Lumina waved her hand through the air, sweeping the stonefish’s concerns away. “We’re heading to the city. There’s lots of fish there, Mr. Doom. And you could practice being friendly to them.”
“The name’s Spike,” the stonefish replied, showing a hint of a smile. “You don’t mind if I come along?”
Lumina rose and held out her hand toward Spike. “I’d be honored,” she said with a curtsey.
Kuda inched her way toward Spike. “And I’d be more nervous than honored,” she half joked, offering her tail. “But I’ll give it a shot.”
The three new friends joined fins and took off through the wide-open sea.
As Lumina headed toward the city, Murray snaked his way through the kelp forest to her sea cave. He carried a coil of rope and a mermaid-size sack. When he arrived, he knocked on the front door. Rap. Rap. Rap. “Candy-gram!” he shouted in his best girly voice.
No answer.
He knocked again, louder this time. “Bob the Birthday Squid!” he tried.
Still no answer.
RAP. RAP. RAP. RAP. “Eel Scout Cookies!” he called. “Collecting for Snails Without Tails!”
Where is that girl? he thought impatiently. He peeked through the open window. Nobody home. He slithered inside and inspected each room. In the kitchen, he found a note Lumina had written. He read it aloud. “ ‘Aunt Scylla— You left behind your ball invitation, so we’re bringing it to you. See you at the castle. Love, Lumina.’ ”
With his tail, Murray crumpled up the note in frustration. “Victims! Never there when you need them,” he mumbled grumpily. He poked around the room, looking for something—anything—to make his journey worthwhile. Nothing! He zoomed into Scylla’s room next. “As long as I’m here . . . ,” he reasoned.
He nosed around Scylla’s dresser, looking at her various knickknacks. Then he spotted a keepsake box covered in seashells. He opened it with the tip of his tail and peered in. “Oh,” he gasped, admiring a small pearl baby bracelet at the bottom of the box. He picked it up to examine it more closely and flashed an evil grin. The bracelet carried the royal seal.
He’d found the proof. Now all he needed was the girl.
Lumina, Kuda, and Spike wound their way farther through the dense kelp, cracking jokes along the way. It’s nice, Lumina thought, to have a new friend along.
Suddenly, Kuda got snagged in a bit of kelp that seemed to come alive and trap her!
“Huh?” Kuda cried, surprised. “Help! Kelp! Help! Kelp!”
“Whoa!” Spike cried, lunging toward Kuda. “She swam right into a bed of SnarlyKelp! That stuff never lets go!”
Lumina and Spike struggled to free their sea horse friend, but the kelp tried to grab them, too. Lumina bobbed and weaved, ducking out of the SnarlyKelp’s reach.
“Spike, quick! If I uncap one of your spikes, do you think you could use the point to cut Kuda loose without stabbing or poisoning her?” Lumina asked.
Spike bit his lip, unsure. “Maybe,” he said. “There’s a first time for everything.”
Lumina nodded. She waved her hands and a large pearl popped off one of the stonefish’s spikes. “Be careful,” she said.
Spike swam underneath Kuda and tried to sever the SnarlyKelp strands without touching the sea horse.
Kuda’s eyes grew big with panic. “Hey, wait!” she cried. “Isn’t there another way?” She struggled to move away from Spike.
“Hold still!” Spike pleaded. “You’ve got to hold still!”
As Kuda forced herself to remain calm and still, Spike carefully jabbed at the last strand of SnarlyKelp. Snap!
Kuda broke free. “Thanks, Spike. Okay, that’s it. I’ve had it. I’m going home. Scylla was right. We’ll never make it in one piece to the—” Kuda stopped speaking when she noticed Lumina and Spike grinning goofily at something behind her.
Kuda turned around slowly to see a stunning, glittering mermaid city. In the center of the skyline, the royal castle sparkled. They’d made it!
Overjoyed, Lumina floated down the hill, toward the bustling, brilliant streets. In all the commotion, she didn’t notice that her aunt’s invitation to the ball had fallen out of her pouch.
Lumina couldn’t believe her eyes. Seagundia was even more beautiful than it had been in her dreams. The city’s tall floating buildings were decorated with scalloped doorways and starfish topiaries. Its avenues teemed with merfolk riding in gilded carriages pulled by orca whales. Street vendors sold delicacies from turtle-shell pushcarts.
It all took Lumina’s breath away. “Wow.” She sighed and looked at her dumbstruck friends with a smile. She knew that with time, they would love this city as much as she already did.
Honk! Honk! Just then, a two-orca carriage came speeding up behind them. Its merman driver honked his blowfish horn at them. “Hey, out of my way!” he shouted.
“Sorry!” Lumina replied as she darted from his path just in time and bumped into a passerby. “Excuse me!”
“Everyone is in such a hurry,” Kuda said.
Lumina nodded and glanced at Spike, who was still skulking along in the shadows. She knew he felt nervous about how merfolk might react to seeing a stonefish on their city streets. “Spike, why are you hiding? You have nothing to worry about,” she reminded him.
“Okay,” Spike replied unsurely. He stepped out into the sunlit street. “The screaming usually kicks in about now.” He cringed, waiting.
But instead of screaming, a nearby mermaid approached him. “Love your pearls,” she said.
Spike grinned in surprise. “You do?”
“Oh, yeah,” another mermaid added. “Great look!”
Before long a crowd of admirers had gathered around Spike.
“So cool!”
“Let me see!”
“Who does your spikes?”
Spike fluttered his eyelashes and basked in all the attention. It was amazing. Lumina beamed with pride. She loved helping a friend feel confident.
“Talk about an extreme makeover!” Kuda exclaimed. Then something farther down the street caught her eye. “Lumina, look!” she cried.
Lumina cast a glance down the road and grinned. Aunt Scylla was walking out of a shop! She had her head down, searching for something in her bag.
“It’s Scylla!” Kuda confirmed. “Have you got her invitation?”
Lumina rummaged through her pouch, but the invitation was nowhere to be found. “It’s gone! I must have lost it on the way!”
“What?” Kuda cried, nervously swimming around in circles. “She is never going to believe us. She’ll be angry we left the reef!”
Lumina cringed. Kuda had a point. “Well,” she said, recovering, “I’ll just explain that we were trying to help out and—”
“—and you’ll be grounded for a year!” Kuda interrupted. “Come on!” The sea horse zipped off, dragging Lumina by her tail.
They dashed down an alley, checking behind them to make sure Scylla hadn’t spotted them yet. Kuda eyed a doorway nearby and motioned toward it.
“Wait,” Lumina whispered urgently. “What about Spike?”
They looked back to see Spike surrounded by admirers.
“He’s doing fine!” Kuda replied. “Quick! In here!”
They ducked through the door and slammed it shut.
Lumina leaned against the door to catch her breath.
“Whew!” Kuda sighed with relief.
Just then, a large, billowy orange octopus with a fancy hairdo bustled toward them.
“Oh, thank goodness!” the octopus cried, sweeping her hair out of her face.
Lumina and Kuda exchanged a look. Huh?
The octopus grabbed Lumina by the arm and dragged her through a curtain. Kuda followed them.
In the next room, Lumina saw a busy beauty salon. Merfolk sat, having their hair done and their faces made up. The walls echoed with their chatter. Lumina heard music playing in the background and noticed photos on the walls of glamorous mermaids modeling gorgeous hairdos.
The room was lined with pink and purple drapes. What a fun place to work, Lumina thought.
“This way, sweetie,” the octopus clucked. “I’ll get you all set up!”
Lumina paused. “But I . . . ,” she started. Obviously this octopus—lovely as she was—had mistaken Lumina for someone else. She had to explain.
But the octopus didn’t seem to have heard Lumina. She whisked her by various styling stations for hair, nails, and makeup. There was even a whirlpool for spa treatments!
“So, do you have references? Do you have a résumé? Do you have a hairpin? My bun’s coming undone!” The octopus fired questions at Lumina, making her head spin.
They passed a customer sitting in a chair shaped like a seashell. “Madame Ruckus!” The customer beckoned to the orange octopus. “Are you sure this blush is right for the royal ball?” She examined her cheeks in a hand mirror.
Madame Ruckus swirled the customer’s chair around. “Trust me, honey,” she cooed. “That color is you!” Then she returned her attention to Lumina, hustling her into a styling station by the front window. “Now, let’s see what you can do!” she announced.
As Lumina wondered what to do, the salon phone rang and the octopus lunged for it. “Salon La Mer! Madame Ruckus speaking. You bet, ma’am, we can squeeze you in before the ball—four o’clock tomorrow?” She penciled something in an appointment book with one tentacle. She used a second tentacle to apply more blush to a customer and two more to sweep hair from the floor and help a teenage mermaid pick a style from a glossy magazine.
Eight arms sure come in handy in this place, Lumina mused.
“Madame Ruckus!” another customer called.
“Hang on, honey,” she replied. “I can only do eight things at once!”
All this activity made Lumina dizzy—in a good way. Sure, she had styled Kuda’s mane hundreds of times, but it had always been just for fun. She couldn’t imagine being an actual stylist, creating new looks every day in such a busy and exciting place.
Just then, Kuda tugged on her arm and pointed out the front window. “Scylla’s coming!” the sea horse warned. “Quick—disguise hair!”
Lumina gasped as she saw her aunt heading down the street—right toward the salon! Faster than a flying fish, she directed the pearls in her hair. They twisted her locks into a peekaboo hairstyle, covering half her face.
Freaking out, Kuda grabbed a nearby wig and slapped it crookedly on her head.
The friends stood perfectly still as Scylla paused and peered into the salon window. She looked closely at Kuda and Lumina for a long moment, but then she kept walking.
Kuda nearly fainted with relief. “Whoa, that was close!” she said.
Madame Ruckus hung up her phone and spun to face Lumina. Her mouth dropped open in shock when she saw Lumina’s elaborate new hairdo. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “You got the job!”
Lumina grinned. “A job?” she repeated in disbelief. “I have a job?” The more she said it, the more excited she got. If she worked at Salon La Mer she could be a part of the hustle and bustle every day! No more time spent by herself, with only Kuda for company. Plus, she would get to do what she loved: she could use her creativity to help people look their best and live life to the fullest. She could help people feel confident and happy—just like she’d done for Spike. But what would Aunt Scylla say?
She didn’t have time to think about it, because the next thing she knew, Madame Ruckus ushered over the teen mergirl she’d helped sort through magazines. She plopped her down in the styling chair in front of Lumina.
“Here’s your first customer!” she announced, waving a tentacle dramatically through the air. “Lunch break’s at noon. We close at five. By the way, what’s your name, hon?” She rushed off without waiting for an answer.
“Lumina!” Lumina called after her.
“Okay, Scylla’s gone,” Kuda said, ditching the wig. “Let’s get out of here.”
Lumina looked at the teen waiting expectantly in her chair. “I have a customer,” she said.
Kuda rolled her eyes. “Remember the royal castle? The reason we came here in the first place?”
Lumina frowned. “You’re right,” she said, running her fingers through the teen’s limp hair. “But she needs me. Just look.”
The teen mermaid looked offended.
“We’ll leave right after this, Kuda,” Lumina promised. “Isn’t it exciting? My first job!”
Kuda sighed. Once Lumina had made up her mind, there was no use arguing. She helped fasten a styling cape around the girl, and Lumina busily got to work.
The stylist at the next station leaned over. “So you’re the new stylist, huh?” she said. Lumina nodded. “Well, newbie, I got two rules: keep your hand out of my tip jar, and don’t ever touch my lucky brush. Okay?” She held up a beautiful silver-handled hairbrush.
Lumina bit her lip. “Sure, I guess,” she said uncertainly. It seemed that not everyone at Salon La Mer was as friendly as Madame Ruckus.
“Don’t let her scare you, honey!” Madame Ruckus called to Lumina from across the room. “That’s Sandrine—she’s half barracuda.” Then the octopus pointed to another stylist. “And this is Cora. She does nails and tails,” she explained.
Cora gave a friendly wave from across the salon.
Lumina relaxed a little.
“Can you do my hair like her?” Lumina’s teen customer asked. She held up a picture ripped from a magazine.
Lumina examined the picture. “Well, I can if you want. But you know what might look even better—”
“I want to look like her!” the girl whined.
Sandrine leaned over and whispered in Lumina’s ear. “Piece of advice, newbie: just give them what they want. Trust me; they’re all wearing the same hairstyle.”
Lumina sighed and continued combing the girl’s hair. “Hmm,” she mumbled to herself. Then she got an idea. She spun the girl away from the mirror and grabbed a fistful of pearls from her pouch.
“Lumina, no!” Kuda cried, realizing that Lumina was about to take matters into her own hands. She did it to Kuda all the time, but this was a paying customer. Lumina could get in trouble!
Lumina ignored her friend—she had a plan. She tossed the pearls into the air and conducted them to lift and shape the girl’s hair into a magnificent modern style. She dotted the girl’s new, soft waves with pearls and paused to think. “Let me see your eyes,” she said, bending down to look. She changed the pearls’ color to match the girl’s lovely green eyes. Then she whirled the chair around again to show her client her handiwork.
Kuda held her breath in fear.
“Hey!” the girl gasped, her mouth dropping open in shock. But her shock soon turned to glee. “That is SO. TOTALLY. AWESOME!” she cried, turning to admire her new look from every angle.
Lumina beamed proudly. “I knew you’d like it,” she told the girl.
“Like it? I love it!” the girl cried, bursting with excitement. She stood up so everyone in the salon could see her.
The salon exploded with compliments, and the girl blushed happily. Then she rushed out the door to show her friends.
“Okay,” Kuda conceded. “You got lucky—nobody saw that. Now can we go?”
Lumina grinned. “Next!” she called.
Another teen mermaid plopped down in Lumina’s chair. “I want my hair just like you did hers!” she announced.
“Are you sure?” Lumina asked. “How about something special—just for you?”
“Really?” the girl squealed.
Lumina nodded and grabbed another handful of pearls.
Back at the castle, Caligo met the ten-soldier Trident Squad in a dark underground passage. The squad carried dangerous trident weapons and wore special shoulder patches to set them apart from the rest of the royal guard.
“Have you briefed the men about the ball?” Caligo asked the Trident captain. Everything had to go as planned for Caligo to seize the throne and get rid of Scylla.
“Yes,
sir,” the captain replied. “Don’t worry—they know exactly what to do.”
Caligo smirked. “Splendid. I’ll meet you back at the barracks,” he said.
Just then, Scylla stepped out of the shadows to greet him.
“Everything is arranged,” Caligo explained. “The rest is up to you.”
“I’ll have access to the king?” Scylla asked.
“Yes,” Caligo replied. “The royal beverage steward has taken ill.” He gave Scylla an evil wink and gestured for her to follow him down the hall.
They worked their way toward the servers’ quarters behind the grand ballroom and entered the beverage closet. Inside, bottles of all shapes and sizes lined the fancy wrought-iron shelves.
“You will take the steward’s place at the ball and serve mulberry nectar to the royal party—including His Majesty,” Caligo explained. He pointed to a set of goblets and an empty pitcher on a giant silver serving tray.
Scylla nodded. All she needed to do was add a few drops of poison to the king’s goblet and their plan would be complete.
“The king will present the Pearl of the Sea to my son, then drink the toast. Then be gone forever,” Caligo said darkly.
“I have the ingredients,” Scylla told him. “But I’ll need time to brew the poison.”
Caligo smiled menacingly. “You rid me of one pest seventeen years ago—now you’ll rid me of another. Needless to say, you will be suitably rewarded.”
Scylla pulled her hooded cloak over her face and turned to exit.
“Oh, by the way,” Caligo said casually. “I understand you have a niece.”
“What of it?” Scylla scoffed, trying to hide her unease. How did Caligo know about Lumina? And worse, did he suspect that Lumina was the very same princess she’d kidnapped all those years ago?
Caligo smiled. “Please give her my regards,” he said.
Scylla shivered at Caligo’s threatening tone and hurried on her way. Only time would tell just how much danger she—and Lumina—were in. She vowed to be prepared.
The next day, Lumina worked hard on her third client at Salon La Mer. “What color gown are you wearing to the ball?” she asked.
Barbie: The Pearl Princess Junior Novelization Page 3