Lottie ran back to her room to get the jewel-making tools.

“Do you really think this will work?” said Rosalind doubtfully. “I just don’t understand how a jewel can help us see any better.”

“But the rhyme says use a tiger’s-eye and that’s what the stone is called,” said Isabella. “So there must be a chance that it’s right.”

“I hope so.” Amina stroked Sizzle’s tummy. Having him curled up on the bed beside her made her realize just how small and helpless the other cub would be, out there in the dark.

“Here it is!” Lottie burst in holding a large golden box. “I don’t really know what all the tools do, but I’m sure we can figure it out!” She put the box down on the nightstand, moving Amina’s binoculars to make room for it. Then she opened the lid.

Inside were rows of small silver tools. Amina took the tiger’s-eye stone off the bracelet chain and placed it on the nightstand. Then she picked up a tiny hammer and chisel. She’d had the tiger’s-eye stone for such a long time that she felt a little sad about changing it. She lifted her chin. Finding the lost cub is more important, she told herself.

The other princesses crowded around her. Even Sizzle pricked up his ears and watched.

“Just tap it really lightly to start with,” advised Rosalind. “If you tap it too hard, then the whole thing could shatter.”

Amina rested the chisel on the stone and tapped gently at one edge with the hammer. A large piece broke away, leaving the stone much smaller than before.

“Oh no! It’s broken!” Isabella put her hand over her mouth.

“It’s all right,” said Amina, “I’ve got an idea.” She looked carefully at the binoculars with its one broken lens. Then she chipped away the rough edges of the stone until it was completely smooth and round. Finally she picked up the binoculars, shook out the lens that had cracked that morning, and put the golden-brown stone in its place. The binoculars rested on the nightstand, with one ordinary lens and the other made of the beautiful tiger’s-eye stone.

“There! It’s a perfect fit!” she said.

“Awesome!” grinned Lottie. “Now we’ve got binoculars that let us see in the dark!”

“We don’t know if they work yet,” began Rosalind, but as she spoke, the tiger’s-eye stone began to glow.

The glow grew brighter and brighter, until a golden shimmer rose up into the air. It hung there for a moment like a cloud of glitter, before twinkling into nothing.

“Wow! Why did it shimmer like that?” asked Isabella.

Amina lifted up the binoculars, her fingers trembling with excitement. “Maybe that was the magic starting to work!”

“Go on! Try them out!” urged Lottie.

Amina smiled. “Turn the light off first and then I’ll use them.” Her heart pounded as Lottie flicked off the light switch and the room went dark. She put the binoculars up to her eyes and squinted through the side that held the tiger’s-eye stone. It worked! She could see everything as clearly as if it were day.

“It’s fantastic!” She beamed. “Take a look!” She passed the binoculars to Lottie.

“Wow! It’s so easy to see everything.” Lottie stared through them before passing the binoculars to Isabella.

Isabella looked and then passed them to Rosalind, who took them and walked over to the open window.

“I can see everything out here, too!” said Rosalind excitedly. “I can even see the river.”

“Then we can easily find the little cub!” said Amina, smiling.

“Finally! We can head out and use some real ninja moves,” said Rosalind, flicking back her blond hair.

As they got ready to leave, Sizzle followed Amina to the door and mewed sadly at her.

Amina knelt down next to him, put her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his soft stripy fur. “I’m sorry I have to go, Sizzle,” she told him. “But we need to find your brother as soon as we can. I bet you really miss him!” She picked him up, carried him back to the basket, and put him down on top of the soft shawl. He sniffed at the binoculars that she’d hung around her neck. She stroked him a little, and he curled up and closed his eyes.

After checking that there was no one in the hallway, the princesses crept down the back stairs and past the kitchen. Voices came from the dining room.

“I bet the kings and queens are still chatting in there,” whispered Lottie. “If we’re lucky, the garden will be completely empty.”

The girls slipped out the back door and through the garden. Orange lamps lit up the pathways, but the princesses kept to the shadows, hoping that their dark clothes made them hard to see.

As they crept past a stone fountain, they heard a rustling in the bushes.

“What was that?” whispered Amina.

They kept still, listening hard, but the sound stopped.

“It was probably just a bird,” said Lottie.

They tiptoed toward the gate, until they saw a guard. They watched him walking back and forth. Then, when he turned his back, they dashed toward the gate. Amina fumbled with the bolt and pulled it open, hoping that it didn’t creak. They crept through and Rosalind closed it behind them. Then they hid on the other side of the wall, trying to catch their breaths.

Out here, beyond the palace walls, it was even darker. The only light came from a scattering of stars in the night sky.

Amina lifted the binoculars to her eyes and suddenly she could see everything clearly. She could see moths fluttering in the air and a mouse scurrying through the long grass. At the bottom of the hill she could see the river, sparkling faintly in the starlight.

“You’ll have to lead us down the hill, Amina,” said Isabella. “I can’t see a thing.”

“Hold on!” Rosalind frowned. “Aren’t we going to share the tiger’s-eye binoculars? What was the point in all of us coming if we don’t get to try them?”

“Don’t argue, Rosalind!” said Lottie. “Let’s just get down to the river and find the little cub.”

Amina smiled at Rosalind. “You’re right, we should take turns! When we reach the end of this path, you can have the binoculars.”

Rosalind led the way from the path toward the river, stopping now and then to scan the landscape with the binoculars. Amina came last, listening carefully. She was sure that the lost cub would be feeling scared and alone by now, and she was determined to find him.

They climbed up onto the bridge that spanned the river. Rosalind passed the binoculars to Isabella and Lottie.

“There’s something moving over there!” Lottie pointed excitedly along the riverbank. “Oh, it’s just a deer.”

Amina took her turn with the binoculars and she was amazed at how clear everything was using the magic tiger’s-eye stone. There was the deer, walking away into the bushes. Then there was a flicker of movement just beyond.

She felt a tingle running down her neck. Was that a little paw poking out from behind a rock? Could it be the lost tiger cub?