The Rescue Princesses #2: Wishing Pearl
Read The Rescue Princesses #2: Wishing Pearl Online
Authors: Paula Harrison
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #General, #Royalty, #Animals, #Marine Life
To James, thanks for understanding
CHAPTER ONE: The Island of Ampali
CHAPTER TWO: Princess Training
CHAPTER THREE: The Turquoise Lagoon
CHAPTER FIVE: Clarabel’s Pearl
CHAPTER SEVEN: Swimming by Moonlight
CHAPTER NINE: The Dolphin’s Call
CHAPTER TEN: Fighting the Storm
CHAPTER TWELVE: The Treasure Chest
Princess Clarabel scattered the last of her breakfast crumbs for the brightly colored birds that fluttered down to the veranda.
One small blue parrot sat on the wooden railing, eyeing her beadily.
“Go ahead, or there’ll be none left.” Clarabel laughed, and the little parrot hopped down to peck at the pieces of apricot bread as if he knew exactly what she was saying.
After one last sip of peach juice, Clarabel stepped off the veranda of the white palace onto a lawn that swept down to a clear turquoise ocean.
Her golden hair flew out behind her in the sea breeze and the sapphire ring on her finger sparkled in the sunshine.
She loved staying here on the tropical island of Ampali. It was so much warmer than her home in the kingdom of Winteria, where snow lay on the ground for most of the year.
The little blue parrot flew up to perch on her shoulder.
“Finished breakfast already?” asked Clarabel.
“Squawk!” went the parrot.
Clarabel laughed and turned her eyes back to the ocean. In the distance, a row of small ships with snowy sails was practicing for the Royal Regatta, which was happening in two days’ time.
The regatta was a sailboat race and all twenty royal families from around the world had been invited to take part. Clarabel knew her father, the king of Winteria, was down at the harbor right now watching his crew sail.
Quick footsteps sounded behind her. Three princesses came racing out of the white-walled palace, laughing as they ran. Their light summer dresses seemed to float around them.
Princess Emily had red hair and a ruby ring, Jaminta had smooth dark hair and an emerald ring, and Lulu’s hair was wavy and black and she wore a ring of yellow topaz.
Clarabel’s heart lifted as they came closer. She’d met them all at a Grand Ball in the springtime. They had worked as a team to save the deer of Mistberg Forest and had become close friends at the same time. The best thing about coming to Ampali Island was seeing one another again.
“Run, Clarabel, run!” cried Lulu, her eyes sparkling.
The little blue parrot squawked and flew off Clarabel’s shoulder in alarm.
Emily grabbed Clarabel’s hand and whirled her away to hide behind a row of palm trees that lined the edge of the garden.
“What’s going on?” asked Clarabel, trying to catch her breath.
Emily covered her mouth to stop her giggles, her red curls falling around her face.
“We’re making sure Prince Samuel doesn’t see us,” said Jaminta. “Queen Trudy decided that we should knit some kind of teapot covers for the Royal Regatta, so she sent him to find us and tell us to come inside.”
“Teapot covers?” said Clarabel, astonished. “You must mean tea cozies. We’re supposed to be making the flower garlands, aren’t we?”
“I think Queen Trudy just wants to keep us from having any fun,” whispered Emily. “I don’t mind making the flower garlands because those will look great on the marquee, but there’s no way I’m knitting those teapot things.”
“I bet she wants to make us sit still all day. That’s what she thinks princesses should do,” said Lulu.
“Shh! Here comes Samuel,” hissed Jaminta. “Remember your ninja moves, everyone.”
The four princesses ducked down. Clarabel silently went through her ninja training in her mind. Blend in with your surroundings. Wait for the right time to move. The princesses had practiced a few ninja moves in the springtime, but there was so much more to learn.
A scrawny boy with a sulky expression stepped down off the veranda. “I can’t see them, Mother,” he called back. “They’re gone.”
Slyly, he looked around him before taking a piece of paper out of his pocket. He unfolded it and held it up to the sunlight. Even from a distance, the paper looked old and frayed at the edges.
With a loud rustling of feathers and leaves, the little blue parrot landed on the palm tree right above Clarabel’s head and looked down at her.
“Don’t parrots know any ninja moves?” whispered Emily, making Clarabel giggle.
Prince Samuel put the paper back in his pocket and stared hard in their direction.
The princesses froze as he came closer, peering behind red-flowered bushes. Any minute he would reach the path that led to the palm trees and the princesses’ hiding place.
“We have to get to the garden gate,” murmured Clarabel.
The others nodded. With slow, silent steps, they crept past the palm trees and down the slope to the end of the garden. When Prince Samuel’s back was turned, they opened the gate and slipped through. Ahead of them lay the rolling sand dunes and then the wide blue ocean.
Clarabel shut the gate softly and glanced back. Samuel was walking around the palm trees where they’d been hiding. He was bending down to look into the bushes.
Suddenly, the little blue parrot swooped down from the tree above, squawked loudly in Samuel’s ear, and flew away again.
Prince Samuel clutched his head and bolted for the palace as if a gigantic animal were after him.
“Maybe that parrot does know some ninja moves after all,” said Clarabel, and they dashed across the sand dunes, filling the air with laughter.
The princesses ran along the water’s edge, the sand flying beneath their feet.
Behind them lay the island’s harbor, with long rows of fishing boats and royal sailing ships. Miles and miles of golden beach stretched out in front of them.
“I still can’t believe Prince Samuel was scared of a parrot,” said Lulu.
“He doesn’t seem to like animals very much,” replied Clarabel.
“We can’t escape him and Queen Trudy forever,” said Jaminta. “But let’s not go back right away.”
“I know what we can do,” called Emily, running ahead. “Follow me!”
Emily led them away from the ocean, up the hill by the side of the white palace, and into the rain forest. They stopped in a forest clearing, the chattering of birds and insects all around them.
Emily searched the ground and picked up a long coil of rope lying at the bottom of a tree. “Ally gave me this rope for practicing, so I hid it here. She said if we were serious about rescuing animals, we needed to work on our skills.”
Ally was Emily’s maid and the princesses trusted her completely. She’d helped them learn ninja skills when they’d rescued a deer during the spring.
“The rope’s a great idea,” said Lulu. “We can use it to try out some new moves and stuff.”
“You mean we should try some climbing and somersaults? Like the drawings you put in all your letters?” asked Clarabel.
Lulu nodded. “I’ve been practicing acrobatics a lot at home. We need to be ready for anything. One day we might need to rescue a creature at the top of a steep cliff or down a deep hole.”
Clarabel stifled a little shiver. When they’d rescued the deer, the princesses had made a secret promise that they would always help an animal in trouble, no matter how dangerous it was. Clarabel didn’t really like being up high. But how could she say that when the other princesses didn’t seem worried at all?
They had been writing one another letters for weeks discussing what they needed to practice in order to become good at performing rescues.
Each of the princesses had been at home: Clarabel in the cold land of Winteria, Emily in her leafy kingdom of Middingland, Lulu in the hot country of Undala, and Jaminta in the kingdom of Onica, next to the Silver River.
They had been at opposite corners of the world, but none of them had wanted to forget one another. So they had written letters almost every day.
“This branch will be strong enough.” Lulu climbed up the tree and tied the rope firmly halfway along a thick branch. “Who wants to go first?”
“You want to!” said Emily. “Go ahead. Show us what you can do.”
Lulu grinned and grabbed the rope. She swung high from the branch, bending her legs backward and forward. With one final swing she flipped head over heels and landed easily on the soft forest floor.
Jaminta climbed up next and managed several swings. Emily took the next turn, clutching on to the rope and landing safely on the earth.
“I can’t do the somersault yet,” said Emily breathlessly. “But maybe I will after some practice. Are you ready, Clarabel?”
Clarabel climbed slowly up to the branch and grabbed the rope. Butterflies fluttered inside her. The ground looked so far away — but she had to do this. All the other princesses had.
“Go, Clarabel!” cheered Lulu.
Clarabel took a deep breath and swung free. The earth below rocked scarily. She let herself sway for a few seconds, then dropped to the ground and fell over.
Emily helped her up. “Are you all right?”
Clarabel flushed. “Yes, thanks. I just lost my balance.”
“Maybe we should all practice balancing,” said Jaminta. “It could be useful in all kinds of different rescues.”
“Great idea!” said Lulu. “I saw a fallen tree over this way that would work really well. Let’s see if we can find it.”
They walked through the forest, hunting for the fallen tree. The rustlings of the rain forest grew louder and Clarabel found herself listening to the animals’ calls. She could even hear the chatter of monkeys as they quarreled in the treetops.
“We should test our rings again later on,” said Jaminta, shaking her dark hair out of her eyes. “Just to make sure they’re still working.”
“They’ve worked really well so far,” said Clarabel. “You made them perfectly.”
She looked down at the heart-shaped sapphire ring that sparkled on her finger. The other princesses had rings with their own magical jewels, too.
Even though they looked like ordinary rings, these magical jewels enabled the princesses to call one another for help.
Jaminta had invented them. She was very good at shaping precious stones and had learned the craft at home in the kingdom of Onica. By shaping jewels carefully, she could give them special powers.
“Here it is!” said Lulu, stopping next to a large fallen tree. “Who wants to start?”
Clarabel took a deep breath for the second time. “I’ll go,” she said, climbing up onto the trunk.
She took a few careful steps, trying not to wobble. But the log was slippery and she fell, landing on her hands and knees again.
She scrambled up and tried to smile, but her legs felt shaky.
“Don’t worry!” said Emily, seeing her gloomy look. “I think we all need more practice.”
Clarabel thanked her, but her blue eyes clouded over. She wasn’t hurt, but there was a sinking feeling in her stomach all the same.
Did Emily really think everyone needed more practice, or just her? After all, she was the only one who kept falling over.
Would she ever get better at climbing and acrobatics? If she didn’t, was she really good enough to be a Rescue Princess?