Glass Slippers [1st Draft]

21. Sisterly Subterfuge

Chapter Twenty-One:

Sisterly Subterfuge

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The sun had yet to rise, but everyone in the Corden household was already awake, or rather, they were still awake. With the exception of her brother, James, and her sister, Amelia, Harriet did not think there was a single person in the house that had achieved any sleep, but no one could be blamed for that. It had been an exciting, heart-wrenching, and all together, stressful kind of night.

Harriet peeked over at the sleeping form of her younger brother, watching him as he breathed in and out raggedly. It was surprising that he had slept through it all. After Linette had dragged Clara away to the attic, she had come back down half an hour later and snapped at Harriet and Amelia to go to bed. While Amelia didn't seem to have any trouble following orders, Harriet did.

As the night wore on her eyes had begun to burn from lack of sleep, but still, she could not give in to her tiredness. Harriet had a feeling that if she let herself sleep, she would sleep for hours, and she knew there were things she needed to do. However, talking to her imprisoned sibling was at the top of the list.

There was only one teensy little problem. Linette had expressly told her not to go anywhere near the attic door. Or else. Harriet sat up on her makeshift bed next to her brother, leaning on her elbows as she looked over at her sleeping siblings. Amelia was fast asleep, a patch-covered and worn doll tucked under one arm, while James was much the same as he was before.

Harriet quietly pushed the blankets off of her, slipping out of the covers and placing her bare feet on the cold stone floor of the kitchen. She was just about to move towards the door when one of Amelia's hands landed on her foot. She went stock still, not even daring to breathe as she waited for Amelia to move again, luckily she did, and Harriet dashed out of her reach as quickly as possible.

Taking one last look back at her siblings, Harriet left the kitchen, shutting the door softly behind her. Tiptoeing across the main foyer, Harriet did her best to not make any noise. She made sure to jump over the three steps that always creaked, and in the upstairs hallway, she leaped around the two squeaky floorboards that were just outside Linette's doorway. She inched over to the door to the attic and pushed her body as close to it as possible, before putting her head right by the keyhole. She didn't want to risk getting the attention of her step-family by being too loud.

"Clara!" She whisper-shouted into the keyhole. Harriet waited a few more seconds before trying again, this time giving a little knock as well. "Clara! It's me, Harriet!"

There was a thump from the other side of the door and Harriet waited to see her sister's gray eyes appear on the other side of the keyhole.

"Harriet! What are you doing here? You are going to get in trouble-"

"Not if I don't get caught." Even through the keyhole, Harriet could see Clara's stern expression, but she paid it no mind. "Now, do you know where the step-witch keeps the keys to the attic?"

"No, Harriet! Don't even think about it. You know better than to poke a sleeping dragon."

"Oh please, she's a woman, not a dragon," , Harriet said, rolling her eyes.

"Harriet, no! I-" Clara trailed off. "I can't explain everything at the moment, but Linette is trying to help."

"By doing what? Locking you up?" Harriet gave Clara a skeptical look.

"No, she just." Clara paused, letting out a surprisingly loud sigh. "I promise you she's trying to help. I understand now that I went about this the wrong way. Harriet, you have to promise me that you won't cause her any trouble."