Cinderella's Shoes

by Shonna Slayton

  The princess stiffened. “I do. And I do not wish to hear her name spoken again.” She turned and looked at Kate with a stern expression. “Nor do you need to bring her name up with the girls.” Her gaze transferred to the sleeping Lidka.

  Kate’s heart began to race. “But I have reason to believe she has the glass slippers.”

  “Malwinka is from the past and will stay there.” The princess turned around, leaving Kate at a loss for what to do next.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Lidka.” Princess Kolodenko leaned back and touched the girl’s arm as the car came to a stop. Three other cars were parked in the wide circular driveway, and Nessa and her mom pulled up beside them.

  “Johnny, we’re here,” Kate said, eager to get out of the car. She nudged him with her knee.

  He started to wake up, rubbing his eyes. Mr. De Luca came round to open the car door for his wife. As they all sleepily got out of the car, the oversize front door flew open, and before Kate could register who it was, a man in uniform scooped her up and was twirling her in the air.

  “Floyd!” She laughed, letting out an ocean of relief to find him here. “Put me down.”

  “I got your letter,” he said, plunking her down and draping his arm around her. “Your timing was perfect. I had some paintings to deliver to a private collector in Naples. I go back to Germany tomorrow.”

  She grinned at him. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. We’ve missed you.” And I can’t wait to get you alone and solve the mystery of the diamond.

  Nessa bumped shoulders with Kate, her eyes fixed on Floyd. A big smile on her face.

  All the girls like Floyd. She introduced them. “Floyd, this is Nessa.”

  He reached out his hand, but Nessa shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. “You’re practically family,” she said. “Kate feels like my sister after bunking with her.”

  Floyd grinned as he spun her around, too. The adults exchanged amused glances. The rest of the introductions were made, including Mr. Day, who had survived his flight well enough, then Mr. De Luca invited everyone inside.

  Kate paused at the front door to touch the family crest carved into the wood. A shield with an eagle, a horseman, and a crown. The Kolodenko coat of arms. Back in New York this symbol had been Kate’s first clue that her family was involved in something unusual. It was stamped on Elsie’s special steamer trunk, invisible to most people, but Kate could see it.

  Nessa’s mother caught her eye and smiled.

  They continued through the entryway, walking on warm reddish-brown tiles that led throughout the villa. Each room had a thick area rug that anchored the furniture. They passed a family room, a library, and what looked like a study. Eventually they came to a large dining area with a glittering chandelier hanging over a table long enough to seat all of them, with room for more.

  Mr. De Luca was not kidding when he said their cook, Maria, had prepared a feast. She served them an antipasti of cold cuts followed by penne pasta and a beef stew that melted in Kate’s mouth. A light dessert of fresh fruit ended the meal on a sweet note.

  When Maria started taking the plates into the kitchen, Mr. De Luca, said, “You young ones, out to the patio. Is a beautiful night, don’t waste it.”

  Nessa playfully saluted her grandfather, then signaled for the rest of them to follow her.

  Nessa’s mom followed with a pitcher of cherry kompot,

  a Polish favorite. “I know there is no point in telling you to not stay up too late, so I will just say, enjoy.” She squeezed Kate’s shoulder. “I am pleased to meet our Elsie’s niece.”

  Lidka, who was still standing near the door, turned and followed Nessa’s mom back inside without saying good-night.

  “Are you tired?” Kate asked Nessa. She only had tonight to talk to Floyd alone, but with the way Nessa had stuck herself to his side, she knew that was going to be difficult. Even now she was pouring him a drink.

  “No, I could stay up all night looking at these stars,” she said, pointing to the tiny lights smattered across the black sky.

  Kate hadn’t seen a view of the stars like this since the nightly blackouts they had during the war. But even then, the city lights had never gone out completely.

  The patio was expertly decorated, surrounded by rows of flowerpots, and beyond those, gardens that Kate would have to wait for daylight to explore. Johnny sat beside her, leaning on the arm of her chair while the perfumed air imprinted itself in her mind. “What are these flowers that I’m smelling?”

  “Jasmine,” Nessa answered. “Strong, aren’t they? They are not the prettiest flowers in the garden, but they make us notice them in other ways.”

  Kate was sure that whenever she smelled jasmine she would be whisked back to this summer night in Italy. Johnny squeezed her hand. He probably knew she was dying to get Floyd alone so they could talk about the diamond.

  Nessa asked Floyd about his work, and that started him talking. Kate had never seen Nessa sit so quietly and attentively before. Whenever it seemed like he was about to slow down, she would ask another question to get him going, all the while gazing at him like he hung the moon.

  If Kate didn’t do something soon, she’d never have the chance to talk to her brother alone. Of course, Floyd didn’t know she was keeping the diamond a secret, so he wasn’t catching any of the silent signals she was sending him to stop being so charming and let the poor girl go to bed.

  It wasn’t until Johnny stood and gave an exaggerated yawn that Floyd even noticed how late it was. “Look at me yammering on so. You all must be tired from your trip,” he said, getting up.

  Finally.

  Kate was about to offer to help clear the dishes when Nessa handed her the tray.

  “The dishes go in the kitchen,” she said dismissively.

  Reflexively, Kate took the tray and started collecting the glasses. When she reached for Johnny’s, he held to it. “I don’t need a servant to clean up after me,” he said.

  Kate felt her cheeks grow warm. What if Nessa heard him? “I’m happy to take your glass,” she said.

  “And normally, I’d be happy to let you,” he said, angling his head in Nessa’s direction. “But you’re a Keeper, not a maid.”

  “She’s not listening,” Kate whispered. “So your little lesson didn’t work.” She strutted past Nessa and her brother and into the kitchen.

  Johnny followed close on her heels. “She might have some trouble living on her own in New York,” he said.

  “I’m beginning to worry she’s going to want me to move in with her,” Kate said as she ran the water. She could do a quick wash so Maria wouldn’t wake up to a sink full of dirty dishes. “You seem to be against domestic help. Don’t you have a maid do everything for you?” she asked.

  “I plead the fifth.”

  Kate handed him the dish soap. “Show me what you got.”

  He cracked his knuckles like he was getting ready for hard labor. “Stand back and be amazed, Kate Allen.”

  While Johnny started in on the pitcher, Floyd strolled into the room, alone. “Did you get my telegram?” he asked.

  “Where’s Nessa?”

  “She’s gone upstairs.”

  “Yes, I got it. It’s the whole reason we’re here in Italy.”

  He looked confused. “Did you find the diamond?”

  Kate nodded. “No thanks to your short telegram.”

  “Apparently a short telegram was all you needed.” He grinned. “So why didn’t you just give it to Elsie? Why come all the way here?”

  “W-what? Your telegram didn’t say anything about giving it to Elsie. It could have been a stolen diamond you were recovering for the Monuments Men for all I know.”

  He laughed. “You always jump to the craziest conclusions. Sometimes a diamond is just a diamond, Kate.” He gave Johnny a can-you-believe-her look. “I must have been in a hurry when I sent that telegram. Sorry I didn’t explain myself better. Want the full story?”

  “Of
course.”

  “I met one of Dad’s buddies and he told me about the diamond. He said every time Dad found any Polish refugees he would show them the picture of your necklace and ask if they had any amber on them and if they knew someone who could make the necklace for him. He wanted it to be authentic.” Floyd ran his hand over his head. “Some old woman saw the drawing and gave him the diamond. The guy I talked to was eavesdropping and said her English was hard to understand, but that she said something about giving it to an old Polish woman to help her get back to Poland. Since we knew an old Polish woman, it makes sense that Dad took it for Elsie. The woman told him to hide it so no one would take it from him.”

  Kate gave Johnny a wide-eyed look. At the hospital, it was as if Elsie knew that diamond was for her. She had kept the diamond locked in her hand, hidden from the princess. Someone had been trying to find her, but it wasn’t Princess Kolodenko.

  “Did you look for the woman who gave your dad the diamond?” Johnny asked, putting a wet, soapy hand on Kate’s neck.

  She elbowed him and shimmied away, wiping off the suds.

  “Naw, what would it matter? It was just some sweet lady trying to help out a fellow refugee.”

  “And she just presented Dad with a diamond,” Kate said.

  “You’d be surprised at the kinds of gifts we’re given.” He rested his hand on his chest. “I’ve never been given anything so valuable, but I got here after all the danger was past.”

  Could the woman have been the stepsister, Ludmilla? Kate sat down hard on a stool by the counter.

  “What’s wrong?” Floyd lifted her chin. “Were you expecting something more? I’d tell you if there was any more information. All we have to go on is what the army told us. There’s no conspiracy to keep Dad away from us. It was just some nice woman who didn’t have a need for the diamond and thought Dad could help someone who did. An act of kindness, Kate. Not one of your spy movies.”

  When Kate tried to speak, her voice came out like a sob, and so she stopped to compose herself. There could be more Burgosovs. They would have recognized the necklace Dad was showing around, and they could have gone after him, thinking he would lead them to Elsie and the missing dresses. The diamond could be some sort of message, or a warning. Elsie could be in trouble.

  “Aw, Kate. You can’t still be hoping he’s alive?” He looked to Johnny to back him up. “There’s no way, you know?” Floyd rubbed his jaw as tears came to his eyes. “I know there are some things that don’t add up—like how the army initially wrote that he was in Rome, but then they went back on it and said he was in that building in Florence that exploded when hidden bombs were triggered. But if he were alive, he would have been home by now. I’ve shown his picture around the area of the explosion. No one recognized him.”

  She wasn’t listening to Floyd. He sounded like a skipping record, repeating the same words over and over. She took a breath so she could calmly think about Elsie without jumping to conclusions. Elsie didn’t have anything the Burgosovs wanted anymore. Circumstances had changed since Dad got the diamond, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t alive still.

  “He could be injured and living in one of these out-of-the-way farms. Maybe he has amnesia and doesn’t know who he is,” Kate argued. Or the Burgosovs did something. “We should find this woman.”

  Floyd bent down to look at her face-to-face. “This isn’t the movies. I know Johnny is out here with his dad, and they’re working on a story about a soldier coming back to find the girl who nursed him to health during the war. But that’s a romantic movie. It’s not real life. It’s not Dad.”

  She wanted to change the subject. It was clear her hope was not his after all, and she didn’t want him to talk her into his way of thinking. Besides, she knew things he didn’t. “It was good to see you.” She stood.

  “Yeah, it’s nice to see you guys, too.” He hugged her. “Look, I’ll keep an eye out for anything that even hints of new clues about Dad. Just don’t count on me finding any, especially since I’m in Germany now.” He let her go. “I get to fly the plane tomorrow. Haven’t done that in a while. They don’t need as many pilots nowadays and since I was one of the last guys to learn . . .” He stretched. “I should hit the hay.”

  “Right,” Kate said. “Come say good-bye before you leave tomorrow.”

  Floyd took a good look at the house. “Friends of Adalbert and Elsie, huh?”

  “Longtime family friends. They go back generations.”

  He nodded, impressed. “I love the history here. Make sure you check out that castle up on the hill. We just don’t have stuff like that back home.”

  The boys left for the guesthouse, and Kate went upstairs to brood. She didn’t know what she’d expected from Floyd, maybe some proof that the diamond was special. But all she got was a lecture. Typical older brother behavior.

  When she stepped into her room, she immediately felt that something was wrong. The skin on her arm prickled like there was someone there. She froze, scanning the area. In the middle of the room was her double bed with a rose-covered comforter. The lacy bed skirt could hide a person underneath. A tall wardrobe was on the wall opposite the one with a window overlooking the gardens. A person could hide in there. Oh, she was being silly. “Nessa!” she called out to the bedroom next door.

  “What is it?” Nessa sleepily walked into the room. “Everything okay with your brother? I was trying to wait up, but I think I dozed off.”

  Kate felt foolish. “Sorry, I was just wondering where . . .” She checked under the bed; nothing there. Then in the wardrobe; only her clothes. “Where . . .?”

  “Oh, the dresses? I put them in my wardrobe. I figured they could use a good airing out.”

  “What? They’re supposed to stay with me.” Again, Nessa was interfering with her Keeper role.

  “But they are with you, in this house.” She pointed in the direction of her bedroom. “Right down there. What could happen to them?”

  Kate was tired, which made her temper short. “We can check with your babcia, but I’m pretty sure they should be hidden in the trunk, not airing out in your room.”

  Nessa huffed as she left the room, but she returned less than a minute later, arms laden with dresses. Kate held her grin. She had Lidka to thank for that trick of threatening to go to Princess Kolodenko.

  “What is going on?” Lidka asked. She stood in the doorway, still in her day clothes and looking wide-awake.

  “Just making more room in my closet,” Nessa answered. “Don’t be so nosy.”

  With her eyes fixed on the clothes, Lidka snapped back, “In the morning you could take care of these things. Some of us are trying to sleep.”

  Kate didn’t think that was quite true, based on what Lidka was wearing, but she wasn’t about to argue. She just wanted both girls out of her room. Her unease was gone, and her eyelids were getting heavy. It had been a long day.

  “Call me if she gives you trouble,” Lidka said to Kate as she returned to her room, leaving Nessa fuming.

  After checking to make sure Lidka’s door was closed, Kate whispered, “Does she know?”

  Nessa shook her head. “No. She wasn’t with us in France when Babcia told me, so she couldn’t have overheard anything. She’s just Lidka. Annoying.”

  “She got a good look at the dresses.”

  “That girl has no care for dresses. She wouldn’t know that they were special. Nothing to worry about. Not everyone is after the dresses, Kate.”

  A diamond is just a diamond. Not everyone is after the dresses. Kate began to wonder if she was overly paranoid. She remembered how jumpy Aunt Elsie was when she first came to New York. She thought a Burgosov was hiding behind every taxicab. Was that the way of a Keeper? But then again, in the end, Aunt Elsie had been right to be paranoid.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The next morning, Floyd was off early. Kate dragged herself out of bed in time to say good-bye, and was now sipping Mr. De Luca’s espresso in an attempt to wake up. It was sh
ockingly strong. She coughed as it hit the back of her throat. He grinned, sharing a smile with Nessa, who was seated at the table. Nessa had gotten up with the sun, showered, dressed, and then hung on Floyd’s every word until he left.

  Kate might have thought it cute if she hadn’t been so preoccupied with the disappointment over Floyd’s lack of interest in the diamond. Apparently he’d heard enough to be satisfied that there were no more leads to follow. He might feel differently if he knew other men were starting to ask Mom out on dates. She could have told him about Neil’s interest, but she was afraid he would encourage Mom to go out with him.

  “How many eggs?” Mr. De Luca said. He’d been up as early as Nessa and had already sent Floyd off with a belly full of farm-fresh cooking.

  “Two, please. May I help?”

  He made a motion for her to sit down. “Is my job and my pleasure,” he said. “The women, they cook the rest of the day, but breakfast is mine.”

  “He loves to make breakfast,” Nessa said. “That way he controls the menu.”

  Mr. De Luca nodded. “It’s true. The most important meal of the day. I let Maria do whatever she likes for all the other meals.”

  Lidka was also seated at the table, nearly finished. She had struck Kate as a night owl, but apparently she was an early riser. She and Princess Kolodenko were deep in conversation about the extensive herb garden behind the house, which they were about to go tour.

  While Kate was being served, there was a knock at the door, and Nessa jumped up to get it. She returned to the kitchen leading Johnny.

  Kate’s heart did a little flip-flop at the sight of him. Wearing his usual T-shirt and jeans, with his hair grown out a little long and a bit of a tan, he looked like he could fit right in with the Italians.

  “Funny meeting you here,” he said with a grin.

  “Have you eaten yet, young man?” Mr. De Luca asked, tying his apron back on. “I can have an omelet ready in a minute.”

  Johnny nodded. “We had some cold cereal, but an omelet sounds better. I think I can squeeze it in. Thank you.” He slipped into a chair next to Kate and stole a piece of her bacon.