For the sake of impressing the audience, all the targets were clay plates in holders; the explosion of shattering pottery was very dramatic, and the plates disintegrated in a most gratifying manner whether they were hit in the center or nearer the edge.
This was a new “turn,” and Cody had included it with a little reluctance at Leading Fox’s and Giselle’s urging. Considering the wild applause it got, she hoped his reluctance had turned to the realization that they had been right.
Then it was time for her trick-shots. She still hadn’t mastered the trick of reliably cutting a playing card in half, even with the help of the sylphs, but all the rest were consistent. The gasps and “ahs” that marked each successful shot were gratifying in every possible way. The only thing that clouded her satisfaction was the knowledge that this one trick eluded her. All she could think, as she took her bows, was If Annie Oakley can do it every time without magic, why can’t I?
Captain Cody came on again and did his trick-riding and shooting, which marked the end of the marksmanship section. It was time for another little pageant.
And now her nerves were on fire. This was the riskiest thing she had suggested trying. Cody was still dubious about it. Did she really know her people well enough?
She and Fox rode into the arena side by side, as Kellermann described the great friendship that was between them—in vague terms. There was silence from the audience, and she bit her lip a little, wondering if it was the silence of appreciation or disapproval. They had gotten halfway around, when the wicked bandits returned, pounding up on their horses. The audience gasped.
She and Fox were quickly surrounded, forced to dismount, and as Kellermann narrated the story, and the bandits pantomimed it, they threatened to murder both of them.
Her nerves dissolved as the audience reacted by whistling their disapproval of the bandits. Even though they really were dreadful, even in pantomime. They kept laughing, and even when they managed to stay in character, it was so exaggerated it was all that Giselle could do to keep up her appearance of being terrified.
She kept her ear tuned to the audience, and as they called out advice to her and Fox, shouting at the bandits to “Let them go, blackguards!” she knew that she had them.
Then their leader pantomimed that he had come up with an idea.
The “idea,” of course, as Kellermann narrated, was for Fox to perform knife-throwing tricks with Giselle as the target—
Well, everyone here knew the story of Wilhelm Tell and the apple. She could hear the collective intake of breath as the bandit leader dragged her, kicking and screaming, to be tied to a . . .
...rather large piece of wall that had been set up as the bandits emoted. That just happened to have convenient wrist and ankle straps built in. Just loops, really, she could pull free any time she cared to, which was completely on purpose.
“Kick me iff’n I hurt ya, missy,” the “bandit leader” whispered as he slipped the loops around her wrists. Then he bent and held the ankle loops for her to slip her foot into, far too polite to actually touch her leg.
Well, no one in the audience minded that the “ties” were only loops. They were all very excited, anticipating what was about to happen. Bad acting notwithstanding.
But, of course, the first thing that happened was that Fox made an outline of her body with thrown knives. Both of them were using their power over air to make sure the knives missed, so she was never in the slightest bit of danger, but every time Fox drew back his arm to throw, there was a collective intake of breath, and when the knife hit in the “safe” zone, there was a sigh of relief and a cheer.
Not trusting the sylphs to keep their minds on the task, Giselle was creating strong eddies between her body and the spot where each knife was supposed to hit. She knew from experience that these eddies would provide a cushion that would force the knife away from her body if Fox somehow lost his concentration. To the part of her that actually saw magic, each of these eddies was a little whirligig of white sparks that pushed outward rather than drawing inward. She was so intent on creating them and keeping them going that she actually didn’t see much of what Fox