Quit Buggin' Me! #4 Read online

  “Uh-oh,” Dribble whispered to Princess Pulverizer. “We could be here for hours if he starts telling stories. Do something.”

  “Like what?” Princess Pulverizer whispered back.

  “I don’t know. You’re the princess,” Dribble told her. “Find some royal way to get us out of here.”

  Princess Pulverizer thought for a minute as the king droned on. Something royal? What did that mean? Royal like at her father’s court in Empiria? Or royal like at the mole king’s court?

  That’s it!

  “And her toenails had grown very long because she had no clippers. And her teeth were yellow and brown because . . . ,” the king continued.

  “Follow my lead,” Princess Pulverizer whispered to her friends, handing the heavy mace to Dribble. She dropped to her belly and started wiggling her way toward the door—as though she were doing the mole king’s worm dance.

  Dribble and Lucas looked at each other. Then they looked at the princess.

  “She’s lost her mind,” Dribble told Lucas.

  “Come on,” Princess Pulverizer whispered. “Try to stay as flat as you can.”

  Lucas shrugged. “It’s worth a try.” He dropped to the ground and began wriggling toward the door.

  “Okay,” Dribble agreed. He dropped onto his tremendous tummy and wriggled behind his pals.

  The members of the king’s court were so busy looking up at the stage where the king was speaking that they didn’t even notice the trio wriggling like worms along the floor as they made their way out of the room. A few moments later, Princess Pulverizer, Lucas, and Dribble were outside the palace gates.

  “That was some quick thinking,” Dribble said, complimenting the princess.

  “Thank you,” Princess Pulverizer replied. “I couldn’t have taken another minute of that story.”

  As the three friends headed down the road in search of a new adventure, Lucas turned to Princess Pulverizer. “How do you think the king’s story ends, anyway?” he wondered.

  “They all lived apple-y ever after,” Princess Pulverizer joked. “How else?”

  The quest continues . . .

  And now, here’s a sneak peek at the next

  Watch that Witch!

  “Step, step, lunge!” Lucas said as he took two steps to the right and then brandished a butter knife in the air. “Step, step, lunge. Step, step . . . whoops!”

  Bam!

  Princess Pulverizer put her hand over her mouth with surprise as she watched her pal trip over a rock and land smack on his bottom.

  “Sorry,” Lucas apologized to the rock.

  Princess Pulverizer’s cheeks turned purple.

  Her eyes began to tear up.

  She thought she might explode.

  But Princess Pulverizer refused to let out even a teeny tiny giggle. Because that wouldn’t be nice. And Princess Pulverizer was trying hard to be nice these days.

  “You’re definitely getting better,” Lucas’s best friend, Dribble the dragon, assured him.

  “You really think so?” Lucas wondered as he scrambled to his feet.

  “You should try the riposte next,” Dribble said. “You almost had that move down yesterday.”

  Princess Pulverizer knew what a riposte was—a counterattack against an opponent who had just lunged against you while you were fencing.

  Only there wasn’t anyone lunging at Lucas.

  Lucas was fencing against empty air.

  With a butter knife.

  And he was still losing.

  Lucas held out the knife and gave it a quick thrust.

  The knife flew out of his hand and landed squarely in the middle of a pear that was hanging from the branch of a nearby tree.

  To be continued . . .

  Author & Illustrator

  Nancy Krulik is the author of more than two hundred books for children and young adults, including three New York Times Best Sellers. She is the creator of several successful book series for children, including Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo; How I Survived Middle School; George Brown, Class Clown; and Magic Bone.

  Ben Balistreri has been working for more than twenty years in the animation industry. He’s won an Emmy Award for his character designs and has been nominated for nine Annie Awards, winning once. His art can be seen in Tangled: The Series, How to Train Your Dragon, and many more.

  What’s next on

  your reading list?

  Discover your next

  great read!

  * * *

  Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.

  Sign up now.