part of being a hero.
Just then the Princess in Black
came running into the goat pasture!
With the Princess in Blankets!
Also three other princesses!
It was a whole princess herd.
72
“EAT GOATS —” the purple
monster started to say. But then it
noticed something. A goo monster in
a bucket. It smiled. “NEW FRIEND?”
73
The goo monster slid out of the
bucket. It squished and squashed
over to the hole. It looked down.
“FIT IN?” it said.
75
The purple monster nodded. “FIT
IN! EAT MONSTER FUR! EAT
TOENAIL CLIPPINGS! BIG FUN
MONSTER LAND!”
“NEW HOME,” said the goo
monster.
And they both dropped into the
hole.
Chapter 9
The five princesses plopped down
on the grass. They all sighed.
“What just happened?” asked the
Goat Avenger.
“We ran,” said the Princess in Black.
“All the way from the train sta-
tion,” said the Princess in Blankets.
77
“Carrying a heavy monster,” said
Princess Honeysuckle.
“In a bucket!” said Princess Orchid.
78
“I’m tired,” said Princess Snapdragon.
“I’m pooped,” said Princess Orchid.
“That was . . . FUN!” said Princess
Honeysuckle.
The princesses laughed.
79
“But I was about to wage battle,”
said the Goat Avenger. “And then
my monster left.”
“I’m sorry,” said the Princess in
Black. “Waging battle is fun.”
80
“It’s my favorite part of being a
hero,” said the Princess in Blankets.
“Mine too,” said the Goat Avenger.
“After the battle cries.”
The heroes said, “Behave, beast!”
81
And “Not today!”
And “Back to your infernal pit!”
83
The three heroes laughed.
The three princesses sighed.
“I wish I were a hero,” said Prin-
cess Honeysuckle.
“Me too,” said Princess Orchid.
“But you are!” said the Princess in
Black. “You were so strong with the
bucket. And brave with the monster.
And you helped it find a home.”
Chapter 10
Back at the science fair, Princess
Honeysuckle really, really wanted to
win first prize. But she didn’t.
Princess Orchid got first prize.
Princess Honeysuckle cheered. Every-
one cheered. Princess Magnolia
cheered the loudest of all.
86
“Are you okay?” asked Princess
Honeysuckle. “It’s not fair. A mon-
ster ate your project.”
“I’m happy Princess Orchid won,”
said Princess Magnolia. “And next year,
87
I’m going to work harder. Next year,
I’m going to do something amazing.”
Princess Honeysuckle smiled. She
would like to work harder too. She
would like to do something amazing.
Amazing, like making a Bucket
Boosting Teeter-Totter.
Amazing, like battling a monster.
She looked at Princess Orchid.
Princess Orchid looked at Princess
Snapdragon. Princess Snapdragon
looked at Princess Honeysuckle. At
that moment, they were all thinking
the exact same thing.
The Princess in Black was right.
They already were heroes. They just
needed disguises. And secret names.
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