Lily, Flower of the Sea

By Claudia A. Kukol

The Mysteries of the Sea

ArrowHeart Mansion is a haven for magical toys such as Lily, one of three misplaced dolls. On the morning of a seemingly ordinary day, Lily discovers a priceless treasure hidden in the secret room of the mansion. The precious find—a silver pearl—captures and lures her within a hypnotic trance. Her mind spinning deliriously, Lily’s tossed into an unexpected realm of enchantment and danger. She’s whisked beneath the sea and there’s no going back. Trapped, she bravely pursues her adventure head on, exploring the vast, mysterious waters.

Lily befriends the Royal Family of the water kingdom—"merepeople"—sharing their joys and tribulations. She’s introduced to a fabulous life beneath the sea and a host of incredible creatures. There are, to mention a few: three gruesome sharks, ranking high in command; an unspeakable monster; a princess and an aristocrat involved in a fishy love affair; a distraught oyster...

Ah, but there’s much more to this mystery of Lily’s startling excursion into the sea! Join Lily as she is challenged with an overwhelming decision between right and wrong. But, will she ever be able to return home to ArrowHeart Mansion?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Claudia A. Kukol
• Release date: Feb 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9780997275018

Claudia A. Kukol

Claudia Kukol is a native of northeastern Pennsylvania, living smack dab in the heart of the Black Diamond anthracite coal region. Her passion is reading and she believes in magic—that is, the magical allure of books. Books are her doorways to anywhere, anytime, abounding with knowledge and adventure and laced with splendid characters past, present and fictional. The Author’s ArrowHeart Mansion Series, book series for children, is available at Amazon and Smashwords. You may contact the Author at [e-mail].

Book preview

Introduction

L ily, Flower of the Sea launches ArrowHeart Mansion , a fantasy book series for children. ArrowHeart Mansion is a haven for magical toys such as Lily, one of three misplaced dolls. On the morning of a seemingly ordinary day, Lily accidentally discovers a priceless treasure hidden in the secret room of the mansion. The precious find lures and captures her within a hypnotic trance. Her mind spinning deliriously, Lily’s tossed into an unexpected realm of enchantment and danger. Amazingly, Lily is whisked beneath the sea, and there’s no going back. Lily’s trapped. Bravely, she pursues her adventure head on, exploring the vast, mysterious waters.

Lily befriends the Royal Family of the water kingdom, and shares their joys and tribulations. She’s introduced to a fabulous life beneath the sea and a host of incredible creatures. There are, to mention a few: three gruesome sharks, ranking high in command; an unspeakable monster; a princess and an aristocrat involved in a fishy love affair; a distraught oyster…

Ah, but there’s much more to this mystery of Lily’s startling excursion into the sea! Join Lily as she learns life lessons and is challenged with an overwhelming decision between right and wrong. But, will she ever be able to return home to ArrowHeart Mansion?

Chapter 1

The Enchantment

I nside the dusty, timeworn antique shop, the storekeeper frequently tossed the three dolls here and there among the other relics to make room for more merchandise…more old stuff, heirlooms, rare artifacts, ancient objects of art, collectibles, and an abundance of other worthless items. The trio of dolls often found themselves draped with cobwebs or buried under mountains of debris. Their story began long ago on a deceptively ordinary day—a day that would change their future forever.

A strange mixture of happenings is about to occur. The old shopkeeper gathers the three dolls and moves them to the rear workroom of the store. There he murmurs mystical chants and whispers magic. You know, Abracadabra, Ali Kasam, Hocus Pocus, and all that. He fervently continues his many strange incantations. Nearly finished, the shopkeeper leans forward and sprinkles stardust over the three dolls that lay in the odd black box. He then closes the lid. Taking a step back, he waits for his entreaty to be answered and the spell of enchantment conveyed.

All the while, an elderly couple paces anxiously in the front room of the store. Today, no other customers visit Ye Olde Treasure Shoppe. They rarely do. The two hope the old man will return from his workroom soon. It is taking him longer than usual. The wealthy ArrowHearts, consistent patrons, routinely pay excessive prices for the charmed toys they desire.

The shopkeeper finally reappears, carrying the three dolls. He carefully lays the dolls on the table to be boxed.

Huh, finally, snips the elderly woman. It took you long enough.

Calmly, he responds, Madam, these things take time. We are not dealing with just one novelty today. There are three. What I do is a lost art. I doubt very much that you would be able to locate anyone else with the ability to do the same. Oh, sure, they’d accept your money and promise you the moon and the stars, but the end result would be that you would have been duped and you would have made a worthless purchase.

Awkwardly juggling the three large boxes, the elderly couple leaves the store without another word. The overhead bell jingles and the door thumps shut behind them. The shopkeeper faintly calls out, See you soon. He snickers, pleased with the huge sum of money he has just received. But, he’s also relieved that the couple has left and that his work has been completed satisfactorily. He feels certain they will return in the future and he will once again be called upon to dabble in the world of enchantment. He’s never really sure of the end result. Mistakes are possible—mistakes that may carry consequences.

Two servants hurry out to meet the ArrowHearts as their vehicle comes to a halt in front of the mansion’s main portico. Mrs. ArrowHeart instructs the servants to retrieve the three boxes from the trunk, place them in the toy room suites, and remove the lid from each box.

The hall clock chimes ten and then eleven. As the midnight hour nears, the ArrowHearts enter the toy room to check on the dolls. The moon scatters light everywhere. All three boxes are clearly visible, situated side by side on the floor in the center of the room. Each doll is lying motionless in its box. The couple understands that they are asleep in a trance, and in the morning, things will be different, very different. Quietly shutting the door behind them, they ascend to the third level of the mansion and their bedroom suite for the night.

The early morning sunlight filters through the windows of the toy rooms. Lily is the first of the three dolls to stir from the dazed slumber cast upon them. Her reddish-gold hair flows abundantly beyond her waist. Sitting up, Lily manages to smooth her clothes and remedy her messy hair, re-pinning it into an upsweep. She is astonished as she looks around at her new surroundings, and then leans over into the box alongside hers to look closely at the doll inside.

She whispers softly, Timmy, are you awake?

Timmy’s eyes flip open. He immediately arranges his gold-rimmed glasses that are slightly askew. I woke up a while ago and decided to lie still a bit longer. I feel groggy and have a headache. After drawing himself forward, Timmy climbs out of his bed box and helps Lily do likewise. Lily, let’s try to rouse Gizelle from her sleep as gently as we can without upsetting her. You know how touchy she can be. We don’t want to toss her into one of her huffs this early in the day. No doubt, she’ll be feeling a bit queasy and she’ll probably be irritable.

In a soft, sing-song fashion, Lily begins the arduous task of waking Gizelle. Gizelle, Gizelle, it’s time to get up. Gizelle, you’re going to be surprised—we’re not where we usually are. Gizelle, please, please wake up. We may be in trouble—a fix—a pickle, pickle, pickle. Gizelle rustles.

Go away. I want to sleep longer. It’ll be less time that I’ll have to spend awake in these dusty old ruins. Timmy and Lily look at each other. Gizelle looks at them both, and then realizes what Lily had said. What do you mean ‘we’re not where we usually are’?

That’s the surprise, says Timmy anxiously. I’m not sure what’s happened or how we came to be inside this beautiful place.

Oh, all right, if I must get up, grumbles Gizelle. She sits up and glances around. "Oh