Chapter 1

NANCY KRULIK WORSE, WORSER, WORST art by Ben Balistreri

Chapter 1 "AAAAAHHH! There's a MONSTER in that tree!" Lucas cried out. "A hairy, creepy-crawly MONSTER!" The scared knight-in-training dropped the grilled cheese sandwich he'd been snacking on and ran off as fast as he could.

"A monster?" Princess Pulverizer repeated. But she did not sound scared at all. Nothing scared Princess Pulverizer. Well, very little scared her, anyway. "Y-y-yes," Lucas answered from his favorite hiding spot—crouched behind his best friend, Dribble the dragon. "I hate things that creep and crawl!" "I'll defeat it!" Princess Pulverizer said, leaping to her feet.

"H-h-how?" Lucas stammered nervously. "You don't have any weapons." "Sure I do." The princess bent her arms to show off her muscles. "These!" Lucas and Dribble did not seem particularly impressed. But that wasn't stopping Princess Pulverizer. "Watch out, monster! You are no match for me," she shouted. Princess Pulverizer looked up into the tree. But she didn't see a monster. She didn't see anything other than the usual branches, leaves, and blossoms. Hmmm... Maybe the monster was hiding. The princess leaped into the air and grabbed a tree branch. She pulled herself up and began climbing, searching for a monster hidden in the leaves. But there was no monster anywhere. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Princess Pulverizer noticed a black, white, and

yellow hairy creature creeping and crawling on a branch. Wait a minute. Hairy? Creeping? Crawling? Oh brother. Lucas hadn't seen a monster at all. He'd seen a caterpillar. Princess Pulverizer wasn't surprised that Lucas was afraid of an insect. Lucas was afraid of everything. The princess let the little caterpillar crawl onto her finger. She tucked him in her pocket and slid down to the ground. Princess Pulverizer walked over to her friends and dangled the tiny creature in front of Lucas's nose. "Is this your monster?"

Lucas shuddered. "Get that away from me!" he cried out. Princess Pulverizer laughed. Dribble looked from the caterpillar to Lucas and back again. He clenched his dragon lips together tightly, trying not to laugh. But he couldn't help himself. "Ha-ha-ha-ha..." SNORT! Dribble laughed so hard, the ground shook beneath him.