Cinderella: A Retelling of an Old Classic

Unexpected Allies - Chapter 10

First off I would like to apologize for the long wait for an update. That wasn't meant to happen but I really just wasn't feeling it for a little while. There is no way that I would stop writing this but I just want you all to know that sometimes I need a tiny break. It should never be more than a couple of weeks though. Please keep commenting and voting though that really helps boost my love for writing and knowing that you all like my stories is amazing :) To all of my new readers, assuming I have any, welcome!! I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it :)

Adela was walking along the one dusty road in the village. It was a quaint place full of shops and shop-keepers each trying to outdo the other. One would inevitably yell their superiority compared to their competitors and other would forcibly drag you into their shops if given the chance. It was all done good-naturedly however and nearly everyone was in one way or another related to each other.

Before, when Adela walked the streets she would stop at the little kiosks and admire the pretty ribbons and bright objects on display but today her heart was too heavy to enjoy this little pleasure. She carried a bag full of her father's 'curiosities', as her stepmother named them, and she knew there was little chance she could ever reclaim them.

Normally Adela walked to the grocers or the bakers and occasionally trekked up the hill to the millers but today she was headed to a small shop in the dingiest part of the town. She knew where it was located only because her father would frequent the little place. One of his favorite pastimes was coming to the shop with the crooked window-panes looking for what he would call buried treasure. Things that were perhaps of no value to their previous owners but were precious in his eyes. They could always find the most curious of objects at this shop whether it was oddly shaped figures or bits of polished glass tied with leather straps to be ornaments or children's playthings.

As she turned the corner and made her way down a crooked, dingy alley she walked into a door strung with faded red curtains and a big brass doorknob in the shape of a lion's head.

"Mr. Krivet?" she called out when she saw no one behind the counter. "Are you here?"

"Are those the sweet tones of my Ella that I hear?" came a warm voice from the back of the shop.

Out came a little wizened old man with long white hair and a clean shaven chin. He walked with a cane and it seemed to others as though every step for them meant ten for him. Slowly he made his way over to Adela and crooked his finger at her.

"Come down here so I can look at you. I've misplaced my spectacles."

"Again?" Adela asked teasingly bending her knees to look into his eyes.

"Hmmmmppph! Still as impertinent as ever I see. How is your dear father?"

Adela's eyes filled with tears as she thought about him.

"So he's gone away again has he? I thought he would settle down when he married again. Apparently this old miser was wrong."

Adela wiped her eyes quickly and laughed. "You are not an old miser Mr. Krivet."

"I am too a very old miser and don't contradict your elders young miss."

He then caught sight of the large carpet bag she was holding in her hands.

"What have you got there? Anything I can help with?"

"Well, I was hoping you might be able to take a look at these things and tell me what they are worth. I was contemplating selling them and I wouldn't want the dealers to cheat me." Adela said without meeting his eyes.

Krivets looked at her sharply and cleared his throat. "Well then, I suppose you should come over here and we'll see what we can do."

He led her to a large table off in a corner equipped with several candelabras and proceeded to light them.

"Alrighty then, set them up here so I can see." He sat down on a stool with enormously long legs and opened a drawer in the table.

"Now where did I put those blasted glasses...they must be somewhere."

Adela looked over his shoulder and grinned. Laughing she reached into the drawer and took out a pair of dingy broken spectacles.

"Here they are Mr. Krevit!" she said merrily.

Looking up at her he frowned and reached for the glasses before shoving them unto his nose grumpily.

He and Adela began the process of looking over the three items she had brought to him. One was a statue of a beautiful women carved in jade. Another was a small painting of a child all dressed in white with blue eyes and merry bouncing curls. The last was a somewhat crudely worked leather doll that looked more like a gargoyle than anything. It was still precious to her father however. It had been given to him by a little girl in one of the nomadic tribes he has visited on his journey.

Mr. Krevit became less and less sarcastic as he saw Adela pull out item after item. He knew how precious these things were to her father and by extension to her as well. He saw the way her fingers lovingly caressed the fine lines of the jade and straightened the jacket of the little leather doll. Being the acerbic wit that he was he never believed for a second that Adela was selling these precious items of her own free will. That hellish stepmother of hers was well known in the village for her less than personable personality and if he had been a betting man he would have known who to place his money on.

"Adela my dear, you tell this old man the truth. No no, don't you put your eyes on that floor I know its dirty, no need to nag about it. Your pride will only stop you from taking the help and sincerity of others so do me the greatest of favors and tell me the truth. Did your stepmother tell you to sell all of these?" Mr. Krevit asked looking at her bent head sharply.

Adela shook her head no quickly but as Mr. Krevit raised his long white eyebrows she sighed and changed her answer.

"I knew it!" he said gleefully. "I knew that old witch would be trouble! Haha this old man can still tell a good person from a rotten one. Just you remember that missy. I am the greatest judge of character this side of the country." Wagging his finger in her face he continued. "Now why in heaven's name are you allowing her to do all of this?"

"I have no right to say any different. She is my father's wife and my stepmother. What can I do? If I rebel she would throw me into the streets faster than I could blink and then what would happen to our beautiful home? Mother and Father have always been so proud of it so I feel I must stay and look after it."

"I suppose so...." he sighed. "Back to business though deary. I am willing to offer you a deal."

"Oh?" Adela looked puzzled. "What kind of deal?"

"You see, I have always loved your fathers little trinkets and things so I will buy them at a fair price. However, I will store them in my personal collection until such a time as your father returns and buys them from me at the same price. What do you think?"

"No Mr. Krevit!! That would be cheating you and I couldn't possibly, " she began.

"Couldn't possibly what? Make an old man happy? I have wanted these beauties for years. You wouldn't deny such a feeble little one as I his heart's desire now would you?" he asked slyly.

Adela laughed at that. "Perhaps your body is not as young as it used to be but there is certainly nothing wrong with your mind. Very well, if this would truly make you happy than of course I shall agree."

The old man rubbed his hands together and smiled. "Good, good....now lets see here,"

The next few minutes were spent trying to calculate and document the cost and origin of each curiosity and when Adela left the shop she felt more lighthearted than she had in months. She knew that no matter what happened the things her father loved and cherished would be returned to him when he arrived home.