“Hot pink with teal accents,” the girl replied.
Lumina just waved her arms and—ping!—the pearl accents she’d added to the girl’s hair turned teal. She spun the girl around to face the mirror.
“This is amazing!” the girl said, gasping with delight.
Another teen mermaid bounded through the door. She ran toward Sandrine. “Are you Lumina?” she asked.
Sandrine rolled her eyes and pointed toward Lumina’s station. “Next chair over. Better get in line,” she said grumpily, pointing to the long line of mermaids waiting for a turn in Lumina’s chair. “She’s only been here two days and everyone thinks she invented hair.”
“Oh dear, Kuda,” Lumina said. We’re going to need a lot more pearls!”
Meanwhile, Caligo banged his fist against his office desk. “Gone? What do you mean?”
Murray floated around the room and explained his visit to the sea cave again. “Gone. Vanished. Now she’s here, now she’s not. The place was empty.”
Caligo looked out the window. “Blast! Someone must have tipped her off.”
“I don’t think so,” Murray reasoned. “She left a note saying she was coming to the city. And I found this.” He dangled Lumina’s baby bracelet from his tail.
Caligo snatched it and examined it closely. “The royal crest!” he exclaimed. “Then it is her! That old mermaid double-crossed me! The princess is alive!”
Murray gave a sly grin. “The king and queen will be thrilled.”
Caligo clenched his fist around the bracelet, practically crushing its beads. The princess complicated his plan considerably. The fact that she was alive meant that she—not Fergis—was the rightful heir to the throne. “This could ruin everything! We’ve got to get rid of her. Search everywhere! Get all your slimiest, sleaziest, creepiest cronies together.”
“Not a problem,” Murray responded. “That’s the only kind I know.”
Caligo’s eyes blazed. “Find. That. Girl,” he commanded.
Back at the salon, Lumina and the other stylists worked quickly. Word had spread about the exciting new styles coming out of Salon La Mer, and it seemed everyone wanted an appointment. They were so busy, they had even run out of supplies.
Just then, Madame Ruckus came bustling through the back door, holding armfuls of boxes.
New supplies—yes! Lumina thought. Then she noticed a handsome merman trailing behind Madame Ruckus. He carried another armload of boxes. A dolphin friend accompanied him.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” he said from behind his load. “Perhaps you could be of some assistance. I’m afraid we’re a bit lost.”
But Madame Ruckus didn’t hear him. “Thanks. You’re a doll. Just plop those boxes right here, and I’ll grab some more.” She breezed back outside.
“Of course,” the merman said, practically dropping the boxes on the floor. “Oof!”
“Oh, good. Delivery is here,” Sandrine said, tearing open one of the boxes and grabbing some hairspray.
Lumina swam over and smiled. “Did you bring some styling gel?” she asked politely.
“Styling gel?” the merman replied.
Lumina opened a box and grabbed a bottle. “Here it is.”
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’m a bit new to this,” the merman said, smiling sheepishly.
“It’s okay. This is my first job, too. I’m Lumina,” she said.
“Pleasure to meet you, Lumina. I’m Delphin,” the merman replied.
“Dolphin?” Lumina asked, unsure that she’d heard him right.
“No, Delphin. Don’t worry, I get that a lot,” the merman replied, chuckling.
“Come on,” his dolphin friend clicked. “We’re late! We were supposed to be at the palace an hour ago.”
Delphin nodded. “I hope to see you again!” he called to Lumina as he raced toward the door.
“Handsome!” Cora whispered to Lumina as Delphin exited.
“Well, aren’t you the lucky one,” Sandrine said.
Lumina blushed.
Madame Ruckus burst through the door with another round of boxes. She deposited them on the floor and whirled around with excitement. “Ladies! Hold on to your hairpins!” she cried. “I’ve got delightful news! I just ran into a dear old friend on the royal staff, and guess what she gave me?” She waved a piece of paper in the air.
“An invitation?” guessed Cora.
“To the royal ball?” cried Lumina.
“Tonight?” Sandrine asked.
Madame Ruckus clapped all eight of her tentacles. “For the whole staff!” she shouted, bubbling over with delight.
Lumina, Cora, and Sandrine jumped up and down, dancing together in a circle. Lumina could hardly believe her good fortune. Spending time preparing other mermaids for the special event had made her long even more to be a part of it all. Here was her chance!
Suddenly, Cora and Sandrine stopped dancing and looked serious.
“What are we going to wear?” they asked.
A short while later, Murray slithered into a nearby alleyway. He peered into a Dumpster and spied his two cronies, Wormwood and Garth. If anyone could track down Lumina, it was these two. They weren’t the brightest eels in the sea, but they could follow instructions.
“Hi, Boss!” Garth hissed in a goofy voice. “We were just having lunch.”
“Charming,” Murray sneered, turning up his nose at the smell. “Any sign of the princess yet?”
“We already found fifty girls who match her picture,” Wormwood announced.
“What picture?” Murray responded.
Garth whipped out a baby picture of the princess and proudly showed his boss. “It’s the only one we could find. She’s drooling, but isn’t she just adorable?” he asked.
Murray felt his face redden with anger. “You’ve been looking for babies?” He didn’t bother explaining that the princess they were looking for was now seventeen years old.
Garth nodded dumbly as Wormwood said, “Don’t worry, Boss. We brought them all to Caligo.”
Murray froze with fear at the thought of his boss surrounded by dozens of babies. Caligo would certainly blame him. He gulped. Was that Caligo’s voice he heard on the tide?
“Murray!”
He drew his knucklehead friends a more recent picture and dashed to clean up their mess.
At noon, Lumina, Kuda, Cora, Sandrine, and Madame Ruckus talked and laughed as they made their way down the street to go shopping for the ball. They entered a clothing shop with two giant gargoyles by its doorway.
Inside the store, Madame Ruckus bounced about with enthusiasm. She fluttered over to Lumina and the girls, wearing a sparkling bangle bracelet.
“Look what I found, girls!” she cried. “Don’t you love what this sparkle does for my tentacles? I’d better buy seven more,” she continued, floating away.
Lumina flipped through a rack of drab-looking dresses and frowned. It didn’t look like they had much to choose from.
“There’s not much left, huh?” said Cora, echoing Lumina’s thoughts.
“Nothing I’d wear to a ball,” Sandrine agreed. “I guess the good gowns sold out long ago.”
Lumina furrowed her brow and took another look through the rack. Her imagination kicked into high gear, and she smiled. “Oh, I don’t know,” she started. “I think we could do a lot with what’s here. Add some ribbons, a little ruching, a little rickrack, and—presto!—our very own original styles!”
Cora clapped her hands together. “You really think so?” she asked hopefully.
Lumina beamed. “Absolutely! And it’ll be fun, too!”
Sandrine raised an eyebrow. “Fun?” she questioned.
Lumina plucked a plain pink dress from the rack. She spun around, holding it up to herself in the full-length mirror. “Like this,” she stated. “I love this color. I could do all kinds of things to spice it up.”
Cora touched a corner of the dress, admiring it. “Ooh, I didn’t see this one. You’re right—that pink is epic!”
Lumina held the dress against Cora, smiling warmly. “You know what? It’s an even better color for you. You take it,” she said, offering the dress to Cora.
“What?” Cora said, startled by Lumina’s kindness. “Oh, no, I couldn’t. You saw it first.”
“But it’s going to look so amazing on you! Here, take it. Please,” Lumina insisted.
“Are you sure?”
Lumina nodded.
“Wow, thank you!” Cora cried, bounding off joyfully to try on the dress.
Sandrine crossed her arms and stared at Lumina. “Are you for real? That was the last dress in your size in the store! And the color was perfect for you. You said so yourself.”
“It’s okay, really,” Lumina replied cheerfully. “I’m certain I’ll find another one.” She swam off in search of another dress.
Sandrine shook her head in disbelief. “It’s sure not what I would have done,” she mumbled.
Kuda swam up behind her. “But it’s what Lumina does,” she remarked proudly.
As the girls shopped, Wormwood and Garth waited outside. They had trailed Lumina all the way to the store and were about to put their plan in motion. Wormwood shook out a large, mermaid-size sack. They zipped around to the shop’s front entrance and coiled themselves around the gargoyles. Now all they had to do was wait.
“Got everything I need—and a little more!” Madame Ruckus sang, holding eight armfuls of shopping bags. “See you back at the salon, ladies!”
She swam out the door—and right into Wormwood and Garth’s trap! “Now!” Garth yelled.
They yanked the sack down over the octopus in one quick motion.
“Got her!” Wormwood replied.
They cinched the bag closed and tried to tow it away.
“Man, she’s heavier than she looks,” Garth said when he saw the picture Murray had drawn for them.
As they hauled the sack down the street, Madame Ruckus poked one, then two tentacles out of the opening. She tapped the eels on the shoulder.
Wormwood and Garth turned around. “Huh?”
Madame Ruckus slapped them with her tentacles, causing them to drop the sack. She escaped from the bag angrily and continued smacking the eels. “What do you think you’re doing, you slimy little worms? I’ll use you to floss my teeth!”
“Oh! Oof! Mercy!” the bumbling eels cried, struggling to get out of Madame’s way.
But it was no use. Madame Ruckus was furious. She dragged the eels to a nearby lamppost and tied them to it. That will teach them to mess with a lady, she thought. She dusted off her tentacles, collected her bags, and swam away.
Lumina and Kuda swam over to the boutique’s accessories counter, where they ran into Spike the stonefish. He still had pearls on his spikes and was checking out some scarves.
“Hi, guys!” he exclaimed. “Say, can you help me pick out a scarf for the ball?”
“Spike! You’re going to the ball, too?” Kuda asked.
Spike puffed out his chest proudly. “Since Lumina pearlized me, I’m getting invited everywhere!” he explained.
Lumina picked up a hat from a nearby table. “This color might look nice with your spikes,” she suggested.
Spike left the scarf display and tried on Lumina’s hat. “I just realized I don’t have a neck. So maybe a nice hat will do.”
Just then, Lumina heard the town clock strike one.
“It’s getting late,” Kuda warned. “We’d better get going if you want to find another dress.”
Lumina and her friends waved good-bye to Spike and headed down the street, peering into shop windows for more ball gowns. All around them, the streets of Seagundia were bustling with activity.
“I don’t know where else to suggest,” Cora said worriedly. “Seems like there’s not another ball gown left in the kingdom.”
Lumina waved away Cora’s worries. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out for tonight.”
As they crossed the street, two rough-looking eels jumped in front of them with a large empty sack. “Aha!” they shouted.
But suddenly, a fancy gold carriage pulled by two orca whales came hurtling down the street. Bump! It smacked right into the two eels, sending them flying.
“Yaaaaaaoo!” they cried as they landed on the other side of the street.
Lumina shook her head. So much activity today!
“This neighborhood’s getting weird,”
Sandrine said.
Inside their golden two-orca carriage, Fergis looked out the window, concerned. “Father,” he asked, turning to Caligo in the seat beside him. “Did we just hit some pedestrians?”
“Who knows? Probably,” Caligo responded. “Let’s just get you to the tailor’s. For one night, you need to look a little less like you. Then you’ve got a hair appointment—with the trendy new stylist at Madame Ruckus’s salon.”
After their lunchtime shopping trip, Lumina returned to work at Salon La Mer. She fashioned a librarian’s hair to look like an open, pearl-studded book!
“It’s wonderful!” the librarian gasped. “I can’t wait to show everyone back at the library!”
Lumina beamed and then reorganized her station for her next customer. Being the “it” hairstylist sure was exhausting! “Has anyone seen my brush?” she asked.
Sandrine held out her silver-handled hairbrush. “Here. Use mine,” she offered.
Lumina was touched. “But isn’t this your lucky hairbrush?” she asked.
Sandrine waved her hand through the air. “Don’t make a big deal out of it,” she grumbled.
Lumina grinned. With energy renewed, she waited for her next client to arrive.
Just then, the chime above the salon’s front door tinkled. Caligo and Fergis walked in. Fergis stopped to sniff a flower arrangement on the counter as Caligo conversed with Madame Ruckus. She pointed to Lumina.
Caligo pulled Fergis toward Lumina’s styling chair. “You’re the new stylist in town?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. I’m—”
Caligo cut her off. “Whatever. I hear you’re a miracle worker. Can you do something with this?” he asked, shoving Fergis toward her.
Lumina nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Good luck,” Caligo replied meanly. “You’d be the first.” Then he stormed out of the salon.
Lumina studied Fergis. He seemed shy, unsure of himself. “I’m Lumina,” she said softly. “Would you like to take a seat?”
Fergis remembered his manners. “Oh, of course. Thank you.” He sat in the chair as Lumina draped a styling cape around him.
“Is that a Robena Graniflora?” he asked, staring intently at a potted plant on Lumina’s station.
Lumina shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she said. “Hey, Cora, what kind of plant is this?” she called to Cora at the nail station.
Cora looked up and cocked her head. “Green?” she ventured. Clearly she didn’t know any more about plants than Lumina did.
Fergis looked from the plant to Cora. Lumina noticed he couldn’t stop staring at her. “She’s beautiful,” he whispered.
“I’ll introduce you when we’re done,” Lumina said with a wink.
Fergis settled in comfortably, and Lumina summoned her pearls.
A short while later, Lumina kept her promise. Fergis, with a spiffy updated haircut, followed her across the salon to Cora’s nail station.
“Hello, I’m Fergis,” he began, nervously extending his hand.
“I’m Cora,” she said with a warm smile.
“Do you like plants?” Fergis asked.
“Uh . . . I have a fern,” she replied.
“You do?” Fergis cried, overly excited to have something to talk about with her. “Have you ever tried feeding it a mix of bonemeal and phosphorus? It does wonders for the seedlings!”
“I’ll give that a try,” Cora replied, raising an eyebrow at Lumina.
Lumina stepped away. She hoped a friendship between them might bloom. Fergis sure seemed to need one.
As the town clock chimed five o’clock, Madame Ruckus turned the sign on the salon door to CLOSED. Sandrine, Cora, and Lumina put away their styling equipment for the day. Kuda lent a helping hand.
Once everything was tidy, Madame Ruckus gave the word. “All right, ladies—time to get ready for the ball!”
Excitedly, the girls set to work. They dragged out the plain-Jane dresses they had bought on their lunch break. They started with Sandrine’s first, and then Cora’s. Lumina showed them how to turn a boring dress into a showstopping gown. She added ribbons, gems, flowers, and seashells to give each gown a personal touch.
Once she had finished, Sandrine and Cora tried their gowns on. They twirled in front of the mirror, marveling at Lumina’s exquisite detailing.
Lumina tapped her chin with her pointer finger, thinking. “Maybe one last thing.” She rummaged through her styling station and pulled out a couple of jewels. She pinned a small, jeweled rosette on each dress and stepped back. “There! Perfect. You two look fantastic!” she exclaimed.
Madame Ruckus nodded her approval. “Now, put on your sunglasses, ladies, and prepare to be blinded by fabulous!” She swept into the next room to change into her ensemble. Once dressed, she sashayed through the door, covered head to tentacles in jewels and glitter.
Lumina smiled and shielded her eyes. It really was blinding!
The girls clapped their hands with delight.
“Thank you,” Madame Ruckus said graciously. “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”
Everyone cracked up.
“Okay, Lumina, we do your gown next!” Cora said, as the town clock struck eight. Everyone froze.
“Oh no!” Lumina cried. “The ball has started! You guys go and I’ll catch up with you there. I insist.”
Sandrine, Cora, and Madame Ruckus eyed each other.
Finally, Sandrine spoke. “You never got a dress, did you?” she asked gently.
“Oh, I’m fine—really,” Lumina sputtered. She didn’t want them to worry about her and miss the ball.
But Kuda, her oldest and dearest friend, knew better. She knew Lumina always put everyone else first. She also knew that deep down Lumina would be heartbroken to miss her chance to attend the ball.
Barbie: The Pearl Princess Junior Novelization Page 4