Cinderella's Shoes

by Shonna Slayton

  Johnny returned with a second heaping plate of chicken and pasta. “What was that all about?”

  “I have no idea,” Kate said. Fran giving her blessing? “She said her part was finished?”

  “That’s right. She’s done a great job. Dad’s pleased. Filming is ahead of schedule, and several of the actors are going home in a few days. Anything you want to send back with her? She could deliver it to your mom at the store.”

  “I’ve got a roll of film she could take to Mr. G. I’ve taken several photos around the villa. Don’t want him forgetting about me.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that; you’re unforgettable.”

  Johnny smiled and her heart did a little flip-flop when she looked into his eyes. Everyone melted away and it was just the two of them, staring at each other.

  “Who’s up for some baseball?” called out one of the crew members. It broke the spell. Johnny wolfed down the rest of his lunch and ran to join the game. “You coming?” he called back.

  Kate shook her head. “I’m not very good.”

  “None of us are. It’s just for fun.” He waved his hand, inviting her to come. “Let’s see if there are any other girls.”

  “Kate, where are you going? You have to help clean up.” Nessa stood with her arms crossed.

  Kate looked around at the people still eating. It wasn’t time to clean yet. “I won’t be long.”

  Nessa turned in a huff and started recruiting others for cleaning duty as Kate jogged to catch up to Johnny.

  “Are you in trouble?” he asked.

  “I’m sure she’ll leave me plenty to do.”

  By the time the teams divided up, it was obviously a man’s game. There was no way Kate was going to be the only girl. The fans Fran had been talking about saw that a game was going on in the field, and they had come over to watch.

  She waved good-bye to Johnny and started back to help Nessa and Maria return all the picnic items to the villa.

  “Wait, you forgot something,” Johnny called.

  She turned around. “What?”

  “This.” He kissed her cheek, grinned, then ran back to join the game.

  Kate put her hand up to her cheek, her face aflame. Would she ever get used to Johnny Day’s kisses?

  Chapter Nineteen

  The next morning, while the rest of the house was quiet and asleep, Kate and Nessa tiptoed downstairs and into the kitchen to grab a bite of breakfast. They managed to catch Mr. De Luca by surprise.

  “What is this? Two pretty ladies come to join me at the break of day?” He held up his coffee. “The stove is not on yet, but there is enough coffee for all.”

  Nessa kissed him on the cheek, hiding the wrapped dress behind her back. “No thanks, Dziadek. We are up early to take pictures at the castle. Kate is learning to use her camera.”

  Kate held up the box camera to confirm Nessa’s story.

  “Go on out to your patio and enjoy the morning,” Nessa said. “Babcia should be down soon.”

  Mr. De Luca nodded and waved them off. “Enjoy,” he said over his shoulder as he headed for the back of the house where the sun would be warming a place for him.

  The girls exited through the front door and set off up the dirt road toward the castle ruins. At the top of the hill, they could see the movie crew already setting up for the morning’s shoot. Kate wondered if homesick Fran Marshall had left yet. Kate had no itching to head back to New York at all. She was barely getting started exploring.

  “The lighting is good,” she said. “At least, as far as I can tell.” The early-morning sun cast a warm glow to light up Nessa’s face, yet created enough shadows and angles to make the black-and-white pictures interesting. Since she had little practice with the camera, she hoped the pictures would turn out well enough to please Mr. G.

  When they stepped into the building, all distant noises were instantly muffled through those thick stone walls. It was as if they were crossing into another time, where Kate could leave the real world behind and imagine the fantasy of living here when the roof was intact, the rooms filled with heavy furniture, and the walls draped in tapestries of unicorns and battles.

  “Do you mind if we modern girls set up shop?” she asked the vacant building. The castle was quiet, keeping its secrets of the past to itself.

  Nessa giggled while Kate spread out a blanket in a private corner for her to change on. She was taking her role as Keeper very seriously. Even though the wine stain had mysteriously disappeared, she wasn’t taking any chances of the dress picking up dirt off the stone floor.

  The Kopciuszek dress shimmered in the light filtering through the open windows. The dress took Kate’s breath away every time she saw it. Was it the style? The fabrics? Or the fact that Cinderella had worn it to the ball where she’d secured her future?

  After Kate helped button up the dress, she stepped back. Nessa truly looked like a princess in the dress, especially since she had put her hair in rag curlers the night before and swept it up off her shoulders this morning. It was too bad there wasn’t a ball for her. Nor a kingdom.

  “Stand over here by the window. Look out like you are surveying your lands.” Kate focused the way Mr. G had taught her. Click. Wind to the next frame. Click. Wind to the next frame.

  “Okay, now smile. Uh, not so much teeth. A gentle smile. Like you know a secret.” Click.

  They set up in a couple locations where the light was brightest so Kate wouldn’t have to use the flash. It helped that the roof was missing in several rooms. Taking pictures was similar to window dressing. Kate had to set a scene in the frame, looking for the best way to show the dress off without letting the striking backdrop overpower the shot. She didn’t know if she could wait to take the film back to America for developing. She had already filled one roll and was nearing the end of the second when Nessa made a suggestion.

  “Let’s do the last ones in the ballroom. I want one beside the fresco.”

  That room was fairly dark, which meant Kate would need to use the flash. She had brought the equipment but hadn’t used it yet.

  “Sure. I’ll need to set up a bit first.” She went back to the room where she had stored their bags and pulled out the flasholder. After attaching it to the front of the box camera, she screwed in the bulb. If only there was a way to know if she was fixing the settings and connecting the light right. It was disconcerting that you didn’t know if you’d gotten the shot until the film came back after developing. At least with painting, you got to see the image as it was being made. Painting with light was a mystery, a contradiction created in the dark.

  When Kate returned, Nessa was standing facing the fresco. The dress painted on the wall was an echo of the real one Nessa wore. It reminded her of the sketch Johnny drew of her facing the Cinderella window while wearing the wedding dress.

  “What happened to your shoes?” Nessa asked the dancer.

  Quickly, Kate held the viewfinder to her eye and snapped a picture. The bulb exploded with light.

  Nessa jumped. “Oh, you startled me, Kate. Did you hear me talking to the painting?”

  “That’s okay. I was talking to the castle earlier. Did it answer?” Kate laughed.

  “Like a magic mirror? Wrong fairy tale.” Nessa bit her lip. “I’m feeling something. An emotion that isn’t mine. It’s hard to describe. Maybe frustration? Is this what you are feeling?”

  Kate tilted her head as she thought. “No. I’m focused on figuring out how to use this flash, but I’m not frustrated. Is the feeling coming from the dress?”

  “I think so. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s very faint, and I lose it if I concentrate too much on finding it.” She waved her hand. “Never mind. I’ll think about it later.”

  After unscrewing the spent bulb, Kate replaced it with a fresh one. “I can see why Mr. G prefers taking photos outside. This could get expensive. Now smile.”

  When Kate took the picture, there was a responding twinkle out of the corner of her vision. She lowered the camera bu
t didn’t see what had caught her eye. After choosing a different angle, she took another flash photo, and again, a sparkle. It was coming from the fresco. “Do you need a break?” Kate asked.

  Nessa had started to look like she was drooping. She was blinking her eyes, trying to clear the bright flash from her vision. “It’s hard to smile so much,” she said. “Even when I’m not smiling.” She rubbed her cheeks.

  “I’m at the end of my roll, so this is a good time to stop.” Kate went to put the camera away. “Besides, someone might come looking for us if we don’t show up soon.” She peered out the door just to check and scanned the rolling green hills. There was a figure in a war costume by the cluster of trees near the pond. Someone from the movie practicing lines away from the rest, but otherwise, no one was in sight.

  The sparkle the flash picked up niggled around the edges of her mind. Thinking there might be something stuck in the wall, she returned to the fresco and ran her hand over the area where she’d thought she saw the twinkle.

  “What are you doing?” Nessa asked.

  “I think something is stuck in the wall. I saw a sparkle.”

  Nessa joined her. Together they searched until Nessa cried out, “I found it. It’s a piece of glass stuck in here.” She picked at the place where Kopciuszek’s shoe should be.

  Kate examined the spot and, noticing the bevels, her heart started racing. “It’s cut too perfectly to be a piece of glass. I think it’s a diamond.”

  The girls bopped heads trying to get a closer look.

  “Let’s edge it out,” Nessa said. “Do you have a knife or something?”

  “No. I’ll look around to see if anything was left behind by the soldiers.”

  The rooms had been swept clean. Whoever the De Lucas had hired to do the cleanup was thorough. Kate went from room to room, exploring the old castle, carefully stepping over fresh bird droppings.

  She put her hands on her hips in frustration and felt the belt on her skirt. Ah! The buckle. They could use it to knock out the diamond. When she came back to the ballroom, Nessa was examining her fingernails. “Don’t try scratching it out,” she said, holding up her chipped nails.

  Kate held out her belt. “How about this?” She located the diamond and began working on the wall, but then stopped herself. “I don’t want to harm the fresco,” she said, all Dad’s art training kicking in. “Why don’t we go get a knife?”

  Nessa grabbed the belt. “Let me try.” She gently and patiently worked the buckle into the wall until the diamond popped out onto the floor. The girls scrambled, trying to find where it had landed. “Got it!” Nessa cried, holding it up. “I don’t think it’s a diamond. It’s blue. Is there such a thing as a blue diamond?”

  Kate gasped. Another blue diamond. “Sure. I’ll show you a yellow diamond when we get to New York.”

  Nessa grinned. “We’ve been surrounded with diamonds lately. The one your brother talked about in his telegram, the shoes, and now one we’ve dug out of the wall. What do you make of it all? Do you think they are connected?”

  This would be the time to tell Nessa that the diamond in her dad’s box was also a blue diamond, but she didn’t want to share that yet. Besides, she was afraid Nessa would claim it for her family before they even found out the real reason her dad had it.

  “Can you picture them?” Nessa asked, pointing to the spot she pulled the diamond from. “Shoes made out of diamonds?” She grabbed Kate’s hands and twirled them in a little dance about the room. “They would be worth a fortune.”

  As Kate stepped out of the dance, she shook her head. “They would be priceless, like the dresses.”

  “Now why would a diamond be in the painting?” Nessa asked. “It must be a clue left behind from one of my ancestors. Do you think the glass slippers are made of blue diamonds? How pretty.”

  Kate avoided answering. “Let’s look for more.”

  “Check the floor, too, in case any fell out. Use the camera flash again. See if anything else twinkles.”

  Kate set the flash off. “Did you see anything?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No, me neither.” The girls scoured the fresco and the floor underneath, but didn’t find any more jewels.

  “Well, let’s get me out of this dress,” Nessa said. “I’ve got to show the diamond to Babcia.”

  The girls raced back to the villa. No sooner had they returned to the main house than a caravan of movie equipment streamed toward the castle.

  “What’s going on?” Nessa asked, spinning in the driveway as she surveyed the busyness.

  Mr. De Luca sat in his chair out front watching the goings-on with a careful eye. “They are filming in the castle this afternoon. Good thing you girls took your pictures this morning.”

  “That was close,” Kate whispered as they slipped into the house. Everything was quiet. “Babcia is probably changing out of her gardening clothes this time of day.” The girls knocked softly on the door, and when they heard “Come in,” they burst into the room, both talking at once. Nessa held out the diamond. “It was in the fresco in the old castle. Did you know anything about it?”

  Princess Kolodenko didn’t look surprised when she reached out for the diamond. “Thank you, Nessa,” was all she said.

  “But . . .” Nessa looked confused. “What is it? Why would it be stuck in the wall?”

  A movement in the corner startled both girls. Lidka was sitting in the rocking chair, and had started a slow rock. Her gaze was riveted on Princess Kolodenko.

  “Lidka,” Nessa said stiffly.

  “Nessa.”

  “Would you please excuse us, girls? I’d like a word with my granddaughter.” Princess Kolodenko waved her hand in dismissal.

  Kate tried to scoot out of the house alone, but Lidka followed her to the patio.

  “Diamonds are in the walls?” Lidka said.

  There was no use hiding it. “One was. We couldn’t find any others. We looked.”

  “Must be nice to be so rich you decorate with diamonds.” Lidka ran her hand along the top of a chair.

  Kate smiled. “I wouldn’t know. Maybe it was left over from the days when the castle was in use.”

  Lidka quirked an eyebrow. “Maybe.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The next day, Johnny popped in to deliver some news. Kate met him in the foyer. “My dad wasn’t able to get our paperwork to go to Poland. I’m sorry, Kate. I thought it would be easy, but with all the changes after the war, I don’t know. We’ll have to try something else. He’s going to see a lawyer and find out what else we can do.”

  Kate’s heart sank. If they couldn’t get the papers, how was she to find the shoes? “Maybe if we try filing from Italy instead of America?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. We’ll try again. My dad hasn’t given up. He’s curious himself to see what the war did to Poland. Don’t be discouraged, okay?”

  She smiled, but not fully. It was hard not to get discouraged when they were so close.

  “There’s nothing to be done today, so let’s enjoy Italy while we can. I have plans for you tonight.” He winked and was out the front door.

  As Kate turned around, Nessa came into the foyer wearing an apron and a scowl. The girls had not been alone since finding the diamond in the castle and had planned to get away to town first thing after breakfast.

  “I’m sorry, Kate. I wanted to take you to town today, but Dziadek has decided today is the day for making giardiniera. It means ‘from the garden.’ We pick all the ripe vegetables and can them with vinegar.”

  “It’s my own special recipe,” Mr. De Luca said.

  Nessa rolled her eyes. “We make it every year.” But then she smiled, revealing she didn’t mind cooking with her grandfather. “He wants me to have a case of it when I go away to college.” Her eyes opened wide. “A case!” She shook her head. “I won’t know what to do with that much giardiniera. Hold parties, I guess.”

  “I can take her.” Lidka breezed into the room. “I g
oing anyway.” She reached up to catch the keys Mr. De Luca tossed at her.

  Kate swiveled back to Nessa. It didn’t matter to her who she went to town with, although it would have been nice to get to talk alone with Nessa. To take her mind off the recent setback, she welcomed the chance to go out and see more of Sora.

  Nessa looked like she was about to protest when Mr. De Luca stepped up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Great idea. You two have fun.”

  And with that, Kate found herself sitting beside Lidka in the front seat of Mr. De Luca’s black convertible car. Lidka pointed to the glove compartment where Princess Kolodenko kept a scarf. “You need to tie your hair,” Lidka said with a grin.

  The wind whipped around the open car, trying to pull Kate’s hair free as Lidka expertly maneuvered the curves into town. The countryside was beautiful, fields of green dotted with bushes and wildflowers by the road, though marred here and there by signs of war. A house that had been burned down. A crater where a bomb had landed.

  Their first stop was for gelato. “Nessa would take you shopping for all day,” Lidka said. “You not seem the shopping type to me.” She parked in a shady spot. “Here is some advices. Do not allow Nessa push you around. It is not like she is the queen.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind shopping,” Kate said, ignoring the comment. “I’m looking for something to bring back for my mom and my best friend anyway.” She got out of the car and slung Mr. G’s camera bag over her shoulder.

  “Is that all? You seem to be looking for something else. Something not small like a tourist souvenir. What else are you looking for?” she asked. “What do you want to find in Italy?”

  “Oh, I-I . . .” She groped for words to say. Lidka was uncomfortably direct, and Kate didn’t have Princess Kolodenko’s skills of deflection. To say she wanted to find her dad seemed foolish in front of this practical girl. One needed a sense of imagination to believe she could uncover the impossible.

  She thought about how Josie would answer. “How about love, like every other teenage girl.”