Roses and Black Glass: A Dark Cinderella Tale

Epilogue

1

In the name of God, Amen.

I, Anthony Charming of Greenhaven in the State of Virginia, being of sound and disposing mind, memory, and understanding and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs, thereby to be the better prepared to leave this world when it shall please God to call me hence, do therefore make and publish this, my last will and testament, in manner and form following, that is to say:

First and principal, I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God and my body to the earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my executors. My debts and funeral charges are paid and I devise and bequeath as follows, that is to say:

I will and devise to my wife, Samantha Charming, for and during the term of her natural life or widowhood only, whichever shall first terminate, my dwelling house, with the garden and the poultry house, and the rooms in said dwelling occupied by family at the time of my death. I leave my wife all of my worldly riches and possessions which dwelt with me on earth.

In the unlikely event that my loving wife shall die before me, I will offer this selection: If my wife is not able to become the sole taker of my possessions, I implore that my possessions by divided amongst my five children: Anthony William Charming II, Theodore James Charming, Winston Bartholomew Charming, Joshua Andrew Charming, and Christian Elliot Charming. Should any of these children die before me, I would have everything be divided between the remaining of my sons.

In the event that there are some of my sons left that are not married and have not received their inheritance, my riches shall be divided amongst them. If I shall die before my youngest son is grown, for I am getting on in age, if the son is not married at the time of my death and has not received his inheritance, I leave everything I possess to my youngest son, Christian Elliot Charming. May he use the wealth in a manner that would please God and man…

2

Three years later…

Cindy stared up at the sky through the window. Her life was remade in a town called Providence and her happiness rode steadily with the passing days. It rarely crossed her mind of what life would have been like had she not trusted Amanda – or Cassandra, rather – or if she would never have gotten Christian’s help. Her life was different now; she had not the time to worry about the past.

The years had been good to her. The day that Christian had told the driver to stop the carriage, the wheel had flown off its place, but not before the carriage was appropriately under control. They and the driver had all walked through the woods to get back into town. When they got there, they had found that Christian’s parents had been tramped by an oncoming carriage – both left dead in the street. Isabella had thrown herself to her death from the belfry tower. The prophecy was done. After these events, Christian found that he was the sole possessor of everything that was his father’s. It was quite confusing at first, to how it had all happened, but perhaps it was destiny – part of the promise.

Christian had married Cindy the very day that they had arrived in Providence. He left the family house to his brothers and left, never to return. He and Cindy had lived their last three years in this new town as rich citizens. They had bought a lovely house on a hill above the town and made the place their own.

Cindy had given birth to a lovely little girl, who they named Amanda Margarette. The child was a little over a year and a half, but already she had quite a personality about her. Cindy smiled at the thought. Her life was finally whole.

“Would you give me a hand, Cindy?” came Christian’s voice into the room as he entered, dragging the body of Desmond Mitchell.

“You’re supposed to be the strong man,” she reminded him, but came over to help him lift the corpse besides.

Christian glanced down at the wrapped body on the table and then back up to his wife whose long hair was tied back in a tight bun.

“You know, you never really told me exactly how damn smelly these corpses can be,” he said, though he had been doing this for two years now.

“You were the curious one, Mr. Surgeon.”

“I suppose,” he said, pulling on his gloves and picking up his scalpel.

He lowered the blade to cut into the flesh, but stopped abruptly in thought.

“It’s strange,” he said. “It’s strange that it takes opening a mortuary to make us happy. Perhaps we’re a bit too morbid.”

“No,” she said. “Only interested in all that is morbid.”

He smiled and kissed her lips over the corpse. Then he began to go to work, preparing the dead man for the grave. It took only a few years to realize that what it truly was that he wanted was something he never dreamed he’d find. This girl was his life and he never regretted what he had to do to get her.

3

The wind blew gently through the field behind the house, playing with the small girl’s hair. The child’s laughter filled the area and made the sun smile. The girl smiled as gentle breath blew the fuzz from a dandelion, filling the air with downy white fluff. The small child grasped a few of the red wine-colored strands of hair blowing in the wind. The woman’s faintly colored lips smiled at the child with motherly warmth.

“Did you know you were named after me, Amanda Margarette?” she asked the small girl. “It’s true, even though my name is Cassandra. You may not be able to say that yet, but you can just call me Aunt Cass.”

“Ca!” the little girl said gleefully.

The woman’s laughter was full of affection.

“That will also work,” she said. “Did you also know that you are a very special little girl? You were born of real love. Not may can say such a thing.”

The small girl with dark hair continued to grab at the woman’s long tresses.

“And it seems we will be spending lots of time together, you and I” the woman continued. “Your mother wants me to teach you a few things…”

Cassandra plucked a flower from the ground and made it levitate to the girl’s grasping hand.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” she asked. “There are so many things I can teach you. And I want you to know something now: I will always be here for you. No matter what happens I will be here beside you. I am your Godmother now, and I will do anything it takes to keep you happy… I promise.”

The End