Chapter 15

"Girls, what happened to my pearl ring?" the duchess asked one morning. Jeanne and Catherine were in the sitting room working on their needlework while Cinderella swept the floors.

The girls looked at each other guiltily. Cinderella remembered seeing them with the ring the day before, but she wasn't sure where it had ended up.

"Cinderella took it, Mother!" Jeanne exclaimed.

"Yeah. She took it and lost it in the bushes over by the garden," Catherine said.

"No I didn-"

"Cinderella! You will go find that ring this instant! Don't bother coming back until you do. And if you're not back by sunset, well, don't bother coming back at all!"

"What?" Cinderella asked, taken aback by the threat. Duchess Dalben had never talked about throwing her out before.

"You heard me. Be back with that ring by sunset or you will no longer have a home with us."

Cinderella felt tears prick her eyes and she walked to the garden. She knew the duchess didn't care about her as much as Catherine and Jeanne, but to make it so clear that she didn't care for her at all. . . for the first time since he left, she seriously considered writing to Papa. He wouldn't want her to be treated like this.

She sighed and wiped her tears away. Crying would do no good. The best thing she could do now was find that ring. She began a thorough search of the bushes around the garden.

She was on her hands and knees searching carefully shortly after lunchtime when she heard Catherine's voice.

"Cinderella, I think you dropped it more over there," she said with a smirk.

Cinderella didn't respond, but she moved over to where Catherine had pointed. At first she thought Catherine was just pulling her leg, but after a few minutes, she saw a glint. Reaching into the thorny branches, she pulled out the ring.

"I've got it!" she called, holding it up. A loud shriek sounded in her ear and she felt the ring yanked from her fingers. "No!" she cried, watching a large crow fly away with the ring.

"Oh my! What are you going to do now?" Catherine asked, staring in the direction the crow had flown.

"I have to follow it," Cinderella answered, running off after the crow. She tried to keep it in sight as she tore through brambles, around trees, over the road, down the hill, and into the forest. She saw it in the distance landing at the top of a large tree. She tried to keep her eyes on that tree as she stumbled towards it.

She lost track of the specific tree when she tripped over a fallen branch. When she stood back up, she looked back towards the tree. She could still make out the general area, so she headed that way.

When she reached the general area of the tree, she began carefully looking up through the branches of each tree. It took a few minutes of careful survey for her to narrow her options down to two trees. Both had what appeared to be nests near the top.

Cinderella took a short break to let her breathing and heart slow down as she tried to decide which tree to climb first. She finally jumped up and started climbing the first tree.

An hour or so later, she sat at the top looking at the bedraggled nest. Though she had combed through it carefully, there was no sign of the ring. She hoped it would be in the next tree. When she reached the bottom of that tree after a careful climb down, she found Patch waiting for her.

"Oh Patch, hello! I don't know what I'll do if that ring isn't in the other tree," she said, taking a moment to bury her face in his fur. He gave her a friendly lick.

The second tree was harder to get up. There weren't any low-hanging branches. Cinderella took a fallen log and managed to prop it against the trunk as a kind of ladder. Moving slowly, she stepped up the fallen log until she could jump up and catch one of the branches.

She was near the top when she heard a crash below. Looking down, she saw the fallen log lying on the ground. How was she going to get down now? She tried not to think about that as she continued up towards the nest. When she got there, she found four small crows, their mouths wide, chirping loudly. She carefully felt around them. She was beginning to give up hope when her fingers brushed something hard and round. Grabbing it, she pulled out the ring!

Suddenly, Mama Crow attacked. Cinderella held up her hands to defend her face from the beak and talons. When Mama Crow pulled back for a bit, Cinderella quickly climbed down a few branches. The branches here provided a little more protection. She kept climbing as she tried to fend off the attacks.

"Patch, I found it! Now I just have to figure out how to get down," she called.

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Charles had gone to Cinderella's house to check on her. He had been so busy with royal duties, he hadn't had a chance to check on her since she was sick. When he arrived, it was already late afternoon. He found Catherine and Jeanne in the garden, laughing. When they saw him, they only laughed harder.

"Where is Cinderella?" he asked.

"Oh Charles. Of course you'd show up right now. She ran off that way into the forest two or three hours ago. We haven't seen her since."

"Why did she run off?"

They looked at each other and started laughing again. Deciding he didn't need an answer, he set off in the direction they had pointed. Using the tracking skills he'd picked up from years of hunting, it wasn't hard to see Cinderella's path. She'd gone crashing through the underbrush like she was blind.

He was starting to wonder when he would find her when he heard Patch's bark. A few moments later, Patch appeared from some bushes in front of him.

"Can you take me to Cinderella?" he asked. Patch turned and ran back through the trees. Charles followed as quickly as he could. When Patch stopped, he looked around. Cinderella was nowhere in sight.

"Charles! What are you doing here?" her voice floated from above him. He looked up to see her in the lowest branches of a tree. Before he could respond, a loud bundle of feathers flew at her. Cinderella threw her hands over her face. The bird pecked at her for a few seconds before flying off again. Charles glanced back at Cinderella and noticed the small scratches covering her hands and arms. How long had the bird been attacking her? And why?

"I came to check on you! What are you doing up there? Why is that bird attacking you?"

"I'll tell you once I get down. Could you please set that log up? It's too far to just drop."

He looked at the fallen tree she pointed to. It looked as though it had already been leaned against the tree trunk. That must be how she'd gotten up. But it didn't look too sturdy. There had to be a better way to get her down. He thought for a moment.

"What if I catch you?" he said. It was a far drop, but he was sure he could catch her.

"Isn't it too far?"

"No, not at all."

"Okay. I trust you," she said, climbing out on the branch. She dropped so she was hanging from the branch. Charles positioned himself under her.

"Now!" he called. She let go and fell right into his waiting arms, sending them both to the ground. She landed on top of him, knocking the wind out of him. They laid there for a moment, then she breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Thank you," she said, rolling off of him.

"It was my pleasure." He stood and offered a hand to help her up. Once they were both standing, he repeated his questions.

"Oh, I had to get this ring back for Mother," Cinderella said, holding up a beautiful pearl ring. "Catherine and Jeanne lost it in the garden. I was looking for it for hours this morning, and then, when I finally found it, that crow stole it right out of my hands. I followed her as quickly as I could, then climbed up to her nest to get it back."

Charles took in her bedraggled appearance. Along with the scratches from the bird attack, her dress was torn in a few places. She had leaves and twigs stuck in her beautiful curls and a few more scratches on her face.

He was about to ask if she was okay when she looked up and gasped. "Oh no! It's nearly sundown. I must get back to the house!"

"What's wrong?" He was concerned by the note of panic in her voice.

"If I don't get back with the ring by sundown, Mother said I shouldn't bother coming home at all!"

"What?" In the second it took Charles to process what she had said, she was off, running back through the trees. He took off after her.

As they ran, he thought. If they didn't make it back by sunset, he couldn't just let her be homeless. Would she be upset if he told her his true identity? She could come live at the castle. There was plenty of room. He hoped she would live there anyway someday. Was it too early to propose? They'd known each other for a few months now. But she didn't really know him yet. At least, she didn't know about his royal title. She knew him as a person better than almost anyone else.

They reached the mansion just before the last rays of sunlight disappeared. The duchess and her daughters were standing on the front steps. They frowned when they saw Cinderella and Charles trudge through the garden.

"I found it!" Cinderella exclaimed, holding the ring up triumphantly.

The duchess took the ring from her and threw it back towards the garden. "That ring was worthless, just a fake I had made. I found the real ring while you were gone. You've wasted an entire day trying to find that ring. The house is a mess, there's laundry to do, and we need more bread. Tomorrow, you'll make up all the chores you missed today."

Charles stepped forward to have it out with the horrid woman, but Cinderella stopped him with a gentle hand on his chest. He could see the tears glistening in her eyes as she said, "Yes Mother." The duchess smiled and she and the girls went back inside.

Once the door had closed behind them, Charles ran back to the garden and quickly found the ring. He brushed off the dirt and carried it back to her.

"You are good and beautiful, Cinderella," he said softly, slipping it on her finger. "I'm sorry they treat you so terribly. Someday, I want to take you away from here."

He waited anxiously as she admired the ring with a small smile. He'd never spoken of his feelings so openly to her before. Finally, she turned her big, brown eyes up to his. "I'd like that, Charles. Thank you." She wrapped him in a tight hug before turning and running inside.

Charles watched the house for a few minutes before turning and heading back to the castle. Someday.