The Magic Princess Dress

by Gwyneth Rees

  The elderly seamstress nodded, looking thoughtful as she said, ‘Yes, Tilly, I do. That dress is very pretty – but I’ve seen many others just like it.’

  Tilly agreed to try on the dress, and while Dinah was helping her to change, Ava suddenly remembered something important. ‘Tilly, do you think Astrid and Ermentrude will definitely be at the ball tonight?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh yes. Like I said before, they are both entering the dress competition.’

  ‘Good,’ Ava murmured under her breath. For Ava had remembered what her dad had said about people with the travelling gift being drawn towards the magic portals. If that was true, then all she had to do was follow her instinct and she would be taken to wherever the ugly sisters had hidden the music box. And as long as they remained out of the way at the ball, Ava would have the chance she needed to escape home with Cindy – presuming she had found her by that time of course.

  She would just have to make sure the ugly sisters didn’t actually see her tonight, that was all.

  ‘You look lovely!’ Ava exclaimed when Tilly was ready.

  ‘It’s certainly an excellent fit,’ Dinah said.

  Making a big effort to smile bravely, Tilly said, ‘Thank you so much, Princess Ava. At least now I can go to the ball.’

  ‘That’s all right.’ Ava replied, smiling back. ‘But it must be due to start very soon, isn’t it? Hadn’t we better get going?’

  ‘The ball starts at seven o’clock, but the competition isn’t until eight,’ Tilly said. ‘I’ll come along then because I need to help Dinah finish off some needlework first.’

  ‘OK, but I think I‘d better go now if I’m to find the fairy godmother.’

  ‘Just be aware of the fact that she might have used your cat in a spell already,’ Dinah said warningly.

  ‘Dinah!’ Tilly exclaimed.

  ‘I just want Princess Ava to be prepared, that’s all,’ Dinah said defensively. ‘It’s better to be prepared than to get a nasty shock. I’ve had a good few nasty shocks in my life, so I know what I’m talking about.’

  ‘It’s OK, Dinah. I am prepared,’ Ava reassured her.

  But as she headed on her own to the palace ballroom, taking care to follow Tilly’s directions precisely so as not to get lost, she started to feel as if she wasn’t prepared in the slightest. After all, it wasn’t every day you had to rescue your cat from Cinderella’s fairy godmother, was it? I mean, how could anyone be truly prepared for that?

  10

  The ball had already begun by the time Ava got there. Lively music could be heard coming from the ballroom, where an important-looking manservant in a white curly wig and gold-coloured jacket and breeches was standing at the door announcing all the guests. Nervously Ava joined the small queue waiting to enter the room, and she was pleased to see the friendly young princess she had spoken to earlier, who waved to her.

  All the young princesses except Ava seemed to be accompanied by their parents, and Ava was given a strange look by the manservant as she stood alone in the doorway.

  ‘Your name, Your Highness?’ he enquired.

  ‘P-P-Princess Ava,’ Ava stammered, cringing and going bright red as she said it.

  But the manservant didn’t bat an eyelid as he effortlessly announced at the top of his voice, ‘HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS AVA!’

  A few guests turned to look at her, but most were too busy with their own conversations to wonder why a child princess had come to the ball alone.

  Doing her best to rein in her nerves, Ava walked into the ballroom holding her chin up high as if she was balancing books on top of her head – which was something she had once heard all princesses were taught to do.

  The ballroom, the walls of which were made up entirely of mirrors, was beautifully decorated, with glitter balls hanging from the ceiling in between massive crystal chandeliers. Free-standing candleholders stood around the periphery bearing enormous shimmering candles. The music Ava had heard was coming from a string quartet at one end of the room, and a few guests were already dancing, the richly dressed women creating a colourful display in their beautiful gowns and sparkling jewellery as they waltzed with their handsome partners.

  Around the edges of the dance floor, other guests were seated on ornate chairs, sipping glasses of champagne or fruit punch, while neatly dressed servants served delicious-looking finger food from silver trays. At the end furthest from the musicians four throne-like chairs had been placed, and Ava guessed that was where the King and Queen, and Cinderella and Prince Charming would sit when they arrived.

  She started to scan the room for the fairy godmother, but since she didn’t know what she looked like, it wasn’t easy. How old was she, for one thing? And would she have visible wings like a regular fairy, or would they be hidden under her clothes? Might she be flying about the room waving her wand, or would she be trying to blend in with the other guests?

  Ava decided to go and ask the princess she had spotted earlier for help.

  The young princess was sitting on a seat beside her mother, looking at the diamond watch on her wrist and frowning.

  ‘Hello.’ Ava greeted her shyly. ‘Isn’t it a wonderful ball?’

  The young princess looked up and gave her a friendly smile before saying in a hushed voice, ‘It’s quite pretty, I agree – though as it’s my tenth ball this summer I must say I’m getting a little tired of them.’ She sighed. ‘Mama says it’s something all princesses have to endure – the endless parties and balls. I expect you feel a bit fed up with the whole thing too, don’t you? What kingdom do you come from, by the way?’

  Ava thought very fast. Avoiding the last part of the question, she gushed, ‘Well, the thing is, I’m especially excited about this ball because I really want to meet Cinderella’s fairy godmother. I’m not sure where she is though. Do you know?’

  ‘Oh, I believe she’s helping out with the dress competition. Cinderella was worried some of the entrants might cheat by wearing dresses they’d actually got someone else to make for them – so each entry is to be checked over by the fairy godmother first. Apparently she’s got a magic spell which can tell her whether or not each dress was truly made by the person wearing it.’

  ‘Oh no!’ Ava blurted.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ the princess asked in surprise.

  ‘Nothing!’ Ava replied quickly. ‘I just really want to speak to her, that’s all, and . . . and it sounds like she might be too busy.’

  ‘Oh, look – there she is!’ the princess exclaimed suddenly, pointing across the room at a plump, middle-aged lady who was holding a lace hanky over her nose as she ordered a maid to remove a large vase of pink flowers from a nearby table – complaining that the ghastly things were making her sneeze. She had curly white-blonde hair with glittery bits in it and she was wearing a large purple and red ball gown with a huge skirt. As she turned slightly, Ava saw that her shimmering gold-coloured wrap was covering something bulky attached to her back, which Ava guessed must be her wings.

  Ava thanked the princess and slowly approached the fairy godmother, desperately trying to think of a tactful way to ask her about Cindy.

  ‘Excuse me, Fairy Godmother,’ she said timidly.

  Immediately the fairy godmother whirled round and peered at her suspiciously through her round gold-rimmed spectacles. ‘Don’t tell me you’re another of my godchildren?’ she exclaimed. ‘They seem to be cropping up everywhere I go these days! Just because I helped Cinderella to marry a prince, doesn’t mean I intend to do the same for the rest of you, you know! Now, which one are you and what do you want?’

  ‘I’m Ava,’ Ava told her nervously. ‘And I’m actually not one of your godchildren.’

  ‘You’re not? Then why did you just call me godmother?’

  Ava flushed. ‘Because . . . because that’s what Cinderella calls you and I don’t know your real name.’

  The fairy godmother looked slightly friendlier as she said, ‘So you’re a friend of Cinderella’s, are you? Good. At lea
st you’re on her side and not the prince’s.’

  ‘Her side?’

  ‘For the ceremony of course. His family is far larger than hers and he has many more guests at the wedding than she does. I’m afraid it’s going to look very uneven inside the church. That’s the only reason I didn’t try and stop her inviting those dreadful stepsisters of hers – because at least they will boost the numbers on our side.’

  ‘Well, I’m supposed to be a bridesmaid,’ Ava began, ‘so I’m not sure if that means—’

  But she was interrupted by the fairy godmother letting out an annoyed grunt as she exclaimed, ‘Just look at that!’

  Ava followed her gaze and saw that Cinderella’s stepsisters were standing in the doorway, being announced by the important-looking manservant. Ermentrude was in a very bright, very tight dress that she seemed to be having a lot of trouble walking in and Astrid was in an orange and lime-green ball gown that looked extremely lopsided.

  As they watched, a maid directed the sisters to a table on the other side of the room. The table had a gold banner attached to one end which read: ‘COMPETITION ENTRANTS, PLEASE GATHER HERE!’

  ‘They must have decided to enter the dress competition,’ the fairy godmother said. ‘Well, there’s no way either of them will win in those monstrosities, even if they did make the dresses themselves, which I very much doubt! Still – I suppose I shall have to go and test them just the same.’

  ‘Please can I ask you a question first?’ Ava said quickly.

  ‘I’m not granting any more magic wishes, if that’s what you’re after,’ the godmother said impatiently. ‘Honestly! Some people seem to think they can treat me like a genie in a lamp!’

  ‘It’s not that,’ Ava said at once. ‘The question I’ve got is about my cat.’

  ‘Your cat?’ The fairy godmother looked surprised.

  ‘Yes – she accidentally got into the kitchens the other day and the cook said she gave her to you to practise your spells on. Her name is Cindy and the thing is, I really want her back.’

  ‘Oh, you do, do you?’ The fairy godmother paused for a moment. ‘I presume you are talking about that very hot-headed female tabby. She’s an excellent mouser, so she says.’

  ‘She is – unfortunately,’ Ava agreed. ‘Wait a minute – she actually told you that?’

  ‘Oh yes. She also mentioned that at home she is called Cindy – though among other cats she goes by the name of Lucinda Wet-Whiskers the Third.’

  ‘Really?’ Ava was astonished. ‘So . . . so you understand cat language then?’

  ‘Goodness, no! She told me all this over a nice cup of tea – after I’d changed her into human form.’

  Ava gulped.

  ‘Well, perhaps she drank more milk than tea,’ the fairy godmother continued, ‘but in any case it was all very civilized. Until she smelt my mice, that is, and then she seemed to forget that I had turned her into a human. Clearly my spell needs some refining. Anyway, you can certainly take her away with you if you want. But you’ll have to wait until the ball finishes at midnight.’

  ‘Why? Where is she now?’ Ava asked.

  ‘The King and Queen were a bit short of staff tonight so I turned your cat into a maid and a couple of the kitchen mice into serving boys. They’re all here somewhere. I told the head maid to keep a close eye on them.’

  As she talked, she had been walking towards the table where Cinderella’s stepsisters were sitting, and Ava had been obliged to walk with her. The ugly sisters were now close enough to recognize Ava, but luckily before they could, the fairy godmother produced a wand from a pocket in her dress and waved it at them.

  Ava quickly dodged out of sight as Cinderella’s stepsisters screamed, causing all the other guests to turn and stare at them.

  Ava couldn’t tell at first why they were screaming – until she suddenly realized that the fairy godmother’s magic had caused their dresses to vanish. The ugly sisters were standing there, looking totally mortified, wearing nothing but their tight corsets and frilly underclothes.

  ‘Stop that awful noise and tell me who made those dresses,’ the fairy godmother commanded, prodding both girls in the ribs with the end of her wand. ‘It certainly wasn’t you! I know that much or they wouldn’t have disappeared!’

  Bright red, and staring fearfully at the wand (which was still giving off some dangerous-looking sparks), the sisters answered, ‘Our m-m-mother . . . But she’s not very good at sewing . . .’

  ‘I can see that!’ The fairy godmother looked like she was enjoying herself now. ‘Well . . . perhaps your punishment should be that you remain at the ball tonight – without any dresses on at all!’

  The ugly sisters squealed even louder, and as some of the other guests who had overheard started to laugh and clap at that suggestion, they let out loud sobs and rushed out of the ballroom.

  Ava was just wondering whether she ought to follow them and see if they would lead her to wherever they had hidden the music box – after all it might be better not to depend totally on her instincts – when she noticed one of the senior maids scolding one of the serving boys. It looked as if he had been caught eating whatever it was he was meant to be serving to the guests from his large silver platter.

  ‘That boy is one of my mice,’ the fairy godmother whispered to Ava. ‘I hope they haven’t given him the cheese straws to hand round. I told them what would happen if they did. Oh no! Just look at Cindy over there with the smoked-salmon canapés!’

  Ava looked across the room and saw a maid with very strange hair (that could best be described as tabby-coloured) balancing a silver plate of mini pancakes that had smoked salmon on top. Only instead of offering them to the guests, the maid was biting the fish off the top of each one before allowing any of the guests to touch them. Ava watched as she licked her lips, then lifted her fishy fingers to her mouth to lick them clean too.

  ‘Is that girl . . . is that really Cindy?’ Ava exclaimed, and for a moment she was so fascinated that all she could do was stand and stare.

  ‘Why don’t you go and speak to her?’ the fairy godmother suggested. ‘Try and distract her from eating any more of the guests’ food. Oh dear,’ she murmured, as Cindy put down her tray and started to follow the serving boy who had been eating the cheese straws. ‘It was probably unwise to use a mouse and a cat in the same experiment.’

  Judging by the way Cindy was now sniffing at the serving boy from behind, Ava assumed the fairy godmother’s spell hadn’t entirely removed the smell of mouse from her subject.

  ‘She looks like she’s about to tuck into him too,’ the fairy godmother said nervously. ‘You’ve got to stop her, Ava. Otherwise there will be a terrible scene and Cinderella’s party will be ruined.’

  ‘Me stop her?’ Ava exclaimed. ‘Can’t you do something?’

  But the fairy godmother was already sitting down at the table, where more contestants were arriving to have their dresses tested for authenticity.

  That’s when Ava knew that it was up to her to stop Cindy pouncing on the manservant – or mouse-servant as she reckoned he ought to be called. But how was she going to do it? And besides that, she urgently needed to stop Tilly from coming to the ball and making a complete fool of herself in her borrowed dress. And she still had to think of a way of getting the music box back from the ugly sisters . . .

  ‘Cindy, it’s me – Ava,’ she whispered, gently tapping Cindy-the-maid on the shoulder as she approached her from behind.

  The maid whirled round and let out a strange noise that sounded a bit like a purr. ‘Ava!’ Her voice was like that of a human female, but very throaty. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I came to find you and take you home,’ Ava said, hardly able to believe she was having an actual conversation with her cat.

  ‘I don’t want to come home,’ Cindy said in rather a snarly voice, keeping one eye firmly on the serving boy. ‘I’m having too much fun.’ The boy was now scuttling towards another servant who was holding a tray of che
ese vol-au-vents.

  ‘Cindy, I know you won’t change back into a cat until midnight, but I really think we should leave the ball now. Before you attack that boy and get us both into terrible trouble.’

  Cindy-the-maid gave her the same sort of look that Cindy-the-cat gave her when she yelled at her to stop scratching the stair carpet.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Ava. I have no intention of attacking anyone. But we have some delicious herring pâté on crackers coming out of the kitchen at any moment. And then I believe we have some prawns. I certainly intend to sink my teeth into some of those!’ Cindy started to dribble a little at the thought of yet more fish.

  Ava had to think fast. What did Cindy like to eat even more than herring and prawns?

  ‘OK, but first there are some tuna sandwiches that need collecting from the kitchen,’ she lied.

  Cindy’s nose started to twitch. Tuna was her favourite fish of all. ‘What are we waiting for?’ she purred.

  Cindy looked so pleased that Ava started to feel guilty at tricking her like this. But as soon as she got Cindy home again she would make up for it by giving her the biggest bowl of tuna she’d ever had.

  They were almost at the door when Cindy picked up the scent of the mouse-turned-manservant again – and this time everything happened so fast that there was no time for Ava to stop it.

  Cindy’s nose twitched again and she let out a strange half-cry, half-growl. Then, shoving two princesses and a duchess out of the way, Cindy hurled herself tiger-like at the other servant. The skinny young man fell to the floor, where he squeaked in fear as Cindy – who had thrown herself down on the ground with him – sank her teeth into his collar and started to drag him towards the door. Despite being the same size as her victim, Cindy seemed to have ten times the strength.

  As the surrounding guests screamed, the fairy godmother came rushing over. ‘No need to be alarmed, everyone! It’s just a little party trick – a little charade we’ve put on to entertain you!’ she trilled.