The Fairy Bell Sisters: Hearts and Flowers for Clara. Margaret McNamara

      

       Magic Gifts

       Some fairies on Sheepskerry Island have a special gift for magic.

      Like her sister Tinker Bell, Clara is one of those fairies.

      So when Sheepskerry hosts the Valentine’s Games, Clara can’t help putting her magic to good use. But fairy magic is a powerful thing …

       For Donna Bell Bray

      Table of Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Fairy Secrets

       How to Make Stone Valentine’s Gifts

       Read on for a sneak peek of …

       Other Fairy Bell Sisters stories

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

      

      Valentine’s Day for fairies is a lovely affair, for fairies like to send and receive valentines more than anything else. (Anything else in February, that is.) And Valentine’s Week on Sheepskerry Island is better than anywhere else, because Queen Mab enchants Lady’s Slipper Field and turns the dark of winter into the fresh breath of summer. All the Sheepskerry fairies gather in the meadow to exchange gifts and cards. They smell the orange blossoms and the roses. They throw off their heavy coats and scarves and mittens and wear their light summer dresses. They kick off their shoes and turn their faces to the warm sun.

      Also, gnomes come.

       Gnomes?

      You didn’t think there were only trolls in the world of the fairies, did you? (Trolls hibernate through the winter, by the way.) Gnomes are terribly different from trolls. Gnomes don’t have warts, for one thing. They’re not smelly. And they can talk properly, though they have a bit of a lilt to their speech as a result of living on the faraway Outer Islands. I know you may have seen garden gnomes with long beards and fishing poles, still as statues at the bottom of a garden. That’s what gnomes look like when they get old and grumpy. But when they’re young …

      “When they’re young, gnomes are lots of fun,” said Clara Bell as she knotted a warm purple scarf round her neck. It was a very cold February day and all the Sheepskerry fairies were bundled up tightly, especially Tinker Bell’s little sisters.

      

      I’m fairly certain you’ve met Tinker Bell’s little sisters, but if you have not, let’s please introduce them now. Here are:

      The five Bell sisters – and their friend Poppy Flower – were making their way back from fairy school, which had let out early today, as the snow was falling fast and thick. They darted between snowflakes as they flew.

      “Gnomes are lots of fun,” said Lily, “even if too many of them wear those awful pointy hats.”

      “I like their hats!” said Rosie.

      “Tutu!” said Squeak.

      “Me three!” said Silver. “And I don’t mind what they wear as long as they’re not too good at sports. Because I want to beat them all at the Valentine’s Games.”

      That’s another thing the fairies love about February: the Valentine’s Games. I won’t tell you about them now, as Rosie will tell us about them in a moment or two, if you can be patient.

      “The only way you’d beat all the gnomes in your very first year of competition,” said Lily, “is if you used magic, which unfortunately we don’t have much of yet.”

      “Not true!” said Silver. “I’ve been training! Besides, I’ll have lots of magic soon.”

      “Not