the tower and we use that to fill our tiny bottles. Sometimes children who are very

good are given a bottle of fairy dust by their own fairies, but they have to believe before their wishes can come true. If you would like to help, Rowena, we need some baby smiles and giggles.”

“My baby cousin Jack is always smiling and giggling!” said Rowena. “Would that be helpful?”

“Yes,” said the Fairy Queen “but you must hurry. It will be dark soon. Crystal will take you through a fairy door to get to Jack’s house quickly.” The Fairy Queen handed Rowena a magic wand and a little net.

In the courtyard of the Fairy Queen’s castle stood a large oak tree and at the base was a fairy door. “Come on!” said Crystal, grabbing Rowena’s hand and pulling her through the door. “There isn’t a moment to lose!”

Inside it was dark but thousands of tiny fairy lights flickered in the walls and ceiling. They could see a spiral staircase winding downwards and Crystal led the way, flying round and round with Rowena until they were both dizzy. At last they came to a huge hall with eight sides, each of which had lots of fairy doors. Crystal and Rowena flew up and down, looking closely at the doors. Suddenly Rowena shouted to Crystal, “This is the one!” as she saw a photo of a smiling Jack on one of the doors.

Crystal reached into her pocket and took out a tiny golden key. She sprinkled fairy dust onto the key and fitted it into the door lock. The door opened easily and

Rowena followed Crystal through it. They found themselves in Jack’s bedroom where he was lying in his cot, playing with his toes.

The two little fairy girls started to tickle his tummy and sing silly songs to him. How he chortled and screeched! Rowena and Crystal quickly caught Jack’s smiles and giggles in their nets and darted back to Fairyland just as Jack’s Mummy and Daddy came into his bedroom, wondering what was so funny! The other fairies were busy collecting the rest of the ingredients and soon everything was ready. The fairies emptied their nets into the tower and the peacock used his beautiful tail feathers to mix the ingredients. At last the fairies could refill their bottles of fairy dust from the little tap at the base of the tower!

“Now we must say goodbye to you, Rowena,” said the Fairy Queen. “But first I have a little gift for you.”

She handed Rowena a tiny bottle of fairy dust. “Put it in your pocket and you will find the right moment to use it when you get home. Thank you for all your help here in Fairyland.” Rowena thanked the Fairy Queen and curtsied to her.

“Goodbye, goodbye!” called the fairies. “Thank you for your help. Come back soon!”

Leila and Crystal each took hold of one of Rowena’s hands and together they flew up into the deep blue sky, the stars twinkling all around them. Soon they reached the station and the squirrel found them an empty carriage on the Fairyland Railway.

“Close your eyes and we’ll wake you when we arrive,” suggested Leila and Crystal, tucking a gossamer shawl around Rowena. “You must be tired after your busy day in Fairyland.” Rowena yawned and her eyelids drooped. “What a lovely way to travel!” she thought.

Chapter 10 “Wake up, Rowena!”

Rowena sat up and rubbed her eyes. What had happened? Where were Crystal and Sparkle? How had she got back to the school playground?

“Come on, Rowena! You were asleep!”

It was Ruth’s voice she had heard. Rowena saw Ruth standing over her, smiling down at her little sister. Ruth pulled Rowena to her feet.

“Let’s go!” she said. “Mummy has to pick up a parcel from the Post Office and she says she will buy us both an ice cream!”

Rowena trailed slowly behind Ruth, still thinking about Fairyland.

Surely she hadn’t dreamt it all; the fairies, the disaster with the fairy dust, the Fairy Queen, all her new friends, the party, the amazing feeling of flying…… it had all been so wonderful! It couldn’t have been just a dream, could it?

For the rest of the afternoon Rowena was unusually quiet. She stood without fidgeting in the queue at the Post Office and when it was time for ice cream she said “I’m full! I’ve already had loads to eat at the party!”

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Ruth. “You always want ice cream!”

Rowena started to tell her about Fairyland but Ruth just laughed and Mummy said “I think you must have nodded off for a minute or two!”

“I didn’t!” scowled Rowena.

“Let’s forget all about it and go home to unwrap this parcel,” said Mummy. “It’s addressed to you. I wonder who sent it.”

As soon as they reached home, the brown paper parcel, with Rowena’s name on it in spidery writing, was placed on the kitchen table. Mummy and Ruth watched as Rowena carefully pulled open the wrapping paper and they all gasped in amazement! There, in a pretty shiny box covered in stars and pictures of little animals was …… a fairy door! Next to it was a golden key and a tiny bottle of fairy dust and a letter explaining how to invite a fairy of your very own to live in your house.

“How cute!” cried Ruth. “Who has sent that to you?”

As Mummy searched the packaging in vain for a note to say who had sent it, Rowena could only stand with her mouth open, as she had done so many times that day! Slowly she reached into her pocket and pulled out the little bottle of fairy dust given to her by the Fairy Queen.

“Where did you get that?” asked Ruth.

But Rowena could only stand and stare, first at the fairy door and then at the bottle of fairy dust.

“It really did happen!” she whispered. “She said ‘just believe’ and I did!”

“Come on silly!” said Ruth. “Let’s go and stick the fairy door onto your bedroom wall. You never know, it just might bring you a real fairy of your very own!”

That night, after the sisters had fixed the fairy door onto the skirting board in their bedroom, they lay in their bunk beds chatting quietly to one another.

“What will you call your fairy?” asked Ruth.

“She is called Crystal,” replied Rowena. “And yours is called Sparkle!”

“That’s just the name I would have chosen!” said Ruth. “Wouldn’t it be marvellous to have a fairy living with us?”

And the two little girls fell fast asleep, dreaming of the fun that was waiting for them through the fairy door.

• Encourages imaginative play

Hours of fun and imagination

Would you like a real fairy of your very own?

There are lots of exciting products in the My Own Fairy range from Fairy doors to stepping stones.

It can be so much fun to bring the fairy magic into your home.

Chose from 12 different fairy door desig ns

The perfect gift

iry Door, a F s e d y Inclu agic Fair M , y e K s, Magic the fairie m o r f r te to Dust, let bership m e m d an y Club. ir a F e h T

Why not decora te your door with our fairy wall stickers?

me fairy Or add so nes? sto stepping

Published by My Own Fairy Ltd in 2015 My Own Fairy Fairy Towers Millstream Lane Manchester M40 1QT

www.myownfairy.com Copyright My Own Fairy Ltd 2015 Moral rights asserted.

Written by Elaine Nelson and Laura Nelson Illustrated by Ste Johnson All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-0-9932950-0-3 Printed and bound in England Layout and illustrations by www.designersupnorth.com

Rowena is bored.

She doesn’t want to wait for her sister to finish choir rehearsals, but when she finds a tiny fairy door in her school playground things start to get interesting!

Join Rowena and her fairy friends in Fairyland as she goes on her first adventure through the fairy door...

To find out more or to explore the world of My Own Fairy please visit

ISBN 978-0-9932950-0-3

www.myownfairy.com 5 060416 980247