The Rescue Princesses #2: Wishing Pearl Read Online Free PDF Page A

have to take so long? She was sure he would be waiting for her.
    At least she’d managed to hide some fish at the far end of the palace garden. They were there, ready, as soon as the princesses had the chance to slip away.
    The princesses walked together to the dinner tables set up on the palace lawn.
    Jaminta wore green silk pants and a top with a necklace of sparkling emeralds. Emily had chosen a short pink dress, and a black velvet hairband to pull back her red curls. Lulu, who wanted to stand out, wore a dress of yellow and purple swirls, and a necklace made from dozens of tiny shells.
    “Stay away from the wildlife zone,” Lulu muttered to Samuel as they passed him on the lawn.
    “Please don’t dig up any more eggs,” added Clarabel.
    But Prince Samuel just curled his lip and looked away.
    They ate a delicious dinner of roast chicken followed by tall ice-cream sundaes covered with strawberry sauce.
    The kings and queens talked endlessly. They discussed the boats entering the Royal Regatta and how well the sailing practice was going. They talked so much that Lulu started drumming her fingers impatiently on the table.
    By the time all twenty royal families had finished, the sky had turned a dark blue sprinkled with little stars. Lanterns were lit and a band began to play a jazzy song.
    The kings and queens got up to dance and Clarabel smiled to see the younger princes and princesses jumping around with the adults.
    Prince Dinesh and Prince George had settled in a corner with a pack of cards. Prince Samuel was nowhere to be seen.
    “Where’s Samuel?” hissed Lulu. “I don’t like not knowing where he is.”
    “We should go to the lagoon now,” murmured Emily. “While they’re all too busy to notice we’re gone.”
    Clarabel looked around. She really wanted this to work. If they were caught leaving, she’d never get the dolphin the fish she’d promised him.
    Rising from their seats, the girls walked across the lawn chatting, as if they were just going for a stroll. But as soon as they reached the row of palm trees, out of sight of the dancers, they burst into a run.
    Clarabel stopped by a yellow hibiscus plant and felt around in the shadows until she found a flat parcel wrapped in brown paper. Even through the paper it had the unmistakable smell of fish.
    Prince Olaf passed her carrying a tray of extra napkins. Clarabel put a finger to her lips to show that he should pretend she wasn’t there. The prince grinned and walked on.
    Smothering their laughter, the princesses left their party shoes under a bush near the gate and leapt over the sand dunes.
    A bright full moon rose up out of the ocean just as they reached the water’s edge. To the left, they could see the dark outlines of the boats in the harbor.
    They ran on, the sand soft under their bare feet. Clarabel led the way, looking for the place where she had crossed the dunes to find the lagoon earlier that day.
    Up on the hillside, hundreds of smudges of orange light came from the palace lanterns and the music drifted down toward the ocean.
    “It’s this way,” called Clarabel, speeding up in her excitement. For once, she felt as if she was running pretty fast.
    At the crest of the dune, she stopped. The deep-blue lagoon lay before her and the bright moon made a path of light all the way across it.

    “How beautiful!” said Emily.
    The surface of the water stirred, and a squeaking and clicking noise started.
    “That’s my dolphin!” cried Clarabel.
    The princesses quickly pulled off their dresses. Underneath they had on the bathing suits that they’d secretly been wearing the whole evening.
    They ran down to the edge and dived into the warm lagoon. Swimming back up to the surface, they laughed and splashed one another with drops of water turned silver by the moonlight.
    Clarabel was the last to get in. She unwrapped the fish from the brown paper and waded over to the dolphin.
    The creature squeaked at her, but he moved slowly and his tail