CinderEll

Chapter Eighteen ~ Villages

When a few days had passed Ell had started to get into the flow of being a nanny, and on a Friday morning when Rose had been given the day off and had asked Ell to take her to the small village that Alex had took her two when she'd first arrived, she simply couldn't say no.

So, Rose dragged her to the village and excitedly showed her around.

"And this is the fountain." She said excitedly as she pulled Ell towards it.

"You should make a wish!" She said as the body guard looking after them that day passed them each a coin, to which Ell thanked him profusely.

Ell thought about what she wished for and when she'd finally thought of it, she couldn't help but to hope, even if just for a moment, that her wish might just come true.

"What did you wish for?" Rose asked her and Ell giggled.

"If I told you, it wouldn't come true!" She said. Besides it's not liked she'd wished for a certain charming princess love her back... why would she do that?...

"Hey Rose, what's this place?" Ell asked as they continued to walk through the village that seamed like it had come right out of a fairytale. Ell had started walking slower as she looked at a very run-down looking building that seamed to be only just clinging to life.

"Oh, that's the orphanage." Rose explained, seaming a little sader as she looked at the building in dismay.

"Orphanage?" Ell asked, her eyes wide. She didn't know they had those in Alluria.

"Yeah, the kids there struggle a lot and me and Alex volunteer every year to try and help, we also supply them charity funds but with the amount of kids going in and out there never seams to be enough supplies."

Ell frowned at that and when one of the children ran out and bumped into, she pulled her back to make sure she was ok.

"Are you alright sweetie?" She asked to which the young girl shyly nodded as she smiled up at Ell.

"Are you a princess?" She asked and Ell blushed a little.

"No, but I'm sure that you are." She said as she tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear.

"Come meet my friends!" The girl suddenly said as she pulled Ell and Rose into the building.

"Well who do we have here?" A kind looking older woman asked as she greeted Ell and Rose.

"Princess." She said with a bow towards Rose and a nod and a smile towards Ell.

"Good morning Rhonda. Sorry to interrupt." Rose said politely, Ell feeling very proud of her manners.

"But Abby wanted to introduce my new friend to everyone. Everyone, this is Ell." She  said as she held Ell's hand up and Ell smiled shyly and gave a little wave. Suddenly all the children crowded her asking her all sorts of different questions like where was she from and why she was here.

"Alright everyone give her some space." Rhonda commanded and the children all got back into their seats.

"Ell can sing, perhaps the kids would like to hear her?" Rose said suddenly, causing Ell to blush beet red.

"Oh yes we'd love to hear a song!" One of the girls spoke up, causing the rest to hook her and when everyone looked at her expectantly, Ell flusterdly tried to speak.

"W-Well I suppose I could sing something." She said as Rose ushered her to the front of the room and Ell gave a shy smile towards the adorable children.

"What would you like to hear?" She asked, and the girl that had first dragged her in there said.

"Something pretty!" To which Ell giggled.

"Ok... hmm." She said as she thought for a moment and began to sing a Christmas carol, the children joining in on the very second verse.

Once she had finished she allowed Rose to catch up with the kids whilst her and Rhonda talked over a cup of tea.

"Sadly we never have quite enough volunteers to help bring this place up to scratch." She said as she explained the orphanages history. Rhonda acted as a teacher and a mother to all the children that came through the places either until they where adopted or until they where old enough to make their own way, and she was very proud of that fact. But she was also easily able to admit that they constantly needed help, and all Ell wanted to do was to aid them in some way.

"Perhaps I could lend my time?" She said.

"I'm free most afternoons after three pm, would that be too late to come help out?" She asked, and when Rhonda shook her head with tears in her eyes Ell placed a hand on her own.

"I'll do what I can than." She said, to which the woman nodded.

"And where always thankful for it." She said with a smile.

"Your parents must be proud of the kind young woman you've become." She said and Ell grew teary eyed herself as she played with her locket.

"I hope so." She said with a small smile.

"Ell, it's time to go." Rose suddenly called out to her, and Ell smiled at Rhonda as she thanked her for the tea and assured that she would be back later that day to come and help out. Than, after a quick hug from the young girl she'd met before that couldn't have been older than four, Ell and Rose headed back to the castle.

Later that day as soon as Ell's shift had ended and Rose was in the care of her mother and sister, Ell got changed into a shirt and shorts and her cardigan, put her hair up in a white rustic scarf and her boots on as she began to make her way back to the village.

"Hello Ell, where are you off to?" She suddenly heard Alex's voice from behind her as she turned to find her practising fencing with her body guard Steven.

"Hello!" She said cheerfully.

"I've just got some errands to run but I'll be back soon, so you need anything from the village?" She asked to which Alex could only think of one thing or rather one person that she needed.

"We're ok thank you but do make sure to get home safe, and call me if you need anything yeah?" She asked to which Ell gave a shy nod with a blush as she headed on her way.

She wanted her to call her..... no she shouldn't read to much into it. Besides it's not like she had a phone to call her on if if she wanted too, which she did... not that she should... but she did.

Ell had been fretting about that fact for a while now, the fact that she didn't have a phone. She had never complained or worried about it before but in the haste of moving entire counties and everything that had happened she'd completely forgot to tell her best friend that she was still... you know, alive.

Ell was so very worried that Abby would be extremely cross with her, or worse hurt by her, and she really had meant to call but she didn't want to be a burden by asking Alex to burrow her phone especially after everything she'd done for her, and they didn't have any pay phones in the village and Ell hadn't been paid yet even if they did so she just didn't know what to do about it other than wait till she got paid and purchase a cheap phone when she did.

As she made her way back into the village and up towards the orphanage, Ell smiled as she couldn't help but to wish she could just adopt all of those children and give them a home. But considering she technically didn't have a home yet herself, unfortunately she couldn't do that. Still, she would do absolutely everything else she could to help.