Purrfect Pranksters Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Sneak Peek of Cutiecorns #3: Rainy Day Rescue

  About the Author

  The Cutiecorns Series

  Copyright

  “Do it again, Flash!” Glitter giggled, clapping her paws.

  Flash concentrated really hard. She focused all her energy on a dandelion growing along the side of the road. Her purple horn gleamed. The dandelion suddenly rose into the air, almost as if it were plucked from the ground by an invisible paw. It zoomed over to Glitter and tucked itself behind her fluffy white ear.

  “That was puptastic!” Glitter barked. “Bow wow, you’re getting really good at using your shifting magic already, Flash.”

  Flash grinned proudly, holding her snout high. “Thanks! It’s so much fun finally learning to use our powers, isn’t it?”

  The two pups lived on Puppypaw Island, a pawsome place filled with rolling meadows, winding dirt lanes, and golden beaches. Barking Bay, the town at the center of it all, was bright, bustling, and brimming with magic. That’s because the pups who lived there weren’t ordinary dogs at all. They were Cutiecorns! Each pup had a colorful unicorn horn on his or her head—and magical powers to go along with it.

  “Thanks for waiting,” came a voice from behind them. Twinkle, their blue-horned Beagle friend, joined Flash and Glitter at the end of the lane.

  “Twinkle!” Flash yipped, running circles around her pal. “Want me to use my magic to pick a dandelion for you?”

  Twinkle rolled her eyes, smiling. “I would love that, but I think we need to get going. We shouldn’t be late for school!”

  The three friends trotted along toward school, barking up a storm as they went. They paused at a little brick house along the way to pick up Sparkle, a Golden Retriever with a shimmering horn to match her fur.

  “What do you think we’re going to learn today?” she asked, falling into step next to Flash.

  “I don’t know!” Flash said, giving a little leap of excitement. “But whatever it is, I’m sure it will be ter-ruff-ic!”

  So far, Cutiecorn Academy was even more pawfect than Flash had dreamed it would be. The teachers and other pups were furbulous, and Flash had never imagined all the different kinds of magic they’d get to learn. It was a pup’s paradise!

  As the pups crested Howl Hill, they could suddenly see all of Barking Bay spread out below. Off to one side, the water stretched all the way to the horizon. Small boats were docked in the cove at the bottom of Howl Hill, and Flash could see her dad’s familiar blue boat tied to the dock. Cutiecorn Academy sat nestled in the hillside, gleaming white among the green grass and blooming flowers.

  “Race you!” Flash yapped, taking off before her friends could even bark. She heard them laugh as their paws thundered along behind her. She may have been small, but Flash was fast!

  Suddenly, she felt herself tumble snout over paws. She turned somersaults, finally rolling to a stop.

  “Flash, are you okay?” Glitter appeared at her side, a look of concern on her snout. Sparkle and Twinkle were right behind her.

  Flash grinned. “I’m fine—I must have just stumbled over my own four paws!”

  Sparkle stepped forward. “No, you didn’t.” She held up the end of a long daisy chain, woven together with little white flowers, grass, and …

  “Is that … seaweed?” Flash asked, poking the chain with her paw.

  “It sure is,” Sparkle said with a nod. “Strange! This chain was stretched across the hillside path.”

  Twinkle took a closer look. “It seems like someone was trying to trip up pups.”

  “What about the seaweed? Whoever made this chain must have come from down by the water,” Glitter noted thoughtfully.

  Flash got to her paws and wrapped the daisy chain into a neat loop. “Well, they got me, but let’s make sure no other pups become falling fur balls.” She set the chain off to one side of the path. “Before my ter-ruff-ic tumble, I believe we were racing!”

  Without another word, Flash took off as fast as her paws would carry her. She raced under the school archway with Glitter, Sparkle, and Twinkle right on her tail. They all tumbled into a heap on the grass in front of the building, panting and howling with laughter.

  They had barely caught their breath when a chime rang out. They had arrived just in time—school was starting! The four friends got to their paws and headed through the open doors to their classroom.

  “Good morning, Cutiecorns!” Mrs. Horne, the head of Cutiecorn Academy, stood at the front of the room. She clapped her paws for attention and grinned around at the pups. “I hope you’re all rested up and ready for your first magic lesson of the day, Feeling Your Magic!”

  Flash glanced over at Sparkle and winked. Sparkle was especially good at feeling magic. Every pup had different strengths, but it was important that they learn and practice all kinds of magical skills. Who knew when they would come in handy?

  “Now, a key part of feeling your magic is being able to feel it in all different situations,” Mrs. Horne explained. “Some pups can access their magic more easily when they’re scared, for example. Some can do it best when they’re relaxed, or surprised, or even sad. It’s my job to teach you to find it anytime, anywhere!”

  Flash thought about the first time she had really used her magic. She and her friends had faced off against a sinister cat named Claw, and Flash had been able to use her shifting magic to trap the cat so they could escape. She had been scared out of her fur!

  Mrs. Horne split the pups into small groups and had them practice finding their magic in different situations. One corner of the room was set up like a birthday party, with music, dancing, and snacks. Another was draped with fabric to make it dark and shadowy, with a chilly breeze and spooky sounds. A different area had cozy dog beds and a movie playing quietly on a small TV. As the pups settled into the different areas, it was easy to forget they were in class! Mrs. Horne visited each group and worked with them on locating their magic. Bow wow, what fun!

  It seemed like no time had passed when the chime rang out again. All twelve pups in the class groaned.

  Mrs. Horne laughed merrily. “I’m glad you all enjoyed today’s lesson so much! We’ll do more next time, pup’s honor. See you then!”

  As she walked back into the hall with her friends, Flash couldn’t help jumping up and doing a little flip. The day was off to a pawfect start!

  Flash was sure her day could only get better. After all, their next lesson was Shifting Magic—her specialty!

  “What do you think we’re going to move today?” Glitter asked, pushing open the classroom door.

  Flash thought for a minute. “I don’t know. Maybe more dandelions, or—”

  “Butterflies!” Twinkle interrupted.

  “Ooh, butterflies would be fun!” Flash said. “I hope you’re right, Twinkle.”

  Twinkle pointed a paw into the classroom. “I wasn’t guessing. Look!”

  As Flash stepped into the room, she could hardly believe her eyes. It was filled with a swarm of colorful butterflies! They fluttered about wildly, blurs of color zooming from one side of the room to the other. Grrrrreat!

  “What’s going on?” Sparkle barked as the rest of their classmates joined them in the doorway. Everyone jostled to get a better look at the butterflies.

  “Do you think it’s a test?” Flash asked excitedly. “Maybe we have to use our magic to capture all these butterflie
s!”

  “If that’s the case, our lesson is heading out the window,” Twinkle said.

  Glitter gasped. “Oh no!”

  Sure enough, the swarm of butterflies had found an open classroom window. Now they were looping and swooping out into the fresh air. Before the pups could even bark, every butterfly had darted through the window and out of sight.

  “Well, that was strange,” Sparkle said, walking into the now-empty classroom with her friends.

  Flash dashed over to the open window. “Come back, butterflies!” she barked out into the sunny courtyard. “We promise we won’t transform your wings into bat wings or anything—we’re not that good at magic yet!”

  Flash’s classmates all laughed, joining her at the window to see if they could glimpse any of the escaped butterflies. They were already gone, but Flash thought she could hear soft giggles coming from somewhere outside the window. Strange!

  “Hello, pups!” a voice called out. The pups spun around to see their teacher, Mr. Magictail, standing behind them. He was a big Chocolate Lab with a fiery red horn and a wide, friendly grin. “What’s so interesting out there?”

  Twinkle calmly explained, “When we got here, the room was filled with butterflies—”

  “But they escaped out the window and now they’re gone! Ruff luck, right?” Flash didn’t mean to interrupt her friend, but she just couldn’t stop herself from barking up.

  Mr. Magictail frowned, then trotted to the front of the room. A few large cages with mesh sides sat on his desk. The doors on all the cages were wide open. Woof!

  “I had planned to use those butterflies for our lesson today,” he explained to the class. “You all did such a ter-ruff-ic job shifting immobile objects last week, I thought we’d try shifting something that moves on its own—and not necessarily where you want it to go.”

  Flash couldn’t help bouncing on her paws a little. Flying fur balls, that sounded like fun!

  “What will we do now that the butterflies are gone?” asked Fuzz, a Collie with a green horn the color of fresh-cut grass.

  Mr. Magictail thought for a minute, then clapped his paws. “I guess we’ll just have to try something different.” He pulled a box of beads and string out of his desk. “Each of you can take a pawful of beads and a piece of string. Try using your magic to thread the beads onto the string.” He winked. “This is tricky, so don’t get discouraged if you can’t master it today. You can always just work on moving the beads from one spot to another.”

  The pups all barked excitedly as they collected their beads and string and moved to different areas of the room to practice.

  Flash dumped her beads into a pile and immediately began moving them through the air with her magic. She could feel her purple horn gleaming as the magic flowed through every piece of her fur. She concentrated hard on threading a bead onto her string. It took a few tries, but soon she got it—hot dog!

  Flash glanced over at Twinkle, who was using her magic to arrange beads in an orderly row by size and shape. She hadn’t put any on her string yet, but Flash was impressed with her friend’s skills. Just last week, Twinkle had trouble shifting anything at all!

  “Pawsome job, Twinkle,” she whispered with a grin.

  Twinkle smiled back. “Thanks! It’s hard work, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

  Flash sighed. “I hope we get to shift butterflies sometime soon. That sounded like a ter-ruff-ic lesson!”

  “Yeah, until someone ruined it by letting the butterflies out,” Twinkle said gruffly. “Barking bulldogs, who would have done something like that?”

  Flash thought about it, scratching her snout. Everyone at Cutiecorn Academy was there for the same reason—to learn to use magic. Who would have purposely spoiled their lesson? And why?

  “Bow wow!” Flash said, suddenly wiggling with excitement. “Between this and the daisy chain this morning, we have a bone-ified mystery on our paws!”

  The pups couldn’t stop barking about the great butterfly escape for the rest of the school day. The afternoon passed in a blur of chatter, laughter, and amazing magic lessons. There was so much to learn!

  As Flash and her friends headed out through the school gates, the sun was warm on their fur. Flash sighed happily.

  “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Glitter said, trotting alongside her friend. “The pawfect day for a milkshake.” She winked.

  Flash giggled. She had just been thinking that! Glitter was especially good at caring magic, so she could often tell what her puppy pals were thinking and feeling.

  “I have to visit the outdoor market anyway,” Flash said. “I told my mom I’d pick up a jar of peanut butter on the way home. My dad got home late last night, and he was so hungry from his trip that he had three peanut butter sandwiches!” Flash’s dad was an explorer, and he often sailed to far-flung islands to learn about other Cutiecorns and their customs. “Want to come, pups?”

  “Fur real, of course we do!” Sparkle said. “Now what’s this I heard about milkshakes?”

  Together, the four friends hurried down the rolling hillside into Barking Bay. The outdoor market was right in the center of town, and it was always filled with bright colors, fun music, and lots of Cutiecorns! Today was no different. As the pups set paw in the market, they hardly knew where to look first. There were booths with colorful striped awnings in every direction, selling food, toys, crafts, and anything else Flash and her friends could dream of.

  “First stop, milkshakes!” Glitter declared, heading for the Cutiecorn Confections booth. She turned to look at her friends over her shoulder. “My treat—I have some allowance that I’ve been saving for a sweet treat!”

  Before long, Flash, Glitter, Sparkle, and Twinkle were wandering from booth to booth, sipping their milkshakes happily. Flash bought a big jar of peanut butter, just like her mom had asked. As she heaved the bag up onto her shoulder, she groaned. “Doggone, this is heavier than a box of bones! How am I ever going to make it home?”

  “Don’t worry,” Twinkle said with a lopsided grin. “We can take turns carrying it.”

  They paused to watch a juggler in front of the fountain in Sniff and Ruff Square. Flash set the bag down next to her, rubbing her shoulder with one paw. She made a mental note to add juggling to the list of skills she wanted to learn. Maybe she could use her magic to move the balls through the air—paws-free juggling! Wouldn’t that be puptastic?

  “Ooh, can we try on some silly hats?” Sparkle asked, pointing a paw at a nearby booth. The other pups agreed (even though Twinkle rolled her eyes a little).

  But as her friends began walking toward the hat booth, Flash yelped in surprise. “Wait up, pups! My bag—it’s gone!”

  Sure enough, the bag wasn’t next to Flash, where she had set it down only minutes before. “It was right here! How could it have disappeared from under my snout?”

  Twinkle, Sparkle, and Glitter started sniffing around the market as Flash retraced her pawsteps. She remembered setting the bag down at the fountain, and she hadn’t moved a paw since then!

  A moment later, Twinkle barked, “I found it!” As the other pups rushed to her side, she pulled Flash’s bag out from behind a yellow bench.

  “But how did it get there?” Sparkle wondered aloud. “We never even walked by this bench.”

  Twinkle frowned. “You’re right! This doesn’t make any sense.”

  Flash bounced on her paws. “Thanks for tracking it down, Twinkle. Now, let’s not waste any more time—we have to get over to those silly hats!”

  The four friends raced to the hat booth, and soon they were howling with laughter. Glitter, wearing a motorcycle helmet with flames on the sides, plopped a frilly pink hat on Twinkle’s head. “Oh, it’s pawfect!” she cried, clapping her paws. Twinkle scowled, but even she had to laugh when she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

  Sparkle tried a tall, pointed princess hat with a flowing tulle train. Flash grabbed a shiny red firefighter’s helmet. “Who needs a Dalmat
ian when you could have Flash the Fire Pup?” she declared, giggling.

  Around and around they went, dropping hats on one another’s heads, until they’d tried every hat in the booth. As they hung the last few hats back on the rack, Glitter declared, “That was grrrreat!”

  The others barked in agreement, heading out of the booth. It was almost time to go home for dinner.

  “Wait!” Flash yipped. She looked around wildly. “My bag is gone again!”

  “Again?” Sparkle asked, joining her.

  Twinkle immediately put her snout to the ground. “Something fishy is going on here,” she said, sniffing around the booth.

  “You can say that again,” Flash barked. “What does someone want with your peanut butter, anyway?”

  “I don’t think they want your peanut butter,” Glitter said, trotting up. She had Flash’s bag in her paw! “If they do, they’re not doing a very good job of holding on to it.”

  Flash threw her paws around her friend. “Where did you find this?”

  Glitter nodded toward the next booth over, which sold fluffy pillows and cozy blankets. “It was sitting just inside that booth, tucked behind a pillow shaped like a dog bone.”

  “It seems like someone keeps hiding the bag from you, Flash,” Sparkle said thoughtfully. “Almost like a prank.”

  “But who would do that?” Flash asked. “And why?”

  Twinkle scratched her snout. “I don’t know—but we’re going to figure it out!”

  That night was Flash’s favorite night of the week—movie night on the beach! All the Cutiecorns of Puppypaw Island gathered at dusk to munch on pupcorn and watch a movie under the stars. Bow wow, it was the best!

  “Can we go now, Mom? Can we? Can we?” Flash barked, racing in circles around her mom in their backyard.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Flash’s mom said. “You run on ahead. Dad and I will meet you at the movie in a little bit, when he wakes up from his nap. He’s doggone tired out from his trip! Just bring a friend along with you. I’m sure Dash will be there soon, too.” Flash’s big brother was six years older, and he always kept an eye out for Flash and her friends.