This is a fairy tale about a beautiful kitten princess who, unlike most princesses, loved exploring the forest, climbing to the tippy-top of the highest trees, tumbling through wild fields, digging in mudholes and other very messy things. Unfortunately, this runs in direct conflict with her parents wish to have a quiet, well behaved, and most importantly, tidy daughter.

Meanwhile, in a nearby duchy, a young puppy is having the opposite problem with his own parents. What will happen when the Puppy and Princess meet? And most importantly, will the Princess be able to keep her promise to her parents? Read on and find out!

The Princess's New Gown

Copyright 2007 by Heather Rose Brown

Once upon a time, in a land closer than you may think, lived a beautiful kitten princess who had long silky fur the color of midnight. Unlike most princesses, she loved exploring the forest, climbing to the tippy-top of the highest trees, tumbling through wild fields, digging in mudholes and other very messy things.

This was very frustrating for her parents, the King and the Queen, who just wanted their daughter to act like other princesses. This also annoyed her caretakers, who had to keep cleaning and repairing her beautiful royal gowns and replacing lost royal shoes, hair ribbons, gloves, hats, and other royal pieces of clothing.

One sunny winter morning, the King and the Queen decided to have a talk with the Princess.

"Sweetheart," said the King, "you really must take more care of your clothing."

"Yes," said the Queen, "the Head Caretaker is about ready to quit if you come home one more time missing clothing and all muddy and bruised."

"That's right," said the King, nodding. "So we are going to ask you to make a promise."

The Queen took the Princess's hand in hers and said, "Please stay clean today and be careful when you play, especially with your new gown. It took weeks to have it made and you don't have anything else to replace it."

The King put a gentle hand on the Princess's shoulder, smiled warmly, and said, "We will be having some royal visitors tonight, and we'd like them to see what a beautiful, well behaved daughter we have. If you do nothing else, please at least keep your gown clean until tonight."

The princess saw how serious and concerned her parents were, so she took in a deep breath and said in her most serious voice, "I promise to be very careful and to not get dirty or mess up my clothes."

The Queen and King smiled brightly, hearts filled with hope at the promise, and sent their daughter out to play.

The princess stayed in the Royal Garden for most of the morning, trying her best to act like a princess and play quiet, princess games in the winter sunshine. But she eventually got very bored, and decided to take a walk in the woods.

"I'll be very careful and just walk on the main paths and avoid the snow-melt puddles and be very careful to not lose anything," the Princess said to herself. She did a very good job of sticking to her decision until she met a large turtle coming up the path toward her. The Princess could see the Turtle was shivering and sneezing and rushed to his side.

"What's wrong?"asked the Princess, her voice filled with concern.

"Oh, I was a bit forgetful this morning," said the Turtle, sounding very stuffed up. "I was so excited about a party I'm supposed to be at tonight, I completely forgot to put on my hat, and now I'm catching a cold."

"You poor thing," said the Princess as she handed her royal handkerchief to the sniffling Turtle.

"I'd turn back now," said the Turtle between sniffles, "but I promised I'd be at a party, and I'd completely miss it if I tried going home now."

The Princess considered trying to carry the Turtle home so he could get his hat, but he was too big for her to carry. So she took her own royal hat and put it on the Turtle, thinking to herself, "Well, I'm not actually losing the hat, since I know I'm giving it to the Turtle."

"Thank you very much," said the Turtle after he blew his nose into the royal handkerchief. "I think my cold is clearing up already!"

"You're very welcome," said the Princess as she continued down the path.

Eventually the forest gave way to vast fields of farmland, which had been turned over for the winter. The Princess saw an old gray Hare wrestling with a tarp covering a small hand-drawn cart and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

The Hare smiled at the Princess and said, "Oh, I'll be all right, dear. I have some food I'm trying to keep warm here, and I lost one of the ties holding down the tarp."

Without a second thought, the Princess pulled the large blue royal ribbon from her hair, allowing her long, midnight-black curls to flap in the strong breeze. She then tied the loose corner of the tarp down with a few practiced knots.

"What a resourceful kitten you are," exclaimed the Hare after giving the Princess a kiss on the cheek. "Thank so much," she said before taking the handles of the cart and continuing on her way.

"You're very welcome," called out the Princess before skipping down the path.

It was almost noon when she reached the outskirts of a small village and nearly crashed into a large brown Bear squatting on the side of the road. "What are you doing?" she asked the Bear when she saw him attempting to sew up a large hole in a worn looking greenish-gray sack.

"Oh, I promised to bring these wineskins and jugs to a party in a nearby kingdom," said the Bear, "but my sack keeps tearing and I'm not sure if I'll make it on time."

The Princess examined the previous patches on the sack, the Bears current attempted repair, and then announced, "I'm afraid this will never do. There's too many patches in your sack and it will just keep tearing."

So she took off her royal winter cape, tied up the corners, placed the jugs and wineskins in the makeshift sack, held up the knotted part to the Bear and said, "That should hold fairly well."

The Bear looked at the quick work the Princess performed. His furry face broke into a huge grin and he gave the Princess a warm, gentle bear hug. "Thank you so much," he said, unsure of what more to say to show his gratitude.

"You're very welcome," she said as she waved over her shoulder to the grinning Bear.

When she reached the far end of the village, heavy gray clouds drifted across the late afternoon sun. The breeze started to pick up, and the Princess began shivering without her cape. Just as she began thinking of heading back home and what excuses she could make for the missing clothing, the Princess noticed the faint sounds of a child crying somewhere nearby. She followed the sound to the far side of a huge woodpile. There she found a puppy dressed in very royal looking clothes sitting on a large tree stump and crying noisily.

"What's wrong?" asked the Princess as gently as she could.

The Puppy looked up in surprise and quickly wiped at his tears. "Nothing," he mumbled, just barely keeping his voice from trembling.

The Princess put her fists on her hips and said, "I seriously doubt that."

The Puppy's face began to crumble and the Princess said more gently, "I'm sorry. You can tell me what's wrong, honest."

The Puppy studied her for a moment, and then seemed to decide she was serious. "I'm supposed to go somewhere with my parents tonight, and I look just awful!"

The Princess carefully examined the Puppy's royal looking clothing and said, "I don't see anything wrong with what you're wearing. In fact you look rather handsome."

At this, the Puppy burst into tears again, saying between sobs, "But I don't want to look handsome!"

The Princess wishing she still had her handkerchief, handed her scarf to the Puppy, and then put her arm around his shoulder while he cried. After he more or less pulled himself together, she asked him, "How do you want to look?"

The Puppy looked at her sideways with his bloodshot eyes and softly said, "Pretty."

The Princess thought about this long and hard for a moment, then she jumped from the stump and said to the Puppy, "Stand up for a minute."

The Puppy stood up next to the Princess, wiping the tear stains from his face.

"It'll work," said the Princess after looking the Puppy up and down for a moment.

"What'll work?" asked the Puppy getting a curious look.

"You can wear my clothes!" the Princess exclaimed.

"What? How could we do that? What would you wear?" asked the Puppy, blinking in confusion.

The Princess rolled her eyes and answered, "I'll wear yours, silly."

"But, I mean," the Puppy gave her a cautious look. "Would you really?"

The Princess sighed and said, "Listen. I'll go to the other side of this woodpile and you stay here. I'll throw my clothes over to your side and you throw yours over to mine. Deal?"

The Puppy screwed up his face for a moment considering the offer. Then his face opened into a wide smile and he said, "Deal!"

The Princess was shivering something awful between when she threw her royal gown over the woodpile and when the Puppy threw his clothes over to her. She quickly slipped into his warm, well-lined clothes and wondered why her gowns weren't lined like this. When she came around the woodpile, she saw the Puppy struggling with the buttons going down his back and remembered how proud she felt when she finally learned to do her own. To her credit, she decided to not tease the Puppy and helped him button up the gown instead.

When she turned him around, she couldn't help exclaiming, "Hey, you are pretty!"

The Puppy blushed brightly and said between chattering teeth, "Th-th-thank you."

The Princess suddenly remembered how cold her royal gown could be without a cape, and draped the cloak he had thrown over the woodpile around his shoulders.

The Puppy blushed even more and said, "Thanks again."

Seeing her royal gown on the Puppy, the Princess realized something shocking; it was clean! "Whatever you do,"she asked him, "don't get it dirty, or the Head Caretaker will quit and I'll be in big trouble with my parents."

Before the Puppy could answer, a powerful hand lifted the Princess by her arm, and a gruff voice boomed in her ear.

"Caught ya', li'l rascal! The Duke and Duchess are furious with you. But now that I've found you, we may still be able to leave in time."

The Princess twisted around to see a muscular wolf soldier holding onto her. She would have laughed at the surprised look on the Soldier's face if she hadn't been so frightened.

"Sorry 'bout that," grumbled the Soldier as he put the Princess back on the ground. "Guess I was looking for a different rascal."

Just then, the Puppy came up behind the Princess, and the Soldier's jaw nearly came unhinged. "Lad? Is ... is that you?" he asked. "Your parents are going to have a fit when they see you. But we'll have to take care of first things first, like getting you to the carriage."

The Soldier then lifted the Puppy and carried him under his arm like a sagging bag of wheat flour. Furious at the way her new friend had been carried off without so much as a by your leave, she stomped after the Soldier, barely keeping up with his long, powerful strides.

As the Soldier reached an ornately decorated carriage with one wheel stuck in a deep, muddy rut, he bellowed, "I found yer son."

The Duke and Duchess poked their heads from the carriage windows and looked at the Puppy under the Soldier's arm. The Duke simply grunted and pulled his head when he saw his son, while the Duchess said something sounding very much like, "Not again," before pulling in her own head.

The Soldier gently yet firmly planted the Puppy's feet on the ground next to the stuck carriage wheel and said, "Now, shall we try it again?"

"Not in my dress you don't," said an exhausted Princess, who was gasping for air when she finally caught up with the Soldier.

The Soldier looked at the Princess for a moment, then grinned broadly and said, "Ah, I think I see what's going on now. Well lass, the horses can't seem to pull this carriage out of the rut without help, and I can't push while shoving stones and sticks under the wheel so it don't slip back. If you have any ideas on how to do it different, I'd like to hear it."

"I'll take care of the sticks and stones," answered the princess, folding her arms across her chest.

The Soldier held his stomach and roared with laughter. Then he walked over to the Princess and slapped her on the back. "Yer a rascal, but I like ya just the same."

Once the Duke and Duchess climbed out of the carriage and stood on the other side of the road with their son, the Soldier and the Princess wrestled with the carriage wheel. After a lot of sweat, cooperation, and some choice words the Soldier mumbled to himself, they managed to free the wheel from the rut, getting each other quite muddy in the process.

The Puppy cheered and ran over to the Princess to give her a hug, but then he remembered her asking him to be careful with the gown, so he gave her a kiss on the cheek instead. The Duke followed behind the Puppy and shook the Princess's hand, saying, "My dear, you've helped us out of a difficult situation. How can we repay you?"

The Princess considered for a moment rubbing a muddy hand on her chin, "Would you be able to give me a ride home?"

"Certainly!" said the Duchess. "We'd be glad to."

So the royal family and the Soldier discussed directions with the Princess, and it was discovered they were all going in the same direction.

"This'll be great!" shouted the Puppy as the Soldier helped him climb into the carriage.

The Princess leaped up after him. When the Puppy's parents climbed in last, the Princess noticed how drawn and upset their faces seemed. Everything was very quiet in the carriage as the Soldier drove them to their destination.

Finally, the mother spoke. "You realize, of course, you won't be able to go to the party dressed like that."

"But," said the Puppy, seeming at a loss for words.

Before the Puppy could find any, the father said, "You know we asked you to behave, just this one time. We don't have anything for you to change back into, so you are not going in. Is that understood?"

The Puppy's eyes filled with tears as he quietly nodded. The Princess wasn't sure what to do, so she kept silent. It was a long, quiet ride back home.

When they reached the Princess's home, she leaped out of the carriage almost as soon as it stopped and landed running. "I'll be able to change before my parents see me," she thought, "and then maybe I'll be able to borrow something from a page for the Puppy." With her mind reeling with the quickly laid plan, the Princess didn't see her father until she ran into him and knocked him into a half-frozen mud puddle.

The Princess froze in her tracks as the King slowly pulled himself from the puddle. Dripping mud, he looked down at his daughter and asked in a carefully controlled voice, "Where ... have ... you ... been?" The King looked at his daughter again and gasped. "And where are your clothes?"

The Turtle, who happened to be the most trusted adviser to the Duke and Duchess, walked up to the King and Queen and said, "Your daughter gave me her hat. If it weren't for her kindness, I would have been quite ill by now."

The Hare, who happened to be the Head Chef to the Duke and Duchess, came up behind the Turtle and said, "Your daughter gave me her ribbon. If it weren't for her quick thinking, tonight's feast would have been stone cold by now."

The Bear, who happened to be a close friend to the Duke and Duchess as well as the Puppy's godfather, spoke up next. "Your daughter gave me her cape," he said. "If it weren't for her generosity, there would have been nothing to drink at tonight's feast."

The Queen turned from the guests to her daughter and asked, "But where are the rest of your clothes?"

"Yes," added the King, "Where's your gown?"

Before she could think of an explanation, the Princess heard the carriage door swing open behind her. When she turned around, she saw the Puppy in the doorway.

The Puppy loudly announced, "It's right here. And there's not a spot of dirt on it!"

Both of the Duke and Duchess blushed with embarrassment, and the whole crowd watching this scene grew very still.

Somewhere, deep inside her stomach, the Princess felt a giggle start. The more she tried to keep it down, the more she giggled. The Puppy seemed to catch her giggles. Other muffled giggles were heard in the crowd, until even the Puppy's parents and the Princess's parents found themselves joining in.

The Princess's mother walked over to the Puppy's mother, hugged her and said, "Your son takes better care of my daughter's clothes than my daughter does. Won't you have him come in and join us?"

The Duke and Duchess seemed unsure, but both the King and Queen insisted it would be just fine. That night, the Princess quickly cleaned up and managed to convince the Head Caretaker it would be all right to borrow some clothes from a page with whom she had become friends. Feeling much more comfortable, she joined the Puppy, his parents, her parents, and all the other wonderful folk at the party and had more fun than she ever had before.