Roses and Black Glass: a dark Cinderella tale by Lani Lenore Page B

away.  These beans would not keep her amusement long.
    Hearing a
sound on the stair behind her, Cindy didn’t bother to turn.  It was no doubt,
the guest, Amanda – That was her name, wasn’t it?   If it was not, the
intruder could have whatever they wanted with her.  She cared not.
    “There you are,
Cindy,” said Amanda, stepping into the kitchen as the hazy day lingered outside
the windows.
    “Hello, Miss
Jefferson,” the girl said flatly without looking up.
    The strange
woman with the black eyes approached and leaned against the edge of the table,
peering down at Cindy’s work.
    “Beans,” she
stated in a laughing way, admiring the chore.
    “They could
have picked something less obvious,” said Cindy, still not bothering to look
up.  “They hardly ever eat beans.”
    Amanda laughed
lightly and walked closer to Cindy.  The girl on the floor wondered what this
woman had to say to her.  Apparently there was something, or else she wouldn’t
be lingering.
    “Look at me,”
the woman instructed finally.
    Cindy looked
up slowly, staring out with empty eyes.  Slowly, a smile crossed the woman's
face.
    “You have the
look of your mother, Cindy,” she said.
    Cindy
continued to stare back, becoming curious as to who this woman was and knowing
that she wanted to be asked.
    “You call me
by name as though you know me,” said Cindy finally. “Do you actually know who I
am?”           
    “I have seen
you,” said the woman. “Yet it has been years.  I’ve only last seen you when you
were very small.  I have come on the request of your father and mother.”
    What sort of
game was this?  Why would this woman say such a thing?  The very thought made
her angry.
    “My parents
are dead,” Cindy said without emotion, looking back to the beans.
    “Yes,” said
Amanda.  “That is not the point now.  I have come from far away to honor your
father’s request.  Some years ago, your father asked me to aid him, and become
the godmother to his child.”
    The girl was
very surprised to hear this.  She could not help but disregard the beans
completely.
    “And that is
why you’re here?  Will you try to take me away?” Cindy asked in disbelief.  She
felt hopeful for a moment, but then all that faded.  She found reality again.
“I think that will be quite impossible.”
    “That is not
why I’m here,” the woman told her, “but you don’t believe that it is possible
for you to leave this place?”
    “Nothing is
possible for a mere servant with no family or money of her own,” Cindy muttered,
tossing a few more rotten beans into the fire.
    Amanda looked
on in curiosity, ignoring the girl’s pessimistic attitude.  After scanning the
room, she got the perfect idea.
    “Would you
have me help you sort the beans, Cindy?” she asked.
    Cindy looked
up in disbelief.  Why would this woman want to do that?  She shook her head.           
    “You are the
guest, ma’am.  I couldn’t ask that of you.”
    “Don’t be
silly!” Amanda insisted. “It will be no trouble at all!  We will have you done
in no time.”
    Cindy let her
eyes trail back down to the beans scattered across the floor.  She had not even
worked through half of a pound.  The woman’s help would not amount to much on
this job.
    Amanda took
off her cloak and laid it across the back of a chair.
    “Spread all
the beans across the floor,” she instructed. “Spread them past the table.”
    “You have some
strange bean-spreading-technique that I have no idea about?” Cindy asked
skeptically.
    “I would
simply ask that you trust me,” Amanda said.
    Cindy didn’t
understand how this would make anything except a mess, but nonetheless tipped
over the bag and let a few of the beans roll across the floor of their own
will.  After she had watched the mess settle itself, she turned back to the
woman, who was watching closely.  She nodded with a short smile.
    “That’s
correct,” Amanda said. “Keep going.