Caramel Moon Read online

  “You bet,” Melli said. She gave her little sister a hug. Princess Lolli had said it was her pleasure to give Cara permission—especially after all the work Melli had done to save the crops.

  “Melli! Cocoa!”

  Raina and Dash were waving at their friends. They were standing in front of the stage set up on the north side of the fields.

  “We got here early,” Raina said as her friends landed beside her.

  “But so did everyone else!” Dash added.

  Melli looked around. The stalks had returned to their normal height, and there seemed to be plenty of candy corn on the stems. “Everything looks great,” she said, amazed.

  “They don’t call Princess Lolli the ruling fairy princess for nothing,” Cocoa chimed in. “I told you that you worry too much.”

  Melli reached down and plucked a ripe candy corn. She took a bite and her wings flapped with excitement. “Hot caramel!” she exclaimed. “This is the most delicious candy corn ever!”

  Each of her friends took a bite and smiled.

  “We did it!” Dash said. She reached for more of the colorful candy. “These are my favorite—”

  Before she could even finish her thought, Cocoa interrupted her. “We know, candy corn is your favorite candy!”

  The friends all laughed. Every candy Dash tasted was her favorite candy!

  “Hello, fairies!” Berry cried as she swooped down next to her friends. She was wearing a new dress with brightly colored fruit chews in her hair. She looked beautiful.

  “I see you’re all ready to meet the Sugar Pops,” Cocoa said, eyeing her fancy friend.

  “Oh, I can’t wait!” Berry exclaimed.

  “First we need to pick the candy,” Melli said. “After all, that is what this night is all about.”

  Around them, fairies of all kinds were busy collecting candy corn in large baskets. The fairies were working hard in the bright light of the full moon. And having fun.

  Just as Melli and Cara were lifting their basket to dump the candy they had picked into a large barrel, Cara froze.

  “Sweet sugar!” Cara screamed. Her dark eyes were focused straight ahead. She couldn’t say anything—she could only point.

  Following Cara’s gaze, Melli saw what had made her sister scream. There on the stage were the Sugar Pops! Chip, Char, and Carob were tuning their gummy guitars.

  “Carob’s wearing his sprinkle hat.” Melli sighed. “He is so sweet!”

  As the Sugar Pops started to play, more fairies moved closer to the stage. The music filled the night as all the fairies rejoiced.

  Melli stood with her friends close to the stage, listening to the Sugar Pops play.

  Princess Lolli appeared on the stage. Her bright pink dress glowed in the moonlight. She greeted the crowd of fairies with a huge smile. “Welcome to the Caramel Moon Festival,” she said.

  There was a huge roar of applause.

  “I am so happy to report that this year’s crop was saved by Melli and her friends,” the princess said. “We had an unfortunate disturbance, but these fairies came to the rescue. We owe them a huge fairy cheer, and our deepest gratitude.”

  Melli blushed. She hadn’t thought that Princess Lolli would thank them in front of everyone—including the Sugar Pops.

  She felt Cara’s elbow push her side. “Look,” Cara said, pointing to the stage. “You have to go up there! You deserve it. You saved the crops!”

  Melli grabbed her friends’ hands, and all of them flew up onstage.

  “Let’s hear it for these fairies,” Carob sang out. He turned to Melli. “Do you have a special song request?”

  Melli was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t speak! Carob was inches away from her—and his chocolate brown eyes were looking directly at her!

  “‘Yum Pop’ is her favorite song,” Cocoa said, coming to her rescue.

  “We know that one,” Carob teased. He strummed the first chord on his bright red gummy guitar.

  Sweet sugar! Melli thought as she swayed onstage to her favorite tune. She was thankful for the Ghost of Candy Corn Fields, and her good friends. All around her, fairies were smiling and singing along with the Sugar Pops.

  Lupa would be proud, she thought.

  This was a night that would be recorded in the Fairy Code Book. The Caramel Moon Festival was always a supersweet time, but this year had been different. She turned to her friends, and together they all sang “Yum Pop” with Chip, Char, and Carob. The moment was as sweet as the candy corn they had picked.

  A cool morning breeze blew through Marshmallow Marsh. Dash, the smallest Mint Fairy in Sugar Valley, was very excited. She had been working on her new sled all year, and now her work was done. Finally the sled was ready to ride. And just in time! Sledding season was about to begin.

  Many fairies in Sugar Valley didn’t like the cool months as much as Dash. Each season in Sugar Valley had its own special flavors and candies—and Dash loved them all. She was a small fairy with a large appetite!

  Dash was happiest during the winter. All the mint candies were grown in the chilly air that swept through the valley during the wintertime. She enjoyed the refreshing mint scents and the clean white powdered sugar. But for her, the thrill of competing was the sweetest part of the season. She had waited all year for this chance to try out her new sled!

  The Marshmallow Run was one of the brightest highlights of the winter for Dash. The sled race was one of the most competitive and challenging races in Sugar Valley. And for the past two years, Dash had won first place. But this year was different. This year Dash wanted to be the fastest fairy in the kingdom—and set a new speed record. No fairy had been able to beat Pep the Mint Fairy’s record in years. He had stopped racing now and was one of Princess Lolli’s closest advisers. But no one had come close to breaking his record.

  Dash had carefully picked the finest candy to make her sled the fastest. While many of her fairy friends had been playing in the fields, she had been hard at work. She was sure that the slick red licorice blades with iced tips and the cool peppermint seat was going to make her new sled ride perfectly. If she was going to break the record this year, she’d need all the help she could get.

  Dash looked around. No one else was on the slopes at this early hour. She took a deep breath. The conditions were perfect for her test run. “Here I go,” she said.

  On her new sled Dash glided down the powdered sugar trail that led into the white marshmallow peaks. It was a tricky and sticky course, but Dash had done the run so many times she knew every turn and dip of the lower part of the Frosted Mountains. She steered her sled easily and sped down the mountain. The iced tips on the sled’s blades made all the difference! She was picking up great speed as she neared the bottom of the slope.

  When she reached the finish line, she checked her watch. Had she done it? Had she beat the Candy Kingdom record?

  “Holy peppermint!” she cried.

  Dash couldn’t believe how close she was to beating her best time. She had to shave off a few more seconds to break the record, but this was the fastest run she had ever had. Dash grinned. This year is my year, she thought happily.

  Suddenly a sugar fly landed on her shoulder with a note. Dash recognized the neat handwriting of her friend Raina. Raina was a Gummy Fairy and always followed the rules of the Fairy Code Book. She was a gentle and kind fairy who was also a very good friend.

  “Raina told you that you’d find me here, huh?” Dash said to the small fly.

  The tiny messenger nodded.

  Dash opened Raina’s note. “She thinks she has to remind me about Sun Dip,” Dash said to the fly. She shook her head, smiling.

  Sun Dip was a time when all the fairies came together to talk about their day and share their candy. Dash loved the large feast of the day and enjoyed sharing treats with her friends. Now that the weather was turning colder, her mint candies were all coming up from the ground. Peppermint Grove was sprouting peppermint sticks and mint suckers for the winter season.
/>   Dash looked up and saw the sun was still high above the top of the mountains. She had time for a couple more runs. She was so close to beating the record. How could she stop now?

  “Tell Raina that I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Dash told the sugar fly. The tiny fly nodded. Then he flew off toward Gummy Forest to deliver the message.

  Flapping her wings, Dash flew back to the top of the slope with her new sled. She had to keep practicing.

  My friends will understand, she thought.

  As she reached the top of the slope, Dash could only think about one thing. Wouldn’t all the fairies be surprised when the smallest Mint Fairy beat the record? Dash couldn’t wait to see their faces! And to get the first-place prize! The sweet success of winning the Marshmallow Run was a large chocolate marshmallow trophy. It was truly a delicious way to mark the sweet victory of winning the race.

  With those happy, sweet thoughts in her head, Dash took off. The rush of wind on her face felt great as she picked up speed down the mountain. A few more runs and she’d beat the record, sure as sugar.

  This year everyone would be talking about Dash—the fastest Mint Fairy ever!

  Helen Perelman enjoys candy from all parts of Sugar Valley, but jelly beans, red licorice, and gummy fish are her favorites. She worked in a children’s bookstore and was a children’s book editor . . . but, sadly, she never worked in a candy store. She now writes full time in New York City, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. Visit her online at www.helenperelman.com.

  Jacket designed by Karina Granda

  Jacket illustration copyright © 2010 by Erica-Jane Waters

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  READ ALL THE CANDY FAIRIES BOOKS!

  Chocolate Dreams

  Rainbow Swirl

  Caramel Moon

  Cool Mint

  Magic Hearts

  Gooey Goblins

  The Sugar Ball

  A Valentine’s Surprise

  Bubble Gum Rescue

  Double Dip

  Jelly Bean Jumble

  COMING SOON:

  The Chocolate Rose

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  First Aladdin hardcover edition January 2013

  Text copyright © 2010 by Helen Perelman

  Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Erica-Jane Waters

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  Designed by Karina Granda

  The text of this book was set in Berthold Baskerville Book.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2009029950

  ISBN 978-1-4424-5922-9 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4169-9456-5 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-0716-9 (eBook)