Rosa in Sparkle City (4 page)

Rosa rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked at the bright sunshine flooding into her room. It was the day of the fashion show! She leapt out of bed and went over to her dressing table to tie back her long hair – it was already hot, and today would be a very busy day. Rosa remembered being exhausted last night, falling asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow – but this morning she felt rested and full of energy. It was the best night's sleep she'd ever had, she realized, thinking back to dreams of cupcakes and ponies and flying with her fairy princess friends.
It must have been the daisy-milk!
Rosa thought.

She dressed quickly – in some practical pink leggings and a butterfly-print shirt – and flew over to her window. Through the pink-tinted glass she saw fairy-stylists making their way to Paradise Square and little fairy-helpers rushing around on errands. The sky was dotted with hummingbirds carrying messages back and forth, and the paths were full of carriages holding the fashion-show equipment. The whole of Sparkle City seemed to buzz with excitement – everyone was busy getting ready for the show. Speaking of which, she should do the same!

Rosa flew out of her wing of the palace and along the corridor. She knocked on Violet's, Buttercup's and Bluebell's doors in turn. Her friends sounded very sleepy – she guessed they'd slept just as deeply as she had – but soon they were all dressed and inside Studio Sublime.

“I still can't quite believe we're putting on a fashion show – today!” said Bluebell. “I so hope the king and queen will enjoy it.”

“As well as everyone else in Sparkle City!” Violet reminded her.

Buttercup beckoned in several fairy-helpers, and went over to help them as they started gathering up the things they needed for the show.

“Let's get everything down to Paradise Square,” Rosa directed. “Then we can work out which outfits we and all the other models will wear.”

The fairy princesses gently unpegged the clothes, putting them all safely inside dress bags. Rosa took extra special care as she placed the jubilee dress inside a bag, making sure none of the jewels got caught on the layers.

“These are all for the fashion show,” Bluebell said to the fairy-helpers. “The carriages at the palace entrance are waiting to take them.”

The helpers nodded and flew out of the room with quick beats of their tiny wings.

Soon the studio was empty. The fairy princesses fluttered down the five flights of glass stairs inside the palace and skipped towards the last carriage that remained. They didn't want to fly, and tire themselves out for the show, especially as it was such a warm day.

The friends piled into the turquoise carriage and made themselves comfortable on the soft sponge cushions inside. “To Paradise Square!” Violet called to the matching turquoise-blue ponies at the front of the carriage. They whinnied, did a quick dance of their hooves, and with smooth flaps of their wings trotted off.

“Hurrah!” the fairies shouted as they zoomed along quickly. They were off to the show!

Rosa felt her heart skip a beat as they approached Paradise Square. It looked completely different from last night – now it was full of fairies and helpers getting everything ready. In the hot bright sunshine, the crystal catwalk had a dazzling glow. The models and their outfits would really shine on this, Rosa thought!

As they emerged from the carriage, the fairy princesses saw fairy-helpers sprinkling fairy dust around the edges of the square. Moments later, little white toadstools began to spring up from the pavement.

“It's the seats for the audience!” Bluebell said, bouncing down on the one nearest to her and squealing with excitement as it sprang back to shape. “You should try them out,” she said to her friends.

“They look great,” Rosa said. “But we don't have time – we need to go and work out what each of us is wearing!” She fluttered towards a floating rainbow curtain that hid the far end of the catwalk. Through the curtain was the backstage dressing room – which looked far bigger than it did from the outside! Fairy magic, she guessed! Inside, all their outfits hung along one wall, and some of the fairy models were sitting next to each other, getting ready in front of mirrors. Ivy, Opal and Topaz were combing the models' hair and polishing their wings. Everyone was chatting and smiling, the air filled with the sweet smell of flowery fairy-spray and shimmery wing-dust.

Rosa felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine. This was incredible – their very own fashion show!

Violet was already over by the outfits. “I'm going to wear this one!” she said, pulling out the purple tweed jacket and shorts and holding them up against her. “I mean, if that's OK with everyone?”

Her friends nodded and smiled. Of course Violet should wear them – her favourite colour was purple, after all!

“It suits you perfectly,” Buttercup said.

The fairy princesses began matching the outfits to the models, and soon there was just one outfit left – the final jubilee dress. Rosa held out the dress bag towards her friends.

“No, YOU have to wear that one,” Bluebell said. “After all your hard work and organization, you deserve it.

Rosa started to shake her head, but her three friends were grinning.

“We insist!” Violet announced.

Now, Rosa's shivers of excitement had turned to waves. “Thank you,” she said, feeling hot with anticipation. She fingered the dress bag. She knew she needed to sit down with a fairy-stylist but she couldn't help taking a peek at the beautiful outfit again first.

She brought out the dress slowly, the different coloured silk layers cool and smooth to the touch. But what was that tinkling sound? As Rosa looked down, her heart sank to her toes. The jewels were dropping from the dress like raindrops to the ground. It was ruined!

“Oh no!” cried Rosa, staring at the dress in horror.

“What's happened!” shouted Violet over the noise of the preparations, rushing across to Rosa. She looked at the dress, and then saw the jewels scattered on the floor. “Oh my fairyness, it's a disaster!”

Buttercup and Bluebell flew over to join them. “Maybe it's not so bad. Look, not all of them have fallen off,” Buttercup said, pointing. But as Rosa looked closer at the jewelled neckline, another smattering of jewel-drops sounded on the floor. There was only one jewel left, Rosa saw, an emerald one at the back of the neck, but just as she noticed it –
plop!
 – the green jewel fell sadly to the ground.

Rosa felt tears pricking her eyes. “What are we going to do?” she said quietly. “The glue must have stopped working because it's such a hot day.”

As Violet and Buttercup hugged Rosa, Bluebell bent down and started picking up the jewels from the floor.

“Could we use fairy magic to glue them back on?” Bluebell suggested.

Rosa shook her head. “I don't think it'd work,” she said, “because the gems are already enchanted.”

“I could go and explain what's happened to the king and queen?” Violet offered. “They'll understand. Maybe we could even postpone the show.”

“I'm not sure about that,” Buttercup replied slowly. “It's their jubilee – we can't disturb them now and spoil their day.”

Rosa sighed, wiped her eyes with a daisy- petal hanky and tried to sound cheerful. “If we stand here worrying, none of the show will be ready in time. We'll just have to carry on without the final piece.”

“If you're sure?” said Bluebell. The fairy princesses looked around. The room was full of fairy models in dressing gowns, their hair unpinned. There was still a lot to do.

“Yes,” Rosa said, putting the dress back in its bag and forcing a smile. “We don't want to keep the king and queen – and the whole of Sparkle City – waiting, do we?”

Rosa tried to stop herself from shaking with disappointment as she went to check on the fairy-stylists. Ivy, Opal and Topaz were doing an amazing job – one of the fairies had a top-knot bun netted with the finest spider's web, and another had long flowing red curls that nestled perfectly on her auburn wings.

Buttercup was organizing the snacks that would be served to the audience during the show – the fairy princesses' favourites, cupcakes. What's more, they'd been decorated with icing in the shape of miniature handbags and shoes! As she carried out a cake stand, she sniffed them – toffee and butterscotch with a hint of honey. Yum!

Meanwhile, Bluebell helped the fairy models into their outfits. One wore the orange-print blouse and cancan skirt, another the rainbow wrap dress lit with Glow-Me-Up string. There was the petal-bottomed maxi-dress with the beaded rock necklace, and the pink-edged dungarees with dragonfly earrings. The models spun round, oohing and aahing at the sight of the gorgeous clothes.

As she fluttered around the dressing room, pinning a hem here, adding a ribbon there, Rosa could hear the excited chatting of the audience outside. Not long now! She was trying really hard not to think of the jubilee dress and how she wouldn't be able to take part in the show now that it was ruined. And she had been
so
looking forward to seeing the king and queen's faces when she modelled the special outfit for them. She thought back to all the hard work the fairy princesses had done to prepare for the fashion show. Designing the outfits, finding models and stylists, visiting the shops. . .

Wait! Rosa's mind had been so full of the show that she hadn't been able to think straight. But suddenly she had an idea. She might just be able to fix the dress after all!

“I've got to go,” she told her fairy princess friends as she rushed to the door.

Bluebell, Buttercup and Violet swung round.

“But the show's about to begin!” Violet cried.

“I know – but I'll be as quick as I can,” Rosa replied. “You might just have to start without me!”

Flapping her wings furiously, Rosa took off in the direction of Twinkle Meadow. With a tiny bit of fairy magic, her idea might just work!