Chapter Twenty-Two:

Almost Out of Time

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Harriet knew it wasn't exactly proper, but she also knew today she needed them. So needless to say, Harriet was now the proud wearer of a pair of trousers that she had nicked from Thomas Landon's room the night before. Estella helped her roll up the pant leg, as Harriet was considerably shorter than Thomas, but once she was done both of the girls stood up to admire their work.

They would be perfect. With all the running that Harriet was going to be doing, she needed her legs free to move fast without the hinderance of a dress' skirt.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Harriet asked Estella as they both walked into the hallway at the top of the stairs. Last night had been the night of the last ball, and Estella had made sure that she and her family got back early so that way she could scheme with Harriet. It was made even more important by the fact that Linette had not succeeded in getting the help of anyone.

"Positive," Estella said. "Since I faked a stomach ache last night to get us home earlier, we missed out on the last part of the ball. I'm quite sure Mother will jump at the chance to have both Edina and I be in the public eye, even if it is just for the Prince's Parade."

"So you'll keep her distracted long enough for me to get the attention of the prince?"

"Oh yes, I know just what to do." Harriet frowned slightly at Estella. She could only hope that she actually knew what she was doing. If she didn't, the whole plan could fail. "Wish me luck," Estella whispered as she stepped through the doors of the tea parlor to talk to her mother and sister.

Harriet had half a mind to linger by the door, but she had almost been caught eavesdropping far too many times to want to attempt getting caught when there was so much at stake. Instead, she hurried down to the kitchen to check on James.

While he had woken up a few times in the past day or so, he wasn't exactly lucid. Most of everything he said sounded like complete gibberish, and Harriet was hard pressed to understand a single word he said. When she opened the door, she could see him still lying down by the fire, his whole body tucked under numerous blankets.

Amelia was still sitting with him and looked up when Harriet came into the room.

"Are you waiting for Estella to ask?" Amelia asked, and Harriet nodded. Estella and Harriet had informed Amelia of the plan earlier, and she had no objections, her only worry was that it might not work, but to be fair, that was everyone's worry.

"Yes. I'm still not sure if this is going to work though. Have you talked to Clara today?"

"No," Amelia shook her head, "I know Linette came in earlier and got some food for her." Harriet's face must have shown her surprise because the next thing she knew Amelia was nodding at her. "I thought it was strange too."

"I wonder what her motive is," Harriet said, tapping her chin with one of her fingers, pondering all of the devious plans Linette could be making. Maybe she was planning on poisoning Clara?

"Maybe she was just being nice?" Amelia suggested, her words a stark contrast to Harriet's thoughts. Harriet rolled her eyes at that comment.

"You've been around Clara too much." That was definitely something her older sister would've said. However, Clara wasn't even aware of their plan. Both Estella and Harriet agreed that she wouldn't exactly like the plan, so it would be pointless to tell her.

Harriet was going to make another comment to Amelia, but at that moment, Estella came into the kitchen, a beaming smile on her face.

"It worked! We'll be leaving shortly. Wait a few minutes to follow us. Remember, I'll try to make sure we're by the bakery so that way you can stand outside the bookshop without being in Mother's direct line of sight," Estella said, already walking back out the kitchen door.

Harriet had barely enough time to nod in agreement when the door shut behind Estella, leaving the younger three Corden siblings alone in the kitchen.

"I better go watch by one of the windows so I can see when they leave," Harriet said to Amelia as she grabbed her cloak from where it was hanging. She tied the cloak around her with fumbling fingers as she walked to one of the windows in the sitting room to watch her stepfamily.

They were half-way down the front steps already, and Harriet gave a pained grimace when Estella turned around and gave an obvious wink when she saw Harriet standing in the window. If Linette didn't find out the plan within the first three minutes of the carriage ride, Harriet would be surprised.

Harriet watched as her step-family clambered into their carriage, trying and failing to wait patiently for them to leave. The quicker they left the sooner Harriet could leave, and she needed to get by the bookshop before the prince passed by.

The coachmen took up the reins once her stepfamily was inside and immediately the carriage began to move, putting the first parts of Estella and Harriet's plan into motion. Harriet waited for the carriage to turn around the bend before dashing back into the kitchen.

"They've left. Hopefully, I'll be back within the hour," she shouted as she ran past Amelia and out the kitchen's door to the garden before she even got a response. As soon as her weathered shoes hit the grass, Harriet started to run.

She kept to the sides of the road, making sure to stay close to the bushes. Her trouser covered legs were moving at a much faster rate than she would've been able to run if she was wearing a dress, and Harriet was very thankful for them. Even if they would get her some strange looks.

Harriet barely noticed as she darted past walking people, and she didn't stop when she almost knocked over a street merchant once she reached the village center.

The number of people already lining the streets was imposing, to say the least. Harriet's breakneck pace had to be slowed or she would've caused more than a little damage to herself as well as everyone around her.

Due to her height, she was at the elbow of most of the village population. This made it rather difficult as she tried to make her way to the bookstore. Harriet had to keep ducking and jumping out of the way of the movements of the adults, and she was moving slower than a snail's pace towards the front of the bookshop.

She could already hear the sound of trumpets, hooves, and cheering, signaling the arrival of the prince and his procession into the village. Harriet tried to move faster, as she had to get to the bookshop before they did.

The bookshop was the only place in town where there wasn't an alternative route to get to the road behind it. If you wanted to go through the village and then onto the next, you had to go past the bookstore.

This was why Harriet and Estella thought that this was the best choice. Unfortunately, everyone else had seemed to have the same idea. The amount of people milling around the front of the bookstore was more than the amount in front of any of the other shops.

Harriet was almost knocked over several times, and all the while the sound of the procession got closer and closer. However, as Harriet got more frantic as did the crowd. The excitement was palpable, and the movements of the crowd had become similar to that of a giant wave. If she didn't get out of the way she would get swept up into it.

Harriet couldn't get out of the way though, she had to go through it. She was in front of the bakery when she got sight of a hideous yellow gown directly in front of her, a green one in a similar style right by it. Harriet stopped instantly, looking around frantically for a way to get around the owners of said gowns, but there was no way she could go past them without them noticing. She had to walk right past her stepfamily.

Her mind worked at a mile a minute, trying to think of what to do, as her ears registered the sounds of the coming procession. She tried to come up with an idea when suddenly a memory popped into her head, a very specific memory.

After the night of the dinner party, Harriet and Amelia, though Harriet had dragged Amelia along, had played numerous pranks on their stepmother. One of the most noticeable ones was how they'd convinced her that there was a large community of rats around the house. They had even pretended to jump and screeched in high-pitched voices to convince her. Somehow, she'd believed it.

Harriet looked at the size of the crowd and decided what she would do. Rats certainly wouldn't be too upsetting for most of these people but, she knew for sure something else would. Pointing towards a teenage boy who, to his misfortune, was trying to get away rather hurriedly, Harriet took in a deep breath.

"Stop that boy! He took my jewels! He took my pocket money!"

The impact of the words was instantaneous, and every single person turned on the boy, including Harriet's stepfamily. As their attention was elsewhere, she slipped past unnoticed, hurrying in the space left by the crowd of people who were after the boy. She felt bad of course, but she was certain she could explain later if she got the prince to help her.

Finally, she was in front of the bookstore, and she elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. The procession was still a ways off, much to her relief, and so she waited, doing her best to not be pushed over by the other people.

Her first thought upon seeing the prince was that he was a walking cliche or rather riding cliche. He was dressed in maroon finery, had a crown atop his wavy-haired head, and was riding a white horse. Harriet wouldn't be surprised if he got his outfit ideas from children's fairytales, the only things that could've made it even more similar was if he had blue eyes, shining gold locks, or dark as midnight hair.

Thankfully, he did not. Instead, he had a rather dull brown and if Clara's words were right, he had grayish green eyes. But yet, she could see her sister with him. Despite the height difference, they seemed quite well-suited.

Once the prince was in hearing range, Harriet abandoned her thoughts and started to shout.

"Prince Frederick! Prince Frederick, over here!" There was a small problem though. Every single person in the entire population was screaming that. Her voice was lost in the sea of voices, and she doubted the volume of hers could even reach the volume of the hysterical girls that had risen to the front of the crowd as soon as a glimpse of the prince came into view.

Harriet's heart was in her stomach.If this didn't work, she didn't know what she would do.

Harriet continued to shout, and finally, the prince looked her way but his gaze merely slid over and away from her. She was a thirteen-year-old girl. There was nothing special about her, at least not in the eyes of royalty, and so his gaze slipped away onto the next portion of the crowd.

Harriet considered running into the road and trying to stop him, but there were men holding the crowd back, no doubt trying to keep the crazy fangirls away from the prince. Harriet was panicking, her heart was pounding, and she could hear the sound of her own blood rushing in her ears. She had to do something!

Already, he had moved to be at least two meters away, and Harriet's stomach felt sick as she watched her brother's chance of survival just ride past her. She thought desperately of what she could say, of what she could do. Suddenly she got it, and not a second later, the words left her mouth, shouted in the loudest voice she could possibly muster, louder than any of the girls around her.

"GUS!" As soon as the words left her lips, the parade stopped, and Harriet had to agree with Clara. The prince's eyes were most certainly a mossy green.

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Sorry guys! A bit of a shorter chapter, and the next will be very much the same.

So what do you think will happen next? Will Linette see what is going on and try to stop it? Will she try to use it to her advantage? Will Frederick understand that Harriet is Clara's sister, despite the fact that Clara never really mentioned her?

The song is called "Forward to Time Past," written by John William and it is from the soundtrack of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.