Fatima shrugged. “I can take care of that.” She waved her wand, then said, “There. He’s back home now.”
Mariana gasped. “But he must be frightened to death! To be on the train one second, then back at our home the next.”
“Then I suggest we hurry there and explain things to him,” Fatima said.
Both apprehensive and eager for whatever Fatima had in mind, Ellie nevertheless grabbed Mariana’s arm to steady them while the fairy woman performed her magic. Fatima waved her wand again, and a nearby empty animal cage turned into a huge, round orange carriage. Splendid beyond measure, it sat there in the sunlight, white trim nearly blinding them and for some reason reminding Ellie of a pumpkin.
Next, Fatima waved her wand at another cage, where a male and female lion paced. The door opened, and the lions stared at it for a moment, then leapt free. Immediately Fatima changed them into a pair of beautiful white horses, already harnessed with black and silver leather, feathery white plumes dancing on their heads. They trotted over in front of the carriage, and Fatima hitched them with one brief wand wave.
Hearing a noise, Ellie swallowed her astonishment and glanced to the side to see two monkeys chattering to each other, staring back and forth from the carriage to the group of people. Fatima must have waved her wand, because the monkeys changed into two young boys dressed in footman’s gear. They hurried over to the carriage and took their places, standing on foot rests on each side of the driver’s seat.
“Withers and I will drive,” Fatima informed them, a pleased smile at her work on her face. Waving her wand, she opened the carriage door, and a set of steps appeared.
Mariana swayed for a second, and Ellie gripped her hand tighter. They started for the carriage.
“Oh, wait,” Fatima insisted.
Ellie stopped, and Fatima waved her wand. A second later, Ellie wore a beautiful white silk gown, the bodice covered in seed pearls matching the diamond and pearl necklace around her neck. Lifting the heavy skirt, Ellie saw crystal clear, high-heeled slippers on her feet.
Fatima waved the wand a final time, and Ellie’s hair swirled up onto her head, wispy tendrils feathering around her face. Noticing something on her ears, she raised a hand and fingered dangly ear rings with square cut stones in them, which may have been diamonds.
She smiled gratefully at Fatima. “I feel beautiful,” she admitted.
“You are, my dear,” Fatima said. “But then you’ve always been beautiful where it counts. Inside.”
“I’ve made some very huge mistakes, though.”
“You’re only human, my dear. The biggest mistake would be to let your errors ride and not correct them.”
“Let’s go then.” Pulling her skirts higher so she could climb the carriage steps, Ellie hurried forward. “I want to go correct my mistakes.” She paused at the carriage door and stared back at Fatima. “If I can.”
“Shane’s human, too,” Fatima said with a shrug, “so I can’t predict how he’ll react. However, I have a good feeling about this.”
“Oh, I hope you’re right.”
Ellie climbed into the carriage, and Mariana joined her, relaxing in the deep cushioned seats. Shane’s mother finally looked like she was accepting the startling happenings. Patting Ellie’s hand, Mariana said, “I hope she’s right, too.”
Withers closed the carriage door, and the carriage swayed as he climbed into the driver’s seat. A moment later, all Ellie could see was gold fairy dust swirling around them, although she felt the sensation of flying through the air. She and Mariana held hands, but neither of them asked Fatima to stop. After what seemed an all-too-brief moment later, the fairy dust around them died, and the carriage door opened.
Withers pulled down the steps, and Ellie took a deep breath. She courteously waited for the older woman to descend first, but Mariana shook her head and indicated for Ellie to proceed. Withers gave Ellie a comforting wink, and Ellie smoothed her damp palms down her silk dress and stood. Bending her head, she went through the carriage door, pausing on the top step.
Chapter 28
The carriage and horses stood in what appeared to be a huge ball room, and music swelled from an orchestra in the corner of the room. Instead of couples dancing, however, there was only one other occupant of the room in addition to the orchestra members and the group that had arrived in the carriage: Shane.
He stood conscious but paralyzed, mouth open and amazement filling his face. When Ellie appeared, he lifted his hands and viciously rubbed his eyes. The second he dropped his hands, Ellie winked at him. Maybe his shock would allow her to say what she needed to before he recovered his senses and told her he didn’t want to see her.
But for once in their relationship, Shane spoke before she could.
“I am totally crazy and hallucinating,” he mused. “I’m leaving to check myself into the asylum.”
“Don’t be silly, Shane,” Mariana said from behind Ellie.
If possible, Shane’s shock deepened. Mariana pushed gently on Ellie and, steadied by Wither’s hand, Ellie went down the carriage steps. As Ellie waited uncertainly beside the carriage, Withers assisted Mariana’s descent.
Rather than approach them, however, Shane staggered backward, feeling for a chair he evidently remembered sat against one of the walls. He fell more than settled into it, gazing from his mother—to his valet—to Fatima, his eyes unerringly coming back to Ellie as though seeking refuge in the madness. When Withers held a hand up to Fatima and she rose and floated serenely off the carriage and through the air to join him, Shane’s face blanched.
Ellie hurried over to him. “I tried to tell you she was magic,” she said, biting her cheek to hold back her laughter. “Is there somewhere we can go talk?”
She held out her hands to him, and Shane grabbed them as though they were a lifeline. He gulped, closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and looked at Fatima.
“If you’re the one responsible for this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” he said, then turned his tawny gaze back on Ellie. “I’m assuming you’re here of your own free will.”
“More than that,” she admitted. “I’m here as a result of my deep certainty that I made a huge mistake in asking you to wait for me. I love you, Shane Morgan. I want to spend every minute of the rest of my life as your wife, if you’ll still have me.”
“Still have you? Ellie, there’s nothing I want more than to marry you. To wake and find you beside me every morning from now on. To have children with you, and to sit by your side watching our grandchildren and great-grandchildren play in the yard. And I don’t care whether that yard is in Texas or here in New York.”
Ellie threw her arms around his neck. “Why can’t we have it both ways?”
“We’ll work it out.”
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. The music swelled and filled Ellie’s senses. When he finally lifted his head, Ellie heard the orchestra playing a beautiful waltz. Smoothly, Shane glided her onto the dance floor.
“I don’t know how to dance,” Ellie murmured.
He kissed her again, then said, “Just hold onto me.”
“Forever,” she agreed.
Copyright © 1999 by Trana Mae Simmons
Originally published by Jove (ISBN 0515125164)
Electronically published in 2012 by Belgrave House
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No portion of this book may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without permission of the publisher. For more information, contact Belgrave House, 190 Belgrave Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117-4228
http://www.BelgraveHouse.com
Electronic sales: [email protected]
This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.
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