Chapter Five

Nessa had a hired car that she had been using during her visit to New York. A smooth Cadillac with a divider window separating them from the chauffeur just like in the movies. Kate and Josie were surely seeing a side of life they had only dreamed of before. Kate glanced at Josie’s rapturous expression as she burrowed into the tan leather seats, and she stifled a giggle. Josie might never recover.

“Sorry about this, Kate,” Nessa said for the hundredth time on the way to the Memorial Hospital. “I tried to explain we were in a hurry, but my babcia wouldn’t listen. She wants to see where the planes leave America.”

“We’ll still make it,” Kate said, hoping her voice sounded more optimistic than she felt. They were driving so slowly she could watch the car’s reflection in the buildings they passed. When the turrets of the castle-like hospital came into view, she volunteered to run up and get Princess Kolodenko.

The atmosphere in the tower room was subdued, with nurses walking whisper-quietly between beds. Elsie’s eyes were closed, her white hair fanned out over her pillow. Princess Kolodenko was rubbing hand cream into her friend’s gnarled fingers while Uncle Adalbert sat opposite like a sentinel, reading his paper. He nodded at Kate as she approached.

“Hi,” Kate whispered as she pulled up a chair. “Is she asleep?”

“No, just relaxed,” Princess Kolodenko said. In silence, she continued to massage Elsie’s hands. She pressed her thumb into her friend’s palm, stroke after stroke.

Kate tried not to tap her foot to show it was time to go.

Elsie cracked open her eyes. When she saw Kate, she smiled and closed her eyes again. “That girl, you are,” she said in Polish, her voice quiet like she was waking from a dream, or falling into one.

“Here, take over for me,” Princess Kolodenko said. “I’ll go freshen up and then we can leave.”

Kate reached for Elsie’s hand and tried to copy the princess’s movements. Elsie’s hands were delicate, with soft skin stretched across knuckles.

Once the princess had gone, Kate spoke. “My brother had me look into my dad’s belongings that were sent back from Italy.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “He told me to look for a diamond.”

Adalbert folded down half his newspaper and looked at Kate with one eye. “Did you find one?”

She nodded in the direction of her purse, where she had tucked the loose gem securely into an inside pocket. “I found it hidden in the spine of his sketchbook.”

“Have you told anyone?” His voice rose and he put the paper in his lap.

“Not sure who to tell. Especially since Dad had also written the word ‘diamond,’ along with Elsie’s name, on the sketch I drew of the amber necklace.” She looked around to see if Princess Kolodenko was returning. “I feel like I should keep it a secret for now.”

Nodding, Adalbert reached over to brush Elsie’s hair away from her forehead. “I think that is wise. In her distressed moments, Elsie has said the word ‘diamond.’ I thought nothing of it until now. What do you think the connection is?”

“I don’t know.”

Elsie shook her head, eyes still closed. “I don’t cry teacups like I used to. Show me.”

Kate glanced at Adalbert before focusing back on Elsie. Her aunt said random words when she couldn’t think of the correct one.

He shrugged, as he often did when he didn’t know how to respond to Elsie. “Let me see it, Kate. Quickly, before Fyodora returns. Maybe I’ll know something about the setting.”

“There is no setting; just the diamond.” Kate dug it out and passed it to him. “A blue diamond.”

“Esmerelda. Dresses. Shoes.” Elsie opened her eyes, squinting them so her forehead wrinkled. It was as if pulling out these nouns took great effort. She turned her head to Kate. Her look was so intense it made Kate’s heart skip a beat. Her expression reminded Kate how agitated Elsie became the day Kate showed her the servant dress in the Harmon-Craig window. Kate had asked her where the shoes were and Elsie went hysterical. It took Johnny coming by to calm her. Back then, Kate assumed Elsie was just shocked at seeing the dress on display in the Cinderella window. But what if there was more? What was trapped inside her mind?

Adalbert examined the square diamond. “I’m sorry. Without a setting, I can’t tell anything about it. I thought maybe it would remind me of something. I have several jeweler friends who enjoy teaching me about their craft, but I’ve never seen a diamond cut in this way before. Square with beveled edges, and the right size for a large ring. Nor have I seen one this color. Are you sure it’s a diamond?”

Kate sighed as she reached for the gem. “I’ll just have to wait until I hear from Floyd, then.”

“Nie!” Elsie said. She grabbed the diamond out of Adalbert’s hand, all the while letting loose a string of words that Kate couldn’t understand.

Adalbert interpreted. “She is saying much nonsense words. Nothing makes sense.”

At that moment, Princess Kolodenko returned. She took in Elsie’s agitated state and met Kate’s eyes. “What happened?”

The heat rose up Kate’s face. The princess had left Elsie so peaceful she was almost asleep. Two minutes with Kate and Elsie was in the midst of hysterics.

She turned to Princess Kolodenko. “Can you make sense of what she says?”

Frustrated, Princess Kolodenko tried to translate. “Her words are mixed. I think she is saying things about the dresses, things that happened in the past. And the necklace being lost, but you know about that. Your babcia had it. It was never lost. And the . . .” She studied Adalbert’s face.

“The shoes,” he said. His face took on a questioning look. “Did she say diamond shoes?”

Kate’s mouth dropped as she stared at the two. “You mean the glass slippers?” Her voice rose at the end. “The glass slippers are made out of diamonds?” She focused on Adalbert. “Did you know about diamond shoes?”

He shook his head, looking as genuinely shocked as Kate was.

Princess Kolodenko chewed her lip as if considering what to say. For the first time, Kate noticed a resemblance to the more free-spirited Nessa. “Yes, the Kopciuszek slippers. They have been missing from our family for as long as anyone can remember. I’ve been told they were made of diamonds, though I have never seen them myself.”

Kate needed a minute to take this in. She thought the dresses were valuable, mostly because of whom they once belonged to. But diamond slippers? Holy Toledo. The diamond Elsie was clutching couldn’t be a coincidence. The way she was holding on to it so tightly. If only she could tell them how it related to Kate’s dad.

“Were they blue diamonds?” Kate asked.

“Nie,” the princess said sharply. “They were clear, like glass.”

The princess’s eyes darted back to Elsie, as if looking for confirmation. But Elsie was still talking, her fingers making motions like she was picking something up and burying it. Adalbert leaned in, closely listening. “Elsie says her mother told her the diamonds in the shoes were once plucked out.”

Princess Kolodenko shook her head. Speaking over Elsie, she said, “Impossible. The shoes cannot be broken. People have tried, but the diamonds hold together no matter the force.”

Elsie’s mouth set in a firm line. She looked at Adalbert with pleading eyes. She spoke again in Polish.

Princess Kolodenko crossed her arms, still shaking her head.

Kate looked to Adalbert for translation. If there was ever a time when she needed Elsie to communicate, it was now. The princess was hiding something. Talking about the shoes was making her visibly uncomfortable.

“Her words are jumbled,” Adalbert said. “I couldn’t even understand as much as Fyodora did.” He sounded resigned, like he was ready to give up.

Kate had to make them understand. “It’s just that I’m wondering if the slippers could be found . . .”

“Then you could use them to find information about your father,” Adalbert finished. “Like the Burgosovs told you.”

Kate nodded, studying the princess. Would the royal family be willing to let her use the shoes if they could even find them? There was still so much about the family that she didn’t know.

“You are the Keeper of the dresses. Do not concern yourself with the shoes. No one in recent memory has even seen the Kopciuszek shoes.” She gently touched Kate’s shoulder. “I know you want Elsie to communicate some hidden secret. But her mind . . . It is not as it was.” She glanced at Adalbert and frowned in sympathy. “We should go,” Princess Kolodenko said, her voice tight. “We don’t want you to miss saying good-bye.”

“Right,” Kate said, reluctant to leave while Elsie still gripped the diamond. She couldn’t wrestle it out of her hands in front of Princess Kolodenko.

Adalbert leaned in, straining to understand Elsie, who continued to speak slowly, deliberately, but in nonsense words as far as Kate’s understanding of Polish could allow. “I will stay with her until she falls asleep,” he said. “Will I see you later, Kate?” He looked at her meaningfully.

She nodded. Oh yes, and hopefully he’d have the diamond back. She followed the princess out the door, with one last glance back. What are you trying to tell us, Elsie? What are you remembering?