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"What's your cat's name?" Lilly asked, as she stroked the animal's ears. They sat safely in their little cave.
"Ping-Pong," Matthew answered. "Ping for short. I called her that because she's got a little circle of white fur on her tummy, and it looked like a furry ping-pong ball."
"Funny," Lilly giggled. "When will she have her kittens?" She looked enviously at the puss all curled up in her basket. Ping was the only one to have a comfortable bed that night.
"Any day," Matthew replied.
"I bet they'll be adorable!" Lilly squealed. She loved animals; especially baby ones. "How long have you had Ping for?"
"I found her a few months ago. Not too long, but she loves me, and I love her."
"Sweet," Lilly smiled, then lay down. "I'm going to sleep."
"'Night."
"Goodnight."
The next morning, when Lilly opened her eyes, she gasped in delight of the first thing she saw. In the basket, nuzzling against their mother, four tiny, wriggling balls of fur eagerly sucked their mother's milk. Their eyes were shut tight. Ping gazed up at Lilly, and let out a soft meow. Lilly shook Matthew awake, who sat up, and, upon seeing the kittens, stroked Ping.
"Good job, old girl," he said softly.
"What are you going to name them?" Lilly whispered in utter fascination. Matthew looked at each of the kittens; three boys and a girl.
"Apricot," he pointed to an orange-and-brown striped male, "Socks," a black male, with white on his paws, "Midnight," a completely black male, like his mother, "and… um…" He struggled finding a name for the completely white female.
"Dove!" Lilly exclaimed. "Her name is Dove."
"Okay," Matthew laughed. "Dove it is."
"Can I hold one?" Lilly asked.
"Let them be for now," Matthew told her. "They're having their breakfast; and speaking of which," he dragged over the bag of apples, and handed one to her. "Here is yours." Lilly took a big bite of apple.
"So delicious," she said. "You know what would be good right now?" Matthew shook his head. "Eggs! Fried eggs fresh from the pan. With fresh orange juice and pancakes."
"Don't make us too hungry to eat," Matthew stopped her. "All we have is apples, so we'll have to make do with apples. Okay?" Lilly giggled.
"Okay," she said.
After breakfast, Matthew had Lilly stay behind with the kittens, while he looked for firewood; their first night in the cave had been freezing. Lilly sat and stroked the kittens as she waited. The cave entrance was a long, narrow tunnel which widened out into a cavern. Lilly crawled through the tunnel to look outside. Peering through the small opening, she heard footsteps in the forest.
"Hello?" she called. "Matthew?" Through the bushes emerged the Stabbington Brothers. The two large men looked around, before they saw her.
"There she is!"
The Stabbingtons leapt to the cave, but Lilly ducked back inside. Both brothers were too big to get in, but one reached his large arm in to try and grab her. Lilly kept out of his reach, and kicked his hand.
"Get away! Get away!" she cried.
"I can't get her!" she heard one say. Then the light that came through the opening was blotted out, as the Stabbingtons shoved a large boulder into the entrance.
"It doesn't matter whether we have the Princess or not," one Stabbington told his brother. "We just have to tell the King and Queen they we have their granddaughter, and demand a ransom. And just because they give it to us, doesn't mean we give her back; we might not be bothered to move that rock. It is heavy…" Their voices faded as they walked away, discussing their evil plans. Lilly sat at the back of the cave, her knees drawn up to her chest, as she slowly rocked herself back and forth in the dark. If only Matthew was here! If only she never ran away from Gothel! If only she never found that stupid tower in the first place! Wiping away her tears, she sang the healing song to calm her nerves.
"Flower gleam and glow. Let your power shine…" As her hair glowed, she realised she could see from the light. Crawling back through the tunnel, she tried shoving the rock out of the way with her shoulder, but to no avail. Finally, her hair dimmed, and she curled up against the rock, and burst into tears.
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