Free A Glittering Gallop by Sue Bentley Page B

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 aboutyour 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 shehad 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 thechickens, 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 reddishbrown 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