“If’n this was back home, people’d hev my hide fer riskin’ your’n that way, with a Injun.”
“It would make people come back again and again,” she said, firmly, sure of her own ground. “But . . . we must ask Fox first. If he is against this, then we won’t do it. But you need to find a way to make the Indians heroes all through the show if you wish to make more money.”
“I’ll think on it.” He shook his head. “It’s a furrin’ way t’ think.”
“You’re in a ‘furrin’ country,” she pointed out.
All he could do was shrug, thank her, and wish her goodnight.
There were a good three days of travel by horse between Schopfheim and their next destination of Silberbrucke. Since no inn could possibly hold all of them, they had already planned on camping, making a more abbreviated camp than they did for the shows. They also planned on making the trip leisurely, to spare the buffalo, and to allow them to camp early enough to get in some practice sessions. Giselle drove her little wagon-home, sitting in the front door to do so, very grateful that all she would have to do would be to unharness and feed the horses and tether them to the wagon overnight. She did not envy those who had tents. Their quarters might be more spacious than hers, but it came at a cost of inconvenience—though they all did seem to be able to pull up camp quickly, so probably they could make camp just as quickly. Or perhaps they did not intend to pitch the tents at all. According to Karl May, frontiersmen often just laid down on a horse blanket with a saddle for a pillow and—
And perhaps she needed to stop thinking about what Karl May said about Americans, and just keep her eyes open to what they actually did.
Lebkuchen was harnessed in a team with a Grand Quadrille horse, whose name was Polly. Lebkuchen had been in harness before, of course, but never beside another. She didn’t like it, but Polly was not inclined to take her nonsense, and before they had gone many miles, Lebkuchen had settled into grudging acceptance of the situation.
The entire company settled into a steady pace down the narrow country road—a pace, she suspected, that was far more pleasant for them, here, beneath the towering trees of the Black Forest, than it would have been back home. And this time, instead of referring to Karl May, she was comparing the road they were traveling with those glimpses of the West she had gotten from Fox’s language lessons. Here there was cooling shade, there—there was none. The road had seen enough rain that it was not dusty, but neither was it muddy—there, dust would have risen beneath the hooves of the foremost in the party to choke all of those who came behind. And the sun would have scorched down on them, punishing them from daybreak to sundown.
Plus, she could encourage light breezes all along the road, just enough to keep the flies off the beasts and freshen the travelers. Without an Air Master in attendance, they would have had no such comfort. Perhaps that was why everyone seemed so cheerful.
As they moved along, whenever they passed a farm, children and sometimes all the adults would drop whatever they were doing and run to the roadside to gape at them. Cody encouraged the entire troupe to smile and wave, and he would have Lightning do a few simple tricks, or Texas Tom would rope a fencepost or twirl his lariat above his head. Then Kellermann would hand the father, or at least the oldest boy, one of their handbills. “Y’never kin tell,” Cody said, when she asked him about this. “They might decide t’ pack up an’ come t’the town to see th’ show.”
About midmorning, Leading Fox, who had been traveling at the front with the Captain, came trotting back along the line of wagons and beasts. He turned his handsome spotted horse when he came to her vardo, and rode along beside her.
“Cody tells me you have given him revelations that cause him some concern, and make him think he will need to change the show, somewhat.” The Indian’s tone was more amused than anything else, so she nodded to him.
“I would like to hear these revelations for myself.” He waited, clearly prepared to wait for as long as it took for her to tell him. So, once again, she found