Two- Treat test

AN: Characters are from the stories of Jolly Roger Brat.

A new day had begun in the kingdom of Orillia. Queen Patricia, who was also the Buttercup Scout troop leader, was preparing for the annual scout party at the local elementary school. Her daughter Sandra, who was wearing her Buttercup Scout Aide vest, was helping to load the coach.

"I've got the decorations for the party, Mom," Sandra said as she came out with a box of decorations. "All we need is that plate of cookies. I know there aren't that many on it, but we didn't expect that cold bug to take out half the Buttercups."

"That's all right, Sandra; none of us knew so many girls would be sick today," Patricia smiled. Sandra was always making treats for the Buttercups, and since there weren't that many girls today due to a summer cold going around, she didn't have to spend the day in the kitchen. "But we don't have room for the last plate of treats."

"I can take it, Mommy. I know where the school is," Zoe volunteered as she helped her sister put the box in the coach.

"If you're sure you can do this, Zoe," Patricia looked doubtful.

"Mom, she'll be fine. You sent me off on my first solo Buttercup challenge when I was her age, and I did all right," Sandra assured her.

"That's true," Patricia agreed, recalling how Sandra had to help someone in the village who needed her help. Patricia had been so proud when she saw Sandra helping the village baker make treats for a party, and she had even give her an extra cake as a reward.

"I can do it!" Zoe promised.

"All right, Zoe, you can bring the rest of the treats," Patricia gave in.

"We'll see you there, Zoe, and don't worry; you'll be great," Sandra assured her as she and Patricia left.

Zoe smiled. She was proud to do something like this by herself, and at least it wasn't too far to the village, so she could go on foot, rather than take another coach or ride her horse Cloud. She was just going out the castle gate when she saw a dog chasing a cat that looked like Sandra's cat Ambre, but younger. She remembered that Spike had chased Ambre when he first came to the castle, but since she didn't know either animal this time, she decided to try something different.

"Hey!" Zoe shouted. "Leave that kitty alone!" The dog looked up at her. Before she knew what she was doing, Zoe grabbed a cookie off the plate and threw it hard at the dog, who eagerly caught it in his mouth.

"Thank you!" the cat purred as she disappeared, probably into her house. Zoe smiled; she and Sandra had necklaces and amulets that let them understand and talk to animals.

"Any time!" Zoe called back.

Zoe quickly walked away as the dog was eating. She was a little sad that she had to throw one of the cookies to a dog like that, but she didn't want the kitten to get hurt. "It's going to be fine," she mused, "So the Buttercups have one less cookie for snack time. I'll just tell Mommy and Sandra about this and they'll understand."

Zoe had gone a few more feet when she heard two birds on the ground. They weren't just tweeting; Zoe heard them talking about food.

"I'm so hungry!" one bird sighed.

"I need something to eat!" the second bird added.

"I can help you," Zoe smiled as she crumbled up two cookies. "There you go. Eat some of that."

"Thank you!" the first bird tweeted.

"I feel so much better!" the second bird chirped.

"You're welcome!" Zoe smiled, but it faded a little. "So I have two cookies left. I'll just explain everything when I get to the troop," she said as the birds pecked the cookies and she went on her way.

After a short walk, Zoe arrived in the village. She was just about to go into the elementary school where the Buttercups were holding their meeting when she heard someone crying. She followed the sound and saw one of her village friends in front of her house.

"Katie?" Zoe recognized the seven-year-old daughter of the village butcher, who was going to join the Buttercups in a few weeks on her eighth birthday. She came closer and saw that the little girl was in tears. "What happened?"

"Peter's friends came over today," Katie sniffled. "They invited him to go with them into the village. He always invites me, but this time he didn't! When I asked why, he said he didn't want to hang around with a baby!" Katie finished her story and continued to cry.

Zoe's heart went out to her. Katie was one of the sweetest girls in the village. She didn't deserve to be treated like that, especially when her eleven-year-old brother was always so nice. But she remembered that Peter sometimes liked doing things with his friends rather than his sister, and if he was working on a project with them, he might not want to be distracted by her silly songs. "Here," she smiled, handing her a cookie from the plate. She made sure that it had extra sugar on it, since Katie liked lots of sugar on her cookies. "I know it's not much, but it's a start. And I'll come play with you later, if it's okay with my mommy."

"I'll ask my mommy too. Thank you, Zoe!" Katie called.

"You're welcome," Zoe smiled. However, when her friend was gone, Zoe looked at the plate, which now had only one cookie left. She bit her lip, remembering everything that had happened.

Zoe sighed as she entered the elementary school. It was over. There was only one cookie left for the Buttercups, her mommy, and her sister. As Zoe was wondering what she should do, she saw Sandra approach. She greeted her, then saw the single cookie on the plate.

"An almost empty plate, and you're the only Buttercup I'm seeing so far. Zoe, what happened to the cookies I gave you? You had a whole plate that was for the troop meeting," Sandra asked. "I'm not mad, but what happened between the castle and here? You didn't eat them all, did you?"

"No, I didn't eat them, but you're right; except for this one, they're all gone," Zoe whispered, and she proceeded to tell her sister everything.

"Hungry birds, a distraction for a dog, and a treat for your friend," Sandra repeated, "You did the right thing when you gave the cookies away like that."

"How could it be the right thing? I only have one left! I didn't mean to give the cookies away, Sandra!" Zoe repeated what she'd said before.

"Zoe, it's going to be all right," Sandra assured her. "You gave away the cookies for a good reason, and now I'm going to help you."

"How?" Zoe asked. "There's no time to go back and make more!"

"True, but we're going to use one of the Buttercups' most commonly used tricks to help you," Sandra replied. "We're going to improvise."

"How do we do that?" Zoe asked.

"Like this," Sandra replied. Since she had brought her wand with her so she could entertain the girls as they ate, she brought it out, motioning for Zoe to do the same with her training wand, which Zoe had brought with her so she could also learn tricks. "Zoe, aim your wand at the cookie and repeat after me: Engorgio!"

Zoe looked doubtful, but she aimed her wand at the cookie and recited, "Engorgio!"

"Good job," Sandra smiled as the cookie grew larger. When she felt that it was big enough, she aimed her wand at it. "Stoppicus! And this, Zoe, will be your replacement treat: Buttercup Gingerbread Cookie Cake!"

Suddenly, they heard someone approach them. "Well done, Princess Sandra! Excellent work, Princess Zoe!"

"Miss Flora," Sandra acknowledged the red-clad fairy who was walking out with her mother.

"I'm so proud of both of you!" Queen Patricia smiled.

"As am I," Miss Flora smiled. "You both passed your Princess Tests with flying colors!"

"Wait a minute. I was sick on the day you gave the Princess Test," Sandra looked puzzled. "Sofia told me all about how Miss Fauna disguised herself as Mrs. Higgins and she helped her with the books."

"That's true, dear, but sometimes we fairies give Prince or Princess Tests outside of school," Miss Flora agreed, and aimed her wand in the direction of Orillia Castle. "We sometimes randomly select a student or two, and give them a test to see what kind of lessons they learned. You both passed your test on helping others. You'll find your trophies in your rooms when you return home today."

"And I couldn't be prouder of you," Patricia smiled, pinning a badge for helping others on Zoe's vest, and a badge for magical tutoring on Sandra's.

"Like I said, Zoe, you did great!" Sandra agreed.

"Thank you, Sandra!" Zoe smiled.

"Any time," Sandra said as she led her inside. "Now, shall we get this party started?"

"Yeah!" Zoe cheered. "There's lots of treats now!"

Sandra nodded as she followed them inside. "And this little test was, dare I say it, a piece of cake!"