Cinderella Takes the Stage

by Disney Books

  Val put her hand to her mouth and then quickly uncovered it. “Oh, yes, Your Majesty! I’d be honored!”

  The King dropped a velvet pouch into Val’s hands. Ella could hear the clinking of coins as it fell. Coins just like the one still warm in Ella’s hand, but many, many more.

  “Enjoy the bonfires, everyone!” The King waved at his subjects. Then, with his guards at his side, he disappeared into the crowd.

  Ella ran over to Val and wrapped her in her arms. There was no doubt in her mind. Dreams were real, and they were coming true right now.

  Ella lounged on the garden bench, staring into the treetops and singing softly. She wasn’t singing so the fairies would listen. She was singing so her heart would have a voice. She felt so full of happiness, full of wonder, and full of dreams come true. But stitched through these feelings was also a thread of sadness. In a few minutes she would be walking to the village to say goodbye to her friend.

  As it turned out, the gold the King had given Val, together with Val’s mother’s savings, was enough for them to buy a small farm out in the country. Ella was amazed at how right her own mother had been. Val’s dreams had made magic happen and had shown Ella that what she felt in the garden was true: anything was possible.

  “Would you like me to come with you, darling?” Ella heard her mother’s voice behind her and smiled as she turned her head from the sky.

  “I’ll be all right, Mother. Bruno will be with me,” Ella said as she stood.

  “It’s never easy to say goodbye to a friend. Especially one as wonderful and new as Val,” Ella’s mother said.

  “No. I don’t expect it will be. But I feel that it’s not goodbye. Even if she’s leaving…I know she’s not really leaving me.” Ella looked into her mother’s eyes. “Does that sound like nonsense?”

  Ella’s mother shook her head. “Not even a bit.”

  “Come, Bruno!” At Ella’s call, Bruno tore himself away from playing with the chickens and raced over.

  Ella had just started for the village path when she felt something placed in her hand. It was her mother’s fan. “It’s warm out here, Ella,” her mother said. “Look after yourself.”

  Ella gripped the fan, opening it once and folding it up again. She’d always adored this fan. Its elegant beauty was so much like her mother’s. “Thank you, Mother. I will,” Ella said, kissing her on the cheek.

  Ella and Bruno made their way toward the edge of the village, where the road into the western country began. Val and her mother were there, sorting and arranging their few belongings in a covered wagon they’d hired for their journey. The wagon was larger than Ella had expected. She peeked inside to find cages of chickens, three pigs, two sheep, and a goose. And to her surprise, behind the wagon were two cows, chewing on the grass that lined the path.

  “Val! There are so many animals. I thought the gold was only enough to start with the house!” Ella exclaimed.

  Val hopped down from the front of the wagon. “You’ll never believe it. When my mother told Sir Edgard our plan, he said there was no point for him to keep the animals without someone to look after them. So he sold them to us. All except his two prized pigs.” Val lowered her voice to a whisper. “I think we may have cheated him. He took only three coins.”

  Ella frowned. “Sir Edgard hardly seems like the kind of man to let himself be taken advantage of. Perhaps he was being kind?”

  Val thought for a moment. She lifted Claudio out of the wagon so he could say hello to Bruno, who’d been whining at her feet for the pig. “You know, when he made the deal, he did say I could keep the runt for free. So it seems he knew about Claudio all along.”

  “It’s like my father said, Val. There’s good in everyone. Even old Sir Edgard,” Ella declared.

  Val laughed. “Let’s not get carried away.”

  “Everything’s all set, girls. I need to run to the market for one last thing.” Val’s mother reached her arms out to Ella for a hug. “It’s been a pleasure knowing you, Ella. Please come visit us anytime.” She gave Ella a squeeze and left.

  Val and Ella stood in silence. They watched Bruno and Claudio wrestle on the ground.

  Val finally spoke. “It’s true, you know. You can visit us anytime. I know it’s not the same as walking down the path into the village, but it’s only half a day’s journey.”

  Ella nodded. “I noticed you don’t have a goat in that wagon,” she said.

  “Oh, right. Well, we never had a goat on Sir Edgard’s property. That’s why I wanted one,” Val said.

  Ella pulled the gold coin out of her pocket. “I was hoping you might use this for a goat. For me, of course. It could be my goat. You could just look after it. And then I’d have another friend to visit.”

  Val beamed as she took the coin. “No dress after all?”

  Ella shook her head. “A goat seems much more exciting.”

  Val clapped her hands. “If it’s a goat you want, then a goat you shall have!” And with that, she pulled Ella in close for a hug. They embraced for a while, and Ella felt a tear roll down her cheek. When they pulled apart, Ella could see that Val’s eyes were wet, too.

  “Don’t be sad, Val. I’m so happy for you,” Ella said, wiping away her tear.

  “You’ve been a great friend, Ella,” Val said, sniffling.

  “So have you. And call me Cinderella. Anything else from you sounds funny.” Ella giggled. “I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you, too,” Val said. “But there’s something my father used to say when I was little, before I knew I was going to miss him always. We can see each other in our dreams. Just wish for it in your heart, right before you go to sleep.”

  “It’s a deal,” Ella said.

  “Deal,” Val said. She called to Claudio and climbed into the wagon. “Oh! One more thing.” Val pulled a package from the wagon and handed it to Ella. It was wrapped in paper. “Don’t open it here.”

  Ella hugged the package to her chest. “Goodbye, Mademoiselle Valentine.”

  “Goodbye, Mademoiselle Cinderella.” Val waved. With one last look, Ella trudged back to the chateau, Bruno at her heels.

  When she returned home, she went straight to the garden. It felt like the only place she wanted to be just then. She’d hoped to save the present for later, but she missed Val so much already, she couldn’t help herself.

  Ella tore open the paper to find a puppet. It was made from a combination of Val’s odds and ends and the scraps she had taken from Ella the first day they had met. Ella didn’t know when Val had sneaked them away again, but it didn’t matter. The puppet was a rainbow, cobbled together from all colors of metal, beads, wood, and lace. It was the most beautiful and hopeful thing Ella had ever seen or dreamed.