Taffy Trouble Read online

  Raina told the story of Lupa and a treasured chocolate pearl. Cocoa had heard the legend about the precious chocolate pearl and the healing powers of the gem.

  “Is there really a chocolate pearl?” Cocoa asked Shelly.

  “There are chocolate pearls,” Shelly replied. “They are very rare and special.” She turned to Raina. “You are such a great storyteller!”

  “Please tell us another,” Rocky said.

  Dash jumped off the rock. “Don’t start another story yet!” she cried. She swam toward Gargo.

  “Dash!” Cocoa cried. She wondered why Dash was rushing off. “What are you doing?”

  “Gargo is eating the vines!” she shouted. “What a sneaky snack! He is going to get away! We have to do something fast!”

  Cocoa had not counted on the troll being able to eat his way out of his trap! She saw the disappointment in Shelly’s and Rocky’s faces.

  “I think I know what we can do,” Cocoa said. She remembered seeing something near the sugar coral reef that might save the day. “Rocky, come with me!” she called. “We will be right back!” she said to the others. “It will take even Gargo some time to munch his way out of that licorice loop!”

  Cocoa took Rocky’s hand. “Remember when we were pulling the taffy?” she asked. “There were tiny sticky strands that stayed on the coral. We can use those to make a sticky taffy net.”

  “Now, that is a choc-o-rific idea!” Rocky exclaimed. “Gargo will get all tangled and sticky if he tries to move in that!”

  “That’s the idea,” Cocoa said. “But we need to work fast.”

  Together, the five Candy Fairies braided the taffy strands that Cocoa and Rocky had collected. Very quickly the fairies made a net large enough to throw over Gargo.

  “What a sweet idea,” Raina said when the taffy net was finished.

  “And just in time!” Raina said, looking over at Gargo munching on the vines.

  “Licking lollipops!” Berry said. “This will hold him still!”

  “Come on,” Cocoa said. “Gargo is not going to be able to chew his way out of this net so fast.”

  “I hope Nillie and the Sea Guard get here soon,” Melli said, looking worried.

  “Gargo is a fast eater!” Dash added.

  Cocoa and Dash swam back to the sugar coral, where Gargo was getting very close to freeing his trapped foot. They threw the taffy net over him. The more Gargo struggled, the more the taffy stretched and he got tangled up.

  “What a taffy-terrific idea!” Shelly said, beaming. “Cocoa saved the day!”

  Cocoa looked around. “It was all of us,” she said. She hoped Nillie and the others would arrive soon. She wasn’t sure how long this taffy net would last!

  Chocolate Treasures

  A loud horn sounded. Cocoa twirled around. “What was that?” she asked. It felt as if the whole underwater world was trembling with the blaring sound. She held on to Melli’s hand. She wasn’t sure what was happening.

  “Are you sure Gargo doesn’t have any friends who are coming to help him?” Melli asked Rocky.

  “No, he is too selfish,” Rocky said.

  “You mean he is shellfish,” Dash said, cracking up at her own joke.

  Cocoa had to hand it to Dash for being able to joke at a time like this!

  “That is the Sea Guard shell call,” Shelly said. She did a double flip. “Help really is on the way!”

  Cocoa squinted out into the sea. She soon saw a lineup of Sea Fairies on sea horses swimming toward them. The lead sea horse had a large conch shell around his neck, and he had stopped to blow the shell.

  “I am so happy to hear that sound!” Shelly said. “The Sea Guard has arrived!”

  Cocoa was relieved that the taffy net had held Gargo tight until the guards showed up. And that there weren’t more trolls on the way!

  There were so many sea horses in the Sea Guard. Each fairy had her own sea horse saddle in sugar armor. They were all different colors and very large. Each one wore a royal medal around her neck and swam in a straight line. These sea horses were smaller than the Candy Kingdom royal unicorns, but they seemed just as strong and mighty.

  “Whoa, look at that sleigh,” Berry said to Cocoa.

  A few of the sea horses were pulling a sugarcoated sleigh with thick braided-caramel ropes. Once the cage had passed them, Cocoa spotted Nillie at the back of the lineup.

  “Well done,” Nillie said when she saw the fairies. “That taffy net is nice work.” She motioned for the guards to move toward Gargo. The team cut the taffy net with their swords and put the troll on a large sleigh with a strong caramel net over him.

  “Whaaaaaaah!” the big troll cried. “More caaaaaaaaandy!”

  The fairies heard Gargo crying as he was carted away. They watched until the waters became still.

  Shelly sighed heavily. “I hope Gargo will learn his lesson.”

  “Gargo will be sent to a deep-sea time-out,” Nillie said. “He will have plenty of time to think about stealing and upsetting the sea salt. Perhaps he will learn a lesson or two about taking candy.”

  Once Gargo was gone, Shelly turned to the Candy Fairies. “Will you come visit us again?” she asked. She swam up next to Cocoa. “We all loved having you here.”

  “Let’s plan on seeing one another again soon,” Cocoa said. “This was one of the most sugar-tastic adventures ever!”

  “I could have done without the whirlpool ride,” Dash said, circling her head. “I am still dizzy!”

  “I won’t miss Sticky and Gargo,” Melli said, “but I will miss my new friends and my water wings!”

  Cocoa smiled. She fluttered her webbed wings. Never had she imagined that she would enjoy swimming so much. She looked around the beautiful, sweet water world of the Sea Fairies. The candies and colors of the North Sea were richer than she had expected. She looked over at Rocky and Shelly. And she hadn’t expected to make such good friends with the Sea Fairies. “We will come back,” she said, smiling, “if you’ll let us!”

  “As you would say,” Rocky said, grinning, “sure as sugar!”

  The fairies all laughed and hugged one another tight.

  “We have a gift for our Candy Fairy friends,” Nillie said. She handed each of the five Candy Fairies a small box. “This is a thank-you from all the Sea Fairies here in the North Sea.”

  “We hope that you will wear these and think of us,” Shelly added.

  “We think you’ll like them,” Rocky said.

  Cocoa opened up her box. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She heard Melli and Raina gasp. Berry swooned and Dash hooted. In each of their boxes was a necklace with a chocolate pearl!

  “It is the most spectacular chocolate I have ever seen,” Cocoa whispered. She held up the necklace and watched the delicate chocolate pearl dangle. The color and shine were so delicious! “I will treasure this forever,” she told Nillie and the Sea Fairies.

  “Thank you so much,” Raina added. “These are truly special gifts.”

  Nillie swam closer to the Candy Fairies. “You have given us a great gift as well,” she said. “You have saved our water and our candy.”

  “And you became our friends,” Shelly added, grinning.

  “Now we don’t have to worry about Gargo,” Rocky said. “And the coral and taffy will be safe in our salt water!”

  “Three cheers for the Candy Fairies!” Shelly shouted.

  Cocoa felt so proud. She and her friends really had made a difference in the North Sea. Sure, they had made some mistakes along the way, but they had worked together and solved the problem of a greedy, selfish troll.

  “Now it’s close to Sun Dip,” Nillie said. “Up to the surface!”

  Cocoa and the Candy Fairies all swam up and bobbed in the water. Nillie swam close and the fairies climbed on her back. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” the five Candy Fairies said.

  Nillie nodded, and Rocky and Shelly sprinkled sugar dust on the Candy Fairies’ webbed wings. Slowly, their true fl
ying wings popped up and the webbed wings melted away.

  “Please send my thanks to Princess Lolli,” Nillie said. She touched the salt-crystal orb around Cocoa’s neck. “She is a very special friend.”

  Cocoa couldn’t help but feel a little sad. She had so loved being in the salt water with the Sea Fairies. She felt the chocolate pearl around her neck. She hugged Nillie. “Thank you,” she said. “And thank you for trusting us to save the waters.”

  “Look, there’s Butterscotch!” Dash said.

  Circling above them, the caramel-colored unicorn was waiting to take the Candy Fairies back to Sugar Valley.

  “You have made us all proud,” Nillie said. “Now fly!”

  Cocoa laughed and fluttered her wings. She leaped into the air. As much as she loved being in the water with the Sea Fairies, she was happy to be flying again. The Candy Fairies flew up to Butterscotch and climbed on her back. Cocoa smiled. She was going home with the magic salt-crystal orb safely around her neck and a treasured chocolate pearl from the now-safe salt waters of the North Sea.

  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, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. Visit her online at www.helenperelman.com.

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  READ ALL THE CANDY FAIRIES BOOKS!

  Chocolate Dreams

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  Caramel Moon

  Cool Mint

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  Gooey Goblins

  The Sugar Ball

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  Bubble Gum Rescue

  Double Dip

  Jelly Bean Jumble

  The Chocolate Rose A Royal Wedding

  Marshmallow Mystery

  Frozen Treats

  The Sugar Cup

  Sweet Secrets

  COMING SOON:

  The Coconut Clue

  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 June 2015

  Text copyright © 2015 by Helen Perelman

  Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Erica-Jane Waters

  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

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  Book design by Karina Granda

  Jacket designed by Karina Granda

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2015 by Erica-Jane Waters

  The text of this book was set in Baskerville Book.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2015935785

  ISBN 978-1-4814-0614-7(hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-0613-0 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-0615-4 (eBook)