Cinderella's Secret Witch Diaries Box Set: Lost, Stolen, Found

Chapter 10-1

Chapter 10

Phoebe clung tight to Renée and tried to hold back tears. “What is wrong?”

“My mother is scared and hurt. She is sad and lonely.” Phoebe sat up and looked up at the moon. “Can we not go to her?”

Renée hugged Phoebe close and kept quiet for a few moments. “No, we cannot. I could not follow her on the dreamline. I do not have that ability. My magic is not of that type. When you are older, I can teach you how to use your magic to travel long distances. It is dangerous, but not impossible.”

“I feel like we are stuck here and that we will never meet up with her again.” Phoebe let go of Renée and glanced over at the fire. There sat the Radley family. They were singing songs and laughing together. “I have always wanted a family who I could play with. I have dreamed often of having brothers or sisters and a father as well.”

Renée looked on at the Radleys and saw Mr. Radley pretending to be a wolf who tickled his daughters. The girls laughed and pretended to hit him with their hands. Mrs. Radley watched them and then went over to the Shawnee women, offering them some more food. “Some families are larger than others. Some are small. Your mother has chosen a small family.”

“Maybe she should change her mind and have a larger one. I would like that.” Phoebe kicked at the pebbles by her feet.

Renée smiled. “You could try that, but there is a better way.”

“Really?” Phoebe faced Renée. Her face expectant and lit from the light of the moon.

“Go over there and ask to join in.” Renée pointed to the Radleys. “Become part of another family.”

Phoebe kept quiet and looked at them having fun.

“You can be miserable and complain about your situation or you can choose to fix it.”

“But they are not of my blood.”

Renée laughed. “Am I? Truly, I am nothing to you, but you have treated me as family since you were a little girl.”

“But that is different because you helped raise me.”

Out of the darkness, Tenskwatawa came and sat down next to them. “No different than other families that have been formed over the years. I agree with Renée. Go make a new family. They won’t turn you away.”

Phoebe turned back and looked from Tenskwatawa to Renée unsure of what to do. She then heard the girls laughing at a new game and then stood up and ran over to the fire. Mrs. Radley took her in her arms and then Mary came to take her hand and pull her away. Within moments Phoebe had begun to play in the next round of their game.

“Nicely handled.” Tenskwatawa brushed some dust off of his pants and then settled back to relax.

“Thank you.” Renée glanced over to the Shawnee. “Now if we could only help them as well.”

“We already have. In the morning, they have agreed to go their own way and we ours. Their people will help them. All will be well.”

“How can you be so sure with American soldiers in the area?” Renée glanced up at the moon that hung low on the horizon.

“America is a big country. There are plenty of places for them to relocate. They will be fine for now. It is in the future that they will suffer and have more problems.” Tenskwatawa scratched his side and then folded his arms behind his head and rested on his back staring up at the night sky.

“Do you know much about the future?” Renée did not let him answer her question. “I think I would rather not know the answer to that.”

“My powers are limited in this body but I can see some of what may come to be. But I don’t dwell on that.”

Renée rested her back against a large stone and kept quiet for a while. Together, they listened to the children laughing and playing around the fire. Then Renée simply asked, “What do you really want with all of us?”

Tenskwatawa laughed. “You don’t give up, do you?” He looked up at the stars and did not make eye contact with her. “It is complicated, but the simple answer is that I want to meet up with Cinderella.”

“Do you wish her harm?”

“Truly, I do not,” Tenskwatawa said. He sat up and faced her. “I wish her the best and want her to be happy, but she’s chosen a path that is filled with challenges.”

“I know, but I have not been able to convince her otherwise.”

“Maybe I can.” Tenskwatawa folded his hands together and became pensive.

Renée chuckled. “You have stolen the body of a man and taken him over. Our level of trust of you is somewhat constrained. Do you not see why?”

“I do. But I do not hurt Tenskwatawa. He is simply asleep and I am borrowing his body to help me on my journey.”

“Why can you not use your own body?” Renée asked.

“Because I can’t. It is complicated.” Tenskwatawa turned away. “You must trust me.”

“Our journey together would go smoother if you were to trust us more and help us. Sitting here giving us half clues and remaining reclusive is of no help to any of us.” Renée spoke and then waited until the laughter died down from the latest game the children were playing before she added, “You point out to Phoebe how important it is to build new families, but do you practice your own advice?”

“I have been blamed for many acts of unkindness over the years yet I still remain true.”

“Blamed? I will always remember what you did to my family.” Renée came closer and kept her voice low but firm. “I shall never forget that for I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Do you truly want the truth from me?” He came to within a few inches of her face. “You saw someone who claimed to be me.” Tenskwatawa pulled back and sighed. “I know you are angry at me and you wish to have your vengeance for what you think I have done, but most of what you know about me is not true.”

“Am I to believe this crazy story of yours? Such a fantastical imagination you have.” Renée stood up and started to walk away and then stopped. She turned back and said, “I saw you and what you did. You are fey and are simply trying to trick me into trusting you. That is what your kind always do. I will not fall for your tricks.”

“And you are right not to do so.” Tenskwatawa sat up and pointed up at the sky. “For as long as people can remember, la petite Reine is a mischievous faerie. I curdle milk, spoil food, and have caused all sources of calamities over the years. But are they all true?”

“Who else has done all of these things if not you? You are Queen Mab of the faeries, are you not? You have tormented people for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.”

“Yes, I am Queen Mab and have played trickster to some, but I did not hurt your family. I promise you.”

“You promise me? Then if you did not do these things, who did?”

Tenskwatawa put his head down and said, “I cannot say.”

“You are unable to say? Before you told me that you did not know. Which is it?” Renée laughed. “I find it convenient that you are unable to speak about what you now claim to know but my family still remains ruined. Earlier you did not seem to know about my family and yet suddenly you now remember? You have cut me deep and I will never forgive you for what you did to those I love.” She walked off and then stopped. “I only work with you because we need your help and I can keep my eye on you. It is with a great will that I do not slit your throat in your sleep. My hate for you is that deep.”

“I understand. I truly do,” Tenskwatawa said and then kept quiet.

Renée watched him and then left. She needed to clear her head from all that she had been told and her anger remained strong within. She wished she could make all her problems go away, but she could not. Taking a breath of the night air, she walked off from the fire and allowed herself to cry. For too many years, she had held back. The release felt good, but more questions than answers came to her. La petite Reine knew more than she said which was relevant and concerning. But in the wilderness, they would need each other. And then Renée heard Phoebe’s laughter off in the distance and she smiled through her tears. Phoebe was the closest she had to her own child. Renée reached out and touched the trunk of a tree and focused. She took a deep breath and held it and then relaxed. The tree grounded her and she wiped her tears away and headed back to the fire.

Phoebe had taken tree branches to make her look like she had antlers and she chased Mary around and around. The other girls laughed and the Radleys joined in the fun. Renée came to the outskirts of the fire’s warmth and Mrs. Radley saw her and came over to her. She could see Tenskwatawa remained where she had last seen him but he stayed away and was glad for the reprieve. “Come sit with us.” Mrs. Radley put her arm around Renée and brought her closer to the fire.

“Thank you.” Her eyes red still from crying, Renée wiped away the remaining tears and sat down. Although the night was warm, the fire soothed her.

Mrs. Radley sat down next to her and offered her a drink. Renée accepted and coughed from the drink’s strong content. “Potent.”

“Charles’ drink is not for the weak.” She held the glass up to toast and then took a small sip. Smacking her lips together, she passed the drink back to Renée. “But after today, we thought we could use a reason to celebrate.”

Renée took another sip, a bit larger this time, and swallowed, feeling the alcohol burn her throat. She waited a moment before talking to let the burning ease. “What you did today was brave.”

“I apologize for not talking with you about our decision to save the Shawnee.” She stared off into the fire. “I just could not allow them to die.”

Renée thought for a moment and let the alcohol talk for her. “When I first saw what you had done, I must admit that I was upset that you had not told us.”

“I understand that. But with all the children and la petite Reine, we thought it best to act and we could talk later.”

Renée took another small sip from the cup and then glanced over to where the Shawnee stayed. She watched and saw that Phoebe had run over to them and pretended to be an animal still, joking with the women and children. They played along and she heard some of them laughing. “She will be a great leader one day.”

Mrs. Radley nodded. “She has a good heart.”

Turning back to Mrs. Radley, Renée asked, “Will you take care of her if I am gone?”

“You need not ask that. Of course, we would.”

Renée saw Phoebe headed to her and she put her hands up feigning fear and Phoebe laughed and then moved on, continuing her fun elsewhere. The game continued onward for some time and Renée became tired and remembered Mrs. Radley covering her with a blanket and then she drifted off to sleep.

Hours later in the deep of night, Tenskwatawa walked over to Phoebe and Renée as they both slept by the glowing embers of the fire. Tenskwatawa watched Phoebe for a good while and then gently brushed back her hair from her face with his hand. Having feigned sleeping, Renée stared at the scene before her, ready to act, but did not move. Tenskwatawa leaned in and kissed Phoebe on the forehead. “You are my hope and greatest joy. Even in this useless body I wear, I will do anything to protect you. Never forget that.”

Turning away, Tenskwatawa headed off away from the fire and found a place to sleep by a tree farther away. Renée said nothing but put her arm around Phoebe and then waited for sleep to come for her. She thought long at what she had seen, but after a time, the quiet of the night called to her and she, too, drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, Renée woke and saw Phoebe cuddled next to her. She stretched and gently moved away, putting the blanket as a pillow under Phoebe’s head. She turned away and groaned but stayed asleep. Walking away from the burned out embers of last night’s campfire, she saw that the Shawnee had already started getting ready for the day and were packing what little they had to head out on their own. One of the women, Chenoa, held her child in her arms. The little boy waved at her and Renée waved back and smiled at him. Their parting would be for the best. The further they headed back east, the more contact they would have with American soldiers. Renée saw Mrs. Radley helping one of the Shawnee women by sharing some food and drink with her.