by Bentley, Sue
To Marmite—our coal-black girlie with attitude.
GROSSET & DUNLAP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China
penguin.com
A Penguin Random House Company
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
Text copyright © 2007, 2014 Sue Bentley. Illustrations copyright © 2007 Angela Swan. Cover illustration copyright © 2007 Andrew Farley. All rights reserved. First printed in Great Britain in 2007 by Penguin Books Ltd. First published in the United States in 2014 by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-0-698-17175-6
Version_1
Contents
Dedication
Copyright
Title Page
*Prologue*
Chapter *ONE*
Chapter *TWO*
Chapter *THREE*
Chapter *FOUr *
Chapter *FIVE*
Chapter *SIX*
Chapter *SEVEN*
Chapter *EIGHT*
Chapter *NINE*
*About the Author *
* Prologue *
As a terrifying roar rang out, the young white lion froze. He should have known it was dangerous to come back home. He needed to find a safe hiding place.
Flame’s thick white fur ignited with sparks, and there was a bright white flash. Where he had stood now crouched a tiny, long-haired, jet-black kitten. Above him an enormous menacing shape was outlined against the orange, pink, and red of the evening sky.
“Uncle Ebony!” Flame gasped.
Trembling with fear, he edged backward and crawled into a deep crack in a rock out of sight of his uncle.
There was a thud and a deep, rumbling growl as a heavy animal landed close to where the black kitten was hiding. Flame’s tiny heart missed a beat. This was it! He was about to be dragged from his hiding place and taken prisoner—or worse.
Flame shrank against the cold stone, making himself as small as possible. As a shadow fell over the rocks, he bit back a soft whine of fear.
“Prince Flame? Do not be afraid. I will protect you,” a voice softly growled, and a kindly face with a scarred gray muzzle peered into the deep crack.
“Cirrus. I am glad to see you again!” Flame crawled out toward the old lion.
“But I do not think that even you can protect me from my uncle. He will do anything to keep the throne he stole from me.”
Cirrus reached out a huge paw that was as big as Flame was now and drew the tiny kitten’s body close. “The Lion Throne is rightfully yours, Prince Flame. One day you will take it back and free this land from evil.”
Flame’s bright emerald eyes flashed. “Let that day be now! I will face Ebony and fight him.”
Cirrus narrowed his eyes and gave a fond smile that showed worn yellow teeth. “Bravely said. But first you must grow strong and wise. Go from here. Use this disguise and hide in the other world. Return when the time is right.”
Suddenly another deafening roar rang out, and there came the sound of ironhard claws scrabbling over rock. “Come out, Flame, and let us finish this!” Ebony roared.
“Go now, Prince,” Cirrus urged. “Save yourself. Go . . .”
Flame’s long silky black fur began to glow with sparks. He whined softly as he felt the power building inside him and felt himself falling. Falling . . .
Chapter
* ONE *
Rosie Swales hummed to herself as she put food and clean water in her gerbils’ cage. “I love weekends. Yay! No school!” she sang out.
“I thought you really liked school,” said Jade, lying on her tummy on Rosie’s fake-fur rug. Jade lived next door and was Rosie’s best friend.
“I do. But I love spending time with my animals even more!” Rosie replied, grinning. She had a huge attic bedroom, with a deep alcove. Shelves held various cages and glass tanks, and underneath them there was a large open-fronted wire pen for Daisy, Rosie’s pet rabbit.
Rosie went to another cage. “Here you are, girls, have a peanut. Yum, yum. Is that tasty?”
Jade pulled a face. “Duh! As if those dumb rats are going to answer you!”
“Hey! You’ll hurt Midge’s and Podge’s feelings! Besides, everyone knows that rats are very intelligent,” Rosie said indignantly.
“Says you!” Jade scoffed. She opened a magazine and began flipping the pages. “You’ve got more animals in here than a pet store!”
“I know!” Rosie said, grinning. “If I’m going to work with animals when I grow up, I have to know all about them, don’t I?”
She had started off with two pet rats and a hamster. Then she’d adopted Daisy the rabbit and some gerbils. Then some stick bugs and a tank of fish had needed a home. And just recently, two parakeets had ended up staying with her after their owner had to move away.
Jade rolled her eyes. “I swear that you like animals better than people.”
“Maybe I do like them better than some people!” Rosie’s eyes twinkled with mischief. She leaped on Jade and started tickling her.
Jade squealed with laughter and tried to squirm away. “Stop it! Get off!” she begged.
“Wimp!” Rosie crowed, wiggling her fingers into her best friend’s ribs.
Gasping for breath, Jade managed to roll free. She sat up and tucked her dark brown hair behind her ears. “I’d better go now,” she said when she’d stopped laughing. “I told Mom I wouldn’t stay too long. Do you want to come with me? I’ve got a great new game we can play.”
Rosie felt really tempted, but then she remembered that she had lots of things to do. “No, I’d better not,” she decided reluctantly. “I have to clean out my fish tank and pick some leaves for the stick bugs, and I really should clean Daisy’s pen—”
“Whatever!” Jade interrupted. She did a pretend yawn.
“Sorry!” Rosie said, hoping that Jade wasn’t too disappointed. “I’ll come over as soon as I’ve done all my pet chores.”
“See you the day after tomorrow then. Too bad I don’t have a fur coat and a long tail!” Jade said.
Rosie bit her lip, not sure what to say.
“I’m joking, silly!” Jade rolled up her magazine and swatted Rosie playfully on the shoulder. “Are you walking me to the door or what?”
“Of course I am!” Rosie jumped up and then linked arms with Jade as they went downstairs. At the front door, she stood and waved as Jade went through the front gate. “See you!”
“Later!” Jade called back over her shoulder.
As Rosie came back into the hall, her mom popped her head around the kitchen door. “Could you come in here a minute, dear? Your dad and I have something to tell you.”
“Okay,” Rosie said, going to sit next to her dad, who was at the table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. “What is it, Dad?”
Mr. Swales looked up and smiled. “Good news. We j
ust found the perfect house to move to.”
“You’re going to love it, too,” Mrs. Swales said, spooning hot-chocolate mix into two mugs. She finished making the drinks and handed one to Rosie as she came and sat at the table.
“Thanks.” Rosie took a sip of her hot chocolate, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her tummy at the thought of moving.
Mr. Swales reached across to ruffle his daughter’s short brown hair. “You do understand that we can’t afford to live in this big house anymore, don’t you?” he said gently.
Rosie stared into her cup and nodded miserably. “It’s because you had to change jobs. Where’s this new house? Is it far away? Will I have to change schools and make new friends and—”
“Hold your horses!” her dad said, smiling. “It’s just across town, on Milton Street. So you’ll be able to go to the same school and see all your friends.”
“Really?” Rosie leaped up and did a triumphant little dance around the kitchen. “That’s great! I was dreading moving away, but everything’s going to be all right now!”
Mr. and Mrs. Swales exchanged worried glances.
Rosie stopped jumping around. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s just one problem,” her dad said. “The rooms in the new house are a lot smaller than here, especially the bedrooms. So I’m afraid there’s not going to be any room for the pets.”
“Oh.” Rosie thought about this. “I’ll miss having them all so close to me, but it won’t be so bad if they have to live downstairs,” she said.
“I don’t think you understand, honey,” her mom said calmly. “We’re not going to have any room at all for all those cages and pens. Your dad and I have thought hard about this, and we’ve decided that you can keep Daisy, but you’ll have to find new homes for all your other pets.”
Rosie was stunned. She stared at her parents in disbelief. “You can’t mean it!”
“I’m sorry, but there’s no way around this,” her dad said, looking uncomfortable.
“Rosie. You’re going to have to try to be very grown-up about this. We all have to make sacrifices,” her mom said gently.
A hot, hard feeling rose in Rosie’s chest. “Well, I don’t see why my pets should make any sacrifices. It’s not their fault that we have to move!” She ran out of the kitchen, tears pricking her eyes.
“Rosie, wait!” her dad called.
As Rosie hurtled up the stairs two at a time, her mom’s voice floated out after her. “She just needs time to get used to the idea—”
“I won’t ever, ever get used to it! Not in a hundred million years!” Rosie said through gritted teeth as she went into her bedroom, slammed the door, and flung herself facedown onto her bed.
Chapter
* TWO *
“It’s not fair! Why does this have to happen to me?” Rosie said miserably. She sat up against her pillows, stroking Daisy’s long velvety ears. The rabbit was bigger than most fully grown cats and very beautiful, with soft gray fur and big brown eyes.
There was a scuffling noise from the rats’ cage, where they were playing with a cardboard tube. Rosie felt a pang as she watched them playing happily. “Don’t worry, you two. There’s no way I’m going to let anyone take you away from me. And the same goes for the rest of you guys!” she promised, looking sadly at her other pets.
Leaving Daisy snuggled up on the quilt, Rosie got up and went over to the fish tank. She removed the cover and then used a tiny net to scoop out fish droppings and any uneaten food. It didn’t take long, and the tank was soon spick-and-span.
“Oh!” Rosie gasped.
She froze with disbelief.
There was something thrashing around in the tank. Rosie crept forward slowly, put her face close to the glass, and saw that it was a tiny, long-haired, black kitten! Its paws were skidding on the tank’s smooth glass sides as it struggled to keep its head above water.
“Oh my goodness. You’ll drown in there!” She quickly reached in, grasped the kitten, and hauled it to safety.
Rosie held the soaked little form against her chest. The kitten’s heart was beating fast against her hand as it coughed and spit water.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now,” she crooned. Grabbing a clean T-shirt that was lying on a chair, she wrapped it around the shivering kitten and gently began patting it. “I’ll get you warm and dry.”
“Thank you. I am feeling much better already,” a tiny voice mewed.
Rosie’s head shot up and she looked around the room in surprise. “Who’s there? Who said that?”
Rosie felt a little paw tap at her chest. “I did.”
She gazed down at the kitten in complete amazement. “D-did you just answer me?”
“Yes, I did,” the kitten said, beginning to purr faintly. “I am very grateful to you for rescuing me from that dangerous water trap. My name is Prince Flame. What is yours?”
“It’s . . . it’s just a normal fish tank,” Rosie stammered, still hardly able to believe this was happening.
The kitten blinked up at her inquisitively with the brightest emerald eyes Rosie had ever seen, and she realized that she hadn’t answered his question.
“I’m Rosie Swales. Where did you come from? Did you say that you’re Prince Flame?” The questions tumbled out of her.
“I come from a land far away. It is dangerous for me there. I need to hide here,” Flame mewed.
“Is someone after you?” Rosie asked, feeling an instant rush of protectiveness.
Flame’s bright eyes flashed with anger as he nodded. “My uncle Ebony. He has stolen the Lion Throne from me and rules in my place.”
Rosie tried to take all this in. Flame’s wet fur was sticking out around his cute pointed face like a spiky black halo. With his huge green eyes and triangular black nose, he was the most gorgeous kitten she had ever seen. “Aren’t you a little small to be the ruler of a kingdom?” she asked gently.
“I will show you!” Flame squirmed and tried to wriggle out of the T-shirt.
Rosie quickly bent down so that he wouldn’t have far to jump to the floor. Her eyes widened as she saw big glowing sparks begin to appear in Flame’s long black fur. He bounded across the big room, and there was a bright, dazzling flash.
Rosie shielded her eyes, blinded for a second. She blinked hard, and when she could see again, she saw that the tiny kitten was gone, and standing in its place was a magnificent young white lion.
“Flame? Is that you?” Rosie gasped nervously, eyeing the long teeth and sharp claws.
“Yes, Rosie. It is me. Do not be afraid,” Flame answered in a deep velvety growl.
Before Rosie could get used to seeing the majestic young white lion, there was another bright flash, and Flame reappeared as a tiny, long-haired, coal-black kitten.
“Wow! I believe you about the Lion Throne now. That’s an amazing disguise,” Rosie said.
Flame began to tremble slightly. “It will not save me if my uncle’s spies capture me. Will you help me to hide, Rosie?”
“Of course I will!” Rosie went over and bent down to stroke Flame’s soft little ears. “You can live here with—” She stopped suddenly as she remembered that she was supposed to be finding new homes for her pets. “Oh. There’s no way in the world that Mom and Dad are going to let me have another pet now,” she said sadly.
Flame bowed his head. “I understand. Thank you for your kindness, Rosie. I will move on.”
Tiny points of silver light began to glitter in Flame’s long black fur, and his tiny form started to fade. Rosie felt a warm tingling sensation down her spine. It wasn’t unpleasant, just a little strange.
“Don’t go!” she burst out. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe I could hide you or something!” She couldn’t bear to think of Flame wandering around all alone and helpless. Besides, she already felt fond of the adorable little kitten.
The sparks in Flame’s black fur died away. “I would like to stay with you very much, Rosie,” he mewed happily. “I will use my magic, so that only you will see and hear me when other humans are around.”
“You can do that? That’s amazing. There’s no problem, then! Wait until I tell Jade about this. I bet she’ll change her mind about pets being boring now!”
“No, Rosie. You cannot tell anyone about me. It must be our secret. Please, promise me.” Flame’s pointed face wore a serious expression.
Rosie hesitated. It was a shame she couldn’t share her incredible secret with Jade, but if it would help to keep Flame safe, then she was happy to agree. “All right. It’s just you and me.”
“Thank you, Rosie,” Flame purred.
Picking Flame up, Rosie carried him over to the bed and sat down with him. “You must be tired. Do you want to take a nap?”
Flame began purring contentedly as Rosie made a cozy nest for him in the quilt. “You know—I almost died when I saw you in the fish tank. I’ve heard of a catfish, but that was ridiculous!” she joked, smiling.
Flame’s furry brow wrinkled, and he showed his sharp little teeth in a grin.
Rosie had forgotten that Daisy was stretched out relaxing in a fold of the quilt. The big rabbit lifted her head and her nose twitched. She got up and hopped over to say hello to the kitten.
Flame suddenly spotted Daisy. He let out a hiss, went rigid, and then shot behind Rosie’s legs.
Rosie felt a laugh bubbling up inside her. “It’s only Daisy, my pet rabbit,” she sputtered. “She’s really gentle. Come and meet her.”
Flame didn’t look convinced. His bushy black tail was huge, and he swished it from side to side nervously. Very slowly, he crept out from behind Rosie and gave Daisy a wary sniff.
Rosie watched closely, ready to intervene if there was trouble. The huge gray rabbit was at least ten times the tiny kitten’s size. If Daisy took a dislike to Flame, she could give him a painful bite. But Daisy gave a low, friendly hum and half closed her eyes, and Flame began to relax. A few moments later he snuggled up against Daisy’s warm, furry side.