The Magic Princess Dress Read online

  This was so unlike Dinah that for a moment Ava stared at her in surprise, wondering if the fairy godmother had cast some sort of spell on her – one that had stopped her being pessimistic and had started to make her optimistic instead.

  Then Ava’s dad was ordering her to look in the mirror and concentrate . . .

  Feeling as if she hadn’t fully returned yet to the real world, Ava sat quietly on the floor in the upstairs room of Marietta’s shop – with Cindy curled up in her lap – waiting for her father to arrive through the mirror. When he didn’t appear after another few minutes, Ava started to worry, and decided to go and find Marietta.

  ‘You’re back!’ Marietta exclaimed in delight when she saw Ava. ‘And Cindy too! Wonderful!’

  As Marietta spoke, Cindy jumped out of Ava’s arms on to the settee, where she settled herself against a cushion, lazily licking her paws as if she was cleaning them after an everyday trip out into the back garden.

  ‘She doesn’t seem any the worse for her travels, in any case,’ Marietta said, smiling as she turned to Ava. ‘So what about you? Did you have a good time?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ava replied, ‘but I’m worried about Dad. He was supposed to be following me back through the mirror straight away.’

  ‘Oh, I shouldn’t worry about him,’ Marietta said reassuringly. ‘Otto can usually take care of himself – and everybody else! He’s rescued me out of a few scrapes in my time, I can tell you. Now, tell me about your visit. Did you meet Cinderella?’

  ‘Not properly – but we met Dinah and Tilly,’ Ava said.

  ‘Really?’ Marietta looked momentarily taken aback. ‘Your father met Dinah too?’

  Ava nodded. ‘She told us that you’re going to Cinderella’s wedding tomorrow.’

  ‘That’s right. Isn’t it exciting? I’ve been waiting years for it to happen – and now you and I can go together!’

  Ava shook her head sadly. ‘Dad won’t let me.’

  ‘Why ever not?’

  Ava was about to explain when they heard footsteps above them, and seconds later Dad appeared on the spiral staircase.

  ‘Dad, I’m so glad you’re back!’ Ava cried out, rushing to give him a hug.

  ‘Ava was getting worried about you,’ Marietta told him lightly when he looked surprised.

  ‘Really?’ Ava’s dad stroked her hair a little awkwardly as he explained, ‘I’m sorry, Ava. I stayed behind for a bit longer because Dinah wanted to discuss an idea she thought might interest us.’

  ‘What idea?’ Ava asked curiously.

  But before he could answer Marietta said in a rush, ‘So, Otto . . . you’ve met Dinah?’

  ‘Yes, Marietta, we have,’ he replied crisply. ‘And I gather she’s known you since you were a teenager.’ He was giving his younger sister rather a stern look, considering she hadn’t actually been a teenager for quite some time, Ava thought.

  Marietta laughed, a little self-consciously. ‘She told you about when we first met?’

  ‘She certainly did.’

  ‘Ah, well . . .’ Marietta sighed. ‘It was a very long time ago, Otto. I was young and headstrong and I didn’t like being bossed about by my ultra-sensible older brother!’

  ‘I did not boss you about,’ Ava’s dad said, sounding irritated.

  ‘You wouldn’t let me leave school and go off travelling like I wanted to,’ Marietta pointed out.

  ‘You were too young to drop out of school! Anyway, someone had to give you some guidance – and it wasn’t as if our parents were there to do it!’

  ‘I know that, Otto,’ Marietta said. ‘And I’m very grateful to you for trying so hard to take their place – really I am.’ She spoke sincerely, though she also had a twinkle in her eye. Turning to Ava, she added, ‘I was a bit of a wild child when I was younger, Ava. Your dad was always looking out for me and stopping me getting into too much trouble.’

  As Ava looked at them both she suddenly felt that there was much more she wanted to ask them about their lives when they were young – and about her missing grandparents.

  But right now the thing she was most interested in was what Dinah had just said to Dad that sounded like it involved her. ‘So what was Dinah’s idea, Dad?’ she prompted him.

  Her father turned to look at her. ‘Dinah’s idea? Ah, yes . . . well . . . Dinah knows how much you were looking forward to being one of Cinderella’s bridesmaids, but she agrees with me that it’s too dangerous as things are at the moment. The ugly sisters may be out of the way but there’s still the fairy godmother to consider. However, she has another idea. Apparently the fairy godmother has one weakness – flowers!’

  ‘Flowers?’ Ava was puzzled.

  ‘Yes. According to Dinah, not only do flowers make the fairy godmother sneeze, but she is quite unable to perform any magic on a person who is carrying more than a hundred of them.’

  ‘A hundred!’

  ‘Yes – it’s all to do with some flower spell she once did that went badly wrong. Anyway, what Dinah suggested is that rather than going to Cinderella’s wedding as her bridesmaid, you should go as her flower girl instead. What do you think?’

  ‘Great! But how will I hold that many flowers?’

  ‘Oh, you don’t have to hold all of them,’ Dad replied, smiling. ‘Does she, Marietta?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Marietta said, smiling too. ‘All we need to do is find the right flower-girl dress for you to wear, Ava – and I believe I have just the one! Come on! Let’s go upstairs and you can try it on right now!’

  15

  ‘So what do you think?’ Ava asked her dad the next morning as she pushed back the sparkly curtain of the changing cubicle and gave a little twirl.

  ‘You look beautiful,’ he declared, smiling proudly.

  Ava’s flower-girl dress was made of very swishy cream silk, on to which dozens of pretty silk flowers of all different colours were sewn. On her feet she wore sandals that were also totally covered with silk flowers, and on her head was an elegant headband that had beautiful silk daisies sewn on to it.

  ‘I can hardly believe they’re going to turn into real flowers when I go through the portal!’ Ava exclaimed. ‘Marietta says she used a very special type of magic thread to sew them on. Look – you can actually see it sparkling.’

  Dad glanced at the thread she was pointing to and nodded matter-of-factly. ‘Has Marietta checked that you have enough flowers?’ he wanted to know.

  ‘She says when I get my flower basket I’ll have well over a hundred, so I’ll be quite safe,’ Ava reassured him. She frowned slightly because there was something she wanted to ask and she wasn’t sure how Dad would react. ‘Dad, I’ve brought my camera with me . . . and . . . well . . . do you think you could take a photograph of me in this dress so I can show Mum? It’s just that I really wish she could be here to see it too.’

  ‘Of course we can take a picture,’ Dad said at once. ‘As long as—’

  ‘As long as I don’t tell her where I got the dress,’ Ava finished for him. ‘Don’t worry. I know I mustn’t say anything about Marietta’s shop.’

  As she spoke, Marietta came down the spiral staircase to join them. She was wearing the raspberry-coloured fairytale gown that she had modelled on the music-box princess’s. It had a snug-fitting bodice and a massive skirt, which swayed regally when she walked. She had a sparkling tiara in her hair and a matching necklace around her neck. On her feet she wore shoes made of raspberry-coloured glass, each of which had a glass rosebud on the front that matched the silk rosebuds decorating her dress.

  ‘I believe glass slippers are the “in” thing now in fairytale land,’ she told them, smiling. ‘I must say they are not the most comfortable of shoes, so goodness knows how I shall dance in them – but they do look stunning!’

  ‘You look stunning,’ Ava’s father said warmly. ‘Now promise me, both of you, that you’ll be careful while you’re away. I’d come with you, except that I don’t think the fairy godmother would be very pleased to see me. Beside
s – weddings aren’t really my thing!’

  ‘We promise,’ Ava said, smiling.

  ‘So long as you promise to be polite to my customers, if there are any while I’m gone, Otto,’ Marietta added as she pulled on a pair of cream silk gloves.

  Dad laughed. ‘I’ll do my best. And I’ll also do my best not to lose Cindy again while you’re away. Now, if you fetch your camera, Ava, I’ll take that photo you wanted. Then I think you two princesses had better get a move on, if you don’t want to be late for the big event!’

  Ava arrived on the other side of the mirror to find herself not in the palace music room, as she’d expected, but outside in the royal gardens. Marietta, who had travelled through the magic portal first, was standing on the grass waiting for her, her red hair glinting in the sunshine.

  ‘Look at my dress!’ Ava exclaimed. The silk flowers that had decorated it before had magically blossomed into beautiful, sweet-smelling real ones.

  Before Marietta could reply, a familiar voice behind Ava called out, ‘Wow! You look really . . . flowery!’

  Ava turned to see Tilly in her rainbow-coloured dress, beaming at her. The palace music box was sitting on the grass at her feet, glowing slightly.

  ‘Tilly!’ she exclaimed, delighted to see her friend.

  ‘I won the competition!’ Tilly told her breathlessly. ‘And it’s all thanks to you, Ava, for finding my dress!’

  As the two girls hugged, Tilly added, ‘And guess what? Since the fairy godmother’s spells have been going a bit wrong lately, Cinderella suggested I choose a different prize. Dinah told me about the music box and why it was so special, so I asked Cinderella if I could have that and she said yes! We’re going to keep it in the sewing room, so you and Marietta can come and visit us whenever you like without worrying about running into the fairy godmother. Or the ugly sisters – if they ever come back here, that is!’

  ‘That’s great, Tilly – but what about your dress shop?’ Ava asked in surprise.

  ‘Well, Cinderella likes the dress I made so much that she’s asked me to be her personal dressmaker after she marries the prince. Then, when I’m older, she’s going to help me get set up in my own shop, with a little flat above it for me and Dinah to live in.’

  ‘So you and Dinah are friends again?’

  Tilly nodded. ‘I know Dinah’s really sorry for taking my dress, and it’s difficult to stay angry with her after everything she’s done for me.’

  ‘Girls, I know you have a lot to catch up on, but we mustn’t forget we have a wedding to go to,’ Marietta interrupted them now. ‘I’ve waited all this time for Cinderella to get married – and I don’t want to miss it!’

  ‘Don’t worry. It’s not due to start for another half an hour, over there in the big walled garden,’ Tilly said, pointing to the far side of the lawn, where they could see a high brick wall with a door set into it. The door had been propped open and servants were hurrying in and out, carrying cushions and extra chairs.

  ‘I thought the fairy godmother said the wedding was to be in a church,’ Ava said.

  ‘It was, but at the last minute Cinderella and Prince Charming decided it should be outside in the open air instead. Come on. I’ll show you,’ Tilly said.

  Marietta and Ava followed Tilly towards the walled garden. As they got closer they could hear the sound of lots of people chattering.

  ‘Wow!’ Ava gasped as they reached the door and looked in.

  The walled garden had been turned into a very beautiful open-air room. The guests were seated in rows on either side of a red carpet that had been placed down the centre to create an aisle. Where the carpet ended there was an archway with beautiful flowers laced through it – under which the young couple would take their marriage vows. The four walls of the garden were covered in rambling pastel-coloured roses, which gave off a very sweet scent.

  ‘The fairy godmother was very cross about all the flowers – but Cinderella insisted,’ Tilly said, grinning.

  Along the tops of the walls, small animals had started to gather. Ava saw red squirrels, grey rabbits, white doves, three baby owls with their mother, a robin (even though it was summertime) and some lively fox cubs who were being miaowed at to sit still by a cross mother cat who was there with her four kittens.

  ‘Cinderella has befriended a lot of the animals who live in the palace grounds,’ Tilly explained. ‘And they all want to see her get married. She’s even having a choir of bluebirds perform – they’re just tuning up down in the vegetable garden.’

  ‘Hadn’t you better go and join the bridal party now, Ava?’ Marietta said.

  ‘I’ll take you,’ Tilly offered at once. ‘Dinah is with them and she’ll give you your flower basket.’

  ‘Tell Dinah that I’m looking forward to catching up with her after the wedding,’ Marietta said.

  ‘I’ll tell her,’ Tilly replied. ‘Come on, Ava. But watch out for the fairy godmother! She’s in the garden somewhere too, practising her confetti spell. She wants to make confetti fall out of the sky immediately after the wedding ceremony – but every time she tries it, she makes it pour with rain or start snowing instead!’

  Ava followed her friend across the grass to the palace – thankfully without encountering the fairy godmother – and into a huge light room which had glass doors along one side that opened out on to the palace gardens.

  Inside, Dinah was ordering the excited bridesmaids to stand still as she gave their dresses a final inspection. ‘Oh, there you are, Tilly! And Princess Ava is with you! How lovely!’ She came over to Ava and gave her a kiss on the cheek. ‘You look beautiful, my dear . . .’ she said, adding in a low voice, ‘Now, there’s nothing to worry about. I’ve already told Cinderella that you’re going to be her flower girl, and your flower basket should be arriving at any minute.’

  ‘Where is Cinderella?’ Ava asked eagerly, looking around the bustling room and seeing no sign of the bride.

  ‘She said she needed to get some fresh air,’ Dinah told her.

  ‘I bet I know where she is,’ Tilly said. ‘Come on, Ava.’

  Tilly led Ava through the glass doors out into the garden. ‘There’s a spot on the other side of that bush where Cinderella often goes when she wants to be on her own,’ Tilly told her, pointing at an extremely large bush with big orange flowers growing all over it. ‘Why don’t you see if she’s there now?’

  So Ava left Tilly and headed across the grass, her heart pounding.

  ‘Oh!’ she gasped excitedly, because standing on the other side of the bush, gazing dreamily into the distance, was Cinderella herself, looking just like she had stepped out of a fairytale book.

  The full skirt of her wedding dress was made from several layers of crushed white silk draped over a hooped underskirt. The bodice was also white silk, with dainty little flowers embroidered on to it. On her feet Cinderella wore what looked like her original glass slippers. Her golden hair was piled up high on her head and decorated at the back with tiny white jasmine flowers.

  ‘Excuse me,’ Ava began in a shy whisper, ‘but . . . but . . .’ She found herself unable to speak because her throat had gone so dry.

  Cinderella saw how nervous she was and gave her an encouraging smile. ‘You must be Ava, my flower girl,’ she said sweetly. ‘Your dress is so . . . so . . .’

  ‘Flowery?’ Ava finished for her.

  Cinderella laughed. ‘Yes. But very pretty too.’

  Then Ava found herself gushing, ‘Cinderella, I’ve been wanting to meet you for ages! You’re my favourite of all the fairytale princesses! And you must be so excited about marrying Prince Charming! He’s very handsome, isn’t he?’

  ‘You are very kind,’ Cinderella replied graciously. ‘And yes, I am looking forward to marrying Prince Charming very much. He is the sweetest person I have ever met – even if he does get a little flustered by the antics of my godmother!’ She frowned slightly. ‘But I must confess, Ava, that I am rather anxious about the wedding itself. I only hope I don’t let
everybody down. There will be so many people there looking at me. What if I get so nervous that I can’t speak? Or what if I trip up on my way down the aisle – or do something else silly that will make everyone laugh at me?’

  ‘Cinderella!’ Dinah’s voice called out urgently, making them both jump. ‘It’s nearly time to go!’

  ‘You mustn’t worry,’ Ava reassured her heroine earnestly. ‘You could never do anything that would make people laugh at you. You’re Cinderella!’

  Cinderella sighed. ‘The thing is, Ava, I’m just an ordinary girl really, underneath all these fancy clothes.’

  ‘Cinderella, you will never be ordinary!’ Ava told her firmly.

  And neither will I, Ava thought to herself as she accompanied Cinderella back across the garden to the palace. For now that she had discovered Marietta’s shop, and with it the amazing truth about her dad – and about herself – Ava knew that her life was going to be anything but ordinary from now on!

  Gwyneth Rees is half Welsh and half English and grew up in Scotland. She went to Glasgow University and qualified as a doctor in 1990. She is a child and adolescent psychiatrist but has now stopped practising so that she can write full-time. She is the author of the best-selling Fairies series (Fairy Dust, Fairy Treasure, Fairy Dreams, Fairy Gold, Fairy Rescue, Fairy Secrets), Cosmo and the Magic Sneeze, Cosmo and the Great Witch Escape, Cosmo and the Secret Spell and Mermaid Magic, as well as several books for older readers. She lives in Middlesex with her husband, Robert, their daughter, Eliza, and their two cats, Hattie and Magnus.

  Visit www.gwynethrees.com

  Also by Gwyneth Rees

  Mermaid Magic

  Fairy Dust

  Fairy Treasure

  Fairy Dreams

  Fairy Gold

  Fairy Rescue

  Fairy Secrets

  Cosmo and the Magic Sneeze

  Cosmo and the Great Witch Escape

  Cosmo and the Secret Spell

  The Magical Book of Fairy Fun