“What about free?” she asked. “You’d only need to provide provisions for yourselves and the animals.”
Now everyone was looking right at her in astonishment. “Where would we find some place to winter for free?” Kellermann asked cautiously.
“Where I came from,” she told him, and quickly described the abbey. “It’s in very good repair. It used to hold several hundred nuns. The only thing that is not in good repair is the old chapel, which we had deconsecrated. You could probably put the cattle and the buffalo in there, and some of the horses that wouldn’t need stabling, if there are any that tough. It would be rough living, but”—she shrugged—“free. And more sheltered than winter camping.”
“If’n we got there early enough, we might could snug it up a bit,” Cody mused. “Most of us’re good rough builders.”
“Free . . .” said Texas Tom. “I’m a-likin’ the sound of that.”
“I am too.” Cody looked to Kellermann. “Whadya think?”
“I think we have our winter quarters,” Kellermann said. “Show me where, on the map.”
“Here,” she said, pointing.
He looked the map over carefully. “Yes, this is good. I can easily arrange for the last bookings to be within easy striking distance.” He looked up at her and grinned. “My dear Giselle, the day you became our lady marksman was a good day for this show in more ways than I can count. Thank you for the offer of hospitality!”
She flushed. “The worst that will happen is if I miscalculated and some of you have to spend the winter in wagons.”
“That is no hardship,” Kellermann assured her. As she looked around at the others, she was relieved to see that they were nodding.
“For that matter,” Fox spoke up for the first time. “We know ways to make good shelters with turf and some good long logs. Good enough to sleep warm in, at any rate.”
“There’s plenty of turf,” she said, the remembrance of those strange earthen houses that the Pawnee called home flashing across her mind. “And it’s the Schwarzwald. There’s no end of logs.”
“Well, there you go. We’ll be fine.” Cody chuckled a little. “Cain’t imagine that anybody near to a city would have been too happy ’bout us diggin’ up their purdy meadows t’make sod houses, no way. An’ . . . be honest with y’all, I dunno how we’d git anyone t’put us up inside four walls for free.”
“Hmm.” Rosa had been listening all this time, and although she didn’t say anything she gave Cody, Giselle, and Fox looks that suggested she had something to say that wasn’t for general consumption.
“Well, that settles that, then!” Kellermann said cheerfully. “I will leave you all to settle in for the night, we complete loading in the morning and go back down the road we came.”
The group broke up then and, responding to Rosa’s silent signal, the four Elemental Magicians and Kellermann gathered together and began to walk slowly toward the wagons. The main show tent was already down and had been taken down after the show, as had the sideshow tents. “So what were you arching your eyebrows about, Rosa?” Giselle asked, as they got out of listening distance of the others.
“I can help with some of that, if you end up needing to make those earthen shelters,” Rosa said. “I’m an Earth Master, and my Elemental allies could build those easily enough, so long as you have instructions or plans.”
Cody snorted. “In that case, we ain’t got nothin’ to fret about. If there ain’t enough shelter in this here abbey, we kin make ’nuff. I spent plenty winters in a sod house, an’ they kin be right cozy.”
“And it isn’t as if anyone would have to spend the entire day there,” Giselle pointed out. “It would just be a warm place to sleep. For that matter—” she looked at Rosa. “—if your Elemental allies would not mind, they could be at work rebuilding the chapel and adding onto the other buildings while we are still performing. Then no one would have to sleep in a dirt shelter.”
Rosa snapped her fingers. “Now that is good thinking! Given that your Mother was an Earth Master, I am sure they all know where it is—and given that the abbey is far away from the nearest village, they could work openly. I’ll just let them know how many people, and how much livestock to build for.”
“And food storage!” Giselle reminded her. “It isn’t likely that Talinsdorf or Marekdorf could supply food for as many people as we