EXCERPT 4 – THE CREELY CROWN
This excerpt is from another of Lace’s chronicles, The Creely Crown. It describes a scavenger hunt/race to find and claim the legendary Creely Crown. The competing contestants are the wild Triplet Princesses Three of Fiddleeebod. That’s Wun on the left below, Tuu in the middle, and Thrii on the right. Thrii dyed her hair startling violet some time after this admittedly extremely rough sketch was made.
It happened in a year when the shy month of Jell made one of its rare appearances. The turret towers of Fiddleeebod Castle were suitably decorated with hutched gold ribbons and toiled lines strung with wavery green satin pennants. Sixteen summers of abundant oats had passed since last the month of Jell had materialized to offer its ten short days of existence. Fair and true, for that reason and one other, the castle was a Clover hive of activity. What other reason? The eighth day of Jell marked the birthday of the Triplet Princesses Three of Fiddleeebod. A blur of preparation for the final day of celebrations was under way. Kitchen workers, from lowest sculger to highest crape, and cartjaggers, forgetenders, visiting fleckrunners, everybody all engaged in a frenzy of assigned and voluntary duties. Buzzes of excitement swirled around the castle. The seventh day of Jell was drawing to a close.
Late in the evening, the Princesses Wun, Tuu and Thrii gabbled madly, head to head to head, in their private domain high up in the no-one-allowed-but-Princesses tower. Sometimes they used their secret language. It had a lot of ‘r’s in it. Sometimes they didn’t. The usual chalky turquoise color of their faces was flushed chalkyless. The feathers of their powder blue wings fluttered with each excited wiggle and twist. They wore matching tally vests and blossom shirts with roamer doublestitched wing vents. Their stub pantaloons were tied below the knees with the finest lacestretch string. Save one useful exception, each Princess was a mirror image of her sister and her sister. What exception? Why useful? Each Princess had a different hair color, and thusly so was the only way they could be told apart. Princess Wun, the firstborn, had curly black hair streaked with green. Princess Tuu, born ten minutes after Wun, had curly green hair streaked with black. The natural curly black green hair of Princess Thrii hid under a dye rinse made from the seeds of palmpears. Her hair was startling violet. It matched her eyes, and of course, the eyes of her sisters. So there they were, late in the evening, gabbling head to head to head on Tuuey’s pillow mound bed.
“Rorrum ro rik!”
“I know! I know!”
“And it am tomorrow!”
“EEEEEEEEEE!”
“EEEEEEEEEEE!”
“EEEEEEEEEEEE!”
“What am we getting?
Tuuey, did you dream?”
“No, I couldn’t, but
reb rarra ro.”
“No, it amn’t. I looked.”
The Princesses fell into a flailing tangle of kicks and pinches followed by tickling and head to head to head again.
“Rorr! Wait! I know
something.”
“No secrets. Rev rurri.”
“What am it ? Tell us rerr.”
“Follow me.”
Princess Wun broke away and launched herself through the window. She was followed closely by Tuu and Thrii. Over the walls and down into the nearest oat field glided the Triplet Princesses Three. Both moons were high slivers in the sky. Stars were brilliant glints.
“What are here?”
“Rek rimm rarr. Why did
you bring us here?”
“Am it a nince past midnight yet?
If it am, I are sixteen and you am
still fifteen.”
Tuu and Thrii jumped on Wun, and the Princesses rolled and kicked in a tangle until tickling brought them head to head to head.
“I say it are half an hour
past midnight. We am all
sixteen. Rurrr!”
“Yeah, we all am.”
“But I are still the oldest!”
“Oh, rakka! Why am we here?
What did you see?”
“Look over there.”
“Ro ribbik? Ray?”
“It are a vedling cart covered
over with oat blankets. Look,
where the wheel peeks through.”
The Princesses crept closer to the cart and stared at the wheel. It glittered. Its spokes were wrapped in rainbow sparkle tape.
“See? It am loaded with our
presents. We could open them
now. It am the eighth of Jell.”
“Ruh Rarr ren! I say
we wait.”
“Me too. Wait for the party.”
Wun lunged for the blankets covering the cart and was tackled by Tuu and Thrii. When the kicking and scratching and pinching turned to tickling, Wun gave in.
“All right, all right. But I get
first choice. I are the oldest.”
“I get the largest
bowl of ool!”
“I get the biggest piece
of gadapple pie!”
“We am sixteen!”
“EEEEEEEEE!”
“EEEEEEEEEEEE!”
“EEEEEEEEEEE!”
The Triplet Princesses Three silenced and rose in the air. They flew themselves to exhaustion and collapsed through the window of their tower. They stumbled to their pillow mounds and fell snoring.
Leave a Reply