Rescue Princesses #3: The Moonlight Mystery (3 page)

Lulu hovered by the palace gates, her heart thumping. She scanned the dusty road for any sign of a carriage. All she’d seen so far were gazelles leaping across the grasslands. The queen had made the visit invitation official on the telephone, and Emily, Clarabel, and Jaminta had all flown to the Undalan airport that morning from their different countries.

Lulu wished her dad had sent a car to pick them up, but he wanted them to have a proper royal welcome.

“All visitors must be greeted by the royal carriage, Lulu,” he said. “We can’t just send some silly car. It would be wrong.”

“It would be faster,” said Lulu.

The king smiled and shook his head.

At last, a speck appeared in the distance and grew larger.

Lulu leapt up and down, her eyes sparkling. “They’re almost here!”

A golden carriage, driven by two horsemen in purple uniforms, drew up to the palace gates. Three heads leaned out of the carriage window, one red haired, one black haired, and one golden haired.

“Hey, Lulu!” called the princesses. “We’re here!” They waved to her excitedly.

“I’m so happy to see you!” shouted Lulu, waving back.

At last, the carriage stopped at the palace steps and the three princesses climbed out eagerly. They were followed by Ally, Emily’s maid, who had come to look after them.

“Welcome to the kingdom of Undala,” said Queen Shani, smiling at them all.

Emily’s red curls bounced as she curtsied. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I bring good wishes from the kingdom of Middingland.”

“We’re so pleased to come and visit,” Clarabel said shyly, her blue eyes and blond hair shining. “I also have good wishes, from the land of Winteria.”

“My greetings come from the kingdom of Onica. Thank you for inviting us,” added Jaminta, her straight dark hair falling to her shoulders.

Lulu jumped up the palace steps, bursting with energy. “Great! Now that that’s all finished, come this way, girls.”

“Just a minute,” said the king, laughing. “The princesses must be introduced to our other visitors, then there will be a royal banquet to celebrate their arrival.”

Lulu sighed. Banquets always took so long. She just wanted to talk to the princesses in secret and start making a rescue plan.

“We’ll have time to catch up later,” said Emily, winking at her.

“Right — later!” Lulu grinned and winked back.

So after they’d been introduced to everyone, the princesses went upstairs to put on their best ball gowns and favorite tiaras. Lulu was impatient for them to meet Tufty, but she knew she would have to wait until after dinner. They met in the hallway next to the huge lion picture and waited for the dinner gong to sound.

Emily wore a pink satin ball gown, while Clarabel’s was pale blue and shimmered in the light. Jaminta wore a dress of wonderfully smooth green silk. Their special rings sparkled on their fingers. Emily’s ring was a red ruby, Jaminta’s was a green emerald, and Clarabel’s was a sapphire of the deepest blue.

Lulu’s golden tiara matched her golden dress, which swished around her as she moved. Her yellow topaz ring twinkled. She grinned at her friends. “I’ve got so much to tell you,” she said. “I hope dinner doesn’t take too long.”

“I got here as fast as I could,” Emily told her. “I begged my parents to let me pack as soon as your message came through!”

“The rings worked really well,” said Lulu, smiling at Jaminta. “Prince Olaf asked me why I wore mine all the time, but I wouldn’t tell him.”

“We saw lots of animals through the carriage windows,” said Clarabel. “I’ve never seen giraffes before. They’re so tall and so graceful.”

“But which animal is in danger, Lulu?” asked Emily. “You didn’t tell us in your message.”

Lulu’s face clouded over. “A lioness and four of her cubs have gone missing. No one knows why. Walter, the palace ranger, thinks other animals have disappeared, too. Something really strange is going on.”

“What’s really strange?” said Prince Olaf, coming down the stairs.

Lulu scowled and nearly said something rude. Then she remembered her promise to her parents. With a huge effort, she turned to Olaf. “It’s strange that the banquet hasn’t started yet, that’s all.”

Just then, the kings and queens and Lady Malika arrived, dressed in their fanciest robes and crowns. The king and queen of Finia had fair hair, just like Olaf, and wore velvet robes that hung down to the floor. Lady Malika wore a long black dress and her hair was decorated with bright feathers.

“Good evening, Your Majesties!” Prince Olaf gave them a huge bow, providing them all a close-up of the top of his spiky blond head. “And good evening, princesses.”

The princesses curtsied in response.

The queen of Undala nodded approvingly. “You have lovely manners, Prince Olaf.”

Lulu rolled her eyes. Why couldn’t her mom see how annoying Olaf was?

The gong sounded for dinner and they all trooped into the Great Hall. The long table was laden with delicious food served in golden dishes. Lulu, who had been too excited about seeing her friends to eat very much all day, suddenly realized how hungry she was. She grinned as Emily sat down next to her, and groaned inwardly as Prince Olaf sat down on her other side.

“I’d love to go and see some wildlife tomorrow,” said Olaf loudly. “I thought I saw a squirrel earlier and it’d be great to see some more.”

Lulu rolled her eyes again and took a huge bite of dinner so that she didn’t have to reply. Did he seriously think squirrels lived in Undala?

“Actually, we don’t have any squirrels in our country,” said Queen Shani. “But it’s a lovely idea for you to see the wildlife. I’m sure Lulu will take you.”

Lulu shot a look of dismay at the other princesses. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck with Olaf when there were animals to help!

“You must go look at Shimmer Rock as well,” said the king of Undala. “There are stories about the mountain going back hundreds of years.”

“What do the stories say?” asked Emily.

“Shimmer Rock is supposed to be a hollow mountain with magic inside — so the old tales go. It shimmers in the moonlight, just like its name says. People used to think the lights were pixies having a party in the night.” The king chuckled at the thought of it. “Of course, it’s all made up. But the place is still worth a visit. After all, it’s the only mountain in Undala.”

Lulu sighed. All this talking was just slowing things down. But she perked up as bowls full of sweet Undalan pudding were brought in for dessert. The pudding had juicy chunks of mango in it. Lulu smiled and scooped it up quickly. Mango pudding was her favorite.

The king of Finia leaned forward. “I hear that you run a circus, Lady Malika. That must be very exciting. Our son, Olaf, is interested in acrobatics.”

Lady Malika nodded. “It keeps me busy. There’s always so much to do.”

“I once heard of a circus that had performing elephants,” interrupted Olaf.

The princesses stared at him in shock. How could people make wild animals do tricks in a circus? It was horrible.

“We don’t have animals in the circus in Undala,” said Queen Shani. “It isn’t allowed. But we like acrobatics and clowns very much.”

Lady Malika frowned a little and helped herself to more dessert.

Lulu stifled a yawn. The kings and queens could talk for ages. “May we go now?” she asked.

Queen Shani nodded, so the four princesses curtsied and hurried up the stairs, their dresses swirling as they climbed. When they reached Lulu’s room, a scratching noise from behind the door made Emily, Jaminta, and Clarabel back away, wide-eyed.

“Don’t worry!” said Lulu, grinning. “It’s just a friend of mine. He’s staying here for a while.”

“Really?” said Clarabel nervously.

Lulu gently swung the door open, and there was the lion cub, his eyes shining and his whiskers quivering. He sprang over to Lulu, twisting in and out of her legs and purring.

Lulu saw her friends’ surprised faces and laughed. “Girls! I’d like you to meet Tufty.”

Lulu told the princesses how she’d secretly brought Tufty to the palace after the other lions had disappeared. Then Emily, Clarabel, and Jaminta cooed over him, all wanting to pet him at the same time.

The little cub became very excited about all the attention and started leaping onto the bed and jumping off again, sending the girls into fits of giggles. At last, Clarabel, who seemed to soothe him the best, managed to settle him down with some warm milk in a baby bottle from the kitchen. After that, he snuggled up on her lap, still wide awake but quiet.

“It’s a good thing he’s such a young cub. Those claws will become sharp in a few weeks’ time,” said Jaminta.

“I think he’s lovely!” Clarabel squeezed him tight. “But you’re right, Jaminta. He’s still a wild animal, and he’ll need to be back with his family soon.”

“Where should we look for them?” asked Emily.

Lulu sighed. “I don’t know. The hollow where they lived is empty. There’s no sign of them at all.”

Emily pushed back her red curls. “Maybe we can go back there and look around for clues. I’ve heard that tracking is an important ninja skill. Why don’t I ask Ally if she can show us how to do it?”

Lulu sat up straight, her heart beating faster. “Great idea! Let’s take Ally out with us tomorrow morning.”

All the princesses trusted Emily’s maid, Ally, completely. She’d helped them perform animal rescues before and would never give away their secrets. Besides being excellent at polishing tiaras and cleaning ball gowns, Ally also had unusual skills from her previous job. Before she began working at the palace in Middingland, she had been an undercover agent who caught jewel thieves. The princesses had used the ninja skills she’d taught them several times.

Early the following morning, the princesses tiptoed down the stairs. A faint orange light had just begun to seep into the dawn sky and the palace lay completely silent. The four girls sneaked into the kitchen and gathered rolls and juice for their safari breakfast. As they crept through the hall, Clarabel accidentally bumped into the enormous dinner gong. Only Lulu’s speedy dive to grab it stopped the whole palace from being woken by a deafening chime.

Stifling their giggles, the girls ran out to the truck, where Ally was sitting. Then she drove them quickly toward the palace gates.

“Duck!” hissed Lulu as they passed the front entrance.

The princesses crouched down in their seats, making themselves as small as possible. The gates passed by on either side, and they drove out into the wilderness beyond.

“What happened? Why did we have to hide?” asked Jaminta, climbing back up onto the seat.

“It was Prince Olaf.” Lulu grimaced. “He was staring at us from an upstairs window.”

Emily looked surprised. “Does it really matter if he saw us?”

“My parents wanted me to take him out to see the animals, remember?” said Lulu gloomily. “He’ll ruin everything if he comes along.”

Clarabel tucked her golden hair behind her ears. “Don’t you like Prince Olaf, Lulu? I’ve always thought he was really nice.”

“He seems friendly,” added Emily.

“You don’t know how awful it’s been,” Lulu said darkly. “Every time I do something, he’s there, trying to do it first. He thinks he knows everything. And the other day” — she paused for effect — “he said he’d been playing on my gymnastics equipment!”

The other princesses burst out laughing.

“You’re funny, Lulu!” said Emily. “It sounds like he’s just trying to be friends with you.”

But Lulu shook her head. “I’m so glad you’re here now. Prince Olaf was driving me crazy!”

They stopped for a moment to let a herd of zebras gallop past, then they drove on across the rough ground. The sun rose higher in the sky. Soon they reached Lulu’s tree, right next to the lion cubs’ hollow.

“This is the right place.” Lulu swallowed a lump in her throat as she thought of the little cubs playing together. “There were five cubs and a lioness. Then, when I came back later, only Tufty was left.”

Ally told them to look around carefully with binoculars before leaving the truck. Once they were sure that no dangerous animals were prowling nearby, they got out and walked over to the hollow.

“Are these the lions’ paw prints?” asked Jaminta, looking closely at some marks in the earth.

Lulu crouched down. “These are the cubs’ prints, and these are the lioness’s,” she said, pointing them out.

She followed the paw prints through the thick bushes and out the other side, right up to where the trail met long swaths of golden grass. She called out to the others, her heart thumping. “Look, everyone! The tracks lead away from the den right into the grasslands!”