Cody, had any idea of how good she was. And Kellermann had told her that she was much better than her predecessor. She knew she was about to impress them, thanks to the sylphs. As she waited for Kellermann to finish introducing her, a thought occurred to her. It would be a very good thing if she could firm her own concentration over the forces of the Air enough that she could do without the sylphs—just in case.
By this time, the upper reaches of the tent were full of sylphs, drawn by all the excitement. She sent a brief thought toward them—If you please, your assistance in this matter?—and the white-winged one she recognized from yesterday gathered up three of her sisters and wafted down to the firing line.
Then she settled the lovely rifle to her shoulder, sighted in on the target, and went to work. Five shots—and five bull’s-eyes—later, she and her helper moved back about ten paces. By the time she had emptied the first rifle, there were cheers and great excitement after every shot. By the time she finished perforating the poor paperboard rabbit, her audience could scarcely contain itself. And when she finished by rapidly filling the bull’s-eye of the last target with lead, there were hats in the air, and the company was racing across the flattened, dusty grass to congratulate her. This time, of course—as she resolved to do at every actual show—she had taken no chances. She was not altogether certain how much the sylphs had assisted her, but until she could figure out how to do what they did, she had no intention of doing without their help.
And while she had shot, she had been thinking of trick-shots she could make for her second “turn.”
She had more time to think about that while the other acts ran through their paces; she watched from the vantage point of the parted tent flaps until it was time for her horseback “dance.” The horse was gentle and regarded her placidly as she mounted, and took its place in the line of the rest to parade in without any prompting on her part. And as Cody had promised, she had to do exactly nothing for the Grand Quadrille except not fall off the horse. In fact, the one time she had actually moved the reins a little the horse had turned his head to look at her with such an outraged expression that she and the others had all laughed.
So when everyone took a break for drinks of water, and Ned Toller turned up to ask her just what tricks she was doing besides shooting tossed clay targets and the mirror trick, she had an answer for him.
The bandsmen had come down out of the bandstand, and she was standing beside Lebkuchen, watching as Texas Tom worked with his rope until he was satisfied with it. Ned strolled across the arena from where he had been consulting with someone and pulled the brim of his hat at her.
“Figgered what yer trick-shots are gonna be?” he asked. “Clay bustin’, and finish with the mirror, but what’s in between?”
“I would like to shoot the pips out of a playing card,” she said. “If someone will hold a cigarette, I shall shoot it in half. I shall also shoot a coin, although I cannot guarantee to make a hole in it every time, I can certainly hit it.”
“Kin ya light a match?” Ned asked. She thought about it, and nodded.
“Kin ya split a bullet on a axe blade?” His eyes glittered. She wondered if he was trying to trick her.
“I would like to practice that before I tried it in public,” she replied, honestly.
“Kin ya split a playin’ card edge-on?” She stared at him; that sounded impossible. He smirked. “Annie Oakley kin. Every time.”
Well, if the famed sharpshooter could do it without the aid of sylphs, surely she could manage it with magical help! “I will try that too—in practice,” she promised. He laughed.
“We kin work in whatever ye manage t’get up, jest let me know when ye wanta change yer act. Cap’n wants ta know what ya wanna call yerself. He says it cain’t have no more letters’n Ado Ellie,” Ned continued. “We’re repaintin’ her sign fer ya.”
She stroked Lebkuchen’s neck while she mulled that over. “Ellie” was not all that far from “Giselle,” so it would make sense to keep that part of the name. She considered the names she knew from Karl May’s books. “What about