Rescue Princesses #4: The Stolen Crystals (2 page)

Jaminta showed her friends to their rooms, then trudged to her own. She pulled her new dress out of her closet. It had been sewn especially for the emperor’s birthday celebration and was made of shimmering green silk decorated with gold blossoms. It had wide sleeves that hung elegantly below her arms. She pulled it over her head and dropped the rock crystal that she’d taken to the Master Gem Maker into her pocket. Then she
added a gold tiara, and with one last look in the mirror, she made her way to the Fan Room.

The other princesses arrived in their best dresses, too. Emily was wearing a pink dress with a wide skirt, while Clarabel’s dress was very long and pale blue. Lulu, who was gazing longingly out the window at the mountains, wore a shorter yellow dress decorated with beads.

“Ready, girls?” said the queen. “Let me show you our fan collection.” She opened a large display case filled with beautiful fans in every color. Many of them glimmered with sequins or tiny pearls. Jaminta chose one that had been painted with a picture of the Silver River and the mountains beyond.

When all the princesses had finished choosing, the queen closed the case again. “Now I’ll show you how to use
them. Place your thumb behind the fan, like this.” She twisted the fan, showing them what she meant. “Then you must make the fan flutter quickly and delicately, like this.”

The princesses copied her, trying hard to use the fan just as elegantly. Lulu flapped hers a bit too hard and knocked off Jaminta’s tiara, sending them both into fits of giggles.

A maid appeared in the doorway and curtsied. “Excuse me, Your Majesty. The Chief Cook would like to speak to you about the noodles.”

“Keep practicing, girls,” said the queen as she hurried away. “Remember, the banquet starts at six o’clock. Don’t be late!”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” they all said, curtsying.

“I think these fans are lovely,” said Clarabel, waving hers, which was decorated with pearls and soft blue feathers.

Lulu groaned. “They’re nice, but I want to stop waving them now. I mean, what good are they?”

“I know!” said Emily suddenly, her hazel eyes sparkling. “They could be really handy for our ninja moves!”

“Really?” said Lulu. “How would you use a fan for ninja moves?”

Emily flipped her fan open in front of her face, disappearing behind its red-and-gold pattern. “See? You can hide behind them!”

“You can do more than that,” said Jaminta. “I’ve been using them since I was little. Watch this!” She flicked her wrist, sending her fan across the room in a graceful arc. It swept over the top of a
fruit bowl, knocking into a bunch of oranges, which rolled away across the floor. The fan landed on the windowsill and closed with a neat snap.

“Awesome!” said Lulu. “You have to teach us how to do that!”

“Are you sure we’re allowed to use them like that?” asked Clarabel, her blue eyes wide.

“Don’t worry! The fans are too strong to get damaged,” said Jaminta. “It’s really easy. I’ll show you!” She retrieved her fan and flicked it again, making it land in exactly the same place on the windowsill.

The other princesses each took their turns, and soon there was a flurry of whizzing fans and falling oranges.

“I’ll tell Ally about this,” said Emily. “Maybe she knows some ninja moves using fans as well.”

When the fruit bowl was empty, the princesses hurried to gather up the fallen oranges. Some had rolled away under a long table, so they crawled underneath it to collect them. They were just about to crawl out again, when they heard voices and heavy footsteps.

Jaminta pulled the others back under the table and yanked the tablecloth down to hide them. “If we climb out now, we’ll get yelled at for not being all prim and proper!” she hissed. “Let’s stay under here till they’ve left.”

The voices grew louder. Jaminta peered out from under the fringe of the tablecloth and saw two pairs of men’s shoes walk across the room and stop next to the window. The first set of shoes was black and had been polished to a high shine. The other shoes were brown and scuffed.

Jaminta thought she caught a glimpse of red material as they passed by. But she couldn’t see much more without sticking her head right out into the open.

“Hurry up!” said a man in a thin, bossy voice. “I have something important to say and I don’t want everyone hearing it.”

Jaminta’s heart raced. What was it that this man didn’t want other people to hear?

“We’re going up the mountain to look for those lost things,” said the thin voice. “Make sure you bring your shovel with you.”

“What things, Your Grace?” asked a second man, sounding confused.

“Wake up!” snapped the thin voice. “The special things I left here ten years ago. You know what I’m talking about.”

“But, Your Grace! We searched for them several times. You said they were lost.”

“We couldn’t look for them well enough back then because we were being followed,” said the thin voice, rising in annoyance. “But this is a perfect opportunity. It’s not often I get to come back to Onica without everyone getting suspicious. Once I’ve found a likely place, you will begin digging.”

A hand closed around Jaminta’s wrist. It was Emily. She pointed at the polished black shoes and made a face.

Jaminta wasn’t sure what she meant and didn’t dare ask out loud. Her mind was whirling. What were the men looking for on the mountainside? And why was it so secret?

The princesses tried to keep completely still under the table as the men continued to talk.

“But what if the sun goes down while I’m there on the mountainside?” said the second man. “They say huge black-and-white bears roam the forest.”

“They’re pandas, you brainless fool! They won’t hurt you,” said the thin voice. “Now, meet me by the bridge in two hours and don’t forget your shovel.”

“Yes, My Lord,” came the low reply, and the scuffed brown shoes marched away.

The black shoes stayed by the window for a few minutes, then they left, too. The princesses crawled out, carefully checking that the room was empty.

“Whew!” said Clarabel. “I thought they were never going to leave.”

“I’ve met one of them before,” said Emily. “That’s what I was trying to tell you. I recognize the voice of the bossy one, the one in the black shoes.”

“Is he from Middingland?” asked Lulu.

Emily screwed up her face, thinking hard. “Yes, that must be how I know him. I just can’t remember his name.”

Jaminta put the oranges back in the bowl and picked up her fan. “I wonder what they’re looking for. I’ve never heard of anything being lost on the mountain.
I hope they don’t disturb the animals when they go up there.”

“Are there really pandas in the forest?” asked Clarabel.

“Yes, there are!” said Jaminta. “We could sneak away and see them, now that my mom’s gone to the kitchens.” She grinned. “And guess what? One of the pandas is a baby!”

“A baby panda! How lovely!” cried Clarabel, her blue eyes sparkling.

“I’ve never seen a panda in real life before!” said Emily. “Is the cub really cute?”

Jaminta nodded. “He’s adorable!”

Not wanting to wait another second, the princesses put their fans away in a drawer and raced downstairs. People were still unloading suitcases from the carriages and carrying them inside.

Jaminta led them through the gardens. They passed trees with crimson leaves and a pond full of golden fish. At last they reached the back gate to the palace grounds.

Jaminta unfastened the gate. The princesses burst through and raced down the rough, grassy slope. They stopped to catch their breath at the bottom, where a fast-moving river flowed along the valley.

“Oh! I almost forgot! I have something else to show you, too.” Jaminta pulled her rock crystal out of her pocket and showed it to them.

The other princesses stared at the lump of rock with its rough edges and dirty white surface.

“Er … what is it?” asked Lulu.

“It’s a rock crystal,” said Jaminta. “I found out the secret of how to change its shape. When I’ve turned it into a
beautiful jewel, I’m going to give it to my grandfather for his birthday.”

“So what’s the secret? How do you change it?” asked Emily.

“I have to put it in the river at sunrise.” Jaminta smiled. “The river will change it, because it’s magical.”

The princesses stared at the river. It really did look magical with the sunshine dancing on its surface.

“Wow! That’s amazing!” said Clarabel. “We’ll come with you tomorrow morning to help.”

Jaminta smiled gratefully at Clarabel, then Lulu burst out: “That’s great, but can we get going now? I’m dying to see the baby panda!”

Jaminta sighed and put the rock back into her pocket. Maybe when the crystal had changed into something beautiful, Lulu would be more interested in it. She
wished she could make it happen right now, but the Master Gem Maker had told her that the magic was strongest at sunrise.

The girls walked along to the curved red bridge that arched across the river. Their feet drummed on the wooden planks as they crossed, and the river bubbled over the stones below them. On the other side, the ground sloped steeply upward. They soon found themselves inside a thick forest where bamboo trees stretched straight up to the sky. Now and then they caught a glimpse of the palace below, which became smaller and smaller as they climbed higher up Cloud Mountain.

“I hope those men from the Fan Room aren’t around here,” said Clarabel nervously.

“Don’t worry,” said Jaminta. “It’s a very big forest, so I’m sure we won’t see them.”

They pushed their way through the closely growing trees until they reached the edge of a rocky ravine. A narrow rope bridge spanned the steep drop.

“It’s best if we go one at a time,” Jaminta told them. “The bridge isn’t very strong.”

One by one, the princesses crossed the swaying rope bridge, trying not to look at the rocks below them. Even Jaminta, who was used to the wobbly bridge, was glad to be safely on the other side.

“There’s a clearing up here,” she said. “That’s where I often see the pandas.”

Listening carefully, the girls crept toward a gap in the trees. The sound of cracking and rustling came from up ahead. Jaminta smiled. That would be the mother panda, pulling down bamboo to feed herself and her baby.

A sudden tug on her pocket made her check the rock crystal. It felt heavier
somehow. Maybe she was just tired from all the climbing. It couldn’t really be heavier than it was before.

Together, they tiptoed into the clearing and looked around. They were very high up the slope now. Mist had rolled down from the mountain peaks and it hung over the grass like a magic spell. On the far side next to a rocky outcrop sat two furry black-and-white shapes, one big and one small.

Clarabel gasped. “Look! There’s the little cub with his mother!”

“The cub is so cute!” said Emily, admiringly.

“He’s lovely, isn’t he!” agreed Jaminta. The panda cub looked up at the sound of her voice, his ears twitching. “I come up here to see him all the time. Now that he’s older, he loves to climb and play.
Sometimes his mother leaves him here while she goes to gather more food.”

“Have you given him a name?” asked Lulu.

“No, I haven’t,” said Jaminta. “Maybe we can think of one together.”

The mother panda swung around, looking in the direction of their voices. Then she went back to chomping long stems of bamboo again.

“I think they’ve gotten used to me,” added Jaminta. “They don’t seem to mind me being here at all.”

The mother panda ambled into the forest and the sound of shaking bamboo trees came from her direction.

The princesses watched the little cub bound back and forth underneath the rocky outcrop. Then he climbed up a tree, pulling at the trunk with his little paws. Halfway up, he lost his grip and slid back
down, landing on the ground on his furry white bottom.

The princesses giggled.

The cub gave up on the tree trunk and started trying to climb up the rocky outcrop instead. Higher and higher he went, until only his little black legs could be seen below the rock jutting out of the hillside.

The princesses crept closer to watch him, and a sudden weight in her pocket made Jaminta check her rock crystal again. Why did it feel so strange and heavy? She glanced at the other princesses, but they hadn’t noticed her worried look.

“I didn’t know pandas could climb like that,” said Emily.

Just then a noise rang out across the clearing. It was a lovely sound, so high and sweet that for a moment Jaminta
thought one of her friends had started singing.

She looked all around the clearing. “What is that sound?”

But the other princesses were staring right at her.

“It’s you, Jaminta!” said Lulu. “It’s coming from your pocket.”

The sound grew louder and even sweeter, rolling around the clearing and into the forest. Feeling like she was dreaming, Jaminta reached into her pocket and pulled out the lump of crystal. It shook as her fingers closed around it, and she knew that it really was this strange, rough gem making the noise. She lifted it up to the light and the sound changed into a sequence of musical notes that rang out like a chiming bell.

There was a silence after the last note died away.

“That was really strange!” cried Emily.

But before Jaminta could speak, a deep cracking noise broke through the still air. A huge chunk of stone fell off the rocky outcrop and crashed to the ground. A cascade of smaller stones followed, and dust rose from the earth below.

The princesses stared in horror at the broken rock.

“Oh no! Where’s the cub?” Jaminta cried. “That’s where he was climbing!” She started to run toward the rock, her feet flying across the misty grass.