Lindsey Kelk - Cinders and Sparks - Fairies in the Forest

‘Really, very well done, Cinders,’ Sparks said as he bounded up to the cottage, marvelling at the perfectly tended little garden full of pretty flowers. All the better to wee on later , he thought to himself.

‘Let’s see if anyone is home,’ Cinders said, straightening her shoulders and trying to tidy her messy hair. She held up her non-sparkly hand and knocked on the door. No one answered.

‘Knock again,’ Hansel suggested, crossing his legs and doing a little dance from side to side. ‘Louder this time. They probably couldn’t hear it.’

‘Perhaps they’re in the kitchen cooking,’ Sparks agreed with his eyes closed. Something inside smelled very good indeed.

And so Cinders knocked again, but there was still no answer.

‘Try the door,’ Sparks suggested, popping his paws up on the windowsill and peeking in.

Cinders gave a cross little sigh. She really, really, really wanted to get on with her journey.

‘Honestly, Sparks, nice people don’t go around leaving their front doors unlocked for just anyone to walk in and—’

The handle turned in her hand, the door opened and Hansel raced past her and disappeared down the hallway.

‘Hello?’ Cinders called. ‘Is anyone home?’

She turned on a lamp to get a better look at the place, which appeared to be empty. In the living room there was a fireplace and in front of it was one big chair, one medium-sized chair and one little chair. Walking into the kitchen, she saw a large wooden table. Placed round it was one big chair, one medium-sized chair and one little chair.

‘Would you look at that!’ Sparks bounded up on to the smallest chair, walked round in a circle and plopped his red, fluffy tail down on the comfy cushion. ‘Perfectly Sparks-sized.’

Still not altogether sure about being in someone else’s house uninvited, Cinders tapped an uncertain finger on the arm of the biggest chair. It was awfully late and she was awfully tired. It had been a peculiar day to say the least. She was only having a sit-down, after all. Surely no one would mind?

‘Good golly gosh, that’s a comfy chair,’ she gasped as she sank into the cushion. She could have closed her eyes and gone to sleep right there and then.

‘Cinders! Sparks!’

Quick as a flash, Cinders and her doggy pal ran off to find out what was wrong with Hansel.

‘Hansel! Even I know you shouldn’t wear your shoes in bed!’

The bothersome boy was in the bedroom, in a great big bed with the covers tucked up to his chin.

‘It’s so soft,’ he said, plucking off his hat and placing it on the bedside table. ‘And look, there’s one for each of us! It’s as if they knew we were coming.’

Sure enough, just like in the kitchen and the living room, the bedroom had one big bed, one medium-sized bed and one little bed. And Cinders was awfully tired …

‘I hate to agree with Hansel, but I think he’s got the right idea here,’ Sparks said, making himself comfortable in the smallest bed. ‘We’ll sleep here tonight and start out for Fairyland in the morning. No point trotting off through the forest half asleep, is there?’

‘What about the people who own this house?’ Cinders asked, gazing at the medium-sized bed with its big fat pillows and fluffy white blankets.

‘We’ll leave them a nice note,’ Sparks declared.

‘Everyone loves getting a nice note,’ Hansel said, already dozing. ‘Come on, Cinders. Who would send us back out into the forest in the middle of the night?’

‘Well, King Picklebottom for one,’ she replied. ‘My stepmother for another. And all the people you’ve managed to annoy in the village, including your own sister.’

‘All very good points we should discuss in the morning,’ Hansel muttered sleepily, rolling over and turning out the light. ‘Goodnight, Cinders.’

A tap at the window made her jump, but it was only Mouse, keen to find out what was happening inside.

‘I think you should get comfortable,’ Cinders said, opening the window and giving him a scratch between his rather large ears. ‘Looks like we’re staying here for the night.’

Mouse squeaked happily and curled up underneath the low cottage window.

Cinders climbed into the middle bed, Hansel and Sparks already snoring on either side of her. Maybe a couple of hours’ kip was a good idea, and then they could start out fresh first thing in the morning.

‘Just one day away from Fairyland,’ she muttered as she closed her eyes. ‘And finding out who my mother really was.’

B ack in Cinders’s little pink cottage in the woods, no one was sleeping.

‘I’m very sorry,’ Cinders’s dad said, scratching his head, ‘but could you run that past me again?’

Prince Joderick Jorenson Picklebottom took a deep breath and started to tell his story for the third time. ‘Basically, the part you really need to know is that my father, the king, has declared Cinders a witch and exiled her for ever.’

Margery, Cinders’s stepmother, held one hand to her forehead and swooned, collapsing on to a conveniently placed settee behind her.

‘A witch!’ she declared as her two daughters, Agnes and Eleanor, rushed to her side. ‘I always knew there was something up with that girl.’