A Glittering Gallop Read online

  Conrad—the black and white nibbler

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

  Published by the Penguin Group

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

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  Text copyright © 2007 Sue Bentley. Illustrations copyright © 2007 Angela Swan.

  Cover illustration copyright © 2007 Andrew Farley. First printed in Great Britain in 2007 by Penguin Books Ltd. First published in the United States in 2013 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) Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  ISBN: 978-0-698-15959-4

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter ONE

  Chapter TWO

  Chapter THREE

  Chapter FOUR

  Chapter FIVE

  Chapter SIX

  Chapter SEVEN

  Chapter EIGHT

  Chapter NINE

  About the Author

  Lifting his head, the young white lion sniffed the hot breeze rustling through the thornbushes. It felt good to be home again. Maybe this time he would be able to stay.

  Suddenly a terrifying roar split the air and an enormous adult lion appeared above him on a rocky ridge.

  “Ebony!” Flame gasped, as he looked up at the terrifying sight of his uncle.

  He felt sparks igniting in his fur and there was a bright white flash. Where the majestic young white lion had been, there was now a tiny, fluffy calico kitten. Flame edged slowly back into the bushes, hoping that his white fur with ginger and black markings couldn’t be seen.

  Ebony’s fierce eyes looked down, seeming to bore into Flame’s tiny kitten body. Flame crouched low, trembling with anger and fear. There was a rustling sound behind him, and an old gray lion pushed through the bushes.

  “Prince Flame. It is good to see you again. But you have returned at a dangerous time,” Cirrus rumbled.

  Flame blinked up at his old friend with relief. “I am glad to see you too, Cirrus. I had hoped that my uncle would have given up looking for me.”

  “That will never happen,” Cirrus told him sadly. “Ebony is determined to find and kill you, so that he can keep the throne he stole from you. You must go back to the other world and hide. Use this disguise well and stay safe.”

  “I am tired of hiding!” Flame mewed, his emerald eyes flashing. “I will face my uncle!”

  Cirrus showed his worn teeth in a proud smile. “Bravely said, but first, you must grow strong and wise. Go…”

  Suddenly another fierce roar rang out. Ebony charged down the rocks and came thundering toward the thorn bushes where Flame and Cirrus were hiding. The ground shook beneath his mighty paws.

  “He’s seen us! Go now, Flame!” Cirrus urged. “Save yourself!”

  The tiny kitten whined as he felt the power building inside him. His fluffy calico fur glittered with sparks, and there was another bright flash. Flame felt himself falling. Falling…

  Zoe Swann frowned as she looked up at her nana. “Do I have to?” she grumbled.

  Joy Swann smiled, the sunlight glinting on her bright red hair. “Don’t look so sad, sweetie. Anyone would think I’d asked you to fly to the moon, instead of collect a few eggs!”

  Zoe looped the egg basket over her arm. “Oh, all right,” she said, making a face. “I guess I should do something, now that Mom’s dumped me here!”

  Her nana chuckled. “You know that your mom will write the book more quickly without interruptions. And then she can come down and stay for a few days, too.”

  “So I’m just an ‘interruption’? Thanks a lot!” Zoe grumbled.

  Joy ruffled her granddaughter’s short blond hair. “Don’t be so dramatic, Zoe!”

  “Well, it’s not my fault if Mom’s silly old book won’t behave itself, is it? I promised to creep around the house like a mouse in slippers, but she wouldn’t listen,” Zoe said bitterly. Her mom wrote children’s books about a family who lived on a barge. They were really good but, to Zoe’s annoyance, her mom couldn’t have any distractions when writing them—including Zoe.

  “It’s not for long,” her nana said, her smile wavering. “You know I love having you stay over, and I thought you liked staying with me.”

  “I do.” Zoe felt an uncomfortable twinge of guilt. Her nana was great. She was funny and generous and not strict at all. But Zoe had planned to help out at the local stables over her vacation. After each morning mucking out, Lizzie, the stables’ owner, let Zoe ride one of the ponies. Now she was going to miss out on all the riding opportunities.

  “Off you go then,” her nana said from the back doorstep. “I’m going inside to do some baking. Oh, by the way. I just got a new bunch of bantams. Watch out for Cocky. He can be a bit bad-tempered.”

  “I know how he feels!” Zoe muttered, rolling her blue eyes.

  Despite herself, she began swinging her arms as she trudged down her grandmother’s endless garden. It was hard to stay grumpy on such a beautiful day. Bees flew back and forth over the colorful flower beds. There was a lovely smell of warm grass cuttings and by the time she reached the sturdy, wooden chicken house Zoe had cheered up quite a bit.

  She looked curiously at the bantams. They were about half the size of normal chickens. Some of them had bright, glossy feathers and delicate legs, and others were fat and fluffy and looked like they were wearing baggy, feathery trousers.

  A handsome black cockerel ran out toward the wire mesh of the outside run that surrounded the chicken house. His bright red crest was raised and there was a fierce glint in his beady red eyes.

  “Hi, Cocky,” Zoe said.

  The cockerel snapped his beak and flexed his strong clawed feet.

  “Okay, I get the message!” Zoe backed away. She went around the chicken house and opened the nest box on the other side. “Wow! Look at these! I thought eggs were only white or brown!” The bantams’ eggs were all shades of pale green, blue, and gray. There were even pink ones with little brown freckles.

  Zoe filled the basket with eggs and then decided to take the long way back to the house, past the chickens and the greenhouse into the orchard.

  As Zoe wandered toward the greenhouse she noticed that the door was open. Inside she glimpsed a jungle-like mass of plants with tomatoes, peppers, and lots of stuff she didn’t recognize.

  Suddenly, from among all the plants, there was a flash of bright white light. “What was that?” A little nervously, she crept inside.

  At first Zoe couldn’t see anything odd as she walked between the rows of plants and flowers, but just as she was about to turn back, she noticed something glowing faintly at the very back of the greenhouse.

  Zoe went forward slowly. As she got closer, she saw a big pile of old flowerpots in a corner, and on top of them there crouched what appeared to be a tiny kitten. In the light its fluffy coat seemed to sparkle all over. Zoe blinked hard. How did a kitten get in here?

  When Zoe looked again, the sparkles seemed to have faded. The kitten was really cute, with white fur and ginger and black markings and the brightest emerald eyes Zoe had ever seen.

/>   “What are you doing in Nana’s greenhouse?” Zoe said aloud.

  The kitten pricked up its tiny ears and looked straight at her. “I am hiding from my uncle, who wants to kill me,” it mewed.

  “Oh!” Zoe dropped the basket of eggs and her hands flew to her face in complete shock.

  Zoe stared at the calico-colored kitten in utter amazement. “Did…did you just speak?” she stammered.

  The kitten nodded and lifted its tiny chin proudly. “Yes, I did. My name is Prince Flame, heir to the Lion Throne. What is yours?”

  “I’m…Zoe. I’m staying here with my nana,” Zoe answered, her mind whirling.

  She couldn’t believe this was happening, but her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her shock. Bending down, she made herself seem much smaller, so she didn’t frighten the little kitten away. “You’re a prince? And did you say that someone was trying to kill you?”

  “Yes. My uncle Ebony. He has stolen my throne and rules in my place. One day I will return and regain my throne,” Flame mewed, his bright emerald eyes glittering with anger.

  “But aren’t you much too small to rule anyone?” Zoe asked gently. Flame said nothing, but his calico fur began to sparkle all over. He jumped off the flowerpots, and Zoe was blinded by a bright silver flash.

  “Oh!” Zoe rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, she saw that the fluffy kitten had gone. In its place stood a magnificent young white lion.

  Zoe gulped. Eyeing the huge paws and sharp teeth, she began to back away slowly.

  “Do not be afraid. I will not harm you,” the lion rumbled in a deep, velvety roar. There was another flash of light, and Flame reappeared as a tiny calico kitten.

  “Wow! You really are a lion prince!” Zoe said, relieved and amazed at the same time.

  “Yes. I am in disguise,” the tiny kitten mewed, trembling from head to toe. “I must hide from my uncle’s spies. Can you help me, Zoe?”

  Zoe felt a second of doubt at the thought of Flame’s evil uncle. But then she looked at the cute kitten. Flame was majestic as his real self, but in his kitten disguise he looked so helpless and frightened that her generous heart melted.

  “Of course I will!” Zoe crooned. She bent down and picked Flame up. “I’ll take care of you. Don’t you worry about your horrible old uncle. I bet he’s no match for my nana! Just wait until I tell her about you!”

  Flame squirmed. He reached up a tiny white, ginger-tipped paw and stroked Zoe’s cheek. “You must tell no one that I am a prince! It must be a secret!”

  Zoe frowned. She knew her nana could be trusted.

  “You must promise,” Flame insisted. He blinked at her with wide, trusting eyes.

  Zoe felt a bit guilty that she couldn’t tell her nana, but if it would help keep Flame safe, she was prepared to agree. “Okay, I promise.”

  Flame rubbed the top of his fluffy head against her chin. “Thank you, Zoe.”

  “No problem. Let’s go into the house. I imagine you’re hungry,” Zoe said.

  Flame purred eagerly.

  Zoe picked up the basket of eggs. Amazingly, none of them had broken. She held Flame close with her free hand as she went out of the greenhouse and headed toward the garden.

  She could still hardly believe that she had found a magic kitten. With Flame to take care of, it looked as if staying with Nana was going to be exciting after all!

  “What an absolutely gorgeous kitten—and I love his name!” Zoe’s nana said as soon as Zoe had introduced Flame. “Where did you find him?”

  Zoe told her about finding Flame in the greenhouse.

  Joy Swann frowned. “Strange. I wonder how he got into the garden. A tiny kitten like that couldn’t have climbed the wall.”

  “Maybe he crawled under the back gate,” Zoe suggested hurriedly. “Can I keep him, Nana? I promise I’ll look after him. He can live in my room with me. If you let me keep him I’ll feed the chickens, collect the eggs every day, and even be nice to the bantams!”

  Her nana chuckled and gave Zoe’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “I’m glad to see that you’ve cheered up at last. That long face you’ve been wearing since you arrived would have turned milk sour! Of course Flame can stay. But I’ll let the local shelter know, and you’ll have to be prepared for his owner to claim him.”

  Zoe nodded. “I will. Thanks a million, Nana.” She didn’t think anyone would claim this particular kitten!

  While Nana made a quick phone call, Zoe took a can of sardines from the cupboard and forked them into a dish. “There you are, Flame.”

  Flame purred as he gobbled the sardines hungrily and then sat and licked his whiskers clean.

  A few minutes later, Zoe’s nana came back into the kitchen. “Now—about all those chores you’ve promised to do,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

  “Yes?” Zoe said brightly, determined to show that she meant what she’d said.

  “I was about to go and pick some raspberries…”

  “Flame and I will do it.” Zoe jumped up at once and took a plastic bowl from a shelf. “Come on, Flame!” she called.

  Flame scampered outside after Zoe as she took a shortcut across the lawn to the orchard. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows from the apple trees. There was a summer house in one corner and a patch of fruit bushes nearby. Zoe began picking raspberries from their canes. “I love it down here. It’s almost like a secret garden,” she told Flame.

  “It is warm and peaceful. I feel safe here,” Flame purred happily, stretching out full length in the warm grass.

  Suddenly Zoe saw a flash of reddish brown and a slim shape dashed through the trees.

  “Wow! A fox,” she breathed.

  She froze. But the fox had already seen her. It dashed toward the greenhouse and ducked under some bushes.

  Flame sat bolt upright and gave an eager little mew.

  “Did you see that fox, too? Wasn’t it gorgeous?” Zoe said excitedly.

  Flame didn’t answer at first. He stared fixedly at a big, twisted tree that was near the garden wall. “There are some humans over there!”

  “Where…?” Zoe began, frowning.

  A boy and a girl shot out from behind the tree and hurtled toward the garden wall. They both wore jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers and looked about ten years old, the same as Zoe.

  “Hey!” Zoe yelled, sprinting after them. Those kids must have been trying to steal her nana’s apples!

  The kids reached the wall. They scrambled up the uneven stone, as agile as monkeys. The girl reached the top first. She swung her leg over and disappeared down the other side. When the boy got to the top, he crouched there on his knees and glanced over his shoulder.

  Zoe caught a glimpse of a thin, worried face, glasses, and floppy dark hair.

  Suddenly, the boy wobbled. He gave a yell. Almost in slow motion, he toppled backward.

  “Oh no! He’s falling!” Zoe gasped in horror.

  Time seemed to stand still as Flame appeared by Zoe’s feet, sparks igniting in his fluffy calico fur and his whiskers crackling with electricity.

  A warm tingle flowed down Zoe’s spine and she shivered, strangely certain that something was about to happen.

  Flame lifted a tiny, ginger-tipped white paw and a bright stream of sparks shot out from it, hitting an empty bag of candy at the base of the wall.

  The bag instantly turned into an enormous pile of giant, squishy pink marshmallows.

  It was only just in time.

  “Oof!” The boy landed on the massive marshmallow pile. His glasses slipped off his nose and bounced on to the grass as he sank deeper into the pillowy marshmallows.

  Zoe ran over to him. “Are you okay?” she asked anxiously.

  “I thought I was going to break a leg!” the boy said, sitting up and looking dazed.

  “It would have served you right!” Zoe said indignantly to this apple-stealing boy, now that she could see he wasn’t hurt.

  The boy blinked up at her shortsightedly. “Who are you
? What have I landed on?”

  Every time he moved, he slid and bounced about on the marshmallows. Pink blobs were stuck all over his hair and face. He looked so funny that Zoe had to bite back a smile.

  “Um…leaves and grass and stuff!” she improvised, making frantic waving signs to Flame behind her back.

  Flame waved his paw again. To Zoe’s relief, the pile of marshmallows magically transformed into a big pile of apple-tree leaves. She saw that every bit of pink marshmallow had disappeared from the boy and the sparkles had faded from Flame’s fur.

  The boy pushed himself on to his knees and started feeling all around him. “Where are my glasses? I can’t see a thing without them.”

  “Well done, Flame,” Zoe whispered, as she started looking for the glasses.

  Flame purred and rubbed himself against her ankles.

  Zoe spotted the glasses in a patch of long grass. Picking them up, she handed them to the boy. “Here you are.”

  “Thanks.” The boy put his glasses on and pushed his floppy dark hair out of his eyes. “Hi! I’m Todd Trapman,” he said, flashing Zoe a grin. “I live next door. What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you before.”

  “I’m Zoe. I’m staying with my nana. This is her garden, and you’re trespassing!” Zoe said. “I should report you for stealing her apples!”

  “Me and Todd weren’t stealing!” called a girl’s voice.

  Zoe looked up to see a girl perched on top of the wall. She had floppy, dark hair, too, but hers was long and tied into a ponytail. Except for the glasses, she looked exactly like Todd.

  “That’s my sister, Tracy,” said Todd.

  “You’re twins,” Zoe said.

  “Ten out of ten for observation!” Tracy joked.

  Zoe couldn’t help grinning. “Well, anyway, what were you doing in here?”

  The twins exchanged wary glances. “Don’t tell her, Todd. I don’t think…” Tracy began.

  “It’s okay, Tracy. She helped me just now. I think we can trust her,” Todd said.

  “We’ve been coming over here to feed Bracken. We think she’s probably had cubs,” he explained.