Chapter 4 ...

(yeah I know it has a sappy ending... but I didn't write it for YOU so deal with it lol.)

Chapter Four


All the people

who had come to admire the beast

inside the cage,

suddenly decided that they had somewhere better to be

now that it was outside the cage.



They pushed and shoved as they crowded

out the door of the tent.

Princess Kelly grabbed hold of Princess Cypress’ hand,

and tried to reach James’ hand as well,

but the rushing crowd of people

pushed between them

and suddenly Kelly couldn’t see her brother any more.




Kelly heard a ferocious growl

coming from RIGHT BEHIND HER.

She looked back over her shoulder

just in time to see the lion leap from the stage

and start running toward her.




"Run Cypress!" Kelly said

as she started toward the door.

The two girls ran and ran,

through the crowd

and as far away from the tent

as they could.




"We have to do something," said Cypress,

"Before somebody else gets hurt,

Who doesn’t deserve it."




Princess Kelly felt very scared.

She knew that if somebody didn’t go let her father, the King,

know about the lion,

then the lion might bite somebody else’s head off as well.


But it was a long, long way

from where they had stopped running

to the main entrance

where her father was looking at the latest hunting equipment.




"We’ll never make it in time," cried Cypress.

Kelly looked around frantically

and tried to come up with an idea.

Suddenly she saw a huge white horse

standing alone a few tents away.

The horse was obviously the one

that had belonged to the young man

who set the lion free.




"Follow me, Cypress!"

said Princess Kelly.

She ran toward the horse

and Princess Cypress tried to keep up,

Princess Kelly was a very fast runner.



As they got closer to the horse,

Kelly saw that the lion was running around

threatening to eat people

and generally behaving like a very bad lion indeed.




Princess Kelly knew that she wasn’t tall enough

to climb on the horse by herself,

so she led the horse

over to a table and chairs

that sat outside a big blue tent.



She climbed up on the chair first,

and then onto the table,

and from there she was just barely tall enough

to climb onto the horse’s saddle.




Cypress climbed on behind her

and Kelly held onto the reins very tightly.

"Hold on tight, Cypress!" said Kelly,

and they began to gallop

through the carnival

toward the entrance.




The King was holding a large crossbow

and apparently trying to convince the Queen

how badly he needed it for his next hunt,

when Kelly rode up next to them.




"But Queen Traci,

all the kings are using the newest equipment.

I’ll look like a fool if I show up

with my old wooden bow… "


The King looked up in surprise.



"Kelly!

What on earth are you doing

riding that horse around like that?!"




Kelly quickly told him about the lion

and the young man who had been eaten up by him.




The King was amazed and jumped onto his own horse,

still carrying the crossbow.

"Lead the way, Kelly!" he said

as the Crossbow salesman began to yell

something about breaking it and buying it.




The queen quickly pulled out her royal express card

and handed it the salesman

while she looked sourly and suspiciously

at her husband.




Kelly took off on the horse as fast as she could go.

She was scared to be heading back toward the lion,

but it wasn’t quite as bad now that her Dad was with her.

Soon they could hear the growling and screaming

from the lion and all the frightened people ahead of them.




Just as they got within about 150 meters,

the lion cornered a little old lady and had her trapped.

There was no way to get a better shot in time.

If they were going to save the sweet old woman’s life,

it would have to be from here.




The king swung down from his horse,

and dropped to a knee.

He took up a good steady position

and remembered to control his breathing.

He began to squeeze the trigger

as his sights settled on the lions shoulder.




"Don’t forget to take the safety off, Dad,"

said Kelly helpfully.


"Of course not,"

grumbled the King

as Kelly heard a loud click

from the crossbow.




The king settled his sights once more

and gently squeezed the trigger.




"THWACK!"




The expanding broadhead and carbon shaft

of the crossbow bolt made a loud noise

as it hit the lion

exactly where it was supposed to.




The lion fell to the ground

just as it began to leap at the old woman.

The old woman fell to the ground

as she fainted from fear.

Kelly and Cypress fell to the ground

in relief as they realized that the danger had passed.

And the King fell to the ground

as the Queen whacked him in the side of the head

with the royal purse.




"We are going to talk about this later."

The queen said as she put her royal express card

back into the purse.

She immediately turned her shoulder to the king

and rushed over to pick up princess Kelly.

Princess Cypress’ parents ran over at the same time.



"Nice shot bro," said King Carlos.


The Kings high-fived and started talking about ballistics,

while the queens fussed over their brave daughters.




"Where did you get this horse, Kelly?"

asked the Queen.

Kelly explained that it had belonged to the young man

sent by "Pee-tah"


"Can I keep it… Pleeeease?" asked Kelly.

She smiled her biggest smile

and batted her eyes at her parents.



Before her mother could open her mouth,

her father had already opened his big mouth

to say yes.


"But you have to take very good care of it

and feed and water him every day…

and you still won’t be able to ride by yourself

until you turn nine." Said her mother.



"Yes, that’s what I was going to say," said the King.




"What are you going to name him?" asked Sir James,

who had just ridden up on his horse

with a new wooden sword in one hand

and a snowcone in the other.




Princess Kelly looked at her beautiful horse

and thought for a moment.

"I’m going to call him Rocky Top,"

she said with a smile,

and they all started the long ride back to the castle.



It had been a big day, filled with a real adventure,

and they all wanted to go home and eat dinner

and just be together as a family

once again.