MORE LYING

"I want to help you," said Kasper, " but I feel I need to know more. I feel there is something you're not telling me."

"Like what?" murmured The Princess.

"I'm not sure. I just sense you're holding back."

"I never hold back," said The Princess, ruefully, thinking it might not be a terrible idea to hold back now and then, especially when it came to dalliances with pirates. Or The Pirate.

"What are you thinking?" Kasper asked.

"Nothing," she asserted, uncertainly.

"Is there a sea monster?"

"Maybe."

"Did you go swimming with your crown?"

"I have gone swimming with my crown. I'm not sure that's how I lost it."

"Could you give me a better idea of how you did?"

How could she tell this upstanding puppet just how far she had fallen with The Pirate, from her mathematical calculations, about 90 degrees from upright? The excitement had all turned to worry and shame. But she did not want Kasper to think ill of her.

"I was ambushed by The Pirate--and he ravished me!" she blurted out. "It was horrible!"

Horrible? The thrill of it suffused her anew, and luckily, she blushed.

"That blackguard!" Kasper exclaimed. "I'll track him down and teach him a lesson."

Oh, dear, she thought. This could get very messy.

"Thank you so very much, you are so kind and brave," she replied.

"I'll show you Brave!" said Kasper.