Double Trouble (2 page)

“Oh, don't be such a baby, Kim!” Mia said.

“Cat scratches can be really sore, Mia,” Mrs. Taylor said with a frown. “Does Bibi often act like that? You may have to keep her shut in your room if she's going to attack people.”

Mia rose from the chair with Bibi under one arm. There was a hurt look in her big blue eyes. “Bibi was only playing. She was being friendly. I'd like to go to my room now, please.”

“You go on up. It's the room to the right that faces the front yard. Kim will come up in a minute.” Mrs. Taylor turned to her daughter. “We should clean up those scratches first.”

As her mom went to get some antiseptic, Kim heard Mia sniff loudly as she stomped upstairs. Kim rested her leg on a chair while her mom cleaned the scratches.

“There. You'll be okay,” her mom said a few minutes later, putting the cap back on a tube of cream. “Ready to go up and help Mia unpack?”

“Do I have to?” Kim asked reluctantly. She didn't feel like being nice to Mia at the moment.

“Come on now. Mia's our guest. She misses her parents and is feeling lonely.” Mrs. Taylor gave her daughter's thick brown ponytail a gentle tug. “Let's try and make her feel welcome.”

“I'll try,” Kim promised as she got to her feet and went upstairs to find Mia. But she had a sinking feeling in her tummy. She didn't think having her cousin to stay was going to turn out like she had expected at all.

Chapter TWO

After dinner on the patio, Kim took Mia and Bibi into the garden. Luckily Bibi was more interested in exploring the flower beds than clawing people's legs.

“Don't go eating slugs or snails or you'll be sick later,” Mia said to Bibi.

If she is, I'm not cleaning it up,
Kim thought. She glanced down the narrow lawn, with its old apple tree at the bottom, to where her dad was stacking old flowerpots and seed trays outside his shed. He saw her looking and called excitedly for her to come down.

Mia had seen him, too. “Why is he waving like that?”

“I don't know,” Kim said, walking down the lawn to find out.

Mia followed her. “I'm coming, too.”

As Kim and Mia came closer, Mr. Taylor pointed inside the shed and put a finger to his lips. “Shhh! Be very quiet,” he whispered. “See that cracked flowerpot? There's a robin's nest inside it.”

“Really?” Kim leaned forward slowly. She saw the nest of woven grass and leaves. Then she spotted five little fuzzy heads, all with their eyes closed. “Oh! There are five chicks in it!” she breathed.

“Let me see.” Mia pushed past Kim rudely. But when she saw the chicks, her face softened. “Aah! They are so cute! Look how they're all snuggled up together. But how did the robins get into the shed?”

Kim's dad pointed to a small hole in the wall, up near the roof. “But it beats me why they chose that hole, when there was an easier way in,” he said. He showed them the stone that had been propping the door shut. Even with the door closed, there was a gap at the top.

“Da-ad!” Kim scolded with a grin. “Haven't you fixed that broken door yet?”

Mr. Taylor pretended to look hurt. “All in good time.”

Kim gave him a playful shove. He'd been saying that for months!

Mia was fascinated by the fluffy brown chicks. She seemed genuinely relaxed and happy for the first time since she arrived. It gave Kim an idea.

“Come with me,” she said, tugging at Mia's arm.

Mia frowned suspiciously. “Why? Where are we going?”

 

 

“Ta-dah!” Kim opened the bedroom closet to reveal her new telescope in all its glory. “Gran and Granddad Taylor bought it for my tenth birthday this year. I haven't used it much yet.”

“Not bad,” Mia said, trying not to look too impressed.

“I know. Gran and Granddad are great. They never buy boring stuff like slippers and packs of felt-tip pens,” Kim said, lifting out the telescope. “I thought we could watch the robins going in and out of the shed to feed their chicks.”

Mia nodded. “I'll help you set it up.”

They moved a small bedside table in front of the window. After Kim had put the telescope on its stand, she explained how to focus it and then stood back to let Mia have the first look.

“I can see a robin on the apple tree!” Mia said excitedly. “Its beak is full of grubs or something. It just flew into the shed!”

Kim and Mia took turns watching the robins come and go. They brought all sorts of food. Sometimes it was small caterpillars or grubs and once it was a juicy wriggling worm.

Mia really loved the telescope. She couldn't stop looking through it. “I can see the farm on the hill at the end of your garden.”

Kim was happy that Mia was finally taking an interest in something. Her cousin even smiled a couple of times.

“Are you having a good time?” Mr. Taylor popped his head around the door. He held up a dusty green bag. “Look what else I found in the shed!”

Kim leaped on it eagerly. “That's my old tent! I haven't seen it for so long. We could camp out in the garden tonight. Can we, Dad?”

Her dad smiled. “I don't see why not. It's a warm night. If you can drag yourselves away from those robins for ten seconds, I'll help you put up the tent.”

By the time Kim and Mia were spreading tarps and sleeping bags inside the tent, the sky was a deep blue and stars were glinting above the apple tree.

“It'll be fun camping out, don't you think, Mia?” Kim said.

But suddenly Mia seemed to have second thoughts. “Actually I might not want to. It's going to be cold in that old tent.” She stood up. “I'm going inside to feed Bibi. I'll let you know what I decide later,” she said.

Kim's spirits sank. Just when they seemed to be getting along, Mia was grumpy again. She sighed and decided to go down to the shed for a last check on the robin's nest. Her dad had put the stone back in front of the door. She moved it aside very carefully and peered in. The chicks were sleeping, safe and warm.

She was putting the stone back when, from the corner of her eye, she noticed a faint glow. Edging around the side of the shed, she went to investigate.

“Oh!” Kim gasped.

There, half hidden by tall weeds, crouched a cute silver kitten. It blinked up at her with big, scared, green eyes. Kim looked closer. Its fur seemed to be glittering with hundreds of silver sparks, like tiny Christmas tree lights.

Kim shook her head in confusion. Of course its fur couldn't be glowing, and when she looked again the sparkles did seem to have disappeared.

But what was it doing here? Had someone abandoned it?

“Hello, little kitty,” she said in a soft, gentle voice, bending down so she wouldn't frighten the kitten. It was trembling all over. “Don't be scared. I won't hurt you. I wonder where you came from.”

The kitten lifted its tiny head. As it peered through the tangled leaves, some of the fear seemed to fade from its emerald eyes. “I have run away. My uncle is searching for me. He wants to kill me,” it meowed softly.

Kim's jaw dropped in complete shock. She lost her balance and almost tumbled sideways.

The kitten had just answered her!

Chapter THREE

Kim knelt in the patch of weeds and stared at the silver kitten in complete amazement.

“Did . . . did you just say something?” she stuttered. “What's going on? Is this a trick?”

Kim looked around her wildly to see if anyone else was there. Maybe Mia was playing a trick on her. She seemed to enjoy thinking up new ways of being mean.

The kitten twitched its tiny tail. “This is no trick. I am Prince Flame. Who are you?”

“I'm Kim. Kim Taylor,” she answered. “Why is your uncle trying to kill you? And why are you here?”

“My Uncle Ebony has stolen the Lion Throne to which I am heir. He will do all he can to stop me from reclaiming what is mine!” Flame rumbled softly, with a flash of anger in his emerald eyes.

Kim looked down at the tiny, fluffy kitten, which seemed even smaller against the tall weeds. “No offense, but you don't exactly look like a prince,” she said.

“I will show you!” The kitten sat up indignantly.

There was a silver flash, so bright that Kim had to look away. When she looked back, the kitten was gone and in its place stood a huge, majestic, young white lion with glowing emerald eyes. “Do not be afraid,” he said in a deep velvety growl.

Kim took a deep breath and tried very hard to stay calm. “Okay! Flame. I . . . I believe you!” she stammered.

With another blinding flash, the tiny silver kitten reappeared. “I need to hide from my enemies, Kim. That is why I am here. Can you help me?”

Despite the shock of having been faced with a lion prince in his true form, Kim's soft heart melted. Right now, Flame was just a frightened little kitten.