“But it won’t be the same!” Freya’s eyes filled with tears. “I won’t be able to wake up in the morning and hug them right away, or let Minky play on my bed.”
“Let’s cuddle them now, before they have to go,” said Lulu, picking up one of the furry black kittens.
Emily and Jaminta picked up a kitten each, and then Clarabel hugged the last two.
“They’re so warm and soft.” Freya nuzzled Minky’s black ears. “I hate to think of them out there in the castle shed surrounded by ice and snow.”
That evening, there was a royal banquet in the Great Hall. The fire roared and golden flames reached up to the top of the fireplace. The long table was decorated with candles and sprigs of holly. A delicious roast dinner was served, but Freya was too worried to enjoy it.
She rushed away as soon as dinner was over, not even bothering to have any dessert. As she climbed the stairs, her long, pale blue dress floated out around her ankles. She wore her favorite tiara, which was shaped like glittering snowflakes made of silver. The snow-quartz pendant hung on its long blue ribbon around her neck.
Freya opened the door to her bedroom and found the place quiet and empty. The mother cat and all the kittens had been moved. Sitting down on the bed, she gazed at the bare corner where the box had been. She knew her dad was angry about the hole in his slipper, but taking the kittens just seemed so unfair. Tears filled her eyes, and she wiped them on the back of her hand.
There was a knock at the open door and Clarabel’s head peeked around. “Can we come in? We’ve got something that might cheer you up.”
Freya nodded, trying to smile.
Clarabel came in, followed by Lulu, Emily, and Jaminta. The princesses’ colored dresses swirled around them as they sat down on the bed. Their tiaras shone in the soft lamplight.
“We brought strawberry zingers.” Lulu showed Freya a paper bag full of sugary red sweets.
“And fruit snacks and chocolate,” added Jaminta.
“We thought a midnight feast might keep you from feeling sad,” explained Emily.
Freya smiled gratefully. “You’re all so nice. I’m all right. I know my dad thinks the kittens will be safe and happy in the castle shed. It’s just …” She bit her lip.
“What’s wrong?” asked Emily.
“I don’t know if the shed will be warm enough. The gardener keeps a little heater in there, but it doesn’t work very well. I don’t think my dad realizes that.” Freya’s forehead creased with worry.
A light pattering began on the window pane. The girls twisted around to look at the pale snowflakes falling past the glass.
“Have some chocolate to cheer you up,” said Lulu, handing Freya a whole bar.
“I think we should go down to the shed and check on the kittens,” said Clarabel, curling her golden hair behind her ear. “That way we’ll know they’re all right in their new home.”
Lulu’s eyes gleamed. “If we wait until everyone’s in bed, then no one will see us….”
“And we can use ninja moves!” said Jaminta.
“Great! That’s decided, then,” said Lulu, and she popped a strawberry zinger into her mouth and crunched it.
“What are your ninja moves?” asked Freya, nibbling a corner of her chocolate bar.
Emily grinned. “It’s easier to show you!” She took four fruit snacks and put them in Freya’s hand. “Just wait here and keep your eyes open!”
So Freya sat and waited, with four gummies in the palm of her hand, while the other princesses disappeared from the room. The falling snow grew heavier against the window. Then Freya suddenly felt something brush her hand lightly — Emily was standing there in her pink dress, holding one of the treats!
“How did you do that?” cried Freya. “I didn’t see or hear you come back in.”
“Well, that’s the whole point.” Emily grinned. “Ninja moves let you go anywhere without people noticing. Let’s see how the others do.”
Next, Jaminta appeared in her green silk dress, followed by Clarabel, wearing dark blue. Neither of them made a sound, and two more candies disappeared from Freya’s hand.
Finally, Lulu came into the room, but she ruined her perfect ninja move with a sneeze.
“Oops!” she laughed, tugging her wavy black hair. “That wasn’t supposed to happen!”
“You were all fantastic! I wish I could do that,” said Freya.
“We’ll teach you how to do it,” Emily promised. “My maid, Ally, used to be an undercover agent who caught jewel thieves, so she taught us these ninja skills. We’ve been practicing ever since.”
“One more thing,” said Clarabel. “Now that you’re a Rescue Princess, you’ll need one of our magical rings.” She took off her sapphire ring and gave it to Freya.
“Really? You want me to wear it?” Freya gazed at the dark blue jewel.
Clarabel smiled. “We don’t have time to make another ring for you right now, so you can borrow mine.”
“Thank you!” said Freya, sliding it onto her finger.
“Let’s stay awake until all the grown-ups are asleep. Then we can meet in here before we go out to see the kittens,” said Jaminta.
“Great idea —” began Emily. But she broke off as a scuffling noise came from behind the bedroom door.
The princesses all looked at one another. What was going on? Surely it couldn’t be King Eric coming to speak to them again. Emily raced over to the door and pulled it open.
A small princess stood in the doorway, staring at them intently. She had tight red curls and inquisitive green eyes. Freya thought she looked a bit like Emily.
“What are you all doing in here? Do you have candy?” said the younger princess.
“Lottie! This has nothing to do with you! Mind your own business!” burst out Emily. “Here, have a strawberry zinger and don’t tell Mom and Dad that we had candy in the bedroom.”
Lottie popped the zinger in her mouth and looked at them thoughtfully. Then she went away down the hall.
“That’s my little sister, Lottie.” Emily sighed. “We’ll have to be careful. If she sees us sneaking out later she’ll want to come, too. She’s too young and she’ll make lots of noise.”
“I can’t believe we’re really going out to see the kittens tonight,” said Freya. “I wish it was bedtime already!”
The princesses tiptoed down the stairs just after the clock struck half past eleven.
Freya’s eyes shone with excitement as she crept after the others. The grown-ups must be fast asleep, she thought. The castle lay in deep silence.
A faint orange light shone across the hallway, made by the glowing coals in the fireplace of the Great Hall. The princesses crept over to the coat stand. They hurried into their coats, then sneaked out of the front door and closed it carefully behind them.
Snowflakes dropped softly onto their heads.
Jaminta took a beautiful emerald bracelet out of her pocket. It cast rays of light across the garden, turning the dancing snowflakes green.
“That’s awesome,” whispered Freya, admiring the magical bracelet.
“Thanks.” Jaminta smiled.
“Jaminta makes most of the jewels that we use,” explained Emily. “She comes from the kingdom of Onica, where they know how to shape each gem to make it magical.”
“Let’s take this with us.” Lulu picked up a large snow shovel that was leaning up against the castle wall. “If the snow gets deep then it might come in handy.”
Freya led them across the garden.
They walked silently, their boots sinking into the snow. After several minutes, they came to a wooden shed with small windows. Lulu cleared the snow away from the bottom of the door with the shovel. Then Freya unbolted it and held it open for the other princesses. Behind her, she could see the falling snow already filling up their footprints.
She stepped into the shed and switched on the light. Seven pairs of cats’ eyes blinked at her from a box in one corner.
“There you are!” Frey
The box, with its lining of soft sweaters, was sandwiched between a wheelbarrow and a towering mass of plant pots. Some of the kittens began meowing when they saw Freya. Minky stood up, scrabbling at the air with her white paws.
“The king was right,” said Jaminta. “There’s plenty of water and cat food here.”
“It does feel cold, though.” Emily shivered.
Freya put her hand above the little heater to check for warmth. “The heater’s running.”
“Look!” Clarabel pointed at a pile of snow on the other side of the shed. “There’s snow coming in over here.”
There was a plate-sized hole in the roof that gave them a glimpse of the night sky. Snowflakes were slowly drifting through it, adding to the rising mound on the floor. As they looked up at the hole, a gust of wind blew the swirling flakes sideways into their faces.
“We can’t leave the kittens here with that hole in the roof,” said Lulu. “If the snow keeps falling like this, it will be really cold and wet by morning.”
They all looked at Freya, who was twisting one blond braid anxiously around her finger.
“We can’t take them back to my bedroom — my dad would be so mad,” said Freya. “But maybe we could hide them in the laundry room. The only person who goes in there is our maid, Greta, and she won’t tell if I ask her not to.”
“Great idea! King Eric will never find them in there!” said Lulu.
“But how do we get them back inside?” asked Jaminta doubtfully. “If someone sees us, they’ll know right away what we’re doing.”
“How about we hide the kittens under our coats?” suggested Clarabel. “That way we’ll keep them warm and well hidden.”
“We’ll have to go there and back twice, I think,” said Freya. “There are six kittens and their mom that have to be moved and it’ll be too difficult carrying more than one at a time.”
So Freya, Emily, Clarabel, and Lulu picked up one soft black kitten each. The little cats blinked at the girls and meowed pitifully about being taken away from their mother’s warm fur. But they were soon snuggled up in the princesses’ coats with only their eyes, ears, and little pink noses showing. Jaminta held the shed door open for them and shone her emerald bracelet across the snow to light the way.
They hurried into the castle and down the stone passageway that led to the laundry room. Inside, they found an empty laundry basket. They padded it with a soft towel and popped the four kittens into it. Then they returned to the shed to fetch the next batch of kittens.
This time Emily took the mother cat, Clarabel took another black kitten, and Lulu picked up the box they had been living in.
Freya looked around for Minky. She half laughed and half sighed when she found her. The little black-and-white kitten was climbing up the towering heap of plant pots. Her tiny front claws gripped the sides of the pots as her back legs began to slip.
“Minky! We don’t have time for that!” said Freya, picking her up and slipping her into the top of her coat.
“Meow?” said Minky, fixing her blue eyes on Freya just like she was asking a question.
“We’re taking you somewhere better,” replied Freya. “You’re so little. You need to stay somewhere warm.”
“Meow!” Minky agreed.
The princesses took one last look at the thick snowflakes coming in through the hole in the roof. Then they closed the door and left the shed behind. The snow was falling faster now. The girls bowed their heads, trying to protect the kittens from the cold as much as they could. The trek across the garden seemed longer this time and Lulu had to grab Clarabel’s arm to keep her from falling into a snowdrift.
When they reached the castle, they shook the snow from their hair. Jaminta tucked her glowing emerald bracelet in her pocket and they stepped inside.
The hallway was almost dark now. The glow from the fire had died away.
“At least we didn’t have to hide from Lottie,” whispered Emily. “I was sure she would try to stay awake to see what we were doing. She’s such a nosy little sister sometimes!”
Just then, the stairs creaked and the princesses froze.
Freya peered up into the darkness, aware of little Minky hidden beneath her coat. What would she say if her dad came down to the hallway and saw them? They had come so close to saving the kittens from the cold. Surely nothing could spoil it now?
The creaking grew louder, as if there were lots of pairs of feet on the stairs. The princesses were caught by a beam from a flashlight. Voices whispered in the shadows.
“Who’s that?” hissed Lulu, hiding the cat bed behind her back.
Footsteps came toward them, and three princes appeared. The prince at the front was tall, with a ruffled mop of blond hair. Freya remembered him from when she and her dad had greeted their guests the day before.
The blond-haired prince pointed his flashlight at them.
“Stop it, Olaf! I can’t see!” snapped Lulu.
“Oops! Sorry Lulu!” said the prince, lowering his flashlight.
“I met you yesterday, didn’t I?” said Freya.
The blond prince nodded. “That’s right! And this is George and Dinesh.” He pointed to the other princes, who stood behind him in their slippers and pajamas.
“What are you doing down here?” asked George. “We thought you were one of the grown-ups.”
“Have you been outside?” asked Dinesh, looking at their soggy coats.
The snow on their clothes was melting and water dripped down onto the floor.
“We just went out to look at the snow,” Freya said quickly. As she spoke, Minky began to wiggle under her coat.
Olaf frowned. He looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but Lulu butted in. “What are you doing here? And why are you sneaking around with a flashlight?” she asked fiercely.
The princes grinned at one another.
“We’re going to the kitchen to find some chocolate cookies for a midnight feast,” said Olaf. “Do you want to come with us?”
Freya could see a pink nose and a little set of whiskers quivering over the top of Clarabel’s coat. She gave her a nudge.
“What’s the matter?” asked Clarabel. Then she caught sight of her kitten and tried to hide it with her scarf.
Minky, who was tired of sitting still, let out a loud meow.
The princes stared at Freya in astonishment. Olaf lifted his light and pointed it toward her.
“Uhh!” Freya pretended to yawn to disguise another loud meow. She could feel Minky wiggling again. Any moment now, she half expected the kitten to jump out of her coat and gallop around the hallway.
Hearing her kitten, the mother cat stuck her nose out of Emily’s coat and started meowing, too.
“Eeeh!” squealed Emily, quickly changing it to a pretend yawn to match Freya’s.
The princes exchanged puzzled looks.
“Are you feeling all right?” Olaf asked Emily.
“Oh, yes! I’m just a little tired,” explained Emily.
Then all the princesses joined in, putting their hands over their mouths and yawning loudly.
“Sorry! We’re too tired for a midnight feast,” said Jaminta cheerfully. “Good night!”
Then the girls rushed away down the stone passageway, keeping their hands over their mouths to stop their laughter.
“I couldn’t believe it when the kittens all started meowing!” said Clarabel as they reached the laundry room.
“I’ve never tried to yawn so loudly before!” giggled Emily. “I was sure they would figure out that we were hiding something!”
Lulu found a quiet corner to put the cat bed in. Then, one by one, they settled the mother cat and the kittens inside it. The kittens snuggled up to the warmth of their mom. Even Minky seemed happy to curl up and close her eyes after all the excitement of rushing through the snow while half hidden under Freya’s coat.
The princesses tiptoed back to their rooms as fast as they dared and whispered good night to one another. Freya lay down in her bed feeling much happier than before. The kittens would be warm and comfortable in the laundry room. She would explain it all to her maid, Greta, in the morning.
The next day, she jumped out of bed as soon as she woke up. Opening her wardrobe, she rummaged around for a thick sweater and pants. They were all going to skate on the ice rink today, so she needed warm clothes.
She thought about the kittens as she got dressed. What if her dad found them in the laundry room? He didn’t usually go in there. But what if he heard a noise and went to look? She had to try to talk to him about it. Not this morning — he would be too busy with his royal guests. But soon. Maybe she should hide the kittens a little better and wait for a good time to tell him.
She raced downstairs and into the laundry room. The mother cat was wide-awake and grooming her babies with her long pink tongue. Minky didn’t seem to like being cleaned and jumped out of the box and scampered across the floor.
“No, Minky!” said Freya gently. “You can’t run away.” She picked up Minky and put her back in the box. Then she padded the sides with an extra towel to make it harder for the kittens to climb out.
A row of washing machines stood along one wall, with piles of folded sheets stacked on top. Freya picked one sheet off the top and hung it over the clothesline that stretched from one wall to the other. Quickly, she found two clothespins and pinned the sheet in place. She stood back and smiled. Now the sheet made a sort of screen to hide the kittens. No one who glanced in would notice them at all. Carefully, she closed the door to keep the kittens safe inside.
“Don’t forget to take your gloves with you when you go ice skating, Freya,” said King Eric, when Freya reached the Great Hall.
“Yes, Dad, I’ll remember,” replied Freya, hurriedly brushing black and white cat hairs off her sweater.
After a breakfast of scrambled eggs and muffins, the kings, queens, princes, and princesses put on their coats and headed outdoors. Freya found Emily excitedly pulling on her snow boots.
-->
