Wish Upon a Star Read online

  With special thanks to Anne Marie Ryan

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Petrovia Royal Family

  Chapter 1: An Exciting Announcement

  Chapter 2: Snow Day

  Chapter 3: Cleo’s Secret

  Chapter 4: A Dancing Duo

  Chapter 5: A Very Busy Week

  Chapter 6: Pop Star at the Palace

  Chapter 7: The Talent Show

  Chapter 8: The Show Must Go On

  Sneak Peek: Puppy Princess #4

  About the Author

  Copyright

  “Don’t call me mild, because I’m really wild,” a white puppy with curly hair sang at the top of her lungs. In her paws, she clutched a bone as if it was a microphone.

  “If you don’t like my roar, then I’ll show you the door,” a fluffy gray kitten meowed into her own bone microphone.

  The puppy and kitten belted out the final chorus together. “So come on and get down with the coolest cat in town!”

  “I love Bella Fierce sooooo much,” said Rosie, the puppy.

  “She’s amazing,” said Cleo, the kitten, gazing at the posters of Bella Fierce plastered all over Rosie’s bedroom walls.

  Bella Fierce was the biggest pop star in Petrovia. A sleek Siamese cat with one blue eye and one brown eye, Bella Fierce strutted like an alley cat and sang her hits in a throaty purr. Rosie and her best friend, Cleo, were huge fans and knew the words to all of her songs by heart.

  The posters looked slightly out of place in Rosie’s elegant bedroom. Windows draped by velvet curtains looked out onto sprawling gardens. There was an enormous four-poster bed with a pink satin bedspread decorated with the royal paw print. On the bedside table, a diamond tiara dangled from a reading lamp, and jeweled collars spilled out of the drawer.

  This wasn’t an ordinary puppy’s bedroom, because Rosie wasn’t an ordinary puppy—she was Princess Rosie, heir to the throne of Petrovia! Cleo wasn’t just her best friend, either; the kitten was also her lady-in-waiting. She helped with Rosie’s royal duties, but the two mostly played and had fun together.

  A white puppy with floppy ears and curly hair just like Rosie’s burst into the bedroom, his tail wagging. “What’s wrong?” Prince Rocky asked.

  Another puppy, identical to Rocky except for a black splodge over one eye, bounded into the room behind his brother. “Is someone hurt?” Prince Rollo said.

  Rosie and Cleo exchanged puzzled looks. Rosie shook her head, her ears flapping. “Nobody’s hurt,” she told her brothers.

  “Then why were you two howling?” Rocky asked.

  “We weren’t howling,” Cleo said. “We were singing!”

  “Oops!” said Rollo. “Easy mistake to make.” The two princes rolled on the floor, giggling.

  “Ha-ha,” said Rosie sarcastically, throwing her bone microphone at Rocky. “You two are hilarious.”

  That just made the princes laugh even harder.

  Rosie grabbed Cleo’s bone and chucked it at Rollo, but instead of hitting the prince, it hit a gray bunny in a white apron who had just hopped into Rosie’s bedroom. The bone knocked the bunny’s starched white cap onto the floor.

  “Sorry, Priscilla!” said Rosie. “I wasn’t trying to hit you. I was trying to hit Rollo.”

  “Huff!” said Priscilla. “A princess should NEVER throw things.”

  Rosie rolled her chocolate-brown eyes. She was so glad that prim and proper Priscilla was no longer her lady-in-waiting! Fed up with the bunny’s rules and regulations, Rosie had sneaked out of the palace and met Cleo, sharing a wonderful adventure with her. From that day on, Cleo had been her lady-in-waiting, and Priscilla had been promoted to Pawstone Palace’s chief housekeeper. Everyone was much happier that way!

  “Did you think they were howling in pain?” Rocky asked Priscilla playfully.

  “Certainly not!” said Priscilla. “I came to remind Princess Rosie that Bruno has arrived for her dance lesson. He is waiting in the ballroom.” Sniffing, she picked up her cap, put it back on her head, and hopped out of the room.

  Rosie groaned loudly. “Ugh! I hate dance lessons!”

  “Why?” asked Cleo. “Dancing is fun.”

  “Not when Bruno’s your teacher,” muttered Rosie. “He makes me do boring ballroom dancing.”

  Rosie and Cleo went downstairs to the ballroom. Outside the gold doors, carved with figures of dancing animals, Rosie and Cleo hugged good-bye.

  “See you tomorrow,” Cleo said.

  Inside the ballroom, a small sausage dog with a gleaming brown coat tapped his paw impatiently. “You’re late, Princess Rosie!” snapped Bruno. “But then, I already knew that you have no sense of timing.”

  Priscilla, who was hopping around the ballroom with a feather duster, giggled.

  Rosie sighed. She hadn’t even started dancing yet and the lesson was already going badly!

  “We’ll start with the waltz. Remember,” said Bruno, turning on the music and gliding around the room to demonstrate, “you must use long, smooth, flowing movements.”

  He took Rosie’s paws, and they began to dance around the room.

  “One, two, three,” Bruno counted the beat aloud. “One, two—” Bruno stopped and waved his paws in the air. “No! No! No!” he cried. “In the waltz your paws must glide, not stomp!”

  “Sorry, Bruno,” Rosie said, her tail between her legs.

  “Let’s take it from the top,” said Bruno, starting the music again.

  This time, Rosie tried to make her paws glide gracefully across the polished wooden floor. One, two, three, she counted in her head. One, two, threeeeeeeeee— Rosie slipped and fell on the floor, pulling Bruno down with her.

  Priscilla hopped over and helped them up.

  Brushing his hair off, Bruno said, “That’s enough waltzing for one day.”

  “Can we dance to something by Bella Fierce?” Rosie asked her teacher eagerly.

  “Huff! Huffity-huff!” Priscilla tutted loudly, looking up from her dusting.

  Bruno shook his head disapprovingly. “Absolutely not!” he said. “Queen Fifi has hired me to teach you ballroom dancing, not how to wiggle like a pop star!” Holding out his paws to Rosie, Bruno said, “We’ll do the cha-cha next.”

  Oh no, thought Rosie. The cha-cha had fast, tricky footwork.

  “One, two, cha-cha-cha,” counted Bruno as they danced around the room.

  Rosie desperately tried to move her paws and shake her tail in time with the music.

  “One, two, cha-cha-OW!” wailed Bruno as Rosie accidentally stepped on his paw.

  “I’m so sorry!” said Rosie.

  “We’ll stop there!” barked Bruno, limping away from Rosie. “I can’t risk injuring another paw.”

  “Let’s get you some ice,” said Priscilla, helping Bruno hobble out of the ballroom.

  Rosie’s eyes filled with tears. She felt like she had four left paws!

  * * *

  Later that evening, Rosie ate dinner in the formal dining room with the rest of the royal family.

  “Mmm, this stew is delicious,” said Rosie’s father, King Charles, licking his chops. The tubby white Maltese had already eaten two helpings.

  Petal, the palace’s guinea pig cook, did make very tasty stew. But Rosie didn’t have much of an appetite tonight.

  “You’re very quiet, Rosie,” said Queen Fifi, a perfectly groomed white Maltese wearing a diamond collar. “How was your dance lesson?”

  “Awful,” whimpered Rosie, hiding her face in her paw. “I stepped on Bruno’s paw.”

  “You just need more practice,” said King Charles kindly. “I’m sure you’re not as bad as you think you are.”

  “Have you seen Rosie dance?” said Rocky.

 
“Her dancing’s almost as good as her singing,” said Rollo, giggling.

  “I hate dance lessons,” whined Rosie. “I wish I could quit!”

  “No,” her mother said firmly. “When you are queen of Petrovia, you will attend lots of balls. It’s important that you know how to dance.”

  “When I’m the queen, I’ll get to make the rules,” Rosie grumbled. “The first thing I’ll do is ban ballroom dancing.”

  “We’ll see,” said Queen Fifi, sounding unconcerned.

  “I’ve got some news that might cheer you up,” said King Charles.

  Rosie’s ears perked up.

  “It’s time for the Royal Talent Show!” announced the king.

  Rosie and her brothers yelped with excitement. Every winter there was a talent show in Petrovia, and it was always lots of fun!

  King Charles hadn’t finished. “Rosie,” he said, “we think that you are ready to take on more responsibility.”

  Queen Fifi smiled at her daughter. “This year we’d like you to organize the talent show!”

  “Rosie, Rosie! Wake up!” cried Prince Rollo, leaping on the bed and licking his sister’s face.

  “Let me sleep,” groaned Rosie, hiding her head under a pillow. She was having a wonderful dream that she and Cleo were at a Bella Fierce concert singing along to all the songs.

  Prince Rocky bit the corner of Rosie’s bedspread and dragged it off her bed.

  “Hey!” Rosie yelped, scrabbling with her paws to try to get it back. “It’s cold.”

  “Duh!” said Rollo. “We know it’s cold. In fact, it’s so cold that it—”

  “SNOWED!” cried Rocky.

  Now Rosie was wide awake! She jumped out of bed and bounded to the window. Resting her paws on the sill, she pressed her damp black nose against the glass. The grounds of Pawstone Palace were covered in a sparkling blanket of white snow!

  “Yay!” she cried. “We can build snow dogs!”

  “And have a snowball fight!” said Rocky, joining her at the window.

  “What’s that?” asked Rollo, pointing his paw at something pink in the distance.

  “It’s Cleo!” laughed Rosie. The gray kitten was making her way to the palace. Only her pink collar stood out against the snowdrifts!

  “I can’t wait to tell Cleo about the talent show!” said Rosie, her tail wagging. Rosie suddenly realized that there would be no time for snow dogs and snowball fights. She had important work to do!

  Quickly putting on her ruby collar, Rosie yanked a brush through her curly fur.

  “I can’t believe we didn’t win last year,” grumbled Rocky.

  “Yeah, we were robbed,” said Rollo. “We should have won first prize.”

  Last year the princes had entered the talent show as a comedy double act. Their imitation of their parents had been a huge hit with everyone in the audience except for Queen Fifi, who felt that it hadn’t shown proper respect.

  “What do you call a snow dog in the summer?” Rocky asked Rosie.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “What?”

  “A puddle!” cried Rollo, howling with laughter.

  Rosie groaned.

  “Wait! I’ve got another one,” said Rocky. “What do snow dogs eat for lunch?”

  “Ice burgers!” shrieked Rollo. The twins rolled on their backs, waving their paws in the air as they yelped with laughter.

  “Yes, it’s astonishing that you didn’t win,” said Rosie, rolling her eyes. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, some of us have work to do,” she said, feeling very important.

  Rosie headed downstairs to greet Cleo.

  “Ah, Rosie,” said the king, coming out of the dining room with crumbs on his whiskers. He was with Theodore, an ancient tortoise who had been the royal family’s butler for several generations. “I was just coming to find you. Could you start spreading the news about the talent show around Petrovia today?”

  “No problem!” said Rosie. Proud to have been entrusted with such a big responsibility, Rosie couldn’t wait to get started!

  Very, very slowly, Theodore handed Rosie a stack of posters announcing the talent show. Rosie could see why King Charles didn’t want the old tortoise to deliver them—it would take Theodore years to crawl around Petrovia!

  “Hi, Rosie,” said Cleo, coming into the palace and stamping her paws to warm them up. Her blue eyes sparkled, and her nose was even pinker than usual. “Are you excited about the snow?”

  “Yes,” said Rosie. “But I’m even more excited about the Royal Talent Show!”

  Cleo gasped. “Is it happening soon?”

  “Really soon,” said Rosie. “And this year my parents have asked me to organize it!”

  “Wow!” said Cleo, impressed. “Do you need some help?”

  “My first job is hanging these up around Petrovia,” explained Rosie, showing Cleo the posters. “Want to come with me?”

  “Of course,” purred Cleo.

  Rosie and Cleo set off as soon as Rosie had eaten breakfast. They ran into the frosty air, each carrying a big stack of posters in a sack.

  “Brrr!” said Rosie, shivering.

  “You’ll warm up if we run,” said Cleo, her paws sinking into the snow as she dashed ahead.

  Giggling, Rosie chased after her friend. Her breath puffed out like smoke as she bounded through the powdery snow.

  POW! POW! POW! Snowballs pelted Rosie and Cleo. One hit Rosie right on her head! SPLAT!

  “Hey!” she cried, shaking snow off her fur. “Where did those come from?”

  There was no sign of their attackers. Rosie’s eyes could only see pure white snow. Her ears, however, heard giggling coming from behind a snow-covered holly bush. “Do you hear that?” she whispered to Cleo.

  Cleo nodded. The girls each formed a snowball, and they crept stealthily toward the bush.

  “Gotcha!” Rosie shouted, jumping behind the bush. She hurled her snowball and hit Rocky on the back.

  “Take that!” cried Cleo, firing her snowball. Rollo spun around in alarm, and the snowball hit him right on the nose. SMACK!

  “Bull’s-eye!” Rosie shouted triumphantly.

  Scooping up snow, the princes threw more snowballs at the girls. Rosie and Cleo fought back, launching their own snowballs at Rocky and Rollo. The crisp winter air rang with shouts and laughter as snowballs flew through the sky.

  “Time-out!” yelled Rosie, panting. Everyone stopped throwing snowballs and caught their breath. “Cleo and I need to go deliver posters for the talent show.”

  “That reminds me—Rocky and I need to go rehearse our act,” said Rollo, brushing snow off his paws.

  “What kind of act are you doing?” Cleo asked.

  “It’s a secret,” Rocky said mysteriously.

  “But it’s going to be amazing,” said Rollo.

  Heading toward the palace gates, Rosie and Cleo met a squirrel with a bushy gray tail shoveling snow. Big white snowbanks were piled up on either side of the path he’d cleared.

  “Good morning, Hamish!” Rosie called to the palace’s head gardener.

  “Good morning, Your Highness,” Hamish replied, taking off his woolly cap and bowing. “Have you come outside to play in the snow?”

  “We don’t have time to play,” said Rosie. “We’ve got an important job to do.” She showed Hamish one of the posters. “We need to hang these up all over the kingdom.”

  Hamish chuckled and said, “I’ll dust off my bagpipes and start practicing.”

  “We’d better be on our way,” said Rosie.

  “There’s a sled in the garden shed that belonged to King Charles when he was a boy,” said Hamish. “It might help you get around faster.”

  “Great idea! Thanks, Hamish!” Rosie said. She and Cleo trudged through the snow to the shed. Propped at the back, behind a wheelbarrow, was an old wooden sled with shiny red metal runners. They dragged it to the top of a slope and sat on it—Rosie at the front, and Cleo at the back, her paws wrapped around Rosie’s middle.

&nbs
p; “WHEE!” Rosie and Cleo shot across the snow. The cold wind blew Rosie’s ears back as the sled picked up speed and flew down the hillside. “YIPPEEE!” Rosie yipped for joy.

  In no time at all, they arrived in the village of Oak Tree Hollow. As Rosie hung one of the posters on the trunk of a big oak tree, their squirrel friend, Charlie, came out of a cozy house shaped like an acorn.

  “Hi, Princess Rosie! Hi, Cleo,” he greeted them. “Whatcha doin’?”

  “We’re letting everyone know about the Royal Talent Show,” Rosie told him.

  “Ooh!” Charlie said, twitching his bushy tail. “I’m going to enter this year!”

  “What’s your talent?” Cleo asked him.

  “Juggling!” Charlie said. He dashed back into his house and came out again holding three acorns. “Watch!”

  Charlie threw the acorns into the air. He caught one, but missed the other two nuts. One fell into the snow, and the other bonked Rosie on the head!

  “Oops!” said Charlie. “Sorry, Princess Rosie. I guess I need more practice!”

  “Good luck,” Rosie told him, rubbing her head. Then Cleo climbed onto the sled and Rosie pulled her along to the next village.

  Taking turns riding on the sled, the girls traveled far and wide, hanging up posters in every corner of Petrovia. Lots of animals they met told them that they were going to enter the talent show.

  By the time they arrived in Hamster Hamlet, the girls were feeling cold and tired.

  “You look like you could use a warm drink,” their friend Elsie said.

  The little hamster invited them into her burrow for a cup of blackberry tea.

  “This is just what I needed,” Rosie said happily, warming her paws on the cup and inhaling the fruity scent.

  “Are you going to enter the talent show, Elsie?” Cleo asked.

  “I’m not very talented,” Elsie said.

  “There must be something you could do,” Rosie said.

  Elsie thought for a moment. “There is one trick I can do,” she told them. Elsie crammed ten plump berries into her bulging cheeks.

  “That’s very … er … unique,” Rosie told her politely.

  After finishing their drinks, the girls went back out into the cold. The sky had turned a beautiful shade of pink as the sun began to set.