by Rosie Banks
A white and fluffy floating land
Needs you all to lend a hand!”
Jasmine quickly wrote the riddle down before the words disappeared into the mirror. “What does it mean?” she asked.
Ellie looked puzzled. “A floating land — it must be an island.”
“Let’s check the map,” said Jasmine. “We might be able to spot it.”
As if it had heard them, the Magic Box opened up, revealing the six compartments inside. Only two of the spaces were filled, one by a map of the Secret Kingdom that King Merry had given them after their first visit, and the other by a little silver unicorn horn. It was small, but it had enormous power — whoever held it could talk to animals!
Summer took out the map carefully and spread it out gently on Jasmine’s floor. The three girls sat around it, their heads touching as they peered at it excitedly. There were a few small islands in Mermaid Reef, and a couple more off the shore of Glitter Beach. They all moved magically on the map as the aquamarine sea bobbed up and down, but none of them looked white or fluffy.
“It’s not here!” Summer said anxiously.
“But it has to be!” cried Ellie. “We have to solve the riddle so we can get to the Secret Kingdom and find the thunderbolt before something horrible happens!”
Jasmine stood and started pacing up and down the middle of her room with a worried expression on her face.
“Let’s read the riddle again,” Summer suggested. “We have to be missing something. ‘A white and fluffy floating land.’ Well, these islands aren’t white or fluffy.”
“‘Way up high above the ground …’” Jasmine muttered to herself. Then she glanced down at the map and laughed. Summer and Ellie were still searching the bottom of the map, looking at every inch of sea. But Jasmine had realized something. “We shouldn’t be looking in the sea!” she cried. “We should be looking in the sky!”
“Of course!” said Ellie with a grin. “What’s white and fluffy and floats?”
“A cloud!” exclaimed Summer.
“And here’s Cloud Island!” Ellie exclaimed, pointing to a puffy white cloud at the top of the map. “That must be it. Let’s summon Trixi!”
The girls put their hands on the Magic Box, pressing their fingers against the green stones on its carved wooden lid.
“The answer is Cloud Island,” Jasmine whispered.
Suddenly there was a flash of light, followed by a squeal. Trixibelle had appeared, but the little pixie was trapped among the netting over Jasmine’s bed!
“Keep still!” Jasmine cried as the little pixie twisted around. She was trying to free herself, but was only getting more and more caught up.
“I’m trying!” Trixi cried, giving a yelp as she tumbled off her leaf.
Ellie, Jasmine, and Summer quickly climbed up onto Jasmine’s bed to untangle Trixi from the mesh. Ellie’s nimble fingers carefully unwrapped the netting from Trixi’s flower hat, while Jasmine and Summer helped Trixi pull her arms and legs free.
“There!” Ellie said as she untangled the last bit.
“Whew!” Trixi sighed, jumping back on her leaf and flying in a quick twirl before straightening out her skirt and the flower hat that covered her messy blond hair. “Hello, girls,” she exclaimed, flying over to kiss them all on the tips of their noses. She landed on the edge of Jasmine’s bedside table. “It’s lovely to see you all again. Have you figured out where the next thunderbolt is?”
“We think it’s somewhere called Cloud Island,” Summer said.
Trixi nodded. “There’s no time to waste! We need to go to the kingdom right away.”
The girls all looked excitedly at one another. They were off on another magical adventure — this time to an island in the sky!
As the girls watched, Trixi tapped the Magic Box with her ring and chanted a spell:
“The evil queen has trouble planned.
Brave helpers fly to save our land.”
Her words appeared on the mirrored lid and then soared toward the ceiling, separated into sparkles, and tumbled down again in a colorful burst, whizzing around the girls’ heads until they formed a whirlwind. The rushing air picked the girls up, and moments later Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine were dropped onto something springy. It was the softest landing ever!
Summer looked around in astonishment. It felt like she was on a huge bouncy bed, but all she could see around her was white. Hesitantly, she put out her hand to touch the fluffy stuff, and then grinned as she realized — she was standing on a cloud!
Read
Cloud Island
to find out what happens next!
Text copyright © 2012 by Hothouse Fiction Limited.
Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Orchard Books.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 by arrangement with Orchard Books. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First Scholastic printing, February 2014
e-ISBN 978-0-545-53626-4
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