Cloud Island Read online

  Title Page

  Dedication

  A Message from the Secret Kingdom

  Up in the Clouds

  Trouble at the Rainbow Pools

  Cloudquake

  A Sweet Solution

  Storm Sprites Again

  Rain, Rain, Go Away

  Teaser

  Also Available

  Character Profile: Jasmine Smith

  Favorite Places

  Copyright

  “I wish we didn’t have so much homework to do,” sighed Ellie Macdonald as she walked home from school with her friends. “I’ve got to write a story for English and I don’t know where to start!”

  “Let’s all do our homework together at my house,” suggested Jasmine Smith. “We can put some music on and help one another.”

  “Great idea,” agreed Summer Hammond, linking arms with Jasmine and Ellie. “Even homework can be fun when you do it with friends.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far.” Ellie grinned, her green eyes twinkling. “But it’s better than doing it on your own.”

  Laughing, they all made their way to Jasmine’s house and hurried into the kitchen.

  A big bag of chocolate cookies and a note were sitting on the kitchen table. Jasmine picked up the note and read it out loud:

  “‘Hi, Jasmine, I’m sure you’ve brought Ellie and Summer back with you, so share these with them! There’s some homemade lemonade in the fridge as well. See you at five. Mom.’”

  “Your mom’s so nice!” said Summer.

  Jasmine smiled. “I wonder what made her think you’d be with me?”

  “Yeah, you would think we spent all our time together,” joked Ellie.

  Summer giggled. She, Jasmine, and Ellie all lived in a little town called Honeyvale, and went to the same school. They had been best friends since they were little, and they went over to one another’s houses so often that they all felt like home!

  Jasmine opened the fridge and took out a big jug of lemonade while Summer grabbed three glasses and a plate.

  “Now, let’s deal with our homework,” said Jasmine, putting everything on a tray and leading the way upstairs. “Then we can start having some real fun.”

  “Hey, you’ve got the Magic Box on your dressing table!” exclaimed Ellie as they all spilled into Jasmine’s bedroom, which was quite small, but beautifully decorated. The walls were a gorgeous hot-pink color, and red floaty netting hung down over the bed.

  “I didn’t want to miss a message from the Secret Kingdom!” Jasmine said.

  They all looked at the beautiful wooden box. It was covered with intricate carvings of fairies and unicorns, and had a mirrored lid studded with six green stones. It looked like a jewelry box, but it was much more than that.

  “I slept with it under my pillow last time I was taking care of it!” Ellie laughed.

  The girls had found the Magic Box at a school rummage sale, when it had mysteriously appeared in front of them. It belonged to King Merry, the ruler of the Secret Kingdom.

  The Secret Kingdom was a magical world that no one knew existed — no one except Jasmine, Summer, and Ellie! It was a beautiful crescent moon-shaped island, where mermaids, unicorns, pixies, and elves all lived happily together.

  But the kingdom was in terrible trouble. Queen Malice, the king’s horrible sister, was so angry that the people of the Secret Kingdom had chosen King Merry to be their ruler instead of her that she had sent six horrible thunderbolts into the kingdom to cause all kinds of trouble. Summer, Jasmine, and Ellie had already found two of the thunderbolts and broken their nasty spells.

  “I wish we could go on another magical adventure,” sighed Ellie.

  “Me too,” agreed Jasmine, taking her books out of her backpack and sprawling out on the carpet. She tucked her long dark hair behind her ears. “Come on, let’s get this over with,” she said, reaching for a chocolate cookie.

  Ellie got out her English book and started chewing on her pencil. She was looking around the room, trying to come up with an idea for her story, when something caught her eye. “I don’t think we’ll be doing homework after all!” she cried in delight. “The Magic Box is glowing!”

  The girls all jumped up to look. They crowded around the box, watching excitedly as, letter by letter, words started to form in the magic mirror.

  “I wonder what mischief Queen Malice is up to now,” said Jasmine, shuddering at the thought of the horrid queen and her wicked plans to make everyone in the kingdom as miserable as she was.

  “We’ll have to solve the riddle to find out,” said Summer as she studied the words in the mirror. Then she slowly read them out loud:

  “‘A thunderbolt there will be found

  Way up high above the ground.

  A white and fluffy floating land

  Needs you all to lend a hand!’”

  Jasmine quickly wrote the riddle down before the words disappeared into the mirror. “What does it mean?” she asked.

  Ellie looked puzzled. “A floating land — it must be an island.”

  “Let’s check the map,” said Jasmine. “We might be able to spot it.”

  As if it had heard them, the Magic Box opened up, revealing the six compartments inside. Only two of the spaces were filled, one by a map of the Secret Kingdom that King Merry had given them after their first visit, and the other by a little silver unicorn horn. It was small, but it had enormous power — whoever held it could talk to animals!

  Summer carefully took out the map and spread it out gently on Jasmine’s floor. The three girls sat around it, their heads touching as they peered at it excitedly. There were a few small islands in Mermaid Reef, and a couple more off the shore of Glitter Beach. They all moved magically on the map as the aquamarine sea bobbed up and down, but none of them looked white or fluffy.

  “It’s not here!” Summer said anxiously.

  “But it has to be!” cried Ellie. “We have to solve the riddle so we can get to the Secret Kingdom and find the thunderbolt before something horrible happens!”

  Jasmine stood and started pacing up and down the middle of her room with a worried expression on her face.

  “Let’s read the riddle again,” Summer suggested. “We must be missing something. ‘A white and fluffy floating land.’ Well, these islands aren’t white or fluffy.”

  “‘Way up high above the ground …’” Jasmine muttered to herself. Then she glanced down at the map and laughed. Summer and Ellie were still searching the bottom of the map, looking at every inch of sea. But Jasmine had realized something. “We shouldn’t be looking in the sea!” she cried. “We should be looking in the sky!”

  “Of course!” said Ellie with a grin. “What’s white and fluffy and floats?”

  “A cloud!” exclaimed Summer.

  “And here’s Cloud Island!” Ellie exclaimed, pointing to a puffy white cloud at the top of the map. “That must be it. Let’s summon Trixi!”

  The girls put their hands on the Magic Box, pressing their fingers against the pretty green stones on its carved wooden lid.

  “The answer is Cloud Island,” Jasmine whispered.

  Suddenly there was a flash of light, followed by a squeal. Trixibelle had appeared, but the little pixie was trapped in the netting over Jasmine’s bed!

  “Keep still!” Jasmine cried as the pixie twisted around. She was trying to free herself, but was only getting more and more caught up.

  “I’m trying!” Trixi cried, giving a yelp as she tumbled off her leaf.

  Ellie, Jasmine, and Summer quickly climbed up onto Jasmine’s bed to untangle Trixi from the mesh. Ellie’s nimble fingers carefully unwrapped the netting from Trixi’s flower hat, while Jasmine and Summer helped Trixi pull her arms and legs free.

  “There!” Ellie said as
she untangled the last bit.

  “Whew!” Trixi sighed, jumping back onto her leaf and flying in a quick twirl before straightening out her skirt and the flower hat that covered her messy blond hair. “Hello, girls,” she exclaimed, flying over to kiss them all on the tips of their noses. She landed on the edge of Jasmine’s bedside table. “It’s lovely to see you all again. Have you figured out where the next thunderbolt is?”

  “We think it’s somewhere called Cloud Island,” Summer said.

  Trixi nodded. “There’s no time to waste! We need to go to the kingdom right away.”

  The girls all looked excitedly at one another. They were off on another magical adventure — this time to an island in the sky!

  As the girls watched, Trixi tapped the Magic Box with her ring and chanted a spell:

  “The evil Queen has trouble planned.

  Brave helpers fly to save our land.”

  Her words appeared on the mirrored lid and then soared toward the ceiling, separated into sparkles, and tumbled down again in a colorful burst, whizzing around the girls’ heads until they formed a whirlwind. The rushing air picked the girls up, and moments later Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine were dropped onto something springy. It was the softest landing ever!

  Summer looked around in astonishment. It felt like she was on a huge bouncy bed, but all she could see around her was white. Hesitantly, she put out her hand to touch the fluffy stuff, and then grinned as she realized — she was standing on a cloud!

  Summer jumped with glee. As she bounced higher and higher, she could see the clouds laid out below her like giant stepping stones. Beneath that she could see the aquamarine sea and the crescent moon-shaped island of the Secret Kingdom!

  Summer looked down as she heard a noise from the cloud just below her. It was Jasmine, bouncing up and down so excitedly that her tiara fell off.

  “Whoops!” laughed Jasmine, catching it. “We can’t lose these.”

  “Definitely not!” Summer agreed.

  The beautiful tiaras magically appeared on their heads every time they visited the Secret Kingdom, and they showed everyone in the land that Jasmine, Summer, and Ellie were Very Important Friends of King Merry!

  Summer pressed her tiara firmly onto her head, and then looked around for Ellie. She soon caught a glimpse of red hair on a cloud below Jasmine’s. Ellie was lying flat on the cloud, holding on to the surface as tightly as she could!

  “Oh dear!” Summer cried. “Ellie’s scared of heights, and we are very high. How do we get down to her?”

  “We bounce, of course!” Jasmine replied, fearlessly leaping down to a nearby cloud, and then jumping straight down to Ellie’s. “Wheeeeeee!”

  Summer took a deep breath and followed her. She flew through the air and landed next to Ellie on the soft cloud.

  Ellie groaned as the cloud shook. “Why do we always arrive so high up?”

  “Don’t worry!” said Trixi, flying down next to them. “You can’t fall. These are trampoline clouds! They’re made so that you can get from one cloud to the next. If you do a little jump, they’ll spring you right over to the next cloud. They’re really bouncy — just like trampolines!”

  “Trampoline clouds are amazing!” Jasmine said, bouncing high and doing a somersault. “Come on, Ellie. Try bouncing!”

  Summer helped Ellie stand up, and she and Jasmine both held on to their friend’s hands as she started jumping. Soon Ellie was having so much fun she almost forgot how high up they were!

  “Cloud Island is down there,” Trixi said, pointing at a cloud far down below.

  The girls all peered over the edge. Cloud Island was much bigger than the little trampoline clouds that led down to it. It seemed to be about the size of Honeyvale, and there were funny little houses perched on the cloud.

  “Race you down there!” Jasmine called, and before the others could stop her, she had leapt to the next cloud.

  “It’s easy!” she laughed as Ellie looked at her anxiously.

  “I’ll hold your hand,” Summer said kindly. Ellie closed her eyes and gripped Summer’s hand tightly. They jumped on the spot and then leapt onto the next cloud down. It was easy — and it was so much fun!

  They went from one trampoline cloud to another, passing lots of surprised-looking birds along the way. The birds were flying from cloud to cloud with envelopes in their beaks.

  “Those are messenger doves,” Trixi explained. “They bring notes up to the clouds from the kingdom.”

  Soon Cloud Island was only a few jumps away.

  “Hey, look at those meadows!” called Jasmine. On top of the cloud were fields of pale yellow fluffy flowers!

  “They look like dandelions … no, like cotton balls!” exclaimed Ellie.

  “And they’re exactly the same color as fluffy yellow ducklings!” Summer giggled.

  “They’re fluff flowers,” Trixi told her. “The weather imps grow them to make clouds. But they also make a wonderful landing place,” she added, flying into the flowers and scattering fluff everywhere!

  Jasmine, Ellie, and Summer looked at one another with a grin.

  “Three,” Jasmine started.

  “Two,” Summer continued.

  “One!” Ellie shrieked.

  “Jump!” they all yelled, holding hands as they leapt off the last trampoline cloud and landed on Cloud Island!

  The girls lay in the fluff flower field until they’d gotten their breath back. “This is much better than homework!” Ellie giggled, putting fluff in Jasmine’s hair. Jasmine laughed and threw some of the silky stuff back at her.

  “Don’t forget about Queen Malice’s thunderbolt,” Summer reminded them. “We’ve got to stop it before it does something horrible to Cloud Island.”

  Suddenly feeling serious again, the girls brushed themselves off and walked to the edge of the field. In front of them they could see a group of funny little houses and factories and a tall brick chimney with pretty white clouds puffing out of it.

  “The fluff flowers are cooked in the cloud factory ovens until they’re lighter than air,” explained Trixi. “Then they come out of the chimney as clouds.” She pointed at a puff of air rising out of the chimney. “Look, there’s one that’s just been made.”

  Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine watched in wonder as a fluffy cloud squeezed out of the chimney and floated up into the sky.

  “That’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” gasped Jasmine.

  Just then peals of laughter filled the air. The girls turned to see some creatures flying out of the cloud factory on top of mini storm clouds. They had spiky hair, twiggy fingers, and pointy faces.

  “Oh no!” Ellie cried. “Storm Sprites!”

  All three girls shuddered as they watched the Storm Sprites zoom out of the cloud factory. The sprites were Queen Malice’s horrible helpers, and they made mischief wherever they went!

  “They must be here to cause problems,” Jasmine whispered to the others.

  “What are we going to do?” Summer asked, her face pale.

  “Go away!” Ellie yelled as the Storm Sprites hovered overhead, laughing.

  “Look, it’s those smelly human girls,” one of the sprites said, pointing a spiky finger at them.

  “Yes, and we’re going to stop whatever trouble you’ve got planned!” Ellie told him, putting her hands on her hips.

  “Not this time,” another sprite cackled. “This thunderbolt is so well hidden that you’ll never find it!”

  With a screech of laughter, the Storm Sprites dived toward the girls. Ellie ducked, but Summer and Jasmine didn’t move quickly enough. One of the sprites pushed Jasmine as he flew by, and she landed on the cloud with a thud. Another sprite grabbed Summer’s tiara and tried to pull it off her head.

  “Ouch!” Summer cried out, grabbing hold of her tiara before the sprite could steal it.

  “Leave her alone!” came a shout from behind them. A thin girl wearing a fluffy dress was running over, waving her arms at the Storm Sprites. The sprite l
et go of Summer’s tiara and flew up to join the others.

  “See you soon!” he said, giggling nastily as they all flew away.

  “Are you okay?” asked the girl as she helped Summer up. She had a pretty, smiling face and was wearing an apron that was covered with bits of fluff flowers. “Those Storm Sprites are awful. They’re always here stealing our cotton candy.”

  “Hello there!” Trixi cried in delight, flying over to them. “This is Lolo,” Trixi told Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine. “She’s a weather imp. Weather imps live on Cloud Island and look after the Secret Kingdom’s weather.” She turned to Lolo. “This is Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine,” she continued, pointing to each girl in turn. “They’re our human friends from the Other Realm.”

  “Thank you for chasing the Storm Sprites away,” Summer said, hugging Lolo, who was as tall as she was.

  “You’re welcome,” Lolo said. “It’s lovely to meet you. Everyone in the kingdom has been talking about how you saved King Merry’s birthday party and the Golden Games.” She looked at them, a concerned expression crossing her face. “But what were the Storm Sprites saying? There isn’t a thunderbolt on Cloud Island, is there?”

  “We think there might be,” said Jasmine.

  Lolo’s big eyes filled up with tears.

  “Don’t worry,” Summer reassured her. “We’ll break Malice’s spell and make sure Cloud Island is all right. But we need to find the thunderbolt — the sprites said that it was really well hidden.”

  “Well, I know every bit of Cloud Island,” Lolo told them. “I’ll show you around — I’m sure we’ll find it!”

  Lolo led the girls into the cloud factory to see if they could spot the thunderbolt. Nearly the whole room was taken up with a huge oven, and teams of weather imps were shoveling fluff flowers into it.

  “That’s the chimney the finished clouds come out of,” Lolo explained, pointing to the big pipe coming out of the oven.

  The girls looked all around the factory, but there was no sign of the thunderbolt anywhere.