#3: A New Friend (Tales of Sasha) Page 3

  Kimani smiled back. “That was a

  good sneeze. You’ve got a lot of sticky

  snot.”

  “No wings, but plenty of snot. That’s

  me.” Wyatt laughed.

  “We all have something that makes

  us special,” teased Sasha. She was lucky

  she’d had two good friends to help her.

  “So what were those things?” Wyatt

  asked Kimani.

  “They’re plant pixies, the enemy of

  flying horses. They want to steal our

  power of flight,” said Kimani.

  “How?” asked Wyatt.

  “They need to pluck two wing

  feathers—one from the right wing and

  one from the left wing. The feathers

  fit into a harness that they wear. With

  both feathers in the harness, the plant

  pixie can fly,” explained Kimani.

  “I have plenty of feathers,” said Sasha.

  “I could share some.”

  Kimani shook her head. “It doesn’t

  work that way. Every time a feather is

  taken from a flying horse, she grows

  weaker. Soon, she can’t fly or even

  gallop.”

  Sasha didn’t like the sound of that.

  “Plant pixies live in the woods,” said

  Kimani. “A spell was placed on Verdant

  Valley so they can’t come here. It was

  very important that you grew up safe.”

  Sasha titled her head. “I don’t

  understand. Why did I need to be kept

  safe?”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell

  you,” said Wyatt. “I heard the yellow

  horse talking about you at the party.”

  “You know?” asked Kimani.

  “I do,” said Wyatt. “Should I tell her?”

  “Tell me what?” Sasha stared at her

  two friends.

  Wyatt and Kimani spoke at the same

  time. “You are the Lost Princess.”

  Read on for a sneak peek

  from the fourth book in the

  Tales of Sasha series!

  CHAPTER

  1

  Little Fairy

  Creatures

  “Did you hear that?” Sasha lifted her ears.

  “Hear what?” asked her better-than-best

  friend, Wyatt.

  “A crunch from under this boysenberry

  bush.” Sasha stepped forward to look. “Is it

  them?”

  “Stay back!” cried Wyatt. “I’ll look.”

  Sasha frowned. She should look first—not

  Wyatt. She was the brave one. Everyone

  knew that.

  But everything had changed this week.

  She wasn’t a regular horse like Wyatt

  anymore. She was a flying horse—and flying

  horses were in danger.

  “Sasha! You’re home!” Poppy squealed and

  trotted toward her sister.

  There were three sisters in Sasha’s family.

  Sasha was the youngest, Zara was the oldest,

  and Poppy was in the middle. Poppy was the

  fancy sister. She wore flowers in her mane

  and tail.

  Sasha nuzzled Poppy. She was happy

  to be home in Verdant Valley. So much

  had happened this week. First, Sasha had

  discovered that she had wings and could fly.

  Then, she’d gone away to search for other

  flying horses.

  “What’s he doing?” cried Poppy. Wyatt’s

  head was buried in the bushes. Leaves and

  berries dropped to the ground.

  “Searching for plant pixies,” said Sasha.

  “For what?” Poppy usually knew everything,

  but she had never heard of plant pixies.

  “Plant pixies are little fairy creatures who

  live in plants,” said Sasha.

  “How cute!” exclaimed Poppy.

  “Not so much.” Wyatt lifted his head.

  “These pixies may be tiny, but they can hurt

  a flying horse.”

  “Can I see a plant pixie?” asked Poppy.

  “They’re not here. He made the noise,”

  Wyatt said, pointing to a chipmunk. The

  chipmunk shrugged, then grabbed a berry.

  “Happy days!” A purple horse cantered

  out of the shadows. The tiny braids in her

  tail twirled as she ran.

  Poppy’s brown eyes grew wide. She had

  never seen a purple horse! Her coat was

  chestnut-brown and so was Wyatt’s. Sasha

  was pale gray with a white patch on her

  back. All the horses in Verdant Valley were

  brown, white, black, or gray.

  “Who are you?” Poppy asked.

  “Kimani is my new friend. She lives in

  Crystal Cove with the other flying horses.

  She flies, too,” said Sasha.

  Kimani opened her wings. Her feathers

  were deep violet.

  Poppy wasn’t sure what was more

  amazing—that her little sister had found

  other horses with wings or that the flying

  horses were so beautiful.

  Kimani inspected Poppy’s mane and tail.

  “Wow! I never knew regular horses were so

  glamorous. Can you put pretty flowers in my

  mane, too?”

  “Sure!” Poppy smiled. Sasha wouldn’t stand

  still when Poppy tried to decorate her mane.

  She turned to Sasha. “I like your new friend.”

  “Here comes your mom and Caleb.”

  Wyatt pointed across the meadow.

  Caleb, their teacher, was old and moved

  very slowly. Sasha knew it would be a while

  before they both reached her. She listened

  to Poppy and Kimani talk about using

  honeysuckle petals to make their manes smell

  nice.

  “Boring!” Sasha spotted an apple on the

  ground. “Think fast!” she called to Wyatt.

  She kicked the apple with her hoof. It

  sailed through the air toward him. Wyatt

  headed the apple back to her. She blocked

  it with one of her hind legs and knocked it

  back at him.

  Then Wyatt kicked it too hard. The apple

  rolled under a large white mushroom nearby.

  Sasha bent to look for it.

  A tiny, pointy face peered out at her from

  under the mushroom.

  A plant pixie!