The Hidden Treasure Read online

  Contents

  1. Party Crasher

  2. Swimming in Secrets

  3. A Super-Secret Mission

  4. Unicorn Sparks

  5. The Queen’s Castle

  6. Search Party

  7. Tick, Tock

  8. Hiding in Plain Sight

  9. Be Our “Guest”

  10. Reunited . . . but Are They United?

  Acknowledgments

  About Jessica Burkhart

  TO LEX AND GRACE CARSON.

  YOU BOTH FILL MY LIFE WITH SUCH LOVE AND BEAUTY!

  1

  Party Crasher

  Princess Bella stared at her evil aunt, Queen Fire, trying to look brave. Bella had been having a great time with the rest of her classmates at a fun dance that her parents, King Phillip and Queen Katherine, had planned to celebrate the end of the year. But Queen Fire had been a not-so-fun party surprise.

  “How long does this”—Bella pointed to the black powder that hid them both from the other guests—“last?”

  “Dear niece, don’t worry about our privacy,” Queen Fire said in a sugar-sweet tone. Bella’s aunt had raven-black hair that hung down her back, glittering eyes, and matching ruby-red lips and nails.

  “Did you have to come during my party?” Bella asked.

  “I can come and go whenever I please,” Queen Fire said. She glanced away from Bella, taking in the happy chatter and fun as Bella’s classmates danced nearby.

  Bella started to say something, but she bit her lip to keep quiet. Had she imagined the flicker of sadness on Queen Fire’s face?

  “Please let me go,” Bella begged. “Today and tomorrow are the last days I can spend with my cousin before she goes home. I know I owe you a favor, though, and I am not going back on my promise.”

  Images flashed through Bella’s mind—picture after picture of that horrible time when Glimmer, Bella’s unicorn, had run away to the Dark Forest. Bella and Glimmer had just started to get to know each other after the two had been matched on Bella’s eighth birthday. But Glimmer had run away, and when Bella had found her in the scary Dark Forest, they were suddenly in the path of Queen Fire’s dangerous unicorns. Bella and Glimmer had been seconds away from serious trouble before Queen Fire saved them. In turn, Bella had pledged to help her aunt if she ever needed it. And if she did not help Queen Fire, her aunt was going to take Glimmer away.

  Queen Fire crossed her arms. “I had a feeling you would back out of our deal.”

  “I’m not letting you have Glimmer!” Bella said.

  “Then I suggest you listen very carefully. There is a crystal hidden in your castle. It has, let’s say, sentimental value to me.”

  “Where is it?”

  Queen Fire laughed. “Niece, if I knew the answer, I would have told you. I’m not that evil.”

  “So that’s what I have to do?” Bella asked. “I have to find this crystal?” She paused. “Is it hidden away for a reason? Am I going to get in trouble for finding the crystal and giving it to you?”

  Queen Fire leaned close to Bella. “If you’re worried about getting in trouble, then don’t get caught.”

  Bella felt like she was underwater—like someone had stuffed cotton balls in her ears. The class party felt very far away, and she did not know what to say to her aunt.

  Bella swallowed. “Is that all? Because I really need to get back and—”

  “Fine.” Queen Fire sighed, waving a pale hand in the air. “Go back to your party, dear. I’m getting rather tired of hiding, though. I want you at my castle tomorrow. We need to talk. I need to make sure you understand the importance of your task.”

  Bella chewed on the inside of her cheek. She didn’t want to ask more questions to keep the queen here longer, but . . .

  “Can I come on Sunday? Please?”

  Queen Fire stared, unblinking, at Bella. “Sunday. Before sunset, or I’ll have my guards begin to ready a stall at my stables for Glimmer.”

  “Not a cha—”

  Queen Fire vanished before Bella could finish her sentence. Bella looked down, and all the black powder had disappeared too.

  Okay, pull yourself together, Bella. You can’t let anyone see that you’re upset.

  She glanced down at her shaking hands. She walked over to a crystal punch bowl floating in the air.

  “One cup, please,” she said, testing out her voice. She thought she sounded like her usual self.

  A ladle dipped into the bowl, filling a cup with red punch. The cup lowered itself in front of Bella.

  “Thank you.” Bella took the cup and sipped, trying to shake off Queen Fire’s visit. She smoothed her sparkly teal dress with her free hand.

  “Bella?” A familiar voice called her name.

  “Over here,” Bella said as she forced a smile onto her face.

  Her best friends, Ivy and Clara, along with her cousin, Violet, surrounded her.

  “Did you help that lady who was looking for you?” Ivy asked.

  Bella nodded, grabbing Ivy’s hand and tugging her forward. “Yes. Let’s go back to the party.”

  The princess accompanied her friends and her cousin out of the tent and made a silent vow to never let Queen Fire that close to her friends ever again.

  2

  Swimming in Secrets

  “I can’t believe it’s your last day here!” Bella said, sticking out her bottom lip.

  “I know,” Violet replied as she twirled the ends of her red hair, which was in two braids. “I begged my parents to let me stay longer, but they said I had to come home for school.”

  Both princesses frowned. They were each lying on a giant raft—Bella’s pink and Violet’s frosty white. The rafts hovered above the pool water as the girls soaked up some sun. Bella pushed the down button, and her raft lowered until it touched the water. It was a very warm day in Crystal Kingdom, and Bella was ready for a swim in one of the royal pools. Violet, Princess of Foris Kingdom, was Bella’s cousin. She was a little younger than Bella.

  “I can’t wait till Ivy and Clara get here,” Violet said, slipping off her raft and into the crystal-clear pool water. The bottom and sides of the pool were covered in clear pea-size crystals that made the water look sparkly. “I feel like I’ve known them forever—not less than a week!”

  “They are such good friends like that,” Bella agreed.

  Violet climbed up the pool stairs, walked the length of the pool, and stopped in front of the diving board.

  “Higher, please,” Violet commanded. The white board lifted off the ground and rose a few inches into the air.

  “Go, Vi!” Bella cheered.

  “Cannnnnonnnnbaaaallll!” Violet yelled as she jumped off the board, wrapping her arms around her legs.

  Bella giggled as her cousin caused waves in the pool and splashed her.

  Queen Katherine had spelled the pool to be just deep enough for cannonballs, but no diving was allowed. They were only allowed to jump off of it or do cannonballs when someone else was in or around the pool.

  For the few seconds that Violet was underwater, Bella let out a giant sigh that she felt she had been holding inside since Queen Fire had talked to her.

  Keeping secrets is so hard, Bella thought. Where do I even begin to look for the crystal?

  There was zero chance she would tell her mom and dad, but as Bella watched Violet break the surface of the water, grinning, Bella knew. She had to tell her friends and her cousin. If she didn’t, it would go against their rules of BFFs. Queen Katherine appeared with a basket of flowers resting in the crook of her arm. She waved at Bella, and Bella’s stomach felt all flip-floppy when she waved back at the queen.

  “Awesome cannonball!” Queen Katherine called out.

  Violet smiled. “Thank
s!” she said as she crooked her finger at her raft and it sailed through the air, stopping inches before her.

  Bella rolled off her raft and slipped underwater. As she sank down a few inches, the princess rubbed her temples. She had almost fallen asleep twice on her pool float because she had been up most of the night trying to figure out every spot the crystal could be hidden. As Bella had mapped late into the night, she got more and more nervous, because she wasn’t just retrieving a crystal for Queen Fire—the princess was stealing. Queen Fire hadn’t said a word about “borrowing,” so Bella didn’t think Crystal Castle would be getting the magical sparkler back. She felt like a unicorn was sitting on her chest.

  Bella surfaced, swimming toward the ladder. She walked up to the diving board.

  “Let me set the height,” Violet said. “Okay, Bella? Or are you scared?”

  Bella stuck out her tongue at her cousin. “Raise the board as high as you want!”

  Violet lifted a hand out of the water. “Up, please.”

  The board rose and rose and rose.

  Was Vi ever going to tell the board to stop? Bella wondered, feeling like there were teensy butterflies in her stomach.

  “Please stop!” Violet called out. “That’s perfect.”

  Silvery shimmery stairs—which glittered in the sunlight—appeared. Without thinking, Bella grasped the cool bars of the ladder and climbed to the top. The princess was afraid that if she stopped, she might back out.

  “Okay! I’m doing it!” Bella said. “Here I gooo!” She ran a few steps forward, then pushed off of the board with the tips of her toes. She hugged her knees to her chest and hit the water.

  She kicked to the surface and blinked through the water in her eyes. “I dare you,” she said, looking at Violet. “Let me raise the board.”

  “Up, please,” Bella said as her cousin climbed out of the pool and headed for the diving board. “Stop.”

  The board halted—hovering close to the area where Bella had jumped.

  Violet’s steps slowed as she neared the board’s stairs.

  “Ooh, that’s pretty high,” Bella called, grinning.

  “Stop it!” Violet said. “You can’t scare me.” She climbed the stairs.

  Bella raised her hands in the air. “I wasn’t trying to. I was just telling the truth—you set the diving board pretty high.” Bella kicked her feet, splashing, as she swam to her raft and climbed on top.

  The princess’s cousin frowned, taking a step back from the end of the board.

  “I guess I could lower it,” Vi muttered to herself. She shook her head. “No! Cannonball!”

  Violet reached the end of the diving board in two steps. She pushed off the high dive, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Then all Bella could see was a pink blur of Vi’s swimsuit and two red braids sticking up in the air just before Violet crashed into the pool, sending water everywhere.

  Bella laughed. Her raft bobbed a little from the small waves that rippled across the water after Vi jumped in. Violet popped up and raised a fist in the air.

  “Yes!” Violet said, grinning. “I’m the all-star champion of Crystal Castle cannonballs. I think I deserve a ribbon or, no, a trophy.”

  “Ha, ha,” Bella said, sliding off her raft and into the water. “You must be joking. I have held the all-time record for the most awesome cannonballs in any of the four sky islands!”

  Violet scrambled atop her raft. “Prove it.”

  “Who’s proving what?” a voice called out.

  “Yeah! Spill, because I want to play!”

  Ivy and Clara, both in their swimsuits, waved from the entrance by the pool. A wide-brimmed floppy hat shielded Clara’s eyes from the sun. Clara’s long, strawberry-blond-colored hair was up in a pretty ponytail. Ivy’s chin-length blond hair had rainbow clips holding her hair away from her face.

  “Yay, we’re all together!” Bella cheered.

  “Get in!” Violet said, motioning toward the water. “We’re trying to decide who can do a better cannonball.”

  “That’s easy,” Ivy said. “I can.” Smiling, she kicked off her flip-flops and ran toward the water. “Cannonball!” She hit the water and it sprayed everywhere. All of the girls burst into laughter.

  After each girl showed off her cannonball skills, they kept on playing and swimming in the water until their fingers and toes were all shriveled up. They all shook out their beach towels and sat by the pool, waiting to dry off.

  Bella rolled onto her stomach, propping her chin up on her hands. “There is something that I need to tell you guys.”

  The other three girls all looked at Bella.

  “But you can’t get too worried, okay?” Bella asked. “Promise?”

  Ivy shifted her eyes to meet Clara’s. Violet stared at Bella as if she was trying to determine what Bella was going to say before she said it.

  “Promise,” Violet finally said.

  “Guys?” Bella asked, looking at Ivy and Clara.

  “Promise,” they said in unison.

  Bella took a deep breath. “Queen Fire kind of showed up at our party yesterday.”

  3

  A Super-Secret Mission

  “What?!” Ivy, Clara, and Violet chorused.

  “Queen Fire?” Ivy said. “When was she at the party? And why?”

  “Why did you wait until now to tell us?” Clara asked. She sat up and crossed her arms.

  “Because of this!” Bella said. “I knew you guys would be upset, and can you try to keep it down a little? I don’t want my parents or anyone else to walk by and hear this.”

  “We have to tell Uncle Phillip and Aunt Katherine right now,” Violet insisted. “You can’t keep this a secret, Bella.”

  “Vi, please at least listen to what I have to say, okay? I didn’t have to tell you guys, but I did. I told you because I know you’ll all be able to help me.”

  Violet, Clara, and Ivy were silent.

  “Okay,” Clara said as Ivy and Violet nodded.

  “Thank you,” Bella said, sitting up on her beach towel. “Ivy, you actually met Queen Fire.”

  “I did? When?” Ivy asked, her mouth hanging open in surprise.

  “Do you remember when you came and got me during the party? There was a woman in the food tent who wanted to see me.”

  “Oh, yes!” Ivy said, nodding.

  “That was Queen Fire,” Bella said.

  She glanced around and listened. But she didn’t see anyone, and all she heard was an occasional unicorn hoofbeat as they went around for a walk. Bella was also on the lookout for any Busy Bees. Busy Bees lived in Crystal Kingdom and had a super-annoying habit. They were very nosy! The bees searched for gossip and talk around the town and the castle. Once a Busy Bee had locked in on gossip, it would release its stinger. The stinger recorded the gossip for as long as the bee could fly near the gossiper without getting caught. Once the bee had finished, it would fly into one of the Busy Bee Boxes that were scattered throughout the kingdom. The bee would share the gossip with other bees and would sometimes—if asked nicely—share random gossip to someone collecting honey from the box.

  “Once we were alone, she dropped her disguise,” the princess continued. “She wanted me to help her out and make sure I paid her back for her help.”

  “What do you mean?” Violet asked.

  “Queen Fire saved Glimmer and Bella when they were lost in the Dark Forest,” Ivy said. “As thanks, Bella promised to help Queen Fire.”

  “If Bella doesn’t keep her promise . . .” Clara let her sentence trail off.

  “If I don’t keep my promise,” Bella picked up, her voice wobbly, “Queen Fire will take Glimmer away for good.” The princess’s shoulders slumped and she sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

  Violet gasped. “Bella! Now we really have to tell your parents!”

  Bella shook her head. “No way. I’m not telling them, Vi. I’m trusting all of you because you’re my best friends.”

&nb
sp; “What do you think she wants?” Ivy asked.

  “She wants a crystal that’s hidden inside the castle. I’ll give her whatever she wants. Not even the biggest crystal in the world means more than Glimmer.”

  The other girls were quiet.

  “I would do the same thing,” Clara declared. Bella shot her friend a grateful smile.

  “How can we help?” Clara asked.

  “I’m with Clara,” Ivy said. “I don’t like it, but I’m in. What does the crystal do, anyway?”

  “I don’t know,” Bella said. “I’m sure I’ll find out tomorrow.”

  Bella, Ivy, and Clara looked at the Princess of Foris Kingdom. Violet was staring down at her toes, which were painted a cheerful yellow. Except no one was in a cheerful mood anymore.

  “I have to leave tomorrow,” Violet said. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t or don’t want to help. Count me in.”

  “Thank you so much,” Bella said. “There has never been anything more important to me than Glimmer. So I have to do whatever Queen Fire says. No matter what.”

  “I say that we don’t waste another second,” Violet said. “We may not have all the details, but we do know that Bella has to find this crystal somewhere within the castle, right?”

  Bella and the other girls nodded.

  “I say we start making lists and a map of places to check. I don’t think we should leave out a single room,” Violet added.

  “Great idea!” Bella said.

  “Let’s get some Secret Scribble notebooks,” Clara said. “I nominate Vi to draw the map. It will take a lot of work, so maybe you can finish them on the train tomorrow and send it to us with your Chat Crystal?”

  Secret Scribble notebooks were the best. They only revealed the page’s contents to the first person to open the notebook. The pages appeared blank to everyone else unless the owner wrote names in the notebook of other people who could see the pages.

  “Of course, yes,” Violet said. “But it’s Bella’s home. Don’t you think . . . oh, right.” The Foris princess grinned, and her smile seemed contagious to everyone except Bella.