Hansel.’
‘So why don’t you cast a spell and magic us all to Fairyland rather than riding through the Dark Forest?’
Cinders sighed. If they’d been through this once, they’d been through it a thousand times.
‘Because my magic isn’t strong enough,’ she said as she flicked Mouse’s reins, encouraging him to go just a little bit faster. ‘I only found out I was half fairy a week ago. These things don’t work themselves out overnight, you know. I mean, if I’d been more in control of my powers, I wouldn’t have made that pig come back to life at dinner, I wouldn’t have scared the king, he wouldn’t have decided I was a witch and we wouldn’t have had to run away in the first place.’
Cinders couldn’t help but wonder if it wouldn’t have been easier to just stay at the palace, marry Prince Joderick and behave herself. Except she didn’t want to marry Prince Joderick, and she never had been very good at behaving herself. But now she was lost in the forest with the palace guards after her, and the only thing she could think to do was go to Fairyland, where her mother apparently came from, and try to get some answers.
‘Fair enough, fair enough,’ said Hansel. He closed his eyes as Mouse leaped over a fallen tree trunk and thundered on, deeper into the forest.
‘One more question. Do you think your magic might be strong enough to find us a toilet? Only I really have to go.’
Truly, she should have left that boy where she’d found him.
‘It’s not my fault!’ he wailed when she spurred Mouse on to ride faster. ‘It’s all this jiggling around on the back of the horse. I drank a massive bottle of elderberry juice this morning and I’ve been holding it in for ages.’
‘Can’t you wait ten more minutes?’ she asked.
‘Not unless you want an accident,’ he grumbled, ‘and I don’t think that’s a good idea on the back of a horse.’
All Cinders wanted to do was keep riding, avoid being eaten by a munklepoop, get to Fairyland and solve the mystery of how her mother had found her way into the kingdom, met her dad, given birth to Cinders and left her with a magical talking dog. Was that really too much to ask for?
‘All right, all right, we’ll stop.’ Cinders closed her eyes, concentrated very hard and took a deep breath. ‘I wish we could find somewhere for Sparks to eat some sausages, and Mouse to get some cheese, and Hansel to have a wee because he’s a useless boy who can’t even hold it in for a minute.’
‘Oh, really,’ Sparks sniffed, turning up his shiny black nose. ‘There’s no need to be vulgar.’
All at once, Cinders felt a tingling in her fingertips. In the darkest part of the Dark Forest, her hands began to glow silver and gold, thousands of tiny lights flickering brightly all around her.
‘Oh, I say!’ Hansel grabbed hold of his green felt hat. ‘What’s she doing?’
‘What do you mean what’s she doing?’ Sparks asked, a little indignantly. ‘She’s using her magic to find you a loo, just like you asked!’
Hansel looked shocked, the rosy-red colour disappearing from his round cheeks.
‘So she really is half fairy?’
‘Not everyone is a fibber,’ replied Sparks.
Hansel went very quiet. He had a reputation as a world-class porky-pie teller, and not without good reason.
‘Look!’ The light from Cinders’s hands suddenly began to flow outwards, carving a golden path through the pitch-black of the forest floor. ‘I think we’re supposed to go this way.’
‘Follow me!’ Sparks cried bravely, hopping down from Mouse’s saddle to race ahead of his friends.
‘So you can smell the sausages as well?’ Cinders asked.
‘Certainly can,’ he confirmed. ‘Top-notch wishing, Cinders. Very well done.’
A few minutes later, the golden path faded away and the foursome found themselves in a little clearing. Cinders looked up and saw stars in the night sky. It was much later than she’d realised. In the middle of the clearing was a sweet little cottage. The walls were white and the roof was thatched and there was an archway of roses growing round the wooden front door.
‘Really, very well done, Cinders,’ Sparks said as he bounded up to the cottage, marvelling at the perfectly tended little garden full of pretty flowers. All the better to wee on later, he thought to himself.
‘Let’s see if anyone is home,’ Cinders said, straightening her shoulders and trying to tidy her messy hair. She held up her non-sparkly hand and knocked on the door. No one answered.
‘Knock again,’ Hansel suggested, crossing his legs and doing a little dance from side to side. ‘Louder this time. They probably couldn’t hear it.’
‘Perhaps they’re in the kitchen cooking,’ Sparks agreed with his eyes closed. Something inside smelled very good indeed.
And so Cinders knocked again, but there was still no answer.
‘Try the door,’ Sparks suggested, popping his paws up on the windowsill and peeking in.
Cinders gave a cross little sigh. She really, really, really wanted to get on with her journey.
‘Honestly, Sparks, nice people don’t go around leaving their front doors unlocked for just anyone to walk in and—’
The handle turned in her hand, the door opened and Hansel raced past her and disappeared down the hallway.
‘Hello?’ Cinders called. ‘Is anyone home?’
She turned on a lamp to get a better look at the place, which appeared to be empty. In the living room there was a fireplace and in front of it was one big chair, one medium-sized chair and one little chair. Walking into the kitchen, she saw a large wooden table. Placed round it was one big chair, one medium-sized chair and one little chair.
‘Would you look at that!’ Sparks bounded up on to the smallest chair, walked round in a circle and plopped his red, fluffy tail down on the comfy cushion. ‘Perfectly Sparks-sized.’
Still not altogether sure about being in someone else’s house uninvited, Cinders tapped an uncertain finger on the arm of the biggest chair. It was awfully late and she was awfully tired. It had been a peculiar day to say the least. She was only having a sit-down, after all. Surely no one would mind?
‘Good golly gosh, that’s a comfy chair,’ she gasped as she sank into the cushion. She could have closed her eyes and gone to sleep right there and then.
‘Cinders! Sparks!’
Quick as a flash, Cinders and her doggy pal ran off to find out what was wrong with Hansel.
‘Hansel! Even I know you shouldn’t wear your shoes in bed!’
The bothersome boy was in the bedroom, in a great big bed with the covers tucked up to his chin.
‘It’s so soft,’ he said, plucking off his hat and placing