by K T Durham
But they were in for a surprise.
Elly was transfixed as she watched Lily transform into another person. She did it with such poise, and never once stumbled or forgot her lines. She moved and spoke in a way that Elly imagined Cinderella would. Then when Lily partnered up with Adam during the dance scene, they actually looked like a couple!
When Lily opened her mouth to sing the theme song, Elly’s mouth dropped open, as did many of the others. She sang with perfect pitch, her voice as clear as a bell. Clare Andrews glowered at Lily. Though Clare had looked beautiful on stage, her own off-key singing and clumsy acting had been less than impressive. Lily had had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing when Clare forgot some of the lyrics and improvised on the spot.
After Lily’s audition, there was thunderous applause and quite a bit of cheering, mostly from Adam’s mates. Elly beamed and clapped until her palms stung. Lily blinked in surprise, hardly daring to believe they were clapping for her. Only the sour-faced Space Cadets did not join in.
As the judges convened to finalise their decision, Lily stood next to Elly and bit her nails. Elly gave her arm a squeeze. “You were by far the best. I had no idea you could act and sing so well!” she whispered with a grin. Then she thought about her inability to carry a tune and sighed. “How I wish I could sing like you!”
Lily giggled nervously. “Thanks, but I can’t help thinking that Clare Andrews looks much more like Cinderella,” she confessed with a sigh.
Finally, one of the judges, a man with bushy brown hair and a red necktie, stood up and cleared his throat. “The verdict is in. Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentleman,” he said grandly. “We’ve come to a decision. The successful candidate has proven to be ideal for the role.” He smiled. “The lead female part of Cinderella goes to… Lily Wong! Congratulations!” He went on to announce who had been awarded other roles, but his voice was drowned out by the tumultuous applause for Lily.
“I can’t believe it! I’m not dreaming, right?” she squealed. “I’ll get to wear my first and possibly only pair of Manolo Blahniks!” Elly laughed, and the girls threw their arms around each other and jumped with joy.
Clare Andrews stormed up to the judges, her face livid. Elly heard her say, “How could you cast her as Cinderella and me in that pathetic ugly role? It doesn’t make sense! You could have trained me to sing like a diva, at least I look convincing as Cinderella! She’s Chinese!”
The bushy-haired judge stood up angrily and spoke in a low voice that others could not hear, except Elly. “Young lady, your behaviour is unacceptable. Showing such poor sportsmanship is already bad enough, but your prejudice is even worse. Appalling. This musical is supposed to showcase not only talent, but exemplify our multicultural community, and Lily Wong has certainly shown she has the talent. She has won fair and square. The fact that she doesn’t have the stereotypical looks of Cinderella isn’t relevant. If you are implying otherwise, I suggest that you give up your role to another student.”
Clare narrowed her eyes to slits. “You can’t get away with this,” she hissed. “Do you know who my father is? You’ll be sorry!” Without another word, she turned on her heel and stormed off. The other Space Cadets followed, muttering rude words at the judge and throwing withering looks at Lily. Only Maddy didn’t say a word; she kept her eyes fixed to the ground and hurried away.
The judge looked a little shaken. “Oh my. Young girls these days can be a scary lot,” he muttered, mopping his shiny forehead with a handkerchief.
Elly tried to look for Maddy, but she was nowhere to be seen. Disappointed, she went back to Lily, who looked like she had just won the lottery.
Several students from the audience went up to Lily and congratulated her. Adam was beaming as he gave Lily a high five; then he lowered his head and whispered something into her ear. She blushed furiously.
Later on, Lily emerged from the washroom with her glasses back on, sporting a dreamy smile.
“So, was your Prince Charming bowled over by your performance?” Elly teased.
Lily giggled. “Adam told me that I’m pretty and smart, with or without my glasses,” she said happily. “We made a deal—he’ll help me out with my maths, and I can help him out with English literature. We’re going to see way more of each other. My parents can’t say no to free tutoring from the best student in the subject!”
Then she flashed Elly a roguish smile. “And guess who’s been cast as one of the wicked step-sisters?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Afternoon Tea on Pine Street
After Elly got back to the Cobbles for supper and had had a long hot bath, she sat in front of the dressing table, while Miriam brushed out her long, curly hair. It had been another busy day at the shop.
“Horace has finally agreed to hire a part-time assistant to help me out with the chores around the shop,” Miriam announced, looking very pleased. “He’s even thinking of training up apprentices to help him meet the huge demand for Cobble Concept shoes—that’s what they’re branding us in the media.” She chuckled.
Elly was surprised. “But don’t I help out enough?”
Miriam smiled. “Of course you do! You are the best little helper anyone could have, Elly dear. But I don’t expect you to stay with us forever. We adore you, but you have a family to go back to. Thanks to you, business has taken off, so once you’re gone, I’ll need an extra pair of hands to help me.”
She started tying silver ribbons in Elly’s hair, which had grown several inches in the past month. Then she glanced at Elly in the oval-shaped mirror. “Oh! What ever is the matter?” she cried as tears slipped down Elly’s cheeks.
Elly wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. “Oh, Miriam! What if I never see them again? It’s been almost a month, and I miss them all so much. Not a single day goes by that I’m not worried. What if the goblin hurt them? I have no way of knowing as long as I’m stranded here. I just couldn’t bear it if something’s happened to them!” She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
Miriam held her in a maternal embrace. “There, there,” she said soothingly. “I have been praying for you every night, my dear. I believe the good Lord has His timing for everything. Let’s not give up hope.”
Elly sniffled, glad that she had a shoulder to cry on. There wasn’t anything else she could do but to wait and continue her search for Organoth blue amber.
After she had calmed down, they started talking about plans for tomorrow, since the shop would be closed for business on Sunday. Then she clapped a hand to her forehead. “Oh, I almost forgot! Lily invited me to her family’s reunion dinner for Chinese New Year on Monday. I need to prepare some gifts for them; it wouldn’t be polite to go empty-handed. But I have no idea what to get!”
Miriam thought for a moment. “Why don’t we sleep in tomorrow, enjoy a nice brunch with Horace, then go off to the supermarket in the afternoon to pick up ingredients? Let’s make some nice pastries for Lily and her family. I’m sure they would appreciate something home-made.”
Elly thought that was a superb idea.
The next morning, Horace went down to the kitchen for brunch earlier than usual. Miriam had just started frying the bacon as Elly was setting the table, wrinkling her nose at the smell of meat cooking.
“Good morning!” she said brightly to Horace, who grunted his usual greeting. Then he cleared his throat and nonchalantly placed a long white envelope on the dining table.
“What’s that?” Miriam asked with a frown as she retrieved some eggs from the fridge. Elly sat down and started nibbling on her blueberry jam on toast and stroking a purring Snowy. Despite their rather rocky introduction, the two had become firm friends.
“Why don’t you take a look yourself? It’s addressed to you,” he said gruffly, sitting down and opening up the newspaper.
Miriam heaved a sigh. “It’s probably just another bill
.” She wiped her hands down on her apron and squinted at the envelope. Ever since business took off, she had had to learn to put their finances in order. She slit the envelope with a letter-opener and took out several slips of paper. She looked at them blankly for a moment, then she gasped.
“Oh, my goodness!” she cried, her eyes bulging. “Are these… are these… ?”
Elly looked at her quizzically. Why was Miriam looking so shocked?
“Oh, Horace!” Miriam threw her arms around him and started planting kisses on his balding head.
“Careful! You’re choking me to death!” he sputtered, but then he was smiling smugly.
“Wait! What’s going on?” Elly demanded, putting down her toast.
Miriam was clutching the front of her apron, trembling all over. She laughed and clapped her hands. “Elly! For the first time in my life, I’ll be flying on a plane!”
Elly’s eyes widened. “You’re going to Santorini!” she cried excitedly.
Miriam chuckled. “Well, actually, we’re headed some place else—with you!” She bent down and hugged Elly. “We’re taking you to the Dominican Republic!”
Elly yelped and almost fell out of her chair. “What?” she whispered.
Horace put down his newspaper and grinned. “I’ve been thinking about it for some time, Elly. It seems that the best chance for you to get Organoth blue amber is to search for it in the Dominican Republic. Miriam and I will board the plane together, with you in our hand luggage. So you’ll need to shrink yourself back to elf size. I’m sure you can pretend to be a doll or something, right? You’ll just need to keep very still when they scan you under X-ray at customs.”
Elly gaped at him.
“I’ve already done all my research.” Horace fondly patted the laptop computer on the table. “Once we get to the Dominican Republic, we’ll meet with a couple of experts on blue amber at the local museum. I’ve made the arrangements, all by e-mail. Technology is a truly marvellous thing!”
He chuckled. “Those experts might be able to help us locate some Organoth blue amber. They might drive a hard bargain. But we’ll take our chances.”
Elly was speechless for several moments. “You’ve done all this for me?” she said softly. She felt a surge of gratitude welling up inside her as tears pricked at her eyelids.
Miriam laughed. “Elly, you’re like family. We love you! Horace and I want to do our best to help you find your way back home.” Then she grinned with a twinkle in her eye. “Besides, because of you, I’ll finally get to fly on a plane! We’ll all get to go together. Santorini can wait!”
Horace cleared his throat. “Well, I’ve had to renew our passports for both myself and Miriam. The whole process took two weeks with the Immigration Department. Our old passports had expired long ago. I just got the new ones yesterday. The earliest flight I could book is for this coming Wednesday, and we shall be staying there for one week.”
He looked at Elly apologetically. “I wish we could have gone to the Dominican Republic sooner, but this was the best I could do, my dear.”
Elly shook her head vigorously. “Oh, Horace! Why are you apologising? This is incredible. You don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you so much!”
Greymore rumbled with approval. Some things are priceless, are they not? One cannot buy true friendship and love with money.
Elly looked at Miriam and Horace, put her arms around them, and smiled. “I love you both, too.”
So after a substantial brunch and admiring beautiful pictures of the Dominican Republic on Horace’s laptop, Miriam and Elly set off for the supermarket.
Horace wanted to stay home and tend to his rose garden. “Those blasted crows better not come near me today!” he grumbled as he pulled on his old Wellington boots. It was raining lightly.
Instead of walking to the small grocery shop near Berry Grove Park, Miriam drove them to a large supermarket in a nearby neighbourhood. “This one has a much larger range of quality ingredients,” Miriam explained as they hopped out of her old light-blue mini-van. Elly walked with a spring in her step, and could not stop smiling. She couldn’t believe she’d be going to the Dominican Republic soon. There was hope!
This was Elly’s first time in a cavernous, large-scale supermarket, with high ceilings and endless rows of tall shelves and each aisle devoted to a different speciality: cereals, biscuits, chips, pasta, frozen goods, fruits, vegetables, sauces and condiments, confectionery, beverages, and so on. Miriam let Elly ride in the shopping trolley while she moved briskly from aisle to aisle with a list in her hand, ticking off items one by one: flour, butter, eggs, icing, cream, marmalade, strawberry jam, sugar, salt, pumpkins, strawberries, blueberries, peaches… Elly soon lost track. By the time Miriam had finished, the trolley was filled to the brim, and Elly was skipping along beside her.
As Miriam was paying at the cashier counter, Elly wandered off to a florist near the exit. She breathed in the fragrance of the flowers—peonies, baby’s breath, roses, poinsettias, tulips, daisies, lilies, forget-me-nots, marigolds—and thought about the golden ellanor that would be in full bloom back in Alendria.
Then she felt a tug on her arm. She turned, expecting to see Miriam asking her to help with the shopping bags.
Bright blue eyes stared at her behind round tortoiseshell spectacles. She gasped.
“Teddy!” she cried.
Head tilted slightly to the side, his gaze fixed to her left, Teddy raised a hand in greeting. “Hello, Elly,” he said monotonously. “Are you coming to my house?” It sounded more like a statement than a question.
“You’re not here by yourself, are you?” she asked worriedly, wondering if he had wandered off by himself and gotten lost.
Then a shrill voice rang out. “Theodore James O’Brien! I’ve told you a million times to stay put!” Maddy looked furious as she strode over in tight jeans, sheepskin boots, and a puffy white jacket, her cheeks flushed. Then she stopped in her tracks when she spotted Elly.
“Oh, hi… What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant. She crossed her arms as she tried to smile, not quite looking at Elly in the eye.
Then Elly realized that Maddy looked embarrassed.
At that moment, Elly felt a surge of happiness seeing her two friends again. She smiled. “Hi, Maddy! It’s so good to see you both here. I was just doing some shopping with my… umm… my…”
“Grandmother!” Miriam piped up as she walked towards them lugging four heavy bags stuffed with merchandise. “Elly’s as good as a granddaughter to me. Now, dear, are you going to introduce your friends, or should I stand here until my arms fall off?”
Elly smiled sheepishly as she took two heavy bags. “Miriam, this is Maddy and her brother Teddy.”
“Oh, yes! I’ve heard quite a bit about you from Elly!” said Miriam brightly. Maddy was blushing. “Are you here by yourselves?”
Maddy shook her head. “Umm… no, we’re with our mother. She’s…”
“Madeline Joy O’Brien! How many times have I told you not to walk off?” cried another shrill voice accompanied by the clickety-clack of heels. Elly turned to see an attractive woman rushing towards them, two bulging tote bags on her shoulders. She was petite and slender, with short wheat-blonde hair and bright blue eyes lined with kohl, dressed rather fashionably in a trench coat and stonewashed skinny jeans. Maddy was the spitting image of her.
Teddy kept his hand on Elly’s sleeve, eyes on the ground. Maddy sighed impatiently and rolled her eyes. “Mum, don’t make a fuss,” she said defensively, crossing her arms. “I was just looking for Teddy. He saw Elly and wanted to say hello.”
Maddy’s mother then noticed Elly, and Teddy’s hand on her sleeve. Her eyes softened. “Hello,” she said with a smile. “I’m their mum, but you can call me Victoria.” What amazing green eyes, Victoria thought. “Are you… are you a friend of Teddy’s?”
Annoyed, Maddy nudged her mother. “She’s my friend too,” she hissed before giving Elly a sheepish smile.
Relieved and heartened to hear Maddy call her a friend, Elly beamed and then turned to Victoria. “It is so nice to meet you, Victoria. I met Maddy and Teddy over three weeks ago at Westminster Abbey. I learned a lot from Teddy about the history of that place. Andy and Maddy were ever so nice to me…” She trailed off, remembering that Maddy’s parents were divorced.
“Ah, so you’ve already met Andy.” Victoria smiled a little grimly.
Then she brightened. “Oh, here’s an idea! Elly, please join us for afternoon tea at our home. We live on Pine Street; it’s only a ten-minute drive from here. I never get to meet any of Maddy’s friends, and as for my Teddy…” She eyed her son, his hand still clutching Elly’s sleeve. “I can tell he’s very fond of you!”
Elly hesitated. She wanted to go, but what about all the baking that needed to be done for the reunion dinner? But Miriam smiled and patted her shoulder. “Thank you, what a lovely invitation!” she cried. “Pine Street is only a couple of blocks from our place. Elly, why don’t you go off for a bit with your friends and come home by supper? I’ll prepare the sweets, don’t you worry.” Elly glanced furtively at Maddy, who was smiling broadly and nodding.
Elly grinned. “Thanks Miriam, I promise I’ll be back by supper time!”
As Miriam and Victoria were exchanging phone numbers and addresses, Maddy sidled up to Elly. By now, Teddy had let go of Elly’s sleeve; he was satisfied that she was going home with them after all. Elly overheard Victoria gasp and say, “My, you’re the Miriam Cobble? I’ve been wanting to try your famous pastries, but there’s always such a long queue! I must come over one day by myself, without the kids breathing down my neck!”
Maddy rolled her eyes at her mother and turned to Elly. “Boy, I’m so glad we bumped into you! I’ve been thinking about you, and that business with Lily and those awful girls…”
