The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare, Page 2

  part of being a hero.

  Just then the Princess in Black

  came running into the goat pasture!

  With the Princess in Blankets!

  Also three other princesses!

  It was a whole princess herd.

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  “EAT GOATS —” the purple

  monster started to say. But then it

  noticed something. A goo monster in

  a bucket. It smiled. “NEW FRIEND?”

  73

  The goo monster slid out of the

  bucket. It squished and squashed

  over to the hole. It looked down.

  “FIT IN?” it said.

  75

  The purple monster nodded. “FIT

  IN! EAT MONSTER FUR! EAT

  TOENAIL CLIPPINGS! BIG FUN

  MONSTER LAND!”

  “NEW HOME,” said the goo

  monster.

  And they both dropped into the

  hole.

  Chapter 9

  The five princesses plopped down

  on the grass. They all sighed.

  “What just happened?” asked the

  Goat Avenger.

  “We ran,” said the Princess in Black.

  “All the way from the train sta-

  tion,” said the Princess in Blankets.

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  “Carrying a heavy monster,” said

  Princess Honeysuckle.

  “In a bucket!” said Princess Orchid.

  78

  “I’m tired,” said Princess Snapdragon.

  “I’m pooped,” said Princess Orchid.

  “That was . . . FUN!” said Princess

  Honeysuckle.

  The princesses laughed.

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  “But I was about to wage battle,”

  said the Goat Avenger. “And then

  my monster left.”

  “I’m sorry,” said the Princess in

  Black. “Waging battle is fun.”

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  “It’s my favorite part of being a

  hero,” said the Princess in Blankets.

  “Mine too,” said the Goat Avenger.

  “After the battle cries.”

  The heroes said, “Behave, beast!”

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  And “Not today!”

  And “Back to your infernal pit!”

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  The three heroes laughed.

  The three princesses sighed.

  “I wish I were a hero,” said Prin-

  cess Honeysuckle.

  “Me too,” said Princess Orchid.

  “But you are!” said the Princess in

  Black. “You were so strong with the

  bucket. And brave with the monster.

  And you helped it find a home.”

  Chapter 10

  Back at the science fair, Princess

  Honeysuckle really, really wanted to

  win first prize. But she didn’t.

  Princess Orchid got first prize.

  Princess Honeysuckle cheered. Every-

  one cheered. Princess Magnolia

  cheered the loudest of all.

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  “Are you okay?” asked Princess

  Honeysuckle. “It’s not fair. A mon-

  ster ate your project.”

  “I’m happy Princess Orchid won,”

  said Princess Magnolia. “And next year,

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  I’m going to work harder. Next year,

  I’m going to do something amazing.”

  Princess Honeysuckle smiled. She

  would like to work harder too. She

  would like to do something amazing.

  Amazing, like making a Bucket

  Boosting Teeter-Totter.

  Amazing, like battling a monster.

  She looked at Princess Orchid.

  Princess Orchid looked at Princess

  Snapdragon. Princess Snapdragon

  looked at Princess Honeysuckle. At

  that moment, they were all thinking

  the exact same thing.

  The Princess in Black was right.

  They already were heroes. They just

  needed disguises. And secret names.

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