Mist's Maze, page 4
“Okay,” Clara said, wondering what the cupcakes would taste like.
Mist trotted over to the tray and ate a cupcake in one giant gulp. Clara giggled and picked one up in her hand. She felt a little nervous but took a bite. And then she smiled. The cupcake tasted like a combination of mint, chocolate, and raspberries. And while it tasted good, Clara realized she was hungry for human food—particularly for healthy human food. She also realized that while she had had an amazing time with the pegasus princesses, she missed Miranda and her parents.
Clara leaned over to Mist and said, “I have had such an amazing time here. But I think I’m ready to go home now.”
Mist nodded. “I completely understand. Thank you so much for being our guest. I’m grateful to have made friends with you. You made me realize that I have a pretty great magical power. And that even though it’s normal to feel jealous of my sisters, I am also happy that I am me.”
“I’m so glad that we’re friends,” Clara said. “This visit has been the most fun I’ve ever had.”
“We would love for you to come back anytime,” Aqua said.
Stitch nodded. “Absolutely,” she said.
Mist looked at Clara and smiled. “Do you still have the feather you found in the woods? The one Lucinda left for you?”
Clara pushed her hand in her dress pocket. Sure enough, the feather was still there. “I have it,” she said. “Do you need it back?”
Mist shook her head. “That feather is our gift to you,” she said. “If you run out into the woods while you’re holding it, a flying chair will appear. Climb onto the chair and ask it to take you to Feather Palace. And it will take you directly to the front hall of our castle.”
“Thank you so much,” Clara said.
“If we ever want to invite you to the Wing Realm for a special occasion, the feather will shimmer and make a humming noise,” Aqua said.
Clara grinned. “That sounds perfect,” she said. “I’ll keep it in a special place in my bedroom.”
“You can also use the feather to go home,” Mist said. “Whenever you’re ready to leave the Wing Realm, hold it in your hands and say, ‘Take me home, please.’”
Clara nodded. “I’m ready to go. Thank you again. And goodbye for now. I’ll see you soon.”
“Goodbye!” all eight pegasus princesses said at once.
“Come back soon!” Aqua said.
“You really are always welcome,” Snow said.
Lucinda purred and rubbed against Clara’s ankles.
Clara held up the feather. “Take me home, please,” she said.
There was a flash of light. Clara felt herself flying up into the air, spinning faster and faster. Everything went pitch black. And suddenly she found herself sitting in the woods, right next to the pile of sticks she had collected. For a few seconds, she sat holding the feather and grinning, her heart beating fast in her chest. She stood up and noticed something soft and round in her dress pocket. She slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out a small ball of pink silky mist. Clara grinned and squeezed the mist. She knew exactly what she would do with it: she would use it to tie the sticks together to make the pegasus maze in her closet. Clara returned the feather and the ball of mist to her pocket. She picked up the sticks. And then she ran along the path, back toward her house, with her arms outstretched and flapping like wings.
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The front hall of Feather Palace looked just the way Clara remembered it from her first visit. Gauzy curtains fluttered in the breeze over feather-shaped windows. Portraits of the eight pegasus princesses and Lucinda hung on magenta walls. Light danced and glittered on the shiny black marble floors. On stone pedestals, pegasus statues reared up, wings outstretched. Pegasus fountains spouted rainbow water. Eight empty thrones—each with a color and design that matched one of the pegasus princesses—were arranged in a horseshoe shape in the center of the room. Clara grinned when she saw that Lucinda’s small silver sofa, with its back shaped like a cat head, was pushed right next to Aqua’s teal throne.
At first Clara thought she was alone in the front hall. But then she heard a voice above her call out, “At the count of three, start kicking.” Clara looked up. Just below the front hall’s vaulted ceiling, all eight pegasus princesses were flying in a giant circle. They were all wearing large teal flippers strapped to their hooves. And they were so immersed in their swimming lesson they didn’t notice Clara had arrived.
Aqua swished her tail and said, “One. Two. Three. Kick!”
The pegasus princesses began to kick their front and back legs as they flew.
“Those kicks look great,” Aqua said. “Now, start paddling with your wings like this.” She swept her wings from front to back.
Mist, Stitch, Rosie, Star, and Dash all began to paddle their wings as they kicked. But Snow jabbed a flipper into her wing, stopped kicking, and then flew sideways as she tried to paddle. Flip swept her wings from back to front and bolted backward, flailing her legs in every direction. After a few seconds, Flip and Snow crashed into each other.
“Oops! Sorry!” Flip said to Snow.
“That was at least half my fault,” Snow said, sighing. “I’m sorry too.”
Flip groaned in frustration. “Every time I try to paddle, it’s a disaster,” she said.
Snow shook her head and snorted. “I feel so frustrated,” she said. “I need to take a break from this swimming lesson.”
“Wait!” Aqua called out, hurrying over to Flip and Snow. “You can’t give up now. I know you can learn to swim. You just need to keep trying.”
Flip and Snow glared at Aqua.
“I’m trying my hardest,” Snow said. “Right now, it’s just not working.”
“I’m trying my hardest too,” Flip said. “And I’m getting so frustrated that I need to do something else for a little while. Otherwise, I feel like I might explode!”
Aqua’s face looked panicked. “I know you’re both trying your hardest. And I really appreciate it. But you can’t quit now. The Merthday Splash is this afternoon. If you can’t swim by the time the celebration begins, the whole thing will be ruined,” she said. “Could you please try again? I really think you’ve almost got it.”
Flip groaned and flared her nostrils. “I promise I will keep trying,” she said. “But not right now.”
Snow nodded. “I’m willing to try swimming one more time before the Merthday Splash,” she said. “But first I’m taking a break with Flip.”
Aqua bit her lip and flattened her ears with worry as Flip and Snow dived down to their thrones. They snorted and frowned as they pushed off their flippers and shoved them onto the floor. And then, as they looked back up at each other, they both noticed Clara sitting in the green armchair opposite them. Flip and Snow’s eyes widened in surprise. Their frowns turned into enormous grins. And then they both leaped off their thrones and galloped over to Clara.
Emily Bliss, also the author of the Unicorn Princesses series, lives with her winged cat in a house surrounded by woods. From her living room window, she can see silver feathers and green flying armchairs. Like Clara Griffin, she knows pegasuses are real.
Sydney Hanson was raised in Minnesota alongside numerous pets and brothers. She is the illustrator of the Unicorn Princesses series and the picture books Next to You, Escargot, and A Book for Escargot, among many others. Sydney lives in Los Angeles.
www.sydwiki.tumblr.com
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First published in the United States of America in September 2021 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
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Text copyright © 2021 by Emily Bliss
Illustrations copyright © 2021 by Sydney Hanson
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Emily Bliss, Mist's Maze
