Ivy and Daffyd

Seeing Alexa rushing out of the carriage house in an obvious state of excitement, filled Ivy with a sense of foreboding. Why had she been in the carriage house? More concernedly how did she know about Daffyd?

She was glad she had decided to keep the tiny youth with her, though her decision was more out of concern for what Ella might do rather than Alexa. Ella would just want to play and might inadvertently hurt him, or eat him, while Alexa was a different matter altogether. She didn’t trust her step sister one bit.

Checking to make sure Alexa had returned to the house proper, Ivy removed Daffyd from within the security of her bodice and set him atop a cloth covered box near the ladder leading to the loft.

Going from the warmth of contact from her flesh to the cool night air puckered Daffyd’s skin, “She said my name,” he stated, wrapping his arms around himself.

Ivy frowned and nodded, “I don’t know how she could know, it like she was testing me

Stepping up onto the second rung of the ladder, Ivy pulled herself up with one arm and then lifted the lantern up with the other to the level of the landing and pushed it onto it before ascending the ladder herself and climbing up into the loft.

Crouching low, she looked at the disturbances in the dust, noting a very distinct tiny set of human like footprints.

“There are a set of tiny footprints in the dust up here,” she commented over her shoulder before, following the path back to the mirror with her eyes. “Did you come through the mirror and walk up here?” she asked, looking back again.

He shook his head and shrugged, “Ella was carrying me. I don’t remember any of this, I woke up in her lair inside the fireplace,” he replied.

“Then perchance someone else has followed you through,” she surmised, sitting back, hands on her thighs.

“Through a mirror?” he asked.

“It is said in folk tales that some looking glasses possess great magic, allowing someone to see other places faraway. This looks very old and might be one of those things?” she replied, reaching out and taking the mirror by its ornate handle. Looking into the frosted reflection, she saw only her own reflection.

Using her free hand, she swept it across the floor, obscuring the evidence of passage from whomever had left the tiny prints before putting the handle of the mirror between her pearly white teeth and descending back down the ladder, gathering the lantern, before making her final step.

Setting the lantern down near Daffyd, she removed the mirror from her mouth and showed it to him.

“It does look as if it belongs to an earlier time,” he agreed, examining his own reflection.

“What do you see,” she inquired.

“Just myself, tiny and scrawny. Do I really look like that?” he asked, turning his head to look up at her.

She nodded, “Tis a fair approximation,” she said. “You could use some meat on those little bones.”

“You should take this back up to your room. If it is some magical device, we want it to fall into your stepsister’s hands,” he suggested.

Ivy nodded before glancing back toward the door, “We should get back before Alexa makes more mischief,” she said.

Daffyd nodded, raising his arm so she could scoop him up in here hand. Placing him back into her cleavage, positioning him so as to be able to breathe, she then stashed the handheld mirror in amongst the fold of her clothing, checking it to make sure it was concealed it from view lest her stepmother or stepsister see her. Satisfied, she grabbed hold of the lantern and made her way back into the house.

Moving toward the staircase, she was halted by the summoning voice of her stepmother.

“In here child,” commanded the older woman, seated upon an elegant divan as Ivy hustled into the room, head bowed. “Whence were you?” she inquired.

“In the carriage house, checking to see if Ella had caused some nuisance,” she answered, tone respectful.

“And?”

“While there was some lesser disturbance in the dust there, I did not see any damage to speak of,” she replied.

“To speak of, what do you mean child?” demanded the woman.

“That I did not see any damage that was obvious to my eyes, I apologize for my choice of words if they were misleading or failed to convey my meaning,” Ivy offered.

The proper woman nodded, “Be mindful of the words you speak lest they be misconstrued,” she advised.

“Yes stepmother,” Ivy replied.

“If there is an accumulation of dust in the carriage house, make time in your chores tomorrow to see it properly cleaned,” she instructed.

“I will attend to it as you say,” Ivy offered. She knew better than to suggest Alexa assist in the task.

“Do a good job of it,” warned the seated woman. “I will check upon the condition of it myself,” she added as a caution.

Ivy bobbed her head, a few loose strands of her blonde hair bouncing.

“I am returning to the city tomorrow, make certain to lay out my green dress, the dark one with the beads. You know the one of which I speak?” she queried.

“Yes, with the fancy ornamentation around the neck,” Ivy answered.

“That’s the one. Now you may go about your business,” her stepmother said, waving a hand in the girl’s direction, dismissing her.

Curtsying politely as an acknowledgement of the directive, Ivy turned and started back across the open floor toward the stairs.

“You would be wise to make a more concerted effort to get along with Alexa. It is unwise to antagonize her seeing as you may one day be in her employ,” instructed the older woman, voice stern.

Pausing at the foot of the broad and intricately carved staircase leading up to the second floor, “Yes stepmother,” Ivy replied, ascending the polish wooden stairs, expression placid despite the ire burning in her heart.

Setting out the specified clothing, she retired to her room.