“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.
&
“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!”
The princesses hurried up to Clarabel’s bedroom. A huge four-poster bed filled one corner of the room and wispy curtains flapped in the breeze from the arched windows.
Clarabel rummaged in her suitcase and pulled out light-blue binoculars decorated with the royal crest of Winteria, which featured an Arctic fox.
“Should we check Samuel’s room right now?” suggested Emily, glancing through the window. “I can see him down in the courtyard, so his room must be empty.”
“Wait!” Clarabel said. “I have something amazing to tell you.”
She showed them the pearl, gleaming white with the tiny hint of a rainbow. It was just as beautiful now as when the dolphin had found it for her.
Emily, Lulu, and Jaminta crowded around for a closer look.
“Wow! You don’t get many pearls as perfect as that,” said Jaminta.
“It all happened when I was looking for seashells.” Clarabel’s blue eyes shone. “I heard a sound calling me and I followed it. There’s a lagoon behind the sand dunes. I swam with a dolphin there and he found this pearl for me.”
“You mean that gem came from the bottom of a lagoon?” said Lulu.
“Yes, the dolphin showed me where it was,” replied Clarabel.
There was a knock on the door and Emily’s maid, Ally, came in. “I brought you something to eat, Your Majesties.”
She set a tray down on the table with a jug of pink lemonade and a plate of brownies. Then she began tidying up Clarabel’s clothes.
“Thank you, Ally,” said the princesses.
Jaminta picked up the gem to have a closer look. “It’s such a great pearl,” she said, pulling a little jewelry cloth out of her pocket and giving it a polish.
“But there’s a sad part.” Clarabel’s face fell. “The dolphin had a deep cut on his side and he seemed very weak. I promised him I would take him some fish to help him build up his strength.”
“You make it sound like he talked to you,” said Lulu.
“I think he really understood me,” explained Clarabel. “Just from the way he looked and the noises he made.”
“I’ve always wanted to meet a dolphin,” said Emily, pushing back her red curls. “I’ve read that they’re really smart creatures. I wonder how he got hurt, though. Did you say the cut was on his side?”
Clarabel nodded. “I’m worried that it won’t heal very quickly.”
Ally put down Clarabel’s clothes and cleared her throat. “It could be that the dolphin was struck by a boat, maybe by a speedboat that was going too fast. That’s why the empress doesn’t like having speedboats near the island.”
“The poor thing!” cried Clarabel.
“At least the dolphin’s safe in the wildlife zone now,” said Jaminta.
“Let’s search Samuel’s room first and then take some fish over to the dolphin,” said Emily, helping herself to a brownie.
“Be careful,” warned Ally, not looking at all surprised that the girls were planning to search a prince’s room. “Queen Trudy is in an extremely bad mood today. If she catches you in her son’s room, she’ll go straight to the empress and all the kings and queens. Maybe one of you should act as a lookout in case someone comes.”
The princesses looked thoughtful. They trusted Ally’s advice. Her previous job had been as an undercover agent and she had never forgotten her training.
“I’ll be the lookout,” said Emily. “Then if anyone comes along I’ll keep them talking.”
“What other ninja advice can you give us, Ally?” asked Clarabel.
“Well, you should always have an escape route planned, in case you have to leave in a hurry,” said Ally.
“Okay then, we’ll use Emily as our lookout and have an escape route planned,” said Lulu, hopping up and down. “Come on! Let’s go!”
Clarabel bit her lip. She wanted to spend a few more minutes planning what to do, but she felt like she was always slowing the others down.
She stashed the dolphin’s pearl carefully away in her jewelry box. She was glad that they were going to find out what Samuel was up to, especially if that meant protecting the wildlife zone.
The princesses met at the end of the hallway after they had changed out of their dresses into white T-shirts and leggings that would blend in with the palace walls.
There was a list of all the guests’ room numbers in the entrance hall, and with great excitement Clarabel had sneaked downstairs and looked up Samuel’s. A pair of blue binoculars hung around her neck, just in case they needed it.
They were going to have to climb two staircases and cross three hallways unseen to reach Samuel’s room. They had reached the top of the first staircase when they heard voices close by.
Hiding behind a tall fig plant, they waited until the king and queen of Finia had walked past.
They crept up the next staircase, keeping to the inside of every step. That way they wouldn’t be seen by people looking up from the hallway below.
Tiptoeing along the hallways, they stopped at every corner to make sure that no one was walking toward them. Lulu even performed a series of forward rolls, one after the other, to keep low past a balcony.
Clarabel hurried along, trying her best to keep up with the other princesses. She crept low but didn’t dare attempt any acrobatics.
“It’s better if we’re never even seen up here,” whispered Emily. “We don’t want Samuel to realize we’re checking up on him.”
“Number 527. This is Samuel’s room,” said Jaminta.
Clarabel put her ear against the door. “There’s no sound inside. Are we ready?”
The others nodded.
With a shaky hand, Clarabel pushed down the handle. The door opened with a loud creak, making the princesses frown.
Holding her breath, Clarabel made herself step through the doorway and only breathed out again when she found the place empty.
She scanned the room, noticing a sofa, two chests of drawers, a desk, and a large cupboard set into the wall.
“Check everything,” she said quietly, “because we have no idea what we’re really looking for.”
She pulled open a drawer and quickly shut it again, finding it was only full of orange pants.
Jaminta began checking the other drawers. Lulu set to work on the desk, throwing stuff over her shoulders wildly.
“Lulu, stop!” cried Clarabel.
Lulu looked up in surprise from where she was surrounded by a snowdrift of paper. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
“It’s so neat and tidy in here,” said Clarabel. “If we don’t leave everything in exactly the same place, he’s sure to notice and suspect someone’s been in here.”
“Don’t worry, I can clean it up,” said Lulu, cramming paper back into the desk at high speed.
Clarabel shook back her blond hair and pulled open the next drawer. This is all T-shirts, she thought. We’re getting nowhere. Then something caught her eye.
It was an edge of yellowy paper, half hidden by a box of tissues. Gently, she pulled the paper out. It curled up into a tube shape and she had to unroll it on the floor to see the writing.
“Lulu! Jaminta! Come and look at this,” she said.
They all leaned over the old sheet of paper, looking at its strange inky markings.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded nearby and the princesses froze. Someone coughed, and it sounded as if they were right inside the closet.
The girls stared at one another in panic. Emily, as the lookout, hadn’t warned them of anything. So what was going on?
Another cough came from the closet, and with a sudden shock Clarabel realized the truth. The closet wasn’t a closet at all. It was the doorway through to the bedroom next door.
And someone was in there right now.
The door handle to the next-door room began to bend slowly down.
At lightning speed, the princesses shoved as much as they could back in place. Then they looked for somewhere to hide.
“Here!” hissed Clarabel, diving under the bed.
Lulu and Jaminta dived after her.
The door swung open and a pair of brown high-heeled shoes strutted past the bed, inches from the princesses’ noses.
Clarabel tried to keep as still as she possibly could, although with Lulu’s feet pressed hard against her ear, it wasn’t easy. Focusing on her ninja training, she remembered something Ally had once told them: When you’re hiding, imagine you’re a part of your hiding place.
Just then, a large black beetle crawled across her hand. Clarabel clamped her mouth shut to stifle a gasp. She didn’t like beetles very much, but she didn’t dare move.
The insect was so close she could see all its legs and feelers. She kept very still, and luckily the beetle scuttled away.
The brown high-heeled shoes paused next to the chest of drawers and there was a scraping sound of drawers opening.
“So untidy!” muttered a voice. “Samuel must come and clean up his room.”
That’s Queen Trudy, thought Clarabel, recognizing the voice.
Lulu, who, as the tallest, was the most squashed, shifted her leg and banged it against the underside of the bed. The bedsprings made a loud twanging sound.
The shoes stopped, then walked slowly toward the girls.
Clarabel held her breath and hoped that Lulu and Jaminta were doing the same. The large black beetle had crawled across the floor to the tip of the queen’s shoe.
“Ugh! A bug!” cried the queen, twitching her foot out of the way. But the beetle followed her, heading toward the other shoe.
Queen Trudy let out an ear-piercing shriek. Lifting her skirts, she fled out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
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