CHAPTER 1 Smile Like the Sun

  Rainbow Sunshine was NOT having a peaches-and-lollipops kind of morning.

  Yes, the sun was sparkling. Yes, the brook was babbling. Yes, the flowers were blooming and full of color, just as they always were in Charmwood.

  Today Rainbow Sunshine was joining the Fairy Scouts, where she would earn her magic.

  Did that make it a peaches-and-lollipops kind of morning?

  Nuh-uh. Not even close.

  Ms. Dazzle, the troop leader, started roll call.

  “Jewel Rose?”

  “Present and alert!” Jewel said, her hand raised as straight as a tree trunk.

  “Bloom Feathers?”

  “Buzz, buzz!” Bloom replied. “Here and happy as can beeee!”

  Ms. Dazzle read out the next name. “Rainbow Sunshine?”

  All the fairies froze. Even the grasshoppers stopped chirping outside the window.

  “Is Rainbow Sunshine present?” Ms. Dazzle asked, looking around.

  From the back corner of the room came a rough, croaking sound. It sounded like a frog gagging on a fly.

  Rainbow Sunshine finally stopped clearing her throat. Then she glared a glare that was sharper than a hundred rosebush thorns.

  “Call me Rain,” the fairy snarled. “Just Rain.”

  The other scouts held their breath. But Ms. Dazzle just nodded and smiled, beaming like the sun.

  Rain’s eyes squeezed shut. She could not stand anything bright.

  As Ms. Dazzle continued roll call, Rain squinted around the tree house.

  Sunshine spewed inside from every window. The walls were covered in colorful posters with Fairy Scout chants.

  One of the posters declared, FAIRIES RISE AND SHINE! Another one read, SHARE YOUR SPARKLE!

  Ugh. Rain shuddered. Then she spotted the worst poster of all.

  The giant, glittery sun on the poster smiled at Rain.

  Rain did not like being told to smile. Nor did she like glitter.

  She crept toward the poster, careful not to draw any attention to herself.

  Then, quick as a flash, she taped up her own poster on the wall.

  Rain looked at the stormy painting on her poster and thought, Now THAT is something to smile about.

  Ms. Dazzle finished roll call and clapped her hands.

  “Who’s ready to learn some magic?” she asked.

  The fairies cheered as fountains of petals and glitter erupted in the room.

  Rain tried to hide, but there was no escape. She was covered head to toe in sparkles.

  As Rain spit flowers out of her mouth, her poster slipped off the wall. It fluttered, floated, and fell at her feet.

  Rain groaned.

  It was going to be a sickeningly sweet, lollipops-and-rotten-peaches kind of day.

  CHAPTER 2 Fairy Not Fair

  Ms. Dazzle gave a wave and a moss-covered chest slid across the room. The chest popped open with a magical glow.

  “It’s time to pick your fairy dust pouches,” Ms. Dazzle announced. “Or rather, for your pouches to pick you.”

  Ms. Dazzle called each fairy up to the chest, one at a time.

  Jewel was first. Her pouch had a jewel on the front, just like her name.

  Bloom was next. “My pouch is even bigger than a roly-poly!” he cheered.

  Rain watched as each fairy’s pouch seemed sparklier than the last.

  Finally, Rain was the only fairy left without a pouch. But as she stepped forward, a new fairy flew through the window and crash-landed in the crowd.

  Although, as the fairy stood up, Rain wasn’t sure this was a fairy at all.

  Could fairies have butterfly wings? Could fairies have antennae growing from their heads?

  “Sorry I’m late!” the newcomer said with a bright smile. “My invitation must have gotten lost. But every fairy knows that Fairy Scouts starts on the ripest, peachiest day of the year. So here I am!”

  The room went quiet. The other fairies just stared.

  “Silly me. I forgot to introduce myself,” said the new girl. “My name is Flutterfly.”

  “Um,” said one fairy, “you don’t look like, you know, a fairy.”

  “Oh, that’s because I’m a Flutterfly!” the newcomer said. “I may not look like you, but I am a fairy through and through!”

  All the fairies started whispering. All the fairies except Rain.

  She was busy watching Flutterfly’s smile fade and her antennae start to droop.

  Rain didn’t know much about antennae. But she did know a thing or two about feeling droopy.

  She grabbed Flutterfly’s arm and pulled her over to the chest.

  “Come on,” Rain said. “Pick your pouch first.”

  “Wow, thanks!” Flutterfly replied. “Here I go!”

  Flutterfly pulled out a pouch as bright and yellow as the sun.

  “Ooh!” she gasped. “It makes me feel sooo peaches and lollipops!”

  Rain crossed her arms and sighed. At least Flutterfly got what she wanted, but it was not Rain’s style.

  Now it was finally Rain’s turn. As she stepped up to the chest, her heart started beating faster.

  What if she had just let Flutterfly take the last pouch and there was none left for her?

  Or worse, what if the chest had no pouch for a fairy who didn’t want to sparkle like everyone else?

  Rain reached into the chest. Her hand touched something.

  The pouch felt rough, like tree bark. It had stains and rips on the edges.

  “It’s… it’s so…” Rain began.

  “Drab?” suggested Jewel.

  “Gloomy?” added Bloom.

  “It’s perfect!” cheered Rain. She yanked the pouch open. Inside, the fairy dust was gray and gritty like ashes.

  “My own fairy dust!” Rain marveled. She tossed a handful into the air and yelled, “Cover this place with cobwebs!”

  But nothing happened.

  “Your fairy dust isn’t magical yet,” Ms. Dazzle explained. “Every time you complete a scout project, your fairy dust magic will grow. And one day, you’ll become full-fledged fairies!”

  Rain felt like a volcano about to erupt.

  “But what if we want our magic now?!” she yelled.

  “Oh dear,” replied Ms. Dazzle. “Patience makes the fairy.”

  That was not what Rain wanted to hear.

  Flutterfly popped up beside her.

  “Look on the bright side,” she said. “By the time we graduate, we’ll have lots of magic and lots of friends!”

  Hmph.

  “I do NOT do bright sides,” Rain declared.

  CHAPTER 3 More Fairies, No Fun

  A buzzing sound filled the air as Ms. Dazzle led the scouts outside.

  Unfortunately for Rain, the sound wasn’t a swarm of bugs.

  It was the flutter of Fairy Scouts chattering away as they crossed the bridge over Charming Brook.

  Jewel was at the front of the line. She scribbled down everything that Ms. Dazzle said into a notebook.

  Bloom fell behind in line. He leaned over the side of the bridge and waved at the fish swimming in the water.

  And Rain? Rain had had enough of giggles and glitter.

  She headed straight for the riverbank and sank her feet into the cool, slimy mud.

  “Ahhh.” She sighed happily. “Mud is the best.”

  But Ms. Dazzle had other plans. She cast her fairy dust over the brook, and the rocks below began to twinkle.

  “Whoa, are those underwater fireflies?” said Bloom.

  “No,” Jewel replied. “Those are Fairy Scout charms.”

  “Correct!” Ms. Dazzle nodded. “The time has come to earn your first charm. These charms will grow the magic in your fairy dust.”

  Squish! Squash!

  Rain stopped wiggling her toes in the mud. She didn’t care about glowing rocks, but she DID care about magic.

  “Your first project is to build a fairy clubhouse,” Ms. Dazzle said. “Please form clubs of four fairies each. Then you will build a house together.”

  Form a club? Build a clubhouse? thought Rain. No way!

  Rain sped under the bridge, just in case any fairy tried to get her to join their glitterific group.

  But someone found Rain’s hiding spot right away. Someone with two antennae and a lot of energy.

  “Don’t you worry, Rain,” Flutterfly said. “I’ll be in your club!”

  “Oh no,” Rain replied. “You don’t understand. I’m not a peaches-and-lollipops kind of fairy.”

  But Flutterfly had already zipped over to Jewel.

  “Jewel Rose,” Flutterfly said. “Are you related to Starlight Rose, the record-holder for Scout charms?”

  “Yes, she’s my sister,” Jewel replied. “She taught me everything I know.”

  “Amazing!” squealed Flutterfly. “Jewel is in our club too!”

  “Wait, I am?” Jewel asked.

  Flutterfly paid her no mind. She flitted from fairy to fairy while singing, “Roses are red, violets are blue, we need one more fairy, and I choose you!”

  She ended up next to Bloom, who was splashing in the brook with the tadpoles.

  “Welcome to the club!” cheered Flutterfly.

  “Ooh!” Bloom said. “Can we be a tadpole club?”

  He climbed out of the brook and flapped his wings dry. Water droplets sprayed everywhere, including on Rain’s face.

  Ugh.

  “I don’t need other fairies,” Rain said. “I’m flying solo.”

  Fl utterfly’s antennae began to droop again. “But I just know we’ll be great friends.”

  Rain held up her new pouch and replied, “I need charms to earn magic. Not friends.”

  “But charms come faster when fairies work together,” said Jewel. “My sister told me.”

  “That’s true,” said Bloom. “Faster charms, faster magic!”

  Rain stared at the glowing charms in the water. Who DIDN’T want their magic as soon as possible?

  “Fine,” Rain grumbled. “But I’m only here for the charms, okay?”

  CHAPTER 4 Scribbles and Quibbles

  When the sky turned shades of brilliant pink and purple, Ms. Dazzle led all the fairies back to the tree house.

  “Tonight, we’re having a sleepover in the tree house,” she announced. “It’s a Fairy Scout tradition!”

  Rain laid out her sleeping bag in the very back corner. She had never shared a room with anyone before. Plus, she was long overdue for some alone time.

  But Flutterfly was never far behind.

  “Over here!” Flutterfly called out. “Rain found us the perfect spot!”

  Bloom and Jewel floated over and laid their sleeping bags down too.

  “I’ve always wanted to have a sleepover,” Flutterfly said. “This is sooo much fun!”

  But Jewel’s mind was all business and no fun.

  “My sister told me about building a clubhouse and acing our first scout project,” she said. “It all starts with the vision scroll.”

  Jewel pulled out a scroll and a set of glittery markers. She unfurled the scroll to reveal:

  “I love it!” Flutterfly squealed. She picked up a marker and started scribbling hearts all over the vision scroll.

  “Me too,” Bloom said. “But you forgot to draw our neighbors.”

  He drew some caterpillars on the ground and dragonflies flying in the sky.

  Rain grabbed the black marker and added a mud pit. Then she drew a tinier house on the very edge of the paper.

  “What’s that?” Bloom asked.

  “It’s a Rain Shed,” Rain replied. “For whenever I need alone time. Which is basically always.”

  She added a caption above the shed: KEEP OUT!

  A wing’s flutter later, the paper was covered with everyone’s scribbles.

  “No, no, no!” Jewel cried. “You’ve ruined the vision scroll!”

  She pulled out another piece of paper to start again. But then Ms. Dazzle blew out the lights.

  “Sweet dreams, Fairy Scouts,” she said. “Tomorrow is another full day of scouting!”

  Rain crawled into her sleeping bag and squeezed her eyes shut. All around her, fairies were whispering and giggling.

  Yanking a pillow over her ears, she let out a groan.

  NO WAY was she having sweet dreams tonight.

  CHAPTER 1 A Perfectly Stinky Spot

  Burp, burp, gurgle.

  Rain was dreaming a peaceful dream about bogs and toads. Then a new, twinkling voice spoke.

  “Hip hip hooray! Today is another peaches-and-lollipops day!” Flutterfly said.

  “ACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?!” Rain shouted as her eyes flung open.

  But no. This wasn’t her room. Rain was in the Fairy Scout tree house with all her scoutmates.

  Jewel was smoothing her sheets. Flutterfly was fluffing her pillow. Bloom was already up and whistling a tune.

  Rain sighed. She had been hoping yesterday was just a nightmare. But she really WAS stuck in this club, and she needed to work with these three fairies to get her magic.

  “Rise and shine!” Bloom said. “Ready for another day of scouting?”

  Rain opened her mouth wide and let her morning breath do the talking.

  “P-U.” Bloom pinched his nose and giggled. “Kinda smells like stink bug.”

  Rain dragged her wings through the morning must-do’s. When she was finally ready, the four scouts took off into the air.

  “My sister told me about the perfect clubhouse spot,” Jewel said. “Follow me!”

  They reached a flower bed just a hop, skip, and flutter from Charming Brook.

  The place was bright, happy, and very… flowery. All the colors and scents made Rain’s head hurt.

  “My sister built her house here when she was a scout,” said Jewel. “We can decorate with roses.”

  “Roses aren’t a bad idea,” agreed Rain. “How else will we keep out all these other fairies?”

  Jewel looked all around her. Sure enough, every other Fairy Scout was building their clubhouse nearby.

  “Starlight Rose was right!” said a fairy carrying an armful of sticks. “This is the best place for a clubhouse.”

  “It’s just like she said in her leaflet,” another fairy said.

  Jewel borrowed the leaflet from the fairy. It had a picture of Starlight Rose with the same checklist from Jewel’s vision scroll.

  “But I was meant to build here…” Jewel’s voice trailed off. Then she turned to Rain. “This is your fault. If you hadn’t made us late, we could have gotten here first.”

  “My fault?” snapped Rain. “Your sister invited the whole troop to this one field and that is somehow MY fault?”

  Flutterfly swooped between the two fairies.

  “Look on the bright side,” she said. “Now we can find our own special spot!”

  “Rain doesn’t do bright sides,” Jewel answered with a scowl. “Remember?”

  That was when Bloom, who had been quiet the whole time, piped up with an idea.

  “I know a great spot,” he said. “But first, are any of you afraid of… ants?”

  CHAPTER 6 A Berry Bad Idea

  Following Bloom was like following a balloon drifting in the wind. He flitted up, down, and from side to side without any warning.

  Rain was just starting to wonder if Bloom was lost. But then he stopped and pointed toward the ground.

  The fairies flew down to a cluster of bushes filled with bright red fruit.

  “Welcome to my happy place,” Bloom said. “Fresh raspberries make everything better.”

  Rain plucked a piece from a hanging raspberry and took a big bite. Juice dribbled down her chin. Mmm.

  “The fresh fruit, yummy smells…” Flutterfly clapped her hands. “This is the perfect spot for our clubhouse!”

  But Jewel shook her head. “No. We can’t make a house out of berries alone. There’s not enough light or water. Besides, my sister said—EWW!”

  Jewel shot into the air. A group of ants had gathered around her to pick raspberries.

  “Another reason why this is my happy place,” said Bloom. “Hi, little ant friends!”

  He rubbed their heads, and the ants clicked lovingly.

  An ant crawled into Rain’s lap.

  “For the first time ever, I agree with Flutterfly,” Rain said. “Building here is a great idea. Ants are the perfect next-door neighbors.”

  “Again, NO,” Jewel huffed. “What kind of fairy wants to live next to ants instead of flowers?”

  “Fairies like us,” replied Rain.

  “Also, ants live near flowers, too,” said Bloom. “They live everywhere. That’s why they’re great.”

  “Let’s build here,” said Rain. “All in favor, raise your wings.”

  But before anyone could do so, Jewel jabbed a finger at Rain. “Nuh-uh. You can’t make all the decisions around here.”

  “Well, neither can YOU,” Rain snapped back.

  “Now, now,” said Flutterfly, “let’s take a fairy deep breath and look on the bright side.”

  But that was exactly the wrong thing to say.

  “NO MORE BRIGHT SIDES!” Rain and Jewel roared together.

  Flutterfly’s antennae drooped. A hush fell over the raspberry bush. All that could be heard was the clicking of the ants.

  Finally, Rain broke the silence.

  “You know what?” she said. “I’ve got a new idea. I’m building my OWN house.”

  And with that, Rain marched off.

  But not before turning around and adding, “Don’t you dare follow me!”

  CHAPTER 7 Rain, Rain, Run Away

  Rain marched with the ants to Wander Woods.

 

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