3. Lost in the Maze

Lost in the Maze Fern waved to the girls through the sheet of ice. Her mouth opened and closed, but Rachel and Kirsty couldn't hear a word she was saying. The ice was too thick. Rachel looked worried. "Fern must be freezing in there," she said. "We've got to get her out." "We could smash the ice with a stick," said Kirsty. Then she frowned. "But Fern might get hurt."

Rachel thought hard. "We could melt the ice," she said. "How?" Kirsty asked. "Like this," Rachel replied. She reached up and pressed her hand firmly against the window of ice. Kirsty did the same. The ice felt freezing cold, but they kept pressing against it with their warm hands.

Soon, a few drops of water began to trickle down the window. "It's melting!" Rachel said. "I think we can make a hole in it now." She gently poked the middle of the window with her finger, and the ice began to crack. "Don't worry, Fern," said Kirsty. "You'll be out of there very soon!" There was a sudden crack as the ice split open. A flash of sparkling fairy dust shot out, leaving behind the smell of cut grass. And then Fern the Green Fairy pushed her way out of the tree trunk, her wings fluttering limply. She wore a bright green top and stretchy pants, with pretty leaf shapes around her

waist and neck. She had small acorn-colored boots on her tiny feet, earrings, and a pendant that looked like a little green leaf. Her long, brown hair was tied in pigtails, and her thin, emerald wand was tipped with gold. "Oh, I'm s-s-so c-c-cold!" the fairy gasped, shivering all over. She floated down to rest on Kirsty's shoulder. "Let me warm you up a bit," said Rachel. She scooped the fairy up and held her in her cupped hands. Then she blew gently on her.

The warmth of Rachel's breath seemed to do the trick. Fern stopped shivering, and her wings straightened out. "Thank you," she said. "I feel much better now." "I'm Rachel and this is Kirsty," Rachel explained. "We're here to take you to the pot at the end of the rainbow." "Ruby, Amber, and Sunny are waiting for you," Kirsty added. Fern's green eyes lit up. "They're safe?" she exclaimed. "That's wonderful!" She flew off Rachel's hand in a burst of green fairy dust and twirled happily in the air. "But what about my other sisters?"

"Don't worry, we're going to find them, too," Kirsty told her. "But how did you get stuck behind that ice window?" "When I landed on Rainspell Island, I got tangled up in the ivy on the tower," Fern explained. "I managed to untangle myself, but then Jack Frost's goblins started chasing me. So I flew into the maze and hid in the oak tree. It