“There’s a bird on here. Maybe that’s an eagle.” Isabella pointed to an engraving on the front of the locket that showed a bird with huge wings.
Rosalind sighed deeply. “But that means the book isn’t here and I really thought we’d find it today.”
“It’s like a mystery and this is a huge clue!” cried Lottie.
“I love mysteries.” Amina’s eyes shone. “I wonder which country it means when it talks about an eagle.”
“Look! Maybe this is the place!” Isabella opened a large book that showed pictures of bears and eagles, forests and waterfalls.
“The land of the soaring eagle!” repeated Rosalind. “It sounds like a great place for the next Rescue Princesses’ adventure!”
Princess Rosalind carefully raked the red and gold leaves into a large pile on the grass. Then she stopped to lean on the end of her rake and gaze up at the mountains. The cold autumn air had turned her cheeks rosy and her blond hair gleamed in the sunshine. Next to her, Princess Lottie kept raking.
Behind them was an enormous redbrick house with a beautiful clock tower on top of the roof. This was the home of Mr. Periwinkle, the famous cookie-factory owner who had invented the greatest cookie of all time — the Chocorama Crunch. He was holding an Autumn Ball and had invited royal families from all around the world to come and stay at his home.
Rosalind was very glad to be here in the beautiful country of Taldonia. Although she wished her mom hadn’t volunteered them to help out with so many gardening jobs. Raking these leaves was taking a very long time.
“Hurry up, Rosalind! There are more leaves over here,” called Lottie, pointing her rake at the corner of the garden.
Rosalind stared at Lottie as if she hadn’t really heard her. “I’m so glad we came here.”
“Me, too!” said Lottie. “It’s great being together as Rescue Princesses again! It feels like a long time since we saw each other.”
Rosalind, Amina, Lottie, and Isabella had become friends when they’d first met in the springtime. Lottie had told them all about her older sister’s adventures and how she and her friends had saved animals from terrible danger. They had been so excited by this idea that they had formed their own secret club and continued the work of the Rescue Princesses.
“I’m glad we’re together, too,” Rosalind told Lottie. “But it’s not just that! This really feels like the right place to look! I think it’s because of those mountains over there.”
“Right place to look for what?” Lottie went back to raking furiously, making the leaves fly up and drift down again like multicolored stars.
Rosalind frowned. “You know! The lost Book of Ninja! The note told us to go to the land of the soaring eagle.” She dug out a piece of paper from her pocket and waved it at Lottie.
“Just imagine!” she added. “The book has every single ninja move inside it. If we can find it, we’ll learn so much!”
On their last adventure at Amina’s palace in the kingdom of Kamala, the princesses had found a mysterious note that told them to look for a lost book called The Book of Ninja. Along with the note, they had also found a beautiful necklace with a silver locket, which opened up to reveal a tiny key. Rosalind, who loved mysteries, had been wearing the locket ever since and was longing to go and look for more clues.
“Oh! You’re talking about that book again.” Lottie shook back her red curls. “Listen, Rosy! I know you really want to find it, but there will be lots of other fun things to do here!”
“Finding the lost Book of Ninja IS fun!” said Rosalind. “And don’t call me Rosy. I don’t like it!”
Lottie made a face. “Sorry, Ros-a-lind.Oh, look, there are the others!”
The bell inside the clock tower on the roof gave a loud chime just as two more princesses came running across the grass.
Isabella had long brown curls and sparkling eyes. Amina’s black hair hung over her shoulders and she smiled shyly at the other girls. They were each carrying an empty basket.
“Guess what!” said Isabella. “We found out something amazing! You’ll never guess what it is.”
“Have you found The Book of Ninja?” Rosalind’s eyes lit up.
“No, that’s not it!” said Isabella.
“Have you found an animal that needs rescuing?” asked Lottie.
“No, that’s not it, either!” Isabella turned to Amina. “Should we make them guess some more or just tell them … ?”
Text copyright © 2013 by Paula Harrison
Interior illustrations copyright © 2013 by Artful Doodlers
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Nosy Crow Ltd.
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. NOSY CROW and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd.
First printing, December 2013
Cover art by Sharon Tancredi
Cover design by Jeannine Riske
e-ISBN 978-0-545-50935-0
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
The Shimmering Stone Page 5