Rouge (5 page)

Her face was pale with fear when I emerged, and that old protectiveness rose within me.

“Come here,” I soothed her. “It’s okay. Take this and go change.”

I handed her one of the small towels I kept for myself. She sniffed and took the parcel from me. I watched her leave and then sat back, biting my lip. Those towels were expensive. The girls hoarded and stole them from one another, and with two of us to supply, there was no way I could cover this expense alone. We had to have more money. Now.

After a few moments she returned. “Thanks,” she said, bundling her dress into a roll. Then she sat on the floor in front of me and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“A little trembly. And my stomach hurts. Here,” she rubbed her lower abdomen. Then she whispered. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be scared.” I pulled her into my arms and smoothed her copper locks back from her face. “
Rosa
didn’t really say much when it happened to me, but it’s perfectly normal. You’re turning into a woman.”

She lifted her chin and kissed my neck. “Thank you.”

I continued smoothing her hair and we were silent a few moments. A tapping at the door interrupted us.

“Hale,” Carla stuck her head inside. “Are you okay?”

Teeny clutched my arm, and I looked at her. She shook her head.

“We just…” I tried to think of something plausible. “Teeny’s feeling under the weather, so I was just checking on her.”

“Frank needs you back onstage. I’m sorry you’re sick, Teence.”

I stood and helped her up. “Just lie down for a little while, and we’ll talk more later.”

Back onstage I went to where my dance partner was waiting. I turned my back to him and leaned against his firm chest. My arms spread open and his hands cupped my wrists as our legs rose in unison. It was a beautiful dance, and in my mind I calculated how long it had taken me to go from falling and stepping on my partner’s feet to near-ballet.

No, I decided. We’d need a solution quicker than that.

* * *

“The first day really is the hardest,” Teeny said the next morning. “I feel so much better now.”

“I’m glad,” I said, frowning as I handed her the second-to-last towel I had hidden beneath my table. Once they were gone, our only option was those smelly rags that didn’t provide much in the way of protection. Or hygiene.
And
we had to wash and boil them by hand. It was disgusting.

Several minutes later, the door burst open again and she rushed in, grabbing my arm. “He’s back,” she whispered. “Come on!”

“What now?”

She pulled me down the narrow corridor to the backstage area where in a few minutes I’d have to test the bench Mastiff’s workers had constructed. I wasn’t looking forward to it. Midway there, she released me, and I reached back to finish tying my hair. Then she stopped so short, I almost slammed into her.

She turned and grabbed my arms. “Look,” she whispered, tilting her head to the scaffolding above and behind her.

I looked in the direction of her nod, but all I saw were workers.

“What?” I returned my eyes to her, searching her face. “Did you see something?”

“Up there,” she murmured a bit louder, through tight lips. I looked again, but the only thing I saw was…
Oh, no
. Through a sheen of dust particles a slender guy with honey-colored hair was tying the rope that would catch me if the one holding my bench broke.

“Are you wagging your head at a stage hand?” I squinted into the light again hoping there was something else there I’d overlooked.

Teeny squeezed my arms. “Don’t stare!”

“But you just said—”

“What do you think?” she interrupted, her voice giddy. “Isn’t he amazing?”

I looked again, but she jerked my sleeve. “Don’t look again!”

“I didn’t really see!”

“You’ll see him when you go up. I just want you to know what you’re looking for.”

A stage hand my age or possibly older was
not
what I was looking for, especially after all her talk of love affairs and kissing.

“You know, when it’s that time of the month, your emotions are very sensitive.”

“I noticed him yesterday evening,” she continued. “I heard him tell Mastiff he’d just moved here from Ascension.”

“That’s another thing. Set workers are drifters, notoriously irresponsible, and most of them are drunks
or drug fiends—”
I stopped speaking when I felt a thump on the floorboards behind me.

Teeny’s eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. I pressed my lips together, hoping he hadn’t overheard me.

“Are you Miss Hale?” a male voice said.

I turned to find the fellow in question looking down at us. He had bright blue eyes, and when he smiled, as much as I wanted to dislike him, I had to confess it was very friendly. Teeny’s fingernails cut into my forearm.

“Ow—yes,” I said.

“They were right,” he murmured.

“Sorry?” I leaned forward, and he blushed. It was terribly cute—not that it made a difference, of course.

Then he cleared his throat and spoke louder. “Ready to test this thing out?”

I peered into the rafters above. “Is it going to drop me?”

“Not if I have anything to do with it.”

Again, fingernails pierced my arm. “Ow!” I pulled away. “I just need to… Have you met my…” I realized it was the first time I’d introduced Teeny to anyone new. I didn’t know what to call her.

“I’m Christina,” she said, stepping from behind me. I made way, amazed at the sudden maturity in her voice. “Hale and I share a room.”

“Beauregard Faire,” he said, bowing his head slightly. Then he winked at her. “But everyone just calls me Beau.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Beau” she gushed, extending her small hand, palm down.

I watched his confused expression as he tentatively shook her fingers, and I bit back a giggle at her failed attempt at gentility. Stage hands weren’t known for kissing hands any more than ladies were known for shaking them.

“Let’s get a move on,” Mastiff’s other worker called from above. “Or are you three about to sit down to tea?”

“Just helping Miss Hale with the ladder, Jim,” Beau shouted up at him. Then he turned back to me and smiled. “Do you think you can manage it?”

At least he had some manners, although where he’d gotten them I didn’t have time to wonder. “I guess I’d better,” I said, looking up. “Teence…” Fingernails again. “Sorry.
Christina
, I think
Rosa
could use some help with the costumes now.”

“I’ll go right away,” she said. “Will you be at lunch, Beau?”

“Oh, yeah,” he laughed. “I’m hungry now!”

“Me too,” she said, leaning toward him. My eyes widened.

“Teeny.
Rosa
. Now.”

She cut her eyes at me and turned to go. I shook my head. I’d worry about this infatuation later—if it was even worth the worry. Beau seemed more confused by her flirtations than tempted, and he didn’t seem the type to take advantage of a little girl’s crush.

I made my way to the back wall where I could climb with some modesty, and for a moment I wished we still wore pantalets. The stage floor appeared much farther down from the top of the scaffolding, but I tried not to seem uneasy. Beau held the swing for me while I positioned my seat. He strapped the safety belt around my waist and clipped the second rope to it, and I was impressed by his gentle touch. For a stage hand.

“Don’t be nervous, Miss Hale,” he said.

“I’m not nervous,” I lied, pretending to be cavalier. “I just hope you boys know what you’re doing.”

“We’ll ease you down slowly. Roland will set the pace,” he said. “Just try to relax and sing.”

I squinted at the floor below, but I couldn’t make out a thing. It was all darkness with the bright lights shining in our faces.

“This gives ‘break a leg’ a whole new meaning,” I joked weakly. Beau frowned. “It’s an expression,” I said.

The music rose from below, and they released me on three. My breath caught as I swung out over the stage, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sing. Roland shouted up to me from the darkness.

“Lean into it, Hale! Like it’s the most wonderful thing you’ve ever done,” he ordered.

I flew out and was just beginning to see their faces. They were still so far away, but I inhaled and sang out the words to the final number.

You reach for me, and I disappear.

My heart is what you long to share…

A loud groan was followed by a sharp crack, and my heart flew to my throat. The bench went slack, and instantly I was hurtling to the stage floor below. My arms flew out, trying to grab anything, but all I found was air.

I didn’t have time to scream. Every muscle tensed as I prepared for the slam, but at the last moment, I heard a shout. A force jerked my waist so hard what was left of my breath whooshed out of my body in a groan. I faintly heard another shout before I was lifted by the leather belt around my middle and dropped again, this time more slowly to the stage.

Everything was a blur. I couldn’t focus on anything but filling my lungs with air again. I was lying on my stomach, and the pain in my middle was mind-numbing. The belt had nearly cut me in half, and my arms and legs felt paralyzed. The cast and crew were around me, and I barely recognized Roland flying to my side, pulling up my blouse and checking my skin.

“Hale?” His voice broke with panic as he unfastened the buckle at my back. “Can you hear me?”

I tried to nod, but I couldn’t. I was still dazed. He gently rolled me onto my side, and through my haze, I saw Jim in the wings helping Beau down the ladder. When he got to the stage, Beau jogged to where I was lying. He was holding his hands awkwardly, and I saw blood running down his forearms.

“Is she hurt?” His voice was desperate. “Miss Hale?”

“You need to come with me,” Jim was pulling him, but he jerked away.

“Is she going to be okay? I tried to hold her.”

Roland’s cool hand went to my forehead. “Can you hear me,
cher
?”

I looked into his dark eyes and was able to nod this time. “Can’t breathe,” I whispered. His forehead relaxed.

“Oh, god,” Roland exhaled, dropping his head. “She’s okay.”

A low murmur crossed the group, and Roland inhaled raggedly. Then he sniffed and lifted me in his arms. “I’ll take you to your room.”

Jim was leading Beau away, and I glanced just in time to see Carla pulling his hands back. Inch-thick bloody lines tore down both his palms, and his face contorted as she poured red-orange mercurochrome on them.

“Shredded your hands all right, but it’s lucky you caught her,” I heard Jim saying. “She’d be dead.”

I shuddered and leaned my head against Roland’s shoulder. He tightened his grip around me. “This will not happen again,” he said through clenched teeth as he carried me to my dressing room.

Roland placed me on the bed. “I’ll get
Rosa
to come and check you over,” he said and someone handed him a small bottle. “Here, drink this.”

He gave me a capful of bitter brown liquid. I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes as consciousness slipped away.

When I opened my eyes again, it was night. My lamp was lit, and when I saw my nurse, my breath caught. Evie was leaning with her back against my bedside holding one of
Rosa
’s books. I hadn’t seen her since her birthday, and I’d been too frightened to ask anyone where she was. She looked at me and smiled.

“There she is,” she said in a soft voice. “How’re you feeling now?”

I nodded, easing myself up to a sitting position. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Oh, since yesterday. Doc gave you more laudanum for the pain and said you should sleep it off.”

“Where’s Teeny?” My voice was thick and rough.

“Don’t worry about her,” Evie said. “She bunked in with
Rosa
last night.”

I pulled up my shirt to reveal a hideous purple and black line around my torso.

Evie gasped. “Oh, god, Hale!”

“Better than being dead, I guess,” I tried to joke.

“Are you in pain?”

“Only when I move.” I leaned gingerly against the pillows, trying to be still.

My old friend slid her fingers under my hand. With her other she patted the top of it. We were quiet several minutes, and all I could think about was not asking how she’d been or what had happened to her. She didn’t meet my gaze, and I wondered if she knew what I was thinking. A tap at the door broke the silence.

“Yes,” Evie called. Roland peeked his head in.

“How is she?” he whispered.

“Ask her yourself.” Evie stood and moved to the head of my bed. Roland came and knelt beside me. His hand went where Evie’s had been around mine.