Rescue Princesses #6: The Magic Rings Read Free Page B

good at galloping for a foal that’s only two weeks old.”
    Twinkle shook her mane and whinnied, as if she agreed with everything Lottie said.
    As Lottie scratched between the foal’s ears, a movement caught her eye. A lime-green hat appeared, bobbing along near the tulips. Queen Sofia was walking through the garden, leading a whole group of kings, queens, princes, and princesses.
    Lottie froze. While she’d been grooming the horses, Queen Sofia’s guests must have finished their dancing and come out for a walk. She couldn’t be seen with hay on her dress and mud on her shoes. She’d get in lots of trouble.
    The queen’s voice drifted over. “These are the best tulips for miles around! Have a good look at them and then I’ll take you to see my wonderful fountains.”
    Lottie began to run back to the stable to hide, when she noticed its gate. Her heart skipped a beat. The gate was wide open and swinging gently in the breeze. Had she left it like that? She didn’t remember closing it after walking into the field. She frowned, angry at herself for being so forgetful.
    Had any horses wandered out through it? She scanned the gardens. Two large horses stood by a fountain, bendingtheir heads to drink from it. One was a dappled gray and the other was Honey, the sandy-colored horse. She had to get them back into the field quickly. Soon all the kings and queens would turn the corner and see what was happening. Queen Sofia would not be pleased to find horses trampling her flower beds.
    Lottie dashed over to the fountain. Peter was still getting hay, so she would have to figure this out on her own.
    “There’s one more flower bed of tulips to show you,” said Queen Sofia. “Do come this way.”
    Lottie looked up, her heart racing. But no one appeared. Phew! The queen must have taken them in a different direction. Hopefully that would give her more time to catch the horses.
    She reached the dappled gray horse and patted his side, urging him downthe path and back into the field. Quickly closing the gate, she headed toward Honey, who was trotting farther into the garden.
    “Come back, Honey!” hissed Lottie, starting to chase her.
    But Honey kept going.
    Lottie heard footsteps and turned to find the princess with the dark curly hair and yellow dress running toward her.
    “I’ve come to help you,” panted the princess in yellow. “I’m Isabella. Don’t worry; no one else has noticed that horse. They’re all still looking at the tulips.”
    “Oh, good!” said Lottie. “It’ll be much easier to catch her with your help. If you run one way and I run the other, then we can make her go back toward the gate. Ready?”
    Isabella nodded.

    They crept down the path, trying to catch Honey. But the horse seemed to understand their plan and trotted away even faster, past a duck pond and a row of trees covered in blossoms.
    “Well, that didn’t work!” said Lottie, pausing to catch her breath.
    “Maybe one of us should distract her, while the other sneaks up behind her?” said Isabella.
    Lottie nodded; it sounded just like a ninja move. “That’s a great idea. You get her attention and I’ll sneak around.”
    Isabella started talking to Honey and snapping her fingers. Honey pricked up her ears and took a step closer.
    Meanwhile, Lottie slipped to the side of the horse, patting her on the rump to make her walk forward. Finally, they managed to coax her back down the path. As they rounded the last corner,the princess with the long black hair and turquoise dress was standing by the gate. She smiled and opened the gate to let Honey walk through.
    The princess with short blonde hair stood there, too, watching with her hands on her hips. “For goodness’ sake!” she said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t let horses wander around Queen Sofia’s garden?”

“Of course I know that Queen Sofia doesn’t want horses in her garden!” said Lottie. “It was just an accident.”
    The princess with the