Sadie, Enchanted

Chapter Twelve

Things seemed to be back to normal when the two woke up that morning. Sadie had tripped and fallen into a thorn bush and Noah had laughed. In return, Sadie kicked him in the shins.

"That was completely unnecessary and uncalled for." Noah grumbled as he moved uncomfortably through the woods, wincing as the pain still hadn't gone away. To make matters worse, the spot where the branch had cut him last night had turned into a bruise under his eye and was sore.

"Think of it as training. You laugh at someone else's misfortune, I get to cause you pain. I'm helping you become a better person," Sadie said calmly, pushing through the brush, her arms still stinging and a little scratchy from the thorn bush.

She could practically feel Noah roll his eyes. "Well in that case, thank you. So much." He said sarcastically.

"Anytime." Sadie chirped and pushed on, leaving him muttering to himself.

They made it to the town quickly, both aware of the enormous job they had ahead of them. The ball was that night, and all they had was a dress.

"Okay, so we need a mode of transportation, a hairdresser, and most importantly, glass slippers. We need to move fast because we still need to inform Cinderella of this plan and then convince her to go to the ball." Sadie announced, placing her hands on her hips. Noah was busy brushing his teeth with her toothpaste and his finger, but he grunted in agreement.

"I'll worry about the shoes this time," Sadie said. "You need to keep a low-profile today, what with those guards looking for you. Why don't you go back through the woods towards Cinderella's house and look for a way to get to the ball." She suggested.

"Fine," Noah said, saluting. Sadie nodded and turned and dashed off without another word. "Meet back here at noon!" Noah called after her. She waved her arm behind her in response.

Sadie felt like she searched for hours for those glass slippers, but they were nowhere to be found. When she asked about the pair that had almost been stolen by Noah, she was informed that they had been recently sold. Defeated, Sadie trudged back to the center of town.

She approached the fountain and dipped her hand in the water to splash it on her face. The coolness felt good and she was about to do it again when she noticed a middle-aged lady sitting on a bench, braiding a young girl's hair in front of her. The braids looked intricate and complex--in an up do, Sadie was sure they would look very elegant.

Hurrying over, she slowed down when the lady looked up and caught her eye. "Hi," Sadie began. "Um, I was just admiring her hair," she explained, pointing to the girl.

The young girl smiled and giggled and the middle-aged woman's eyes sparkled. "Thank you," she said kindly. "I learned this recently and thought I would try it out."

Sadie smiled at her warm voice. "Well, if you'd like to continue to try it out, I have a job opportunity for you." She explained. The woman looked confused, so she continued. "You see, I have this friend who really wants to go to the ball," Sadie began. Ella hadn't actually ever expressed interest in going to the ball, but Sadie didn't think a white lie would hurt. "but she has this awful stepmother, and these terrible sisters, and they won't let her go tonight. They're making her stay home and clean." Sadie explained, now just reciting the story.

"Oh dear," the woman sympathized.

Sadie nodded. "Yeah, so, my, uh, friend and I are trying to figure out a way for her to get to the ball. We have a dress all picked out, and we'll have these beautiful shoes, and a carriage ride-but I don't have any practice fixing hair, and I want her to feel special tonight." Sadie said, trying to seem as sad as possible, and as if she had known Ella for more than three days. Sadie took a breath. "But then I saw you over here, fixing these amazing braids, and, well, I guess what I'm asking is, would you be willing to help my friend with her hair?" Sadie finished, pretending to sound timid.