With trembling hands Lilli unclasped her locket from the belt loop of her jeans, gave it a little kiss and gently placed it back into her music box. She quickly changed in to her pjs, picked up her favorite teddy bear, that had sat long forgotten on the window seat, before she headed to bed. To her amazement the sun was still just starting to peek over the mountain. Time had stood still!
Lilli snuggled down under her covers and pulled them up over her head, hoping that might stop her mind from reliving the scary moments of her morning. It was quite awhile before Lilli drifted off to sleep.
Lilli was awakened by a knock on her door and the sound of Miss Prudy, “Wake up sleepyhead you can’t sleep all day lots to do. The Montanzian Royals come tomorrow.” With that Lilli was up and wide awake. She did have things to do, the Summer Festival was only days away.
With such a busy day Lilli had little time to think about the Land of Shenanigans.
However at the end of the day that was all she could think about! Lilli needed to make sense of the last few days. The events kept going round in her mind.
What had she been so afraid of? Prince Oden did not appear to be threatening? Surely Ruth and Flora would not put her in danger. Confused and curious, she had to go back as soon as possible! But how could she with the Royals of Montanzia arriving tomorrow for their two week visit? She and Grammy were the welcoming committee.
For the next two weeks she would not be alone, and then the magic time would be over. But this was too important, she was going to have to find a way.
She could barely contain her excitement as she waited for the plane to land. It had been over a year since The royals Of Montanzia had been to visit. When the plane landed, Lilli had to fight the urge to run and give everyone a hug, that would have definitely been a breach of etiquette.
The formal ceremony to welcome Queen Beth and King David of Montanzia and their grandchildren seemed to last forever.
Finally Princess Lilli, Prince Ryan, Princess Kaylyn, and Prince Aidan were traveling to the castle under the watchful eye of Miss Prudy.
As the limo pulled up the drive to the castle everyone was curious to why there were several staff members standing out under the back portico, trying to comfort the cook. Lilli chuckled under her breath, “Wow, she must have really burned the main course for tonight’s banquet.”
Little did Lilli know that was far from the problem. It really was partly Lilli’s fault the cook was having such a bad morning. Even before they had started up the long drive to the castle Miss Prudy was on her phone being briefed on the situation.
A few hours earlier the cook had run out of the kitchen and refused to go back in. She was having some type of crisis, claiming her food was disappearing and there was a monster taking it! Unless someone had an idea to solve the problem there would be no lunch. Lilli felt a chill go up her spine, could it be Shenanigan?
No way, it had to be just a figment of cook’s imagination. She had to get inside and check it out. Lilli whispered something in Miss Prudy’s ear. Miss Prudy shook her head no, but Lilli repeated her message. Miss Prudy gave a quick pause and then broke into a grin. After a brief conversation with the kitchen staff, Miss Prudy announced, “In one hour the Land of Zen’s world famous, Pizzalo’s pizza will be served for lunch in the main dining hall.”
The Royal foursome listened to the sounds of their laughter and the echoes of their footsteps as they ran down the hall towards Lilli’s quarters.
Lilli was not prepared for what she saw when she opened her door. It was obvious someone, or something, had been in her quarters and Lilli was pretty sure it was Shenanigan O’Toole. Now he was running loose creating chaos in the castle. She had no idea how he had gotten here, or why! Lilli knew she had a big problem and his name was Toodles!
The change in Lilli’s mood was very evident to the others. She explained she had a strange story to share, but only if they would take an oath of loyalty.
Without hesitation Ryan, Aidan, and Kaylyn were standing at attention with hands over their hearts and they listened intently. Lilli spoke the sacred words of the cousins’ pledge of silence, “I, as a royal cousin, will not reveal any information told to me in confidence. All words that come my way will stay a secret forever and a day, I so swear.”
Lilli gave a quick version of her adventure, standing in front of the mural painted long ago. She pointed out the inscription left by Ruth. Lilli ended the story by showing them the white satchel with Flora’s name on the front. Then she opened her beloved music box, removed the locket and placed it around her neck. She then handed the music box to Kaylyn, sitting on the bench in front of the vanity, wide eyed and speechless. The story sounded impossible.
Kaylyn and Aidan, waited to hear Ryan’s opinion. He was the oldest and they always followed his lead.
Lilli felt panicky as the minutes ticked by and Ryan had yet to say a single word. What was he thinking? Had she just made a huge mistake? Had she ruined everything? Was he going to betray her trust?
Finally Ryan stood up and started walking across the room. Lilli was so disappointed, she thought Ryan would always be someone she could count on to be an ally and confidant. But he was leaving. Where was he going and who would he tell?
Ryan was almost to the door when he turned and walked back towards her and turned again. He wasn’t leaving, he just could think better on his feet. As he paced back and forth, Ryan assured her, “Yes, Lilli we will help you solve this problem. But first things first. We have only a few more minutes before lunch, lets look for Toodles!” Lilli was so relieved she had to wipe tears from her eyes.
Most of the disarray was located around the closet, with a quick search they had found some answers. Located at the very back of the closet was a fake panel that had been removed, exposing an entrance to a secret passageway. It was very evident that whoever, or whatever, had been terrorizing the cook, had recently used the passageway and left behind the evidence to prove it, an empty bag of Fig Newton Cookies!
Unfortunately, there was no time left to continue the search, it was time for lunch. Hopefully they could convince Miss Prudy to let them have lunch in Lilli’s quarters.
Before they left Aidan insisted on doing one more important thing, they needed to choose a name for themselves.
Every group needed a name, after all who would ever have remembered “The Three Musketeers” if they had not had a catchy title! They soon settled on The Royal Protectors of Shenanigan’s Secret Existence. Now and forever to be known as the “Royal P.O.S.S.E.”!
With that done The Royal Posse headed to the main dining room to round up some pizza for lunch. Even in a rush Lilli stopped to pay her respects at the portrait of Queen Flora.
When they entered the dining hall, it seemed strange to see the tables covered with the finest linen and set with the most expensive China, holding triangle slices of pizza! The shiny silver goblets filled with fruit standing like silent guards at each plate, just added to the humor of the morning’s events. However no one seemed to mind the casual and unusual lunch. This was the most relaxed and jovial lunch Lilli had ever experienced at the castle.
Everyone was chuckling over how someone had entered the storage room next to the kitchen, put on one of the costumes stored there and played a joke on the cook. The cook had been so frightened that she refused to go back into the kitchen. It had taken quite awhile to convince her it was all just a prank.
The cook was now back in the kitchen. However preparations for tonight’s banquet were hours behind schedule. While Lilli felt responsible for cook’s dilemma, she was very happy to hear cook was back to normal. Now she just had to keep it that way!