Caramel Moon Read online

  “Well,” Raina said, “the story goes that she built a spy tower so that she could watch the fields at night and spot the troll. She used sticky sugar syrup in a hidden trap to slow the troll down. And she captured him!”

  “Wow!” Dash cried. “So mint.”

  The more Melli thought about the crops and the festival, the braver she felt. She had to be as clever as Lupa had been. She knew she had to do something to make sure that the Caramel Moon Festival happened this year.

  “I have a plan,” she declared. “Let’s meet back here right before Sun Dip tomorrow. We’re going to build a tower just like Lupa. I’m sure whoever did this will be back for more tonight. And we’ll be waiting.”

  Melli’s friends all stared at her. The Caramel Fairy seemed very sure of herself. But would they be successful like Lupa had been? How would they stop whoever—or whatever—was trying to ruin Caramel Moon?

  The sun was just about to slip down below the tops of the Frosted Mountains. Melli stood with her four friends at the edge of Candy Corn Fields. A cool breeze blew their wings, but they were all still. They were anxious to hear Melli’s plan for building the spy tower.

  “We’ll build the tower here,” Melli said. She pointed to a clearing in Lollipop Landing. “We’ll be able to see all the fields if we make the tower high enough.”

  Dash opened her bag. “I brought peppermint sticks that glow in the dark,” she said. “I thought that would help.”

  “And I brought some gummy lanterns,” Raina said. She held up two lanterns to show her friends. One lantern glowed a deep red light, and the other orange.

  Melli smiled. “Thanks,” she said.

  Cocoa took a box out of her bag. “And I brought a telescope,” she said. “It’s made out of the finest chocolate with a special sugar glass lens.” She held it up to her eye. “Perfect for spying,” she added.

  “That looks like the kind of telescope that Lupa used,” Raina said, taking a closer look.

  “Come on,” Melli told them. “There isn’t much daylight left, and we’ve got work to do.”

  “Where’s Berry?” Dash asked, looking around.

  Raina shrugged. “She said that she had to get something.”

  “It’s not like we’re meeting the Sugar Pops tonight,” Cocoa said, joking. “But she probably still wanted to change into some special spy outfit for the spying occasion.”

  Just then Berry came flying up to the group. “I’m here!” she called. “And I have some sticky fruit syrup for the traps,” she said. She showed her friends a large bottle of gooey red syrup. “It’s what Lupa used, so I thought it would help.”

  “Thanks, Berry,” Melli told her. “I set some traps down in the fields, and the sticky syrup will be perfect.”

  “But you know,” Raina said, “Chuchies can sniff those traps out. They can pick up scents from miles away.”

  Melli nodded. “I know,” she said, “but it’s worth a try. If the thieves aren’t the Chuchies, then maybe the traps will stop them.”

  Quickly the five friends worked together to build a spy tower. Raina and Berry flew in tall lollipop sticks, and Dash and Cocoa lifted rolls of fruit leather to make the floor. Melli tied the lollipop sticks together with licorice vines and secured the tall tower. Then the fairies set up the lanterns and peppermint sticks at the top.

  By the time they finished with the tower, the sky was getting dark. There was a chill in the air and Melli shivered.

  “Okay, so we’ll take turns using Cocoa’s telescope,” she said. “And we’ll check on the traps every hour.”

  “When we catch the candy corn thieves,” Cocoa said, “we’ll be the heroes of Caramel Moon!”

  “I hope you’re right,” Melli told her. She picked up the telescope and peered through the lens. “So far the fields are quiet.”

  Berry wrapped herself in a white shawl. “It’s cold out tonight!” she exclaimed.

  “Is that new?” Dash asked, admiring Berry’s shawl.

  “Yes,” Berry said proudly. “It’s made from the finest white cotton candy and finished with a raw sugar fringe.”

  “Wow,” Dash said, admiring the details.

  “It’s warm, too,” Berry told her. “Do you want to share it with me?”

  Dash shook her head. “No, I like this cold weather,” she answered. “It makes me feel like winter is almost here.”

  “Don’t say that!” Raina cried. “We haven’t even celebrated Caramel Moon. Winter is a long time away.”

  “It can’t come soon enough,” Dash replied. “I want to hit the slopes with my new sled.”

  Dash lived for the winter, when she could sled. Even though she was the smallest fairy in Sugar Valley, she was a champion on the slopes.

  The five friends huddled together as they watched the fields from the high tower.

  Melli stood up and walked to the edge of the tower. She didn’t see anything unusual. The Candy Corn stalks all stood upright, swaying in the night breeze. She sighed heavily. “What will we do if we don’t see anything?” she asked.

  “We just have to be patient,” Raina advised. “Lupa had to sit in her tower for a week before she saw anything.”

  “Raina!” Melli cried out. “We don’t have a week! Caramel Moon is tomorrow night!”

  The evening wind gently shook the tower.

  “It’s spooky here,” Dash said.

  “And dark,” Cocoa added. “It’s a good thing the moon is almost full so we can keep watch.”

  “But it is a little scary,” Berry said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

  “I’ll crack another peppermint stick,” Dash told them. A little spark from the stick lit up the tower.

  Raina yawned. “I’m so sleepy,” she said. “I had to clean up Gummy Forest today. Those gummy cubs made a huge mess playing in the woods.”

  “Maybe we should take turns keeping watch over the fields,” Cocoa suggested.

  Melli pressed the telescope to her eye. “I’ll take the first turn,” she said. “I am too nervous to sleep. If something is going to happen, I want to be ready.”

  “Well, wake us up if you see something,” Berry said, lying down. Her eyes were heavy and she longed to get a little rest.

  “I’ll stay up with you,” Cocoa told Melli. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, “I’m sure we’ll see something soon.”

  Melli hoped Cocoa was right. She kept her eyes on the fields below, searching for any sign. But so far only the winds were making the stalks sway in the moonlight.

  The round moon rose high in the sky. Melli was thankful for the soft white moonlight. She kept a careful watch on the fields as her friends slept.

  Melli spread Berry’s soft white shawl over the sleeping fairies. They were all huddled together on the floor of the tower. Even Cocoa had drifted off to sleep. But Melli was wide awake. She knew that whoever—or whatever—was harming the crops would strike soon. And she wanted to be ready.

  She picked up the chocolate telescope and gazed through the lens. Zooming in on the fields below, she looked for any sign of trouble. But the fields were quiet. She would just have to wait.

  Melli turned back to her sleeping friends. She was so thankful that they were with her on this spying mission.

  Next to Raina, Melli saw the book with the Lupa the Sugar Fairy story. She picked it up and searched for the tale about Lupa and the mischievous troll. As she read about Lupa’s adventures, she grew more and more impatient waiting for something to happen in the fields. Once again she stood up and looked through the telescope.

  “Hot caramel!” she cried.

  Cocoa woke with a start. “What? What happened?” she said, jumping up.

  Melli gave Cocoa the telescope and pointed to the north side of the field.

  “Over there!” she said. “I knew it! I knew those little furry Chuchies were the cause of all this mess.”

  “Look at them,” Cocoa said. She watched the Chuchies scurry around on their thin, short legs. “They ar
e so sneaky. Look how they are coming up from underneath the stalks.”

  “That’s why the stalks seem shorter!” Melli declared. “The Chuchies have been digging tunnels in the field to pull the stalks down! They couldn’t reach the candy unless they pulled the stalks lower.”

  “Chocolate sprinkles!” Cocoa exclaimed. “You’re right!”

  “I’m going to go see exactly what they are doing,” Melli said bravely.

  Cocoa put the telescope down. “Then I’m going with you.” She grabbed Melli’s hand. “You shouldn’t go alone.”

  Together, the two fairies flew down into Candy Corn Fields. Melli tried not to think about the long shadows in the field or the howling wind. She flew quickly and landed behind a large candy corn stalk. Without saying a word, she pointed to a mound of brown sugar. Then she and Cocoa hid as a couple of Chuchies shuffled by.

  “Meeee, meeeee!” squealed one of the Chuchies. With a little jump, the furry creature grabbed a bunch of candy corn. Then it jumped over the sticky syrup trap.

  Another Chuchie popped up from the underground tunnel. It shook off the brown sugar dirt from its pom-pom-shaped body. “Meeee Meeeee!” it sang out. The Chuchie held up a basket and plunked in several pieces of candy corn.

  Melli wanted to run out from her hiding space and grab the candy back. She saw about five more Chuchies crawl out of the tunnel with baskets. If she and her friends didn’t act soon, all the candy corn would be gone by the time the sun rose. Melli knew that in order to save the crops, she had to be smart. The Chuchies weren’t the cleverest creatures, but they were determined . . . especially about stealing candy.

  Waving her hand, she motioned for Cocoa to fly back to the tower, where they could talk.

  When they were away from the field, Melli let out a sigh. “How can we stop them? Those mischievous Chuchies can’t just take our candy.”

  Raina stretched and yawned. “Did you see something?” she asked, half asleep. “What’s going on?”

  As Raina sat up, Berry and Dash opened their eyes. Melli sat down on the floor next to her friends. “Cocoa and I saw the Chuchies taking the candy corn,” she told them. “They dug tunnels under the fields.”

  “We have to stop them!” Dash exclaimed.

  “But how?” Raina asked. “Chuchies are quick, and strong.”

  “But not always smart,” Berry pointed out.

  Melli gazed toward the field. “We need a plan,” she said. She bent down and picked up Raina’s book.

  “What would Lupa do?” Dash asked. “She caught the troll. She knew what she was doing.”

  “She was one of the bravest Candy Fairies ever,” Raina said. “She defeated lots of trolls and dragons.”

  Berry stood up. “We can be just as clever,” she said. “No way are those little Chuchies going to get away with stealing candy corn . . . or ruining the Caramel Moon Festival.”

  “Or spoiling our chance to meet the Sugar Pops,” Cocoa chimed in.

  Hugging the book to her chest, Melli wished she could be as brave and as clever as Lupa had been. She stared at the Chuchies scurrying around in the moonlit field. “We have to do something to make them stop.”

  Raina stood up and put her arm around Melli. “There’s still time,” she said calmly.

  “There’s a ton of candy corn this year,” Cocoa added. “There will be plenty for the celebration.”

  Berry shook her head. “But Melli’s right. We need a plan. We need a way to stop the Chuchies. If we don’t, we can say good-bye to the Sugar Pops.”

  “Don’t be so sour,” Raina said. “We can come up with a plan.”

  “But we better act fast,” Melli said, biting her nails. “The Chuchies have almost cleared the north part of the field.”

  She wanted to believe that she and her friends could stop what was going on . . . the only question was how!

  As Melli and her friends huddled together in the tower, a strong wind blew through the fields. The wind picked up Berry’s white shawl and blew it off the tower into the dark night.

  “Oh no!” Berry cried. She leaned over the side of the tower. “That’s my new shawl!” She squinted into the darkness. “Where did it go?”

  Dash got up and stood next to Berry. Leaning over the railing, she searched down below.

  “We’ll find it,” Raina said gently. “Don’t worry.”

  “I see the shawl,” Dash said. She pointed to the left of the tower. “There it is!”

  “Oh, thank you, Dash,” Berry gushed, giving her tiny friend a tight squeeze.

  “It looks like a ghost, doesn’t it?” Cocoa said, looking down at the shawl.

  Raina shivered. “Don’t talk about ghosts,” she said. “It’s creepy enough out here in the moonlight and howling winds.”

  Dash put her hands on her hips. “Oh, come on,” she said. “Are you really scared?”

  Melli’s eyes grew wide. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “Raina, you’re brilliant!”

  Berry, Raina, Dash, and Cocoa all shared confused looks.

  “That’s the perfect way to stop the Chuchies,” Melli declared, grinning.

  “What are you talking about?” Cocoa asked. “Did I just miss something?”

  Melli couldn’t help smiling. She knew that her plan was going to work. Swooping down to the ground, she picked up Berry’s shawl and brought it back up to the tower. She put the shawl over her head and reached her hands out to the sides.

  “Put the candy corn down!” she said in the spookiest voice she could.

  Cocoa laughed out loud.

  But Dash clapped. “Scare the Chuchies!” she said. She flapped her wings and flew up in the air. “Oh, that is pure sugar!”

  “Do you think that will work?” Berry asked. She took the shawl off Melli’s head and hugged it close. “This is made from the finest sugar, you know.”

  Cocoa rolled her eyes. “Yes, we know,” she said.

  “It’s a good idea,” Raina told Melli. “Chuchies are known to react out of fear.” She opened her Fairy Code Book and flipped through the pages. Then she ran her finger down the page until she found what she was looking for at the bottom. “‘Chuchies react quickly to things that confuse or scare them’,” she read.

  “If it’s written in the Fairy Code Book, then it must be true!” Melli said happily.

  Raina grinned, but Berry shook her head.

  “Come on,” Berry said. “How are you going to get those Chuchies to believe that my shawl is a ghost?”

  Cocoa saw Melli starting to panic.

  “We’ll figure out a way,” Cocoa said. “We can do it!”

  Melli was thankful for Cocoa’s enthusiasm. She held up a large round lollipop. “We can drape the shawl over this,” she explained. “And then we can put the stick in the ground.” She tilted her head and examined the ghost. “Our ghost is going to need some kind of eerie glow.”

  “Use one of my peppermint sticks,” Dash suggested. She flew closer to Melli and cracked open one of her glow-in-the-dark candies. Sprinkling the peppermint candy around the inside of the shawl made their ghost start to glow.

  “Hey, now it’s starting to look like the Ghost of Candy Corn Fields!” Cocoa cheered.

  Raina looked up from her book. “The ghost will need a voice,” she said.

  “I know!” Cocoa cried. “Wait one second!” She flew off the tower and out into the darkness. In a flash she was back with a chocolate sugar cone. She broke off the pointy end. “Here, talk into this,” she told Melli. “This cone from Chocolate Woods will make you sound bigger and scarier.”

  “Thanks, Cocoa,” Melli said, taking the cone. She did as Cocoa had told her and spoke into the long sugar cone.

  “Put down the candy corn!” Melli bellowed.

  “It still sounds like you,” Berry said. She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Berry!” Cocoa cried. “Maybe your sugar clips are in too tight.” She pointed to the sugarcoated fruit chews in Berry’s hair.

  B
erry ignored Cocoa. Tapping her finger on her chin, Berry thought for a moment. “Hold on,” she said. “I have an idea.” She dove off the top of the tower again. “I’ll be right back.”

  “What is she up to?” Melli asked Raina.

  Raina shrugged. “You never know with Berry,” she said.

  Berry appeared with a piece of fruit leather and spread it over the cone’s wide opening. “Okay,” she said. “Melli, now try and talk,” she instructed.

  This time when Melli spoke, her voice came through the cone muffled and distant. She really did sound like a ghost!

  “Berry!” Melli cried. “You did it! What a great idea.”

  “Ghoul work,” Cocoa told her, laughing at her own joke.

  Berry grinned. “Never hurts to have a little fruit around,” she said.

  Dash picked up the telescope. “We’d better get down to the fields fast,” she said. “Those Chuchies are working quickly.”

  “So it’s okay if we use your shawl?” Melli asked Berry.

  “Yes,” Berry said. “Licking lollipops! This might work!”

  The five fairies grabbed the supplies and headed down to the fields. In the dim light they worked to make the ghost stand up and loom over the fields. They pushed the lollipop stick deep into the ground. Then they tied another stick across, making a T shape so the ghost would appear to have two arms.

  Melli stood back and admired their ghost.

  “The ghost needs eyes,” Cocoa whispered. “He has to see what the Chuchies are doing!”

  “Hold on,” Dash said. “I think I have two more peppermints. A ghost should have glowing eyes, don’t you think?” From her pocket Dash took out her last two candies and stuck them onto the shawl. The bright green mints looked like glowing, ghoulish eyes.

  “Hot caramel!” Melli said very quietly. “I think we’ve got a ghost! Let’s move this ghost closer to the Chuchies.”

  Now all they had to do was convince the Chuchies that there was a ghost haunting Candy Corn Fields.