BACK KIDNAP 9' The princess is kidnapped before her wedding "Come quickly!" the king's messenger shouted, "The princess has disappeared!" Michaela, the world's greatest detective hurried to the royal palace. The king brought Michaela up to the Princess' bedroom. "She was last seen up here late last night. How could she have just disappeared?!" asked the king. Michaela examined the room. She noticed that a small amount of dust on the floor outlined a large rectangle near the bed. Then she stooped and ran her finger through the dust on the stone floor to see how easily the dust could be wiped away. "Aha!" she exclaimed. "What is it?!" Asked the king. "The rug on the floor has been removed. Is this the way the room was when you found it?" ask Michaela. "Yes. Noone has touched a thing." Michaela immediately examined the windowsills. Seeing something unusual, she pulled out her magnifying glass and examined a small green strand. "Aha!" she exclaimed. "What is it?!" Asked the king. Michaela replied, "This small strand is green. It's a broken blade of fresh grass." "How could that be?!" asked the king, "We're on the second floor." Michaela opened the window and looked out. "What is it?!" Asked the king. Michaela replied, "Here's what happened: the princess has been kidnapped." "Kidnapped?!" exclaimed the king. Michaela explained, "The kidnapper walked across the lawn down below and climbed up a ladder and climbed in the window. When he stepped on the windowsill, a broken blade of grass from is shoe fell off his shoe and onto the windowsill. Then he wrapped the princess in the rug, put the rug over his shoulder and, climbed back down the ladder after he closed the window." "Oh dear!" exclaimed the king. "The princess is supposed to be married tomorrow. What shall we do?" Michaela ran out the bedroom door and down the stairs. The king ran to the railing and shouted to Michaela below, "Where are you going?!" "Time is of the essence, Your Majesty. I will find the princess and have her back here in time for the wedding." answered Michaela as she ran out of the palace. She ran around to the back lawn of the palace to where the ladder was still leaning against the wall. She followed the footprints away from the palace, across the lawn and behind a hedge. There she found wagon wheel tracks and horse tracks in the lawn. She followed the wagon tracks down the slope to the ocean's edge. When she arrived at the ocean, the wagon and the horse were tied up at a tree, but the kidnapper and the princess were gone. Michaela examined the sand along the shore and found dents in the sand. "Aha!" exclaimed Michaela. By now, the king had caught up with Michaela in the royal coach. "What is it?!" Asked the king. Michaela pointed at the dent in the sand and replied, "This mark in the sand is from the keel of a row boat." She pointed at smaller marks in the sand on both sides and explained, "These other marks are from the oars of the row boat. The kidnapper rowed out to a sailing ship off shore." Michaela took out the telescope in her bag and scanned the ocean, then asked,"Your Majesty, may I borrow the royal yacht?" "Yes, of course." replied the King, "but where will you go?" Michaela pointed, "I saw the tip of a sail in that direction." Michaela rode on the royal coach to the harbor where she boarded the royal yacht and set sail toward the kidnappers sailing ship. Fortunately, the king's yacht was the fastest ship on the ocean. She followed the kidnappers ship to an island. But by the time the yacht arrived in the harbor, noone was left on board the ship. Michaela hurried off the yacht and went to the hotel nearby and asked, "Do you know whose ship that is in the harbor?" "Yes," the clerk replied. "That ship belongs to the dragon lady." "The dragon lady?" ask Michaela. "Yes, the dragon lady is the daughter of the king. She lives in a castle on the far end of the island." the clerk replied and pointed. "Wait a minute." said Michaela. "The king's daughter is getting married tomorrow." The clerk replied, "I'm talking about the king's older daughter. The king banished her to this island because she did bad things. He won't allow anyone to call her princess anymore. Why do you want her?" asked the clerk. Michaela replied, "I think the dragon lady had her henchmen kidnap the princess. And now I know why." The clerk asked, "Why?" Michaela replied, "I think the dragon lady wants to marry the prince." Michaela ran back to the royal yacht and gave instructions to the crew to turn the yacht around and be ready to sail back to the mainland at a moment's notice. Then she borrowed some rope and a long sword. Then she rented a horse and wagon and drove across the island to the dragon lady's castle. Michaela arrived at the castle at dusk. She hid in the bushes until it was dark. Then she sneaked up to the castle and found that it was surrounded by a mote, a pool of water completely surrounding the castle walls. But the bridge over the mote, called a drawbridge, was pulled up, so there seemed to be no way into the castle. Michaela walked around the mote until she found a place where one of the guards up on the wall had fallen asleep. She looped the rope and threw the loop over the battlement on the wall. Then she swung on the rope across the mote to the wall and climbed up the rope to the top of the wall. Then Michaela sneaked down the stairs and searched for the princess. After sneaking and searching for several hours in the dark, she found the princess in the dungeon underground. She picked the lock on the cell door, then led the princess to the drawbridge. With one slice of Michaela's sword, she cut the rope holding the drawbridge up. Then the drawbridge fell across the mote with a crash. Michaela and the princess ran across the drawbridge to the hidden wagon. They jumped into the wagon and off they rode at a gallop. Meanwhile, the crashing drawbridge woke up everybody in the castle. "The princess has been released!" shouted a guard. So, the soldiers saddled their horses to give chase to the princess. And they all chased the princess at full gallop. The wagon was slower than the horses from the castle, so they almost caught the princess at the harbor. So, Michaela decided not to get out of the wagon and run to the ship. Instead, she drove the wagon out onto the wharf and stopped next to the ship. The crew of the royal yacht lifted the princess and Michaela off the wagon and onto the boat as other crew members cast off the mooring ropes while other crew members set the sails. When the soldiers galloped onto the wharf they arrived to late. The yacht was out of reach. So, they galloped to the dragon lady's sailing ship and climbed on board. But Michaela ordered the crew of the royal yacht to shoot its cannon and blow a hole in the side of the dragon lady's ship. Sea water rushed into the hole in the ship and the ship sank to the bottom of the harbor. Then the crew trimmed the sails of the royal yacht for maximum speed. "Do you think we'll get back home in time for the wedding?" asked the Princess. "I promised your father." said Michaela, the world's greatest detective. The royal yacht arrived at the harbor just as the church bells began to ring all over the city. Michaela and the princess rushed through the city in the royal coach while Michaela helped the princess change into her wedding dress. When they arrived at the church the pipe organ was playing and the choir was singing. Michaela kicked open the double doors at the back of the church and shouted, "Stop the wedding!" The choir stopped singing and the pipe organ stopped playing. The priest at the front of the church shouted, "What's the meaning of this?" Michaela pointed to the veiled woman next to the prince at the front of the church and shouted, "That woman is NOT the princess!" The crowd grumbled. The priest shouted, "Of course this is the princess! This is the wedding of the princess." Michaela ran to the front of the church and lifted the veil on the bride. The crowd gasped, "The dragon lady!" The king shouted, "Arrest that woman!" The palace guard hauled the dragon lady away. The priest demanded, "Where is the REAL princess?!" Michaela pointed to the back of the church and shouted, "There." The princess walked through the back door carrying a bouquet of flowers. Michaela shouted "Let the wedding begin!" The pipe organ began playing. The choir began singing. The prince married the princess. And they all lived happily ever after. ©2007 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties. Do not sell this story or rewrite it. 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