Page 30 of Dreams Come True at the Fairytale Museu
Whenever I’m in this basement alone, I often feel my heart in my throat, but this time, it’s not because I think a ghost might be about to pop out at me, but because of how earnest he sounds. I thought the wish-granting aspect would meet his immediate disapproval, but he seems surprisingly accepting of it.
He shakes his head and gathers up the remaining wishes in one swoop and holds them out to me. ‘How do we do this?’
‘There’s a shopkeeper meeting on Friday, I’ll take them with me and we usually divide them up between us so everyone takes a few and gathers what we need, and then we get together to package everything up and get it ready for sending off.’
‘Can I help?’
‘You want to?’ I reach out to pull him up, and even though he doesn’t need my assistance, he slips his fingers around mine and lets me tug him to his feet, and that simple act of accepting the tiniest bit of help feels like a metaphor.
‘Yes, I do.’
For as often as I think he’s hiding something, in that simple answer, he isn’t. ‘I’d like that.’
‘I’dlovethat.’ He realises he hasn’t let go of my hand yet and yanks his fingers away quickly. ‘Now, can we get out of here before we get attacked? I might not believe in ghosts, but I’m pretty sure I can hear spiders salivating in those darkened corners.’
I laugh as I herd him towards the door. ‘No, no. We don’t mention the spiders. If we don’t acknowledge their presence, they can’t see us. I don’t need any more reasons to beg Mickey to come down here with me.’
‘I knew it!’ His laugh fills the corridor with warmth as we walk back towards the Princess Suite, and it’s yet another day that ends with me feeling like his presence isn’t altogether a bad thing. He’s the first person in a long while who makes me feelseen, and he’s the also the last person I ever imagined could do that.
11
Mysterious happenings are afoot on Ever After Street! Just days after Cinderella’s glass slippers went to a ball all by themselves, Imogen from Sleeping Beauty’s Once Upon A Dream is being taunted by a vengeful spinning wheel, 1001 Nights has got a new chef, and the pumpkin carriage has escaped the museum and gone to admire its reflection in the river… Just what is going on here? Leave your answers in the comments section!
I stare at the Ever After Street social media in surprise. Usually, I only check it once a day, but the marked increase in notifications this morning made me wonder if something was happening, and sure enough, the shared account that every shopkeeper has access to has posted a selection of photographs of my escaped exhibits.
There’s a picture of the glass slippers, all alone in the castle ballroom, a photo of Ali posing with the model of Remy wearing a matching chef’s hat, several photos of the spinning wheel – outside Imogen’s front door, outside her back door, hiding in the bushes at the side of her shop, and one of it in her office – and a few arty photos of the pumpkin carriage beside the river too.
These pictures were taken before they called us, they had to have been. Something is going on here. And I have a sudden deep suspicion that my fellow shopkeepers are up to their necks in it.
‘This is very interesting…’ Warren comes downstairs from the office, Tablet of Gloom in hand and the usual water bottle hanging from a finger. ‘Ali’s doing a thumbs up with Remy. He’s hardly got the angry “get your rat out of my kitchen right this second” attitude that he had when I saw him, has he?’
‘And someone’s taken these photos all around Imogen’s shop andinher office. Not exactly the petrified “take an umbrella to fight it off” attitude that she had when I got there either…’
‘Intriguing…’ He goes to stroke his stubbled chin but stops short when he looks around. ‘There are people.’
‘There are,’ I confirm. It’s not a huge increase, but this morning has been slightly busier than other mornings lately, which is always a nice boost.
‘Have you read the comments?’ His fingers flick across his tablet screen.
I shake my head and quickly navigate there on my phone as well, and can’t hide the gasp at the ever-increasing number.
Aww, pumpkin carriages need love too!
The glass slippers in the ballroom by themselves are a metaphor for modern life!
BRB, going to 1001 Nights for a dish cooked by Remy now!
That spinning wheel is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen! How have they managed to make an inanimate object look so menacing?
Never bothered with going in the museum before, but we will next time we come! It looks excellent!
‘I didn’t even know we hadthatmany followers who engage with our posts. Social media feels like shouting into the abyss most days, we only usually get “likes” from bots or advertisers.’
‘This is brilliant. It’s capturedmyimagination, I can see why other people are interested too. I didn’t even think about putting it on social media…’ He trails off and his blue eyes find mine again. ‘However,someonedid, and this provides quite a clue. My money is on your friend who seemingly has free run of this place… andyoureally didn’t know about this? This hasn’t been your plan all along?’
‘IwishI was clever enough to come up with this, but I’m not that good at marketing. Can you cover at lunchtime? I’ll go and find out if Mickey knows anything.’
He takes a drink from his water bottle. ‘I can guarantee that she will.’
