Chapter Two
Sofia was excitedly looking forward to the visit with Trudy, and was telling Amber about it.
"You're going where?" asked Amber in a little shock.
"Trudy's! Zooey and Vivian are coming too. It should be fun!" answered Sofia.
"Sofia! You'll just take turns pushing her around in her wheelchair! That doesn't sound like much fun at all!"
"But nobody pushes her wheelchair around at Royal Prep!"
"Have you ever seen her arrive at Royal Prep? I bet the fairies have to use magic to get that heavy chair up the steps, and enchant the chair while it is on the school grounds."
"Wellllll..."
"You can go, if you like, Sofia. But I think your 'play date' is going to be a lot of work!" Amber finished and walked off to her room.
Sofia was beginning to have second thoughts about going. As the time to leave was closing in, Queen Miranda noticed that Sofia wasn't quite ready.
"Sofia? Aren't you supposed to be going over to Trudy's?"
"Well, yes. But I'm not sure I want to go now."
"Sofia! Remember when you had second thoughts about going over to Vivian's the first time? Once you gave Vivian a chance, she became a good friend didn't she?"
"Yes..."
"Then why not give Trudy a chance too. You may be surprised."
Sofia thought for a minute, and made up her mind.
"You're right Mom! I'm going to give Trudy a chance!"
"Then you best be going."
"Thanks Mom!" and Sofia began running to the waiting coach.
"Coachman, please take me to Princess Trudy's castle!"
"Right away, Princess!"
And Queen Miranda gave a contented smile as she waved good bye to her daughter.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sofia arrived at a castle very similar to her own. As she walked up the entrance path, Trudy came down a ramp to greet her.
"Welcome, Sofia! I am so glad you came! Most people say they'll come, but never do!" exclaimed Trudy, as they started up the ramp to the front door.
"Is that how you get into Royal Prep? By ramp?"
"No. Royal Prep doesn't have one, so I use a levitation spell."
"Wow! I am having so much trouble with that levitation spell!" exclaimed Sofia.
"Maybe I can help you with it, Sofia. It really has become second nature to me, since I use it so often. Oh, Sofia, will you excuse me for a moment? It looks like Zooey and Vivian are arriving!"
"Certainly."
Trudy used her levitation spell to get down to the two arriving coaches quickly, as it looked like it was about to start raining.
"Hi, Trudy!" exclaimed Vivian.
"Good to see you, Trudy!" exclaimed Zooey.
"Hi, Vivian, Zooey. Sofia is already here. Seeing it looks like rain, let me get you into the castle quickly." And with a flick of the wrist, Trudy levitated her friends and herself to the castle entryway, where Sofia was waiting.
"That was GREAT, Trudy! Was that a levitation spell?" asked Zooey.
"Yes, it was."
"Can you help me with it? I am having a lot of trouble learning it."
"Me, too," chimed in Vivian.
"Sure. Let's go get some wands and I'll show you how I do it." And the four princesses were off. But before they went too far, they were greeted by the castle's two black and white Great Danes. The visitors froze in their tracks.
But Trudy rolled next to the two of them, scratched their ears, and said " It's all right, Hercules, Ebony! These are my friends."
Then turning to her friends she said, "Oh, don't be afraid! As long as you are okay with a family member like me, you are okay with them. Just let them sniff you. They'll let you pet them."
Sofia was the first. She timidly approached the larger of the two, Hercules. He was a bit taller than she was, standing on all fours! She slowly extended her hand, and he sniffed it. He then let her scratch his chin, and then his ear. Sofia was loving it! "He's such a good boy!" she said as she gave him a belly rub.
Ebony went to Vivian and Zooey and the same thing happened! Before long, the visiting princesses were laughing and giving the large dogs belly rubs. Trudy was all smiles.
"We best be going, or they'll have you three rubbing their bellies all day!"
The princesses gave a good bye pat, and followed Trudy. Hercules and Ebony disappeared into the shadows.
The friends went to Trudy's room first.
"First, I'll help you all with that levitation spell. Then we can go to the music room, and follow that up with some painting and indoor archery," Trudy suggested.
"That sounds like a fun day!" exclaimed Sofia. The others agreed.
"But first," Trudy stated as she fetched some wands, "let's work on the levitation spell," she finished after handing each princess a wand.
"Why not show us how you do it, Trudy?" suggested Zooey, and seconded by the others.
"Alright."
Trudy then moved her wheelchair back a little, to provide some room.
"I start with my wand at about 10 degrees slant, then I confidently flick it to 90 degrees aiming at my target, and say 'Levitato'!"
And with that, Trudy's wheelchair was floating, and following her wand movement in the air! She then slowly lowered her wand, pointing to the floor, and landed her chair.
"Now one of you try it on those big pillows on the bed!"
Sofia tried first. She held her wand at a precise 10 degree angle, then slowly and deliberately lowered it to 90 degrees, saying, "Levitato!"
The pillows rumbled a bit, but did not levitate.
"Try flicking the wand a bit faster," suggested Trudy.
The next try for Sofia was a bit better, as the pillows momentarily rose, but then quickly dropped.
"Believe in yourself, Sofia! Magic is all about confidence!" encouraged Trudy.
On the next try, Sofia took a deep breath, flicked her wand at the pillows and exclaimed, "Levitato!" and low and behold the pillows were floating, following her wand! Sofia joyfully moved the pillows around the room and then gently landed them on the bed.
"I did it! I did it!" she exclaimed.
Trudy smiled.
With help and encouragement from Trudy, Zooey and Vivian also mastered the spell.
The princesses then went to the music room, and had an impromptu jam session, with Vivian on mandolin, Trudy on harmonium, Zooey on harp, and Sofia on drums. They played music until lunch time.
Trudy had a very nice lunch set up for her friends, and they talked happily about school, hair styles, fashion, favorite subjects, and favorite past times.
They then went to the Craft Room to paint.
"What shall we paint?" asked Vivian.
"I was hoping to paint outside, but that is out of the question with the rain. Any ideas for indoor subjects?" asked Trudy.
"How about Hercules and Ebony?" suggested Zooey, as it became clear that the three visiting princesses were awed by the two large pets. Trudy smiles.
"Fine with me. How about you, Sofia?"
"They'd be great subjects!" Sofia replied.
So saying, Trudy produced a small whistle, and used it.
"Is your whistle broken?" asked Sofia.
"No, it is a dog whistle. They can hear sounds at a higher pitch than we humans can."
And no sooner had Trudy got done speaking, both Hercules and Ebony were by her side. Trudy had the dogs just lay down, like they usually do, and the four princesses painted them.
"I can't wait to show my painting to my family," stated Sofia. The other friends agreed.
When all the friends were done painting, Trudy gave each dog a treat and they both went back into the castle.
"I know we only have an hour, or so left, so let's go to the indoor archery range," suggested Trudy.
But while they were on the way, Sofia and Vivian voiced some misgivings.
"I've never used a bow and arrow before, and I don't want to hurt anyone," lamented Vivian.
"Me neither," seconded Sofia.
"Don't worry. Zooey and I will be there and we'll help you both," assured Trudy. The two princesses gave a half hearted approval, but were still a bit concerned.
On arriving at the range, the friends could see that the targets were set up 25 meters away from the shooting line. Trudy and Zooey led the princesses over to the equipment table, so they could choose their bows and arrows.
After everyone had their bows and arrows, Zooey helped Vivian and Trudy helped Sofia on the proper way to hold the bow, load the arrow and shoot.
Vivian went first, and her arrow only went about 2 meters, "Ohhhhh!"
"That's alright, Vivian! Try again. remember to stand with your spine perpendicular to the ground, put an arc on the arrow, and pull the bowstring back farther," instructed Zooey.
Vivian's next shot was right at the base of the target. "A little more arc and a little farther back on the bowstring," encouraged Zooey. Her next shot hit the 3 point ring on the target.
"I HIT THE TARGET!" Vivian said with glee. The other friends applauded their approval.
"Okay, Sofia, your turn," said Trudy. "Remember everything Zooey told Vivian. and let it fly!"
Sofia did, and hit the 5 point ring on the target on her first pull.
"I hit the target too!" she exclaimed, to the applause of her friends.
Sofia and Vivian continued to shoot until their arms fatigued, which occurred quite quickly, seeing that they had never done this before. Now Zooey and Trudy would shoot.
"As guest, you shoot first, Zooey," said Trudy. Zooey thanked Trudy and shot three arrows. She hit the 7 point, 8 point, and 7 point circles.
"Nicely done!" exclaimed Trudy. Vivian and Sofia also applauded Zooey's marksmanship.
"Okay, Trudy, your turn!" exclaimed Zooey. Trudy also shot 3 arrows. She hit the 9 point, 8 point and 8 point circles.
"WOW!" exclaimed Zooey.
"That's fantastic!" added Vivian.
"You're as good a shot as Zooey," stated Sofia.
"Thanks, ladies. I usually spend an hour or so a day either here or at the outdoor range. I really like archery!" said Trudy.
"It's too bad Royal Prep doesn't have an archery team. Zooey and you would make a formidable entry!" exclaimed Sofia. Vivian agreed.
But it was now time for the three princesses to return home. The rain thankfully had stopped. Each princess had their paintings with them and thanked Trudy for a wonderful day. As they all flew off, they were happy to have made another good friend, and Trudy was happy to have some friends as well.