Rescue Princesses #6: The Magic Rings (7 page)

Princess Isabella crept through the rain forest with a small monkey riding on her shoulder. Parrots squawked to one another in the treetops and water drops from the last rain shower glinted on the broad leaves.

Suddenly, she froze. A sharp banging shattered the peace of the forest, and the tree trunk trembled under her fingers.

After a few moments, the banging happened again. It was louder this time and was followed by a high-pitched grinding sound that made Isabella shudder. Petro leapt back onto her shoulder and put his hands over his ears.

She hurried toward the sound, searching for what it could be. At last she saw something through the trees. There was a group of men standing in the middle of a clearing.

Isabella frowned. What were they doing? Where had the clearing come from? She was sure there had been thick forest here before.

One of the men began to use a metal saw to cut a tree. The grinding noise grew louder as the saw bit into the trunk. The tree started to sway and, very slowly, it toppled over and crashed to the ground.

Text copyright © 2013 by Paula Harrison

Interior illustrations copyright © 2013 by Artful Doodlers

All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. 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.

First printing, October 2013

Cover art by Sharon Tancredi

Cover design by Jeannine Riske

e-ISBN 978-0-545-50933-6

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