The Prince and the Tomcat. Part 2

The Prince swung around to see who was talking to him, and just as he did he sneezed.

Aaaachooooooooooo

It was too much for his white charger, and it reared high in the air in fright. The Prince was not expecting that, and he slid straight out of the saddle and landed with a thump on his rear end on the dirt trail. His white cape fluttered wildly for a second and then settled over his head.

Seconds later, as he removed his cape from over his head, he came face to face with the strangest thing.

It was a large tomcat, and stranger still he was wearing a bright red hat! This is who had been speaking to him!

The prince opened his mouth to say something, but instead of words, out came another sneeze.

Aaaachooooooooooo, and the tomcat's red hat went flying off his head and landed in some bushes a little way behind him.

"Well thank you very much, I don't think," said the tomcat in an upset voice as he jumped up and down trying to grab his hat from the bushes with his teeth.

The poor Prince went very red, and fetched the tomcat's hat for him and carefully placed it on his head once again.

"Thank you," said the tomcat, "Now, would you like a guide through these woods? I used to be a wood cutter here before your evil brother changed me into a cat with a magic spell."

The Prince decided that he did indeed need a guide, and lifting the tomcat onto the back of his charger, the two set off deeper into the Twisted Woods together.

**************

The Twisted Woods were dark and gloomy. Just out of sight small creatures scrambled away from the sound of the horse, and every so often they saw the foot prints of dragons and ogres.

It wasn't long before the two heard the sound of snoring, and there, lying on the trail, was a gigantic ogre. He was fast asleep, which was a good thing, as he was about three times taller that the Prince, and could easily have eaten him and his charger in three big mouthfulls.

They carefully moved around the sleeping ogre, the Prince and the tomcat both on their tip toes, and both jumped as he snored again. The poor tomcat was so scared he almost let out a loud MEOWWWWWWW, but the Prince quickly covered his mouth with his hand. Just in time.

As they were almost past the snoring ogre, the prince started to sneeze.

Aaaaaaahhhhh

Aaaaaaahhhhh

Aaaaaaahhhhh

But, before the CHOOOOOO could come, the fast thinking tomcat covered the Prince's mouth with his red hat, and tried to smother the sound, but, alas, it was no use. The Prince sneezed too loud, and soon the great, fat ogre was awake and climbing to his feet.

Jumping on the charger with the tomcat holding on for dear life, the Prince was away. Speeding through the woods with the oversized ogre STOMPING after them. His huge hands trying to grab them as he went.

Mile after mile sped by as they tried to escape him, and the tomcat called out "Quick. Inside that cave until he goes past."

They raced inside the cave and hid until the ogre had walked past, and they remained hidden until long after the sound of his footsteps had disappeared in the distance.

Once they recovered they began once more to follow the trail. With the tomcat pointing out the way, they moved quickly through the woods, avoiding the caves where the dragons nested, and the swamp where the alligators swam, and it was not long before they saw the dark towers of the Prince's evil brother's castle rising high above the trees.

The castle used to belong to the Prince's grandmother once. Then it had been a place of wonder, it's towers shone like gold in the sun, and the fairies had lived in the forest, but one day his grandmother had disappeared, and his brother had to come to live here. On that day the fairies had moved out as the dragons and ogres and other evil creatures began coming in, and the castle had turned black overnight.

Leaving the charger tied in the safety of the trees, the two friends crept quietly over the drawbridge. They were almost inside when a huge voice roared. "Just where do you think you are going?"

Looking up, and up, and further up, they saw who had spoken.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE LAST EPISODE OF

Co-written by Thunder & Steel
Designed by Thunder

Back to the Children's Story page
for more stories?