The Rescue Princesses #2: Wishing Pearl (2 page)

The princesses returned to the palace to find lunch being served in the courtyard.

Rows of white arches stretched along each wall. A beautiful fountain stood in the center, sending arcs of water flying up in the air. The lemon trees were full of fruit. Vases of yellow hibiscus flowers decorated the tables and filled the air with a wonderful scent.

Clarabel gasped to see the huge array of food. Lunch was going to be followed by slices of fresh pineapple and coconut, and lots and lots of ice cream.

The princesses helped themselves and sat down as far away as possible from the frowning Queen Trudy.

“Do you think Queen Trudy knitted the teapot things without us?” whispered Clarabel.

“I don’t know, but she doesn’t look very happy,” replied Emily.

The fair-haired queen of Winteria came by to say hello. “Don’t get too hot in the midday sun, girls,” she warned with a gentle smile.

“We won’t, Mom,” said Clarabel.

Then Empress Tia, ruler of Ampali and the other Marica Isles, bustled in with a jug of icy lemonade. Many more kings and queens began to arrive.

The princesses recognized some boys they’d met in the spring — Prince Olaf, Prince Dinesh, and Prince George — so they gave them a friendly wave.

Prince Olaf came over. “I thought you might like the ice-cream toppings.” He handed them a dish of chocolate sauce and some gumdrops.

“Thanks!” said Clarabel, remembering how they’d all liked Olaf before, with his spiky blond hair and big grin.

“My dears!” Empress Tia swept up to them, her coral necklace dangling elegantly below her straight black hair. “I have some jobs for you to do this afternoon. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not, Your Majesty,” said the princesses, each standing up to curtsy.

“Excellent!” The empress’s eyes flashed. “I need three of you to help the younger princes and princesses pick flowers to make the garlands. Princesses Emily, Lulu, and Jaminta, would you like to do that?”

“We’d love to, Your Majesty,” replied Emily.

“So that leaves you, Princess Clarabel. I think you’d be good at finding the seashells we need for table decorations. Look for the largest, most beautiful ones you can find. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Clarabel, smiling.

“Wonderful!” The empress beamed. “We’ll make this the best Royal Regatta yet!”

After lunch, Clarabel skipped out of the palace garden. She turned away from the harbor with its crowd of boats and ran down the golden beach to the ocean.

Waves swished gently up onto the sand and flocks of seabirds circled overhead.

Clarabel scoured the line on the sand where the high tide had reached the previous night. She knew that was where the best shells were often found.

Already she’d picked up five big conch shells and put them in her basket. She was pleased that the empress had asked her to find them.

Glancing at the ocean, she wondered what sea creatures could be playing underneath the waves. Maybe later she’d ask the other princesses to come for a swim.

Clarabel loved swimming. She only wished she was just as good at other things as well.

She spotted another conch shell, picked it up, and dusted the sand off it. Holding it up to one ear, she listened to the restless rushing of the sea inside. It was amazing how such a strong sound could fit inside such a little shell.

Suddenly, there was another sound. A long, low squeaking startled Clarabel. It pulled at her heart like a sad song. She hurried up the beach toward it.

Reaching the top of the sand dunes, she found herself looking down at a wide lake with water as still as glass.

Clarabel had never been this far across Ampali Island before, but the empress had told them about a saltwater lagoon that was only connected to the sea at high tide. She had made the lagoon and most of the seashore into a wildlife zone where all creatures would be safe from harm.

Tall sand dunes stretched along the edge of the lagoon, like giant arms curving around to keep out danger.

The calm turquoise water looked so beautiful. It made Clarabel wish she had her bathing suit on so that she could dive right in.

But then the sound came again, low and piercing this time.

Clarabel rushed over to the edge of the lagoon, put down her basket of shells, and scanned the water for creatures. What could be making a noise so strong and so sad?

At first it was hard to see. The light bounced off the water and dazzled her eyes. Was there something making the surface ripple?

The something moved. It had beady eyes and a mouth curved into a gentle smile. It let out a low squeak and Clarabel gasped.

It was a small gray dolphin with a great gash that stretched from flipper to tail.

No longer thinking about bathing suits, Clarabel dived right into the warm water. Bubbles streamed past her face as she swam up to the surface and took a gulp of air. Her loose summer dress floated around her in the water. All she could think of was the dolphin and how he seemed to need her.

She swam out farther, but the dolphin had disappeared. Then a gray nose nudged her shoulder. Putting out a hand, she felt smooth, silky skin pass beneath her fingers. She gave a shiver of delight.

This was almost too good to be true. She’d only seen dolphins in pictures before, and now here she was, swimming with one.

“Hello, friend!” she said softly as he glided past her.

The dolphin clicked and squeaked, his black eyes shining. Then he gave a swish of his tail, flicking up drops of water that glittered like a rainbow.

Clarabel pushed her feet off the bottom and paddled alongside him. Then she caught sight of the gash on his side again.

Now that she could see it more clearly, she realized what a deep cut it was. It would probably take a long time to heal.

“Poor thing! What happened to you?” she asked. “Are you all alone here?”

But the dolphin couldn’t tell her. Tired now, he stopped swimming completely and his tail flopped in the water. He made a low, sad whistle, as if he was trying to tell her how sick he felt.

“I’ll bring you some fish,” promised Clarabel. “Maybe that’s what you need to get your strength back. You’ll be safe here in Ampali’s wildlife zone.”

She turned and swam back toward the bank. But just as she reached the shallows, she felt another nudge. Twisting around, she saw the dolphin diving down next to her.

Following his movement, she caught a glimpse of something shining beneath the water. He returned, then dived down again as if he wanted Clarabel to follow.

She plunged her face into the clear water, diving side by side with the dolphin. There, on the sandy bed of the lagoon, was a pure-white gem.

Clarabel put out one hand, grasped the sphere between her fingers, and shot to the surface again.

The dolphin bobbed up next to her.

“You found a pearl,” said Clarabel, admiring the perfect white gem. “Thank you.”

The dolphin clicked and squeaked.

Clarabel waded to the bank. “I’ll bring you those fish to help you get better,” she called back.

Picking up her basket of shells, she climbed back up the sand dunes. The tropical sun began to dry her summer dress and golden hair.

Clarabel opened her hand to look at the smooth pearl. It glowed white with the tiniest gleam of a rainbow. She couldn’t wait to show it to the other princesses. It was beautiful, and the fact that a dolphin had found it for her made it even more precious.

Clarabel hurried down the sand dunes and back along the beach.

The white palace with its square turrets loomed up ahead of her. It was so different from her castle in Winteria, which had thin, pointed towers jutting up into the sky.

Rushing along, she tripped over a small figure crouching down next to a rock. She lost her balance and fell sprawling onto the sand.

Picking herself up, she tried to shake the sand off her dress just as the figure hid something behind his back.

“Oh, it’s you!” Clarabel said, recognizing Prince Samuel, who was looking sulkier than ever.

“Go away!” said Samuel.

But Clarabel had already seen what he was hiding, a metal shovel much too big for making sand castles.

“What are you doing?” she asked, peering around him to look into the large hole he’d made in the sand.

“None of your business!” Samuel cried, his face reddening. “The Nosy Princesses, that’s what I’m going to call you and your friends.”

But Clarabel wasn’t listening. She leaned over the hole. Right in the very bottom rested a whole clutch of smooth white eggs.

“Those are turtle eggs!” She gasped. “You can’t dig them up. This is part of the wildlife zone. These creatures are protected.”

“Who’s going to stop me?” sneered Samuel. “Not you! You spend all your time falling over.”

“At least I care about the creatures around me,” said Clarabel sharply.

Turning away so that Samuel couldn’t see what she was doing, she brought her hand to her lips and pressed the sapphire in the center of her ring.

“Calling all princesses. This is Clarabel speaking. Urgent message: Come down to the beach right now,” she whispered, speaking straight into the jewel.

The sapphire glowed deep blue for a second. Then Jaminta’s voice came through. “We hear you, Clarabel. We’re on our way.”

Clarabel turned back to Prince Samuel, who stood by his hole like a puppy guarding a bone. A rolled-up piece of paper poked out from his pocket. He patted it now and then as if he was checking to make sure it was still there. His face glowered as the three other princesses came dashing down the beach toward him.

They arrived, breathless, their faces flushed.

“How did we do?” panted Lulu.

Jaminta checked her watch. “Two and a half minutes. Great practice, everyone.”

“Thanks for calling us, Clarabel,” said Emily. “We’d just finished the flower garlands.”

“This isn’t a practice,” Clarabel told them. “Just look at what Samuel’s digging up.”

Emily, Jaminta, and Lulu peered into the hole.

“Turtle eggs!” cried Emily. “You can’t dig those up. They might die.”

Samuel pouted. “I don’t care about the turtles and I don’t care about the eggs. I don’t want them, anyway. But you can’t stop me from digging here.”

Clarabel put her hands on her hips. “There are four of us now, so we’ll get you out of the way. We can each lift an arm or a leg. Ready, princesses?” She stared at Samuel, her blue eyes unblinking.

Prince Samuel groaned in annoyance. “How did you three get here so quickly, anyway?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” said Lulu, smoothing back her curls.

Samuel cast one more look into the hole, picked up his shovel, and flounced away up the beach.

The princesses quickly began to cover the eggs with sand.

“I told him this was the wildlife zone, but he wouldn’t listen,” said Clarabel. “He doesn’t care about anything except himself.”

“I bet he’ll go back and tell his mom we were mean to him,” said Lulu.

“I think he’s up to something,” said Clarabel. “He said he wasn’t interested in those turtle eggs and he looked like he really meant it. So why was he digging a hole?”

Jaminta’s brown eyes turned thoughtful. “If he’s hiding something, then we need to find out what it is.”

An idea sparked in Clarabel’s head. “I’ve got some binoculars in my suitcase. They could be useful for seeing what Samuel is up to. Let’s go get them from my room.”

Having carefully covered up all the eggs, the princesses scrambled over the sand dunes and through the back gate to the palace garden. As they ran across the sloping lawn, Clarabel got tired and fell behind the other princesses.

“Hurry up, Clarabel,” called Emily, urging her on.

“I’m trying,” panted Clarabel, her legs aching.

She clutched the round pearl in her hand. She could hardly wait to tell the others about the dolphin and how he’d found the pearl for her, but she wanted to save it until they were upstairs in private.

They stopped at the door and brushed the sand off their bright summer dresses. Then they tiptoed through the wide hallway, its floor decorated with a beautiful ocean mosaic.

They reached the bottom of the grand staircase just as Queen Trudy of Leepland came down it. The princesses all curtsied to her, just as they’d been taught to do for every king and queen.

“Where did you all go after breakfast?” snapped Queen Trudy. “I needed you to knit some special tea cozies for the royal teapots.”

“Sorry, Your Majesty!” Emily curtsied deeply to hide her smile.

The queen sniffed and walked on, before pausing in front of Clarabel and looking her up and down. Her eyes were as hard as stone.

“Princess Clarabel, you look disgraceful!” She stared down a nose so sharp you could have sliced cheese with it. “I hear you’ve been pestering my poor Samuel, upsetting him while he was quietly playing on the beach. Princesses! You’re more like noisy animals!”

“We were trying to stop him from digging up turtle eggs,” protested Lulu.

“He was in the wildlife zone,” Clarabel added.

“Nonsense!” snapped Queen Trudy. “My Samuel would never do such a thing. And just look at your hair and your clothes, Clarabel. You have clearly been doing something very unbecoming for a princess.”

“Mother?” came a whiny voice from above, and Prince Samuel came down the grand staircase dressed neatly in a shirt, matching pants, and an orange vest. He looked like he was ready for a banquet. There wasn’t a single speck of sand on him anywhere.

“You see!” Queen Trudy burst out. “Samuel’s completely clean, unlike you girls. I will be keeping an eye on all of you from now on, and checking for inappropriate princess behavior!”

She swept out into the courtyard with her nose held high.

Prince Samuel followed his mom with a smirk.

“He’s definitely up to something,” said Clarabel, pushing back her tangled blond hair.

“It can’t be anything good,” agreed Lulu.

“We have to find out what it is,” said Jaminta. “Maybe we should search his room later. But let’s make sure he’s out of the way first.”

“We’ll have to get in and out of there without anyone seeing us,” said Emily, her eyes lighting up.

Clarabel grinned. “Fantastic! We can use ninja moves. I was hoping we could do that again!”