The door to the chateau closed, trapping Ella inside and blocking out the late afternoon sun. Around her lay the remains of her dress, or at least the parts they had been able to pry loose. The loose threads from the torn hem tickled the backs of her legs. Ruined dreams surrounded her like popped soap bubbles.

Both sleeves had been ripped from above the seams. Ella would have been impressed at the precision if it hadn't been a stab to the heart. She'd expected it from Drizella, but seeing Anni's face contorted into a sneer took her by surprise.

The dress was still intact in the most basic sense of the word. The bodice and underskirt were in one piece. Aside from a run on the back of the underskirt, she could get away with pretending the vicious attack hadn't happened. "I can fix it, I can..." her voice trembled as much as her steps up the stairs.

Somewhere in this house there must be enough fabric scraps to cobble together a new dress. A better dress. Ella was three steps up the stairs when she sank to her knees. It was too late. The carriage was gone and no matter how clever she was with a needle and thread she couldn't make a dress out of nothing. She pressed a hand to her mouth to muffle the awful hiccupping sobs that tore through her.

The last time she had cried like this was when her father died. They'd left her crying in the front hall on the steps almost exactly where she sat now. At ten years old she'd felt her entire world crash down around her ears and the only people who could have reached a kind hand to her had walked away. Tonight, they'd stepped into a carriage in all their finery and left again.

One day she wouldn't feel the pain and abandonment so strongly. One day she would be strong enough to pick herself up off the floor and walk away. All she had in her now was the energy to lay her head on the step above where she sat and close her eyes. "I just wish I could have one night, one night where I wasn't this," she whispered.

The step was cold under her cheek but the hand on her shoulder was warm. Ella turned her head towards the person standing over her. "Annie? Why are you in my room? You know your mother will be..." she trailed off as the events of the night caught up with her. She wasn't in her room, her family was at the ball, she was alone. Except there was a hand on her arm.

"You have to get up now, dear. We have work to do," the woman said. Her voice was gravely but warm. The satin sleeve that hung from her arm was cool against Ella's bare shoulder.

"If you're here to rob us you'll be quite disappointed. We have nothing worth taking," Ella told her. The right side of her body was on pins and needles as she began to move around. How long had she been on the stairs? Outside the sun had fully set. There was still time to pack her bags and leave for good. If she took the cart she could even bundle up the geese and chickens to take with her. They'd die without her to tend to them every day.

The elderly woman laughed and hauled Ella to her feet with a surprising amount of strength. "I am not here to rob you, darling girl. I am here to help you. You can't go to the ball in this state." Her wrinkled face was all smiles that reached deep into her eyes.

Ella made a noise halfway between a laugh and a sob. "I'm not going to any ball. Just look at me," she snapped. Her hand waved to the torn dress. Even her delicate slippers had been dug into, the small bows that had decorated the toes were across the room. Her scalp was tender from the brutal way their fingers had pulled the pins free. Angry red scratches decorated her neck where they'd pried free the length of pearls her mother had passed down to her.

"Oh now such things are but a bump in the road, believe you me. Come along now," she prompted for Ella to follow her out the door into the back gardens. "We'll deal with your dress in a moment. First, we'll need a carriage, don't you think?" She reached into the night air and produced a thin white stick. It glowed like a tangible moonbeam trapped on earth.

With a little wave, the entire garden lit up with the same ethereal light. It danced over the winter vegetables Ella had desperately cajoled into being. Motes of light clung to the vines that twined over the fences. Finally, they converged on a single wart covered pumpkin and the gentle moonlight flashed like the sun.

In moments, the pumpkin became massive. The faded orange became silver, a door appeared and wheels sprang up to lift it high off the ground. Glittering silver filigree swooped around the carriage like delicate spiderwebs.

Ella's jaw dropped. As she watched, the magic flew into the barn like an otherworldly fire. Honks and clucks filled the air as the alarmed animals came running out. One by one their forms stretched and morphed into horses and two humans. They stumbled around the yard as they adjusted to their new forms.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" The older woman was approaching Ella with the wand raised. "What else would you expect from a fairy Godmother?"

"You..." Ella was at a loss for words. Her mouth flopped like a dead fish until the woman reached out and gently pushed her chin up. "All of this, for me. I don't understand."

"When someone has kindness in their heart, good will come their way, somehow," she said softly. The wand tip glowed the brightest it had yet and the magic erupted like a firework to surround Ella.

The shredded fabric began to knit together and then it lengthened. Her modest rose pink dress became a gown of pale blue cotton and silk. Her mother's pearls rode a string of glowing silver to decorate the new bodice. Each one glowed like it had been filled with its own miniature moon. Her honey blonde hair twined around itself as if the most delicate hands were shaping it into a chignon encircled by two thin braids.

Ella stumbled when her feet were suddenly contorted to fit the glass slippers that appeared on her feet. A pearl was nestled on the top of each one, shining as brightly as those on her dress. "This... this is beautiful," she whispered. Tears threatened to spill over. "Thank you so much."

"You are most welcome. Come along now, we have to get you to the ball," Godmother said. She ushered Ella to the carriage waiting along the road and helped her in. "Take this, you must not let your family know you are there." She handed Ella a blue mask decorated with small pieces of ocean glass. A delicate butterfly wing arched back from the left eye back towards her ear.

"My family," Ella said softly. The mask fit comfortably on her face as if made just for her. She supposed it had been. "What is going to happen to them?"

Godmother busied herself fixing Ella's dress. "Just as goodness is rewarded, so is wickedness punished."

"Yes, but what is going to happen to them? For all of the pain they have caused me through my life I expect they'll be punished quite harshly. Correct?" Ella gripped her fairy Godmother's hand to keep the woman's attention on her.

"You shouldn't worry yourself with that, you have a ball to attend." She brushed Ella's hand off and stepped back. "Now this is very important. You must be back before the clock strikes midnight. When the final bell sounds, the spell will be broken and everything will return to what it was."

That gave Ella pause. All of this power and she couldn't make anything permanent? There wasn't even anything she could guarantee when it came to righting the wrongs put forth by her family. "Midnight?" Ella asked.

"Midnight," her Godmother confirmed. "Now off you go, child."

The carriage jerked forward as the geese and ducks adjusted to their new equestrian bodies. They hurtled down the road towards the shimmering palace. Dozens of other carriages were lining up to let their passengers disembark. Ella's heart skipped beats in time with the music pouring out of the front doors. As the daughter to a Marquis, she should have been comfortable attending such events. Her stepmother had intervened before that had ever been possible.

No one would know who she was but this would be her introduction to high society. Dozens of women would be there vying for the prince's hand in marriage. She would be lucky to be asked for a second dance after her first partner ran away screaming over his broken toes.

A smile curved her lips upwards. She already had a dance partner waiting. Ricky had promised to find her. Could he find her even with the mask? The doors opened to admit her. She hoped he would find her.