ls to have such a beautiful mama?”
“Yes, she looked very lovely, Miss Cruella,” she said.
“And aren’t I the luckiest girl?” I prodded. She hadn’t answered that part of my question. She just sat there with the saddest look on her face. For some reason Miss Pricket always looked sad when we spoke of my mama. And she looked especially sad in the evenings. I smiled at the woman when she kissed my cheek good night, but I felt sad for her. What a lonely life she must have had. Spending her days with a child who wasn’t hers, eating most of her meals alone. No family or friends of her own to love or care for her. I supposed I was the only one, in my own way, who did.
“Good night, Miss Pricket,” I said with a smile, hoping it would cheer her expression, which remained fixed no matter how hard I tried.
But then something surprising happened. Her face transformed after all. “Oh! Cruella! I’m so sorry I forgot. Your mother left some gifts for you on the vanity. Look!” She dashed over to the vanity, bringing the boxes to the bed so I could open them. One box held a beautiful red dress with a matching belt. A smaller box contained shoes and a little clutch purse. The last box I opened was the biggest, and it contained the most magnificent gift of all: a white fur coat with a black collar. I popped out of bed and put it on at once. Even over my nightgown, the coat made me look glamourous.
I looked exactly like Mama. I finally had a fur coat of my very own. And I just knew this was the beginning of an important phase in my life. I was on my way to becoming a glamorous lady. Just like Mama.
“See, Miss Cruella, your mother does think of you. I think she loves you very much,” said Miss Pricket. But the look in her eyes made me feel she was trying harder to convince herself than she was trying to convince me. I didn’t need convincing. I knew my mama loved me.
I turned away from the mirror and gave Miss Pricket a strange look. “What a funny thing to say, Miss Pricket. Of course Mama loves me. Look at this beautiful coat!” Miss Pricket nodded, but her smile looked sad as she put away my gifts.
“Why are you so sad?” I asked her. I suppose I felt a little bad for her. She smiled again but didn’t answer. That’s the thing about in-betweens like Miss Pricket. Because they’re almost real, you almost feel bad for them. You almost like them. But I never did find out what made her so sad. Our conversation was interrupted that evening before she could tell me, because suddenly there was a knock at the door.
“Cruella?” The voice I heard was deep, soft, and questioning.
“Papa? Come in!” I called back. He opened the door a crack, peering in playfully. He wore the same mischievous smile that often greeted me in the evening right before bed. I had the most handsome papa of any of my friends, with his dark hair and wide movie star grin. And he always had a smile for me. He wasn’t one of those stuffy lords, the sort that looked like a giant walrus or stodgy bird. He was handsome and always smiling. Looking back, I do think my mama wished he were a little more serious. Maybe even a little stuffier. I know now she didn’t appreciate that he encouraged my friendship with Anita, or that he didn’t mind when I stayed up all night reading my fairy stories. And I know she didn’t like the funny faces he would make at the dinner table to make me laugh. But for my part, I thought he was delightful.
I could tell Miss Pricket always felt like an intruder when Papa would swoop in for an evening chat before bed, if he made it home in time. She would awkwardly excuse herself and skitter away, more like one of the non-people than the in-between she was. It always made me laugh to see her slink off before Papa would plop down on the edge of the bed with a dramatic thump. He wasn’t a bumbling man, but with me, he liked to pretend he was. It was our special thing. “And how is my girl?” he asked.
“Very well, Papa. I had a lovely day with Mama.”
“You saw her today?” Papa could be so forgetful sometimes. He always seemed surprised when I told him Mama spent the day with me, even though he knew she spent an hour each day with me after my lessons.
“I did, Papa. I saw her for tea like we do every day. We had a marvelous time!”
“Did you, my girl? A marvelous time? Well, that’s very good to hear, Cruella dear.” His eyes landed on the empty boxes at the foot of the bed with a frown. “I see your mother went out shopping again.” I suddenly felt irritated with Miss Pricket for not taking them away. “What did she buy you this time?” he asked, looking a little cross.
“Oh, Father! Mother got me the most topping white fur coat!” I leaped out of bed and tried the coat on for him, twirling around in the mirror. “Don’t I look just like her?”
“Yes, Cruella. I’m afraid you do.”
He looked at me in such a strange way that I stopped twirling abruptly. Had I made him angry? “Papa, are you cross with me?” He scooped me up, twirling me around in circles.
“No, my darling. I’m not cross with you. You look lovely. Let’s dance together.” We danced around my room, which made us both laugh so hard we had to stop and catch our breath. Then he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine. “Well, I have something for you as well, my dear. It’s not a fur coat, but they do come with an interesting story I think you’ll appreciate.”
Father rarely brought me gifts. He brought me silly smiles, conversation, and affection almost every evening, but he rarely brought me gifts. He had so little time to show me he loved me, busy as he was at the House of Lords. Unlike Mama, who was almost always bringing me home something beautiful.
“Oh, Papa!” I cried, ripping at the paper. The scraps made my white bedspread look like it was covered in brown polka dots. “I’m sorry I didn’t have time to wrap it prettily,” he said. “He was an interesting sort of man, the proprietor of the antique shop, not the sort who offers pretty boxes and bows.” I didn’t care. I could hardly wait to see what it was. But my smiled faded when I opened the box: a pair of round jade earrings. They were dull green and unremarkable.
“Thank you, Papa,” I said, smiling again with some effort. Compared to the fur coat Mama had given me, it was hardly a gift at all. I think that was the moment I realized my father didn’t love me after all—or at least not as much as I thought he did. If he loved me, he would have gotten me something truly beautiful. Like Mama always did.
“Cruella, my dear, I haven’t told you the best part. These earrings were found in a real pirate chest!” My eyes widened. This was an interesting development.
“Really?”
“Yes, my dear. He was a great pirate! He stole a chest of treasures from a far-off and magical land. Remember that book I got you? The one with the strange fairy tales? Apparently the book and the earrings come from the same magical place.”
“That is interesting!” And it was. I loved tales of fantasy and adventure. The idea of a pirate’s treasure filled my heart with wonder. But I couldn’t bring myself to be excited about his gift. I could see his face falling as he realized I didn’t love the earrings, but he continued.
“This is the most interesting part, my dear. It’s rumored the treasure was cursed by foul sorceresses, nasty fairies, or the like. Can you imagine?” I tried to get excited about the gift’s supposedly magical history. I really did. But I was too disappointed about the boring earrings. It’s not like I was on the pirate ship having the adventure. I would have preferred that, to be honest.
“So you got me cursed earrings?”
My father laughed. “Well, of course they’re not actually cursed, Cruella. There’s no such thing as curses, not really. But you loved the book of fairy tales I got you, so I thought you would enjoy the story never-theless. Aren’t you and Miss Pricket always reading about that adventurous princess, what’s her name?”