costume,” she admitted, shamefacedly.
“Well, no worries about
that.
My sister, I swear, spent every spare penny on clothing, and now she can’t wear any
of it!” Suzie chuckled, and shut the door just as two more girls came trudging up
the stairs, chattering like sparrows. She flung open the window, and along with the
breeze came the distant sounds of celebration. That was all right; Katie had learned
to sleep through the sounds of celebration while still in her cradle.
This must have been a bed for a child, it was so small; that was why two of them fit
in the room. But she and Suzie were both small, and fit the beds neatly.
She slipped out of her clothing and into her threadbare nightgown, and then tumbled
into the bed. She didn’t even hear Suzie get into hers.
• • •
She had expected she would wake before Suzie did—she
always
woke up at the crack of dawn, long before Dick, in order to get out of the caravan
before he woke. Fortunately she didn’t have to cook for him, for all the circus people
ate together in common, and Andy Ball took the cost of it out of their wages.
But she didn’t wake before Suzie did; in fact, it was Suzie who woke her, humming
to herself as she unpacked the trunk at the window.
She raised herself up on her elbow and stared as Suzie held up a skirt. “These will
all fit you,” Suzie said, glancing over her shoulder. “And a good thing, too. Much
longer and they’d be so old fashioned that people would stare at you like some sort
of Guy.”
“I can’t—” Katie began. “I mean, you don’t even
know
me. Why are you being so kind to me?”
Suzie turned and sat abruptly down on the side of the bed, and took Katie’s hand in
hers. “Because, ducks, once upon a time, two starving girls who had just lost their
mum and da got taken in by a bearded lady, and taught how to do some dance steps,
and were gotten jobs down on the Boardwalk.”
“Mrs. Baird?” Katie asked, incredulously.
Suzie nodded and let go of Katie’s hand. “Besides, Lionel hired you right on the spot,
and I have never,
ever,
known Lionel and Jack to be wrong about a person. So! Let’s pick out a gown for you
that you’re not going to die of heat in, go down and make things straight with Mrs.
Baird, and have breakfast. Then it’s off to the theater.”
The gown was clearly not new, but Suzie’s sister had taken good care of her clothing;
it was oyster-colored linen trimmed with blue piping, very neat and a little nautical.
Suzie chose a biscuit-colored skirt and shirtwaist, and the two of them helped each
other with their corsets. Katie felt quite different, wearing something like this,
a gown she would never have chosen for herself. Almost as if she was entirely another
person.
Mrs. Baird, attired in a crisp linen shirtwaist and walking skirt, was sitting in
her office, her ledgers spread out before her, her beard neatly arrayed over her chest.
It looked like a lustrous skein of brown silk. She smiled when they came in, accepted
Katie’s pound note, and counted out the proper change; Katie ran upstairs to put most
of it away safe, then knotted the sixpence into a corner of her handkerchief and put
the latter safely in a petticoat pocket.
Then she ran back downstairs and they went in to breakfast, which was, as Suzie had
promised, oatmeal and toast. But there was plenty of both, and there were fresh strawberries
for the oatmeal and marmalade for the toast, and anyway, it was much the same as the
circus breakfast except that Mrs. Baird’s oatmeal wasn’t burnt on the bottom. Mrs.
Baird didn’t stint on the tea, nor boil it till it was bitter and nasty, nor serve
leaves steeped so often the “tea” was barely colored water. She wasn’t stingy about
the sugar and milk, either. Katie was getting the sense that she was going to get
good value for her boarding money.
The table was not quite as crowded this
“Well, no worries about
that.
My sister, I swear, spent every spare penny on clothing, and now she can’t wear any
of it!” Suzie chuckled, and shut the door just as two more girls came trudging up
the stairs, chattering like sparrows. She flung open the window, and along with the
breeze came the distant sounds of celebration. That was all right; Katie had learned
to sleep through the sounds of celebration while still in her cradle.
This must have been a bed for a child, it was so small; that was why two of them fit
in the room. But she and Suzie were both small, and fit the beds neatly.
She slipped out of her clothing and into her threadbare nightgown, and then tumbled
into the bed. She didn’t even hear Suzie get into hers.
• • •
She had expected she would wake before Suzie did—she
always
woke up at the crack of dawn, long before Dick, in order to get out of the caravan
before he woke. Fortunately she didn’t have to cook for him, for all the circus people
ate together in common, and Andy Ball took the cost of it out of their wages.
But she didn’t wake before Suzie did; in fact, it was Suzie who woke her, humming
to herself as she unpacked the trunk at the window.
She raised herself up on her elbow and stared as Suzie held up a skirt. “These will
all fit you,” Suzie said, glancing over her shoulder. “And a good thing, too. Much
longer and they’d be so old fashioned that people would stare at you like some sort
of Guy.”
“I can’t—” Katie began. “I mean, you don’t even
know
me. Why are you being so kind to me?”
Suzie turned and sat abruptly down on the side of the bed, and took Katie’s hand in
hers. “Because, ducks, once upon a time, two starving girls who had just lost their
mum and da got taken in by a bearded lady, and taught how to do some dance steps,
and were gotten jobs down on the Boardwalk.”
“Mrs. Baird?” Katie asked, incredulously.
Suzie nodded and let go of Katie’s hand. “Besides, Lionel hired you right on the spot,
and I have never,
ever,
known Lionel and Jack to be wrong about a person. So! Let’s pick out a gown for you
that you’re not going to die of heat in, go down and make things straight with Mrs.
Baird, and have breakfast. Then it’s off to the theater.”
The gown was clearly not new, but Suzie’s sister had taken good care of her clothing;
it was oyster-colored linen trimmed with blue piping, very neat and a little nautical.
Suzie chose a biscuit-colored skirt and shirtwaist, and the two of them helped each
other with their corsets. Katie felt quite different, wearing something like this,
a gown she would never have chosen for herself. Almost as if she was entirely another
person.
Mrs. Baird, attired in a crisp linen shirtwaist and walking skirt, was sitting in
her office, her ledgers spread out before her, her beard neatly arrayed over her chest.
It looked like a lustrous skein of brown silk. She smiled when they came in, accepted
Katie’s pound note, and counted out the proper change; Katie ran upstairs to put most
of it away safe, then knotted the sixpence into a corner of her handkerchief and put
the latter safely in a petticoat pocket.
Then she ran back downstairs and they went in to breakfast, which was, as Suzie had
promised, oatmeal and toast. But there was plenty of both, and there were fresh strawberries
for the oatmeal and marmalade for the toast, and anyway, it was much the same as the
circus breakfast except that Mrs. Baird’s oatmeal wasn’t burnt on the bottom. Mrs.
Baird didn’t stint on the tea, nor boil it till it was bitter and nasty, nor serve
leaves steeped so often the “tea” was barely colored water. She wasn’t stingy about
the sugar and milk, either. Katie was getting the sense that she was going to get
good value for her boarding money.
The table was not quite as crowded this
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