Pegasus Princesses 5, page 4
That’s when Clara noticed a patch of silver fur next to Quack. She stood on her tippy toes to get a better view. Lucinda had come out of her hiding place behind the shed and was sitting right next to Quack, sniffing a squeaker.
The orchestra played one song. And another. And then another. And still another. When they had finished four songs, they stopped playing. The creatures in the audience stood up and cheered. Clara, the pegasus princesses, the insects, Quack, Lucinda, and the wolf cubs all bowed.
“That was an amazing concert,” Rosie said to Clara. “Thank you so much for saving the day.”
“And thank you so much for joining our rhythm section,” Snow said.
“And thank you for bringing Quack,” Star said, smiling at the sprinting puppy.
“Thank you so much for including us in the Garden Orchestra,” Clara said.
That’s when Clara noticed she felt a little hungry and ready to go home. She wanted to eat an apple and make the wacklewasher for her felt caterpillar. And then maybe she would see if her parents would take her and Quack to the pet supply store to get a new squeaky toy.
“I’ve had such a good time,” Clara said to the pegasus princesses. “But I think Quack and I are ready to go home.”
“I had a feeling you were about to say that,” Rosie said. “Thank you so much for coming. We can’t wait to see you again soon.”
Clara looked around for Quack. And then she smiled. Quack, Lucinda, Wendy, Watson, Wanda, Wallace, Wendell, and Willa were all curled up together, napping in the sun. Clara kneeled, held out her hand, and said, “Come!”
Quack looked at her and made a disappointed, whining noise.
“I’ll help you,” Rosie said. She barked and yipped at Quack. The puppy stood up, wagged her tail, and bounded over to Clara. Clara kneeled and scooped up Quack in her arms.
“I told her that you would have a present for her as soon as you get back to the human world,” Rosie said.
“But I don’t have a present,” Clara said.
Rosie smiled and winked. “Just wait and see,” she said. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Please come back soon,” Snow said.
“I most certainly will,” Clara said. Holding Quack with one arm, she used the other to pull the feather from her back pocket. “Take me home, please,” she said.
The feather lifted Clara and Quack straight up into the air. As they soared higher and higher, they began to spin. Everything went pitch black. And then Clara and Quack landed under the pine tree in the forest behind Clara’s house. She stood up, noticing she was back to wearing her flip-flops, and put Quack down on the ground. As she did, she felt something bulky in her pocket. She pushed her hand inside and pulled out a large purple squeaker. Clara giggled. She threw it to Quack, who caught it in the air and began to squeak with glee. Clara giggled and skipped back toward her house with Quack running—and squeaking—alongside.
Don’t miss our next high-flying adventure!
Turn the page for a sneak peek . . .
“ What should we name it?” Clara Griffin asked her younger sister, Miranda.
The two girls—wearing matching light blue snowsuits and green winter boots—stood side by side on a white sheet spread over their living room carpet. Together, they admired the snow-covered mountain they had built by draping five white sheets over an enormous mound of cushions, pillows, coats, stuffed animals, sleeping bags, beanbag chairs, towels, and balled-up blankets.
“Mount Snow?” Miranda suggested. She frowned. “That’s too boring. Can you think of a more creative name?”
“Hmm,” Clara said. “Mount Mongolopticus?”
Miranda laughed. “Mount Mongolopticus,” she repeated. “That’s perfect. Do you think the snow leopards are ready to go mitten-sliding?”
Clara turned to the coffee table, which she and her sister had pushed into a corner to make space for their mountain. On the table’s glass top lay four snow leopards the sisters had made out of twigs, string, dandelion fluff, and glue. The leopards were napping while their glue dried. “I bet they’re ready now,” Clara said. “Should I go get them?”
Miranda paused. She let out a long sigh. “The only problem is I’m really, really hot in my snowsuit.”
Clara nodded. She had to admit she was also feeling too hot. After all, it was a sunny, warm spring day. “Let’s take them off for a little while,” Clara said.
Miranda scrunched up her nose. “We can’t play Snowy Mountain without wearing snowsuits.”
“What if we just pretend to wear them?” Clara suggested.
“It’s not the same,” Miranda said, shaking her head.
Clara sighed. Miranda was right that wearing a snowsuit and pretending to wear a snowsuit weren’t exactly the same. But Clara noticed drops of sweat forming on her forehead, and her shirt felt damp against her back. The sisters needed to cool off somehow. And then Clara had an idea. She hopped from one foot to the other. “I know what we can do!” she exclaimed. “I’ll be right back!”
Clara raced into the kitchen, leaped across the tile floor to the refrigerator, and opened the freezer door. On one of the shelves was a clear plastic bin full of reusable ice packs that she and her sister put in their school lunches to keep them cool. Clara grabbed the entire bin, swung the freezer door shut, and rushed back to the living room. She placed the bin on the floor between her and her sister.
“What are those for?” Miranda asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Watch this!” Clara said. She unzipped the top of her snowsuit. Then she picked up an ice pack and dropped it right inside her suit. The ice pack settled next to her left knee. She picked up two more ice packs and dropped them into the back of her suit. Her damp shirt instantly felt cool.
Miranda giggled. She unzipped her snowsuit and dropped one ice pack into the front and one into the back. Her eyes widened and she grinned. “Good idea, Clara,” she said. “I’m starting to feel cooler already.”
Clara and Miranda giggled as they dropped ice pack after ice pack into their snowsuits. When the bin was empty, they both zipped themselves back up.
“Let’s roll on the floor to move the ice packs around,” Clara said. She flopped down and rolled across the white sheet, enjoying the feeling of the ice packs shifting across her stomach, legs, and back.
Miranda crouched down and did two somersaults. She did a cartwheel. And then she rolled over to Clara. “Now I’m the perfect temperature,” she said.
“Me too!” Clara said. “Are you ready for leopard mitten-sliding now?”
Miranda nodded. “I’ll go wake up the snow leopards while you get the mittens,” she suggested.
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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This electronic edition published in 2022 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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First published in the United States of America in September 2022
by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
www.bloomsbury.com
Text copyright © 2022 by Emily Bliss
Illustrations copyright © 2022 by Sydney Hanson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bliss, Emily, author. | Hanson, Sydney, illustrator.
Title: Rosie’s rhythm / by Emily Bliss ; illustrated by Sydney Hanson.
Description: New York : Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2022. | Series: Pegasus princesses ; 5 | Audience: Ages 7–10. | Audience: Grades 2–3. | Summary: Clara arrives at Feather Palace and learns Rosie is preparing for the Garden
Orchestra’s annual concert, and she invites Clara to join the pegasus princesses’ percussion section—provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022004256 (print) | LCCN 2022004257 (e-book) |
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0968-0 (PB)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0969-7 (eBook)
Subjects: CYAC: Winged horses—Fiction. | Princesses—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Concerts—Fiction. | LCGFT: Novels.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.B633 Ro 2022 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.B633 (e-book) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022004256
LC e-book record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022004257
Book design by John Candell
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Emily Bliss, Pegasus Princesses 5
