Purrmaids #1 Read online

  The Scaredy Cat

  The Catfish Club

  Seasick Sea Horse

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2017 by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

  Cover art copyright © 2017 by Andrew Farley

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2017 by Vivien Wu

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  PURRMAIDS ® is a registered trademark of KIKIDOODLE LLC and is used under license from KIKIDOODLE LLC.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 9781524701611 (trade) — ISBN 9781524701628 (lib. bdg.) ebook ISBN 9781524701635

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

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  Contents

  Cover

  Other Titles

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Excerpt from Purrmaids #2: The Catfish Club

  To Rachel, who always helps me create beautiful things from interesting combinations

  It was a paw-sitively beautiful morning in Kittentail Cove. Coral was very excited. After waiting all summer, it was finally the first day of sea school!

  Coral carefully brushed her orange fur. She chose a sparkly headband to wear. Then she snapped a bracelet on her paw. It was her favorite because of the golden seashell charm. It matched the ones Angel and Shelly had.

  Angel, Shelly, and Coral had been friends fur-ever. They met when they were tiny kittens. On the outside, they looked very different. They often had different ideas about what to do, where to go, and how much trouble they should get into. But somehow their differences made them purr-fect partners. Coral couldn’t imagine being without Angel and Shelly. In fact, one of her favorite things about school was that she got to be with her best friends all day.

  Coral grabbed her bag and went to the door. “Bye, Papa! Bye, Mama!” she called. “See you later!”

  “Good luck, Coral,” Papa answered. “Don’t forget that you, Angel, and Shelly are coming here after school.”

  “I know, Papa,” Coral replied. With a wave goodbye, she swam off. She was meeting Angel and Shelly in Leondra’s Square, under the statue of Leondra, the founder of Kittentail Cove.

  Purrmaids lived in every part of every ocean. They had towns in coves, reefs, and anywhere else that was beautiful and peaceful. Kittentail Cove was the best purrmaid town in the world! At least, Coral thought so.

  “I hope Angel and Shelly are there already!” Coral purred. Shelly was usually on time, but Angel often ran late. The sooner they met up, the sooner they’d get to school to meet their new teacher. Coral was excited to see who it would be.

  Besides, the first day of school was a terrible time to be late!

  As she swam toward the statue, Coral saw Shelly. Even from far away, Shelly looked lovely. Every strand of her white fur was purr-fectly in place. She had a small starfish clip near her ear, and the golden seashell charm on her bracelet glittered.

  “Shelly!” Coral called. “Have you seen Angel?”

  Shelly looked up and waved to Coral. She started to say, “No, I haven’t—”

  “I’m right here!” someone shouted.

  It was Angel! Coral spun around to face her friend.

  Like Coral and Shelly, Angel was dressed up for the first day of school. She was wearing a necklace of red starfish. The red looked beautiful against her black-and-white fur. And just like her best friends, Angel wore her golden seashell bracelet.

  “What are you two waiting for?” Angel asked as she swam past her friends. “We have to swim to school!”

  Coral bit back a smile. “You were late—and now you’re telling us to hurry?”

  Shelly laughed. “We’d better catch up. We don’t want to miss the bell!”

  When the girls arrived at sea school, Angel groaned. “Coral! We’re early! No one else is even here yet!”

  Coral giggled. “It’s better to be early than late.”

  “But I could have slept longer!” Angel whined.

  Shelly patted Angel’s paw. “Since we’re here, let’s find our classroom,” she suggested.

  Angel scowled for a moment. But then she nodded. “Room Sea-Seven, right?” she asked.

  “No, silly.” Coral laughed. “That was our classroom last year!”

  “We’re in Eel-Twelve this year,” Shelly added.

  They made their way toward Eel-Twelve. There was a purrmaid inside the classroom when they arrived. She didn’t look like most of the purrmaids in town. Her long fur was dyed every color of the rainbow. She wore three earrings on her left ear and four on her right. Even her tail was decorated with shiny rings!

  “Is that our teacher?” Angel whispered.

  “I think so,” Coral answered.

  “I’ve never seen a teacher who looks like that,” Shelly said. “She’s so cool!”

  “Let’s go meet her!” Angel suggested.

  The girls swam into the classroom. The colorful purrmaid had her back to the door, but she spun around as the girls entered. “I thought I heard some curious little kittens,” she said. “You’re here early. You must love school!”

  “We do!” said all three friends at once.

  Their teacher grinned. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m Ms. Harbor, and today is my first day, too.”

  “I’m Coral,” said Coral, “and these are my friends, Angel and Shelly.”

  “It’s lovely to meet you all,” Ms. Har-bor purred.

  The bell rang, so the purrmaids swam to their clamshell seats. Ms. Harbor welcomed more students into the classroom. Then she swam to her giant scallop-shell teacher’s chair. “Let’s begin, class!” she said.

  There was so much to do on the first day of school that Coral lost track of time. She was surprised when Ms. Harbor announced, “Our first day is almost over, but I have some homework for you tonight.”

  All the students groaned. “Homework!” Angel said. “Already?”

  Ms. Harbor held her paws up for silence. “This homework isn’t hard, I purr-omise. In fact, you might enjoy it.” She floated to the middle of the classroom. “I want to tell you something about me. I love curiosity! Curious purrmaids are not afraid to learn. That’s how you find the most interesting things in the ocean!”

  Coral nodded. She loved exploring the ocean, too—as long as the exploring part wasn’t too scary.

  “I am very excited to be your teacher this year,” Ms. Harbor continued. “We are going to have a fin-tastic time learning from each other and making waves in Kittentail Cove! To start our year, I’d like each of you to bring something special to class tomorrow.”

  “What d
o you mean by ‘special’?” Angel asked.

  “It can be anything you want!” Ms. Harbor laughed. “Your favorite shell, a beautiful pearl, a pet sea horse. Whatever will show me how you see life’s beauty. Help me learn about you!”

  Coral always felt like she had to swim twice as fast to keep up with Angel and Shelly. But on the way home from school, it was a lot harder than usual. Angel zipped through the streets toward Coral’s house so quickly that even Shelly fell behind.

  “Slow down, Angel!” Shelly shouted. But Angel didn’t stop.

  “Don’t even try,” Coral said. “Angel is excited about something. And when she’s excited, nothing makes her slow down!”

  “What do you think is going on?” Shelly asked.

  Coral shrugged. “I don’t know. But I bet it has to do with our homework.”

  Angel didn’t wait for Coral to finish hugging Mama before she asked a question. “What are you two going to do about the homework assignment?”

  “Hello to you, too, Angel,” Mama said.

  Angel mumbled, “Hello, Mrs. Marsh.”

  Mama smiled. “The first day of school must have gone really well if you are this excited about homework!”

  “It did!” the friends answered at the same time.

  “I’m glad,” Mama said. “Have fun doing your homework.”

  Coral kissed Mama’s cheek. Then she waved for her friends to follow her to her bedroom. “This is what I’m going to bring,” she announced. She held up a pink pointy turret shell. “This one is my favorite.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Shelly cooed.

  “How about you?” Coral asked.

  Shelly scratched her head. “I’m not sure. Maybe my red sea-glass necklace?”

  Coral grinned. “I’ve never seen anyone else with sea glass that color. I think that would be purr-fect!”

  Angel frowned. “We can’t just bring in seashells and sea glass!” she moaned. “We need something better!”

  Coral and Shelly looked at each other. “Like what, Angel?” Coral asked.

  “I don’t know. But it has to be really different and special,” Angel replied.

  “What if we look around Leondra’s Square today?” Shelly suggested. “We could each find something new.”

  “That’s a great idea!” Coral agreed.

  “No, it’s not!” Angel cried. “Remember what Ms. Harbor said about curiosity? And about finding the most interesting things in the ocean?”

  Her friends nodded.

  “We aren’t going to find anything amazing in Leondra’s Square!” Angel continued. “We want things that the other purrmaids won’t be able to find. We have to look somewhere no one else will think to look.”

  “But where are we supposed to go?” Shelly asked.

  “I don’t know,” Angel replied.

  “Let’s have a snack,” Coral said, “and we can think about it.”

  The girls swam into the kitchen. Mama had set out some of Coral’s favorite sushi to share with her best friends. They floated around the counter and popped the sushi into their mouths with their paws.

  “Don’t let Mama see us,” Coral said between bites. “She likes us to eat at the table.”

  Angel rolled her eyes. “Coral,” she moaned.

  “I’m sorry!” Coral sighed. “I don’t like breaking the rules!”

  Shelly and Angel laughed. They already knew that about their friend. Coral was definitely the most careful one in their group. Angel, on the other paw, wasn’t much like her name at all. She loved to bend the rules. Shelly liked adventure, too—but not if it meant getting her paws dirty, and only when she didn’t have to break too many rules.

  Angel popped another piece of sushi into her mouth. Then her face lit up. “I have an idea!” she cried. “If we head out to the edges of Kittentail Cove, there will be lots to discover. We can search Tortoiseshell Reef for something to bring to school!”

  Coral gulped. Kittentail Cove was a big place, and Tortoiseshell Reef was as far away from home as they could go. Angel’s plans were always exciting, but they were also complicated—and sometimes dangerous. From the way Angel was grinning, Coral knew that this plan would be no different.

  “Maybe we should think about this some more,” Coral began. “I mean…it might not be safe to go so far. There could be strong currents! And it’s really close to where barracudas and giant squids and sharks hang out!”

  “We’ll stay away from the sharks, silly!” Angel answered. “You’re paw-some at avoiding danger, right?”

  Shelly agreed with Angel. But Coral shook her head and said, “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “Okay! Okay!” Angel huffed. “If you don’t want to try, we’ll do something else.”

  Coral clenched her paws. “I do want to try!” she yowled. “I’m just afraid of what could happen. Haven’t you ever been scared, Angel?”

  Shelly swam between Coral and Angel. “You two shouldn’t fight. We’re best friends!” She turned to Angel and said, “It is a really great idea to search away from the center of Kittentail Cove. I bet Ms. Harbor would be really impressed by that. But Coral has a good point, too. Maybe we should think about this some more.”

  Shelly smiled, but Coral could see that she really wanted to go along with Angel’s plan.

  Then Angel said, “Well, if Coral’s too much of a scaredy cat—”

  “No! I can do this,” Coral interrupted. She pictured Tortoiseshell Reef. She didn’t know what was out there. But she was going to be brave, no matter how scary it was!

  “Are you sure?” Shelly asked.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Coral replied.

  “Good,” Angel said, “because meow is the time.”

  Ms. Harbor expected them to bring in something interesting tomorrow. Angel was right—it was meow or never.

  “I’ll race you to Tortoiseshell Reef!” Coral shouted. “Last one there is a rotten skeg!”

  Coral zipped through the water. Angel and Shelly followed on her tail. In just a few minutes, they had passed Leondra’s Square and were zooming toward Cove Council Hall. At first, Coral was purring with excitement. But the farther she got from home, the more butterfly fish fluttered in her tummy. What if something bad happened? What if there was a cat-tastrophe?

  She tried to stop worrying. I need to have a paw-sitive attitude, she thought. We’re doing our homework. And then we’re going straight home!

  As they reached Cove Council Hall, they saw Angel’s mother, Mrs. Shore, speaking to Mayor Rivers. “Mommy!” Angel cried. She darted toward her mother to give her a hug. But she was going so fast that she spun Mrs. Shore around three times!

  “Angel!” Mrs. Shore yelped. “Slow down!”

  Mayor Rivers chuckled as he helped Mrs. Shore find her balance. “Angel, you’ve grown so big!” he said.

  “And look at you two!” Mrs. Shore said to Coral and Shelly. She took their paws and gave them a squeeze. “How was the first day of school?”

  “Purr-fect!” Coral replied. Angel and Shelly nodded in agreement.

  “Our new teacher is Ms. Harbor,” Shelly said.

  “And she gave us a cool homework assignment!” Angel added. “We’re supposed to bring something really special to class tomorrow.”

  “Is that why you’re swimming so fast?” Mayor Rivers asked. “We have speed limits in this town, you know!”

  Angel, Shelly, and Coral grinned. “We’re going to Tortoiseshell Reef to see what interesting things we can find,” Shelly said.

  Mayor Rivers smiled. “I remember spending hours exploring Tortoiseshell Reef as a youth! If the reef is like it used to be, you will have lots of luck.”

  The girls giggled. Coral knew what her friends were thinking. Mayor Rivers was so old. Back in his youth, the reef must have been just a few elkhorns and sea fans!

  “You know,” Mrs. Shore said, “usually the most special things are the ones we hold close to our hearts.”

  “Does that mean we shouldn�
�t go to Tortoiseshell Reef?” Coral asked.

  “But, Mommy,” Angel whined, “none of us have anything that is truly special at home! We have to go to Tortoiseshell Reef to search!” She clasped her paws and begged. “Please?”

  “Just remember not to stay out too late,” Mrs. Shore said. “It gets dark quicker at the edges of the cove. And the South Canary Current can get crowded in the evening.” She pointed to the tall clock tower that topped Cove Council Hall. “You should all be home before dinner.”

  The South Canary Current flowed right past the entrance of Kittentail Cove. Most sea creatures used the current systems to get around the ocean quickly. When her parents took Coral to visit her cousins in other purrmaid towns, they used the South Canary Current. But Coral had forgotten that the current ran along the border of Tortoiseshell Reef.

  “We’ll be careful, Mrs. Shore,” Shelly said.

  “And we’ll be back by dinnertime,” Angel said.

  “Good,” Mrs. Shore replied. “I don’t want you to run into any trouble on your adventure.”

  Coral gulped. That’s what she was afraid of, too! But there was no way she was going to say so. She didn’t want to be called a scaredy cat again.

  “We won’t, Mommy!” Angel agreed.

  The three purrmaids swam off. Soon they arrived at Tortoiseshell Reef. They gazed around at the beautiful scenery.

  “Don’t you just love it here?” Shelly whispered.

  Coral nodded. There were houses all over Kittentail Cove. Most purrmaids lived near Leondra’s Square like Coral, Shelly, and Angel. Some lived farther out, especially the pearl farmers. There were many offices and restaurants near Cove Council Hall. Coral’s father worked in one of those offices. So did Angel’s mother. Shelly’s parents had a restaurant there, too. But no one was allowed to build on Tortoiseshell Reef. The purrmaids of Kittentail Cove set it aside as a place to enjoy the ocean’s natural beauty.