“By earth time you have been partying for fourteen years.”
Berni could only blink at Pauline. Fourteen years? She felt as though she’d entered the party but moments before. She had been aware that now and then her clothes were different, but surely she couldn’t have been in there fourteen years. She hadn’t slept or eaten, had drunk very little, and hadn’t had a single conversation with her fellow party-goers. She’d meant to talk to them about the Kitchen and about their assignments, but there had never seemed to be an opportunity.
“There is an assignment for you,” Pauline said.
“Great,” Berni said, smiling. If she passed this test and went to heaven, what pleasures awaited her there? Heaven must be some super place to be better than the Kitchen.
Pauline led them down a hallway, past several golden arches that Berni was dying to explore. One said “Harem Fantasy” above it, another “Pirates.”
At last Pauline turned through an arch labeled “Viewing Room” and led them into a large room with a half circle of banquettes covered in peach-colored velvet. All around the seats was thick, white fog.
“Please make yourself comfortable.”
Berni snuggled down into the soft, velvet-covered seat and looked where Pauline did, at the foggy wall in front of them. Within seconds the fog drew back and a scene appeared before them. It was like a movie, only not as flat, and like a play, only more real.
A young woman, slim, pretty, with light brown hair pulled back from her face, was standing before a full-length mirror. She was wearing a long dress with very large puffed sleeves. The dress was of dark green silk with sparkling black beads across the bosom, and it was so tight in the bodice it was a wonder she could breathe. There were three hatboxes on the floor, and the woman was trying on one hat after another. The room was pleasant, with a bed, a wardrobe, a dresser, a washstand, a rag rug, and a fireplace, but it certainly wasn’t a palace. There were invitations open on the mantelpiece.
“I don’t guess she can see us,” Berni said.
“No, she has no idea anyone is watching her. Her name is Terel Grayson, she’s twenty years old, it is 1896, and she lives in Chandler, Colorado.”
“You mean I’m to make a Cinderella out of some antique girl? I don’t know anything about history. I need someone from my own time.”
“In the Kitchen all earth time is the same.”
Berni looked back at the screen and sighed. “All right. So where’s Prince Charming? And where’s the wicked stepsister?”
Pauline didn’t answer, so Berni watched in silence. Terel moved about the room quickly, looking at her invitations, then rummaging inside the big mahogany wardrobe. She sighed and looked disgusted as she pulled out one dress after another and flung them on the bed.
“That’s just like me,” Berni said, smiling. “I always had lots of invitations, and I was always worried about what I was going to wear. Not that I needed to worry, of course. I could have worn rags and been the belle of the ball.”
“Yes,” Pauline said softly, “Terel is like you.”
“I could do something with her,” Berni said. “A few cosmetics, soften her hair. She doesn’t need much. She isn’t as pretty as I was at her age, but she’ll do. She has a lot of potential.” She looked at Pauline. “So when do I start?”
“Ah,” Pauline said, “here comes Nellie.”
Berni looked back at the scene. The door opened, and in came another woman, older than Terel and about twice her size.
“Gross,” Berni said, looking at Nellie. She had a slim woman’s horror of obesity, and Berni’s fear of fat was amplified by the fact that she’d spent most of her life starving herself in order to remain slim. Deep down she feared that if she made the least slip she’d be Nellie’s size. “Two hundred pounds if she’s anounce.”
“One hundred and sixty-two, actually,” Pauline answered. “She’s Terel’s older sister, Nellie. She’s twenty-eight, unmarried, and she takes care of Terel and their father. Their mother died when Terel was four and Nellie was twelve. After his wife died Charles Grayson had Nellie quit school and take care of the house and Terel. Nellie has been Terel’s mother, so to speak, for most of Terel’s life.”
“I see,” Berni said. “A wicked sister and mother combined. Poor Terel. No wonder she needs a fairy godmother to help her.” She looked at Pauline. “Do I get a magic wand for this job?”
“If you would like. We can supply you with any magic you want, but you must supply the wisdom.”
“That’ll be easy. I’ll see that Terel gets whatever she deserves, and I won’t let that fat sister of hers keep her from getting the most out of life. Did you know that I have a fat older sister? She was so jealous of me, always trying to horn in on my life.” Berni could feel the remembered anger rising in her. “My sister hated everything about me. She was so jealous that she would have done anything to make me miserable. I fixed her, though.”
“What did you do?” Pauline asked softly.
“My first husband was her fiancé,” Berni answered, smiling. “He really was the most boring man, but he had a little money, so I made him pay attention to me.”
“You seduced him, didn’t you?”
“More or less. But he needed seducing. My sister was—is—such a bore, and…” She looked at Pauline sharply. “Don’t look at me like that. That man had more fun with me in the five years we were married than he would have had in a lifetime with my fat, dull, stupid sister. Besides, she turned out okay. She married and had a couple of fat kids. They were all quite happy in their middle-class way.”
“I’m sure everyone was very happy. You most of all.”