Magic Kitten: A Circus Wish

  Sue Bentley’s books for children often include animals or fairies. She lives in Northampton and enjoys reading, going to the cinema, and sitting watching the frogs and newts in her garden pond. If she hadn’t been a writer, she would probably have been a sky diver or a brain surgeon. The main reason she writes is that she can drink pots and pots of tea while she’s typing. She has met and owned many cats and each one has brought a special sort of magic to her life.

  SUE BENTLEY

  Illustrated by Angela Swan

  PUFFIN

  To Lucky, the neighbourly black and white boy

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

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  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  penguin.com

  Published 2006

  2

  Text copyright © Susan Bentley, 2006

  Illustrations copyright © Angela Swan, 2006

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN: 978-0-141-90651-5

  Prologue

  The young white lion’s heart beat fast as he looked at the plains and distant mountains shimmering in the heat. All was quiet. He felt a surge of hope. Perhaps he need hide no longer.

  Suddenly a deep roar split the air and an enormous black adult lion appeared, bounding towards him from the far shore.

  ‘Ebony!’ the young white lion gasped in fear.

  Before he knew what was happening, there was a bright flash and a shower of silver sparkles. In the young white lion’s place now crouched a tiny fluffy coal-black kitten.

  The kitten backed up slowly trembling with fear as it scrambled into a clearing in nearby reeds, out of the black lion’s sight.

  There was a stealthy movement to one side and the reeds parted. An old grey lion emerged into the clearing and bowed its head before the kitten.

  ‘Greetings, Prince Flame. I am glad to see you safe and well. But you have returned at a dangerous time,’ he rumbled.

  ‘Cirrus.’ Flame greeted his old friend quietly. ‘It seems that my uncle still rules my kingdom.’

  ‘He does,’ Cirrus replied gravely. ‘And he has many spies looking for you. If Ebony kills you, there will be no one to stop his evil.’

  Flame lifted his tiny chin and his big emerald eyes smouldered with anger. ‘One day I will challenge him and take my rightful place on the Lion Throne!’ he mewed bravely.

  Cirrus nodded, his old muzzle wrinkling in a proud smile. ‘But for now, you must leave. Use your disguise to hide far away and grow strong and wise.’

  Another terrifying roar rang out. Flame peered through the reeds. He glimpsed a big dark shape as it bounded towards them.

  ‘Go! Save yourself!’ Cirrus urged.

  There was another flash. And Flame felt himself falling. Falling…

  Chapter

  * ONE *

  Sadie Allen tensed as she ran forward and jumped high in the air. Tucking her head under, she flipped over and landed with a soft thud of her bare feet.

  Sadie’s classmates clapped and whooped.

  ‘Thank you, fans!’ Sadie joked as she performed a mock bow.

  She really loved gymnastics and the circus skills workshop at her school was turning out to be something she was really good at. First there had been the warm-up games and now they had moved on to floor acrobatics – it had been the best fun ever!

  ‘That was great, Sadie! Well done!’ called Lena.

  Sadie tossed her long fair plait over her shoulder and grinned at the older girl.

  Lena Tomani was a circus performer who was appearing with her parents in their trapeze act at the nearby circus school. She had come to Sadie’s school to demonstrate and share some of her skills.

  Lena was tall for her twelve years and pretty, with short dark hair and a confident manner. Presto, her shaggy little dog, followed close at heel as Lena moved round the gym.

  Lena turned to another girl. ‘Off you go, Jenny. Don’t try anything too complicated at first.’

  Jenny Coleman was Sadie’s best friend. They lived a few houses away from each other. ‘Go for it!’ Sadie called out to Jenny encouragingly.

  Jenny screwed up her face in concentration as she threw herself on to the mat. She curled into a forward roll, but her arms and legs shot out at angles and she collapsed into an untidy sprawl.

  There was a ripple of laughter.

  ‘Shut up, you lot!’ Sadie defended her friend. She helped Jenny scramble to her feet. ‘Are you all right?’

  Jenny’s round face was bright red and sweaty. ‘Course I am! Leave me alone. You’re just making it worse.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Sadie blushed and stood aside, as Jenny pushed past her off the exercise mat. She tried not to feel too hurt by Jenny’s words. She just wished that her friend could enjoy the workshop as much as she did.

  Lena and her little dog were going over to another group who were learning balancing skills. Some of the kids in the year above Sadie were walking on stilts and trying the unicycle. There was a lot of giggling going on.

  ‘Sadie! Why don’t you come and have a try at this?’ Lena called. ‘It’s a bit more advanced, but you should be fine.’

  ‘OΚ,’ Sadie answered. She tugged at Jenny’s arm. ‘Why don’t you come too?’

  Jenny shook her head. ‘You go. I don’t suppose Lena wants any clumsy fairy elephants over there.’

  ‘But you could just watch if you want. Lena won’t mind.’

  ‘I think I’ll get a drink instead. I’ll see you later,’ Jenny said. She wandered off towards the drinks machine.

  Sadie hesitated. Should she go after Jenny? Her friend really didn’t seem to be having fun at all.

  ‘There’s a set of stilts here if you’re interested, Sadie!’ Lena shouted.

  Sadie made up her mind. ‘OΚ. I’m coming!’

  It was great fun stomping around on the stilts. Sadie had natural balance and found it easy to keep up with the older girls.

  When it was time for a break, Miss Kemp, the gym teacher, called for everyone to gather together and sit in a circle. ‘Lena’s kindly offered to give us a demonstration of what can be achieved with discipline and hard work.’

  Sadie went and sat down next to Jenny. ‘This should be good!’ she enthused.

  Jenny s
hrugged. ‘It’ll probably just be Lena showing off.’

  ‘What’s the matter? Don’t you like her?’ Sadie looked at her friend in surprise.

  ‘I suppose she’s OK,’ Jenny replied. ‘But she’s hardly said a word to me.’

  ‘That’s only because you didn’t join in very much. Lena’s been really friendly with everyone,’ Sadie said.

  ‘I don’t know why you’re sticking up for her,’ Jenny murmured.

  ‘I’m not…’ Sadie began.

  ‘Can we have silence, please,’ Miss Kemp interrupted. ‘Lena’s ready now.’

  Lena had now taken off her tracksuit to reveal a red leotard with gold braid at the neck and wrists. She made a graceful sweeping gesture with her arms, then bent over and went straight into a handstand.

  Sadie watched with wide blue eyes as Lena did a standing backflip and then performed a series of high jumps with impossible twists and turns in mid-air. Her body seemed to flow from one movement to another. Lena finished with another handstand and then swung down and went into the splits. She held the last movement, with her hands curved elegantly overhead.

  Presto, who had been watching intently, ran over to his owner. Standing up on his back legs and wagging his tail, the little dog pirouetted in front of Lena.

  The gym erupted with applause.

  Sadie clapped like mad. Lena was fantastic. She would give anything to be even half as good.

  Lena uncurled. She stood up gracefully and then picked up Presto, who whined and licked her chin. ‘Thank you. You are very kind. Presto taught himself that trick. He loves to perform with me just for fun.’

  Miss Kemp thanked Lena for the workshop and her demonstration. ‘We’ve really enjoyed learning some new skills.’

  There was more applause and shouts of agreement.

  Lena smiled warmly as she looked round at all the eager faces. ‘I’ve enjoyed meeting you all too. You might like to know that there’s a circus youth club on weekdays, after school. There’re leaflets on the table near the door.

  Anyone who’s interested can put their names on the list.’

  As Lena went off to change, there was a buzz of excitement. A few kids wandered over to the table and looked at the leaflets. Sadie dashed straight over and picked one up. She came back to Jenny with it.

  ‘Circus youth club sounds great,’ she said eagerly, scanning the leaflet. ‘Shall we sign up?’

  Jenny seemed unsure. ‘I don’t know. I’m rubbish at all that tumbling and balancing stuff.’

  ‘That’s OK. It says here that there’s tons of other stuff to do. Like juggling, comedy skills and circus history just for a start. It’ll be great fun!’

  ‘Juggling?’ Jenny’s face brightened a little for the first time that day. ‘OΚ then. I don’t mind giving youth club a try’

  As Sadie and Jenny were adding their names to the list, Lena came over with Presto trotting at her heels. ‘I’m glad you’ll be coming, Sadie. You’ve got a natural talent for acrobatics. Maybe you’ll be a performer yourself one day,’ she said with a warm smile.

  Sadie beamed back. ‘Thanks. But I’ll never be as good as you are,’ she said modestly.

  Lena laughed. ‘I have a head start, don’t forget. I come from a circus family. Dad says that talent is useful, but hard work and dedication make a performer.’ She looked down at Jenny and her voice softened kindly. ‘He also says that everyone has a skill, but sometimes it takes a while to discover it.’

  Jenny’s round cheeks flushed deep pink. ‘I reckon mine must be really well hidden!’ she joked and then she turned to Sadie. ‘Are you ready to go? I have to meet my mum.’

  ‘OΚ. I’m coming. Bye!’ Sadie called to Lena, hurrying towards the cloakroom after Jenny. ‘See you at the youth club!’

  On the way, she paused by a colourful poster advertising the circus. There was Lena in a close-fitting sparkling costume with the other Flying Tomanis, as they performed their trapeze act.

  Sadie’s imagination went into fast forward. She could smell the greasepaint, see her own name up in lights and hear the audience applauding as she tumbled through the air like magic!

  Chapter

  * TWO *

  Sadie hurried after Jenny as her friend headed for the changing rooms. She had a tight knot of excitement in her stomach. ‘Did you hear what Lena said? She thinks I’ve got talent!’

  Jenny didn’t look round. ‘I heard her saying that to some other kids. I reckon she just wants to get loads of people to go to the youth club.’

  Sadie’s high spirits took a dent. ‘Don’t you think Lena meant it?’ she asked anxiously.

  Jenny looked back at Sadie quickly her face flushed. ‘Who cares…’ She stopped suddenly and then just shrugged. ‘Course she did.’ She grinned. ‘Race you to get changed!’

  ‘You’re on!’ Sadie whipped off her T-shirt and gym shorts in double quick time.

  Jenny was out of her gym kit and into her school uniform in a jiffy. But she lost time trying to stuff her feet into her school shoes. Sadie was almost dressed. She bent down as she pulled on a sock, lost her balance and backed into Jenny.

  ‘Oops! Sorry!’ she said, laughing as they both staggered and almost fell over.

  ‘Hey – you hit me with your bottom on purpose. You cheat!’ Jenny shrieked.

  Suddenly they both burst out laughing. They sank on to the benches, out of breath and clutching each other

  ‘I call that a draw,’ Sadie gasped, holding her aching ribs.

  ‘Suits me,’ Jenny agreed, slinging her gym bag over her shoulder. ‘Come on. We’ll be late. Mum’s waiting for me at the hairdresser’s. I’m having my hair done as part of my present.’

  It was Jenny’s birthday next week. Sadie was planning to buy her a present with her pocket money.

  ‘You lucky thing!’ Sadie said enviously, fingering her long plait as they left the changing room. ‘My mum usually just trims my ends for me.’

  They were almost at the school gate before Sadie remembered something. ‘Oh, no, I’ve left my schoolbooks in the cloakroom.’

  ‘They’ll be OK in there. You can get them tomorrow,’ Jenny said.

  Sadie chewed at her lip, undecided. ‘I could. But I’ve got maths homework to finish. I really need one of the books. I might as well go and get them all.’

  Jenny fidgeted, trying not to look impatient. ‘Do you want me to come back with you?’

  ‘No. You go on. I’ll see you later.’ She waved as Jenny went out of the gate and down the street.

  Sadie sprinted back into school and hurried towards the gym. There was no one else around and the gym and cloakroom were dark and deserted. Her footsteps echoed eerily as she went to press the light switch. One row of strip lights flickered on, leaving the rest of the benches and clothes rails in deep shadows.

  Sadie spotted her books lying in a pile where she’d left them. She bent down to pick them up when suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of bright white light.

  ‘Hello, is someone else in here?’ Sadie called, looking round.

  No one answered. Sadie shivered – this was really creepy. She gave herself a shake and decided to stop being silly. It must have been the caretaker, turning a light on in one of the classrooms outside. She was about to leave when she saw something glowing faintly on a nearby bench.

  Puzzled, Sadie went forward slowly. There on the bench, backed into the very corner of the room, crouched a tiny kitten. Its dark coat glittered with thousands of tiny lights. Sadie blinked hard. Had someone left a toy kitten here?

  As she got closer, the sparkles seemed to fade. The kitten was really lifelike, with glossy black fur and wide emerald-green eyes.

  ‘You’re really cute. I wonder who you belong to,’ Sadie said aloud.

  The kitten sat up. ‘I belong to no one but myself,’ it mewed.

  Sadie’s jaw dropped in total amazement. ‘You can talk!’ she gasped.

  Her books slipped from her numb fingers and dropped to the w
ooden floor with a loud clatter.

  ‘Mia-ow-ow!’ screeched the kitten. It shot into the air on stiff little legs, its hackles raised.

  ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I… I dropped my schoolbooks,’ Sadie stammered in complete shock.

  She couldn’t quite believe what was happening, but she didn’t want to scare this amazing kitten away, so she bent down and made herself as small as possible.

  The kitten’s black fur all stood on end, but Sadie could see the fear starting to fade from its emerald-green eyes. ‘What is your name?’ it asked in a velvety miaow.

  ‘I’m Sadie. Sadie Allen. I live nearby,’ Sadie said gently. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘I am Prince Flame,’ replied the kitten proudly, lifting his pointed chin and sitting up straight. ‘Heir to the Lion Throne.’

  Sadie was having difficulty taking it all in. ‘Did you say, Lion Throne?’ she asked, looking doubtfully at his tiny fluffy body.

  Flame didn’t answer, but his black fur began to sparkle all over. He jumped to the floor and Sadie was blinded by a bright silver flash.

  ‘Oh!’ she rubbed her eyes. Sadie blinked hard and saw that in Flame’s place now stood a majestic young white lion. She was awestruck. ‘Flame?’

  ‘Yes, Sadie. It is me,’ Flame replied in a deep rumbling growl.

  Then, just as Sadie began to get used to the great white lion, there was another flash of light and Flame reappeared as a tiny coal-black kitten.

  ‘Wow! You really are a lion prince,’ she whispered. ‘No one would ever know. That’s a really convincing disguise!’

  Flame nodded. ‘But my disguise will not save me if my uncle finds me. Will you hide me, Sadie? I am in danger!’

  Sadie’s heart went out to the tiny kitten. She scooped him up. ‘Of course I will. But who did you say was after you?’

  ‘My uncle Ebony. He has stolen my throne. He sends his spies to search for me. When they find me, they will kill me,’ Flame mewed anxiously.