Fairy Mom and Me #3 Read online

  Also by Sophie Kinsella

  Fairy Mom and Me

  Fairy Mom and Me #2: Fairy In Waiting

  Finding Audrey

  THE SHOPAHOLIC SERIES

  Confessions of a Shopaholic

  Shopaholic Takes Manhattan

  Shopaholic Ties the Knot

  Shopaholic & Sister

  Shopaholic & Baby

  Mini Shopaholic

  Shopaholic to the Stars

  Shopaholic to the Rescue

  Christmas Shopaholic

  OTHER NOVELS

  I Owe You One

  Surprise Me

  My Not So Perfect Life

  Wedding Night

  I’ve Got Your Number

  Twenties Girl

  Remember Me?

  The Undomestic Goddess

  Can You Keep a Secret?

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2020 by Sophie Kinsella

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2020 by Marta Kissi

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Visit us on the Web! rhcbooks.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  Hardcover ISBN 9780593120491

  Ebook ISBN 9780593120507

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v5.4

  a

  For Diggory

  Cover

  Also by Sophie Kinsella

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Meet Fairy Mom and Me

  Fairy Spell #1: UPERIDOO!

  Fairy Spell #2: SPAGHETTERIDOO!

  Fairy Spell #3: TWIRLERIDOO!

  Fairy Spell #4: GLITCHERIDOO!

  Family Activity Guide

  About the Author

  Hi there. My name is Ella Brook and I live in a town called Cherrywood with my mom, my dad and my baby brother, Ollie.

  My mom looks normal, just like any other mom…but she’s not. Because she can turn into a fairy. All she has to do is stamp her feet three times, clap her hands, wiggle her bottom and say, “Marshmallow,”…and POOF! She’s Fairy Mom. Then if she says, “Toffee apple,” she’s just Mom again.

  All the girls in my family turn into fairies when they grow up. My Aunty Jo and Granny did. They can all fly and become invisible and do real magic. Mom and Aunty Jo also have a really cool wand called a Computawand V5. It has magic powers, a computer screen, Fairy Apps, Fairy Mail and Fairy Games!

  The problem is that Mom is still not very good at doing magic spells, even though she works really hard at her lessons on FairyTube with her Fairy Teacher, Fenella. But one day she’s going to get everything right.

  When I’m grown up, I’ll be a fairy like her! Mom calls me her Fairy in Waiting. I’ll have big sparkly wings and my own beautiful shiny crown, and I’ll be able to do magic just like Mom. I already know what my first spell will be. I’ll wish for a unicorn of my very own. Although I can’t do spells yet, I can play with my magic wardrobe. You’ll meet Wardrobe later.

  Being a Fairy in Waiting is a big secret. I’m not allowed to tell anyone, not even my best friends, Tom and Lenka. And I definitely can’t tell my Not-Best Friend, Zoe. She is the meanest girl ever and she lives next door. Sometimes I think she might find out about Mom being a fairy.

  But she hasn’t yet. And life in a fairy family is fun! Even when there’s a hitch or a glitch…

  It was time for school and we were going to be late. I knew this because Mom was running around the house shouting, “Where’s my bag? Where’s my bag?”

  “I’ll find it,” Dad said. He looked under the table and in the fridge. “Not here. Where did you see it last?”

  “I don’t know!” Mom wailed. She threw all the sofa cushions on the floor, but her bag wasn’t on the sofa. It wasn’t in the microwave either.

  I quickly looked in all the drawers. Ollie thought we were playing a game. He pointed at the ceiling and said, “Weezi-weezi-weezi!”

  “All right,” Mom said. “There’s nothing for it.” She stamped her feet three times, clapped her hands, wiggled her bottom and said, “Marshmallow,”…and POOF! She was a fairy. Then she picked up her Computawand from the table. Most of the time it looks just like a normal phone, but as soon as she touches it, the screen starts to glow and it grows into a wand. Mom says a wand needs a fairy’s touch to come alive.

  Fairy Mom waved her Computawand, pressed a code on the screen—bleep-bleep-bloop—and said, “Bageridoo!”

  Nothing happened.

  I looked at Dad, and Dad looked at me.

  Mom says when she was at school she was so busy doing math and playing tennis that she didn’t have time to practice her spells. Granny says if only she used an old-fashioned wand instead of that silly Computawand, then her spells would work much better.

  “I don’t think the spell worked,” I said anxiously. “Should we just keep looking for the bag?”

  “Well, it should have worked,” Mom said. She pressed her Computawand again. “What’s wrong with this thing?”

  “Look,” Dad said. He pointed through the open window. “What’s that?”

  We all peered out. There was a sort of multicolored cloud in the sky. It was getting bigger and bigger.

  “What is that?” Mom asked.

  “It’s coming toward us,” Dad said.

  “Bags!” I said. “Lots of bags! It looks like it’s going to rain bags.”

  The cloud was right above us. It rustled and quivered. There was a tremble of thunder.

  Then suddenly we heard a loud bang and the bags started raining down all over the house and the yard. There were all sorts of bags. There were handbags, carrier bags and paper bags. There was a unicorn backpack and a pink bag with a big black buckle.

  “Ooh,” Mom said.

  “I like that one!”

  I loved the unicorn backpack best. It was all glittery.

  Some of the bags landed in the yard, but some came down the chimney and some fluttered in through the window. One brown paper bag blew itself up with air, started dancing in the fruit bowl, did a waltz with a banana, then popped.

  A beach bag landed on Dad’s head. “Get off!” he said.

  “Oops,” Mom said. “I don’t know how that happened. I’m sure I said the right spell.” She started bashing her Computawand again.

  “Is this your bag?” Dad asked. He was holding up a black handbag.

  “Oh, there it is!” Mom said. “Thank you! Where was it?”

  “On the door handle,” Dad said. “Where it always is. And isn’t it time for you to leave for school? Come on, Ollie. Let’s clear up the mess.”

  “Toffee apple!” Fairy Mom said.

  And then she was just Mom again.

  * * *

  —

  I was getting worried because today was a special Be on Time Day. Everyo
ne who came to school on time would get a sticker from our teacher, Miss Amy. The pupil who arrived first would get a special shiny sticker. I really, really wanted a shiny sticker. But it was already eight o’clock. School starts at half past eight, so we needed to get going.

  “Quick, Mom!” I said.

  I ran out the door, lugging my school bag. Next door, my Not-Best Friend Zoe and her mom were coming out of their house. Zoe usually leaves earlier than us because she does swimming or ice skating before school. She is a very busy girl.

  I’ve known Zoe all my life, since we were both babies in strollers. Her mom always says, “Ella and Zoe are best friends! They love each other!”

  But she doesn’t know how mean Zoe is to me. Zoe pinches me when no one’s looking. She says nasty things when Miss Amy isn’t around. And once she ripped my brand-new furry pencil case. On purpose.

  “Morning, Ella!” Zoe’s mom said before she got into her car.

  Zoe turned around so her mom couldn’t see her, then stuck out her tongue. “You’re going to be late!” she said. “We’re going to beat you! Loser! Bye-ee!”

  She laughed her horrible laugh, jumped into the car and slammed the door.

  Their car started and roared off down the road.

  “Mom!” I yelled. “Come on!”

  I really, really didn’t want Zoe to get the shiny sticker.

  At last we got in our car and set off.

  Mom said, “Don’t worry, Ella—we’ll be there in no time! I’ll drive super fast.”

  But as we turned the corner, we saw a traffic jam. Not just a little traffic jam, but a GREAT BIG traffic jam. There were cars and buses and even a big truck, all squashed together in the road.

  “Oh no,” Mom said. “Well, I’m sure it will move soon.”

  But it didn’t. We sat there and sat there and nothing moved. Some cars started to honk their horns. Other cars turned around to go a different way—but we couldn’t go a different way. I was getting more and more worried.

  “Don’t worry,” Mom said. “I’m sure Miss Amy won’t mind if you’re late.”

  “But I can’t be late for school!” I wailed. “I can’t! Today is Be on Time Day! If we get to school on time, we get a sticker!”

  “A sticker?” Mom asked.

  “Yes, a sticker! And whoever arrives first gets a special shiny sticker. And Zoe will get there first, and she’ll get the shiny sticker and I won’t.”

  “A shiny sticker…” Mom thought for a moment. “Well, that’s different.”

  She stamped her feet three times, clapped her hands, wiggled her bottom on the car seat and said, “Marshmallow,”…and POOF! She was a fairy.

  Her shimmery wings were all squashed up in the car. I couldn’t believe it. “Mom, someone will see you!”

  “No one’s looking,” she said. “Now let’s get out of this traffic jam.”

  “How are we going to do that?” I asked.

  “We’re going to fly,” she said.

  “Fly?” My eyes went wide. I had never flown in a car before.

  “Of course! But first we need to be invisible.”

  Mom took her Computawand out of her bag. The screen started to glow and it grew into a wand. She pointed it at herself, at me and at the car, pressed a code on the screen—bleep-bleep-bloop—and said, “Inviseridoo!”

  I felt a funny tingling. “Are we both invisible now?” I looked around. “Is the car invisible too?”

  “Yes.” Mom looked pleased. “The spell worked perfectly. Right, I just need to do the flying spell—”

  Mom and I gasped. The huge truck behind had bumped into us. The driver looked very confused, because he couldn’t see our car.

  The man continued trying to move forward—but he kept hitting us.

  “Mom!” I cried. “We can’t be invisible in a traffic jam! It’s dangerous! That truck is going to crush us.”

  “Ah,” Mom said. “Yes, good point, Ella. Let’s go.” She pressed a code on the Computawand screen—bleep-bleep-bloop—and said, “Uperidoo!”

  The next moment the car whizzed straight up into the air. Then it did a big loop-the-loop like a roller coaster.

  “This is amazing!” I shouted. “This is so cool!”

  “Flyeridoo!” shouted Mom, and the car started flying along like a plane. I stared out the window at the streets below, and all the cars and buses and trucks in the traffic jam. Everything looked so small. The cars were just like toy cars, the people like tiny dolls. Even my school looked like a toy school. There it was, ahead in the distance.

  “Have you ever flown a car before, Mom?” I asked.

  “No, but I’ve flown a carpet,” she said. “And a car is much easier.” She looked very pleased with herself.

  A flock of birds came near, and Mom quickly flew the car even higher so we didn’t bump into them. They couldn’t see us, but I waved and giggled.

  “Look!” Mom said, pointing out the window. “We’re nearly at school. Wasn’t that quick! We’d better head down. I’ll try to land behind that tree.” She pressed another code on her Computawand—bleep-bleep-bloop. “Downeridoo!”

  But the car didn’t go down. It kept flying. It was flying and flying, away from my school, away from our town. Fairy Mom started bashing her Computawand.

  I stared out the window. I couldn’t believe it. My school was disappearing into the distance.

  “No, car!” I said. “Go back! Back!”

  “Downeridoo!” Fairy Mom shouted. “Downeridoo! Down, car! DOWNERIDOO!”

  The car suddenly started to go down. It landed in a field. All we could see was grass and trees.

  Mom and I looked at each other.

  “Oops,” Mom said. “I don’t know how that happened. Maybe flying a car isn’t so easy after all.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Let me see….” Mom looked at the navigation system and bit her lip. “Oh no, we’ve gone FAR too far.”

  We got out of the car. There weren’t any roads or people or houses. All we could see was a single cow.

  “We’ll be really late for school.” My voice trembled, but I managed not to cry. “I won’t get a shiny sticker, and Zoe will laugh at me.”

  “Zoe will not laugh at you,” Mom said. She put her arms around me and gave me a big hug. She wasn’t easy to hug, with her wings still scrunched up from being in the car. “And we will not be late.”

  “But, Mom,” I said, “look at the car!”

  The car was all crumpled up from landing in the field. It had a big dent in the back where the truck had bashed it, and a wheel had fallen off.

  “Oh no,” Mom said. “That’s not good. Your dad won’t be pleased.”

  “How will we get to school now?” I asked. “What will we do?”

  “We will—” Mom stopped and thought.

  “What?”

  “We will—”

  “WHAT?”

  “We will walk,” Mom said. “With our magic legs.”

  “Magic legs?” I asked. “What are magic legs?”

  “They are legs that can walk extra fast. I’ll do another spell. I haven’t done it before, but it can’t be that difficult to make magic legs.” Mom waved her Computawand and pressed a code on the screen—bleep-bleep-bloop. “Legseridoo!” she said.

  Suddenly I had a strange feeling in my legs. It was a wibbly-wobbly feeling. I looked down and gasped. “Mom!” I said. “My legs have turned to jelly!”

  They were all red and shiny. I looked at Mom and she had jelly legs too, only hers were green.

  I was wobbling everywhere, and so was Mom. Wibble-wobble-wibble-wobble.

  “Oh no!” Mom said. “These are no good for walking!” She looked crossly at her Computawand. “I really don’t understand what went wrong.”

  Then I heard a snorting
sound. I looked around and saw something rushing toward us. That something was the cow we had seen earlier. Only it wasn’t a cow at all. It was a bull, with two sharp horns on its head. It was big and brown, and it looked angry.

  When an angry bull is charging toward you, you really, really don’t want jelly legs.

  “Mom!” I yelled. “Watch out! We’ve got jelly legs and a bull is coming!”

  “He can see us!” Mom gasped. “The Inviseridoo spell has worn off!” She waved her Computawand and pressed a code—bleep-bleep-bloop. “Inviseridoo!” she shouted. “Quick!”

  We were invisible again, but the bull was still charging toward us and we still had jelly legs.

  “Yikes!” Mom said. “It can’t see us, but it must be able to smell us.” She jabbed her Computawand. “Legseridoo!”

  “Help!” I cried. “It’s getting close! Help! Do another spell, Mom.”

  “Maybe this one is better.” Mom pressed a code on the screen—bleep-bleep-bloop—and shouted, “Come on, you stupid wand! Come on…. Rocketeridoo!”

  And our legs weren’t jelly anymore. Now we had rocket blasters on our backs. Just as the bull reached us, we shot high up into the air. Mom grabbed my hand and I screamed. “Aargh!”

  We did a loop-the-loop, around and around, and I shouted, “Wheeee!” and Mom laughed. It was very cold and very exciting and a little scary at the same time.

  “You’re a superhero!” Mom said. “You’re Super-Ella!”

  “And you’re Super–Fairy Mom!” I laughed.

  “And look—we’re here!” Mom said.

  She pointed below us, and I gasped. We had whooshed so fast that we were nearly at my school.