Porcelain Princess (25 page)

*

He pushed on the
lever, let out the stop; and the steam wagon grumpily chugged into
life.

All his puppets
were safely stored in the back, out of view of everyone. Not that
anyone was giving him and his wagon even a second glance today. As
he carefully made his way around the edges of the huge crowd that
had gathered in the square, all eyes were on the palace’s balcony.
They gasped, sighed and cheered as he slowly made his way towards
one of the snaking streets that would take him out of
town.

There was no
need to stay here any longer. The Illuminator had already fulfilled
his side of the bargain; in fact, it had turned out, he had
fulfilled it months ago, as he had already illustrated and
published their story. It had already been read by thousands of
people, and was probably being read at this very moment too. It
meant that, like his wife, he would gradually succumb to the
Fading. But more importantly, it ensured that in the imaginations
of so many, many readers, their daughter was truly a living,
breathing girl.

The crowd
cheered ecstatically as, high up on her balcony, where she had
appeared for the very first time only moments ago, the Princess
gave a last few, final waves.

‘
Oh,
she’s just
so
beautiful, don’t you think father?’ his
daughter sighed as, seated alongside him, she leant over slightly
in her seat to get a better view.

‘
Very
beautiful,’ her father grinned, his eyes on his
daughter rather than on the Princess.

As the Princess
left the balcony and moved back into her rooms, his daughter at
last sat up properly in her seat.

‘
Do
you think that, one day,’ she asked, ‘people will tell fabulous
stories about her?’

‘
Of
course
they will,’ her Father replied, giving her a loving
hug. ‘Just as, one day, I’m sure they’ll be telling
wonderful
stories about you too, Carey!’

*

Carey sat bolt
upright in her chair, clutching at her heart as if to check that it
was still beating, that it wasn’t just an area warmed by a
spirit-fuelled flame.

‘
I’m…I’m
not
a
puppet
!’ she exclaimed, angry and
bewildered.

‘
Of
course
you’re not a puppet, Carey!’

The Illuminator
was standing quite close, having finished his work. Stepping
closer, he affectionately and reassuringly placed his hands on her
shoulders.

‘
He
really was your father; and your mother was really your mother, for
she gave birth to you, and your father gave life to you. Just as
much as any father and mother give birth and life to their
child.’

‘
The Porcelain Child
! Then she…she really was
my
mother?’

She grimaced in
anguish as she recalled the innumerable times that she had touched
and felt the presence of that beautiful, wonderful woman portrayed
in the illustrations; and she had never, ever realised that this
woman was her
mother
.

‘
No!’
She furiously leapt from her chair, sending it spinning and falling
behind her. ‘This isn’t
natural
!
I’m
not
natural!’

Her body almost
froze with horror at the realisation, her face crumpling in
distress, the tears welling up in her eyes, falling down her
cheeks.

The Illuminator
took her in his arms, holding her close, holding her
tenderly.

‘
It’s
hard to understand just yet,’ he admitted sympathetically. ‘But in
those very first days of a child’s creation in the womb, when it’s
the very smallest and most malleable collection of cells, what do
you think is really giving it the will to take form? Haven’t I
already explained that? You were simply helped to take form in a
material hardly less malleable, brought into being as you flowed
into life through the incredible love of your mother and father.
And now that everyone has read the new story of the achievements of
you and your friends, how can they fail to see that you deserve to
live at last like a real girl?’

Carey pulled
back slightly, more confused than ever.

‘
But…but I’ve always thought of myself as
being
a real
girl?’

‘
And
you are, you are! But everyone who’s read
The Porcelain
Child
and
The Porcelain Room
still see you as a girl of
fourteen
, Carey!’

‘
Well
yes, of course, I…I…’

She was trying
to work out in her bewildered mind what the Illuminator could be
hinting at.

‘
But
the Princess?’ she said uncertainly. ‘She’s almost a
hundred
years old?’

The Illuminator
nodded in a way that implied he not only agreed but also wanted her
to keep putting further pieces of the puzzle together.

‘
But
she was created as a copy of
me
, which means…’

‘
Which means, Carey, that we need to show everyone how you’ve
grown and matured
inside
. I know they want everything to
turn out well for you and your friends. We had to let them know
it’s now time for them to help and let you
really
grow.’

The great door
swung partially open. The Princess slipped in through the gap. The
door opened wider, allowing a few wildly grinning young men and
women to step through, most of whom looked strangely familiar to
Carey. Behind them all, after he let go of the door, came a
similarly wildly grinning Grudo.

And immediately,
Carey recognised the rest of her friends. She rushed towards them
all, unsure who to hug and hold first, calling out their names in
surprise and delight.

‘
Neris! Peregun! Durndrin! You’re
really
alive!’

Now they were
humans, they were all taller, all younger than they had been, being
around eighteen or twenty. They hugged her back, a look of happy
surprise still etched on all their faces.

‘
And
you
,’ Neris said mysteriously, fondly stroking Carey’s face,
‘
you
look so
wonderful
!’

‘
Grudo!’

He, at least,
wasn’t
taller than he had been. But he was now much warmer
and softer to hug.

‘
You
did it girl, you did it!’ he proclaimed proudly, giving her an
extra tight hug.

‘
And
Ferena!’ Carey exclaimed as she at last noticed the small fairy
flying around their heads.

Ferena lightly
landed on Carey’s shoulder.

‘
Isn’t it wonderful, Carey?’ she trilled joyously. ‘The
Princess says this is obviously what everyone wanted for
us.’

‘
But
Dougy, where’s Dou–’

Carey stopped in
mid-sentence as a young boy sheepishly stepped towards
her.

‘
I
never really wanted to be a dog,’ he explained with a weak smile,
his voice apologetic yet getting brighter and more excited as he
added, ‘but I’ve always liked messing around; so this is perfect,
really.’

The Princess had
politely remained standing to one side. She warmly smiled when
Carey at last glanced her way.

‘
I
suppose were sort of sisters, yes?’

‘
Sort
of,’ Carey agreed with a chuckle.

Reaching for
each other, they embraced each other as if they were indeed
long-lost sisters.

‘
But
I don’t understand,’ Carey admitted as they slightly stood apart
once more. ‘Why…why are you still like
this
, still of
porcelain
; when you could obviously be
really
alive,
be
real
too?’

‘
Oh,
but I’m perfectly happy with who I am; and I
am
alive,’ the
Princess declared cheerfully, opening the compartment by her
heart.

The flame still
remained unlit. Yet the Princess was moving and talking; and
giggling happily.

‘
Then
you…’ Carey began unsurely.

‘
Let
you through to meet the Illuminator? Of course!’

She stepped
closer to Carey once more, reaching up to lovingly touch her face,
making her turn her head slightly so that she caught a glimpse of
herself in a mirror that appeared amongst the whirling
images.

‘
And
I think it was all worth it, don’t you; my wonderful,
older
sister?’

Despite its
translucency, the mirror reflected Carey’s own image back to her
faultlessly.

No wonder the
Princess had had to reach up to touch her! Carey was taller than
she had been, more assured in her stance and the directness of her
look. She possessed a different kind of beauty too, one she
instantly felt perfectly at ease with.

‘
And
now, if you
don’t
mind,’ the Illuminator pronounced with a
satisfied grin, ‘I
do
have a great deal of work to do
here!’

They all left
the room, observing and embracing each other with undiminishing
amazement, laughing, and wondering what they should all do together
next.

‘
My
garden, everyone, you must see my garden!’ the Princess announced
gleefully.

The garden; at
last Carey could remember the day she’d been in the garden. It was
the day she’d first noticed how wonderfully gorgeous flowers were,
how amazingly brightly coloured butterflies could be.

It had also been
the day her Father had helped give life to the Princess – her
younger sister.

‘
And
a show; we must start working on a new show,’ they all agreed. ‘One
we’ll call
The Porcelain Princess
!’

*

Postscript

by
the Illuminator

Well, isn’t that
how stories about young, beautiful princesses are supposed to
end?

Our rich yet
once lonely Princess now has friends, even a long-lost older
sister, and a whole library full of all those love poems she just
so
loves
to read.

What more could
she possibly want?

What’s
that?

Really?

You think
that’s
the perfect ending, do you?

You know
what?

I think I
agree
with you!

Yes, yes; that
would indeed be a
very
happy ending for the
Princess.

Thank you
so
much!

She really
will
enjoy that ending, I’m certain.

Oh dear – in
fact, I can
already
hear his singing!

And he really
can’t
hit those high notes, can he?

End

If you enjoyed
reading this book, you might also enjoy (or you may know someone
else who might enjoy) these other books by Jon Jacks.

The
Caught – The Rules – Chapter One – The Changes – Sleeping
Ugly

The
Barking Detective Agency – The Healing – The Lost Fairy
Tale

A
Horse for a Kingdom – Charity – The Most Beautiful Things – The
Last Train

The
Dream Swallowers – Nyx; Granddaughter of the Night – Jonah and the
Alligator

Glastonbury Sirens – Dr Jekyll’s Maid – The 500-Year
Circus

P –
The Endless Game – DoriaN A – Wyrd Girl – The Wicker
Slippers

Heartache High (
Vol I)
– Heartache High: The Primer (
Vol II)
– Heartache High: The Wakening
(
Vol III)

Miss Terry Charm, Merry Kris Mouse & The Silver Egg

Seecrets
– The Cull
–
Dragonsapien –
The Boy in White Linen