She turned back. “You might want to work on a better ending,” she said, frowning. “This one is lacking.”
“Oh, you mean something like this?” He kissed her forehead.
She nodded.
“Or something like this?” He kissed her cheek.
“Better.”
“Okay. I’ll work on it, then,” he said, backing away. “Good night, Kate.”
“Hey!”
Johnny laughed. He stepped forward and cupped her face with his hand, kissing her properly this time, until she could feel it down in her toes. “Good night.”
Kate wandered back through the roses and ended up at the patio. She wasn’t ready to go inside yet, so she sat down in one of the lounge chairs to watch the stars and do some thinking of her own.
“Have a good evening?” Lidka asked out of the dark. She was lying on a lounge in the darkest corner of the patio, as if she were waiting for Kate.
Kate leaned forward. “You startled me. Yes, it was a special evening.” Kate lay back.
“I am glad, but do not let the boy distract you too much.”
“What do you mean?”
“You came here for a purpose. Do not get distracted. Let me help. Have you not figured it out yet?”
“You’re talking in riddles. Normally you are quite plainspoken. Just tell me.”
“Your babcia married a Burgosov. Do I need to put clues together for you?”
Kate’s mind whirled. Grandpa was a Burgosov? A Keeper married a descendant of the stepsisters? Holy Toledo. That’s the piece of the puzzle she was missing. Aunt Elsie said her mother gave her the Keeper role because Babcia was being too friendly with some of the Burgosov clan. She never said Grandpa Feliks was the one she was talking about. She sat up straight and swung her feet to the solid ground.
Lidka grinned. “I see understanding. There are more secrets to this family. Keep following bloodline. Is difficult because we follow our mothers and the last names change. But know this. Kolodenkos trace their line back to girl named Kopciuszek.” Lidka paused, studying Kate’s reaction.
Kate couldn’t help but react. She let her mouth fall open in surprise. Lidka knew.
“But it goes back further, to Kopciuszek’s parents. When the little girl’s mother died, her father remarried, bringing in a stepmother and two naughty stepsisters, nie? That stepmother was Kopciuszek’s aunt. The father knew he was going to die in battle and wanted assurance his little girl would be taken care of. So before the line split between the current feud of Kolodenko versus Burgosov, we were all one happy family.” She frowned. “Well, all one family. It was not a union based on love.”
As Lidka handed her pieces, Kate put more of the puzzle together. But the more she saw, the more she became afraid to fully realize the picture that was forming.
“Yes, you, too, are one of us. The stepsisters.” She said the word in disgust. “You have Burgosov blood in your body, just as truly you have Kolodenko. Cousin.”
“What else?” Kate asked, her mouth going dry. The Kolodenkos thought Lidka didn’t know anything, but did they know as much as she did? Oh, but they had to realize Kate was partially descended from a Burgosov. It was the whole reason Elsie became the Keeper instead of Kate’s grandmother—because of her relationship with Grandpa Feliks. Nessa was probably unaware, but Princess Kolodenko certainly knew the family history.
“I once was like you. I did not know the secrets. They are all so careful with their secrets. Our families feud, but most of us do not know why. I never knew until I sleep in the sister’s bedroom. She had a hidden diary that I found. In the pages of love she had for her boyfriend she write an interesting story of Kopciuszek. Is this what you are curious about?”
Kate licked her lips. “They think you don’t know.”
“They think what I let them think.”
Finally, Kate leaned back in the lounge and rested her head. It felt heavy with the weight of new information. She breathed in the overpowering scent of jasmine while Lidka waited for her to speak. “Why are you telling me this?”
Lidka moved to the edge of her chair where Kate could see a pale outline of her face illuminated from the villa of the Kolodenkos, the true heirs of Cinderella. “It is time you knew, and it looked like no one else was going to do it. Are you not glad?”
“I don’t know what I feel.” But maybe this information explained why she was having trouble with Nessa over the dress. As Keeper, she was supposed to be protected from the greed associated with it. If she were related, that greed might affect her, too. Did there need to be a Keeper for the Keeper?
“You said you know a Malwinka,” Kate added. “She is the one I’m looking for, isn’t she?”
“Yes. If you are looking for the head of the Burgosov clan.”
Kate took a deep breath. She stared up at the stars and then the moon. She was in real need of perspective.
Lidka said, “I had to find out more about you before I told you. Malwinka is not someone you tease. She is too powerful.”
Kate sprang up. “You’ll take me to her?”
“You’ve come all this way.”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to ask for permission to leave? When I say it is time, we go. Nie?” She frowned. “I will talk with Fyodora. She will agree.”
While Lidka had been deciding about her, Kate had also gotten to know Lidka during her short stay. She was a girl with an angle. Kate crossed her arms. “What do you want in return?”
Lidka grinned. “You learning street smarts.” She picked a leaf from a geranium plant and began to shred it. “I not knowing yet. A favor.” She stood and stretched. “Be ready when I say. She is in Poland, and we have to get the proper paperwork before you will be allowed across the border.”
“Johnny, too.”
“Do you think I am miracle worker? You and me will be hard enough.”
Kate held Lidka’s gaze.
“I will try,” Lidka said. “But do not blame me if something goes wrong.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The next day, Nessa and Princess Kolodenko started packing for New York. They were painstakingly going through all Nessa’s skirts and blouses, trying to come up with the “coed” look. Kate was sitting on the bed not being much help. Josie was the one with fashion sense, not her. All the outfits looked good, although maybe a little too fancy for college life. Kate figured the first thing Nessa would buy at the college store was a collegiate sweater so she’d blend in with the other coeds.
Kate studied Princess Kolodenko’s expressions to see if she could tell whether or not Lidka had brought up the trip to Poland yet. The elder woman smiled easily with Nessa, but did seem to be avoiding eye contact with Kate.
“How warm a coat will she need?” Princess Kolodenko asked, picking up a wool skirt.
“Anything you have worn in Poland should be fine,” Kate said. She thought the princess flinched ever so slightly at the word “Poland.”
“Like this?” Nessa asked, holding up a fur-lined knee-length coat.
Kate nodded. “Has Lidka spoken to you about a trip to Poland?” she asked tentatively, all patience gone.
Princess Kolodenko stopped folding. “Yes. This morning she said something.”
“And?” Kate leaned forward.
“Poland is not like America. If you want to learn, I can tell you all about the land and the people. It will seem like you were there. I have pictures. But for now, let us pack.” She finished her folding and stacked the skirt into the trunk. “Next week, Mr. De Luca will take you to Pompeii and Rome. Won’t that be fun?”
Disappointment welled up inside. There must be a way to convince the princess. While Kate sat musing, Lidka walked by on the way to her bedroom.
“Lidka,” Kate called out. Maybe the two of them could work together to come up with a plan.
Lidka poked her head into the room. “I going into town to pick up the tools for Tony. Kate, you want to come?”
“Yes.�
� She jumped off the bed and mouthed “thank you” when she reached the doorway.
“No, I still need your help, Kate,” Nessa complained. “You know New York. I trust you.”
Kate was no longer in the mood to help the Kolodenkos. “I know New York department store windows. I can help you match the city backdrop, but I don’t know how fashionable you’ll be.”
Princess Kolodenko intervened. “Why don’t we make our selections, then when Kate returns she’ll give her approval?”
“I can do that,” Kate said.
Nessa waved her hand in dismissal, but she didn’t look happy.
“I’ll get my purse,” Kate said as she squeezed past Lidka in the doorway.
It felt like she was keeping separate sets of friends, but Lidka and Nessa were like oil and water. It was best she spent time with them separately. And right now Lidka was the one with answers, while the Kolodenkos kept standing in her way.
Lidka was waiting by the front door waving the keys. “Let’s go.” She bounded outside, her shoulder bag bouncing against her thigh.
“Are you thinking about what I said last night?” Lidka asked after they drove past the castle.
“Of course.” She’d stayed up half the night mulling it over. Her tired eyes were evidence of her lack of sleep. “And I know Mrs. De Luca said no.”
“You are giving up?”
“Of course not.”
“Will you sneak away?”
Kate thought of how hurt everyone would be if she up and left after they had paid for her Atlantic crossing—on the Queen Mary, no less. An image arose of the princess cabling Mom to say her daughter had run away.
“No. I won’t sneak away.”
“Then you are giving up.”
Lidka seemed to be taunting her. “Why don’t you tell the De Lucas you know? Why pretend not to?” Kate asked, trying to turn the tables on her.
“Less friction. You think they would let a Burgosov who knows their secrets stay at their villa? No matter what Nessa thinks, I care about Fyodora and Tony. They took care of me when I did not think I needed help, but I did. Probably saved my life.”
“They care for you like one of their own. I don’t think you telling will change that.”
Lidka took her focus off the road to raise her eyebrows at Kate.
Kate smiled. “Maybe it would.”
Lidka laughed. “You are learning.” She slowed her speed as they drove into town. “Think of it. You have the same right as any of us over the Kolodenko collection. It is ridiculous what they are doing. You should claim your birthright and take the items for yourself. You can be the one who ends this silly feud.”
The Kolodenko collection. Lidka made it sound like a clothing designer’s spring line. Did she know about everything in the collection, or was she fishing for information? She didn’t seem to know what was special about the necklace, but she could have been faking ignorance. Kate would have to be careful what she said. “It doesn’t feel like my birthright. I’m too far removed, not a direct descendant.”
“But that is what this family needs. Fresh blood.” She parked. “You are intersection of the families. They have been living out the same old merry-go-round for years.”
They went into the hardware store with Mr. De Luca’s list. The attendant started collecting the items while the girls waited. Lidka leaned back on the counter. “Are you not a little curious what would happen if we changed things between the families?”
Kate shook her head. “I haven’t thought about it.”
“Like I saying, you are too new. You have no time to scheme like everyone else.”
“I don’t know that the Kolodenkos are scheming. They’re just living out their family history. Trying to do good.”
The attendant came back with a wooden crate filled with a variety of tools. Lidka paid, and they were on their way to the car. “I am not ready to go back,” she said. “There is popular piazza up ahead. May we stop and order pizza for lunch? I have not had pizza in long time.”
“Swell.” It was another beautiful sunny day, and the piazza showed promise for a photo shoot. It was too bad she didn’t have the camera with her. “I need a shoulder bag like yours,” Kate said. “I keep forgetting to bring the camera, but if I had a big enough purse, I could.”
Lidka glanced at the tables outside the pizzeria where she wanted to eat. “Not too crowded yet. On the next block is a store that sells these bags. I take you now.”
The first bag Kate looked at was perfect. Made of brown canvas, it was the right size to fit her purse and the camera, with a little room left over. Lidka helped her figure out the Italian money, and they returned to the piazza. By the time they got there, the lunch crowd had descended.
“That was fast,” Kate said, eyeing all the full tables.
A waitress led them to the only open table, past an old woman dressed in rags. She had matted white hair, tied back in a faded black kerchief. With her gnarled hands, she wound a mass of blue yarn over and over. Once it was a ball, she unwound it and started again. She was muttering something, too quietly to make out what it was, and everyone gave her a wide berth. The waitresses skirted her table without acknowledging her, but they had at some point served her, as evidenced by an empty tea cup.
When the girls passed by, the old woman looked up, her eyes distant. She stopped her muttering and followed them with her gaze. The waitress seated them near the old woman, as the only available was the one closest to her.
“Who is that?” Kate whispered to the waitress, hoping her limited Italian was correct. Something about the old woman interested her.
The waitress bent close and answered in fast Italian.
Lidka translated. “She says, ‘I don’t know. She is always here, ever since I start working a month ago. She comes early in the morning and my boss feeds her. She leaves before the sun sets. Sometimes she winds her yarn; other times she brings a tatting shuttle.’”
“Ask her what she says,” Kate said, not sure why she needed to know.
Lidka translated and the waitress laughed. “She is hard to understand. Some have heard her say, ‘The sky is amber.’ Others have heard her talking about something she has lost, but no one can figure that one out.”
The old woman seemed as interested in them as Kate was in her. She watched them as they ordered, muttering to herself. Then, as they were eating, the old woman pushed herself up from her table and came over to them. She moved slowly, as if her feet hurt her. She reached out a hand to Lidka, her finger pointing to Lidka’s necklace.
“Mine,” she said. “Lost.”
Lidka held up the amber necklace. “This? Is this the amber sky you have lost?”
The old woman nodded hungrily. Her interest in the amber necklace was too intense—it was like she’d seen it before. It was a long shot, but this woman could be the one who gave her dad the diamond.
“Have you seen this necklace before? A drawing?” Kate mimed drawing on a piece of paper.
The old woman ignored Kate and reached out as if to touch Lidka’s necklace.
Kate gently kicked Lidka under the table to get her attention. She raised her eyebrows to encourage Lidka to follow her lead.
Lidka pursed her lips. When the woman stepped closer, Lidka hurriedly unclasped the necklace and draped it over the woman’s hand.
“What? No. Ask her why she wants it.” Kate resisted the urge to touch her own necklace, hidden under her blouse, in case the old woman would demand hers, too.
By now, they had the whole pizzeria’s attention. Everyone was watching to see what the old woman would do. She held the necklace with both hands close to her heart, a smile lighting her face. But then the smile began to fade and was replaced with a look of confusion. She shook her head, muttering, and returned to her corner table. She picked up her things and continued out to the street.
Lidka translated. “She saying something like, ‘Feels different, too much time.’ Maybe I should not have given her my necklace.
I thought it would make her happy.”
Later, when Kate was relaying her day to everyone, she told them about the old woman. Immediately Nessa broke in.
“We know that woman. She is the old gardener I was telling you about. I didn’t know she spent so much time at the pizzeria. We call her the babuszka because when we were growing up she had a set of nesting dolls that she let us play with, and she always wears the kerchief on her head like the babuszka dolls.”
“The waitress says she’s been there every day for as long as she can remember,” said Kate.
“Oh dear,” Princess Kolodenko said. “I need to visit the babuszka. I haven’t been since we got home. Tony, did you see her while we were gone?”
“I checked in on her every few days. There has been no change. Her health is frail. I tell her not to go into town every day, but she says the exercise is good for her. I think she is getting lonely in her old age.”
Kate remembered the sketch of the cottage. Jeepers, how could she have forgotten one of the clues? “I’d like to go with you,” she said, looking meaningfully at Nessa.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kate and Nessa had a great time putting together a food basket for the babuszka. They started out harvesting goodies from the garden: romaine lettuce, chives, rosemary, basil, tomatoes, zucchini. They wore big floppy garden hats and took frequent breaks to enjoy glasses of ice water mixed with sliced lemons and cucumbers.
From the kitchen, they added fresh bread, pasta, and two jars of the just-made giardiniera. Maria wrapped up some of her pasta and enough jars of tomato sauce until the basket was overflowing. She shook her head and pulled out another basket. “You won’t be able to carry it in one basket,” she said. “It will break.”
When the sun began to set, Kate, Nessa, and Princess Kolodenko followed the path along the woods to the gardener’s cottage. Even Nessa, who had previously mentioned being uncomfortable around the old woman, walked in eagerness.
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