Dedicated to the encouraging reviewers of my other 2 fics, they are Leto, Selena, Jodi (Me,Myself&Iz) , Minako 9, Digigirl_08, and Canis Black. Thank-you so much,
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This isn't written very well, but I had the idea to write it and because I'm stuck on my other stories I thought I might as well do this. Anyway I hope you think it's ok, it's a fairytale-ish
Tell me what you think because I know at least some-one'll read it
Mossycoat
There was once a poor widow who lived in a little cottage. She had one daughter who was sixteen and very beautiful. Day after day she busied herself spinning a coat for her daughter.
A peddler came courting this girl. He called at the cottage regularly, and kept bringing her this trinket and that trinket. He was in love with the girl who had auburn hair like silk and skin as pale as a rose and he badly wanted her to marry him.
But the girl wasn't in love with him; things didn't work out as easily as that. She didn't know quite what to do for the best, and asked her mother for advice.
'Let him come,' said her mother. 'Get what you can out of him while I finish this coat. After that, you won't need him or his pretty little presents. You tell him Sora,' the mother said, 'that you won't marry him unless he gets you a white satin dress embroidered with sprigs of gold as big as a man's hand; and mind you tell him it must be a perfect fit.'
The girl had come to trust her mother and thought her very wise, so she took her advice. Next time the peddler came round, and asked the daughter to marry him, she told him just this -
'Yamato, I won't marry you unless you get me white satin dress embroidered with sprigs of gold as big as a man's hand; and mind, it must be a perfect fit.'
The peddler looked at the girl, and took note of her size and build. If it took a dress for her to marry him, a dress she would have.
Within a week, he was back with the dress. It was made of white satin and embroidered with sprigs of gold, and when the girl went upstairs with her mother and tried it on, it was a perfect fit.
'What shall I do now, mother?' asked the girl.
'Tell him,' said her mother, 'that you won't marry him unless he gets you a dress made of silk the colour of all the birds of the air. And it must be a perfect fit.'
The girl did not want to take advantage of the poor peddler but she valued her mother's advice. She went downstairs and told the peddler just this -
'Yamato, I won't marry you unless you get me a dress made of silk the colour of all the birds of the air. And it must be a perfect fit.'
The peddler returned in two or three days to the cottage with the coloured silk dress. And since he knew her size from the first dress, of course it was a perfect fit.
'Now what shall I do?' asked the girl.
'Tell him,' said her mother, 'that you won't marry him unless he gets you a pair of silver slippers that are a perfect fit.'
The girl was sure that now, she was taking advantage of the poor peddler's love for her. But still she did as she was bid.
'Yamato,' she told the peddler, ' I won't marry you unless you get me a pair of silver slippers. And they must be a perfect fit.'
In just a few days the peddler called round with them. The girl's feet were only about four inches long, but the slippers were a perfect fit. They were not too tight; neither were they too loose.
Once more the girl asked her mother what she should do.
'I can finish the coat tonight,' said her mother, 'and then you won't need the peddler. Tell him,' she said, 'that you'll marry him tomorrow. Tell him to be here at ten o'clock.'
He girl told the peddler just this-
'Yamato,' she said, 'I will marry you tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning.'
'I'll be there, my love,' said the peddler who had almost given up hope.
'By heaven, I will!'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
That night the girl's mother worked on the coat until very late, but she finished it all right. Green moss and gold thread, that's what it was made of: just those two things.
'Mossycoat,' the women called it.
'It's a magic coat,' she said.
'A wishing coat! When you've got it on, you have only to wish to be somewhere, and you'll be there that ver instant. And you've only to wish if you want to change yourself into something else, like a swan, or a bee.'
Next morning the widow was up at dawn. She called her daughter, and told her that it was time for her to go out into the world and seek her fortune.
'And a handsome fortune it must be, ' she said.
'What about the peddler?' asked the girl, feeling guilty.
'I'll send him packing when he comes round,' said her mother.
'Don't give him a second thought.'
The old widow was a seer and knew what was going to happen. She gave her daughter the mossycoat and a gold crown.
'Take the two dresses and silver slippers as well,' she said.
'But travel in your working clothes.'
So Sora was ready to set off, and she put on her coat of green moss and gold thread.
'Wish yourself a hundred miles away,' her mother said.
'Then keep walking till you come to a big hall, and ask for a job there. You won't have far to walk, my dear. They're bound to find you work at the big hall.'
Sora did as her mother told her, and soon she found herself in front of a gig house belonging to a gentleman. She knocked at the front door and said she was looking for work. Well, the long and short of it was that the young mistress of the house liked the look of her.
'What work can you do?' she asked.
'I can cook, your ladyship,' said Sora to the girl younger than herself. 'In fact, people say I'm a very good cook.'
'I can't employ a cook,' the lady said, 'I've got one already.'
Wanting to offer the girl a job, as she was little older than she was, she said, 'but I'll engage you to help the cook, if that will satisfy you.'
'Thank you, your ladyship,' said Sora. 'I'll be really happy in this house.'
So it was settled that Sora was to be the under cook. And after her ladyship had shown her to the servants quarters, she took her down and introduced her to the other servants.
'This is Sora,' Lady Hikari told them, 'and I've engaged her,' she said, ' to be the undercook.'
Then the young mistress of the house left them, and Sora went up to her bedroom again, to unpack her belongings and to hide away her gold crown and silk slippers and her silk and satin dresses.
The other kitchen girls were wild with jealousy; and it didn't help matters that the new girl was far more beautiful than any of them.
'Here's this beggar in rags,' one girl said, 'And she's put above us.'
'All she's fit for,' said another, 'is work in the scullery.'
'Undercook!' cried a third girl.
'If anyone's going to be undercook it should be one of us.'
'One of us,' said a fourth girl, 'not a girl in rags and tatters picked up off the street.'
'And we'll put her in her place,' the girls said. 'That we will!'
And so they went on and on until Sora came down again, ready to start work. Then they really rounded on her.
'Who on earth do you think you are, setting yourself above us?'
'You're going to be the undercook, are you?'
'No fear!'
'What you're going to do is scour the pans.'
'And polish the knives.'
'And clean the grates.'
'And that's all your good for!'
Then down came the milk skimmer on the top of her head, pop, pop, pop.
'That's what you deserve,' they spat at her, 'And, my lady, that's what you'll get.'
And that's how things were for Sora. She was given all the dirtiest work, and soon she was up to her ears in grease, and her face was as black as soot. And every now and again one or another of the servant would pop, pop, pop her on top of the head with the skimmer, until Sora's head was so sore she could scarcely stand it.
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months and Sora was still scouring the pans and polishing the knives and cleaning the grate. And the servants were still pop, pop, popping her on the head with the skimmer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Now there was to be a big dance in a house nearby. It was to last three nights and three days, with sports during the daytime. All the gentry from miles around were going to be there; and of course the master and mistress and their son and daughter planned to be there.
The dance was the talk among the servants.
'I wish I could go,' said one girl.
'I'd like to dance with some of those young gentlemen,' said a second.
'I'd like to see what dresses they ladies wear,' said a third.
And so they all went on - all except Sora.
'If only we'd the clothes,' said one, 'we'd be all right. We're just as good as their ladyships any day.'
'And you, Sora,' said another, 'wouldn't you like to go?'
'You'd look just right in all your rags and dirt,' they said.
And down came the skimmer on Sora's head, pop, pop, pop. Then they all laughed at her. The crude people that they were.
Now Sora was very beautiful, and no amount of rags and dirt could hide the fact. The other servants may think as they liked, but the young master had his eye on Sora ever since his sister had mentioned her to him. And the master and mistress had taken particular notice of her because of her fine looks.
On the first night of the big dance, they sent for her and asked if she would like to come with them.
'Thank you,' said Sora, 'but I'd never dream of such a thing. I know my place better than that. Besides,' she said, 'I'd cover one side of the coach with grease. And I'd sully the clothes of anyone I danced with.'
The master and mistress made light of that, and Lady Hikari even offered to lend the use of one of her many gowns, but no matter what they said they were unable to change Sora's mind.
When Sora got back to the kitchen, she told the other servants what she had been sent for, when they asked.
'What! You?' exclaimed one servant.
'I don't believe it!'
'If it had been one of us that would have been different.'
'You'd grease all the gentlemen's clothes - if there are any who would dance with a scullery girl.'
'And the ladies, they'd be forced to hold their noses when they walked past you.'
'No,' they said, 'we don't believe the master and mistress ever asked you to go to the ball with them. You must be lying,' they said.
And down cane the skimmer on top of her head, pop, pop, pop.
On the next evening, Lord and Lady Yagami and their son too asked Sora to the dance.
'It was a grand affair last night,' said the master.
'And it'll be even grander this evening,' added the mistress.
'Do come with us,' said Sir Taichi. 'Sora, I beg you.'
But Sora said no. She said she couldn't go on account of her rags and her grease and her dirt. Even the young master couldn't persuade her, and it wasn't for lack of trying.
The servants refused to believe Sora when she told them that she had been invited to the dance again, and added that the young master had been very pressing.
'Listen to her!' they cried. 'What next? What an upstart! And all lies!' they said.
Then one of the servants snorted and grabbed the skimmer and down it came once again, pop, pop, pop, on Sora's head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That night, Sora decided to go to the dance, all dresses up, and all on her own, without anybody knowing about it.
The first thing she did was to put all the other servants under a spell. She went up to her room, and put on her coat and wished for the servants to fall into an enchanted sleep. Sure enough, when she went downstairs they were all sound asleep on the kitchen floor.
Next Sora had a really good wash, her first since she had come to the house. She had never been allowed to before, The other servants had made her dirty and kept her dirty.
Then Sora went up to her bedroom. She threw off her working clothes and shoes, and out on her white satin dress embroidered with gold sprigs, her silver slippers and her gold crown. She then put on her mossycoat and wished it to shrink as soon as she took it off. Immediately she removed the coat and it shrunk (small enough to fit a doll) in the palm of her hand. Sora tucked the mossycoat safely into her dress.
When she was ready Sora wished herself to the dance; and as soon as she had spoken, there she was. She did feel herself soaring up and flying through the air, only for a moment. Then she was standing in the ballroom.
The young master, Taichi, noticed Sora standing on her own, and once he had seen her, he was unable to tear his eyes away. He had never seen anyone so captivating, nor so beautifully dressed, in his life.
'Who is she?' the young man asked his sister.
'I don't know,' said the young mistress. 'I've never seen her before.'
'Can't you find out, Hikari-chan?' he said, 'can't you go and talk to her?'
Lady Hikari knew only too well that her brother would not rest until she did and that he would not go up to her himself, so she walked up and introduced herself to the young lady and asked who she was and were she came from and so on. But all she could get out of her was that she came from a place where they hit her on the head with a milk skimmer.
After a while Lady Hikari brought over her older brother, introduced him to the girl and left. Sora didn't tell him any more than she told his little sister; she gave nothing away.
Eventually the young master asked, 'Will you dance with me?'
'Thank you,' said Sora, 'but I'd rather not.'
But he stayed at Sora's side. He kept asking her to dance over and over again.
'All right,' said Sora, 'just once.'
Sir Taichi and Sora danced up once, up the length of the ballroom and back down again. Many Lords and Ladies wondered whom the young girl was that was dancing so well with Sir Taichi, but no one seemed to know.
Then Sora said she had to leave. The young man pressed her to stay, but it was a waste of breath; she was determined to go there and then.
'All right,' Taichi conceded. 'I'll come to see you off.'
But Sora just wished and she vanished from the young man's arms and appeared in the big house, leaving the young man gaping in astonishment.
Thinking she might be out in the entrance hall or the porch waiting for her carriage, the young man went out to look for her; but there was no sign of her anywhere, inside or out and no one he asked had seen her leave. Taichi went back to the ballroom, but he was unable to think of anything but the mysterious girl, and so he took no further interest in the ball and left for the big house alone in his carriage.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Sora got back to the big house, she made sure the servants were still asleep. Then she went up to her bedroom and hurriedly changed into her working clothes; and when she had done that she hid her satin dress, silver slippers and gold crown once again then wished her mossy coat back to size and the servants awake.
By the time she was back in the kitchen the servants had all just woken up and were still very drowsy. They wondered what time of day it was and how long they'd been asleep.
'A long time!' said Sora, 'A whole evening in fact! The mistress wouldn't like to know about this, would she?'
The servants begged Sora not to let on, and offered her bribes to keep quiet about it. They gave her a skirt, a pair of shoes and even a small bar of scented soap. Sora accepted them and promised to say nothing about it.
And that night, for the first night in many months they didn't hit her over the head with the skimmer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All the next day Taichi was restless. He could think of nothing but the young lady he had seen the night before and fallen in love with. He kept wondering whether she would be at the dance again that evening, and how he could stop her from disappearing.
I must find out where she lives, he thought. Otherwise, how will I be able to bear it when the dance is over?
'Now I know why they say falling in love, you don't get a choice, you just sort of…fall…do you know what I mean?'
'Yes, I do,' said Hikari, thinking about her betrothed, Prince Takeru.
'I'll die,' Taichi told his sister, 'if I'm not able to marry her.'
'Well,' said Hikari getting back to the present,' she seemed a nice, modest girl. But she wouldn't tell us who she was or who her family are. And she wouldn't say where she came from, except that it was a place where they hot her on the head with a milk skimmer!'
'She's a mystery, I know,' said Taichi, 'but that doesn't mean I want her any the less. I love her, that's the God's truth and strike me dead if it isn't.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It wasn't long before the young master and the girl he had fallen in love with were all talk in the kitchen.
'And fancy you, Sora thinking he especially wanted you to go to the dance!' they crowed. Then they really set about her, making all kinds of sarcastic remarks. And hitting her on the head with the skimmer, pop, pop, pop, for lying to them.
It was just the same later on, too, when Sora returned to the kitchen after declining to go to the dance for the third time.
'This is you last chance,' said the servants.
'You're such a liar Sora! We'll give you one more chance'
And down came the skimmer on top of her head pop, pop, pop.
Then Sora wished the whole devil's breed of them asleep just as she had done the night before, and got herself ready to go to the dance. This time she put on her dress made of silk the colour of all the birds in the air.
Tucked safely in her dress was the re-shrunk mossycoat.
When Sora entered the ballroom Sir Taichi was watching and waiting for her. His horse was ready saddled and standing by the door, ready to follow her when she left. Taichi went over to Sora and asked her to dance.
She said no at first then, in the end, yes. And as soon as they had danced once, up the length of the ballroom and down again, Sora said she had to leave.
When they reached outside however Taichi didn't let Sora go, he held tighter. But as soon as Sora had wished it was no use. Taichi thought he felt her rise into the air but was unable to do anything about it.
Maybe he did just touch her foot though, because she had dropped one slipper.
Taichi picked up the slipper. But as for catching up with the girl, it would have been easier to catch up with the wind on a stormy night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as she got home, Sora changed back into her old clothes. Once again she wished mossycoat to its original size and that the servants would re-awaken. Then she went into the kitchen just as the servants woke. When they realised that they had fallen asleep again, one offered her a shilling
and another a half-crown (a third of a weeks wages) not to let on; and Sora promised to keep quiet about it.
The young master spent the next day in bed, dying for the love of the young lady who had dropped one of her slippers the previous night. The doctor had been sent for and was in the room with him, while the mistress and master waited anxiously with their daughter and her friend Lady Mimi.
Soon enough Dr.Kido emerged from Sir Taichi's chamber to his wife and friends.
'What is wrong?' asked Lady Yagami.
'Well,' said the doctor, ' nothing, really. He is just heartbroken that he cannot find the girl whom he loves. It's nothing physical, just mental pain.'
'What should we do, Jyou?' asked Lord Yagami.
But Lady Mimi cut in; 'We have to find her, the girl he loves.'
Dr.Kido agreed, so the master and mistress decided to make their son's condition known. They sent out word to everyone ever invited to the dance that the only person who could save Sir Taichi's life was the young lady whose foot fitted the silver slipper - and that the slipper was only about four inches long. They promised that if she would come forward, their son would marry her.
Ladies came from near and far, some with big feet and some with small, but none small enough for the silver slipper, no matter how much they pinched and squeezed. Poor women, who had never even heard of the dance, came too, but it was just the same for them. Of course all the servants tried on the slipper, but it was out of the question altogether.
All this time the young master lay dying.
'Is there no one else?' asked Lady Yagami. 'No rich lady? No poor women?'
'No one,' said Lady Hikari. 'No one at all. Everyone has tried it on except for Sora.'
'Tell her to come here at once,' said the mistress.
So the other servants fetched Sora.
'Sora!' said the Lady Yagami, 'Try this slipper on.'
Sora slipped her foot into it easily enough; it was a perfect fit.
Taichi jumped out of bed and…
'Wait!' said Sora and she ran out of the room and returned wearing her white satin dress with gold sprigs, her gold crown and both her silver slippers. Again Taichi rushed towards her…
'Wait!' said Sora, and again she ran out of the room. And she came back wearing her silk dress the colour of all the birds of the air. Sora didn't stop the young master this time as he took her into his arms ands kissed her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After all this, when at the Yagami's and Sora had time to talk, they had some questions they wanted to ask her. Sora explained all about the mossycoat, and when they inquired about the skimmer she told them the truth. Sir Taichi was furious when he heard. Lady Hikari ordered them to leave and Taichi sent the dogs after them, even though he was told not to.
Sora and Taichi eloped on Taichi's black stallion that very night, Hikari saw their silhouette in the distance as the rode of into the sunset.
End
Disclaimer: I don't own the Digimon characters, or the basic idea for this story, which I got from Kevin Crossley-Holland.
So what did you think? I really do appreciate reviews.