by Lindsey Kelk
Even though Cinders hadn’t seen any windows on the outside of the tower, the inside was filled with light. It was the very opposite of the Dark Forest, blindingly bright and beautiful – and, to Cinders, it smelled like freshly baked cookies and just-cut grass and the sparkling spring that ran through the bottom of her garden at home. It was the best smell she had ever smelled in all her smelling days.
‘Now,’ said the woman, turning round to smile kindly at the questers. ‘Who’s hungry?’
Mouse squeaked. He was very hungry and the entire tower smelled deliciously of brie. It was so strong, he was rather tempted to give the walls a lick.
‘I’m hungry!’ Hansel held his hand up as high as he could. Whatever concerns he’d had about the tower before were far from his mind now. He could smell gingerbread and tree bark and a freshly washed pillowcase at the end of a long day, and he’d never been happier.
‘That’s good,’ said the lady, leading them further into the tower, ‘because I’ve prepared a feast.’
It was odd, thought Cinders. From the outside the tower looked very skinny, but, now they were inside, it seemed huge, with one room leading on to another and then another and then another. She wasn’t even sure if she could remember her way back to the drawbridge.
‘Can anyone else hear crying?’ asked Sparks, pricking up an ear. But no one could.
Cinders could hear the sound of hooves galloping and birds chirping. Hansel could hear the sound of his mother singing and the kettle boiling on the stove. Mouse couldn’t tell them, but he could hear the sound of cheese being unwrapped. (Mouse had a fairly one-track mind.) Everyone could hear their absolute favourite thing in the world.
‘Excuse me,’ Cinders said, her mouth watering at the whiff of baked goods that hung heavy in the air, ‘but are you a fairy?’
‘I’m a friend of the fairies,’ the woman replied. ‘They tell me things I need to know and I help them when I can. You can call me Allaine.’
‘Did you say Alan?’ Hansel muttered.
‘It’s a fairy thing,’ Cinders replied. ‘They’re a bit weird about names. Don’t worry about it.’
‘I don’t get guests very often,’ said Allaine, ushering the four friends into another room and shutting the door behind them. ‘So I might have gone a little bit overboard with dinner. I do hope you’ll find something here you like. I couldn’t send you off to Fairyland on an empty stomach.’
Cinders couldn’t quite believe it. The banquet at the palace had been impressive, and her magical breakfast with the three bears had been pretty great too, but never, ever in her life had she seen anything quite like this. In the middle of the room, piled high on a white crystal table, was the biggest mountain of food she had ever seen. Allaine had all of her favourite things: brownies and muffins and Victoria sponge and treacle cake and biscuits and croissants and scones and chocolate torte and absolutely anything else you could think of. The other end of the table was laden with freshly baked gingerbread, jam sandwiches, tomato soup and a piping hot blackberry pie, which just so happened to be Hansel’s favourite thing in the whole world. And in the middle of it all were at least two dozen sausages and a whole wheel of cheese.
‘Cinders,’ Sparks growled quietly. ‘I know this all looks delicious, but something isn’t quite right here. I don’t think you should eat anything.’
‘Looks all right to me,’ Hansel said, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the table, trying to decide what to eat first.
Even though she desperately wanted to tuck into a particularly yummy-looking blueberry scone, Cinders had a teeny-tiny nagging feeling that Sparks might be right. And, when she listened extra hard, she was almost certain she could hear someone crying as well.
‘How did you know our names?’ Cinders asked as she sat in the seat Allaine pulled out for her.
‘The fairies told me,’ Allaine replied simply, still smiling.
‘And how did you know all our favourite foods?’ Sparks asked, hiding underneath Cinders’s legs.
‘The fairies told me,’ Allaine repeated.
‘Did they tell you who I am?’ Cinders asked.
Allaine nodded. ‘You’re Cinders. You live with your father and stepmother and stepsisters beyond the forest.’
Cinders bit her lip. Time for the big question. ‘And what about my real mother?’
‘Your real mother died when you were born,’ Allaine answered, ‘but I’m sure she would have been very proud of you.’
‘Did you know her?’ Cinders asked.
‘I’ve never met anyone from the human kingdom before,’ the woman replied, shaking her head. ‘The blobbles normally lead everyone away before they reach the tower.’
So Allaine didn’t seem to know Cinders’s mum had been a fairy. That was very interesting.
‘I think we should leave,’ Sparks said quietly, pulling on the leg of her trousers. ‘I’ve a terrible feeling about this place.’
If Sparks was prepared to walk away from a table full of sausages, something was definitely up. But everything looked so tasty and she was so hungry …
‘Maybe just one bite,’ Cinders said, staring at a plump, fluffy scone positively bursting with sultanas.
But Sparks wasn’t having any of it. He jumped on the table in front of his friend and took a big sniff of all the food.
‘Stop!’ he barked loudly. ‘Do not eat a single bite! All this food has been cursed!’
‘Say what?’ Hansel said with a mouth full of pie.
‘Oh, Hansel, no!’ Cinders cried.
But it was too late.
Before Hansel could spit out the food, his eyes closed and his head plopped forward on to the table, face first into a big custard tart. Very, very loudly, he began to snore.
‘Oh, dear,’ Allaine said with an awkward laugh. ‘Perhaps my cooking skills aren’t quite up to scratch. I’m sure the rest of it is okay. Do dig in.’
‘Not on your nelly!’ shouted Cinders. ‘Get her, Sparks!’
And, with that, the shaggy red dog leaped off the table and went right for Allaine, who turned to run a moment too late. Before she could get anywhere, Sparks grabbed hold of the edge of her dress with his teeth, and held his ground, growling loudly.
‘Let go!’ Allaine squealed as the fabric began to tear. ‘This is my best dress! My only dress!’
‘Tell us what you’re really doing here or he’ll be taking a bite out of your bum,’ Cinders ordered, even though they both knew Sparks had never, ever bitten anyone in his life.
‘Fine!’ the woman squeaked, her purple eyes flashing. ‘My job is to prevent anyone from the kingdom finding their way to Fairyland, and to prevent anyone from Fairyland finding their way to the kingdom. The fairies don’t want anyone bothering them, especially not people who come from your kingdom, thank you very much.’
‘Well, that’s not very nice, is it?’ Cinders replied. ‘What’s wrong with people from the kingdom?’
‘I’ve heard lots of stories about you folk,’ Allaine sniffed. ‘You eat fairies, don’t you?’
‘We most certainly do not!’ Cinders said with great indignation. ‘What a terrible thing to say.’
‘That’s what I heard and that’s why the fairies don’t want you in their land.’
It was the most ridiculous thing Cinders had heard since Joderick had tried to convince her that fairies ate people. Why did everyone believe so much nonsense? Her dad always said, ‘Don’t believe everything you hear!’ and, good golly gosh, he was definitely right.
‘Cinders?’ Sparks said, his voice a bit muffled because his jaws were still firmly clamped down on the green-haired woman’s skirt.
‘Yes, Sparks?’
‘What are we going to do now?’
Cinders planted her hands on her hips and stared at their would-be captor. Hmm. She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
‘I know,’ she said, suddenly excited. She turned to Allaine. ‘Take us to the person who’s crying.’
‘Nope,’ All
aine said, shaking her head. ‘I’m afraid I can’t do that.’ Sparks growled and bit down a little harder.
‘All right! This way – let’s go, let’s go!’ Allaine squealed, leading them out of the banquet room and towards a tall spiral staircase.
‘Well, Muffin,’ Joderick said, slowing his horse outside a particularly pretty-looking cottage in the middle of the Dark Forest, ‘this is where the map ends. Do you think Cinders is inside?’
The horse snuffled in response, still not altogether ecstatic about being dragged away from her warm, safe stables and ridden through a pitch-black forest all afternoon. The prince’s friend better be inside or Muffin was going to be well and truly miffed.
Joderick hopped off the horse’s back and strode up the footpath, rubbing the toes of his riding boots on the back of his legs before he knocked on the door. The Dark Forest was a terribly grubby place. He couldn’t help but think it might not be quite as dark if one of the royal gardeners got in there and did a spot of pruning from time to time. It wouldn’t kill his father to lay a path while he was at it either.
After a moment or two, Joderick heard large, heavy footsteps inside the cottage that almost certainly didn’t belong to Cinders. He took a deep breath and practised his more regal facial expression, hoping that whoever was inside would be pleased to help a prince.
‘We’ve had this place for five years and never has anyone so much as knocked at the door,’ a voice inside grumbled. ‘And now we’ve got people coming and going like we’re a flipping hotel. I’m telling you, Karen, you never should have signed up to that mailing list.’
‘Be quiet and open the door,’ commanded another voice, ‘and tell them whatever they’re selling, we don’t want any.’
The door creaked open to reveal a very tall, very furry, very angry-looking bear.
‘Whatever it is, we don’t want any,’ he growled.
‘I’m not selling anything!’ Joderick said in a voice that wasn’t nearly as brave as he had hoped it might be. ‘It is I, Prince Joderick Jorenson Picklebottom, son of King Poderick Porenson Picklebottom the Fifth, and I am on a quest to help my friend, Cinders, who I believed passed this way earlier today.’
Before the big bear could say anything, Joderick heard the thunder of feet from inside the house and suddenly another pair of paws pushed the unwilling host out of the way.
‘It is you!’
A second bear, shorter and wearing a very fetching floral dress, clasped her paws together in delight before clapping the prince on the shoulder and ushering him inside.
‘Frank!’ she yelled. ‘Get the kettle on! Don’t you know who this is?’
‘I’m not deaf,’ Frank muttered. ‘He just said he’s the prince.’
Of course Joderick had no idea these were the very same bears Cinders had met that morning, otherwise he might have been a bit more understanding of Frank’s bad mood. Eating all that magical breakfast had given him such a bellyache.
‘Forgive my husband, sire,’ Karen said, all flustered by the presence of her royal visitor. ‘He doesn’t keep up with the royal family like I do.’
‘No, I don’t,’ Frank added. ‘Some of us are busy working for a living instead of reading all those gossip mags you’ve always got your nose in.’
‘You can call me Joderick,’ the prince said, smiling at a little cub who was lying on a rug in front of the television, playing with a mobile phone, and who didn’t seem even slightly interested in the royal visitor. ‘Or Jodders. And there’s no need to make tea – I really can’t stay.’
‘You’re looking for Cinders, you said?’ Frank asked from the kitchen. ‘We sent her off towards the Alabaster Tower this morning.’
‘Alabaster Tower?’ Joderick pulled out his map and looked for the landmark, but couldn’t see it anywhere. ‘I’ve never heard of it before. Is that a new building?’
‘Let me have a look at that,’ said Karen, spreading the map out neatly on her dining table. ‘No wonder you can’t find it – you’ve only got half a map here.’
Joderick screwed his face up in frustration. He must have ripped the map in two when he was escaping from his father’s chambers! How was he going to find Cinders now?
‘Never mind, never mind,’ she said, pulling bread and butter and a big block of cheese out of the cupboard. ‘We can give you the same directions we gave her. It’s straight out of here and due north until you reach the tower. That’s the halfway point to Fairyland.’
‘Thank you!’ Joderick exclaimed, folding up his half-map and preparing to leave. ‘Thank you so much.’
‘Ooh, must you dash off?’ Karen asked, hands clasped against her heart. She’d longed to meet the prince. He’d always seemed so charming when she saw him interviewed on television, and here he was in the flesh, just as polite and twice as handsome. She couldn’t wait to tell the girls in her book club all about it.
‘Yes, you really should stay,’ grumbled Frank. ‘Have my bed, break the kid’s chair, eat us out of house and home while you’re at it.’
‘I’m afraid I have to go,’ Joderick said as Karen pulled him into a great big bear hug, ‘but I do appreciate your help.’
‘Anything for the royal family,’ she replied, grabbing a piece of waxed paper out of the cupboard and hastily slapping together a sandwich cut with her claws. She couldn’t possibly have him leaving empty-handed – whatever would the queen think?
‘Um, thanks,’ said Joderick, and turned to go.
As Mummy Bear and Daddy Bear were seeing the prince out, a very familiar face appeared on the television. The baby bear stared at the screen with his new puppy fast asleep at his feet. The king was explaining how his son, Prince Joderick, had gone missing and that there was a reward of a hundred gold pieces for his safe return. A hundred gold pieces would definitely pay for a new mobile, then he’d have a cool phone and a puppy! Without stopping to think, he quickly tapped the number on the screen into his old phone and waited for someone to pick up.
‘I just saw the prince in the Dark Forest and my mum made him a sandwich, but now he’s gone,’ the baby bear declared. ‘Yes, I’ll hold.’
Hold for a hundred gold pieces, he thought, rubbing his paws together while his parents waved Prince Joderick off down the road.
Hansel had been right about one thing. There were a lot of stairs in the Alabaster Tower, and whoever was in charge of sweeping them definitely wasn’t getting paid enough. Cinders was cream-crackered by the time they got to the top. Next time she saw Brian, she definitely had to ask about getting a pair of wings.
Allaine stood in front of a big black door with a very sulky look on her face.
‘Right, open it up,’ Cinders commanded, trying not to sound too out of puff.
‘The fairies are going to be so mad,’ Allaine muttered as she produced a big black key from her pocket.
‘They’ll understand,’ Cinders replied. ‘I’ll tell them I made you do it.’
Allaine looked up at her and let out a surprised little laugh.
‘I didn’t mean they’d be mad with me,’ she cackled. ‘It’s you who’s going to be in trouble!’
Slowly, the door opened and inside was a tiny little room that seemed so much smaller on the inside than it did on the outside. The walls were white and smooth, like the rest of the tower, and at the very, very top, so high up Cinders couldn’t even reach it if she stood on the tip of her tiptoes, was a tiny window. The floors were white, the ceiling was white and right in the middle of the room was a bed, and right in the middle of the bed was a girl.
‘Um, knock-knock,’ Cinders said, rapping her knuckles against thin air and stepping into the room. ‘Hope you don’t mind visitors, only my friends and I heard you crying and I wanted to make sure you were okay.’
The girl on the bed turned round and stared at Cinders as though she’d never seen another person before. She was very pretty, Cinders thought, with big brown eyes, clear, shining skin and the longest hair Cinders had ever, ever seen. It flow
ed down her back, all the way to the floor before it disappeared under the bed. There were few things Cinders hated as much as washing and brushing her hair, and hers wasn’t nearly as long as this girl’s! It must have taken a full day just to braid it.
‘I’m Cinders,’ she added when the girl didn’t move. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Not the chatty type then,’ Sparks whispered as she continued to stare in silence. ‘I’m Sparks. And yes, I know, I’m a talking dog and that’s weird.’
‘I don’t think it’s weird,’ the girl said in a soft, tinkly voice. ‘There are lots of talking dogs where I’m from.’
‘And where exactly would that be?’ Cinders asked as her fingers began to sparkle and fizz.
‘Fairyland, of course,’ the girl replied. ‘Where else would a fairy come from?’
‘You’re definitely a fairy?’ Cinders asked, bouncing up and down excitedly on the girl’s bed.
‘I am,’ she replied with a firm nod.
‘Absolutely, positively, definitely one hundred per cent a full, real fairy?’ Cinders asked again.
‘Fairly sure,’ the girl confirmed. ‘Although I’ve been in this room for such a long time, I’ve forgotten quite a lot of things.’
‘What’s your name?’ asked Cinders again, feeling altogether too excited. An actual, real-life fairy right there in front of her! She would definitely be able to help them find their way to Fairyland.
‘It starts with an R,’ the girl said, concentrating so hard that a little sprinkle of pink glitter appeared over the top of her head. ‘Rappaport? Rapscallian?’
She’s definitely a fairy, thought Sparks.
‘Rapunzel!’ The girl stood up with a happy start. ‘My name is Rapunzel!’
‘Rapunzel,’ repeated Cinders slowly and carefully to make sure she got it exactly right. ‘How long have you been locked in this room?’
‘When I first got here, I had a pixie cut,’ she replied and pulled her long, long braid out from underneath the bed. ‘Longer than you’ve been alive, I should think.’