Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales Paperback(112)

in the Forest, it can take you a day, or a week, or the rest of your life.

But the Lady had said she expected him in three days, so he thought he would reach the Castle by the end of the day at the latest.

? 340 ?

? Theodora Goss ?

Before he left, his father had looked again in the purse that the

Lady had given him. In it was a pile of gold coins—as the miller

had expected, for that is the way fairy money works. “I will keep this for you,” his father had said. “When you come back, you will be old enough to marry, and with such a fortune, any of the local girls will take you. I do not know what you will do as the Lady’s apprentice, but I hope you will come back fit to run a mill.”

Ivan had simply nodded, slung his satchel over his shoulder, and

gone.

Just as he was wondering if he would indeed find the castle that

day, for the sun was beginning to set, he saw it through the trees, its turrets rising above a high stone wall.

He went up to the wall and knocked at the wooden door that was

the only way in. It opened, seemingly by itself. In the doorway stood a white cat.

“Are you the Idiot?” she asked.

“I suppose so,” he said, speaking for the first time in three days.

“That’s what I thought,” she said. “You certainly look the part.

Well, come in then, and follow me.”

He followed her through the doorway and along a path that

led through the castle gardens. He had never seen such gardens,

although in school his teacher had once described the gardens that

surrounded the King’s castle, which she had visited on holiday. There were fountains set in green lawns, with stone fish spouting water.

There were box hedges, and topiaries carved into the shapes of birds, rabbits, mice. There were pools filled with water lilies, in which he could see real fish, silver and orange. There were arched trellises from which roses hung down in profusion, and an orchard with fruit

trees. He could even see a kitchen garden, with vegetables in neat

rows. And all through the gardens, he could see cats, pruning the

hedges, tying back the roses, raking the earth in the flowerbeds.

It was the strangest sight he had ever seen, and for the first time it occurred to him that being the Lady’s apprentice would be an

adventure—the first of his life.

? 341 ?

? Blanchefleur ?

The path took them to the door of the castle, which swung open

as they approached. An orange tabby walked out and stood waiting

at the top of the steps.

“Hello, Marmalade,” said the white cat.

“Good evening, Miss Blanchefleur,” he replied. “Is this the young

man her Ladyship is expecting?”

“As far as I can tell,” she said. “Although what my mother would

want with such an unprepossessing specimen, I don’t know.”

Marmalade bowed to Ivan and said, “Welcome, Ivan Miller. Her

Ladyship is waiting in the solar.”

Ivan expected the white cat, whose name seemed to be Blanchefleur,

to leave him with Marmalade. Instead, she accompanied them, following Ivan through the doorway, then through a great hall whose

walls were hung with tapestries showing cats sitting in gardens,

climbing trees, hunting rabbits, catching fish. Here too there were cats, setting out bowls on two long wooden tables, and on a shorter table set on a dais at the end of the room. As Marmalade passed,

they nodded, and a gray cat who seemed to be directing their activities said, “We’re almost ready, Mr. Marmalade. The birds are nicely roasted, and the mint sauce is really a treat if I say so myself.”

“Excellent, Mrs. Pebbles. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking

forward to those birds. Tailcatcher said that he caught them himself.”

“Well, with a little help!” said Mrs. Pebbles, acerbically. “He doesn’t go on the hunt alone, does he now, Mr. Marmalade? Oh, begging your pardon, Miss,” she said when she saw Blanchefleur. “I didn’t

know you were there.”

“I couldn’t care less what you say about him,” said Blanchefleur,

with a sniff and a twitch of her tail. “He’s nothing to me.”

“As you say, Miss,” said Mrs. Pebbles, not sounding particularly

convinced.

At the back of the great hall was another, smaller door that led