Chapter 6

Morning found Cinderella up and making a nice breakfast. The fortune teller joined Jeanne, Catherine, and the duchess at the table. After they finished eating, he looked at the duchess. "Ah, duchess. I have a fortune for you now, and it is one you will enjoy. I foresee that one of your daughters will marry the prince, and live a long, happy life as queen."

The duchess clapped. "I knew it! Girls, you shall both have new gowns for the next ball we attend. We must get you out in society more!"

"And my payment?" the fortune teller asked.

"Well, we don't have 20 gold pieces to spare at the moment. Ah, I know! One moment." She left, but returned a few minutes later carrying a lovely, antique porcelain doll.

"No, that's mine!" Cinderella cried.

"Cinderella, how selfish of you! We need to pay this man, and this doll should be worth his time."

"But it's all I have left from my mother," Cinderella said softly. The fortune teller sighed, but he still took the doll. Tears coursed down Cinderella's cheeks as she watched him walk away with her doll. Perhaps, after her chores, she would go to town and find him. She would find a way to get her doll back. She had to!

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Charles was walking through the town square when he saw Cinderella. Perfect! He had been looking for her all morning. She was almost running towards the fountain. He hurried towards her, but slowed down as he got a better look at her. She looked like she had been crying.

"Cinderella!" he called.

She looked at him, then turned to walk towards him. "Hello Charles," she said quietly.

"What's wrong?"

"I was hoping to find the fortune teller. He was here yesterday."

"A fortune teller? Are you going to get your fortune told, then?"

"No, but he has something of mine. Something I'd really like to get back."

Charles studied her carefully. He saw a glint of white in her curls. Pulling out a piece of straw, he gave her a questioning glance.

"I had to sleep in the stable last night. The fortune teller was in my room. He came for dinner and stayed the night. But then Mother paid him with- that boy!"

Charles followed her gaze to see a young man, a couple years younger than Charles, probably, walking through the square. When he saw Cinderella, he turned and ran the other direction. She and Patch took off after the boy and Charles followed close behind.

When they finally caught up to the boy, Patch had him cornered in an alley. "Call him off!" the boy cried.

"Where is the fortune teller?" Cinderella asked.

"I don't know! He just paid me to set up his tent and take it down. I swear!" Cinderella called Patch back to her side, where he continued to growl at the boy.

"Okay, I'm sorry. If you see him, please tell him that I'm looking for him."

"I will, of course," the boy said before running past them.

"Wait for a bit, Patch, then we'll follow him," Cinderella said softly.

"Why are we following him?" Charles asked.

"I don't trust him."

Patch led them to a building in a rundown part of town. Cinderella peeked through the window and gestured for Charles to join her. "Look."

The young man sat at a table, looking at a porcelain doll. "What?" Charles asked.

"That's my doll."

"Oh." He didn't have time to ask how the boy got her doll. She ran to the door and began pounding on it. The young man opened it just a crack, but Cinderella pushed it all the way open and stormed in. Charles followed cautiously.

"Where did you get the doll, Yan?" she demanded.

Yan sighed, looking from her to the doll and back again. He ran his hands through his already messy brown hair before finally answering. "Okay. You caught me. I'm the fortune teller."

"Really?" Cinderella was looking confused.

"Yes." Yan pulled out a ragged cloak and a fake nose. He turned away and put them on, then turned back. Charles and Cinderella both gasped. He looked like a completely different person.

"Can I please have my doll back, then?" Cinderella asked.

"I need to eat, Cinderella."

"But it's the only thing I have to remember my real mother by. Please Yan! I'll find some other way to pay you. I'll bring you food!"

"Are you going to bring me yours? You already don't get enough to eat."

"I'll share what I have. I'll beg for more. Maybe I can get a job in town."

Yan sighed. "No, I can't do that. You're right. I shouldn't have taken something so dear to you. You have a bright future ahead of you, Cinderella. Brighter than anyone whose fortunes I've seen before." He handed her the doll.

"Thank you Yan! I promise I'll find a way to pay you back."

"I'm sure you will. Just, please don't go spreading word about my being the fortune teller, okay?"

"I won't, I promise. Charles, you won't either, will you?"

Charles had been watching the whole exchange with a mixture of emotions. "I promise I won't," he said, then he followed Cinderella out. He was mostly upset by Yan's assertion that Cinderella didn't get enough to eat. And she'd had to sleep in the stable last night. What went on at that house?

They wandered back to the town square. "Oh, I've been meaning to scold you, you know, Charles," Cinderella said after they sat down.

"Scold me?" he asked, though he had a pretty good idea why she wanted to scold him.

"I was going to ask if you really were the prince, you know, until I saw you stealing those grapes. Do you steal to survive? Was that the first time you've ever stolen?"

Charles was glad that he'd already thought through what he was going to tell her. "I don't steal to survive. I've never stolen anything before or since, but a friend dared me to try stealing from the royal vineyard. I know I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry I got you into trouble."

"Thank you for telling me, Charles. I'm glad they didn't put you in the dungeon."

"Did they put you in the dungeon?" He hadn't realized she'd been taken all the way to the dungeon before he intervened.

"Just for a little while. It was very dark and musty. Even worse than the old woodshed at home. I'm glad they didn't keep me there for longer. I'm really grateful that you came forward and told the truth."

"Me too."

"Well, I should probably be getting home now. Mother won't be happy if I'm late getting dinner ready. She doesn't know that I came into town. I'll pick some flowers for the table on my way home."

"I'll walk you back," Charles offered.

"Thank you. Come on, Patch!" The three walked out of town. It was the first time Charles had walked the road to Cinderella's so slowly. They'd always been in a hurry before. They stopped in a pretty meadow by the side of the road and gathered a large bouquet of fragrant wild violets. When they reached Cinderella's house, Charles was sad to say goodbye.

"I'll see you again soon, right?" he asked.

"I'm sure you will," she answered with a smile.

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A few days later, Cinderella went to town to run some errands for the duchess. As she walked her usual path to the town square, a woman she knew from her frequent trips to town called out to her.

"Cinderella! Good morning!"

"Hello!"

"Did you hear that there's a circus in town?"

"I hadn't heard. That sounds interesting!"

"Oh yes! I hear they will be performing at the castle, for the royal family!"

"Wow!"

"If you have time, you should go to the park! That's where the main tent is set up!"

"I think I will! Thank you!" Cinderella waved goodbye to the woman and hurried through her errands. Once she had picked up all the duchess' packages, she and Patch strolled to the park. They saw a variety of performers on the street along the way with large crowds gathered around them.

"They must be giving a preview of the show," Cinderella whispered, mostly to herself. When she reached the tent, she heard a pretty voice humming. She walked around the tent and found a girl about her age balancing on a large ball, juggling knives. Cinderella watched in awe as the girl moved the ball around in a circle, then threw the knives at a target. All three hit very near the center. Cinderella was so impressed, she clapped and gave a small cheer.

"Oh!" the girl said, falling off her ball into the grass. Cinderella hurried to her side.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you! Your act is wonderful! Why aren't you performing in the streets, so everyone can see?"

"I'm not very good in front of crowds," the girl said.

"Well, I think you're incredibly talented! I'm Cinderella, by the way."

"My name is Mary. Thank you! I hope to get my act down well enough to perform in front of the prince in two days. My father is the ringmaster and it would mean so much to him to have me perform."

"Well, maybe I can help you practice!"

"Okay. I think that's a good idea," Mary said with a small smile. She jumped on her ball and began her routine again.

Once Cinderella had watched Mary perform five times without any mistakes, she suggested that Mary practice out on the street so people could see. Mary was hesitant, but she finally gave in.

Everything went smoothly for the first couple performances, but partway through the third round, as the crowd grew bigger than the crowds around the other performers, Mary fell off her ball. Some of the spectators laughed while others asked if she was okay. Mary nodded, her face red with embarrassment, before grabbing her ball and retreating back to the tent.

Cinderella followed her new friend. She found Mary curled up under a tree behind the tent, tears running down her cheek.

"I know you're trying to help, but I think I'm hopeless," she said when she saw Cinderella.

"I don't think so. You did wonderful for your first two performances in front of people!"

"But I messed up. I just keep picturing the prince, and it makes me so nervous that I lose focus and fall. I don't think I can perform at the castle, even if I can perform in the normal show."

"We just need to get you comfortable performing for the prince." Cinderella thought for a moment. "And I've got the perfect idea how! I'll be back tomorrow morning!"

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Charles had gone to town nearly every day hoping to run into Cinderella. When he finally saw her, he smiled. She ran to him and grabbed his hand. "Oh Charles, there you are! I need your help!"

Surprised, he followed as she pulled him through the square and to the park, where the circus tent was set up.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're going to help a friend of mine. I made some clothes for you to change into, and then I'll take you to her." She led him to a small shed, where he could change in private, and handed him a pile of clothes. "I made these for you to wear. I hope they fit!"

Charles quickly changed into the clothes she'd made. The white silk breeches and royal blue doublet looked as though they'd come from his own closet. He wondered where she got such fine materials and admired her neat, even stitches.

"Oh, you look perfect!" Cinderella exclaimed when he came out. He smiled again. He would do almost anything for this girl.

"Now where are we off to? And why am I dressed like this?"

"You'll see!"

He laughed as she pulled him to the back of the circus tent, where a young woman was performing a balancing act on a large ball while juggling knives. Cinderella held a finger to her lips and she and Charles watched in silence until the knives were safely embedded in the target.

"Mary," Cinderella said softly. "I've brought a friend to meet you."

"Hello Cinderella," Mary said. She jumped off the ball and walked over to them. "Who is this?"

"May I introduce Prince Charles?" Mary and Charles both gasped, but for very different reasons. Charles thought he'd convinced Cinderella that he wasn't the prince. How had she found him out?

"He's not really the prince, but he looks quite a bit like him. I thought we could pretend that he's the prince and you can practice in front of him." Charles breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know who he really was. She just wanted him to pretend to be the prince.

"He sure is dressed like a prince," Mary said, still looking a little unsure.

"I made those clothes for him out of some material I was saving. But you can pretend he really is the prince. That's what he's here for."

Charles watched Mary perform for a while. She would do really good most times, but every few performances, she'd lose focus and fall. Cinderella would run to her, comfort her, and help her back up. Finally, Charles decided to jump in. He ran to Mary's prone figure lying next to her ball.

"Mary, what's wrong? What's interfering with your focus?"

"I just keep psyching myself out and worrying what the prince- you- will think if I mess up. Then I mess up."

"Let me show you something. It's something my friend, who is Prince Charles' page, taught me. The prince does this before every tournament and hunt. It brings him good luck." Charles tapped his nose twice, then licked his finger, as he always did when he was about to do something important. "Try it," he encouraged Mary.

She followed his example and giggled. "That's silly."

"It helps calm his nerves."

"The prince gets nervous?"

"Everyone gets nervous. It's nothing to be ashamed of. You're very talented. It would be a shame if the prince didn't get to see you perform."

Mary smiled. "Thank you, Charles. I think that was just what I needed to hear." She did the little good luck ritual, then jumped back up on her ball. She ran through her routine five times without any mistakes, then jumped off. "Now I'm ready to perform for everyone! Including the royal family!"

"Oh Mary! I wish I could watch! You'll do such a great job!" Cinderella exclaimed.

"We both got to watch her here, without all the crowds," Charles said, wishing he could get Cinderella into the castle for the performance there without arousing her suspicions.

The next day, Charles watched from his throne as Mary performed flawlessly. He clapped and cheered loudly and thought about what a wonderful friend Cinderella was. She did so much to help her friends. He knew it must have been a sacrifice, making those fine clothes for him. She had told him to keep them when they parted yesterday, in case he ever needed to dress the part of a nobleman. She was too good and kind for words.