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“I’m sorry, Cinderella, but it seems your papa will be away for some weeks. I hope your new sisters and I will prove to be a delightful diversion while we await his return,” she said, trying to keep her face emotionless.
“Oh, I knew Papa was planning to go away after the wedding,” said Cinderella. “He told me.” She fiddled again with the thing in her pocket.
“What do you mean he told you?” asked Lady Tremaine with more sharpness in her voice than she intended.
“Papa tells me everything,” she said, smiling at whatever it was that had her so preoccupied. Lady Tremaine was being pushed beyond her limits. She felt the anger rising in her. Sir Richard told his daughter he was going away right after the ceremony? Clearly he had urged her to come here so quickly because he had wanted someone to watch over his daughter for free. The indignities of this day kept mounting and she feared this was just the start.
She got up from her seat and faced the window, staring out at the courtyard and trying to center herself, but then the screaming started, which pierced her ears. Screams so loud she thought her daughters were being murdered. When she turned around, she saw Anastasia and Drizella standing up on the furniture, squealing louder than she thought was possible, while Cinderella frantically searched for something on the floor.
“It’s a mouse! A mouse!” said Anastasia.
“Mama! She had a mouse in her pocket and it escaped!” cried Drizella.
“Be quiet, you’re going to frighten him,” said Cinderella.
“Frighten him?” screamed Drizella.
“It’s just a little mouse. See?” Cinderella scooped the little creature up in her hands and held it up very close to Drizella’s face. Drizella and Anastasia leaped from their chairs and back to their mother.
“Mama, make her take that horrible thing away!” said Drizella.
Lady Tremaine stroked her brooch, trying to find a calm, cool place in her heart so she could handle this matter without getting too angry with her new stepdaughter.
“Girls, girls, please calm down. Now, Cinderella, we can’t have you keeping mice in your pocket. They’re dirty creatures. Get rid of it immediately.”
Cinderella looked confused. “Excuse me, Stepmother, but they aren’t dirty. Look, I’ve even made him something to wear.” She held up the mouse for her stepmother so she could see the trembling creature’s smart little pair of green trousers, his dandy red shirt, and jaunty cap.
“Cinderella! Get that thing out of my face this instant! That all very well may be, but I won’t have you keeping mice in this house, clothed or not. They’re foul, dirty, diseased things! I must insist you take that mouse outside and let it free.”
For the first time, Cinderella looked insolent and was purposely defying her stepmother. “I won’t! The mice are mine and I refuse to let them go. A cat might get him if I put him outside.”
Lady Tremaine willed herself not to slap the girl. “Mice? Are you telling me there is more than this one? Cinderella, I demand you release them all into the garden.”
“No!” she said, putting the frightened mouse back into her pocket and stomping her foot.
“Cinderella! Do as I say! Take that mouse out of your pocket immediately! It’s going to make you sick.”
Cinderella shook her head. “I don’t know what mice are like in London, but they are nothing but safe and friendly in the Many Kingdoms. Now if you’ll excuse me…” she said, turning to leave.
“Cinderella! Don’t you dare walk away from me—”
And just then the mouse jumped out of Cinderella’s pocket and bolted toward Lady Tremaine and her daughters, who jumped back onto the chairs, screaming again.
“Girls! Please calm down! Cinderella, come back here this moment!” Lady Tremaine looked up to see Cinderella leaving the room, and even though she couldn’t see her face, she thought for sure that she was smiling.
“Come on, little one, we mustn’t stay where we’re not wanted,” said Cinderella as she left the room. The mouse scampered along behind her.
After Cinderella left, Lady Tremaine needed Nanny Pinch’s help to calm down Drizella and Anastasia. When they were sitting quietly again and sipping tea, Lady Tremaine took a deep breath.
“What an appalling girl!” she said, immediately regretting saying so in front of her own daughters. Then Rebecca cleared her throat.
“Yes, Rebecca?”
“I didn’t want to say so in front of Cinderella, my lady, but it’s true that mice in the Many Kingdoms are entirely safe. They don’t carry disease like they do in London.” She winced as she spoke and clearly felt bad about the entire ordeal.
“Nevertheless, find me a cat,” said Lady Tremaine, narrowing her eyes and touching her brooch. “Come on, girls. Let’s go to our rooms and rest. Tomorrow morning we will go into the village to hire servants and buy things we need for the house. Nanny Pinch can stay here with Cinderella. Rebecca, you will come with us. You can show us around the village, and while you do so you can impart your wisdom about this strange place we now call home.”
It had been several weeks since Sir Richard had left for the palace when Lady Tremaine received word that his mysterious court business was at an end and he would be returning home that evening. She had decided that she was really quite happy he had been away. It had given her a chance to get their house in order, buy all new furniture, hire servants, and smooth things over as much as she could with Cinderella. She hadn’t completely shaken the hurt from their rocky first day together, but she hoped things would be better once Sir Richard was home.
