Once upon a time, there was an adventurous girl named Caterina who lived in the Gobi Desert. She liked digging for gold. Her parents wanted her to study, not just dig for gold. Caterina’s three older brothers and two older sisters were all good at academics, but Caterina hated studies. She never got an A on her report card, but she didn’t care.

One day, Caterina heard a huge panic going on in her village. She stopped digging to see what was going on. In the distance, Caterina saw people she had never seen before.

People were screaming, “Help! Help! The Mongolians are invading!”  

Caterina looked at her shovel, then at the only piece of gold that she had ever found. She remembered, however, that since she found the gold, snakes and crocodiles had attacked her. She remembered how the mysterious man had helped her find that piece of gold. The gold was cursed. The man was evil.

Chapter One

“Where is the man? Where is the man?” Caterina kept on asking herself.

She remembered how he had ran away while she was in the house. Caterina didn’t know which way he ran, but she knew whom to ask.

Her cat, Mr. Furrypaws, was good at finding tracks. Mr. Furrypaws bit things, so he would scare the man away. That was part of Caterina’s plan. Caterina went outside with Mr. Furrypaws. Sure enough, he found the path. Caterina and Mr. Furrypaws kept on going. They didn’t see the man yet. Finally, Caterina and Mr. Furrypaws took a break. Caterina found herself in a totally different place than she had expected.

Chapter Two

“Where am I?” Caterina whispered.

Suddenly, she found herself in a cave.

A huge voice boomed in the distance, “Your people are suffering. Your house is destroyed.  Now, I shall destroy you and your cat!”

The man came out of the dark. Caterina was speechless. The man was a giant. He stomped toward them, nearly stepping on Mr. Furrypaws. Mr. Furrypaws bit the giant’s leg. The giant grew red with rage as he tried to step on Mr. Furrypaws. Caterina hit the giant’s other leg with her shovel. The giant picked up Caterina and Mr. Furrypaws.

“Help! Help!” Caterina screamed.

Mr. Furrypaws was hanging from the giant’s hand, unconscious.

“Help! Help!” she screamed again.

But no one came.

Chapter Three

“Meow!” Mr. Furrypaws woke Caterina up.

She sat up, dazed.

“Where is the giant?” she wondered out loud. Suddenly, she heard a hunting horn. “Uh-oh!” she said.

The Mongolians were invading. Caterina quickly ran toward the Mongolians with Mr. Furrypaws.

“Don’t bite them. Only threaten them,” Caterina whispered.

Mr. Furrypaws did the exact opposite of what he was told. He bit the Mongolians really hard, one after the other. He also ran quickly so that they would get distracted and couldn’t catch him. Caterina thought that Mr. Furrypaws’s plan would backfire, but Mr. Furrypaws was smarter than she thought. Soon, the Mongolians surrendered, and her village was free.