It was with only a few hurried sentences from Mr. Maser and Linda that I was shoved through a door that led to yet another lovely wood—if you were the outdoorsy sort of girl that I was never going to be. At least it wasn't as nature-nature as Snow White's forest. It suddenly hit me how many creepy-crawlies had been around that night. I was glad I had showered. This wood was almost clean. The trees were small, delicate, and green. Plus, the sun was up. A sunny day could make a lot of difference in a magical world. The path was clear and fairly straight.

I clutched my make-up bag closer to my body and gave a sigh. This was intense, yes it was. My first door, all by myself. Mr. Maser had said that my Cinderella's house would be "as clear as day" or some other cute little metaphor like that. I wasn't seeing anything, though. Wonderful. I was lost in an enchanted forest. I was going to die out here, and no one would know.

How was any of this possible, anyway? Magic, that was the answer. I could see all those girls in the Salon with all the half-way normal stuff. But how did magic work?

I was going to get a headache. Well, there was a path, and paths tended to lead to places, so I marched on. Sure enough and soon enough a large house appeared in the distance.

Oh, yes. Cinderella did live in a big house, even though she was nothing but a servant.

What had Mr. Maser meant when he had said "a" Cinderella? Was I working with the Cinderella or not?

The trees gave way, and I found myself in a rather charming countryside place-a-ma-bob that could have been straight out of that old Pride and Prejudice movie. Only not so technology-advanced, or whatever. I wasn't sure how to explain it. But there it was, cute little green place with a big, gorgeous house.

I smiled to myself as I approached said big and gorgeous house. I liked this place. I really liked it.

And now what was I supposed to do? Just march up to the house? Heck, why not? Neither Mr. Maser nor Linda had given me any instructions like that. Besides, the other girls weren't too surprised to see a contemporary woman.

So I marched up to the door and knocked. Since Cinderella was supposed to be the servant, she would probably answer the door.

The door opened quickly and there stood the girl I knew had to be Cinderella. She stared at me with huge brown eyes. I liked it immediately. A classic country beauty, minus the freckles. Her hair was pulled back, but I could see it anyway: brown, thick, and wavy. It even shone. Her lips were a full pout; I couldn't wait to get some lipstick on them. They would show color, oh yes. "Hello. Can I help you?" Her voice was darling.

I grinned and extended Cinderella my hand. "Hi! I'm Tansy Bryner, the fairy godmother." Dang, but that was awesome to say! "You must be Cinderella."

"Oh, you mean Cinder?"

Kind of a funky nickname, but Cinderella was a bit much, when you thought about it. I shrugged. "Cinder, then. I like that better than Cinderella. Pleasure to meet you."

Cinder laughed and shook her head. "I'm not her. I'm Lucille. Lady Tara's niece. I'm visiting and thought it would be fun to play servant."

I stared. Awkward. "You're not Cinderella?"

"Nah, but she's here. Actually, she's out back, by the stables. She hated working in the house, so Lady Tara sent her out to work with the horses."

This wasn't my Cinderella. I forced my smile. "Could you please show me?"

The stables weren't exactly tiny; that made them a heck of a lot easier to find. But they were so… horsy. I didn't want to think about in what I could be stepping. I tip-toed my way over the ground and peered into the stable. "Hello? Cinder?" My voice echoed. I had vague memories of my grandfather's stable. He had kept horses.

"Hey!"

I screamed as a form tumbled from a high loft. It was girl, by some miracle able to land on her feet.

"Sorry if I scared ya!" she said. "But you scared me. I didn't hear ya until you were down there all hollerin'. But, yeah, I'm Cinder." She stepped into the light, and it was all I could do to scream again.

I wanted Lucille. I wanted Lucille very badly. I wanted to pay her to pretend to be Cinderella for Mr. Maser.

But I didn't scream. Instead I took one of those deep healing breaths. A challenge, Tansy, I told myself. You love a challenge.

Cinder was tall, a good head taller than me. That wasn't a problem; models were tall. But she also covered from head to toe in dirt—and probably something else. Her limp hair was tied back with a piece of twine. I think it was blonde, but I honestly could not be sure. From what I could see of her face, she was sunburned and freckled. They were not the cute splash of freckles—they were everywhere. She did not wear a dress, but instead some overalls that were a little too short for her long legs. They also kept me from seeing anything of her figure.

A challenge. Yes, that was what this was. I finally found myself getting excited, and my smile was genuine. "I'm Tansy Bryner," I said. "I think I'm your fairy godmother."

Cinder's face split into a wide grin—her sparkling white teeth were almost blinding in contrast to her filthy, burned face. At least she had good teeth. I couldn't repair teeth. "Well, hey, that's awesome! Glad to hear that. I always kind of wondered when mine would show up. Y'see, my mother named me Cinder because of all the other orphaned servant girls that wind up as princesses. They all had fairy godmothers. So what exactly do you do?"

I tried to remember the semi-witty phrase Mr. Maser had used to describe the job, but I couldn't. "I make you beautiful so a handsome prince will fall in love with you and marry you."

"Sweet." Cinder nodded. "Well, this should be fun. Glad to meet you." She held out her dirty, stinky hand. I could see the dirt welled up under her fingernails, like worms.

I wanted to gag, but I managed to shake her hand. Why did girls shake hands? From where did that come?

Cinder smelled like dirt, sweat, and horses.

But I was going to make her gorgeous. It could be done. Maybe if she were cleaned up… I had to get her back to the Salon. "Cinder, I need you to come with me so we can get started."

She stared. "Don't you have a magic wand or something?"

"I do, but I still have very little idea what I'm supposed to do with it. But I can wash hair and all that. So let's go."

"Can't. Sorry. I have a lot of work to do. I mean, it's not like in the house where you can finish the necessary chores for the day and be done. I hated doing those chores. Horses are a full-time job, and I still have three I need to exercise." She grinned. "Wanna help? It's fun. I'll find ya a saddle and everything!"

I wound up leaving with only an appointment.

Mr. Maser would not be pleased.

I didn't care.