The Hidden Treasure by Jessica Burkhart

Author:Jessica Burkhart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

6

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Once Bella’s feet hit the dirt outside the castle, she bolted for the Dark Forest. She ran so fast that not even the speediest Busy Bee could catch up to her.

She slowed to a jog and made an abrupt U-turn when she realized that she had no berries! Oops! She hurried back to the sunray berry bushes and pulled a few handfuls into the tote that she had hidden at the edge of the berry patch.

I could have blown my cover on the first day! Bella scolded herself. She forced herself to breathe and pasted a smile on her face. She glanced down at her watch—she had been gone for a little over an hour.

The guards tipped their heads. “Greetings, Princess Bella,” a different, smiling guard said. “The previous guard informed me of your trip.” He tipped his head toward the berry tote. “Hard time finding good, ripe berries?”

“Oh, um, yes,” Bella said. She forced herself to laugh. “I did something silly—I lay down on the grass for a minute to watch the clouds, and I fell asleep.” She patted the heads of the two nearby guard dogs. She was afraid the words I AM A GIANT FIBBER would pop up with an arrow pointing to her.

But nothing happened. The dogs’ wet noses didn’t turn red signaling danger or sensing that someone was very, very nervous—nervous like they were hiding a secret or about to attempt to smuggle someone onto the castle grounds.

The guard smiled. “I’m just relieved that you’re safe.”

With a wave to the guards, Bella pulled out her Chat Crystal.

I’M BACK! she wrote to her friends. MEET ME IN MY ROOM? She didn’t want to spend time searching the dozens of gardens for her friends.

The Chat Crystal vibrated and turned bubble-gum pink. ON OUR WAY! came from Clara’s crystal. Bella put the crystal back in her pocket and looked out to the pasture where she had left Glimmer. She spotted the gorgeous unicorn and whistled to get Glimmer’s attention. Glimmer’s eyes connected with Bella’s, and it made the princess willing to make the trek to Queen Fire’s castle every day if it meant coming home to her unicorn.

Bella blew Glimmer a kiss. “I’ll come see you later!” she called. Glimmer let out a loud whinny and kicked up her heels, dashing across the grass.

Once inside, Bella dumped the berries into a plastic bowl for Thomas, the main chef. He could whip up something tasty with the berries.

Heading toward her room, the princess felt a little better. The canopy bed with its soft lavender sheets and big fluffy comforter always made her smile. She looked over at the pictures with her friends and then a picture of Glimmer. The picture frames changed colors according to the sunlight. Right now the frame was a soft pink. Bella was glad it wasn’t red. She didn’t need a reminder of Queen Fire.

“You’re safe!” Ivy said as she dashed through the doorway, startling Bella. She ran up to Bella and hugged her hard, with Clara right behind her.

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