Rescue Princesses #5: The Snow Jewel Read Online Free PDF Page A

poured into the hallway behind Freya. A murmur of astonishment rose from the crowd as they looked at King Eric.
    The king was running up and down the Great Hall, his arms outstretched. Ahead of him skipped a tiny black-and-white kitten.
    Minky paused now and then to meow at the king as if urging him to run faster. Then she scrambled under the chairs and appeared on the other side of the long table. Her tail was pointed into the air and her ears were pricked up. She looked as if she was enjoying the chasing game enormously.
    The crowd of kings and queens smiled in amusement at the little kitten.
    “Minky! Come here!” called Freya. If she got to Minky first, then maybe she could talk to her dad and explain everything.
    But Minky swished her tail and scampered away.
    Just then, King Eric sneaked around the table and made a grab for the kitten.
    Frightened, Minky jumped onto the table and dashed along it, sending plates and napkins flying. Then she leapt off theend and ran straight between the king’s legs and across the hallway.
    “No!” yelled the king.
    Freya ran through the crowd and stopped at the open door. Where was Minky?
    Now that the show was over, the crowd of kings and queens began to move into the Great Hall, talking about coffee and lunch.
    A gray-haired queen tapped Freya on the elbow. “The little animal escaped, my dear. Out there.” She pointed at the snowy garden.
    Freya stared across the snow in dismay. How had Minky disappeared so fast? Was that a black-and-white kitten scampering down the hill?
    She stepped out into the freezing garden, not caring that she didn’t have her coat on. She still couldn’t see any signof Minky. An icy fear grew inside her. Minky was in danger, out here all alone. It wasn’t a good place for a kitten to be.
    “Freya!” Emily hurried over to her. “Are you OK?”
    Freya looked at the kings and queens walking away. It felt like they were deliberately turning their backs on Minky. “Where are they all going?” she cried. “Don’t they know that a kitten can’t survive for long out in the snow?”
    King Eric reached the doorway. “Freya! I would like to talk to you!”
    Freya turned pink. “I can’t! I have to find Minky right now! What if she gets lost or stuck in a snowdrift?” She darted back inside, grabbed her coat from the house, and then ran out across the garden and through the castle gate. Freya raced down the hill, only stopping at the bottomto search the snowy ground for signs of the kitten.

    The snow had stopped falling, but the air felt colder than before. Freya’s breath hung in front of her in a little misty cloud.
    She scanned the hillside again and looked closely at the ice rink. She couldn’t see Minky anywhere.
    “Hold on, Freya!” said Lulu, as the other princesses ran to catch up with her.
    “We’ll look for Minky, too,” said Emily.
    Clarabel put her arm around Freya. “You’re a Rescue Princess now! That means you’ve got friends to help you.”
    Freya’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, thank you! I’m just so worried about her. She’s so small and she doesn’t know about all the dangers out here. What if she meets a wild animal?”
    “Look! This will help us.” Jaminta pointed at a patch of ground.
    The others ran over to look. Tiny marks zigzagged across the snow in front of them.
    “Paw prints!” exclaimed Emily. “Good job, Jaminta! That means Minky must have come this way.”
    “Are you sure those tracks were really made by a kitten and not a snow rabbit or something?” said Lulu.
    Freya crouched down next to the tracks and traced a finger around one print with its circle and four little pads. “These paw prints were definitely made by a kitten,” she said. “Quick! Let’s follow them!”

The princesses ran at full speed, following the tracks in the snow. The paw prints led them right down to the place where they’d ice skated that morning. They looked around anxiously. On one side was the glittering ice rink