Charm Read Free

future, even if her father did sell a few more articles and papers or take in some book-keeping while writing his interminable novel. Someone would have to go into the forest for wood, and that someone would no doubt be her. She shivered slightly at the thought. The forest was not the safest place to go wandering alone.
    The kitchen, being in the basement, was at least warmer than the rest of the house. And it was quiet. If she heard her step-mother squeal once more about the joys of court life she was sure she’d scream herself. All her own cries of ‘but what about me?’ had been ignored or brushed aside, as if the thought of her going to a court ball was such a ridiculous suggestion it wasn’t even worth listening to. She finished the last of the dishes, placing the fine china carefully back in the cupboard where it would gather dust until Ivy and her husband came again, and then began to sweep the floor. She didn’t hurry. Today she was glad of her chores.
    There was a light tapping at the back door – three small knocks and then a pause before one more – and Cinderella’s mood lifted. She pulled back the bolts and opened up, still smiling even though the blast of cold that rushed in threatened the tiny amount of warmth the room was managing to contain.
    ‘Buttons!’
    ‘Evening, princess.’ He nodded at a brown sack by his feet. ‘Shall I put it straight in the scuttle on my way back?’
    ‘You’ve brought coal?’
    ‘No one will miss it. They’ve got more than they need.’ He grinned at her, dark eyes twinkling in the night. ‘And we wouldn’t want your pretty nose getting frostbite, would we? Speaking of frostbite, are you going to let me in?’
    She ushered him inside and closed the door as he pulled another chair close to the stove and sat down. ‘This winter’s a bastard.’ He shivered.
    ‘You didn’t need to bring me anything,’ Cinderella rummaged in the cupboards, put some bread and cheese on a plate and poured him a glass of her father’s table wine. ‘You’re too kind to me.’
    ‘It’s not my coal, princess. Just like the half a ham I just left at Granny Parker’s wasn’t my ham, so don’t worry.’ He winked at her. ‘But I like bringing you things best.’
    Cinderella blushed and sat down, happy to give him a moment or two of silence while he ate. Sometimes it felt like Buttons was her only real friend in the world, and she didn’t even know his real name. She called him Buttons because he’d brought her two fine pearl buttons for her torn dress when she’d first met him and then the nickname stuck. He probably had grateful nicknames in houses all over the city. The winter made times hard, but Buttons made them better.
    He couldn’t be more than twenty or so, she thought. Thin and wiry with a mop of black hair and sharp eyes that were always up to mischief. But what a heart he had. He had a crush on her, she knew, but she never encouraged it, no matter how extraordinary he was. She wanted more from her life. She wanted what Ivy had, but with a tall, handsome man. She longed for it so much she ached from it.
    ‘I hope you’re careful,’ she said. ‘If you get caught, well . . .’ She didn’t need to finish the sentence. They both knew what the consequences would be.
    Buttons was a thief. He was also an errand boy at the castle and spent much of his time delivering messages to the great houses or doing chores in the castle itself. The latter fed into the former and Buttons was an expert at taking small but valuable items that no one would notice were gone and they would either be sold and the money given away, or he’d pass them on directly.
    ‘I steal from the rich and give to the poor,’ he’d told her once. ‘It’s the only way to be a happy thief. And so many people have so little while so few have so much. It’s not fair.’
    Buttons had made their winter easier, even if her family didn’t notice. Why would they? It was Cinderella who did the day to day