whole collection of horses and carriages and footmen and women bustling around the horses.
"It's Father!" Kate cried with happiness.
"And Mother!" Rupert exclaimed with joy.
Their parents, who were standing in conversation with Cousin Garil, heard their shouts of welcome and turned to greet them, the worry on their faces disappearing as they took in Rupert's presence and caught their son and daughter to them, giving them hard hugs of relief. They said they'd come home early from their tour because they had missed them so much.
Kate and Rupert clamoured to tell them everything that had happened since they had last seen them, but their mother and father couldn't hear anything over the ruckus of the horses and the people in the courtyard, so they sent them inside to get washed and changed, and said they would join them for dinner. Cousin Garil looked down his nose at Kate as she raced with her brother inside, and when Rupert stuck out his tongue at him in her defence, Garil didn't, for once, just say "Boys will be boys”.
That evening, over a private reunion feast of roasted pheasant with carrots and onions and lovely potatoes, Kate and Rupert told their parents their news, and their Father promised never to leave Cousin Garil in charge again. So the next morning, everything was back to normal. Kate and Rupert went to classes with Tutor Alfred in the morning, and in the afternoon they went out and played with their golden ball on the wide green lawn. Rupert accidentally tossed it down the well, but Kate climbed down the well rope to get it, and Rupert hauled her back up, then they carried on playing, until the sky started turning dark and it was dinnertime.
Read more middle grade fairy tales by Shelley Chappell
Hah and Grr were abandoned in the wood as babies and raised by Mother Wolf. They are happy, but they are the weakest of the pack and they are often hungry. One day, when they are following in the tracks of their lupine family, they smell something wonderful on the wind and follow their noses to a strange den in the woods, where they find delicious foods that fill their bellies. In the confusion that follows, Hah and Grr must decide whether their future lies with Man or Wolf. A short story of 5, 100 words.
About the Author
Shelley Chappell was born and raised at the ends of the earth in Canterbury, New Zealand, but there were no towers or dragons in sight. Her hair did once fall to below her knees, but her childhood was blissfully untroubled by talking animals or witches wanting to toast and roast her.
Although she has worked hard over the years in a variety of roles, including as a university sessional lecturer and tutor, a high school English teacher, a librarian and a medical P.A., she considers her lifestyle to have been much better than Cinderella's. Despite a lot of looking, she hasn't yet found her pot of gold or a fairy to grant her three wishes and is open to suggestions as to their whereabouts.
To find out more about Shelley and her writing, visit her website at www.shelleychappell.com.
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