9 Friends

CHAPTER 9

Friends But Ruskin continued to sniff the wall in front of him. Then he stood on his hind legs and whined. Tucked on a ledge sat Percy, shaking from head to tail. Pilwinkle carefully scooped Percy into his arms and handed him to Bella. "Percy, you're filthy!" she scolded as she rocked her dog like a baby. "But I'm so glad to see you!" Then Bella, with her own face smudged with dirt and tears, looked down at Pilwinkle. "I'm sorry I was mean to you," she said softly. The gnome smiled and patted Bella on the back.

"I now realize that every member of the kingdom is as important as a royal," said Bella. "I'm glad I could help," he said. "You helped me too!" Clara said. "You've shown me one of the most beautiful lands in Wrenly."

"And there's still so much to see," Pilwinkle said. "There is?" questioned Clara.

Pilwinkle grinned. "You have yet to see the River of Rubies," he said, stroking his beard. "There's also the Emerald Oasis and the Fountain of Sapphires. We even

have the Pearly Gates, a cavern filled with freshwater pearls." After climbing out of the caverns, Clara crouched by a small stone stump. She could hardly take it all in. She wrote every detail on one of her animal hides. She listed the things she had seen and the things she would see another time. Then she sat down and finished her sketches of the Stone Forest.