The Lost Gold Read online

  Isabella was about to help herself to a sandwich from a silver dish when suddenly she heard an engine roaring, and a large orange truck drove up to the front door. She went over to look out the window. The truck stopped and a group of men climbed out. The king came hurrying down the front steps to meet them. Then they all went inside.

  Isabella frowned deeply. She was sure they were the same men she’d seen cutting down the trees. Why were they here? She tiptoed down the hallway. Hearing voices inside her dad’s study, she went closer and looked through a gap in the door.

  She could see her dad sitting down at his desk with the scroll he’d shown her at lunchtime spread out in front of him. The visitors were sitting across the desk.

  “Thank you for seeing us, Your Majesty.” The man who spoke had a square face and a black moustache.

  “What is it, Mr. Madelo?” said the king eagerly. “Have you found the gold?”

  “No, we haven’t found it yet, but we’re very close now,” replied the square-faced man. “That’s why we’re here. We need to look at the Silken Scroll again, to work out the next part of the secret code.”

  “Yes, yes, of course!” said King Victor impatiently. “Here it is.” He passed them the scroll and they all crowded around to look at it more closely.

  “Hmm …” Mr. Madelo looked at the crinkled, yellowy scroll. “This part of the code is difficult… .” He traced a finger across the words on the paper and frowned.

  “But can you figure it out?” asked the king anxiously.

  “Of course!” Mr. Madelo smiled. “I have been breaking codes for many years. The gold will soon be mine … I mean, ours!”

  “That’s excellent!” cried the king.

  Mr. Madelo stood up and bowed. “We will return when we have more news for you.”

  Isabella stared at them through the crack in the door, her heart thumping. These men were about to start cutting down even more forest trees. She had to think of something fast!

  She flung the study door open, putting a wide smile on her face. “Good afternoon! Can I offer you some coffee and cake?”

  The men looked startled. “Er … well …” began Mr. Madelo. “That’s very nice of you but —”

  “It’s our custom here in Belatina to offer guests something to eat,” she said hopefully. “We wouldn’t want you to go away hungry.”

  King Victor sighed. “I suppose that’s true. Thank you for reminding me, Isabella. Please tell Cook to send some refreshments in.”

  Isabella beamed and skipped along to the kitchens to find Josefina, their cook. “Josefina! Can we have some coffee and cake for my dad’s visitors, please? And can I help you?”

  Josefina, who was a short woman with a wide smile, put her apron on. “Of course you can, Princess Isabella! I baked a big chocolate cake this morning. You can get some plates and slice it up for me.”

  Isabella took the plates from the cupboard, sliced up the cake, and set it all out on a tray. Then she carried the tray to her dad’s study and Josefina followed her with the coffee. The cake looked delicious with its thick, chocolatey icing, but Isabella didn’t take a slice. She wanted to save it all for the treasure hunters, because if they had seconds it would take them even longer to go back to the rain forest. Then they would have even less time to chop down trees before nighttime came!

  Josefina returned to the kitchen and the men ate hungrily. Isabella’s feeling of triumph faded as she watched them. They were eating too fast! They would be finished in a minute. The sun shone through the study window. It was still high in the sky, which meant there were hours to go until sunset.

  Isabella raced back to the kitchen. “Josefina! I don’t think these visitors come from our kingdom. Are there any local recipes that we can offer them?” She looked pleadingly at the cook.

  “They can try my special banana-nut bread, and after that they can have some mango ice cream,” said Josefina. “Let me see what else I’ve got!”

  Isabella took plates of the banana-nut bread to the king’s study. “Our cook will be so pleased if you try this!” she said breathlessly. “I’ll go get the mango ice cream, and we have a special toffee sauce as well!”

  After trying three more dishes, the men leaned back in their chairs, clutching their stomachs.

  “Would you like some more ice cream?” asked Isabella eagerly. “Or can I get you some lemonade?”

  “I’m really full,” said Mr. Madelo, wiping cake crumbs off his moustache.

  “But please have something else —” began Isabella.

  King Victor got up from his chair. “That’s enough, Isabella. You’ve been very kind to our guests, but these men have a job to do.” He led the treasure hunters to the front steps. “Let me know as soon as you find anything.”

  “We will, Your Majesty,” said Mr. Madelo.

  Isabella watched sadly as the treasure hunters climbed back into their truck.

  “Wait a minute!” said one of the men. “Where are the keys? I left them right here next to the steering wheel.”

  The men checked in their pockets and then searched the truck, but they couldn’t find the keys anywhere.

  “Maybe you left them in my study?” suggested the king, hurrying back inside to look. But he came back empty-handed.

  The men stood on the front steps of the palace, looking confused. “Surely someone wouldn’t have taken them?” said Mr. Madelo.

  “Isabella, do you know where they are?” asked the king.

  “No, I haven’t seen them,” said Isabella truthfully. She gazed around the palace garden, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t seen Petro since the treasure hunters arrived, and he usually spent most of the time by her side.

  Then she spotted him and put her hand over her mouth to stop a giggle. Petro was dancing around on the smooth stone edge of the palace fountain. When he saw her watching, he jumped down from the fountain’s edge and galloped away through the flower beds.

  “We need our truck,” said Mr. Madelo. “Our equipment is much too heavy to carry.”

  “Go get everyone in the palace,” King Victor told the guards at the front door. “We must find the keys.”

  The next two hours were spent hunting all around the palace and the gardens for the truck keys. Everyone came to help except Josefina, who said she had too much baking to do to spare the time. Everyone got hot and tired, and the sun dipped toward the tops of the trees.

  Petro galloped over to Isabella as she searched another flower bed. She was secretly delighted that the keys were lost, although she was sorry that it was making everyone else so upset.

  “Petro, did you take the keys from the truck?” she whispered.

  Petro leapt onto her shoulder and chattered into her ear.

  “Hold on!” called the king, looking into the fountain. “I think I see something shiny in here.” He rolled up the sleeve of his royal robe, plunged his hand into the water, and lifted up the dripping keys. “At last! I found them!”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty!” Mr. Madelo bowed as he took the keys. “It’s too late to carry on our search for the treasure today, because it will get dark soon. We’ll start again tomorrow morning.”

  The treasure hunters drove away and Isabella hid a smile as she and Petro walked back into the palace.

  “Isabella!” her mom called. “Did Petro take the keys? He can be a little naughty sometimes!”

  “I don’t know,” said Isabella truthfully. “I didn’t see him take them.”

  As the queen turned away, Isabella whispered to Petro. “I bet it was you and I don’t think it was naughty at all! I think it was very, very smart!”

  Isabella got up really early the next morning, hoping to find out when the other princesses would arrive. She was rushing downstairs to ask her mom about it when she heard the sound of a car driving up outside, followed by girls’ voices. Petro, who was swinging from the banister, pricked up his ears.

  “Can they really be here already, Petro?” Isabella trembled with excitement as she yanked open the front door.

  Three princesses were climbing the steps. Leading the way was Lottie, with her green eyes and tight red curls, wearing a crimson dress. Behind them, their maids began unloading suitcases from the car.

  “Hello! Did you miss us?” Lottie grinned and hugged Isabella.

  “Yes, I did! I’m so happy to see you!” said Isabella. “How did you get here so quickly?”

  “We all caught planes that flew overnight,” explained Amina, smiling. Her long black hair hung over a turquoise dress that was fastened at one shoulder. “I’ve never flown during the nighttime before. I slept most of the way.”

  “At least you didn’t have to come from the kingdom of Dalvia like I did,” groaned Rosalind, trying to shake the creases from her blue dress. “It took a long time to get here.”

  “Luckily, our planes landed at around the same time,” Amina told Isabella. “And now we can’t wait to help your rain-forest animals!”

  “Come and have some breakfast first,” said Isabella. “You must be really hungry.” She looked around for Petro as she led them inside. She really wanted the princesses to meet him, but she couldn’t see him anywhere.

  When they’d eaten breakfast, Queen Neva swept into the room. “Welcome to the palace of Belatina, Princesses!”

  “Thank you so much for inviting us to visit,” said Amina.

  “Thank you,” said Lottie and Rosalind, and they all curtsied.

  “You’re welcome, girls,” said Queen Neva with a smile. “Isabella will love having you here. You can do some great princess things together!” She looked doubtfully at Lottie’s messy red curls. “Maybe you would all like to unpack and freshen up a little?”

  “I’ll help them take their suitcases upstairs,” said Isabella hastily.

  “Very well,” said her mom.

  Isabella showed her friends their rooms, which were on the top floor of the palace, next to her own. Then they met up in her bedroom to talk.

  “You have to tell us what the animal emergency is!” cried Lottie. “If I have to wait any longer to find out, I’m going to burst!”

  Isabella sat down under the yellow canopy of her huge four-poster bed and the others gathered around her. “It all started yesterday, when Petro and I heard a loud noise in the rain forest. When we went to look, we found out that there are men hunting for treasure and they’re cutting down trees to make space to dig. They don’t care how many forest creatures they hurt or that they’ve cut down some of the monkeys’ favorite fruit trees.” Her eyes filled with tears at the thought of it.

  “Oh no! That’s awful!” Amina gasped.

  “How horrible!” Lottie’s eyes flashed.

  “Who’s Petro?” said Rosalind.

  “Oh! I forgot you hadn’t seen him yet!” Isabella looked around, but there was still no sign of her monkey. “I really want you to meet him.” She got up and opened her bedroom door. “Petro! Where are you?” she called down the corridor.

  “Is he your brother?” asked Lottie.

  “Or a cousin?” said Amina.

  “No!” Isabella laughed. “Petro isn’t a boy at all!”

  There was a chattering sound near the window. Then the curtains moved strangely.

  Rosalind leapt off the bed, her eyes wide. “Isabella! I think there’s something spooky near your window!”

  Isabella rushed over and peeked around the edge of the yellow drapes. A little brown face with big eyes stared back at her. “Petro! Come out! It’s not like you to be so shy.”

  Petro dangled from the curtains for a moment, then he leapt down to Isabella’s shoulder. She stroked his head lovingly.

  “Oh! He’s a monkey!” cried Lottie, and the girls began to laugh.

  “This is Petro. I found him all alone in the forest when he was a baby,” explained Isabella. “I brought him back here and took care of him. We’ve been best friends ever since.”

  “You’re so lucky!” said Rosalind. “I have two dogs, three cats, and a hamster, but I don’t have a monkey.” She gently rubbed Petro’s furry ears. Amina and Lottie came over to stroke him, too. Petro curled his tail around his toes and chattered a friendly greeting.

  “See! There was nothing to be afraid of,” Isabella said to Petro. “Monkeys aren’t really supposed to be kept as pets,” she told the princesses, “but Petro can go back into the rain forest whenever he wants. Usually we go together! I think of him as more of a friend than a pet.”

  “But what about all the other monkeys — the ones whose trees are being cut down?” Lottie reminded them. “We should start planning how to help them.”

  “Your mom and dad won’t tell the men to stop chopping down the trees?” Amina asked Isabella.

  Isabella shook her head. “I’ve tried to talk to my parents about it already.”

  “Why don’t we scare the treasure hunters away!” suggested Rosalind excitedly. “We could sneak up on them using our ninja moves and then frighten them.”

  “There are a lot of them, so I don’t think they’ll get scared that easily,” said Isabella.

  Rosalind pouted. “Well, I thought it was a good idea.”

  “What is it that they’re looking for?” asked Amina.

  “Some lost gold that was hidden in the forest a long time ago.” Isabella sighed. “That’s what they want. I just wish they didn’t have to hurt the trees and animals to find it.”

  Amina looked thoughtful. “Why don’t we find it first? Then they have no reason to keep doing what they’re doing.”

  “It would certainly teach them a lesson,” said Rosalind.

  “How are we going to do that, though?” said Lottie.

  “I know! My dad’s got the Silken Scroll in his study,” said Isabella. “It’s like an ancient treasure map that explains how to find the gold, and the clues are written in a secret code. If we can figure out the code, it will tell us what to do!”

  “Let’s go downstairs right now and see if we can get a peek at the scroll!” said Isabella, her eyes shining.

  “Just a minute!” said Lottie. “I brought something that might help with our adventures. I’ll go get it.”

  “I brought something, too,” said Rosalind. “It’s in my suitcase.” Both girls rushed out of the room.

  Isabella and Amina looked at each other. “Do you know what they’re talking about?” asked Isabella.

  Amina shook her head.

  Rosalind returned first, carrying a blue bag made from a soft, velvety material. “I’ve been thinking about the ninja moves that we used when we rescued those horses a few weeks ago,” she said breathlessly. “I decided that we needed some ninja outfits that were suitable for different places. I got my maid to help me make them.”

  “Wow, Rosalind!” said Isabella. “I can’t believe you did all that!”

  Rosalind looked pleased. “These are the ones I made for doing ninja moves in a forest.” She pulled a collection of dark green T-shirts and leggings from the bag and held them up to show the others.

  “You’re really into using ninja moves, aren’t you?” said Amina.

  Rosalind nodded. “I’ve been practicing a lot. I’d really like to find that lost book, The Book of Ninja, that has every single ninja move inside it.” She stopped suddenly when the door swung open, but it was only Lottie returning with a large golden box.

  “Those look great!” said Lottie, looking at Rosalind’s ninja outfits. “We’ll really be camouflaged among the trees wearing green.”

  Rosalind put the clothes down. “What did you bring?” she asked curiously.

  “Remember how I told you that my sister and her friends used to rescue animals, and how they shaped magic jewels to help them?” said Lottie. “Well, my sister gave me this box so that we could try making them ourselves!”

  She opened the golden box and showed them a collection of small silver tools. Then she opened a hidden drawer underneath to reveal a collection of jewels in every shape, size, and color. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds all sparkled in the morning light.

  “Amazing!” Amina gasped. “Your sister is really nice, Lottie.”

  Lottie shrugged. “She’s OK sometimes, I guess. There are some instructions about how to use the tools. I thought we could try later.”

  “That would be awesome!” Isabella shook her curly brown hair, her eyes shining. “Let’s put on the ninja outfits right now and then go downstairs to look at the treasure map. After that we’ll be ready to go into the forest.”

  “Let’s take a backpack with us, too,” said Lottie. “We might need water and snacks later on.”

  Through the window came the distant sounds of banging and sawing.

  “That’s probably the treasure hunters. They’re cutting down another tree already,” said Isabella. “Let’s hurry.”

  The princesses quickly changed into the green T-shirts and leggings, while Petro leapt around the room excitedly and dangled from the lampshade.

  Lottie borrowed Isabella’s backpack and packed it with food, drinks, and some of the jewel-making tools. Then she put it on her back. When they were all ready, Rosalind opened the bedroom door a tiny crack. “There’s no one out here,” she whispered. “I think it’s safe to go!”

  “Now remember, Petro, don’t give us away!” Isabella put a finger to her lips to show the little monkey that he should be quiet. Petro sprang onto her shoulder and obediently put his hand over his mouth.

  Together, they sneaked along the corridor to the top of the stairs and looked down. The hallway was empty and the palace seemed really quiet. Isabella led them down the stairs and over to the door of her dad’s study.

  She listened for a moment. There was no sound from inside, so she crept in and hurried over to her dad’s desk.

  “Is the scroll there?” asked Rosalind.

  “I can’t see it,” said Isabella. “But maybe my dad hid it in one of the drawers.”

  Lottie closed the door and put her ear to it. “I’ll stand here and listen in case anyone comes along.”

  There were three drawers in the desk. Isabella bent down to open the first one, and accidentally knocked over the chair behind her. It fell to the floor with a loud thump. “Sorry!” she said. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

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