Catkin in Jewel Forest Read online

  Thanks fairy much Catherine Coe!

  Welcome to the world of the fashion fairy princesses! Join Catkin and friends on their magical adventures in fairyland.

  They can’t wait to explore

  Can you?

  Contents

  Cover

  Half Title Page

  Dedication

  Title Page

  Map

  Jewel Forest

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Fashion Fairy Princess Website

  Sneak Peek of Pip in Jewel Forest

  Fun Facts about Catkin

  Back Ads

  Copyright

  Catkin fluttered along a high branch of the sapphire-sycamore tree. The tree leaves shone in the early morning sunshine and Catkin couldn’t help but spin in delight as she took in the beautiful forest. “I’m so lucky to live here,” she said to herself. She loved Jewel Forest more than anything else, and flying around it always made her happy.

  She skipped on to the fairy skyway, a network of glittering bridges that connected the forest houses, shops and palace. Each spring the forest fairies rebuilt the bridges with new leaves. In fact, it was only last week that Catkin had been part of the skyway building team. It had been hard work, but worth all the effort. The skyway was decorated with all sorts of different-coloured gems, and Catkin thought it looked better than any other year!

  As she flew along, she pulled out her to-do list of fairy errands from her ivy-leaf trouser pocket.

  Buy starberry muffins from Blossom’s bakery

  Hand out sycamore flyers

  Glowberry candles

  On Catkin’s shoulder was a bag full of sycamore seeds. But these weren’t just any sycamore seeds. They were extra-special seeds that she’d collected from the very tree she lived in – the sapphire sycamore. Not only did each winged seed have a sapphire at its centre, but with a sprinkling of fairy magic, the seeds could be sent anywhere in Jewel Forest. Catkin had the idea to use them as a new forest messaging service. When they arrived at their destination, they would spin a short message from the sender in the air. Catkin thought it would be a great way to send instant messages around the forest – quicker than fairy-mail! Today her plan was to hand out the seeds so the fairies and creatures of the forest could see them in action.

  She also needed to pick up glowberry candles for this evening’s Walk in the Woods. Catkin had arranged the walk to celebrate the beauty of the forest, and planned to show everyone all the amazing things that grew there. She fluttered along the skyway and spotted the Cavern Café up ahead. First I’ll stop in for a drink, she thought. All these chores were thirsty work!

  The Cavern Café was set inside a large, hollowed-out branch of an opal-oak tree. It ran almost the whole length of the branch, and was sheltered from wind and rain but open to sunshine and the fresh forest air.

  “Hello!” Catkin called out as she fluttered into the café. “My usual, please,” she said to the waitress, a ladybird named Poppet. Catkin fluttered up to her favourite spot in the café – a terrace along the top of the branch where she could sit and look out at the forest. She sat down at an acorn-nut table and took out her list again. She began adding things with a beeswax pen when Poppet flew up in front of her.

  “I’m dreadfully sorry,” Poppet squeaked in her high-pitched ladybird voice, “but we’ve run out of dandelion milkshake.

  Can I get you a different flavour, Catkin?

  How about honey-pear? Or carrot and berry?”

  Catkin frowned. She didn’t fancy anything else. The dandelion milkshake always quenched her thirst more than anything else, and it was super-tasty too – sweet and creamy but not too filling. She shook her head, making her red curly hair bounce around her. “I think I’ll give it a miss, but thanks, Poppet.”

  “You could try again tomorrow,” Poppet suggested. “The problem is we couldn’t find a single dandelion in the usual clearing today, but I’m hoping some will grow overnight.”

  Poppet was right – the magical forest often grew plants very quickly, but it was strange that not one dandelion could be found. Catkin popped her to-do list and pen back in her pocket and fluttered up from the chair. “Thanks, Poppet.” The fairy knew that it wasn’t just her favourite milkshake but one of the café’s bestsellers. Many of the fairies and forest creatures would be disappointed that it was off the menu.

  Catkin pulled out a sapphire-sycamore seed from her bag. “Before I go, can I give you one of these? It’s the newest form of messaging in the forest – with a sprinkle of fairy-dust, you can send a message almost instantly to anyone in the forest!”

  Poppet clapped her two front legs together. “What a great idea! Why don’t you leave a pile here and I can tell customers about them?”

  “That would be fantastic – thanks, Poppet.” Catkin grabbed a handful of the seeds and passed them to the ladybird. “I’d better be off now. I’ll keep my fingers crossed you have dandelions back in the café tomorrow!”

  Catkin decided to fly straight to Goldie’s Groceries to pick up the glowberry candles. At least then she could tick those off her list. She flew along the fairy skyway that led to the silver-willow tree. Goldie’s shop was at the base of the tree, beneath the silver leaves which drooped down like layers of beautiful shimmering curtains.

  As Catkin reached the forest floor and zoomed along past the hedgerows, she heard a chirpy voice call out behind her. “Catkin, can you help?”

  The red-headed fairy looked over her shoulder. At first she could see nothing but leaves.

  “Who’s there?” asked Catkin. For a moment, she wondered if it was a pink tree squirrel playing a trick on her – the squirrels were cheeky animals and liked to joke about.

  “It’s me!” came a squeak. Catkin fluttered backwards towards a glitterberry bush where the voice seemed to be coming from. “I’m stuck!”

  Now that she was closer, Catkin could make out the top of a nut-brown head and pale orange tips of fairy wings sticking out of the bush. “Princess Nutmeg, what are you doing?”

  Nutmeg was the excitable little sister of Princess Primrose. They both lived in the Tree Palace, a pink diamond-nut tree that was covered in wonderful jewels.

  “I was collecting glitterberries. I wanted to surprise Primrose with them. But then my wings got stuck in these stupid branches!”

  Catkin chuckled to herself. Although the glitterberries were both beautiful and delicious, they were hard to find and even harder to pick, because the branches were covered in thorns. Trust Nutmeg to try anyway. She loved exploring the forest, but didn’t always think about the consequences!

  “OK, but don’t struggle – you don’t want to tear your wings,” Catkin told Nutmeg. “Let me help you.” She reached in and gently pulled away the branches one by one, taking care to avoid the prickly thorns.

  Slowly, Nutmeg was revealed. “Oh, thank you, Catkin!” she cried as she fluttered out of the bush. “I thought I was going to be stuck there all day. Here, you deserve the berries!” Nutmeg held out both hands – they were full of sparkling yellow berries.

  Catkin shook her head. “No, you take them back to Primrose – I know how much she loves them.”

  A smile spread across Nutmeg’s freckled face. “Thanks, Catkin, if you’re sure! So, where are you going?” she asked.

  “I’m off to Goldie’s to collect glowberry candles for this evening’s Walk i
n the Woods. Are you coming tonight?”

  Nutmeg nodded. “Oh yes, definitely – and Primrose is coming, too. We can’t wait!”

  “That’s great!” Catkin smiled. “The forest is beautiful at this time of year – there’s so much to see.” She paused, then added, “Actually, there is something you could do… Would you mind coming to Goldie’s to help me carry the glowberry candles? I think there’ll be lots!”

  “Yes, of course!” said Nutmeg. Catkin was glad to see Nutmeg was her usual enthusiastic self, despite being stuck in the glitterberry bushes for fairy knows how long. “Ooh, and I can see if Goldie has any purple pears in stock. Primrose and I love them!”

  Catkin linked arms with the young fairy and they skipped towards the grocery shop. As they travelled, Nutmeg chattered to Catkin about her day exploring the forest. She’d been playing hide-and-seek with the tree squirrels as well as helping a mother sparrow to collect twigs for a new nest.

  Catkin smiled as she approached Goldie’s shop, at the base of the silver- willow tree trunk. She was looking forward to entering the maze of rooms set into the bark, which were filled with all sorts of forest goodies. There was a fruit room and a nut room, but also a furniture room, a book room and a candle room. She knew Goldie prided herself on having everything a fairy could possibly want.

  As they got closer, Catkin frowned. Usually light spilled out of the little windows, but every single window was dark. What’s more, the large rectangular door was shut and had a “Sorry – we’re closed!” sign pinned to it. Catkin didn’t think she’d ever seen the door closed before. It was always open, welcoming customers inside!

  “That’s strange,” she said to Nutmeg. The two fairies fluttered up to the door, and Catkin gave it a strong rat-a-tat-tat. She pressed a pointy ear to the door, but could hear nothing inside.

  Meanwhile, Nutmeg had pressed her nose up against one of the windows. “It’s really dark inside. I don’t think Goldie’s there!” she told Catkin.

  Catkin shook her head. “Oh well, I’ll have to come back later.” She felt a panicky feeling welling up inside her. She hated not being organized, and she so wanted the walk to go perfectly that evening.

  Catkin took one more look through the window, hoping that Goldie might pop up from behind a cupboard or table, but there was nothing – just darkness. This is strange, she thought. Very strange indeed.

  “Catkin, Nutmeg, whatever are you doing?”

  Catkin spun round and saw their friend Willa zooming towards them, her long black shiny hair billowing out behind her.

  “Oh hi, Willa. I was hoping to pick up some glowberry candles for tonight’s Walk in the Woods,” Catkin explained. “But Goldie’s shop is shut!”

  Catkin saw the frown beneath Willa’s silky fringe. “That’s weird – I thought Goldie’s shop was always open,” she said.

  “Not today!” Nutmeg said. “And I wanted to get some purple pears, too!”

  “But your walk is still going ahead tonight, isn’t it?” Willa asked Catkin. “I’ve been looking forward to it for ages!”

  “Oh, yes.” Catkin nodded, feeling pleased that all her friends were excited about the walk too. “It’s just that I really wanted those candles for it – they’re perfect for walks because they don’t go out in the breeze.” She looked down, unable to hide her disappointment.

  Willa put an arm around Catkin. “Why don’t you come with me to What a Gem?” she said. “I was on my way there to check out the new charm bracelets. I guarantee a bit of shopping will cheer you up!”

  “But I still have some chores to finish…” Catkin began.

  “There’ll be time for chores later.” Willa widened her dark brown eyes. “Oh, come on, Catkin – shopping is always much more fun when there are two of you!”

  “Oh … OK then,” said Catkin. Perhaps she could pick up a new pair of gemstone studs. And maybe some star-shaped diamonds to match the star-print tunic she’d planned to wear on tonight’s walk. “Nutmeg, do you want to come too?” Catkin asked the princess.

  Nutmeg shook her head, her choppy nut-brown hair swinging about her shoulders. “Jewellery’s not really for me – apart from princess tiaras of course!” She winked. “And I should take these glitterberries back to the palace. Primrose will be so pleased!” With that the adventurous little fairy fluttered off, a basket of glitterberries hooked over her shoulder, and her orange wings beating steadily.

  Willa took hold of Catkin’s hand and the two fairies flew along the skyway towards What a Gem. The shop was in a much higher part of the forest, so they had to criss-cross up some steep bridges to get there.

  “Here we are!” announced Willa, pushing open the door of the jewellery shop with one shoulder. Catkin followed her in, but Willa stopped suddenly in the doorway. “Where is everything?”

  Catkin looked around. She didn’t come in here very often, but she was pretty sure it didn’t usually look like this. The windows were bare, the shelves were almost empty, and even the jewellery tree in the centre of the shop had just a couple of necklaces hanging from it.

  “Hi, fairies.” A large emerald-green dragonfly emerged from the shadows at the back of the shop and waved. “I’m terribly sorry, but I don’t have much today. You see, I haven’t had my usual delivery of jewels.”

  Catkin stepped back in surprise. Jewel Forest was full of jewels – why hadn’t there been a delivery?

  “Do you think it’s just late?” asked Willa.

  “Perhaps,” said the dragonfly, “but the jewel moths always bring them first thing in the morning, and so far there hasn’t been any sign of them. It might be better to try again tomorrow – hopefully they’ll turn up then!”

  “That’s so unlike the jewel moths,” said Catkin. The moths that collected the jewels in the forest were always very reliable. “I wonder what’s wrong.”

  Willa and Catkin waved goodbye to the dragonfly and left What a Gem. Willa looked over her shoulder at the empty window display as they left. “What bad luck!” she said. “Catkin, I think I’m going to head to Starlight-Starbright tailor’s and see if they have anything there. I know they sometimes sell accessories too, as well as designing and mending clothes. Do you want to come with me?”

  But Catkin was only half listening to her friend. The other half of her brain was busy worrying about the strange things happening in the forest.

  “Catkin?” Willa asked again, putting a hand on her arm.

  “Oh, sorry, Willa.” Catkin shook her head. “Um, no – you go ahead without me. I need to do some investigating.” Catkin had a horrible feeling that these things were more than just a coincidence – and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

  Alone on the skyway, Catkin paused for a moment. First the dandelions, then Goldie’s shop being shut, and now the missing jewel delivery. It couldn’t all just be unlucky – she was sure something strange was going on. But what can I do? she wondered as a wave of worry washed over her.

  She looked around her at the forest, and the cherry-jewel tree up ahead caught her eye. Something didn’t look right. The jewels seemed dull, even in the spring sunshine. She fluttered over to a branch and hovered in the air. She touched the cherries that clustered on the leaves, examining them carefully. No, they definitely weren’t glittering like usual.

  “Hey, Catkin, are you collecting cherry-jewels?” came a voice from below. Catkin looked down. It was the pink furry shape of Conker, one of the tree squirrels.

  “Hi, Conker. Actually no – there’s something wrong with them. In fact, there seems to be something wrong with a lot of the forest.”

  “Funny you should say that,” said Conker. “We’ve been getting complaints about our daisy-nuts.” The tree squirrels collected the tasty nuts to supply the whole of Jewel Forest. “Fairies have been saying they’re bitter – not at all sweet and rich like usual.”

  “Rea
lly?” Catkin fluttered down to Conker.

  The squirrel nodded and his furry pink tail bounced about. “I don’t understand. They’ve never tasted bad before. Here, try one.”

  Conker reached into a sack hooked on to the end of his tail and held out a shiny white nut. Catkin plucked it up and popped it into her mouth. She couldn’t help but screw up her face as she chewed. The nut tasted sharp and bitter – not at all like usual. “Oh dear,” she said once she’d swallowed.

  “I’ve got to go,” said Conker. “I promised Sycamore I’d play acorn-ball with him. But if you find out what’s wrong, please let me know.”

  Catkin nodded as Conker scampered away up a tree trunk. She watched him go, wondering what to do.

  “I know,” she said to herself after a while, “I’ll go and visit the Jewel Tree!” The Jewel Tree was the first tree ever to grow in the forest and the source of all forest fairy magic. It was the most special and powerful tree in the whole of Jewel Forest. If there was a problem, Catkin was sure the tree could help solve it. She beat her red wings hard as she took off and began flying through the forest, focused on reaching it as quickly as she could.

  The Jewel Tree was tucked away in a magical corner. Catkin liked to visit it when she wanted to feel close to the forest, but as she flew along at top speed, she realized she’d been so busy lately that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been there. As she went further and further into the forest, away from the fairy homes, shops and cafés, she suddenly had a bad feeling, and her stomach bubbled with worry as she got closer to the clearing where the tree grew.

  Catkin was almost there when she turned a corner … and gasped. She shut her eyes, then opened them again, not wanting to believe what she saw. But it didn’t change. In front of her was not a beautiful tree glittering with bright jewels, but a drooping dull tree with wilting leaves!