The Lost Stone

by Jordan Quinn

  “Do you know his name?” Clara asked.

  “His name is Hambone,” the fairy said.

  “We must leave for Burth at once!” declared Lucas.

  “Let’s go!” Clara said.

  Queen Sophie loaned Lucas and Clara a boat to sail to Burth quickly. She also gave them a bundle of treats, which Clara tucked into her satchel. Lucas and Clara thanked the fairies and waved good-bye.

  Hambone

  * * *

  Nobody greeted Lucas and Clara on the island of Burth. The trolls were neither friendly nor outgoing. They worked hard and grew vegetables for the entire kingdom. The kids walked to the stables in the village. Lucas tapped a sleeping troll on the shoulder.

  The troll snorted and rubbed his eyes. “What do you want?” he grumbled, with one eye closed.

  “We’d like to hire a horse,” said Lucas.

  “What for?” asked the troll.

  “To visit a troll called Hambone,” said Lucas. “Do you know where he lives?”

  “Pay up,” said the troll.

  Lucas dropped a coin in the troll’s grubby hand.

  The troll smiled and bit the coin. “He lives on Old Tinder Road. His door is marked by the sign of a crescent moon,” said the troll. “And don’t tell him I sent you.”

  So Lucas and Clara mounted the horse and galloped along the rugged valley floor. Steep, craggy mountains towered over the island of Burth. The air smelled of garlic. They passed fields of corn, rows of turnips, and gardens of parsley. Soon the road began to go up. It twisted around and around a mountainside. Lucas and Clara passed cave dwellings all along the way.

  “Whoa, back!” Clara cried as she jerked the reins. “We just passed a crescent moon!”

  They tied the horse to a hitching post and knocked on the cave door marked with the crescent moon. A potbellied troll with green eyes and wild gray hair answered the door. He looked Lucas and Clara up and down.

  “We came for Queen Tasha’s lost emerald,” said Lucas. “Do you have it?”

  The troll recognized the boy as the prince. He knew better than to play games with the son of the king.

  “I found it in the Citrus Grove when I was gathering oranges,” said Hambone.

  Big grins spread across Lucas’s and Clara’s faces.

  “But I no longer have it,” he said gruffly. “I traded it for some hair-smoothing potion.”

  Lucas’s smile disappeared. “So who has it now?”

  “A wizard,” said Hambone.

  “Which one?” Lucas demanded.

  “A wizard named Olaf,” said the troll. “Now be off!”

  And he shut the door with a thump.

  “Looks like this adventure is far from over!” cried Lucas. “To Hobsgrove!”

  Lucas and Clara raced back to the dock, boarded their ship, and sailed to Hobsgrove, the island of wizards.

  Olaf

  * * *

  The ship sailed past the island of Crestwood. Dragons played on the hillsides and soared overhead. Some snoozed in caves and some under the trees of the Great Pine Forest. A volcano puffed steam from the center of the island.

  Soon the ship docked at Hobsgrove. A thick cloud of fog hung over the island. Even when it was sunny everywhere else, Hobsgrove was always gray.

  Ivy creeped up the dark walls and spires of the castle, where André and Grom, the two brothers who ruled Hobsgrove, lived. André was known to be very kind and friendly, but Grom was not. He liked to keep to himself and spent most of his time in the dreary castle basement, mixing potions.

  Many of the wizards on the island of Hobsgrove worked by the hearths of their thatched-roof homes. Their cauldrons bubbled with magical healing potions made for the kingdom of Wrenly.

  A young wizard brought Lucas and Clara to Olaf’s dark, smoky house. Olaf stood over his cauldron as it foamed and frothed. Lucas asked the black-bearded wizard if he had the missing emerald. The wizard shook his head glumly.

  “No,” he said. “That dreadful witch from Bogburp cursed me with clumsiness years ago.”

  “What does that have to do with the missing emerald?” asked Clara.

  The wizard looked at them with sad brown eyes. “The emerald fell from my hand after I returned home from Burth. It tumbled over Hob’s Cliff and into the sea.”

  “Oh no!” Lucas cried. “That emerald belonged to my mother, Queen Tasha.”

  “That’s most unfortunate,” said the wizard. “Do tell her I’m sorry.”

  Lucas kicked a stone on the path as he and Clara headed back to the dock. “What are we going to do now?” he asked. “Go diving for it?”

  “I have a better idea,” said Clara. “Let’s go to Mermaid’s Cove.”

  “What for?”

  “So we can leave a message in the sand for the mermaids,” replied Clara.

  “And how is that going to help?”

  “Maybe the mermaids can find the emerald,” she explained. “They always find the most beautiful shells and leave them on the beach for me.”

  “And how do you know it’s the mermaids and not the tides?” Lucas asked.

  “Because the shells are polished and perfect. None of them have been broken by the rocks and waves.”

  Lucas sighed and looked toward the mainland.

  “It’s worth a try,” said Clara.

  “I suppose,” Lucas said.

  So they boarded their ship and headed for Mermaid’s Cove.

  Mermaid Magic

  * * *

  At Mermaid’s Cove, the pink coral sand sparkled in the afternoon sun. Lucas and Clara kicked off their shoes and walked along the beach, looking for the perfect spot.

  “Here’s a good place,” said Clara as she got down on her knees.

  Lucas looked on as Clara wrote a message in the sand with a thin stick.

  Dear mermaids,

  Queen Tasha’s emerald is lost in the sea off Hob’s Cliff. Can you help us find it? Thank you for all the beautiful shells.

  Love,

  Your friend Clara

  Lucas laughed. “You’re crazy,” he said.

  Clara laughed. “I’m also hungry. Let’s have our picnic.”

  Clara unwrapped the treats that the fairies had given them. Then she and Lucas sat by the far end of the cove. They talked and laughed and nibbled on bread, cheese, and grapes.

  Lucas smiled at Clara. “I may not have found my mother’s emerald,” he said, “but I have found one thing.”

  “What?” asked Clara.

  “A real friend,” Lucas said.

  “Me too,” said Clara. “I’m glad we can spend time together.”

  Lucas nodded. “We’d better get going. The sun’s starting to set.”

  Lucas and Clara dipped their toes in the water as they walked down the beach.

  “Look at your message,” said Lucas. “It’s already been washed away by the tide.”

  “Shall I write it again?” asked Clara.

  “No, let’s just head home,” Lucas said. “We can come back tomorrow.”

  They sat on a rock to put on their shoes, but some shells caught Clara’s attention. “Wow, these are beautiful,” she said.

  Lucas looked at a cluster of shells, perfectly displayed on the sand.

  “Were the shells here when we arrived?” he asked.

  “No,” said Clara. Her eyes grew wide. “The mermaids!”

  “Mermaids again?” asked Lucas.

  “I’m serious!” said Clara as she gently placed a shell in her satchel.

  Clara loved to collect seashells.

  “But we’ve been on the beach the whole time,” said Lucas. “And we didn’t see a single mermaid.”

  “Well,” said Clara, “mermaids are very sly.”

  She picked up a half-open scallop shell and peeked inside.

  “They’re so sly that I’ve never ever seen one,” said Lucas.

  Clara handed the shell to Lucas.

  “It’s pretty,” he said.

  “Open it,” sa
id Clara.

  Lucas opened the shell. He expected to see a clump of sand. But he saw something else.

  “My mother’s emerald!” he cried. “How could it be?”

  “Mermaids,” said Clara.

  Lucas gazed out to sea. Then he looked at the emerald.

  He couldn’t believe it.

  “Okay!” he shouted to the sea. “I believe!”

  Lucas ran back to the shore and stooped to write in the sand.

  Dear mermaids,

  Thank you for finding my mother’s emerald. Clara and I hope to meet you someday.

  Your friends,

  Prince Lucas and Clara Gills

  Lucas put the emerald in his pocket. Clara placed the empty scallop shell in her satchel.

  “For my collection,” she said with a smile.

  “I never would’ve found this without you,” he said.

  “What are friends for?” Clara asked.

  Lucas smiled. “Race you to the palace!”

  Then they quickly put on their shoes, and ran off.

  Scallop

  * * *

  Lucas and Clara burst into the palace’s great hall. King Caleb and Queen Tasha looked up from their chess game.

  “What’s all the fuss?” asked the startled king.

  Lucas reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the emerald.

  “We have a very special present for Mother,” he said excitedly.

  Lucas pulled his fist out of his pocket. Then he opened his hand to reveal the emerald.

  Queen Tasha put her hand to her heart.

  “Oh, you precious, brave, wonderful boy!” she exclaimed.

  “It wasn’t me, Mother,” said Lucas. “Clara found it.”

  “We both did,” Clara said.

  “It was a real royal goose chase,” Lucas added. “But Clara was the one who actually found it. She’s very clever, Mother.”

  “Thank you, Clara,” said the queen.

  Clara curtsied.

  King Caleb was very grateful. “You shall receive a handsome reward,” he said. “Follow me.”

  Lucas, Clara, and Queen Tasha followed King Caleb through a heavy oak door and down a spiral stone staircase. They walked all the way to the royal stables. The king stopped in front of a stall. A beautiful brown horse with a black mane, black tail, white socks, and black hooves whinnied at them.

  “Clara, this is your reward,” said the king.

  Clara gasped.

  “You may ride her whenever you visit the palace.”

  “She’s beautiful!” cried Clara as she pet the horse’s mane. “Thank you, King Caleb.”

  “What would you like to call her?” asked the king.

  Clara looked into the horse’s eyes.

  “I’d like to call her Scallop,” she said. “Because we found the emerald in a scallop shell.”

  “A very good choice,” said the king. Then he put his arms around Lucas and Clara. “I owe you two an apology. I’m sorry I didn’t let you play together before.”

  “That’s okay,” Clara said.

  “We know it’s hard being a king,” Lucas added.

  The king and queen laughed. Then they went back to the palace.

  Clara linked her arm with Lucas’s. “Hey, friend—will you go riding with me?”

  Lucas smiled. “I sure will.”

  Hear ye! Hear ye!

  Presenting the next book from The Kingdom of Wrenly!

  Here’s a sneak peek!

  Lucas spotted Clara outside a stall. He watched her gently brush her horse, Scallop. The horse had been a reward from King Caleb for finding Queen Tasha’s lost emerald.

  “Clara!” called Lucas. “You’ll never guess what!”

  Clara’s green eyes lit up when she saw her friend. “What?” she asked.

  “André and Grom found a red dragon’s egg on Crestwood!” said Lucas.

  “A red dragon’s egg!” exclaimed Clara. “Do you know what that means?”

  “It means there’s a scarlet dragon inside!”

  “Exactly,” said Clara. Then her face became serious. “And you know what they say about red dragons.”

  “Sure,” answered Lucas. “The legends say they’re the most magnificent dragons in all the world!”

  “And the most feared,” Clara added.

  “Not to worry,” Lucas said. “It’s all in the training.”

  Clara rolled her eyes and sighed. “Lucas, have you ever trained a fire-breathing dragon?” she asked.

  “Actually, I’ve never even trained a dog,” Lucas said. “But the knights and wizards know all about dragon training.”

  “I suppose,” said Clara. “But there’s never been a fire-breathing dragon in the kingdom before. What if it sets Wrenly on fire?”

  “Then we’ll put the fire out,” said Lucas. “Trust me. A red dragon is going to be amazing.”

  JORDAN QUINN grew up in a fairy-tale castle in England. It had a spiral stone staircase, a moat, and a dungeon. As a child she liked to play hide-and-go-seek and ride her beloved horse, Prince Charming. When she wasn’t riding, she wrote stories about fairies, trolls, dragons, and wizards. Today, Jordan lives on a ranch in California with her husband, son, and a golden retriever named Sir Toots-a-Lot.

  ROBERT McPHILLIPS has been involved in a wide variety of projects over the years—from illustrating greeting cards to animation. But he has always loved children’s books, and after many years he has turned his attention back to that. Robert makes his home in Wiltshire, England, with his wife, Sam, and their beloved cat, Silkie, who rules the roost.

  KingdomofWrenlyBooks.com

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  authors.simonandschuster.com/Jordan-Quinn

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Robert-McPhillips

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster

  New York

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  First Edition

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Quinn, Jordan.

  The lost stone / by Jordan Quinn ; illustrated by Robert McPhillips. — First edition.

  pages cm. — (The kingdom of Wrenly ; 1)

  Summary: Eight-year-old Lucas, Prince of Wrenly, is eager to explore and Clara, daughter of the queen’s seamstress, knows the kingdom well, so they team up to find a lost jewel and visit all of the land’s main attractions as they search.

  ISBN 978-1-4424-9691-0 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4424-9690-3 (pbk : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4424-9692-7 (ebook) [1. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction. 3. Princes—Fiction. 4. Lost and found possessions—Fiction. 5. Precious stones—Fiction. 6. Kings, queens, rulers, etc.—Fiction.] I. McPhillips, Robert, illustrator. II. Title.

  PZ7.Q31945Los 2014

  [Fic]—dc23

  2013004771

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