Chapter 2

Chapter 2 The very idea of his best buddy floating in midair was enough to stop Dribble from crying.

"Flying?" the dragon repeated. "How? Even I can't fly. And I have wings." "Baby wings," Princess Pulverizer reminded him. "When your grown-up wings grow in, you'll fly just fine." "But I don't have any wings at all," Lucas said. "So how can I fly?"

"Who knows?" Princess Pulverizer said. "We'll have to wait until you actually start flying to find out." "That's not happening," Lucas told his friends. "I'm leaving Beeten Wheeten. I can't fly here if I'm not here." "That's just silly," Princess Pulverizer told him. "You mean because it's impossible for a person to fly?" Dribble asked her. "No, because the mirror didn't necessarily show Lucas flying in Beeten Wheeten. It didn't show where or when Lucas was flying at all," Princess Pulverizer said. "If we leave here, he might take flight in the very next town." "That's not exactly reassuring," Lucas said nervously. "Come on," Princess Pulverizer urged. "I know just the thing to take both your minds off your troubles."

Lucas looked at Dribble. "I don't think we're going to like this," he said. "We need to look for someone with really big problems, who needs our help," Princess Pulverizer continued. "Maybe there's a monster in this town that needs defeating. Like a serpent-headed hydra. Or a giant man- eating spider. Or a—" "I told you we weren't going to like this," Lucas whispered to Dribble. "I doubt we will run into any creatures like those," Dribble assured his pal. "Besides, there's no point in staying here in the market," he added sadly. "Why not walk around for a bit?" As Princess Pulverizer and her pals wandered around Beeten Wheeten, the princess found herself getting quite discouraged. It didn't seem like anyone had any troubles at all.

Which was very troubling to the princess. Now Dribble and Lucas weren't the only ones who were unhappy. She needed some cheering up as well. This time, it was Lucas who found just the thing. "Hey, look!" he exclaimed. "There's a juggling show. Let's go watch." Princess Pulverizer shrugged. They might as well sit and rest their feet. "Okay," she said. "But just for a little while." The three friends took seats on a crowded bench. Well, the bench started out crowded,

anyway. The minute the people sitting there spotted Dribble, they leaped up and ran off. Dribble looked like he might start crying all over again. "Never mind," Lucas told him gently. "Now there's more room for us." A woman walked onto the small, makeshift wooden stage and smiled at the audience— revealing that she was missing two teeth. "And now The Amazing Ralf will juggle fire!" she announced. A man in a top hat wandered onto the stage. "Thank you, Bertha," The Amazing Ralf said as he held up three wooden torches. "Light these, please." Bertha pulled pieces of flint and steel from her pocket and banged them together until a small spark appeared. Quickly, she used cloth as kindling to make a flame and lit the ends of the torches.