“You can choose a side or remain at the cottage.”
“What about my dad?”
“Oh, dearie. He is resting peacefully. Nothing could wake him right now.”
Meanwhile, the Burgosovs and the Kolodenkos were eyeing each other as they slowly made their way to their respective cabins.
After checking in on Dad to confirm that he was very much asleep, Kate received permission from Esmerelda to talk to the Kolodenkos. She knocked on the door of the little cabin.
Nessa answered and beckoned Kate in. The cabin was a central room with two twin beds on the right, a sitting area on the left, and a kitchen in the back. “This is cozy,” Kate said.
“There’s an outhouse out back,” Nessa said. She did not sound impressed. “I’m sorry we had to leave your brother and Johnny behind, but you can see why we couldn’t bring them. We suspected they would show up.”
“How is Johnny?”
Nessa laughed. “Like a charging bull. He’s just crazy trying to get to you. I’m sure he’s spitting mad we left without him this morning.”
Kate’s heart warmed.
Princess Kolodenko stopped her pacing to welcome Kate. “He contacted us immediately after you were separated,” she said. “We met with your brother and he showed us the telegram you sent him about going to Gryfino.”
“So they’re close?” Kate held her breath. She couldn’t wait to see him again.
Princess Kolodenko nodded. “Back at the hotel in the town of Szczecin. Floyd is eager to see his dad. You found him; how is he?”
“Malwinka had him as a prisoner. He’s recovered from his initial injuries except he is blind.”
“Blind!” Nessa exclaimed.
“He’s alive,” Princess Kolodenko countered. “Kate, I’m sorry I didn’t take your search more seriously. We didn’t believe your father survived. And to think I sent you to Malwinka.” She put her hands to her chin like she was praying. “I should have gone myself.”
“She thinks she’s been betrayed. She asked about where the blue diamonds come from. I had no idea what she was talking about.”
For the first time, there was a crack in Princess Kolodenko’s stately demeanor. She started to speak, then faltered and looked away.
Nessa saw it, too. “What is it, Babcia?”
Princess Kolodenko sighed. “I didn’t think they knew. Well, it is all going to come out now. Esmerelda will see to it. Where are the shoes, Kate?”
“In the cottage.”
“And describe them to me.”
Puzzled, Kate answered, “They are made from beautiful clear diamonds. Sturdy, with a strong heel, yet delicate enough to wear with the ball gown.”
“Tell me how they worked,” Nessa said. “They helped you find someone you loved.”
“Yes, they did. Malwinka had one shoe hidden in the room where they kept my dad. She gave me the other. I didn’t know what to do with it. Finally, in frustration one night, I asked it, ‘Where is your partner?’ and it lit up, pointing the way.”
“Oh, I’d like to see that,” Nessa said.
“Interesting,” Princess Kolodenko said. “My family was not aware. We were taught that Kopciuszek was able to find her servant Nadzia by tracking the use of the blue diamonds.” She smiled, a faraway look on her face. “The story-book legend had always been that the prince found Kopciuszek using one shoe. It never made sense to me before, but now I understand how he did it.”
Princess Kolodenko sat at the table. “The shoes have been altered, Kate. Originally they were not the plain glass slippers you used to find your dad. They are missing their heart stones. The blue diamond clasps formed into the shape of hearts. These are what make the blue diamonds. We are unclear how they are created, but when we need a diamond, one becomes loose and we can pluck it out. Over time, another appears in its place.”
Kate made a plucking motion with her fingers. “Aunt Elsie, back at the hospital. That’s what she was trying to say.” That’s how Elsie recognized the diamond.
“The Keepers didn’t need to know about the diamonds. I never should have shown her. This is truly what the Burgosovs have been after all these years. They want the heart stones.”
Chapter Forty-One
The air fairly crackled with the tension growing among the three buildings in the woods. In Esmerelda’s cottage, Lidka sat at the window keeping watch, Dad was fast asleep in the bed in the corner, and Kate sat at the table observing them both. Esmerelda had gone out to talk with each side and told the girls to wait.
“What do you think is going to happen?” Kate asked, breaking the silence.
Lidka shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’m leaving anyway.”
“Where are you going?”
She didn’t answer but stood, hands balled at her sides.
“Girls, come on out,” Esmerelda called.
She was stacking up firewood near the burning coals as if she were getting ready to cook everyone dinner. It was not a happy family reunion, however, as the Kolodenkos and the Burgosovs stood apart from each other, eyeing the other side with distrust. Oblivious, Esmerelda shuttled about, adding sticks to the pile and humming to herself.
Finally, she sat back down in her rocking chair, and said, “Let’s begin.”
“Your family gave us worthless shoes,” Malwinka complained, taking a step toward Princess Kolodenko. “There is no wealth here. Something is missing.”
Princess Kolodenko remained silent, her lips set.
Esmerelda, ignoring the outburst, motioned to Malwinka. As if hearing a silent command, Malwinka pulled the shoes out of her bag and placed them before the babuszka.
Openmouthed, Kate looked at Lidka. She refused to meet Kate’s eyes. “How could you?”
“You got your dad. Everything could go back to the way it was,” she said, crossing her arms.
Next, Esmerelda turned to Ludmilla and tilted her head. Ludmilla produced the wrapped ball gown. Esmerelda unwrapped it, and, smiling, draped it over her knees.
Nessa’s eyes opened wide and she riffled through her own bag. “When did she steal the ball gown? I brought it with me. Kate had given it to Johnny for safekeeping. I’ve had it with me this whole time.”
“There is a reason you need a Keeper.” Ludmilla grimaced at her and stepped back, bowing and sweeping her arm in an arc, inviting Nessa to go next.
Nessa lifted her chin and marched over to the waiting babuszka. She draped the servant dress and then the wedding gown on top of the ball gown. With one last longing look, she turned away and set her back to the Burgosovs.
Next, Esmerelda raised her eyebrows at Princess Kolodenko. When the princess came close, the babuszka gently cupped her face. Reluctantly, Princess Kolodenko took out two sparkly blue objects and placed them in Esmerelda’s hands.
Malwinka and Ludmilla gasped, then whispered to each other.
“What are those?” Lidka asked.
“The heart stones that give us the blue diamonds and are the source of our wealth,” Princess Kolodenko said. “When we are in need, we can pluck out a diamond. Over time, a new one replaces it. This was Kopciuszek’s secret. It was our secret. But now that Esmerelda has taken everything back, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Esmerelda bent over the shoes and fixed the blue diamond heart clips to them. There was a hush of sadness about the meadow as the sun sat low in the sky. Centuries of feuding had led to this. It was like they were children and the babuszka was taking all their toys away.
Just then, Lidka darted through the circle they had formed. Before anyone could react, she grabbed the pile of Cinderella’s treasures. Stunned, everyone stared as she ran toward the fire pit.
Kate’s body reacted before she even realized what Lidka intended. She lunged after her. “No!” she yelled. “You don’t understand what could happen. That dress has power.”
Lidka stood with the items held out over the coals. “I have to. I am tired of this feud. Is time for it to end. Once these are gone, we will
have nothing left to fight over.”
“Wait!” Ludmilla approached slowly and steadily as if trying not to spook a cornered animal. “We can work this out. You don’t need to destroy anything.”
“Yes, we’re all here,” Malwinka said. “We can decide together what must be done.”
Lidka set her lips into a determined line. She dropped the bundle into the coals, and everyone gasped. For a moment nothing happened.
Kate searched for a long stick, something she could use to pull out the items before they caught fire.
The servant’s dress caught first. A small flame licking at the years of grease stains embedded into the fabric.
Ludmilla lunged and tried to reach into the pile, but she shrank back from the sudden heat.
Next went the wedding dress, and Kate’s heart fell. Such a beautiful gown.
Her attention moved to the ball gown. What was Cinderella’s dress going to do? For the longest time they all stared, waiting. Waiting.
BOOM!
The ground shook, and Kate was knocked flat. She couldn’t see for the smoke, and her ears rang with a high pitch that blocked out all other noise. Instinctively, she crawled away from the fire, coughing and gasping for air. The smoke burned her throat. She moved far enough away that she could stand and look back. A cloud covered the area, hiding everything from view. Where was Lidka? Did she make it out? Where were the others?
Close to her, a figure was stumbling, a shadow lost in the smoke. Kate took a deep breath and rushed in to help. It was Lidka. Kate caught her by the arm and helped her get to the clear air. She collapsed moments later. Her clothing was charred, shredded, and her burns were difficult to look at. She smiled at Kate before closing her eyes in pain. “It’s over,” she said.
“Help!” Kate called, blinking cleansing tears out of her eyes. The smoke stung. “Help. We’re over here.” Where is everyone? She didn’t want to leave Lidka alone, but she had to find help. Lidka needed to get out of this smoky air.
From out of nowhere came Esmerelda.
“Come on, dearie,” she said tenderly to Lidka. “We’re going to get you to bed. Can you stand?” She brushed back Lidka’s hair from the side of her face not burned.
Lidka’s eyes fluttered open, but she stared emptily back at Esmerelda.
“Help me, Kate. Take her other arm.”
Both arms were burned, and Kate hesitated to touch her.
“Under here, like this,” Esmerelda said, demonstrating. “She’s not hurt there.”
Together, they got Lidka to her feet and led her back to the cottage. The others had also found their way to the door and watched with mixed expressions. Once they had Lidka lowered into her bed, Esmerelda shooed them away, including Kate.
Kate found the others shook up from the blast, but otherwise unharmed. They waited silently outside while a soft wind blew away the smoke layer by layer. When the air completely cleared away, they were all left in shock. There was a crater where the fire pit used to be, which was to be expected. But the surprise was what happened to the forest.
The tree trunks for as far as they could see were bent at right angles like the blast had burst through them on its way out. It was the strangest sight Kate had ever seen.
It was as if the trees were trying to kneel.
Princess Kolodenko shook her head as she surveyed the bent trees. “There must be hundreds of trees out there. No one will ever believe the truth, even if they were told.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Ludmilla had found a stick long and sturdy enough to pick through the ashes, and had started poking and prodding the smoking remains. Malwinka hovered beside her, overseeing the search. “Look over there,” she directed. “There is a lump that could be a glass slipper.”
Ludmilla poked the spot, and the pile of ash collapsed. Malwinka slapped her arm. “Be careful, you fool.”
Meanwhile, Nessa had joined the search with her own stick. Ludmilla took one look and began to poke around faster. Ash rose up from the pile like a thundercloud until they were all covered in cinders.
“It’s your fault we’ve lost everything.” Malwinka continued to berate Ludmilla. “It’s better to have a sparrow in your hand than a pigeon on the roof. If you hadn’t been so greedy, we would still have the shoes. But no, you had to have the dresses, too.”
“I didn’t have the shoes, you did, and you were keeping them a secret.” She kicked up a poof of ash toward Malwinka.
If Kate wasn’t so worried about Lidka, she would have laughed at the pair looking more and more like cinder-wenches themselves.
With a heavy heart, she turned away and returned to the cottage. There was no point searching the ashes, because she knew there would be nothing to see. The ball gown didn’t just burst into flames like it did in the display window at the department store; it exploded. The remnants of the dress would be scattered all over that forest.
Princess Kolodenko hovered near the door of the cottage. “You must think me strange to care so much for a girl who keeps running away,” she said.
Kate shook her head. She felt the same about the girl who was playing her.
“During the war, I learned to notice individuals. To see each person’s struggle. If I tried to help the masses, I was overwhelmed. But I could help the person in front of me. My daughter lost her husband and one of her daughters, and now she is off in France, learning to cope by working. Nessa is about to leave to start a new life in America. Tony—you’ve met him. Tony is Tony. He is strong. But Lidka? She is the one in front of me now.”
The door opened and Esmerelda came out. “Your Lidka will be fine,” she said. “The wounds are healing, but there will be scars.”
“May we see her?” Princess Kolodenko asked.
Esmerelda opened the door wider. The princess motioned for Kate to go in first, but Kate declined. “You go,” she said. “I’ll watch them.” She indicated the gathering around the ashes.
Malwinka had found the hoes and, together with Ludmilla, had spread the ashes into a wide circle. “Look for something sparkling,” she directed Ludmilla. They were still searching for the heart stones.
Nessa came and stood by Kate. “Everything is gone,” she said.
“Mmm,” Kate replied.
Nessa shifted slightly. “What?” she whispered.
“Nothing.”
“That ‘mmm’ did not sound like nothing.”
“Wait and see.”
The Burgosovs picked through the ashes long enough to satisfy themselves that Cinderella’s legacy was gone. With nothing to fight about, it seemed they had nothing to talk about, either. After a long moment of silence, they wandered off, not even saying good-bye or waiting to talk to the babuszka. The matriarchs of each line of stepsisters marched into the woods, presumably back to civilization and to remake whatever life for themselves they planned, as so many others were doing postwar. Neither of them waited to see how Lidka was faring. Not the side she was born to, nor the side she defected to.
“They didn’t even check on Lidka,” Nessa said. “Babuszka and Babcia take care of her while the ones who should be looking out for her search for the treasure.” She toed the dirt in a circle. “While I searched for the treasure. I’m sorry I have been so bossy,” Nessa said as she watched them go. “I’d like to say it was all the influence of the dresses, but that wouldn’t be completely true. I got caught up in being descended from royalty but forgot the best kind of princess is one who serves.”
“I’m glad you noticed,” Kate said with a smile. “Apology accepted. And I’m sorry I was so possessive about the dresses. They are—were—your family’s belongings, not mine. A Keeper is not an owner. “
“We’ve learned our lessons. Too bad we learned them too late.” After watching the stepsisters leave, the girls went into the cottage.
Esmerelda had done wonders with Lidka’s burns, and the scars, though still noticeable, were not too shocking.
Kate looked over at the sleeping form of her
dad.
“I will wake him in the morning. Do not worry. He will not know how long he has been sleeping, but he will be refreshed. I don’t know about his eyesight,” she said, answering Kate’s unspoken question.
Princess Kolodenko held her hands out to the wounded girl. “Come back to the villa with us.”
“Nie.” Lidka blinked and stared out the window into the darkness. “I will wander until I find my own place. Perhaps in Russia. So many have died or left, there will be room for me.”
Lidka’s words, though not harsh, were clearly not what Princess Kolodenko was hoping to hear.
“It is late,” Esmerelda said, pulling out a pile of blankets. “Everyone go to bed and we will talk more in the morning.”
Chapter Forty-Three
The next morning, Kate woke early. It was dark in the room, but she could make out someone moving around, trying to be quiet. The door opened, and Kate realized it was Esmerelda leaving the cottage. Minutes later, a shadow crossed in front of the window. Nessa. Curious about where the girl might be going, Kate wrapped a blanket around herself and slipped out after her.
Esmerelda stood over the ashes of the fire pit as if waiting for the girls. Kate sidled up next to Nessa, who reached for her hand. They waited in the cool morning, feet wet with dew and their hearts expectant.
As the sun rose, giving their faces a youthful glow, the babuszka spoke. “It is down to you two.”
The girls smiled at each other.
“Nessa, you are wondering who I really am. If I am the fairy godmother you hope for.”
Kate felt Nessa squeeze her hand.
“Kopciuszek was a lovely girl. She had a harsh life, but the choices she made and the attitude she kept were what made the difference. I could not have helped her if her heart was pointed in another direction. She had faith and sought the good.”
Esmerelda turned to look at them full-on. Kate’s heartbeat sped up.
“What is it you seek?” she asked them.
Kate’s mind raced on how to answer. What did she seek? Now that she had found her dad, she couldn’t think of anything else she wanted. Her family was safe and would soon be back together. She wanted to be with Johnny, but she didn’t need a fairy godmother’s help for that. According to Nessa, he had come to Poland to rescue her. All she needed was two minutes to tell him how much he meant to her.
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