Chapter 3

Chapter 3 "Here, let me help you carry that heavy basket," Princess Pulverizer said the next morning as she came upon an old woman carrying a basket filled with potatoes. The princess grinned widely as she spoke. She was just beginning her quest and hadn't gotten any farther than a small village on the outskirts of Empiria. Yet already she had found someone who appeared to need her help. What luck!

Princess Pulverizer tried to take the basket from the old woman's hands. But the woman wouldn't let go. "Get your hands off my basket!" she demanded. "But you have to let me help you," Princess Pulverizer insisted. She pulled harder at the basket. "Let go of my potatoes!" The old woman gripped the basket tightly. "I need to do a good deed," Princess Pulverizer explained. She gave another tug and... Rrrippp. The basket broke open. Thump. Bump. Flump. The potatoes fell into the mud. "Look what you've done!" the old woman scolded her. "My basket is torn. How am I supposed to get my potatoes home now?"

"I'll help you carry them," Princess Pulverizer suggested. "That would be a good deed, right?" "I think you've done enough," the old woman said. "Go on your way."

"Can I at least take one of these potatoes as a token—just to show my father that I tried to do a good deed?" Princess Pulverizer asked. "First you break my basket and now you want to steal one of my potatoes?" The woman gasped. "I don't want to steal it, I just—" Princess Pulverizer began to explain. But the old woman didn't let her finish. "HELP!" she shouted. "THIEF!" A crowd of people turned and stared. Uh-oh. Any minute now the sheriff would be there. Princess Pulverizer could stay and try to explain to him that she was a princess on a Quest of Kindness so she could go to Knight School. But considering no other girl had ever gone on a quest like this, or gone to Knight School, she figured no sheriff in his right mind would ever believe her.

To him, she would just seem like a common thief—especially dressed as she was in a plain cloth tunic and cloak, carrying nothing but a simple knapsack. Oh why hadn't she at least packed her royal tiara? If she stuck around, Princess Pulverizer could be in big trouble. Maybe even wind up in the local dungeon! So the princess did the only thing she could. She ran off. As fast as possible. Princess Pulverizer trudged her way up the hill. It seemed like she'd been running for hours. She was very tired. But at least now she was in another village—far from the old lady and her potatoes. She was safe. Unfortunately, nearly a whole day had gone by and she still hadn't found a single person

who needed her help. At this rate, her Quest for Kindness could go on forever. The princess knelt down by a nearby stream and took a drink of cool, clear water. As she drank, two women came strolling down the path. "The queen was absolutely beside herself," remarked the taller woman, who wore a pale green dress. "Some of the stolen jewels were gifts from her parents and her grandparents. They were priceless."