The show finally arrived at Meiersdorf just as the first flurries of snow appeared in the now-overcast sky.
There would be no show at Meiersdorf, given that it had begun to snow and not even the inhabitants were eager to brave the cold in a tent, no matter how exotic the promised production was. They had planned to camp in the field normally used by the village for their little festivities, for it was a good long day’s journey to the abbey under the best of circumstances. Giselle was not expecting to see Rosa until then, but to her great joy, her friend was waiting, bundled up in her gorgeous scarlet cloak and hood, mounted on a sturdy hunter, right at the entrance to the village.
Giselle did not actually see Rosa right away, as she was in the middle of the caravan. Rosa waved at her, but then turned her attention back to Kellermann and Cody. Giselle understood perfectly, and got her vardo maneuvered into the circle it belonged to in the meadow they were using to camp overnight. All of the wagons were circled up at night since they’d left Freiburg, rather than parked in rows. This was to provide a windbreak for people who were still forced to sleep in their tents. The horses were left tied at night to wagons outside each circle, each with his own blanket, bucket, and pile of hay and grain. The cattle were corralled inside a circle of the transport wagons. The buffalo went into the same space as the cattle. They didn’t seem to mind.
The cooks came around to each circle with a big pot of stew and some sort of hard cracker—unless it was possible to buy bread where they were camping, which case everyone got a piece of a loaf instead. There was bread tonight. For the sake of making things easier on the cooks, each of them was responsible for his own plate, cup and utensils, and coffee was made on the central circle fire. Giselle lined up with the rest when the cooks arrived. That was when Rosa turned up, armed with plate and cup herself.
They got their food and quickly retreated to the relative warmth of the vardo. “Is your watcher still watching?” was the first thing Rosa asked, once they were settled into seats on casks of peppercorns and salt.
“No,” she said shortly, and Rosa smiled with relief.
“Good. I was hoping once you were on the move, he’d lose track of you, or simply would not be able to scry you out at any real distance.” Rosa ate with a good appetite, and so did Giselle. It was lovely to have hot food after a long cold day of driving.
“I’m glad you came to meet us,” Giselle said. “How are things at the abbey?”
“Very good.” Rosa grinned with satisfaction and wiped her bowl absolutely clean with her bread. “We’ve a hard day of driving ahead of us, but when we get there, absolutely everything will be ready. There will be hot food waiting, we’ve even got sleeping arrangements in place, and everyone can just put the horses and cattle in their stable, eat, and go straight to bed, then deal with what needs to be unpacked in the morning.”
Giselle gaped at her. “How on earth did you manage that?” she asked.
Rosa shrugged, but looked pleased with herself. “Dwarves and brownies, of course. I don’t know what sort of arrangement your Mother had with them, but they didn’t even charge me for any of it, they said they’d already gotten what they needed when the work was done! The chapel has been rebuilt into a stable for the animals with a hayloft over it. I got mowers to come and harvest the meadow twice for hay, there’s enough to last all winter. What isn’t in the hayloft is in haystacks next to the stable. What used to be the east wing has a second floor now, and the dwarves made up beds and wooden partitions on both floors. The west wing has the kitchens on the first floor and storage above. Did you know there was a cellar under it?”
Giselle shook her head.
“Well, there is. With all you have with you, it will be stuffed. There’s more storage above the kitchens, which we will need, with all the food we’ll need to produce for all these people until spring. The north wing with your tower, I’ve had redone