Soon, the king’s carriage traveled down the road beside the lake. Puss ran out in front of it, waving his paws in the air, and got the driver to stop.

The king poked his head outside. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Thank heavens you’re here, Your Majesty!” Puss said. “My master, the Marquis of Carabas, has been robbed! The assaulter stole his clothes, pushed him into the lake, and took off with his carriage! He’ll drown if we don’t rescue him.”

The king was alarmed. “Guards, rescue the man in the lake immediately!” he ordered.

The king’s guards threw John a rope and pulled him out of the water. By the time John was out of the lake, he was so cold that his body was blue and he was shivering madly. The guards wrapped him in their coats and let him sit in the carriage with the king and the princess where it was warm.

John couldn’t believe he was in the presence of royalty. He was afraid Puss’s plan would end horribly if he didn’t know what he was doing.

“Are you all right, my boy?” the king said.

“Thanks to you, Your Majesty,” John said. “I can’t thank you enough for stopping to help me.”

“What a horrible thing, to be robbed of one’s clothes and pushed into a lake,” the king said.

“Umm…” John said, because he was unaware that this was what the king had been told. “Yes, it’s been a very rough day.”

The princess was quite smitten with John. She blushed and giggled as she sat across from him.

“Father, may we give the Marquis of Carabas a ride back home?” she asked. “It would be tragic if he had to walk after what he’s been through.”

“Of course we may,” the king said. “Where is your estate located?”

“My what?” John asked with large eyes.

“Poor Master, you have left your senses in the lake,” Puss said quickly. “His estate is just down the road on the other side of the village. Allow me to run ahead and prepare it for the king’s arrival.”

Puss ran down the road as fast as he could. As he passed through the village, he warned all the villagers that the king’s carriage would be passing through shortly.

“Good people, the king is approaching with the Marquis of Carabas,” he warned. “They are very close friends! Make sure to give your respects to the marquis, or the king will punish you!”

The people had never seen a puss in boots running through their town before, so they all came out to see him. Then, taking his warning very seriously, the villagers bowed and cheered as the king’s carriage passed them.

“God bless the Marquis of Carabas!” a lady cried.

“Long live the Marquis of Carabas!” a man shouted.

No one had ever cheered for John before in his life. He was starting to think he actually was the Marquis of Carabas.

“They sure like you around these parts,” the king said.

“Apparently so,” John said.

Meanwhile, Puss arrived at a large manor at the edge of the village, but it wasn’t the home of a marquis. The manor was the home of a horrible ogre that was feared throughout the kingdom.

Puss was intimidated by the ogre’s home. This was the final step in his plan. If it worked, he and John would be rich forever. If not, they might both be dead by nightfall.

The cat mustered all the bravery he could and burst through the front door of the manor.

“Prepare to die, hideous ogre!” Puss declared and withdrew his sword.

The ogre was sitting by a fire when Puss arrived. He stood up and towered over the cat, nearly twenty times his size. Even for an ogre, he was very large.

“How dare you disturb me!” the ogre shouted. “You will pay for this!”

Right in front of Puss’s eyes, the ogre magically transformed into a ferocious lion. He roared so loudly that Puss was almost knocked out of his boots.

“You are powerful enough to turn into a lion, but that does not impress me!” Puss laughed. “I bet you anything you are not powerful enough to condense your size.”

“I am powerful enough to be anything I wish,” the ogre said.

“Then prove it!” Puss said. “Turn into a mouse!”

The ogre never backed away from a challenge. Just to prove the cat wrong, the ogre transformed himself into a small field mouse.

“Ha-ha!” the ogre laughed. “As you see, I am much more powerful that you— AHHH!”

Puss pounced on the ogre and gobbled him up before he could transform into anything else. It was just in time too, because the king’s carriage arrived outside.

“Welcome home, Master,” Puss said. “I’ve just started a fire for you.”

The cat escorted John, the king, and the princess into the manor and served them tea.

“What a wonderful home!” the king said to John. “How long have you lived here?”

John gulped. “It was a recent transition,” he said.

“It used to belong to a terrible ogre, until my master slew him,” Puss said.

The king was so impressed with the Marquis of Carabas that he offered John his daughter’s hand in marriage. They were married and lived happily ever after in the manor. From then on, Puss also enjoyed a very privileged life with John and the princess, and the story of his wisdom and bravery lived on forever.

Much later, when John was an old man, his grandchildren asked him about their family’s history. A large smile came to John’s wrinkled face and he said, “Well, it all started with a Puss in Boots.”

The End