Rescue Princesses #3: The Moonlight Mystery (7 page)

The princesses stumbled, yawning, into breakfast that morning. They’d changed out of their dusty clothes into long silk dresses and their favorite tiaras, hoping that the kings and queens wouldn’t notice anything different.

Lulu shook back her curly black hair as she sat down at the table. She felt so sleepy, but a large helping of pancakes and syrup began to make her feel better.

“I hope the etiquette lessons aren’t tiring you out, Lulu,” said Queen Shani, looking at the dark circles under her daughter’s eyes.

Lulu glanced at the other princesses and bit her lip to hide a smile. “Not really. But maybe I should take a break from them for a little while.”

“Just for a little while.” The queen nodded and turned to her husband. “I’m just so disappointed with Lady Malika.”

“Yes, dear,” replied the king, passing her the teapot. “I’m glad she was caught.”

“Huh? What’s that?” Lulu’s lionlike eyes flashed at the mention of her aunt.

“Please speak gently, my dear,” said the queen. “We received a message from Walter this morning. He found several wild animals from the grasslands in Lady Malika’s circus, mainly zebras and leopards. She must have taken them from here by truck. Thankfully, those animals are back in the wild now and the circus has been closed.”

The princesses exchanged looks. Lady Malika had wanted the lions to perform in her circus, too. At least now she couldn’t hurt any more animals.

“I think circuses should just have human performers,” said Olaf loudly. “I’d love to show you the circus skills I’ve been practicing.”

Lulu beamed at him. For a prince, Olaf was pretty decent. “Why don’t we do circus skills together? All five of us,” she said. “We’ll practice this morning and put on a show after lunch.”

“I’ll juggle!” cried Emily.

“I’ll walk on stilts,” added Jaminta.

Clarabel frowned for a moment, then smiled mysteriously.

After lunch, the table was moved from the Great Hall and the kings and queens of Undala and Finia, and Lulu’s etiquette teacher, Madame Rez, sat down to watch the circus show.

First, Olaf walked along the balance beam. Then Lulu followed him with a series of tumbles across the floor, ending with a backflip. Emily and Jaminta put on good displays of juggling and stilt-walking. Then a funny figure with a red nose and enormous checkered trousers wobbled in, and started falling over and making the audience burst out laughing.

Lulu grinned to see Clarabel performing so well as a clown. When the clown act had ended, Lulu finished off the show by walking on her hands in front of the audience while balancing a book on her feet.

“Bravo!” cried Madame Rez. “Magnificent show, Lulu! You can balance the book on your feet in our next lesson.”

When all the clapping had died down, Queen Shani rose from her seat. “Well done, all of you! Lulu, we’re very proud of your acrobatic skills, and this seems like the perfect time to give this to you.” She handed a wrapped package to her daughter.

Surprised, Lulu tore open the paper and pulled out a beautiful yellow leotard decorated with golden star sequins. The princesses gathered around to admire it.

“Now you can practice your acrobatics while looking like a real gymnast,” explained the king.

“It’s fantastic! Thank you,” said Lulu, giving her parents a hug.

The princesses and Olaf watched the sun set on the grasslands that evening. Ally drove them up to the hollow to see the lioness and her cubs in their grassland home once more. A herd of elephants wandered past, kicking up the reddish earth, and, in the distance, giraffes were eating from the trees. The princesses watched the lion cubs happily.

“I’m so glad they found their way back,” said Clarabel.

“They look so happy,” added Emily.

Lulu smiled as Tufty chased his brothers and sisters around and around. He stopped and gazed at her for a moment with his big brown eyes. Then he scampered through the bushes.

“Where’s the lioness? I wish I could see her as well,” said Olaf.

“She’s probably lying down,” said Lulu. “If you climb up the tree, you’ll get a good view from there.”

The princesses had to help him up a little. But after some shoving, Olaf managed to climb up the tree. “You’re right! I’ve got a great view from up here.” His voice was faint as he called down from the very top.

Lulu grinned at her friends. “For a prince, he’s really not that bad.”

“He’s definitely one of the good ones,” agreed Jaminta, taking the Shimmer Rock crystals from her pocket for another look.

“Be careful with those stones,” said Ally from the driver’s seat. “If you join them together they’ll be very valuable and powerful, just like the Onica Heart Crystals.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be careful,” said Jaminta.

“But we like to be adventurous, too,” said Lulu, swinging herself into the tree and hanging upside down.

“I don’t know which is wilder, Lulu. You or the lion cubs.” Ally laughed.

“There’s nothing wilder than a Rescue Princess!” said Lulu.

Text copyright © 2012 by Paula Harrison

Interior illustrations copyright © 2012 by Artful Doodlers

All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Nosy Crow Ltd.

SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. NOSY CROW and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd.

Previously published as
The Moonlit Mystery
.

First printing, August 2013

Cover art by Sharon Tancredi

Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll

e-ISBN 978-0-545-50929-9

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