Star's Gaze, page 4
The cats and the pegasus princesses called out, “Jumadaya!” “Flingonapper!” “Clongophoppers!” and “Horntowfronds!” Then Clara said, “Crapplegrock!”
The gromp vanished, and a platter, a trough, and a bowl appeared. This time, they were full of what looked like sliced purple peaches with green dots.
“Let’s eat later!” Loretta said.
Ludwig rushed to the gromplesnocker and tapped the button. A gromp shot out yelling, “Guess my favorite party drink! Guess my favorite party drink!”
The cats and the pegasus princesses called out their guesses: “Finklerade!” “Norangocola!” “Quintada!” “Lurpleglump juice!” And then Star tried, “Poppletoppleberry punch!” The gromp vanished, and seven cat dishes, a trough, and a cup—all full of blue, bubbly liquid—appeared.
“I never thought I’d say this,” Lucinda said, “but I’m ready for a break from guessing games. Let’s eat and drink!”
The mooncats purred with delight.
“I’m ready for lurdivicto!” Leander called out.
“Lurdivicto! Lurdivicto!” all seven cats meowed as they crowded around the platter and began to eat.
“I do love lurdivicto,” Star said.
“Me too,” Mist, Flip, and Aqua said as all eight pegasus princesses gathered around the trough.
Clara skipped over to the bowl of lurdivicto. She picked up one of the striped balls, sniffed it, and then, with an excited grin, took a bite. The lurdivicto was the most amazing fruit Clara had ever had—it tasted like a combination of mint candy cane, marshmallows, and bubblegum. Clara finished her lurdivicto just as the cats and pegasus princesses finished theirs.
“Now let’s have the crapplegrock!” Lucinda called out, bounding over to the other fruit platter. The six mooncats followed her, and all seven cats began to eat.
The pegasus princesses reared up with excitement and rushed to the trough of crapplegrock and began to devour the fruit.
“Crapplegrock is definitely my favorite fruit!” Dash said, as purple juice dripped down her purple chin.
“Me too!” Snow said, closing her eyes with pleasure.
Clara skipped over to her bowl. She picked up a slice, bit into it—and then immediately spat it out! It tasted like a combination of spoiled sardines, olives, raw garlic, and mayonnaise.
Star looked at her in shock. “You don’t like crapplegrock?” she asked.
Clara shook her head vigorously and looked for something to drink to get the taste out of her mouth. She sprinted over to the glass of poppletoppleberry punch and began to drink it. To her relief, it tasted like a combination of root beer and hot chocolate.
Just then, the cats and pegasus princesses finished the crapplegrock. “That was so good!” Lucinda purred.
“It was tremendous!” Aqua said.
The seven cats and the eight pegasus princesses rushed over to the poppletoppleberry punch and lapped it up just as Clara finished her glass.
As they drank, Clara skipped over to the window sill, grabbed the star-shaped pillow she had made as a present for Lucinda, and skipped back to the cats. Lucinda finished her punch and grinned with contentment.
Clara kneeled in front of Lucinda and smiled. “I have a present for you,” she said, holding the pillow out.
Lucinda purred. “Thank you so much,” she said. “I’ll put it on my cat sofa in Feather Palace. I’ll think of you every time I put my head on it to take a nap.”
Clara scratched Lucinda behind her ears.
Lucinda purred and said, “Now I’m ready for more gromps!”
“More gromps! More gromps!” the mooncats yelled.
That’s when Clara realized she was ready to go home. She missed Miranda. She wanted to finish making their spaceship. And she was ready to eat human food.
Clara looked at Star. “I have had a wonderful time with you today. But I’m ready to go back to the human world.”
Star smiled. “After you tried the crapplegrock, I had a feeling you might want to go home,” she said. “The Catmoon is part of the Wing Realm. Your magic feather works here. You can leave whenever you’re ready.”
Clara looked at the eight pegasus princesses and the seven cats. “Thank you so much for including me today,” Clara said. “I’m going to say goodbye for now and return to the human world.”
“Thank you for coming!” Lucinda purred, flying over to Clara and rubbing her ankles.
“Please come back any time,” Leander said.
“You’re always welcome on the Catmoon,” Letitia said.
Langston, Lizbeth, Ludwig, and Loretta purred and jumped onto Clara’s head and shoulders.
“Thank you for all your help,” Star said.
“Thank you for saving the party,” Rosie said.
“Come again soon,” Stitch said.
“Goodbye for now, human friend!” Mist said, rearing up.
“Have a wonderful rest of your day,” Aqua said.
Clara pulled her feather from her pocket. She wrapped her hands around it and said, “Take me home, please!”
The feather pulled her through the cat flap and lifted her up into the sky. Everything went pitch black and she felt herself spinning and flying. Suddenly, she was sitting under the pine tree in the woods behind her house. For a moment, Clara smiled. She pushed the feather into her pocket and noticed something hard inside. Clara’s eyes widened as she pulled out a handful of small green marbles from Lake Mogglewop that would be, she realized, perfect for the spaceship’s buttons. Clara hopped up and down with delight and sprinted toward her house with the marbles in her hand, excited to show them to Miranda.
Don’t miss our other new high-flying adventure!
Turn the page for a sneak peek . . .
Flip galloped into the front hall wearing goggles and a pointy peach wizard’s hat with a silver spiral design that matched the gemstone pattern on her tiara. “I’m so glad you’re here!” Flip exclaimed, rearing up with excitement. “You’ve arrived just in time. Welcome back to the Wing Realm.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” Clara said.
Flip looked at Lucinda. The pegasus cocked her head and smiled. “Are you sure you didn’t play any guessing games?” she asked. “Not even one?”
Lucinda sniffed and twitched her tail. “Well, maybe one,” she admitted before sauntering over to her cat sofa and curling up in a ball. “Don’t mind me,” she said between yawns. “I’m due for my morning nap. Her eyelids fluttered and then shut. She let out a loud noise that was half-purr and half-snore.
Clara giggled. Flip shook her head in amusement before she turned to Clara. “I can’t wait to tell you what we’re doing this afternoon. It’s my favorite day of the year. Today is our annual Potion Fair. Teams of creatures from all over the Wing Realm spend the year inventing and perfecting new magic potions. Then we bring them to the fair and share them with each other. Would you like to join us?”
“I would love to join you,” Clara said.
“I’m so glad,” Flip said. “Especially since this year my sisters and I invented a potion with you in mind.”
“Really?” Clara asked.
“Really,” Flip said, eyes gleaming. “We invented a flying potion. If you sprinkle it over your head, you’ll be able to fly even though you don’t have wings.”
“That sounds amazing,” Clara said.
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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Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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This electronic edition published in 2022 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY CHILDREN’S BOOKS, and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in the United States of America in March 2022
by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
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: Star’s gaze / by Emily Bliss ; illustrated by Sydney Hanson.
Description: New York : Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2022. |
Series: Pegasus princesses ; 4 | Audience: Grades 2–3.
Summary: It’s Lucinda’s birthday, and Princess Star has planned a spectacular surprise for the pegasus princesses’ winged pet cat, but as soon as they start decorating, mooncat mayhem erupts. Will Clara and Star be able to save the party?—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021044380 (print) | LCCN 2021044381 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0841-6 (PB)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0843-0 (eBook)
Subjects: CYAC: Winged horses—Fiction. | Princesses—Fiction. | Birthdays—Fiction. | Surprise—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Imaginary creatures—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.B633 St 2022 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.B633 (e-book) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021044380
LC e-book record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021044381
Book design by John Candell
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Emily Bliss, Star's Gaze
