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  “Did you see that?” she cried to the others, who nodded excitedly. “She’s a mermaid!”

  Summer’s eyes widened. “That must be it! ‘More than fish swim happily’ — we must be going to help mermaids!”

  They leaned over the map again and watched the mermaid as she swam down to where an underwater town was marked. Ellie held the map up and looked at the place name. “‘Mermaid Reef,’” she read. “That must be where we’re going.”

  Jasmine and Summer agreed, and the three girls quickly placed their fingertips on the jewels on the Magic Box.

  Summer smiled at the others and said the answer to the riddle out loud:

  “Mermaid Reef.”

  The green jewels sparkled and a glittering light beamed out from the mirror, throwing dancing patterns onto the walls. Then there was a golden flash and Trixi appeared, twirling in midair like a ballerina! Her blond hair was even messier than usual, but she had a huge grin and her blue eyes twinkled happily as she balanced on her leaf.

  “Hi, Trixi,” Ellie cried in delight as the pixie hovered gracefully just in front of the girls.

  “Hello,” Trixi said, smiling. “Goodness, where are we?”

  “We’re at school!” Jasmine told her.

  “Oh,” Trixi said as she flew around the bathroom stall on her little leaf. “This isn’t at all what I thought an Other Realm school would look like. Where do you all sit?”

  The girls giggled. “We’re not in a classroom,” Summer explained. “This is just the bathroom. We had to make sure no one would see us being swept off to the Secret Kingdom.”

  “Of course, silly me.” Trixi smiled, but then her face took on a worried expression. “Do you know where Queen Malice’s next thunderbolt is?”

  “We think so,” Ellie told her. “It seems to be somewhere called Mermaid Reef.”

  “Then we must go at once!” Trixi exclaimed. “The mermaids will need our help.”

  “We are going to meet mermaids!” Summer squealed as she jumped up and down in excitement.

  Trixi giggled, then tapped her ring and chanted:

  “The evil queen has trouble planned.

  Brave helpers fly to save our land!”

  As she spoke those words, a magical whirlwind surrounded the girls, twisting and turning around them.

  “Wheeee!” Summer shouted as the wind whipped her long blond hair around her face. “We’re off on another adventure!”

  Seconds later, the whirlwind put them down on a smooth green rock in the middle of the aquamarine sea. The girls were all delighted to be wearing their sparkly tiaras once again, although they were still in their school uniforms!

  Jasmine looked around in surprise. “I thought we were going underwater?” she asked Trixi.

  “We are!” Trixi said with a smile as she landed on the rock beside them, rolled up her flying leaf, and tucked it under her flower hat.

  Suddenly the ground beneath them started to shake.

  “What’s going on?” Ellie cried.

  The girls watched nervously as the water started to churn in front of them, foaming and frothing as something large and dark rose up out of the depths.

  A huge green head appeared out of the water. Ellie and Jasmine gasped in fear and squeezed their eyes shut, but Summer broke out in a big grin. “Look!” she cried, pointing at the beast’s face. The creature blinked at them with sparkling brown eyes and gave them a lazy smile. “This isn’t a rock we’re standing on — it’s the back of a gigantic sea turtle!”

  “A lift from a friendly turtle is the only way to get to Mermaid Reef !” Trixi said, winking at the girls. The little pixie tapped her ring and a stream of purple bubbles shot out of it. The bubbles flew all around the girls in a whirlwhind, then burst over their heads, showering them with purple glitter.

  “Hold on tight!” Trixi called, pointing to the top of the turtle’s shell, where there was a ridge they could grab on to. “One … two …”

  “Trixi, wait!” Jasmine cried. “We can’t breathe underwater!”

  But it was too late.

  “Three!” Trixi called, tapping her ring once more, and with a great lurch the huge turtle dived deep into the sea….

  Read

  Mermaid Reef

  to find out what happens next!

  Text copyright © 2012 by Hothouse Fiction Limited.

  Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Orchard Books.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 by arrangement with Orchard Books. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First Scholastic printing, March 2014

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-53627-1

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.