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"They'll find it," Lilly whispered, even though no one above would have been able to hear her.
"I know," Matthew said. "But the dresser will give us time to get away." They were walking in a dirt tunnel, just tall enough for Matthew to stand upright in. He had lit a lantern at the foot of the ladder, and they used it to light their way.
"Where does this lead?" Lilly asked.
"I don't know," Matthew confessed. "I only dared come down here long enough to put the lantern by the ladder, just in case of an emergency." He chuckled. "I didn't except that emergency to involve the Princess. Your parents are the King and Queen, then?"
"Not yet," Lilly shook her head. "My grandparents are still. My mother was the lost Princess."
"Oh? I remember hearing about that from my mother and father when I was littler. Do you know what the whole story is?"
"No; they never told me." Lilly shrugged, then wiped her eyes.
"You okay?" Matthew asked.
"Yeah," Lilly answered her voice full of tears.
"You miss your parents?"
"Yeah, but that's not why I'm sad." Matthew didn't speak, so she continued. "What you told me about orphans – that's why I'm sad. Being an orphan sounds so hopeless."
"Yeah, but there is hope for orphans," Matthew said. "People can adopt them, and make them their children. And if they already have children of their own, then they'll be adopted brothers and sisters." Lilly wiped her nose on her sleeve, and smiled.
"That sounds nice," she said softly, stroking the cat in the basket he was carrying. "Will you adopt me, and be my brother?"
"Only if you adopt me and be my sister," Matthew grinned.
"Agreed," Lilly said.
"Look!" Matthew cried, pointing up in the roof of the tunnel. They had come to a dead end, and had been searching around for a way out. "A small hole!"
"But it's only big enough to let in a tiny bit of light," Lilly said.
"We'll make it bigger," Matthew told her, as he scraped at the surrounding earth. Lilly stood on her toes, and helped. Dirt fell into their mouths and eyes, and they were covered from head to toe before they finally crawled out into the fresh air.
"It felt like we were down there for hours!" Lilly cried, as she placed the basket on the grass, and helped Matthew out of the hole.
"Maybe," Matthew said, brushing the dirt off of his clothes, and shaking it out of his hair. "Or maybe it was only a few short minutes that felt so long because of the endless darkness." Lilly only shrugged. Matthew looked around.
"I know where we are!" he exclaimed. "Near here is a small cave. We can stay there tonight, and then go to town in the morning." He looked at the evening sky, as the sun slipped down past the horizon. "Come on." He picked up the pussy's basket, and they walked quickly.
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