In the next Secret Kingdom adventure, Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine visit

Cloud Island!

Read on for a sneak peek… .

“I wish we didn’t have so much homework to do.” Ellie Macdonald sighed as she walked home from school with her friends. “I’ve got to write a story for English, and I don’t know where to start!”

“Let’s all do our homework together at my house,” suggested Jasmine Smith. “We can put some music on and help one another.”

“Great idea,” agreed Summer Hammond, linking arms with Jasmine and Ellie. “Even homework can be fun when you do it with friends.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Ellie grinned, her green eyes twinkling. “But it’s better than doing it on your own.”

Laughing, they all made their way to Jasmine’s house and hurried into the kitchen.

A big bag of chocolate cookies and a note were sitting on the kitchen table. Jasmine picked up the note and read it out loud:

“Hi, Jasmine,

I’m sure you’ve brought Ellie

and Summer back with you,

so share these with them! There’s some

homemade lemonade in the fridge as well.

See you at five.

Mom.”

“Your mom’s so nice!” said Summer.

Jasmine smiled. “I wonder what made her think you’d be with me.”

“Yeah, you would think we spent all our time together,” joked Ellie.

Summer giggled. She, Jasmine, and Ellie all lived in a little town called Honeyvale and went to the same school. They had been best friends since they were little, and they went over to one another’s houses so much that they all felt like home!

Jasmine opened the fridge and took out a big jug of lemonade while Summer grabbed three glasses and a plate.

“Now, let’s deal with our homework,” said Jasmine, putting everything on a tray and leading the way upstairs. “Then we can start having some real fun.”

“Hey, you’ve got the Magic Box on your dressing table!” exclaimed Ellie as they all spilled into Jasmine’s bedroom, which was quite small, but beautifully decorated. The walls were a gorgeous hot-pink color, and red floaty netting hung down over the bed.

“I didn’t want to miss a message from the Secret Kingdom!” Jasmine said.

They all looked at the beautiful wooden box. It was covered with intricate carvings of fairies and unicorns and had a mirrored lid studded with green stones. It looked like a jewelry box, but it was much more than that.

“I slept with it under my pillow last time I was taking care of it!” Ellie laughed.

The girls had found the Magic Box at a school rummage sale, when it had mysteriously appeared in front of them. It belonged to King Merry, the ruler of the Secret Kingdom.

The Secret Kingdom was a magical world that no one knew existed — no one except Jasmine, Summer, and Ellie! It was a beautiful crescent moon–shaped island, where mermaids, unicorns, pixies, and elves all lived happily together.

But the kingdom was in terrible trouble. Queen Malice, the king’s horrible sister, was so angry that the people of the Secret Kingdom had chosen King Merry to be their ruler instead of her that she had sent six horrible thunderbolts into the kingdom to cause all kinds of trouble. Summer, Jasmine, and Ellie had already found two of the thunderbolts and broken their nasty spells.

“I wish we could go on another magical adventure.” Ellie sighed.

“Me too,” agreed Jasmine, taking her books out of her backpack and sprawling out on the carpet. She tucked her long dark hair behind her ears. “Come on, let’s get this over with,” she said, reaching for a chocolate cookie.

Ellie got her English book out and started chewing on her pencil. She was looking around the room, trying to come up with an idea for her story, when something caught her eye. “I don’t think we’ll be doing homework after all!” she cried in delight. “The Magic Box is glowing!”

The girls all jumped up to look. They crowded around the box, watching excitedly as, letter by letter, words started to form in the magic mirror.

“I wonder what mischief Queen Malice is up to now,” said Jasmine, shuddering at the thought of the horrid queen and her wicked plans to make everyone in the kingdom as miserable as she was.

“We’ll have to solve the riddle to find out,” said Summer as she studied the words in the mirror. Then she slowly read them out loud:

“A thunderbolt there will be found

Way up high above the ground.

A white and fluffy floating land

Needs you all to lend a hand!”

Jasmine quickly wrote the riddle down before the words disappeared into the mirror. “What does it mean?” she asked.

Ellie looked puzzled. “A floating land — it must be an island.”

“Let’s check the map,” said Jasmine. “We might be able to spot it.”

As if it had heard them, the Magic Box opened up, revealing the six compartments inside. Only two of the spaces were filled, one by a map of the Secret Kingdom that King Merry had given them after their first visit, and the other by a little silver unicorn horn. It was small, but it had enormous power — whoever held it could talk to animals!

Summer took out the map carefully and spread it out gently on Jasmine’s floor. The three girls sat around it, their heads touching as they peered at it excitedly. There were a few small islands in Mermaid Reef, and a couple more off the shore of Glitter Beach. They all moved magically on the map as the aquamarine sea bobbed up and down, but none of them looked white or fluffy.

“It’s not here!” Summer said anxiously.

“But it has to be!” cried Ellie. “We have to solve the riddle so we can get to the Secret Kingdom and find the thunderbolt before something horrible happens!”

Jasmine stood and started pacing up and down the middle of her room with a worried expression on her face.

“Let’s read the riddle again,” Summer suggested. “We have to be missing something. ‘A white and fluffy floating land.’ Well, these islands aren’t white or fluffy.”

“‘Way up high above the ground …’” Jasmine muttered to herself. Then she glanced down at the map and laughed. Summer and Ellie were still searching the bottom of the map, looking at every inch of sea. But Jasmine had realized something. “We shouldn’t be looking in the sea!” she cried. “We should be looking in the sky!”

“Of course!” said Ellie with a grin. “What’s white and fluffy and floats?”

“A cloud!” exclaimed Summer.

“And here’s Cloud Island!” Ellie exclaimed, pointing to a puffy white cloud at the top of the map. “That must be it. Let’s summon Trixi!”

The girls put their hands on the Magic Box, pressing their fingers against the green stones on its carved wooden lid.

“The answer is Cloud Island,” Jasmine whispered.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, followed by a squeal. Trixibelle had appeared, but the little pixie was trapped among the netting over Jasmine’s bed!

“Keep still!” Jasmine cried as the little pixie twisted around. She was trying to free herself, but was only getting more and more caught up.

“I’m trying!” Trixi cried, giving a yelp as she tumbled off her leaf.

Ellie, Jasmine, and Summer quickly climbed up onto Jasmine’s bed to untangle Trixi from the mesh. Ellie’s nimble fingers carefully unwrapped the netting from Trixi’s flower hat, while Jasmine and Summer helped Trixi pull her arms and legs free.

“There!” Ellie said as she untangled the last bit.

“Whew!” Trixi sighed, jumping back on her leaf and flying in a quick twirl before straightening out her skirt and the flower hat that covered her messy blond hair. “Hello, girls,” she exclaimed, flying over to kiss them all on the tips of their noses. She landed on the edge of Jasmine’s bedside table. “It’s lovely to see you all again. Have you figured out where the next thunderbolt is?”

“We think it’s somewhere called Cloud Island,” Summer said.

Trixi nodded. “There’s no time to waste! We need to go to the kingdom right away.”

The girls all looked excitedly at one another. They were off on another magical adventure — this time to an island in the sky!

As the girls watched, Trixi tapped the Magic Box with her ring and chanted a spell:

“The evil queen has trouble planned.

Brave helpers fly to save our land.”

Her words appeared on the mirrored lid and then soared toward the ceiling, separated into sparkles, and tumbled down again in a colorful burst, whizzing around the girls’ heads until they formed a whirlwind. The rushing air picked the girls up, and moments later Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine were dropped onto something springy. It was the softest landing ever!

Summer looked around in astonishment. It felt like she was on a huge bouncy bed, but all she could see around her was white. Hesitantly, she put out her hand to touch the fluffy stuff, and then grinned as she realized — she was standing on a cloud!

Read

Cloud Island

to find out what happens next!