Purrfect Pranksters Read online

  “Really?” Flash yipped, clapping her paws. “Furbulous—thanks, Mom!” Without another word, she zipped around to the front yard and down the street.

  Within minutes, Flash had gathered Sparkle, Twinkle, and Glitter from their houses. It was time to hit the beach!

  “What movie do you think is playing tonight?” Sparkle asked as the four friends trotted down the winding path to the sand.

  “Ooh, I hope it’s that new one with Cruise McWoof,” Twinkle said. “I’ve heard that it’s action-packed!”

  Flash sighed happily, setting paw on the warm, soft sand. “I don’t even care what movie it is. I just love sitting with my bucket of pupcorn, watching a movie under the stars with my best friends.”

  Twinkle nudged her and smiled. “But I still hope it’s the Cruise McWoof one,” she said. All four pups giggled.

  As they made their way down the beach, they could see that the outdoor movie theater up ahead was deserted.

  “I guess we are pretty early,” Flash said sheepishly.

  Sparkle pointed a paw. “Why don’t we go to the playground over there for a bit? We can run around until other pups start to show up.”

  “Ter-ruff-ic idea, Sparkle!” Glitter said. “I’ll just put my blanket down near the movie screen to save our spot.”

  Barking happily, Flash, Glitter, Sparkle, and Twinkle headed into the roped-off movie area—and stopped in their tracks.

  “What happened here?” Twinkle said, frowning.

  The large area in front of the movie screen was usually filled with soft sand, perfect for sitting or lying on. But today, large water-filled holes dotted the space! Towering sandcastles decorated with rocks and shells stood between the holes, which meant there was hardly anywhere to sit. What a muttley mess!

  Flash walked around carefully, surveying the scene. Flying fur balls! Who would have done something like this to their theater?

  “It’s a good thing we got here early,” Glitter said. “Now we have time to clean this up before the movie starts!”

  Flash couldn’t help smiling at her friend. Glitter always managed to find the best in every situation.

  Without another woof, the four friends got their tails in gear. It was pawsomely hard work, but soon the theater area was mostly back to normal, aside from some soggy sand.

  Twinkle flopped down. “I’m one beat Beagle!” she said.

  “Me too,” Sparkle agreed, sitting next to her. “Well, except for the Beagle part,” she said, laughing.

  “Guess what, pups!” Flash barked. “The movie is starting!”

  Twinkle, Sparkle, and Glitter jumped to their paws and settled into a spot in front of the screen. Flash circled them, giggling. “Hot diggity dog, Twinkle—look! It is the Cruise McWoof movie!”

  The next morning, Flash climbed out of bed and stretched her paws high over her head. Woof, she had really needed that sleep after such a crazy day! Luckily, it was Saturday, so she’d been able to sleep in. Paws down, that was the best thing about the weekend!

  Flash grabbed her fuzzy robe, pulled it on, and shuffled out to the kitchen. Her dad was cooking sizzling bacon on the stove, Dash was chowing down on a huge plate of food, and her mom was drinking from a mug of tea.

  “Bow wow, that bacon smells delicious!” Flash cried, giving her dad a hug.

  “Help yourself,” her dad said with a smile. “Are you feeling better after a good long sleep?”

  Flash piled some scrambled eggs and bacon on a plate. “Definitely!” she barked. “Yesterday was just such a strange day, it made me dog-tired.”

  “I don’t understand who would have piled sand and water all over the outdoor movie theater,” her mom said. “It was kind of you and your friends to clean it up, though. I’m proud of you!”

  Flash blushed. “Thanks. But I didn’t even get to tell you about the other weird things that happened!” She was feeling more awake now, and the eggs and bacon were giving her energy. She began talking, faster and faster.

  “So first, I tripped over this daisy chain on the way to school. It was made out of flowers, but also seaweed. Weird, right? Then we walked into class and it was swarming with butterflies. They were fluttering all over the room like some sort of crazy, colorful tornado. Pup’s honor! And after school, we went to the market, and my bag kept disappearing. I’d put it down for a minute, go to pick it up, and it would be gone! We always found it nearby, but in someplace I hadn’t even set paw in. It was puptastically creepy!” She finally paused to take a breath and shovel some more food into her mouth.

  Her dad looked thoughtful. He was used to listening to Flash bark on and on, so Flash wasn’t worried that he’d missed any of the details.

  “That is awfully strange,” Flash’s dad said after a minute.

  “Do you think someone is playing pranks on you?” Dash asked.

  Flash shrugged. “Maybe, but the butterflies and the movie theater affected lots of pups, not just me. Whoever did those things could have gotten in a lot of trouble if they’d been caught!”

  Flash’s mom nodded slowly. “That’s true. Do you think there’s anyone who—”

  But she didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence before they heard someone barking at the door.

  “Flash! Flash! Come quick! You won’t believe it!”

  Flash ran to the door and flung it open. Twinkle stood just outside, panting. Her eyes were wide.

  Before Flash could even ask what was going on, Twinkle said, “You have to see what’s happening in town. Come on!” She turned on her paws and raced back to the road.

  Flash looked at her mom, her dad, and Dash. Then all four of them bolted after Twinkle, leaving their bathrobes behind. What in the world could she be barking about? What strange thing could have happened this time?

  As the five of them ran down the dirt road into town, more and more pups seemed to be barking up a storm. Cutiecorns of all ages came out of their houses to see what the fuss was about. Soon, the different roads to Barking Bay were filled with curious pups!

  As they rounded the corner into the square, she finally saw what everyone was barking about.

  The large fountain in the center of the square was filled with bright purple water! But worse, it was also filled with bubbles, which poured out of the fountain and onto the street. Purple bubbles oozed everywhere!

  Cutiecorns appeared from streets in every direction, barking in confusion at the sight. The bubbles began to fill the square, so no pup could get close enough to the fountain to stop it. Bow wow!

  “What a mess!” Flash said, taking in the scene.

  “I know,” Twinkle barked, nodding grimly. “Whoever is pulling these pranks has put a paw over the line with this one.”

  “What’s happening, pups?” a familiar voice rang out. Sparkle trotted up, with Glitter right on her tail.

  “Who turned Sniff and Ruff Square into a giant bubble bath?” Glitter asked in disbelief.

  Flash shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine,” she said. “But someone is trying to cause tons of trouble!”

  The pups watched as Flash’s parents and some other adult Cutiecorns put their snouts together and came up with a plan. Before long, they were positioned all around the square, using their magic to stop the fountain and pop the bubbles.

  “Wow,” Flash breathed, peering around at the glowing horns of different colors. She’d never seen so much magic all at once before!

  Sure enough, the purple fountain stopped flowing. With no new bubbles forming, the Cutiecorns were able to use their magic to clean up the bubbles that had filled the square. Soon, all that was left was a slimy purple film over the cobblestones. That wasn’t something magic could fix—the pups would have to put their paws to work and get scrubbing!

  Mrs. Handysnout, who owned the hardware store on the square, brought out piles of buckets, brushes, and sponges. Flash and her friends picked up a bucket, filled it with water from a nearby hose, and grabbed four sponges. It was time to get their tails in
gear! Around the square, pups of all ages were doing the same. This was one of the things the Cutiecorns loved about living on Puppypaw Island. They could always count on one another, no matter what.

  “We’ll have this place cleaned up in no time,” Flash cheered, scrubbing away at some purple goo. “It’ll be shinier than Sparkle’s fur!”

  Sparkle laughed. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, Flash. My fur is awfully shiny!”

  The four friends chatted as they worked, and soon they’d cleared one big patch of cobblestones and moved on to another. Suddenly, Flash felt a funny shiver run through her fur. That was strange! The sun was high in the sky, and the square was warm in the golden light.

  Flash glanced around. Wait—what was that? Something darted into the shadows behind the Pupcorn Parlor.

  “You guys,” Flash said quietly, pointing a paw. “I just saw something over there … and it didn’t look like a pup.”

  Glitter’s eyes grew wide. “What do you think it was, Flash?”

  “Oh, this is like Claw all over again,” Sparkle said, slapping a paw over her eyes.

  Flash thought about how Claw had stolen Sparkle’s precious locket, and how the pups had tracked her down to reclaim it.

  “Do you think she could be back?” Twinkle asked, looking at Flash closely.

  Flash shook her head. “No, this thing was smaller. But it didn’t move like a pup.” She suddenly dropped her sponge. “Let’s follow it!”

  Twinkle groaned. “This really IS like Claw all over again,” she grumbled, but she put her sponge down and trotted behind Flash, Sparkle, and Glitter toward the Pupcorn Parlor.

  As they got closer, Flash stopped and put a paw to her mouth. “Nice and slow now,” she said quietly.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard Flash suggest moving slowly,” Twinkle whispered with a wink.

  Together, the four pups stuck close to the yellow walls of the building, sneaking down one side and peeking around the back.

  “I don’t see anything,” Sparkle said, disappointed.

  Flash and Twinkle hung their snouts. What ruff luck!

  But Glitter smiled. “We don’t need to see,” she said. “We just need to follow our magic!”

  Of course! Why hadn’t Flash thought of that? She threw her paws around Glitter. “You’re a genius! What a barking good idea!”

  All four friends stood side by side, concentrating hard. After a moment, the alley behind the Pupcorn Parlor filled with a warm, colorful light. Their horns had all begun to glow!

  Sparkle was best at feeling magic, and she suddenly clapped her paws. “This way!” she called, running ahead.

  As Flash fell into pawstep behind her friend, something caught her eye. “Look! Purple drips!” Sure enough, the cobblestones were splattered with drips of the same purple goo that filled Sniff and Ruff Square.

  Now that they had their magic and the purple drips to follow, Flash and her friends were unstoppable! They dashed through a series of back alleyways, using both their eyes and their magic to lead the way.

  Suddenly, Sparkle skidded to a halt, throwing out a paw to stop her friends from going any farther. Flash’s nose told her they were somewhere near the alley behind the Pawfect Slice pizza shop, but she’d never been back there before. Up ahead, the alley opened into a little courtyard between a bunch of different buildings.

  Sparkle pointed a paw, her eyes wide open in surprise. There was something in the courtyard!

  Together, the four pups tiptoed to the end of the alley. As they poked their snouts around the corner, what they saw almost made Flash bark out loud:

  Kittens!

  Flash couldn’t believe her eyes. She looked at her friends in disbelief.

  “Four fuzzy little kittens have been behind all this trouble?” she whispered. “That can’t be!”

  Glitter nodded. “Look at their paws.”

  As Flash looked more closely, she could see that the four kittens were all different colors, but they had one thing in common—their paws were purple!

  “Caught purple-pawed,” she muttered.

  The pups watched as the kittens frolicked around the courtyard, jumping and tumbling. The orange one climbed up on a brick wall, then pounced on the unsuspecting black-and-white one down below. They rolled ears over paws, giggling and batting at one another. Flash recognized those giggles from the classroom! These kittens didn’t seem to have a care in the world! How could they have made so much mischief?

  “Uh, guys?” Twinkle whispered suddenly. “Did you notice something else about the kittens?”

  Flash looked again, and gasped. “They have horns!” she yelped. Sure enough, each kitten had a small, colorful horn between its ears. Flash clapped a paw over her mouth. These kittens were Cutiecorns?

  “I knew there were other kinds of Cutiecorns outside of Puppypaw Island, but I never thought I’d see them in the fur!” Sparkle said, awestruck.

  Flash nodded in agreement. They’d always been taught that any type of animal could be a Cutiecorn—kittens, rabbits, hedgehogs, even birds or dolphins! But Puppypaw Island was so remote, seeing other kinds of Cutiecorns there was rare. Flash’s dad had told her puploads of stories about his travels, though. As an explorer, he had visited all sorts of distant places and met all different kinds of Cutiecorns. It sounded ter-ruff-ically exciting! Now a little of that excitement had appeared here, on Puppypaw Island—and Flash and her friends were the first to discover it!

  “So these aren’t ordinary kittens,” Twinkle added, keeping her eyes glued to the fur balls in the courtyard.

  Just then, the gray kitten crouched down, as if to pounce. She wiggled … she paused … and then she took a flying leap all the way across the courtyard!

  “Barking bulldogs!” Flash yipped. “That was some leap!”

  “You’re telling me,” Glitter said quietly. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide. “Look at that one!”

  The calico cat was walking lightly across the courtyard. Without warning, her paws lifted off the ground and she began floating through the air! She tumbled this way and that, laughing and mewing. She knocked into a flowerpot, and it crashed to the ground and shattered. She floated the other way, recklessly, until she bounced against the side of a building. “I’m flyinggggg!” she cried, turning a somersault in the air.

  The pieces were beginning to click into place in Flash’s mind. When she turned to look at her friends, she could see that they understood, too.

  She pointed a paw at the mischievous kittens. “So these kittens are Cutiecorns, which means …”

  “They have magical powers,” Sparkle finished.

  Twinkle frowned. “But they don’t seem to know how to use them properly. Their magic is totally out of control.”

  “This is kitten chaos!” Flash yipped, bouncing on her paws. The kittens may have been out of control, but they were also puptastically exciting! What wacky thing would they do next?

  Glitter drew her friends into a huddle. “We need to put our snouts together, pups. If someone doesn’t stop these kittens, things could get really crazy!”

  “Aww, can’t we let them stay awhile? Maybe we can all be friends!” Flash barked.

  “Their families are probably worried sick,” Glitter said. “Plus, it could be dangerous for us and for them if they can’t control their magic.”

  Flash glanced back into the courtyard, where the orange kitten was racing around in circles at super-speed. “I can’t stopppppp!” she cried, giggling.

  “Should we go find a grown-up?” Sparkle asked.

  All four pups paused, thinking hard.

  “Let’s try solving this problem ourselves first,” Flash suggested. “Now that we know what we’re looking for, these kittens are easy to find. They leave a trail of destruction wherever they go!”

  Her friends nodded. “We’ll have to be quick on our paws,” Twinkle said. “We need a plan, and we need one fast.”

  Flash grinned. “Luckily, being fast is one of my specialties!
” she said with a wink.

  Flash, Glitter, Twinkle, and Sparkle ducked into the nearby Cuté Café and piled around a table. The café was a favorite spot for pups of all ages, full of cozy cushions, stacks of books, and colorful framed maps. Stepping inside always felt like starting off on some far-flung adventure!

  Glitter grabbed lemonade and blueberry muffins for everyone. All the excitement of the morning had made them doggone hungry!

  “I do my best thinking on a full stomach,” Flash said around a mouthful of muffin.

  “You do everything on a full stomach,” Twinkle said with a laugh. It was true—Flash had a reputation for being a tiny pup with a dog-sized appetite!

  “So we need to stop the kittens before they destroy Barking Bay with their magic,” Sparkle recapped. “But how?”

  Glitter said softly, “We should send them back to wherever they came from. They’re just little kittens. I’ll bet their parents are terribly worried about them!”

  “I don’t think they’ll go without a fight,” Twinkle barked. “They seem like they’re having too much fun here!”

  Flash clapped her paws. “That’s why we have to set a trap!” she cried. Some pups at nearby tables looked over at them curiously. “Oops, sorry,” Flash whispered, lowering her voice and giving a friendly wave. She just couldn’t help getting excited when she had a ter-ruff-ic idea!

  “That’s a good idea, Flash,” Glitter said. “What kind of—”

  Glitter stopped short. Flash had gotten to her paws and was now racing around the room, stopping every few feet to study the walls.

  “Aha!” she barked, running back to join her friends and barking fast. “I knew I’d seen it somewhere. There’s a map over there for Whisker Key, an island where Cutiecorn cats live. I’d bet my tail that’s where the kittens came from!”