Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Princess Pulverizer searched through the groves of trees. She peered into bushes. She looked behind boulders. But there was no sign of Dribble or Lucas. And just for a moment, Princess Pulverizer thought maybe the whole tale of the Yabko-kokomo Beast was a true story—that her friends really had been kidnapped. But then she thought better of it. She hadn't seen a single sign of a beast. No matted fur

that had been shed on the ground or caught on the limbs of trees. No beastly cloven hoofprints in the mud. Nothing. So if Lucas and Dribble weren't kidnapped, what had happened to them? They wouldn't have just left her. Or would they? Maybe she'd really crossed the line this time, ordering them around and making them go look for the Yabko-kokomo Beast. She could have been nicer about it. Maybe she drove them away. No! Dribble and Lucas were loyal. They might be upset with her, but they would never abandon her. Princess Pulverizer looked down at a deep hole in the earth. Could her friends have been dragged underground? Well, Lucas might have been. He was scrawny enough to fit into the burrow. But not Dribble. A dragon could never squeeze into there.

So what had happened? Dribble and Lucas couldn't have disappeared into thin air. Although she didn't see their footprints in the mud, either. But those could have easily been washed away, because it had started to rain. And not just a little drizzle. This was a full-on, torrential rainstorm. And from the looks of the dark clouds above, there was a lot more coming. Princess Pulverizer was stuck in a foreign land, in the pouring rain, without a single friend. For the first time in a really long time, Princess Pulverizer wasn't feeling brave at all. She was scared. And lonely. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep in her own bed, in her own castle. The princess wondered if any of her father's Royal Knights of the Skround Table ever felt

this way. There was only one way to find out. She would have to go back to Empiria and ask them. Sure! That was the answer. She'd go home to Empiria and talk to a few brave knights. Maybe grab a hot meal that wasn't a grilled cheese sandwich. And then she could head back out on her Quest of Kindness feeling refreshed and rested. And her next act of kindness would be to find Dribble and Lucas. She would even bring a whole search party with her to help. It wasn't a bad plan at all. Except for one thing. Princess Pulverizer had absolutely no idea how to get back to Empiria from here. She wasn't even sure where here was! Zing! Just then, a small gnat bit at the princess's face. Ouch. That hurt—like an arrow piercing her cheek. An arrow! That's it!

Quickly, Princess Pulverizer pulled a long arrow with orange and yellow feathers from her bag. It had been a gift from the mayor of Ire-Mire-Briar-Shire. And if she remembered correctly, the mayor had distinctly told her, "If ever the holder of the arrow finds themselves lost, the arrow will always point them toward home." Well, Princess Pulverizer was definitely lost now. She held the arrow in the air and watched as it wiggled a little to the left and to the right. It twitched in front of her. It pointed over her shoulder. And then it stopped. Princess Pulverizer's heart pounded excitedly. She'd found the way home. All she had to do was turn around and follow the arrow.

It seemed to Princess Pulverizer that she'd been traveling an awfully long time. It was night now, and she had to squint to see the magic arrow in the moonlight. And to make matters worse, she had to watch out for all the giant holes in the ground. At least the rain had stopped. But she was still sopping wet. Princess Pulverizer couldn't wait to get back to the palace and change into a dry tunic. The princess followed the arrow to an old wooden fence. The arrow twisted slightly and pointed toward a splintery gate that was falling off its hinges. Huh? That made no sense. How was going through that gate going to bring her home? But the princess had trusted the arrow this far. So she followed its pointed tip down through the gate.