The Coconut Clue Read online

  Contents

  Map of the Candy Kingdom

  CHAPTER 1 Lost Gummy Flavors

  CHAPTER 2 Tropical Treasure

  CHAPTER 3 Quicksand Trouble

  CHAPTER 4 Mystery of Gummy Lagoon

  CHAPTER 5 Hagoo’s Surprise

  CHAPTER 6 Gum-Gum Magic

  CHAPTER 7 Special Treats

  CHAPTER 8 Gummy Secrets

  CHAPTER 9 Tropical Burst

  CHAPTER 10 Sweet Endings

  Rock Candy Treasure Excerpt

  About Helen Perelman

  To the supersweet students at Seely Place Elementary!

  Lost Gummy Flavors

  Raina the Gummy Fairy licked her lips. She was looking at a ripe orange gummy tulip. The flower was the most delicious color and shape. “Sweet-tacular!” she exclaimed.

  Her basket was overflowing with freshly picked gummy flowers. “It’s been a good season for these,” she said to Blue Belle, her gummy bear friend. The bear nodded. Raina took good care of many animals in Gummy Forest. “Let’s both have one,” she said with a smile. The burst of orange flavor in her mouth made her grin.

  “Hi, Raina!” Berry the Fruit Fairy called from above. “Hey, Blue Belle!”

  “Berry!” Raina called. “You have to try these gummy tulips!”

  Berry landed next to Raina. She was dressed in a beautiful purple-and-pink dress. Berry always dressed her best. She had all the fashion sense that Raina didn’t have! No one could whip up an outfit like Berry.

  Raina handed her a grape-flavored gummy tulip.

  “Mmm, this is delicious,” Berry said. “What a great harvest! You should give some of these to Princess Lolli and Prince Scoop.”

  Raina had already given a bouquet to the ruling fairy princess and her husband. She loved visiting Princess Lolli and Prince Scoop at Candy Castle.

  “I dropped off a basket of flowers for them yesterday,” Raina told her. She reached into her bag. “Prince Scoop gave me this.” She showed Berry a beautiful book with gold trim.

  “Sweet sugars!” Berry exclaimed. “What is the book about?”

  “The book is called Tropical Treasures and tells the flavor history of the Ice Cream Isles,” Raina told her. “I was asking Prince Scoop about the different flavors of ice cream we ate at the Ice Cream Festival.”

  “Hmm,” Berry said with a sigh. “Remember those tropical flavors like pineapple and coconut?” She rubbed her belly. “I sound like Dash, don’t I?” She giggled.

  Dash the Mint Fairy was their good friend. She was the smallest of their friends, but the one with the biggest appetite. She also always remembered every candy flavor she had ever had!

  Raina opened the book. “Look at all these ice cream flavors,” she said. She ran her finger down the list. “Mango, papaya, kiwi, pineapple, coconut . . . there are so many. And there’s even a chapter about tropical-flavored gummy candies that once grew around Gummy Lagoon!”

  “Gummy Lagoon?” Berry gasped. “No one has been over there in ages. Do you think there is still candy there?”

  A smile spread across Raina’s face. “I’d like to be the Candy Fairy to find that out, wouldn’t you?” she asked. She lifted her eyebrows. She knew that Berry would not be able to resist the idea of exploring a new place and looking for tropical-flavored gummy candies. “Let’s ask the others at Sun Dip.”

  “I’m in,” Berry said. “And I’m sure Dash will be up for an adventure.” She grinned. “Especially if it involves a new candy.”

  “We might have to convince Melli and Cocoa,” Raina said, thinking of her Caramel Fairy and Chocolate Fairy friends. “But that won’t be too hard. I know they will want to help.”

  They both said good-bye to Blue Belle and flew off to Red Licorice Lake. Sun Dip was coming and their friends would be arriving soon. Raina put her fresh gummy flowers in a jar and placed the arrangement in the middle of the blanket.

  “So mint!” Dash cried as she swooped down. “Those flowers look too perfect to eat!”

  “Oh, I bet they are so juicy and delicious,” Melli said. She flew in next to Dash.

  Raina beamed with pride. “Try one,” she said.

  “Save one for me!” Cocoa called from above.

  “Better hurry,” Berry said, taking a red gummy daisy. “These are really good.”

  The five friends settled down on the blanket to eat the gummy flowers and watch the sun slowly sink past the tip of the Frosted Mountains.

  Raina saw Berry looking at her. Berry was silently urging her to ask the others about coming with her to Gummy Lagoon. Raina took Prince Scoop’s book out of her bag.

  “Whoa!” Dash exclaimed. “Where’d you get that?”

  “Prince Scoop lent it to me,” Raina said. “It’s called Tropical Treasures.”

  “It looks like a royal book,” Melli added.

  Raina nodded. “Prince Scoop let me borrow it. I was asking him about some of the flavors of ice cream in the Ice Cream Isles.”

  “Did you find out how to make some of those flavors?” Dash asked. She licked her lips. “Yum! They were delicious!”

  “Actually, there used to be tropical-flavored gummy candies growing in Gummy Forest,” Raina said.

  “Pineapple, papaya, and mango gummy flowers?” Dash squealed. She shot straight up in the air.

  Raina giggled. She knew Dash would get excited about new gummy flavors.

  “Where?” Melli asked.

  “Gummy Lagoon,” Raina told her. She saw Melli’s expression change.

  “No one ever goes to Gummy Lagoon,” Cocoa said before Melli could reply. “Isn’t it haunted?”

  Melli shuddered. “You don’t plan on going there, do you?”

  “Yes,” Raina said. She looked over at Berry. “And I don’t think it’s haunted.”

  “Then why don’t any of the Gummy Fairies go there?” Melli asked.

  Raina shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I hope after reading this book I’ll find out more,” she said.

  “There might even be different tropical flavors there,” Berry said.

  “We should check it out,” Dash replied.

  Raina opened the royal book. “I already read that some of the Ice Cream Fairies used flavors from the lagoon long ago.

  “You mean you’ll be able to grow gummies in the same flavors as those tropical ice cream flavors?” Dash asked. Her eyes were wide with excitement.

  “Why hasn’t any Gummy Fairy made tropical-flavored gummies?” Cocoa asked.

  “Exactly,” Raina said. “I want to find out why there are no gummies growing over by the lagoon anymore.”

  “You want to go to the haunted lagoon?” Melli asked nervously.

  Raina leaned forward. “No one knows for sure if it’s haunted. I don’t think it is. Please come with me. Help me explore the lagoon and maybe find the flavors?”

  Dash and Berry raised their hands high while Cocoa and Melli looked a bit worried.

  “Are you sure it’s safe?” Melli asked. Often she was the one to get the most nervous about adventures.

  “Sure as sugar,” Raina told her.

  Tropical Treasure

  The next morning, Raina waited for her four Candy Fairy friends at the edge of Gummy Lake. She was so excited to explore Gummy Lagoon. The area around the lagoon was not full of bright gummy candies like the rest of Gummy Forest. Maybe some Candy Fairies thought it was haunted, but after reading a couple of chapters in Prince Scoop’s book Raina felt there might be some clue about what used to be there—and what possibly could still grow.

  “Ready?” Cocoa asked as she flew down to Raina. Dash and Melli were right behind her.

  “We’re just waiting for Berry,” Raina said, smiling.

  “That’s nothing new!” D
ash exclaimed. “I am sure she is looking for just the right outfit for a tropical adventure.”

  Berry cleared her throat, and her friends looked up to see her flying above. “I am right on time,” she declared. “You are all early!”

  “Berry is right,” Raina said. “I think everyone can’t wait to see this lagoon.”

  Melli wrapped her finger around her short dark hair. “Are you sure this is safe? Did you even ask Princess Lolli?”

  Raina hadn’t thought about asking Princess Lolli. It wasn’t as if the lagoon was considered dangerous. She looked at Melli and sighed. “I think this visit is perfectly safe,” she said. “We can always send a sugar fly to Candy Castle if we get into trouble.”

  “We won’t get into any trouble,” Berry said.

  “We’ll be heroes!” Dash exclaimed. “We’re going to figure out what happened to the candy of Gummy Lagoon!”

  Melli shrugged. “All right,” she said. “But everyone needs to be careful.”

  “Sure as sugar,” Raina replied.

  “Did everyone bring supplies?” Dash asked.

  Raina laughed. “You mean candy supplies, don’t you?”

  Dash blushed. “A Candy Fairy is always prepared. You never know when you will need a sweet snack. Now let’s get going!”

  The five fairies flew over Gummy Lake and up past Gummy Grove. Raina pointed to the left. “Over this way,” she called.

  From the sky, Raina could see where the bright colors of the gummy trees ended and the waters of the lagoon began. Her heart was beating so fast!

  “Come this way,” Raina said. She flew down to an area of white sugar sand near the murky lagoon.

  “Holy peppermint!” Dash cried. “This lagoon doesn’t look spooky and haunted. It just looks like all the color was washed away.”

  “If I were painting this scene,” Cocoa said, spinning around, “I would only need gray and white paint.”

  Melli knelt down and touched the dry white sand. “This place is so sad.”

  “Be careful,” Raina warned. “We have to be sure about the candy before we eat or touch anything.”

  Dash put her hands up in the air. “Don’t look at me!” she said. “Fairy promise, I won’t eat anything until you say so.” Her eyes darted around at all the wilted vines of candy. “That might be the easiest promise ever!”

  Raina laughed. “I know,” she agreed.

  “Something doesn’t seem right,” Berry said.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Raina replied. “Let’s see what we can find around here.”

  Berry took out a magnifying glass from her bag. “I came prepared!” she said.

  Raina turned and stubbed her toe on a rock sticking out of the ground. “Ouch!” she cried. She bent down to see what had stopped her. “Look at this,” she said.

  “You don’t need a magnifying glass to see that that is a coconut!” Dash exclaimed.

  “A tropical treasure,” Cocoa said.

  Berry examined the coconut. She carefully lifted it up. “It’s almost like it has a golden shell. I have never seen anything like this.”

  “Um, and I have never seen anything like that !” Melli squealed.

  Raina saw Melli’s wide eyes and knew something was wrong. She looked over and saw a large purple-and-red snake!

  “Holy peppermint!” Dash shouted. “That is the biggest snake I have ever seen.”

  “Stay away,” Cocoa said. “We don’t know if it’s dangerous.”

  The fairies flew up above the ground and watched as the snake slithered around the gummy plants and headed to a sandy area by the lagoon.

  “Sweet strawberries!” Berry cried. “Did you see that?”

  Cocoa rubbed her eyes and nodded. “I saw it,” she said. “But I don’t believe it.”

  The snake had disappeared into the sand. “I think that must be sugar quicksand,” Raina told her friends. “I read about that once, but I have never seen it.”

  “Does that mean the snake is gone?” Melli asked. Her wings were fluttering quickly and she was speaking very fast. Raina knew her friend was frightened.

  “Don’t worry, Melli,” Raina said. “The snake can’t fly.”

  Berry flew down a little closer to the ground. “This makes you wonder what else could be in that quicksand, huh?” she asked.

  Raina tapped her finger on her chin. “I wonder if there might be some clues about the tropical flavors in that sticky sand. The question is, how are we going to find out what is in there?”

  “We need a plan,” Dash said. “A supersticky sandy plan.”

  Quicksand Trouble

  Raina stared at the sugar quicksand pit. She thought for a moment. Then she reached for a gummy branch on the ground and threw it toward the sand. In an instant the branch sank down into the shimmering sandy pond.

  “Whoa,” Dash said. “That was sugar mint!”

  “Sugar quicksand, all right,” Raina said.

  “Do you think there might be other things down in the quicksand?” Cocoa asked. She moved to the edge of the sandy area. “I wish we could see in there.”

  “Me too,” Raina replied. She picked up another branch and flew over the sand pit.

  “Raina!” Melli cried. “What are you going to do?”

  “Careful!” Berry exclaimed.

  Raina dipped the stick into the thick quicksand. It was hard to keep flying and poke around. Pulling the stick out of the sand was not easy. Each time she tugged the stick, she felt a strain in her wings. She struggled to move the stick.

  “Come back over here,” Cocoa told her. “It’s not safe there.”

  Raina’s wings were beginning to ache. Her friends were right to worry. A fairy’s wings were not made for holding her in one place while she poked into sugar quicksand. She flew back to stand with her friends.

  “Anyone have any ideas?” Raina asked. Her tired wings drooped down.

  Dash shook her head. “It’s never a good sign when Raina doesn’t know what to do,” she whispered.

  “Hold on,” Berry said. “Let’s think about this for a minute. There has got to be a way to explore that sand pit.”

  Raina sat down and leaned against a gummy tree. “Maybe this is why no Candy Fairies come here anymore,” she said. “This place isn’t haunted. It is just plain old sticky!” She looked over at Berry.

  “You know I’m going to say it,” Berry said. She flew over to Raina and sat down next to her. “Don’t dip your wings in syrup—or quicksand—yet. We will find a way to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Hot caramel!” Melli exclaimed. She pointed at the stick that was still in the quicksand. “Look at the end of the stick. It’s like it has a caramel coating.”

  The Candy Fairies studied Raina’s stick. There was a golden layer around the tip.

  “So mint!” Dash cried.

  “I guess that sugar quicksand makes a caramel coating,” Melli said.

  Dash held up the coconut Raina had found earlier. “Look, the shell has the same gold-colored coating. This must have been in the quicksand too,” she said.

  Raina took the coconut in her hand. Dash was right: This coconut had been in the quicksand. But how did it get out? “This is a great sign,” she said. “If this coconut got out, maybe we can fish other things out of the sand.”

  “A coconut clue,” Berry said. “I wonder if the sugar quicksand has hidden away candy treasures for many years.”

  Raina hugged the coconut. “That’s it, Berry!” she exclaimed. “The secret to the lost gummy flavors is hidden in that sand,” she said. “And this coconut might be the answer.”

  “I don’t even like coconut,” Dash mumbled.

  “Really?” Berry asked. “Finally a flavor you don’t like?”

  Dash gave Berry a sour look. “Very funny,” she said.

  “Let’s try to work together,” Raina said. She flew between Dash and Berry.

  They heard a loud cry above in the branches, and all five fairies looked up.r />
  “Cocoa monkeys!” Cocoa cried. “Oh, look how cute they are!”

  The Candy Fairies watched the monkeys as they leaped and swung from tree to tree.

  “Looks like those monkeys are bickering too,” Melli said. She giggled. “Maybe Raina will have to stand between them.”

  “I don’t think they are fighting,” Cocoa said. She saw the playful monkeys jumping around on the branches. “I think they are trying to tell us something.”

  “Or they are just having fun swinging around,” Dash added.

  “I wonder if they know if more treasures are in that sand pit,” Raina said.

  “Someone must have pulled this coconut out of the sand,” Berry told her. “Maybe these crazy cocoa monkeys can help us.”

  Cocoa nodded. “Cocoa monkeys definitely like coconuts,” she said. “Maybe they know how to fish stuff out of the sand.”

  Raina saw how the monkeys grabbed on to long gummy vines and playfully tugged at one another.

  “Cocoa, do you think you can talk to these monkeys?” Raina asked.

  “I can try,” Cocoa said. “Cocoa monkeys are not known to be the easiest animals. They like to do what they like . . . not what you ask them.”

  “Maybe we just need to watch them,” Raina replied. She couldn’t take her eyes off the little monkeys, and she noticed how easily they moved from vine to vine. “If we can see how they fish things out of the quicksand, then maybe we can too.”

  “That’s a sugar-tastic idea!’ Melli cried.

  Raina sat down. “It will be sugar-tastic if it works,” she said softly. “I hope these monkeys have a few tricks to share with us. Otherwise we will be going home with a flavorless story.”

  Mystery of Gummy Lagoon

  This is one crazy cocoa monkey show,” Dash said.

  The Candy Fairies were sitting on a gummy tree branch, watching the monkeys swing back and forth. The monkeys took turns grabbing the licorice vines and flying over the sugar quicksand like they were performing a show at Candy Castle. These monkeys were so graceful—and brave. They reached for a vine and dangled above the sand without looking scared. Raina wondered if she could hold on to a vine like the monkeys.