So here it is, loves! Yet another chapter to add to this story. Hope you've enjoyed it so far, cause it's only going to get better (I do pray).
Right.
Disclaimer: I don't own Cinderella, nor do I own many things from this story. They belong to Disney. The fairy tale itself--well, that I suppose belongs to...someone. Give them my regards.
Dream Come True
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Chapter 2
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She twisted her head and looked behind her at a man who only topped her height by a few inches. Chestnut eyes met her gaze.
"Who…?" she stared, lost for words. He removed his arm from around her waist and promptly stepped back, raising his hands in surrender.
"I mean no harm! I just came to get some water and happened to see you…falling." he leaned down and lifted the trough with ease, face expressionless. His eyes studied her face for a moment as if waiting for a reply.
"Thank you…" she spoke softly and uneasily, eyeing him with a guarded conscience.
He was dressed in degradingly plain clothes, and his face was covered in smudges of dirt. His hair fell across his forehead in a few graceful arcs, but it could not hide the finely shaped eyebrows that peered through, black against his dark brown hair.
"Mind if I ask you a question?" his resonating voice broke the silence as he readjusted the heavy load on his shoulder.
"Oh, not at all." she fidgeted with her shawl nervously.
"Why are you carrying this heavy trough all the way to the well?" he waited, and continued when she remained speechless, "Why not carry a few buckets back and forth?"
"Well--"
"Oh, but now I see it." he interrupted. "You'd have to refill, and lugging so many buckets back and forth would be just as tiring as carrying the entire trough. Yes, I see your logic now." he stepped away briskly, making his way to the well without another word.
She hesitated for a moment, taken aback by the outspoken nature of the strange man. She allowed herself to study him for only a moment as he moved in front of her. He was not an overly tall man, but despite his stocky build and broad shoulders, his poise gave the impression that he was a taller gentleman. He walked with a regal atmosphere, and she half considered whether the title "gentleman" could be applied accurately. She shook her head and all the thoughts that trailed behind the most recent, berating herself silently for the ridiculousness of it.
"Shall I do this alone?"
"Coming!" she snapped out of her reverie and trotted quickly to the well.
He set the trough down in front of her, wiping his soiled hands on the wool pants that hung loosely around his lean legs. She reached for the handle to pull up the water bucket, but he stopped her.
"No, let me." he took the handle from her hand.
She stepped back at his command, her heart fluttering with the sudden onslaught of undeserved generosity. His facial features were well suited for his face, but his shoulders were much too broad. Perhaps if he had finer clothes--Cinderella cursed herself silently as she found her gaze turned to him once again.
"Might I help myself to some water?" he turned to her, bucket brimming with clear water in his hands.
"Oh, yes, of course." she wrapped the shawl tighter against her bony shoulders as a soft breeze chilled her flushed face.
She pulled out the scrub brush, attempting to concentrate on cleaning bird poop and grime from the wood. The work in front of her faded, and she found herself peering from the corner of her eye. The man balanced the bucket on the edge of the stone well, cupping his hands to draw the sweet water to his parched lips. He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt and sighed contentedly. His eyes wandered dangerously close to her direction. She scrubbed viciously at the trough to distract herself. He walked over and handed her the bucket, and she took it without lifting her gaze to his face.
"Thank you." she muttered and nodded, pouring the rest of the chilly water into the trough.
"Forgive my seeming forward, but might I have your name?" he remained unmoved in front of her. She glanced up and opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of ringing bells reached her ears.
"Oh, blast…" she stood quickly. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Maybe I will see you another time…?"
"I shall look forward to it." he smiled gently at her, but she merely dropped the brush in the water and ran.
The bells rang in earnest. All three of them.
"I know, I know, I hear you!" she shouted as she slammed the door behind her. She rubbed her hands together viciously in a bowl of water before preparing the breakfast trays.
Lucifer yowled as she took a step backwards. "Oh, Lucifer! You always manage to get under my feet…"
Lucifer scampered up the steps, hanging his tail in shame. A group of mice carrying their breakfast flew across the kitchen floor into a hole unnoticed by the skulking cat. Cinderella barely heard the scrape of mouse feet against the tiled floor above her screaming stepsisters.
"Cinderella!" Drizella shrieked from upstairs.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" she threw the cups upside down on their saucers and hurried along, balancing one tray on her head and one tray in each hand.
"Cinderella!" Anastasia screeched.
"Just a minute!" she set one tray down on the table and opened the door to the main hall.
"Cinderella! Cinderella!" Anastasia and Drizella shouted in chorus. She hurried up the steps and opened Drizella's door first.
"Good morning Drizella. Sleep well?" she set the tray down on her bedside table as gently as she could, slightly out of breath. Drizella crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip.
"Humph. As if you care." she pointed to a large pile of clothes sitting on a chair next to the door. "Take that ironing and have it back in a hour, you hear? One hour!"
"Yes Drizella." she grabbed the pile of clothes in one hand and the tray on her head wobbled precariously, but many years of practice kept the tray from tipping too far. She hurried to the next door.
"Good morning Anastasia." she laid the tray at the foot of her stepsister's bed, just the way she always demanded it. She quickly mopped up some spilled tea from around the teakettle with her apron, but Anastasia didn't notice.
"Well, it's about time!" Cinderella turned to leave, but Anastasia stopped her. "Oh, and don't forget the mending. Don't be all day doing it, either."
"Yes Anastasia." she grabbed the basket of clothes and hurried out the door.
She set the basket and the pile of clothes on the floor outside her stepmother's room. She straightened her apron and took the tray from her head with two steady hands.
"Well, come in, child. Come in!"
"Good morning, Stepmother."
"Pick up the laundry and get on with your duties." the usual cold greeting.
"Yes, Stepmother." she turned to go, feeling her previous cheerfulness seep from her with every step she took away from the demanding and unkind woman.
"EEEEK!" a shriek startled Cinderella, and she almost dropped all the laundry in her hands. "Ohhh! Mother! Oh, mother!" Anastasia stormed from her room and only stopped to point an accusing finger in Cinderella's face. "You did it. You did it on purpose!" she turned and raced into the other room. "Mother! Mother! Mother, mother!"
"Now what did you do?" Drizella screamed at Cinderella as she ran from her bedroom to her mother's.
"Oh she put it in there. A big, ugly mouse under my teacup." Cinderella ignored Anastasia complaints, knowing she absolutely did not do it. Or at least…not on purpose.
She stepped into Anastasia's room and found Lucifer sitting on the floor looking extremely pleased with himself. She put her arms on her hips and glared at the cat.
"All right Lucifer. What did you do with him?" he sat up to reveal his front paws had nothing underneath them, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Now the other one…" she grabbed one of his front paws and pulled him up. He lifted one back leg. "Come on, now. Let him go." Lucifer glowered at her and yanked himself from her grip, revealing Gus under his other large back foot as he darted from the room.
"Oh, you poor thing…" she reached to pick up Gus.
"Cinderella!" her stepmother's voice chilled her, and she winced with anticipation, taking a deep breath to prepare herself for the punishment she would receive.
"Yes Stepmother." she motioned towards the door and Gus ran as fast as his dazed little feet would take him. She walked into the hallway, regained her composure, and entered her stepmother's room.
"Hmph!" Drizella scoffed, bumping past her out the door.
"Are you gonna get it." Anastasia stepped around her, walking with her nose in the air.
"Close the door, Cinderella." she turned at her stepmother's command and shut the door in Anastasia and Drizella's faces. She heard them argue over the keyhole, and hoped they stayed there so she could open the door smack into their large noses when she left. "Come here." her stepmother's eyes gleamed under dark cover of the canopy bed. All of her composure melted away as she looked into those heartless eyes, and all she could do was protest futilely.
"Oh, please, you don't think that I--"
"Hold your tongue!" her stepmother's words exploded from the shadows. Lucifer purred on her lap. "Now," she chuckled to herself, "it seems we have time on our hands…"
"But I had no idea--"
"Silence! Time for vicious practical jokes. Perhaps we can put it to better use. Now, let me see…there's the large carpet in the main hall. Clean it!" her eyes flashed dangerously. "And the windows, upstairs and down. Wash them!" Cinderella opened her mouth to protest. "Oh yes, and the tapestries and the draperies."
"But I just finished--"
"Do them again! And don't forget the garden. Then scrub the terrace, sweep the halls and the stairs, clean the chimneys and, of course, there's the mending and the sewing and the laundry." Lucifer purred loudly and proudly. He flashed a cat-smile at her and she squinted her eyes in warning. "Oh yes, and one more thing. See that Lucifer gets his bath." the purring stopped abruptly. Cinderella beamed with triumph at the cat, much to the surprise of her stepmother, and bowed politely before exiting.
She turned the doorknob furiously, and Anastasia and Drizella jumped back in surprise. She stormed past her shocked stepsisters and into the kitchen. She leaned heavily against the closed door and fought back tears, the fearless and bold composure she'd shown fading with every beat of her furious heart. It took all she had to suppress the rage that brewed within her thoughts, and she moved slowly across the room, sinking into the chair at her desk. With a trembling hand, she took a piece of paper and a quill from the writing desk that was shoved most inconveniently in the corner for lack of space. Cinderella dipped the quill in the ink and began a list.
To do:
1. Main hall carpet to be cleaned
2. Windows - up and down to be washed
3. Wash tapestries
4. Wash draperies
5. Weed garden
6. Scrub terrace
7. Sweep halls and stairs
8. Clean chimneys
9. Mending, ironing, laundry
10. Lucifer
There was something she was forgetting…as if she'd been in the middle of something this morning--ah…the water trough. She never had time to clean it.
"Just one more thing to add to the list…" her voice was merely a whisper.
She folded the piece of paper and shoved it in an apron pocket, a few traces of fury still present in the fists she clenched tightly at her sides. She closed her eyes and stole into her thoughts, pulling up the angry thoughts that whirled in her head, allowing them to scream what she felt to the very marrow of her bones: It's just not fair!
A single tear dripped down her cheek, and with it, the screaming thought.
There, she thought, I'm ready now.
She took a deep breath and stepped out the door into the bright fall sunshine with a new confidence.
Just let them try and bring me down…I won't give up just yet.
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Not quite as much of a cliffie as last chapter. Sorry about that, dearies.
The next chapter, I fear, may not be published until next week some time, and even then it's not very likely.
But see, you love me anyway, so you'll leave a review to tell me how much you're looking forward to the next chapter, eh?