Story 20 – Save the Goose Monkey!

Just outside of Ominerve, at a very hard to find Oasis, stood a large red circus tent. It was dirty, loosely tied, and beginning to wear. In the darkness of the circus tent, with the star filled sky shining through big holes in the canvas, the Ring Master paced around a large fire. He was angry and sour as he kicked over empty cages that used to contain animals. One of the cages struck another cage containing a strange creature, a goose monkey. A timid servant approached the Ring Master and asked if there was anything he needed before he left for the village. The Ring Master glared at his servant with contempt.

“I need to get my circus back on the road to make money.” said the Ring Master, ” but to do that I need animals and performers. Performers and animals cost money! I would steal animals but I have no magic knobs and I would make more magic knobs but I need brass for knobs and brass costs money!”

The servant quickly ran away fearing what the angry Ring Master would do next.

In the darkness the Ring Master shouted into the fire, “Smoke! Ash!”

Two fire pixies burst from the fire in plumes of flame.

“What do you command, master?” the pixies asked.

“Find the princesses of Harrowsmith.” commanded the Ring Master, “Bring them to me.”

“Master, humans can’t travel through fire.” said Smoke.

“Sure they can. They’ll just get burned.” said the Ring Master, “Now go.”

The fire pixies obviously didn’t want to hurt the Princesses but they had no choice. They dove into the fire. Sparks flew and the pixies disappeared. On the peak of the tent a black raven cawed and took flight.

The Ring Master saw the raven and sneered, “Try and stop me.”

Deep in the Secret Forest near Nanny and Grandpa’s cottage in the tree the princesses, Evie and Charlotte, were playing with a big bag of magic doorknobs. The sun was shining and it had been many months since their mischief at the circus and their run-in with the Ring Master. The princesses were grabbing the doorknobs and putting them onto the trunks of trees in the Secret Forest and opening them to see where they went. Some went high into the mountains while others opened to complete darkness. One even opened and began to pour water all over the ground leaving many puddles and the princesses soaking wet. The princesses were very curious to see what was through the doors but never entered. The princesses knew better than to go somewhere without telling someone. Especially if somewhere was through a magic door, made by a magic knob, that they stole from a mean magic man, just after releasing countless wild animals into the lands of Harrowsmith.

The princesses, being soaking wet, asked grandpa if they could build a fire to dry off and cook some lunch. Grandpa said they could use fire as a tool, not a toy, as long as an adult was supervising. This made the princesses very happy. They had never made a fire by themselves before. They collected wood and kindling from the piles near grandpa’s shed. They stacked them into a neat looking log cabin shape and filled the inside with dry leaves. Grandpa gave princess Evie a flint rock and stood back to watch. The flint made a small spark. It landed on the dry leaves and immediately caused the leaves to smoke. Princess Evie knelt down to softly blow on the small coals when a splash of water landed on them and drowned the fire completely.

“Hey! Charlotte!” said Princess Evie.

“It wasn’t me!” said Princess Charlotte, looking around.

“Grandpa, was it you?” asked Princess Evie.

“I wouldn’t do that to you.” said Grandpa, “That’s mean.”

Princess Charlotte replaced the wet leaves with dry ones and took the stone from Princess Evie to try and light the fire again. Once again there were sparks, coals, smoke, and then splash! Another dousing of water put out the fire.

“Hey!” said Princess Charlotte.

“I’m sorry princesses.” said a small voice from behind them.

The princesses looked behind them and saw a blue haired pixie relaxing in a puddle under a tree.

“What do you think you’re doing, pixie?” said Princess Charlotte, “We’re trying to light a fire, here.”

“Don’t call me pixie, human. My name is Spritz and you cannot light that fire. You must come with me.”

“You can’t tell them what to do, Spritz.” said Grandpa. “They are the Princesses of Harrowsmith.”

“I was sent by Elizabeth, the Rain Maker.” said Spritz, “The princesses are in grave danger.”

“Oh dear,” said Grandpa, “that is serious. You’d better go with her”

“There is no time to lose! Into the puddle princesses.” said Spritz as she hovered in the air just above the pig puddle she had come out of.

The princesses thought this little pixie was crazy. They leaned over the puddle and stared into it. They could see the bottom. There was grass and leaves floating around in it. They looked at the pixie in disbelief.

“It’s just a puddle.” said Princess Evie.

“Then you should have no fear about jumping right in.” said the pixie.

“This is silly.” said Princess Charlotte, “Out of my way!”

Princess Evie watched intently as Princess Charlotte jumped into the puddle. When Princess Charlotte landed in the puddle water engulfed her and she was gone! Princess Evie was immediately spooked.

“I don’t want to go in there.” Princess Evie said, “Can’t I ride Curls?”

Spritz quickly flew behind Princess Evie and flew right into her bum. Princess Evie was so surprised she shrieked and hopped forward right into the puddle. The puddle swallowed up Princess Evie just as it had Princess Charlotte. Spritz dove into the puddle and disappeared, leaving Grandpa all by himself.

“I guess I’ll go and have a nap.” said Grandpa.

The princesses were standing on stone platforms in the centre of a beautiful circular stone fountain. The fountain was in a circular room with shiny marble tile floor surrounded by many rows of circular pillars. Spitz popped out of the fountain and immediately flew out of sight without a word. Princess Evie and Princess Charlotte carefully stepped out of the fountain and looked around. They noticed their clothes, shoes, and hair were completely dry. The princesses weaved through row after row of pillars to try and catch Spitz. Suddenly they could see sky, and clouds, and the entire Kingdom of Harrowsmith beneath their feet! Spritz had taken them through the puddle to the top of the highest mountain to the home of the Rain Maker. The princesses could see the entire Kingdom from Harrowsmith Castle to the Great Wall and the Lake on the Mountain. The princesses were breathless.

“Do you like the view?” asked a voice from behind them.

“This is incredible.” said Princess Evie.

“Good. Because you’re going to be staying here until we find the Ring Master.” said Elizabeth

“How do you even know that we’re in danger?” asked Princess Evie.

“A mutual friend has warned me.” said Elizabeth.

“No way!” said Princess Charlotte. “I don’t believe you and I don’t want to stay.”

“It is for your own safety.” said Elizabeth.

The Princesses were furious! They didn’t know how to get home from the mountains by themselves. This could not be allowed to happen! But before the princesses could think of what to say the Rain Maker, Elizabeth, had left. Spritz floated though the air before them.

“I’ll show you to your rooms.” said Spritz.

As the princesses followed Spritz down the hall the water pixie turned to them to try and make them feel better.

“Every water pixie in Harrowsmith is looking for the Ring Master.” said Spritz, “This will all be sorted out in no time.”

The princesses were furious when they went to their rooms. They thought they were going to go on and adventure and now they were stuck! Princess Charlotte saw birds hopping around on the sill in her bedroom. She slipped on her magic ring and told the bird to fly to Nanny and Grandpa’s cottage in the Secret Forest and tell Panana that she’s trapped in the Rain Maker’s home on the mountain. After sending for Panana Princess Charlotte sneaked out of her bedroom and went looking for Elizabeth.

“Where are you going?” asked Princess Evie quietly as she ran after Princess Charlotte down the hallway.

“I’m going to go fix this myself.” said Charlotte.

The princesses found Elizabeth in the fountain room staring into the pools of water. The princesses could see that she was looking around the Kingdom of Harrowsmith through the water as if she was looking through a window. Suddenly a group of pixies burst from the pool and floated before Elizabeth.

“The Ring Master is in Ominerve, near the oasis outside of town!” said one of the water pixies.

“Good work.” said Elizabeth, “I shall inform Queen Ann Marie.”

“Ominerve!” said Princess Charlotte. “That’s all I needed to know! 🙂

Princess Charlotte ran back to her room and jumped in bed to get some sleep. Princess Evie did the same. In the middle of the night Princess Charlotte heard a tapping at her window. When she woke up and looked outside there was Panana looking right back at her. Princess Charlotte jumped out of bed, grabbed her sword and ran out onto the balcony to find Panana, still wearing her pyjamas. Princess Charlotte found Panana waiting. She jumped on the back of her winged horse and galloped towards the edge. Just before Panana leaped over the edge Evie came tearing around the corner so fast her feet were slipping on the shiny marble.

“WAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!” wailed Princess Evelyn.

Princess Charlotte waited patiently while Princess Evie jumped on the back of Panana and squeezed her sister tightly around the waist. Panana jumped over the edge of the castle wall and the princesses headed for Ominerve.

Princess Evie and Princess Charlotte glided down the side of the mountains on Panana. It was very dark outside and the air was very cold. Princess Evie wrapped her arms and cape around Princess Charlotte to keep warm. The entire Kingdom of Harrowsmith was still asleep. The princesses couldn’t hear or see anything. All the birds were asleep and all the campfires had burnt out. As they crossed over the south river into Ominverve Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie squinted their eyes to try and see the Ring Master’s tent. It didn’t take them long to find it. Even in the dark of night a giant red and white tent stands out. Princess Charlotte gently guided Panana to the outside edge of the sand dune surrounding the tent.

Princess Evie and Princess Charlotte scurried over the dunes and down the other side. Princess Evie was scared but Princess Charlotte was fearless, which made Princess Evie feel much better. Without making a sound the princesses slipped around the edge of the tent and peered in through the door. It was pitch black inside.

“I can’t see anything.” said Princess Charlotte, quietly.

“We shouldn’t go in there.” said Princess Evie. “We should go to Ominerve, gather some guards, and come back.”

“We’ll be fine.” said Charlotte, as she slowly and quietly drew her sword.

Princess Charlotte slipped through the doorway into the darkness. Princess Evie was too afraid to follow her.

“Charlotte!” hissed Evie, “Charlotte, please come back! I’m scared.”

It was too late. Princess Evie couldn’t hear or see Princess Charlotte any more.

Princess Charlotte tip toed as quietly as she could towards the centre of the tent. It was very difficult to be quiet because there were puddles everywhere from spilled water jugs. It looked like someone had made a really big mess and hadn’t cleaned it up yet. She heard a quiet rumbling that got louder and louder as she moved through the dark. The princess started to get nervous realizing how alone she was. She held her shield close, whispered “Hide. Hide. Hide!”, then vanished. When Princess Charlotte arrived at the centre of the tent she found the Ring Master, fast asleep and snoring on a big pile of empty cages. On his left side a large, thick candle was almost burnt out. On his other side a cage, the only cage with an animal left in it, held the goose monkey! The goose monkey was also fast asleep. Princess Charlotte went to work quickly. She sheathed her sword, took off her cape and tossed it over the goose monkey’s cage. Just as she had picked up the cage and was about to make her escape the tent door blew open and in stumbled Princess Evie surrounded by fire pixies. Princess Evie’s clothes were burnt all over. The fire pixies had obviously used fire to get Princess Evie to come with them. They lit up the room as each of them glowed brightly.

“We’ve found one! We’ve found a princess of Harrowsmith!” shouted the Pixies. Charlotte, still invisible, stood watching but could not do anything without showing everyone where she was. The Ring Master woke up immediately.

“What! Where? What’s going on?!” shouted the Ring Master, confused “Ah! Princess Evelyn! Good work!”

“Unhand me!” said Princess Evelyn

“Yeah! Unhand her!” said Princess Charlotte, dropping the goose monkey’s cage and drawing her sword.

“Grab her!” said the Ring Master.

“I’ll slash any pixie that comes near me!” said Princess Charlotte.

The pixies stopped in mid-air and the Ring Master looked cross.

“It wasn’t enough you freed all of my animals and stole my doorknobs and dog! Now you’re planning on stealing my goose monkey?!”

“That’s our goose monkey!” shouted Princess Evie “I made him! Well… accidentally made him! But he’s our responsibility.”

Princess Charlotte reached into her pack and produced the bag of magic doorknobs.

“Here’s your knobs. You can have them back. We were only trying to protect the animals of Harrowsmith. But we’re taking back our goose monkey and you can’t have jib.”

“I’ll have what I like!” yelled the Ring Master.

The ring master clutched the small flame that burned on the candle in his hands like it was a baseball. He held it out in front of him and shot three small fireballs at Princess Charlotte. Princess Charlotte had lightning reflexes and lifted her shield just in time to block all three balls of fire. She charged the ringmaster and drew her sword back over her head to strike. Princess Charlotte was mid stroke when the puddle at her feet burst upward and knocked her backward. The flame in the Ring Master’s hand was quenched, as was the candle’s. Water pixies, which the princesses could now see glowed blue in the darkness dove out of the water and threw balls of water at the fire pixies, drenching them and forcing them to fall to the ground.

When the water had settled a figure stood in the centre of the now drenched tent. It was the Rain Maker, Lady Elizabeth.

“Please place Princess Charlotte, Princess Evie, and the Ring Master under arrest.” said Lady Elizabeth to her pixies.

Story 18 – Goose-Monkey

Princess Charlotte was coming back from the Great Wall on Panana, her winged horse, in a freezing cold blizzard! She had mittens over top of gloves, a scarf over her face, two wool sweaters, a long overcoat, and a cape with a furry hood but she was still freezing! Panana had wool leg warmers, a face mask and a thick, long saddle blanket, but Princess Charlotte had the feeling that if she were to ask Panana she would probably say she was still very cold. Princess Charlotte usually brought her magic ring everywhere but when she woke up this morning she couldn’t find it and didn’t want to waste any time looking for it. Princess Charlotte had to hold onto Panana’s reigns very tightly against the wind. Sometimes it felt like the snow might pull her right off Panana’s back so she kept her head down and flew onward. Every once in a while Charlotte would hear the loud and grating cry of a raven but every time she looked around all she could see was white.

When Harrowsmith Castle finally came into sight Princess Charlotte was very relieved. She set down Panana in the courtyard and quickly dismounted. It felt very good to have her feet back on the ground. As she was walking Panana to the barn Princess Charlotte heard another loud caw. This time she looked and saw a large black raven sitting on the roof of the stable. Princess Charlotte looked at the raven and the raven looked right back at Princess Charlotte and cawed again. Charlotte put Panana inside the stable, threw some extra firewood into the wood stove that kept the barn warm and went inside the castle to look for some warmth!

Inside, when Queen Mommy saw Princess Charlotte, Queen Mommy said “My dear daughter! Come, come! You must get warm! Your lips are blue and you’re shaking.”

Princess Charlotte knew that her hands had been shaking for some time but she did not know that her lips had turned blue. She stepped out of her boots, dropped her shield and sword at the front door and walked in towards a fireplace. The biggest fireplace in the castle was in the den, a sunken room through a small door and down five stone steps off of the Great Hall. The den had three big windows with diamond shaped pieces of glass in many colours. Each piece of glass was completely covered in frost except for a circle in the centre. There were many chairs circled around a large fireplace and in the centre was a large, very comfortable, couch. Princess Charlotte took a seat on the couch and picked up a big, soft, wool blanket and wrapped it around herself before taking off her gloves and mittens. Queen Mommy came in shortly after with a large mug of steaming hot chocolate.

“Thanks mom!” Princess Charlotte said, accepting the mug.

“Mommy, have you seen my ring?” Charlotte asked.

“You have many rings Charlotte”, Mommy replied.

“The Croc-Tooth ring you made me.” Charlotte specified.

“Oh! I think I saw your sister walking with it this morning.” Queen Mommy said.

“Hmm…” Princess Charlotte thought to herself.

“Charlotte…” Queen Mommy warned, “You don’t need it, let her use it.”

“But what is she using if for? Where is she?”, Princess Charlotte asked.

“She’s practising her magic in my tower. Don’t worry. You’ll get it back.” said Queen Mommy.

As Princess Charlotte sipped her hot chocolate she heard the grating caw of the raven again. She looked and saw the raven staring at her through the clear section of one of the glass diamonds in the window.

“This is ridiculous.” said Charlotte, “that raven needs to tell me something. I need to get my ring back.”

After Princess Charlotte finished her hot chocolate and the fire had warmed her up she stood up to go find Princess Evie and get her magic ring back. She walked through the Great Hall and up the stairs to the tallest tower. When she had climbed enough stairs she stood before the door to Queen Mommy’s magic laboratory.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Princess Charlotte pounded on the door.

“Evie, open up! I know you’re in there. I need my ring!” said Princess Charlotte.

“Come back later. I’m very busy and I need your ring for a little while longer.” came Princess Evie’s voice from behind the door.

Charlotte was not impressed. She thought about what to do for a few seconds. Panana can fly, she can take me up to one of the tower windows, thought Princess Charlotte as she turned around and ran back down the stairs to the stable. When Princess Charlotte burst through the door of the stable, letting wind and snow bluster through, Panana ducked behind a wooden wall in some hay. Panana obviously did not want to go back outside.

Princess Charlotte walked over to her brave winged horse and said “I know you’re tired and cold but we’re not going far. I just need you to fly me to a window in the tallest tower.” Panana stared at Princess Charlotte blankly.

“Oh it’s no use!” Princess Charlotte spoke to herself, “Panana can’t understand me without my magic ring on.”

Just then a coiled rope hanging in the corner of the barn caught Princess Charlotte’s eye. She grabbed the rope and ran for the tower.

When Princess Charlotte reached the rooftop of the tower she tied one end of her rope to the tower wall and the other around her waist. She stood on the side of the tower wall. It was very high up and the wind was blowing very hard. When Princess Charlotte bent over to throw the rest of the rope over the side of the tower she slipped and fell. Princess Charlotte managed to grab some of the rope in one hand and some more of it in the other. Her left leg was hooked over the rope and her right leg was hooked under it. She didn’t fall very far but when she stopped she was stuck, completely tangled, dangling from the tower outside the window into Queen Mommy’s laboratory.

Light was flashing out the window. Princess Charlotte could see Princess Evie surrounded by lots of glass containers filled with brightly coloured liquids. Princess Charlotte could also see that Princess Evie was wearing her magic ring and talking to someone. Princess Charlotte was starting to get worried about her predicament when the black raven that she had seen earlier came back again and this time landed right on the ropes that bound her. The raven looked at Princess Charlotte and once more let out a loud caw! Princess Charlotte tried to wiggle to get a hold of some rope so she could climb back to the rooftop but it was no use. The raven jumped off Charlotte and dove towards the courtyard. A few moments later Panana came flapping up toward her. Panana grabbed the rope in her teeth and began to pull Princess Charlotte away from the tower and the window. When Panana let go of the rope Princess Charlotte swung straight through the glass window and landed right on Princess Evie’s table, knocking over everything!

“Oh no, Charlotte!” screamed Princess Evie, “What have you done?”

Princess Charlotte looked around at the huge mess she had just made. The potions spilt all over a goose that was waddling around on the floor and made a big puddle! Charlotte saw that Princess Evie had not been talking to a person at all. A little spider monkey jumped on top of Princess Charlotte and squawked at Princes Evie. Princess Charlotte was still trying to get out of the mess of ropes when Princess Evie squawked back and tried to grab the monkey and missed. The little monkey landed right beside the goose in the puddle of potions and POOF! The goose and the monkey disappeared into a giant cloud of pink and purple smoke! When the smoke cleared the monkey, the goose and the puddle were gone!

“See, you should have just let me in.” said Charlotte, “look what you made me do!”

“Made YOU do!?” Princess Evie said, furiously, “Made YOU do?!”

“Can I have my ring back?” asked Charlotte.

“Your ring?! “Take it!” Princess Evie yelled, holding out her hand with the ring. “You ruined my experiment! Look at this mess! This will take me weeks to reset and I was pretty much done!”

A streak of feathers swooped across Princess Evie’s open hand and took the ring.

“What was that?!” the Princesses yelled, looking around.

It was still very smoky in the laboratory and the broken window was letting the wind come in and blow everything around.

“I can’t see anything.” said Princess Evie.

Princess Evie found her wand and pointed it at the window.

“Pu Nek!” said Princess Evie.

Magic spat forth from her wand and grabbed all the broken glass and window pieces and started to repair it before their eyes.

“There!” Princess Charlotte shouted and pointed to a white creature in the rafters of the tower.

Before either of the Princesses could see what it was it dove past them, landed on the table and jumped through the half-mended window.

“I think that was my experiment.” said Evie.

“You’re experiment just stole my magic ring!” said Charlott, “Come on!”

The Princesses sprinted down the stairs of the tower, across the great hall, they threw on their outside clothes and burst out the front door of Harrowsmith Castle. Panana had seen all the commotion and was on the wall watching where the white, winged creature was going. Princess Evie burst out of the stable on Curls wearing her favourite red riding cape. As soon as she yelled “Open the gate!” Princess Charlotte snapped Panana’s reigns and the winged horse leaped over the wall and into the air.

Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie could hardly see the little white, winged creature in the snowstorm. They chased shadows and shapes for the most part but every once in a while they’d see the little white, winged monster zip in front of them and they’d know they were catching up. By the time an hour had passed they had chased it east and west and north and south until they wound up at Onipilif. The snow was gone and the white, winged creature flew down and landed inside the castle walls. The princesses rode as hard as they could to the gates of Onipilif. The guards let them in and they looked everywhere for the little creature but it was nowhere to be found.

“Did you see a white creature fly into the castle?” Princess Charlotte asked one of the guards in the courtyard.

“I did.” the guard replied, “it ran and flew down to the dock and got on the ferry with Lord Marcus.”

“So you have it?!” asked the princesses.

“Well…” said the guard sheepishly, “Lord Marcus was startled, he didn’t know what it was, and he threw his helmet at it. After that it jumped into the air and flew south over the river.”

Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie were more than upset. Not with the guard and not with Lord Marcus. Not with the white, winged, creature either.

Princess Charlotte turned to Princess Evie and Princess Evie turned to Princess Charlotte and at the same time they said “This is all your fault!”

“My fault?!” they both replied to each other.

“Yes! Your fault!” said Evie, “You ruined my experiment and lost my pets!”

“Your experiment?!” Charlotte said, “You lost my magic ring to that… that… thing you created! Oh, I’m so mad!”

“Well I’m mad too.” said Princess Evie.

After that the princesses stopped talking to each other. A minute went by. Then two. Then five. Soon a half hour went by and still not a peep. It wasn’t until Lord Marcus pulled the ferry up to the dock that they were able to speak again but they didn’t speak to each other.

“Marcus! Please! We’re very sorry to ask you but can you make a special trip across the river to Ominerve?” said Evie.

“That was the last trip. The sun is going down. Daddy, Lord Mike says no crossings after dark.”

The princesses were so upset.

“It’s not your fault.” Princess Evie said to Marcus.

They turned around and went inside the castle to talk to Lord Mike. When they were greeted by their aunt, Lady Millie, they decided to ask her instead.

“Aunt Millie, can Marcus or Logan take us across the river? We know the sun is going down and we know that it’s not allowed but we really need to go!”

“Why?” asked Lady Millie.

Charlotte took a deep breath and Evie took a deep breath. They both started talking over top of each other in a giant muddled mess. Lady Millie could only make out

“Let me get this straight” said Lady Millie, “Evie was in Queen Ann Marie’s magic tower and had a very cold Charlotte tied up in ropes and drinking hot chocolate. That’s when Evie sawed through a window looking for a ring while Panana was flying around with a goose and a monkey. Is that right?”

“Close enough.” said Princess Charlotte, “now the creature’s gone to Ominerve and if we don’t get it back my ring will be gone forever.”

“I didn’t mean for my magic to make this creature either. It’s probably very scared. I need to talk to it.” said Evie.

“Well that is admirable.” said Lady Millie, “but rules are rules. You’ll have to go in the morning.”

The girls were disappointed as they climbed the stair to their rooms for the night. They laid in bed by a big open window looking at the stars the girls thought about the white, winged, creature. Princess Charlotte thought about her lost ring and Princess Evie thought about the mess in mommy’s laboratory. Princess Charlotte was hoping to get the ring back tomorrow and Princess Evie wanted to get the creature back safely.

The girls heard a large caw as the raven softly landed on the window sill. Princess Evie tried to shoe it away, but Princess Charlotte, having seen the bird many times already today stopped her. When Princess Charlotte looked closer she saw the raven had something in her mouth. It was Princess Charlotte’s ring. The raven dropped the ring on the sill. Princess Charlotte grabbed it and put it on. Princess Charlotte was going to ask the crow why it was following her all this time but before she could the little black raven simply said “Come. Now.”

Before Charlotte could ask the raven any questions it jumped off the sill and disappeared into the night’s sky. Charlotte was very pleased with the return of her ring. Princess Evie had many questions.

“Was that bird yours, Charlotte?” asked Evie.

“No.” said Charlotte, playing with her ring.

“Do you know who’s the owner?” asked Evie.

“No.” said Charlotte, still playing with her ring.

“We’re going to have to find out.” said Princess Evie.

“Well let’s go” said princess Charlotte.

“Now?” asked Evie

“The longer we wait the further away that creature can run.”

“OK.” said Evie, “Let’s go!”

The princesses slipped out of bed and slowly and very quietly got dressed. They quickly and very quietly jogged down to the front door of the castle on their tip-toes. They slipped through he doorway and looked around. Panana and curls were in the Onipilif stables. Princess Evie and Princess Charlotte hid under Charlotte’s magic shield to get past the guards. They slipped into the stable undetected.

“What are we doing in here?” asked Princess Evie, “Curls can’t fly over the water. We need the ferry!”

“I know that.” said Princess Charlotte, slipping on her magic ring.

Princess Charlotte woke up Panana. Panana snorted and scuffed her hooves and Princess Charlotte could tell she just wanted to sleep.

“Please Panana, we need you to create a diversion.” said Princess Charlotte.

“Oh but I’m so tired!” said Panana.

“It will only take a minute.” said Princess Charlotte, “We just need to get to the ferry, unnoticed.”

“What do you need?” asked Panana.

“Do what you do best.”said Charlotte.

A few moments after the princesses had snuck from the barn the barn door burst open and Panana came charging out. She was jumping and flying like she had gotten a bee stuck in her mane. The guards went nuts. They were all afraid Princess Charlotte’s winged horse would run of fly away on their watch and they’d get in trouble. They called for the guards on the other side of the ferry dock to help. They came running. When they opened up the locked gate guarding the ferry the princesses sneaked in. Princess Evie and Princess Charlotte ran down to the ferry and started to unfasten the ropes that were holding it to the dock. It didn’t take long for the princesses to find out that the biggest rope was not a rope at all. It was an iron chain and it was fastened to the dock with a lock. Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie did not have the key. When they discovered the lock their hopes were dashed. Before either of them had time to think of their next plan a dark figure emerged from the shadows.

“Need a hand?” asked Lord Logan, holding up the key to the lock.

“Logan!” the princesses shouted as they ran and gave their husband a big hug.

“We need to…” the princesses began but Lord Logan stopped them short.

“I know. Marcus told be everything. As soon as he fell asleep I came here knowing that you two would never be able to wait until morning.” Lord Logan smiled.

The princesses helped Logan set loose the remaining ties and push off from the dock. Lord Logan did most of the work because Charlotte and Evelyn had never operated the ferry before. But they were helping and learning as much as they could.

When they reached the other side of the river it was very warm. The south side of the river was always much warmer. It never snowed in Ominerve. The princesses helped pull the ferry up to the empty dock. They could all hear the sound of boats bouncing on the docks and the waves as they crashed on the short but that was all. Other than that there was silence. There were no walls around Ominerve so the princesses strolled right into the centre of town. Everyone was asleep and all the lanterns, candles, and fires were out. The centre of town had a lookout tower built from one solid piece of stone. It had three legs, one of which had stairs on it, leading up to a beautiful ornately carved gazebo. The princesses and Logan climbed up to the top. Princess Evie took out her telescope and looked around. It was too dark to see anything.

“Great. We can’t do anything until morning.” Princess Evie said.

“What are we looking for?” asked Logan.

“We’re not sure.” said Princess Charlotte, “but we have to find it. All we know is that it’s an animal, it’s white, and it can fly and climb really well.”

“Like a monkey?” asked Logan

“More like a goose AND a monkey.” said Princess Evie.

“Oh, a Goose-Monkey!” said Logan, trying to sound very smart.

“Yes, that’s it. A goose-monkey!” said the princesses, not knowing what to call it themselves.

The princesses and Logan were so tired they fell asleep in the watchtower. When the sun started to creep over the horizon the raven appeared again on the edge of the stone. It squawked and only Charlotte understood what it was saying.

“The goose-monkey is south of the city in the orchards.” Charlotte said to Logan and Evie as they all yawned a big yawns and wiped the sleep out of their eyes. It was a good thing I had my ring on Charlotte thought.

The three noble children left the tower and started to walk down the dirt road to the orchard. Along the way a passer-by in a wagon offered the princesses and Lord Logan a ride so they hopped on the back. The cart bumped and wiggled all the way down the road. When they had arrived at the orchard a short time later they looked and looked until finally they heard splashing by the riverside. The three of them slowly crept over the bank and got their first good look at the goose-monkey! It looked like a monkey and a goose put together. It loved to climb, it loved to swim. It was climbing up the apple and banana trees, eating apples and bananas and diving back into the water.

Princess Charlotte stepped forward with her ring on and said “We don’t want to hurt you but you have to come home with us.”

“I love friends!”said the goose-monkey, “but I’m not going anywhere!”

“Can you come home with us?” asked Princess Charlotte.

“It’s too cold there!” said the goose-monkey, “I like it here!”

Suddenly a magic door appeared and Princess Evie screamed! She had never seen a magic door appear out of nowhere. The door flew open. Charlotte dove to grab the goose monkey but a pair of hands reached out from the door and grabbed the goose monkey. It screamed as it was ripped through the door. Charlotte tried to get to the door as quick as she could but it was no use. The door slammed shut and disappeared before their eyes.

“What was that!” screamed Evie.

“That was not good.” said Princess Charlotte.

Story 12 – The Lake on the Mountain and the Cloud Folk

It was a dreary cold and grey day in the Kingdom of Harrowsmith. Nobody slept well at all now that the secret forest was covered in ice. Princess Charlotte rolled out of bed to get dressed. Princess Evie was already up, dressed and looking out their bedroom window at the secret forest. “It’s still covered in ice.”, Princess Evie said, “I was hoping it was all a bad dream.” “Me too”, said Princess Charlotte. Jib, Princess Charlotte’s puppy dog, nuzzled Princess Charlotte’s leg and started to growl. “Oh, not you jibby jibby.” said Princess Charlotte, “You know, you’re the best thing that happened yesterday.” “Hey! What about my party?” said Princess Evie. “That was fun, but Jib is so cute!” The princesses giggled together.

When the princesses ran downstairs they found a lot more people than usual at the breakfast table; Lord Mike, Duchess Millie, Lords Marcus and Logan, Witch Melanie, Sir Jacob and Lady Emma. The Princesses were ecstatic! They had not seen Lady Emma in many months! “Emma!” they squealed! Lady Emma had been in the Dog Lands trying to negotiate the return of the Queen of Cats’ balls of yarn. “Did you get them to give back the yarn?” Princess Charlotte asked. “Of course! As usual, it was all just a big misunderstanding.” said Emma. “That’s great!” said Princess Charlotte. “Have you eaten?” “Not yet.” said Emma.

The princesses sat down beside their best friend, Lady Emma, and enjoyed a huge breakfast. There was bacon, toast, beans, and eggs and the girls ate until they felt like they might burst! All of the other people at the table spoke to King Daddy as he told them what he planned to do about the ice surrounding the Secret Forest. Princess Charlotte and Lady Emma had so much to catch up on they were hardly paying attention. Lady Emma told the princesses all about her adventures with the cats and dogs and about traveling over the lake on the mountain with the cloud folk. It was all very interesting but before they knew it breakfast was over and everyone was leaving. The princesses were embarrassed because they hadn’t been paying attention. Lady Emma was embarrassed too. King Daddy looked at them as everyone else left. “Come with me.” King Daddy said as he walked towards his throne room.

King Daddy walked to his throne and took his seat. He looked more tired than usual. “Ladies,” King Daddy began, “I’ve saved the most important mission for you.” You are going to deliver a very special lantern to the cloud folk. Lady Emma can show you the way.” “What lantern?” asked Evie.

The Witch, Melanie came out from the side of the room and produced a small wool bag. The bag was sparkling strangely. Princess Evie extended her hand and took the bag. When she looked at it she realized that it was not sparkling at all. The light coming from inside the bag was so bright that the light was escaping through the strands of wool. When Princess Evie opened the bag a blinding light burst out. She reached in and pulled out a small lantern. The lantern was impossible to look at at first. It shone too brightly. As the lantern came into the daylight, the light quickly dimmed. “The darker it becomes the brighter this lantern will shine.” King Daddy said. “It is the only thing Melanie and Queen Mommy think will be able to move the dark storm cloud from above the Secret Forest.” “What about the ice?!” Princess Charlotte asked. “There are many powers at work here, Charlotte.” said King Daddy. “The clouds are no work of mother nature. They are stuck there.” said King Daddy. “I fear the essence of darkness is contained within them.” said Queen Mommy. “That lantern contains the essence of light. It is all the cloud folk need to destroy the storm cloud. Then we can worry about the ice.” said King Daddy. “They are waiting for you.” said Melanie.

The courtyard was busy with guards and soldiers when the Ladies of Harrowsmith emerged. There were far more horses than usual but when Emma whistled her horse, Puppet, came trotting forward. “I’ll have to remember to teach Panana that one.” said Princess Charlotte. The princesses went into the barn, prepared their animals for riding, mounted their steeds and galloped out of the barn and through the castle gates. Lady Emma joined them and they were off.

The day was spent traveling. Princess Evie tied the lantern to Curls saddle. The three girls had snacks in their saddle bags and most of the trip the ate and talked. “Do you want me to tell you about the lands of the cats and dogs?”, asked Lady Emma. “Yeah!”, said Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie together.

“Well they’re not like our cats and dogs. They’re far bigger” Emma began. “and they can talk, just like you and me.” “Really? Like, with magic?” asked Evie, thinking about Princess Charlotte’s magic ring. “Yeah!” said Emma “They behave just like cats and dogs; running, chasing, scratching, barking and pawing.” “That’s Crazy!” said Princess Charlotte. “Why do we get involved? Isn’t that dangerous?” asked Evie. “Well it is,” said Emma “but the problem is whenever they fight it rains in the farmlands. So, if we don’t keep the peace we’ll have flooded fields.” the Princesses laughed at Lady Emma’s joke but couldn’t help but wonder if she was being serious.

As the day wore on the princesses found themselves finally at the great wall. As usual, the guards saluted the noble children of Harrowsmith. The princesses and Lady Emma rode their horses up onto the wall. “The last time we came this way,” said Princess Evie, “Lord Logan and Princess Charlotte were going to get me to jump over the falls!” “Well we’re not going towards the falls this time.” said Emma. “It’s this way.” “I know.” said Evie, “I was just mentioning it. I’m still annoyed.” The princesses followed Lady Emma north along the wall. A couple of jumping dragons were getting pretty feisty along the wall so they stopped to help the guards push them back. A few good bops on the noodle with a shield or sword and they were gone.

When the Princesses had followed Emma all the way to the North end of the wall they felt very alone. The North end of the wall was very tall and there were no guards around because the jumping dragons couldn’t jump that high. When they came to the gate of the last tower they swung it open to reveal a hollow cavern with a spiraling staircase. The princesses and Lady Emma dismounted their animals and started to unpack what they’d need for the rest of the journey. Princess Evie made sure she had all her food, her soft blanket, the lantern, and her bubble wand. Princess Charlotte did the same and made sure to take her magic shield and Jaguar. Lady Emma lead the horses and unicorn out of the cavern and said to Puppet very clearly. “Go Home!” “We’re not coming back this way?” asked Princess Evie. “No. We are to guard the lantern until the cloud folk are finished with it. Then we are to bring it back to the castle.” “Okay,” said Charlotte, putting on her croc-tooth ring, “Panana, Curls, we are going to find another way home. You can do whatever you like for the rest of the day.” Panana and Curls nuzzled the princesses with their heads and turned around and trotted off with Puppet. Lady Emma was well on her way up the stairs when the princesses turned around. Princess Evie held out her magic lantern and chased after her with Princess Charlotte.

The stairs were perfectly sculpted in the rocks. Lady Emma was going up them very fast. The princesses had trouble keeping up. When they reached the top there was another thick wooden door with a bar across it. “This keeps the pixies out of our lands.” said Emma, “we’ll have to remember to come and lock it so those little thieves won’t get in.” “Pixies?” asked the princesses, “we thought pixies were nice!” “Some are,” Lady Emma said, “but the wood pixies on top of this mountains are little buggers. They love gold. Any gold. In fact, you’d better tuck your hair under your hood and we’ll run as fast as we can.” The princesses were a little skeptical but they did what Lady Emma said. When they were done tucking in their hair Lady Emma had taken the bar from the door. She put her hand on the handle and looked at the two princesses. “Are you ready?” she asked. “Yes.” the princesses replied, feeling determined. “Now! Run!” Emma screamed as she swung the door open and took off down the path. Princess Evie and Princess Charlotte tore off after her. Princess Evie waved her wand at the open door and it slammed shut behind them. She even used her magic to re-bar the door. The princesses were running as fast as they could down a lovely brick road. The forest was bright and cheerful. There was no wind and the leaves were beginning to turn lovely shades of orange and red. They couldn’t see any yellow leaves. Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie slowed down as they were taken back by how pretty it was. Neither have them had ever been on top of this mountain before. “This place is gorgeous.” said Princess Charlotte. “It is. I don’t know why we were running. We’re going to miss it.” The two princesses began to walk and catch their breath. Lady Emma ran far ahead and out of sight. After a few minutes of strolling and enjoying the forest and the weather Princess Charlotte felt a tug on her hair. She swatted around her head and heard a little ‘Ouch!’. She looked and saw a little pixie clutching onto a lock of her hair. She grabbed the pixie and threw her away. The pixie flew right back into Princess Evelyn’s space and grabbed onto her hair again. Princess Evie didn’t like this one bit. Princess Charlotte grabbed the little pixie out of Princess Evie’s hair and threw it as far as she could. Just then another, and another pixie appeared; Then another! Soon the pixies were coming from everywhere and the princesses could hear them shouting ‘Gold! Gold!’. “What are they doing?” Shouted Princess Charlotte as they started to run away down the path. “We don’t have any gold!” “They’re after our hair!” said Princess Evie. “Run!” The two princesses ran as fast as they could. They finally got ahead of the swarm of pixies chasing after them. Lady Emma stood at the end of the path at the opening of the woods pointing her bow straight down the path at Princess Charlotte and princess Evie. There was four arrows on her bow at the same time. When the princesses saw this they dove to the right and left of the path and Lady Emma let fly her arrows! A huge magic net enveloped the pixies. Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie stood up and ran towards Emma. “Thank goodness you were here!” they said. “Let’s go, quickly!” Emma said.

When the princesses and Lady Emma emerged from the forest there was a great beach, almost as large as the white shores in the west. The beach wrapped nearly the entire edge of the lake on the mountain. Directly across from them there was a castle built right into the mountain! It was incredibly tall. So tall, in fact, that the top was covered in clouds. “Who lives there?!” said Princess Charlotte. “I’ve never seen or heard of anyone who lived on this mountain before!” said Princess Evie, excitedly. “That was the home of the cloud folk, long ago, before they learned to harness the essence of the air.” said Lady Emma. The water was crystal clear and blue. There were giant flowers that looked like tulips growing out of giant lily pads. “Wow!” the princesses said as they looked around. “Be careful.” Emma said. “… and follow me.” Lady Emma led the princesses out into the water to one of the big lily pads. “There doesn’t seem to be any big frogs around.” Emma said, “Quick, before they come back up!” Emma jumped up onto the lily pad and helped the princesses up. When they stood on the lily pad the princesses could see how big the flowers were. They were so big that both Princesses and Lady Emma could fit in one quite comfortably. Lady Emma tied a rope to the bottom of the biggest flower. “Get in.” she told the Princesses. The princesses got inside the giant flower. Lady Emma took out a long knife and swung it at the stem of the flower. “What are you doing!?” the princesses screamed. Just then, the flower broke loose of it’s stem and began to float away. Lady Emma ran along the lily pads pulling Princess Evie and Princess Charlotte with her rope through the air like a balloon. When Lady Emma ran out of rope and lily pads she jumped up, grabbed onto the rope and they were floating away with the wind. Princess Evie was very scared! She tucked herself down into the bottom of the flower. Princess Charlotte was laughing and screaming with excitement. She had never seen floating flowers before! Every once in a while she’d rock the flower just to scare Princess Evie even more. “You stop that right now, Charlotte!” Princess Evie would demand.

The flower picked up speed and landed safely on a balcony in the mountain castle. “How did you do that?” asked Princess Charlotte. “I didn’t. The cloud folk did. They’re expecting us.” Lady Emma said as she led the way up more stairs and through great halls with beautiful blue and silver stained glass windows. After the final flight of stairs they emerged onto a landing high up in the sky surrounded by clouds. Three figures wearing white cloaks and hoods came out of the clouds. When they got close enough the princesses could see that they were not cloaks, the creatures had great feathered wings right behind their arms and thick white hair that fell so straight it looked like hoods. Lady Emma bowed and said “We’re here on behalf of King Andrew.” “You have something for us, then?” asked the figure in the centre. Princess Evie produced the small lantern from her pocket and held it out. The lantern shone with blinding light as the cloud folk took it, placed three small glass vials in her hand, and leapt back into the clouds. The vials looked empty. Princess Evie handed one to Lady Emma and the other to Princess Charlotte. The three ladies opened the vials at the same time and held up the open vials to have a look inside. At first it seemed like the vials were empty. Suddenly wind began to blast out of the small vials. The princesses and Lady Emma held on as tight as they could. The wind blew out of the vials so hard it swept the princesses off their feet. The girls floated up into the air when suddenly Princess Evie, Princess Charlotte, and Lady Emma started growing wings. When the wind died down the princesses and Lady Emma looked just like the cloud people. They flapped their wings and took to the skies!

Once the princesses and Lady Emma were above the clouds they saw hundreds of cloud folk flying quickly behind the light of the lantern. The winds were picking up quickly and giving the princesses, Lady Emma, and the hundreds of cloud folk great speed. They charged over the edge of the white clouds and dove straight for the dark storm cloud above the Secret Forest. Princess Charlotte had great eyesight, especially during dusk, she could see before either Princess Evie or Lady Emma that the dark storm clouds were covered in cloud folk as well. They were not as fair as the cloud folk Charlotte knew. They looked a lot alike, but had rougher, scruffier, sharper grey fur with horns and fiercer, yellow eyes. They began to screech when they saw the armies of the cloud folk coming. The light from the lantern seemed to grow brighter and brighter as they flew close to the storm cloud. The creatures from the storm cloud flew hard and fast but they could not fight the wind. The good cloud folk smashed into the bad cloud folk with great force, knocking most of them to the ground. The bad cloud folk that were left in the skies went flying away from the light as fast as they could. The good cloud folk did not chase them. They circled the dark storm cloud with the magic lantern in the centre. Princess Charlotte, Princess Evie and Emma flapped and floated nearby. There wings were starting to get tired. The light of the lantern disappeared into the dark storm cloud. Moments later the cloud folk all flew away from the cloud and it burst with bright light. The good cloud folk seemed to be heading home so Princess Charlotte, Princess Evie and Lady Emma followed. When they arrived back at the spire of the castle the princesses and Lady Emma landed smoothly in front of the same three figures who stood before them before the battle. The centre figure held out his hand with the lantern. “The cloud folk thank you.” he said. Princess Evie stepped forward and extended her hand, taking the lantern. “My name is Raven, the leader of the Cloud Folk.” “I am Princess Evelyn, and this is my sister, Princess Charlotte.” “Nice to meet you. We also found this. See that Queen Ann Marie receives it. Do not look at it until you speak to the Queen.” “I understand.” Raven handed Princess Evie a small wool bag like the one the lantern had come to her in. She tucked it away in her pocket and the Princesses and Lady Emma said goodbye.

As they stepped to the edge and jumped into the air to fly home they wondered how much longer they’d have wings. They soared over the lake on the mountain and dove down the mountainside into the farmlands. When they reached the low lands of the plains a warm breeze surrounded them, changed them back, and placed them gently on the grass.

“Well, that was fun while it lasted.” said Lady Emma. “Yeah!” agreed the girls. “How are we going to get home now?” Princess Evie asked. Charlotte whistled as loud as she could and, wouldn’t you know it, Panana came galloping over the hill a few minutes later. “How did you do that?” Princess Evie asked. “Lucky try, I guess.” said Charlotte. All three ladies climbed on top of Panana’s back and rode back to the castle. On their way past the Secret Forest they could see that the dark cloud was gone. The moonlight glistened off the ice that still covered the Secret Forest. “Now for the hard part.” Lady Emma said. “What do you mean?” the princesses asked. “Well, there’s bound to be hundreds of snow dragons in there by now. Not to mention whatever ice monsters Daniel McEvil comes up with. It’s going to be a mess. But we’ll worry about that tomorrow.”

Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie both looked over their shoulders the whole ride home. They couldn’t stop thinking about the trouble that lurked behind the ice walls surrounding Nanny’s once beautiful forest.

Story 5 – The Good Whale and the Mean Crocodile

It was finally a sunny day in the Kingdom of Harrowsmith. There had been some sunshine in the past few months but not nearly as much as everyone in the Kingdom would have liked. Queen Mommy had come back from the Rain Maker’s home on the mountain early in the morning. She had convinced the Rain Maker to turn off the rain in the middle of the night. The sun and the warm winds from the south were drying up all the puddles.

Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie were out for a morning ride to Nanny and Grandpa’s cottage in the Secret Forest. As always, Princess Evie had brought her magic wand. Princess Charlotte, as always, brought her sword and magic shield. Neither of the princesses thought they’d need them but they were good to have, just in case. The princesses liked to go to Nanny and Grandpa’s cottage because Nanny always made delicious food to eat and Grandpa always had fun games for them to play. Plus, whenever they wanted to stay they could have a sleepover. Sometimes Lord Logan or Lord Marcus would come stay too; when they weren’t busy tending to the ferry in the south.

Nanny and Grandpa’s cottage was always a nice change from the big, cold, and hard stone walls and towers of the castle. Nanny and Grandpa’s cottage was a much smaller, warmer, and softer wooden cabin in the Secret Forest outside Harrowsmith Castle. It sat perched high up in the tallest tree in the Secret Forest. You could climb the tree or you could take the secret door in the back and come up the winding staircase inside its trunk. Nanny was always waiting in her rocking chair and using her magic crystal to talk to King Daddy and Lord Mike. Whenever the sun was out, as is was this morning, all the flowers around Nanny’s Cottage would bloom. Grandpa had planted red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple roses, carnations, and tulips everywhere. Today the meadow around Nanny’s home smelled like flowers and cinnamon buns.

“Nanny must be baking again!” said Princess Evie, excitedly.

“Mmmm!” replied Charlotte.

Panana and Curls started to trot a little faster. They must have wanted some cinnamon buns too!

When the princesses got to the bottom of the tree they tied their horse and unicorn up to the post at the bottom of the tree and gave them each a carrot from the basket Nanny always left out for them. Princess Charlotte climbed up onto Panana’s saddle again, stood up, jumped, grabbed the lowest branch of Nanny’s tree, and began shuffling her way to the top! Princess Evie walked behind the tree and tapped the secret tap to open the door. Knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock! Knock! The secret door opened and Evie started up the stairs. She loved the firefly lanterns Nanny had made to light the stairwell. They were made from honey. They smelled so sweet and the fireflies they attracted lit the stairway nicely. Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie arrived in the cottage at the same time. They were both startled by what they saw!

In the centre of Nanny’s living room was a baby crocodile! Princess Charlotte took out her sword to protect herself. Nanny came running out of the kitchen.

“Oh, no need for that, my darling. This is a good, baby crocodile. It wouldn’t dream of hurting anybody,” said Nanny, “at least not since I stuffed her full of my cinnamon buns! Don’t worry ladies I saved plenty for you!”

“What’s it doing here, Nanny?” asked Princess Charlotte.

“Well I was just about to find out. I found her in my potato patch this morning!” said Nanny.

Nanny pulled out a pair of very old looking glasses. They were magic glasses. They could see what anything with a brain was thinking.

“Can I look first?!” shouted Princess Evie.

“No, me!” said Princess Charlotte.

“Evie asked first.” said Nanny.

Nanny handed Charlotte a cinnamon bun and Evelyn the glasses.

When Princess Evie put on the glasses the whole world got very grey. Everything was perfectly clear but all the colour was gone. Princess Evie looked through the glasses at Princess Charlotte and there were colourful glasses, just like the glasses she was wearing dancing around her head. She obviously was thinking about not getting to go first. When she looked at Nanny there were four children dancing around her head. It was Princess Charlotte, Princess Evelyn, Lord Logan and Lord Marcus. Princess Evie could see she loved her grandchildren with all her heart. Princess Evie handed the glasses to Princess Charlotte.

“You can see what’s in the baby crocodile’s head. I’m a little bit frightened.” said Princess Evie.

Princess Charlotte took the glasses from Princess Evie and was so happy she shared she said, “Thank you, Evie!” When Princess Charlotte put on the glasses and looked at the baby crocodile she jumped back and gasped! There was a big, mean and angry crocodile stomping around the cute little baby crocodile’s head. “Oh, no! There’s a big mean crocodile inside her head.” said Princess Charlotte, “It looks like it’s right outside King Daddy’s castle in the marshes.”

Charlotte gave the glasses to Princess Evie and then started heading back out the window to climb down to Panana. Princess Evie took a look through the glasses at the big crocodile and then gave the glasses to Nanny.

“I don’t think you should go running off after this one, Charlotte. It looks really big!” Princess Evie said.

Nanny turned to Charlotte and said “You are much too small to scare a big crocodile like that my dear. It looks to be about the size of the barn! I think I might have the answer.”

Nanny told Princess Charlotte to get some cinnamon buns and then climb down and get the horses ready to go. When Princess Charlotte was doing what Nanny asked she was telling Princess Evie the plan. Nanny spoke softly into Princess Evie’s ear.

“Go to the salty ocean. Walk out to the end of the Old Dock Rock, take out your wand and sing this song.”

Nanny handed Princess Evie a rolled up piece of paper. Princess Charlotte poked her head back through the door.

“Are you coming or what?”

“Yes!” Princess Evie replied.

“Nanny, is that it?” asked Princess Evie.

“The rest you’ll figure out, I’m sure. Now go!” said Nanny.

The two Princesses rode their horses as fast as they could south, back to the front gate of Harrowsmith Castle. They went straight through the courtyard to the back gate, which guarded the pass to the water dragons, the white beach, and the ocean. Between the castle and the mountain there was a long river that ran along the base of the mountains. They crossed the bridge over it and galloped on their horses down the narrow pass in the mountains to the beach. The guards were cheering for them from the castle walls.

“Hurry Princesses! The big mean Crocodile has been spotted in the marsh and is on it’s way to the castle!” they shouted!

The guards knew that Princess Evie’s magic and Princess Charlotte’s strength would always save them.

When the two princesses reached the beach they tied up Panana and Curls behind a big rock before they walked out onto the sand. The beach was very white and the sand was warming up now that the sun was out. Water dragons like it wet and cold so there were not too many on the beach but they could see a few. The Old Dock Rock stretched out like a bridge from where they were but they had to pass at least four dragons. Princess Charlotte took out her magic shield. She held it close to herself and said “Hide. Hide. Hide.” She vanished right before Princess Evelyn’s eyes. Before Princess Evie could say a word Princess Charlotte grabbed her and pulled her close. They were completely invisible. They held each other close together and walked across the rock. All the dragons would be able to see is a couple of wet footprints on the rock. That is if they’re paying any attention at all.

The princesses walked down the rock out over the water. It was very slippery and the waves splashed them with cold water. The princesses were soaked by the time they’d reached the end of Old Dock Rock. Princess Evie pulled out her magic wand and pointed it at Princess Charlotte she said

“POOF!”

Princess Charlotte was dry from head to toe. Princess Evie did the same to herself. Just as she was pulling out the letter Nanny had given her a big wave crashed over them soaking them from head to toe. The princesses were frustrated.

“Let’s just get this over with before the dragons see us.” said Princess Charlotte.

Princess Evie unrolled the piece of paper, pointed her wand at the ocean and sang.

“Oh Good Whale
Hear our need
We shall not fail
In this great deed
A stone you possess
Of sizeable power
We need in this
Our darkest hour.”

Princess Evie’s wand grew blue and bright! Streams of white light shot onto the water. All the water dragons around them ran back into the ocean and swam away from the beach as fast as they could. By the time Princess Evie’s wand dimmed the skies overhead had grown dark. The winds died down and the water calmed. The sun was now warming them. Where there was once a lot of noise it was now very quiet. The water around them was very clear, but so deep that when they peered into it they could not see the bottom; only darkness. They stood and stared for a few moments. Then a flicker of light began to grow in the midst of the darkness. Soon it was all around them emanating from the depths. A shape rose up from the bottom. It grew larger and larger until suddenly a massive whale broke the surface of the water. Then it blew a great burst of air from its blow hole and slowly opened its mouth. Princess Evie could see what she had come for. There was a beautiful stone on the tip of the whale’s mouth. It was glowing slightly. Princess Evie reached out and grabbed it. The whale slowly closed its mouth and floated away back under the water and out to sea. The princesses began walking back toward their animals as the winds and seas picked up again.

“How are we going to fight a giant crocodile with a tiny pearl?” asked Princess Charlotte.

“I don’t know.” replied Princess Evie.

“What did Nanny say?” asked Charlotte.

“She said I’d figure it out.” replied Evie.

“Oh, great!” said Charlotte.

“Just let me think.” said Evie.

With that, Princess Charlotte and Princess Evie ran off the Old Rock Dock and behind the stone where they’d left Panana and Curls. They rode as fast as they could back to the castle. On the way they both kept singing the song quietly to themselves. Princess Evie noticed that every time she sings the song the pearl would glow.

“It’s got something to do with the song.” Princess Evie told Princess Charlotte.

When they rounded the corner to the castle they could see that the big, mean crocodile had come out of the marsh and was trying to get over the castle wall. All they could see was the nose of the crocodile, but that was scary enough. The guards on top of the castle walls were trying to keep the crocodile away with spears and shields but it didn’t look like they could hold back the crocodile for long.

The gates swung open and Princess Evie and Princess Charlotte charged through. Princess Charlotte rode her horse right up the stairs to the battlements and drew her sword. She poked the big, mean crocodile right on the nose with her sword. Princess Evie kept saying the song over and over again in her head as she watched the chaos on the wall.

Oh Good Whale
Hear our need

“There must be something I’m not seeing.” she thought.

We shall not fail
In this great deed

“What kind of magic does this stone possess that can help us with a giant crocodile?” she continued.

A stone you possess
Of sizeable power

“That’s it!” she shouted. “Sizeable power! Make me bigger!” she commanded the stone.

The stone shone like sunlight in her hand. She held it tight in her hand as she grew bigger and bigger and bigger. Soon she could barely stand in the courtyard. Her feet were so big. Princess Evelyn was as tall as the tallest tower of the castle. Princess Charlotte was so surprised at her sister growing so big she almost got bit by the big, mean crocodile. Just in time she jumped to the side and bopped the crocodile in the mouth with her shield, knocking out one if it’s teeth. Princess Evelyn stepped over the wall and picked up the giant crocodile, which was now very small to Princess Evelyn.

“Make us Smaller!” she commanded!

The stone shone bright once more and Princess Evie and the Crocodile got smaller and smaller and smaller until Princess Evie felt like she was the right size again.

The castle was safe and now Princess Evelyn and Princess Charlotte had a very small and very cute baby crocodile. It was so small it couldn’t hurt anyone any more. They put it in the fountain in the centre of the courtyard. Sometimes when guards don’t paying attention they sit down and get nipped right in the bum.

The next morning Princess Charlotte woke up, got dressed and was heading down to the stable to ride Panana to the Great Wall. Queen Mommy stopped her in the hallway.

“Charlotte honey, I’ve got something for you.”

Queen Mommy handed Princess Charlotte a small box. When Princess Charlotte opened the box there was a beautiful gold ring inside with the big, mean crocodile’s tooth shrunken and adorned on top.

“Princess Evie found this on the wall. That crocodile must have been very magical to be so big. So I’ve crafted this magic ring for you. I hope you like it.” Queen Mommy said.

“What does it do?” asked Princess Charlotte.

“You’ll see.” said Queen Mommy.

Charlotte looked at the ring and twisted it between her fingers as she threw her shield on her back and attached her sword to her belt. When she was almost to the stable she slipped it on her middle finger of her left hand. When she opened the stable door she could hear Curls talking to Panana about how fun it was to visit Nanny’s House in the Secret Forest and how they’d love to go again sometime.

“Wait… animals can’t talk!” Charlotte said.

“We certainly can!” said Panana.

Charlotte looked at her ring and realized that Queen Mommy had made her a magic ring that let her talk to animals.

How interesting!

Story 2 – The Unicorn’s Horn

On a particularly rainy day in the Kingdom of Harrowsmith, Princess Evie was combing her unicorn Curls in the barn. It was quite a difficult task, as she had to make sure not to touch Curls’s horn. You never touch a baby unicorn’s horn. Its magic is so powerful and uncontrolled, you never know what might happen. You might be transported to a cloud with the sky folk, it might put you straight to sleep, or you could end up so hungry you could never fill up your belly, even if you ate a hundred marshmallows.

 

At that moment, Princess Charlotte rode in on Panana, her trusty horse. Charlotte took off her wet cloak and hung it on a nail on a wooden post to let it dry. Princess Evie could see Charlotte’s hair was soaking wet and asked, “Is it too wet to chase dragons today?”

 

“Yes!” replied Charlotte. “I barely made it past the windmill, and it was raining so hard I couldn’t see two feet in front of me.”

 

Princess Evie was excited that Princess Charlotte was going to be around the castle all day.

 

“What do you want to do today?” Princess Evie asked.

 

“Well, first I’d like to get out of these wet clothes and into something dry,” said Charlotte.

 

“I can do that for you, Charlotte!” said Princess Evie excitedly as she took out a wand.

 

“No, that’s okay. I like to do things by myself sometimes” said Princess Charlotte, “magic is fun, but it’s good to do things on your own too.”

 

When Charlotte was dried off, she combed her hair and changed into a bright red dress. Princess Charlotte then put her sword back on the wall and went to find her sister. She looked in King Daddy’s throne room. Princess Evie wasn’t there. She went and looked in the kitchen. Princess Evie wasn’t there either. She went into the tower and up the long staircase to the top. Princess Evie was nowhere to be found! Princess Charlotte saw Queen Mommy sitting on a giant pillow by the window in the tower reading her book.

 

“Mommy, have you seen Evie?” asked Princess Charlotte. “She said we could play together when I was done getting changed but I can’t find her.”

 

“I haven’t seen her, honey”, Queen Mommy said as she went to the window to look. “Are you not hunting dragons today because of the rain?”

 

“Yes.” said Charlotte.

 

“I will have to ask the Rain Maker for a little less rain next year.” said Queen Mommy.

 

“Oh look!” said Queen Mommy, “There’s your sister now. She’s running back to the barn.”

 

“Thanks!” said Princess Charlotte as she ran off to catch her sister.

 

“Don’t touch that baby unicorn’s horn!” said Queen Mommy.

 

Charlotte didn’t like being told what to do, but she sighed “I won’t.”

 

When Princess Charlotte got to the barn, she finally saw Princess Evie. “What are you doing out here again?” asked Princess Charlotte.

 

“I forgot to cover Curls’ horn. Can you make sure no one touches it while I go get the cover?” asked Princess Evie.

 

“Sure thing!” said Princess Charlotte.

 

Princess Evie ran back out into the rain. I don’t see what that big deal is thought Charlotte. Everyone tells me never to touch the unicorn’s horn but what is the worst thing that could happen? She reached up curiously and grabbed the unicorns long, white, sparkling horn and POOF! The horn shone brightly and Princess Charlotte vanished. When Princess Evie came back with the horn cover, Panana and Curls were snorting, stomping and making all kinds of noise. They were very upset that Princess Charlotte had vanished right before their eyes. Princess Evie could see that Curls’s horn was still glowing. She knew exactly what had happened and ran as fast as she could to tell Queen Mommy!

 

Meanwhile, hanging upside down from a massive bird’s nest in the mountain was Princess Charlotte. She was very wet, very cold, and very much upside down. She pulled herself upright and began to climb the side of the nest to look inside. When she peaked over the edge, she could see three eggs in the nest that were as big as she was! There was also something shiny behind the eggs, stuck in the branches. Princess Charlotte climbed into the nest and made her way to the other side of the eggs. She did not want the bird who laid these giant eggs to come back and find her in its nest. Princess Charlotte took a closer look at the shiny object. It was a silver shield, large and round. Princess Charlotte pulled it out of the side of the nest and held it over her head to get out of the rain.

Just then, a loud screech filled the air. Princess Charlotte could see that a great feathered dragon was swooping down towards the nest. It must be after the eggs! Princess Charlotte thought. She picked up the biggest stick she could find and held up the shield. When the dragon landed, she bopped it right on the nose. The dragon slipped and fell, feathers flying everywhere as it tumbled out of sight.

Right then, a giant white bird fluttered down to the nest. She was so happy that Princess Charlotte had protected her nest, that she told Princess Charlotte she could keep the shield that she had found as a reward.

 

Charlotte was happy but she didn’t know how she was going to get home. The sky was beginning to get dark when Charlotte saw a magic bubble floating towards her. Charlotte got into the bubble curled up on her big new shield and fell asleep, hoping that the bubble would be able to take her home.

 

When Princess Charlotte woke up the next day, she was in her bed and Princess Evie was still asleep. Her new shield now hung on the wall next to her sword, Jaguar. There was a little note that read:

 

I am going to let you keep this shield

because it will help you to protect the kingdom

but I want you to say you’re sorry to your sister.

She was worried sick!

Love Queen Mommy.

 

When Evie woke up, Princess Charlotte said she was sorry and then told Princess Evie what had happened with the bird nest in the mountains.