new home.
Well, it was small. But although clearly second- or thirdhand, it was stoutly built; the roof seemed to be tin over a wooden frame, and the rest was made of golden-brown wood the same color as the crust of a loaf of bread. There was a curtained platform bed under the window, with a storage cupboard underneath. Just inside the door was a tiny cast-iron stove—she wouldn’t be using that much in the summer, but if the show was, indeed, planning on continuing to perform into November, she certainly would need it then. On the right wall was a chest of drawers, and a little bit of a bench seat with a cushion on it and more storage beneath. On the left wall was a bit of fold-down table with shelves above, and a stool, and a bit of storage beneath. And that was fundamentally all there was room for.
But really, what more did she need?
“I believe your belongings are on the bed,” said Kellerman from the door. “There should be linens, a washbasin and pitcher, and assorted bits and pieces from the last person who had it in the cupboard under the bed. That would have been Fraulein Ado Ellie, who was our former lady trick-shooter. A most amiable lady, but nothing near as good a shot as you.” She turned to see him smiling in the doorway. “However, she was, if I may say so, both stunningly beautiful and sweet-natured, so much was forgiven of her.”
“She seems to have been a good housekeeper,” Giselle replied, opening the cupboard beneath the bed and surveying with relief the neatly folded linens and a number of things that would make life very comfortable in this wagon.
“She was, and I hope this pleases you.” Kellerman looked a little anxious at that. “We had been using it for costume storage, and occasionally as a place for some of the troupe to sleep in extremely bad weather.”
“This will be most satisfactory, thank you,” she replied.
He beamed as if it had been his hands that had constructed the wagon. “In that case I shall leave you to settle in and await Fox, and possibly the Captain.”
He left the door open, and she climbed over the mattress to open the window over the bed to allow air through. With the curtains pulled, and the door open, and a little teasing of the air, there was soon a gentle breeze wafting through, smelling of hay, trampled grass, and faintly of food. The mattress was satisfactory; the linens she got out to make it up were, like the wagon, old but very clean, and there were some sturdy woolen blankets in there that were a welcome sight, and a great many cushions and pillows. There was even a fine spirit lamp that she could heat water over, and a kettle for making tea. Turning to her own belongings, she discovered that the previous owner had had proper gun racks installed above the bench seat, so her old rifle went up there, although she was hoping she would be given that sweet carbine to use. The music from the show rang out over the encampment, and though the wagon section of the campground was empty except for her, it didn’t feel lonely.
Darkness fell and she lit the lamp she had found in the cupboard, giving a cheerful glow to her new home. Bit by bit she settled her possessions and her new costumes into places that suited her, taking care and thought about it. When the show was on the move, anything that might fall would have to be stowed carefully, so she needed to leave places for those things to go.
When at last she had everything put away, she checked around the outside of the wagon. There wasn’t much there, but someone had left a small water barrel up by the front axle. Good, that means I won’t have to go hunting for water, she thought with relief. She fetched and filled a pitcher and a small covered bucket, and brought both back into the wagon. Someone was going around the camp, lighting lanterns and torches; when he—for it was a he, a weathered, bow-legged fellow in canvas trousers and a checkered shirt—came by and lit a lantern at the front of her wagon, they nodded agreeably to each other. Then he touched two fingers to the brim of his battered bowler hat and moved on.
And then, having nothing else to do, she went back inside, pulled