First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2020

Published in this ebook edition in 2020

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Text copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020

Illustrations copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020

Cover design copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020

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Source ISBN: 9780008343040

Ebook Edition © October 2020 ISBN: 9780008343057

Version: 2020-09-09

To Jenny down the stair,

with love

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Keep Reading …

About the Author

About the Publisher

‘Absolutely not!’ King Lupo banged the milk jug down on the breakfast table, and frowned. ‘My daughter, Princess Lottie Luna, going camping? Sleeping in a tent? Cooking food outside in the open? No, no, NO! That is NOT suitable. Not at all!’

Lottie gulped. She and all her friends at Shadow Academy had been looking forward to the school trip for weeks. She couldn’t be the only one left behind! What would she do? The idea of sitting all by herself in an empty classroom for three whole days made her feel terrible.

‘But Pa … Ma said I could go! Everyone in my class is going! We’ve got loads and loads of things planned – we’re going on a hike to look at rocks, and we’re going to collect wildflowers, and we’re going to—’

‘I told you, Lottie!’ King Lupo’s eyebrows bristled. ‘It’s not suitable. A princess must always be dignified!’

‘Yeah. Dead right.’ Lottie’s big brother, Boris, took his elbows off the table and sat up straight. ‘You’ve got be more royal, Lottie. Like me.’

Lottie ignored him, and turned to her mother. ‘Ma! Tell Pa I’ve got to be allowed to go! PLEASE!’

Queen Mila sighed. ‘Your father worries an awful lot about royal behaviour, Lottie.’

‘That’s right.’ The king began to butter his toast. ‘A king should always be kingly, and a princess should always be – erm – princessy!’

A cunning thought made Lottie try a different approach. ‘But, Pa – don’t you think I ought to learn to be dignified in every situation? I mean … isn’t it good to learn to be princessy even on a hike?’

‘That’s a very sensible point, dear.’ The queen looked at the king. ‘I did tell Lottie that she could go, Lupo. It’ll be a whole new experience for her. After all, you’ve never had the opportunity to be kingly in a tent. You shouldn’t take the chance away from Lottie!’

The king paused over his toast, and Lottie held her breath. Would he change his mind? At last he said, ‘You might be right, Mila. Lottie – I have decided you should go!’

‘Oh, dearest, lovely, gorgeous Pa!’ Lottie flung her arms round her father and hugged him. ‘Thank you so, SO much!’

The king beamed at her. ‘Just remember, though – you’re to be a princess at all times!’

‘Oh, I will, Pa – I will!’ Lottie promised. ‘And I’ll tell you all about it when I get back, but now I’m going to pack!’ And she bounced out of the breakfast room.

As Lottie hurried along the dusty passage towards her room, she was humming to herself. Jaws, her pet bat, was flying above her head, and her moonstone necklace was shining brightly.

She’s happy now, Jaws told himself, and he looped a celebratory loop.

It was easy to tell how Lottie was feeling: her necklace changed according to her mood. If she was happy, it shone brightly, but if she was bored, it was grey, and if she was sad or worried it was so dull it looked like a pebble.

The necklace had been given to her on the night she was born; not only had the moon been full, but there had been a lunar eclipse as well and, as a result, Lottie was a unique little werewolf with very special powers. She had extraordinary eyesight, could run like the wind, was far stronger than her older brother – and her hearing was at least three times more acute than that of her friends.

Lottie kept very quiet about her special powers, however, especially at school. She desperately wanted to be the same as everyone else – and she never, ever told anyone she was a princess. Only her two best friends, Wilf and Marjory, knew … and they were sworn to secrecy.

‘What else do I need, Jaws?’ Lottie stared at the backpack on her bed. ‘I’ve got loads of woolly jumpers, pyjamas, my washbag, toothbrush and toothpaste … oh, and a sleeping bag.’

Jaws flew a quick circle, dipped down and pointed a wing at something on the floor. Lottie looked round. ‘Oh, YES! My walking boots! Thanks, Jaws.’ She stuffed them on top of her pyjamas, and swung the backpack over her shoulder. ‘Ooof! It’s heavy! But at least I’ve got everything … I hope.’

She glanced at the clock on the wall, and gasped. ‘Oh, no! I’m going to be late! And Mr Sprinter said he wouldn’t wait for anyone! That’s the trouble with teachers – they always want you to be on time!’

Dashing out of her bedroom, Lottie hurtled down the corridor and burst into the breakfast room. ‘Bye, dearest Pa! Bye, lovely Ma! Bye, Boris! I’ll see you in three days’ time!’ Catching sight of her father’s expression, she hastily added, ‘And yes! I’ll be INCREDIBLY dignified and princessy!’

And then she was out of the door and running as fast as she could, Jaws squeaking encouragement above her head.

Lottie was only just in time. Wilf and Marjory were standing outside the school bus, arguing with Mr Sprinter, when Lottie came tearing towards them. They both cheered loudly.

‘Sorry, Mr Sprinter,’ Lottie panted. ‘I’m really sorry!’

‘You’re very lucky you have such good friends, Lottie.’ Mr Sprinter sounded cross. ‘If they hadn’t refused to get on the bus without you, we’d have left five minutes ago. Now hurry up and take your seats! We can’t delay any longer.’

Lottie gave Wilf and Marjory a grateful smile as the three of them climbed on board. ‘Thank you very, very much,’ she said. ‘Pa tried to stop me coming … it was awful!’

Agatha Claws, a tall girl with a long nose, sniffed. ‘MY father always supports me whatever I do. He’s bought me lots of boxes so I can bring interesting specimens home to study, and I’ve got a magnifying glass and three new notebooks.’

Wilf nudged Lottie as the bus roared away down the road. ‘Aggie’s got twice as much luggage as any of us,’ he whispered. ‘Mr Sprinter nearly had a fit!’

Lottie tried not to giggle, but she wasn’t entirely successful, and Aggie gave her a suspicious look. ‘Are you laughing at me?’

‘Of course not, Aggie.’ Lottie tried to look nonchalant.

‘I’m sure a magnifying glass will be really useful,’ Marjory said quickly. ‘Can we borrow it sometimes?’

Aggie gave a superior smile. ‘I’ll have to see. It cost a lot of money.’

Larry, one of the younger cubs, had been listening. ‘I’m going to have some money soon! I got a wobbly tooth, and my mum says that when it comes out the fang fairy will take it away and give me a silver coin!’

The twins, Tod and Dubby, were sitting beside Larry, and they nudged each other and began to sing.

‘Larry’s got a wobbly tooth, A wobbly tooth,

A wobbly tooth.

Larry’s got a wobbly tooth –

A wobbly-gobbly, toothy-woothy tooth!’

‘That’s exciting,’ Lottie said, and she smiled at Larry. ‘The fang fairy used to give me money too. Don’t forget to put your tooth under your pillow so she can find it!’

‘A wobbly tooth?’ Mr Sprinter turned round and beamed at the little werewolf. ‘That’s exciting! Is it your first one?’

‘Yes!’ Larry bounced up and down in his seat. ‘I never had a tooth come out before!’

‘Then we’ll have to celebrate,’ Mr Sprinter said. ‘We’ll have a special party for you … a Tooth Party!’

Larry was thrilled. ‘It’s EVER so wobbly! I’m sure it’s going to pop out ever so soon!’

Aggie gave a dismissive sniff. ‘What a silly fuss! I didn’t have a party when my first tooth came out. I thought it was much too babyish!’

Tod and Dubby sniggered. ‘Larry is a baby, a baby, a baby—’

‘Hush!’ Lottie said. ‘I think a Tooth Party’s a great idea. I had one when I was little, and so did my brother.’

Larry suddenly looked anxious. ‘The fairy will be able to find me while I’m away at camp, won’t she?’

‘Of course she will,’ Lottie told him. ‘The fang fairy finds everyone everywhere.’

‘That’s right.’ Marjory nodded. ‘One of my teeth came out when I was staying with my auntie, and the fairy still came, even though I was miles away from home.’

‘Huh!’ Aggie snorted, and Lottie noticed there was a mean look in her eyes. ‘Don’t you know there’ll be a different kind of fang fairy where we’re going, Larry? The fairies in the country are much fiercer than the ones where we live!’

‘Are they?’ Larry looked anxious again, and Wilf frowned at Aggie.

‘They’re all the same,’ he said firmly. ‘Now, why don’t we sing a song? What about, “We’re all going on a jolly howlyday”?’

That made Larry laugh, and he, Tod and Dubby, and all the other little werewolves sang happily as the bus trundled over the hills and deep into the Greater Growling Woods. Lottie, Marjory and Wilf sang along too; only Aggie didn’t join in. She sat and stared out of the window until they arrived at the clearing where a group of tents was surrounded by tall, whispering pine trees. As soon as the bus stopped, she leaped to her feet and was the first one out, using her elbows to push her way past the younger werewolves.

Wilf rolled his eyes. ‘Bet she’s gone to bag the best tent,’ he said, and he was right. When Lottie and Marjory went to look, they found Aggie had arranged her piles of luggage in the tent nearest the campfire … and there was no room inside for anyone else.

‘It’s meant to be three to a tent, Aggie,’ Mr Sprinter told her. ‘I thought you could share with Lottie and Marjory.’

Aggie fluttered her eyelashes. ‘Dear Mr Sprinter! Please let me be on my own! I want to make sure that I get plenty of sleep, so I’m all ready to help you – and Lottie and Marjory are sure to keep me awake with their chatting. Besides, Lottie’s got her pet bat with her, and he’ll flutter about all night.’ She put her head on one side, and gave him a sickly-sweet smile. ‘You can use all the specimen boxes that Daddy gave me.’

Mr Sprinter hesitated, and Wilf stepped forward. ‘I can share with Lottie and Marjory. At least … as long as they don’t mind?’

‘I don’t mind at all,’ Marjory said, and Lottie grinned at him.

‘Just as long as you don’t snore!’

‘Thank you, Wilf.’ Mr Sprinter sounded relieved. ‘Very well, Aggie. The tent is yours, and yours alone. Now let’s get that campfire built!’

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