A Girl of White Winter

by Barb Hendee

  Jade walked from wagon to wagon, checking on everyone and helping with costumes.

  “Am I going on first or second?” Jemma called from the back of her wagon.

  “First, I think,” Jade called back. “Raven’s got Badger and Tannen up second.”

  “I can’t find my silk scarves.”

  “What?” Jade asked, aghast as she hurried up the stairs into the wagon. “We have to find them.”

  With no idea what any of this meant, I stood back, trying to keep out of the way.

  Near mid-morning, Raven went into our wagon and closed the door. Not long after, he emerged again wearing no shirt, a black vest, black pants, and high polished boots. The autumn air was rather cool to be walking around without sleeves, but he seemed immune to the cold.

  “Cover yourself with a cloak,” he said, “especially your hair.”

  Then he took me, along with a number of the men, through the town to the open-air market. We traveled on foot, and I carried two folded but heavy curtains. Raven carried a rope and stout wooden pegs. Tannen, Badger, and two other men carried a thick board about the width and length of twelve doors. Teresa’s husband, Michel, carried long poles. Like Raven, Tannen and Badger were dressed in black pants and vests—without shirts beneath—and high polished boots.

  On one edge of the market, the men went to work pounding in pegs and then setting up a platform about a foot off the ground. The platform had a hole on each side, near the back, and Michel set in the long poles. Raven fastened one end of the rope to the top of a pole and then called me over. Together, we strung the curtains, and he tied off the other end of the rope to the second pole.

  “The stage,” Raven said.

  Some of the people at the market watched us work until he pulled me behind the curtains. Almost as if summoned, the others from our group came walking toward us from behind, shielded from the crowd by the stage and curtains. I nearly gasped at the sight of their transformation. The women were dressed in gowns of vivid blues, greens, reds, and pinks. Jemma wore a red silk dress with a royal blue sash. Jade was resplendent in emerald green. I could see the fabrics were a bit worn and of the cheapest quality, but it didn’t matter. The mix of colors alone was so festive that the sight would bring cheer to anyone with eyes. The men were dressed like Tannen, Badger, and Raven, and two of them carried violins. While the three children were not in costume, each of them had one of the caravan’s small dogs on a leash trotting alongside.

  A few of the men who’d come with us to set up the stage now broke off to set up a tent to one side.

  As I watched this, Raven explained. “Once we start, you’ll see how this works, but Lizbeth works on her own. She’ll read fortunes in private. Ash reads them on stage to entertain the crowd.”

  Without true understanding, I nodded, assuming he would soon tell me how I might be able to help from back here, but he just rushed onward.

  “Right now, we’re running six acts, and it’s best to alternate a musical act followed by a non-musical act.”

  Again, I nodded but felt forced to ask, “What would you like me to do?”

  “Do? Nothing yet. This morning, you just watch the performances and then you can tell me what you might do and where you might fit in. I’m thinking with the dancers at first. We could work out a new act with you in the middle as the visual center point.”

  I stared at him, uncertain I’d heard correctly. “You want me to dance?”

  “Well, you don’t have to choose dancing. Can you play an instrument?”

  He wanted me to take part in the show?

  I shook my head. “Oh, no…Raven, I can’t go out on that stage in front of people. I thought you wanted me to help with the show.”

  “Yes, I want to you help. Your hair and eyes alone will have everyone’s attention.” He peered through the crack in the curtain. “I need to start calling the crowd. You just watch this morning and decide what you might want to do.”

  Then he was gone, through the curtain and out onto the stage with his arms in the air.

  Jade was behind the curtain with the rest of us, doing a final check of Jemma’s dress.

  “Marcel and Bonham, get ready,” Jade ordered.

  Jemma’s husband—or “man” as she’d called him—and another of the younger men stood near the curtain with their violins.

  Bonham.

  Now I could place another name with a face.

  “Welcome my friends!” Raven called from the stage. “To the finest show in all of Samourè!”

  Moving to one end of the platform, I peered through a crack between the pole and the curtain. People were beginning to gather in a crowd. Teresa and Michel stood at the edges of the crowd, and they each held an upside down hat in their hands.

  “You’ll not see more beautiful dancers anywhere!” Raven called. “You’ll be amazed by feats of acrobatics and strength. Learn your fortune from a true seer. Come and be dazzled!”

  The quality of his voice carried, and he made quite a sight out there with his muscular arms and the way his long, black hair swung when he moved. The crowd continued to grow.

  Motioning to the curtain with one hand, Raven called, “The dance of the sprite!”

  Then he came back through the curtain as Marcel and Bonham dashed out holding their violins and bows up over their heads. They each ran to one side of the stage.

  “Now!” Jade whispered.

  Jemma ran out, silken skirts flying, holding three sheer scarves in her hands.

  Marcel hit the first note.

  Then he hit a long second note, and Bonham joined in. The violins made music in perfect sync…and Jemma began to move, swirling the sheer cloths around herself.

  People in the crowd fell silent, watching her.

  I’d never seen anything like this, and Jemma was mesmerizing when she danced. Marcel and Bonham began playing faster, simultaneously moving around Jemma as she danced. The music kept growing faster, and Jemma danced faster…and people watched.

  She swirled so fast her body became nothing but a flow of color and motion.

  When the song ended, it finished on one sharp dramatic note, and Jemma dropped to her knees.

  The gathered audience burst into shouts and applause.

  It was then that Teresa and Michel began moving through the crowd, holding out their hats, smiling in encouragement, and people began tossing coins into the hats. My mouth fell partway open as I realized how this worked. I’d never possessed my own money, as my needs had always been provided. But when Raven had used the words, “earn money,” he’d meant that people would give it voluntarily if they were entertained enough. I could barely get my head around this. Still, I didn’t have long to ponder as Raven was back out on the stage.

  “And now feats of strength and skill to astound you!” he called. “The great Tannen and Badger!”

  As he came back through the curtain, Tannen and Badger moved out, both holding their arms in the air as they jogged back and forth several times across the stage. People cheered them.

  Then, suddenly, Badger dropped to his knees and put his hands on his shoulders, palms up. Tannen climbed up to stand on his hands, and Badger slowly rose. Tannen never lost balance and I was astonished to see him standing on Badger’s shoulders. The crowd gasped.

  Then even more slowly, Badger began to move his hands upward, holding Tannen’s feet, until his arms were straight and Tannen was high over his head.

  Again, Tannen never lost balance.

  The crowd cheered more loudly, but I stepped away from the curtain, unable to watch anymore. I could not play an instrument. I certainly could not dance like Jemma. Tannen and Badger could perform feats I could hardly believe…and Raven wanted me to watch these acts and then tell him what I might be able to do?

  I couldn’t do any of this. Even the thought of stepping out in front
of all those people made my stomach turn. The crowd gasped and applauded, and I wondered what Tannen and Badger were doing now, but couldn’t bring myself to look.

  When their act ended, I saw Jade and Bonham at the curtain, ready to step out.

  As Tannen and Badger came back, Raven again walked through the curtain, smiling broadly. Forcing myself to peek out, I saw people dropping coins into the hats as Teresa and Michel passed through the crowd.

  “Have you ever seen such strength?” Raven called, as if encouraging the crowd to give more. Then Raven stepped to one side and called, “The beautiful songbird, Jade.”

  As Jade and Bonham came out, Raven vanished behind the curtain.

  Bonham played a long, sad note that hung in the air, but I noticed he was playing much more softly than when Jemma had danced.

  Jade began to sing as Bonham played.

  Her voice was clear, and she could carry a tune. The song was about a girl who fell in love with a soldier and gave herself to him the night before he left for war.

  The chorus repeated stanzas of her waiting for him to return.

  The verses told her story of sorrow and fear once she learned she was with child.

  The solider did not return.

  I thought Jade had chosen a good song, with a story for the crowd to hear, but I noticed she stood near the back of the stage and did not make eye contact with anyone in the crowd. I don’t know how I knew that was a mistake—only that it was.

  As opposed to hanging on her voice and words, the crowd appeared to be listening politely.

  In the final chorus, she repeated the strain of the girl waiting endlessly.

  She and Bonham finished on a long note, and the crowd applauded, but few coins were tossed into the hats. As Jade and Bonham stepped off, Raven took their place with his hands in the air.

  “And now…” he said slowly, “The next act needs no introduction, as many of you have seen him before, the Amazing Ash.”

  I’d never paid much attention to Lizbeth’s husband Ash, but as he took the stage, I watched him. He was slender, with gray hair hanging to his shoulders, and a somewhat pinched face. Moving to the front edge of the stage, he stood close enough to touch people, and everyone fell silent.

  “Who among you has a question?” he posed. “Ask and let me answer, for the spirits speak to me, and I will share their secrets.”

  His voice was low, but it carried, and at first, the crowd appeared so daunted by him that no one spoke. Looking down, he made eye contact with a girl of about sixteen.

  “You have sorrow,” he said.

  She blinked.

  “You’ve lost someone dear to you,” he went on.

  Tears sprang to her eyes.

  “A father,” he said. “No…a mother.”

  The girl choked back a sob, and I wondered how he was doing this. Did the spirits really speak to him?

  “You have a question for her?” he asked.

  Pushing forward to the front of the crowd, she looked up at him. “She was so afraid of being alone. Can you tell me if she found her sister, my Aunt Marta, on the other side? Are they together?”

  Ash closed his eyes and opened them again. His voice softened. “Yes, she tells you not to worry, not to fear. She has found her sister on the spirit plane, and they are together.”

  The girl sobbed again and put one hand to her mouth. “Thank you…thank you.”

  The crowd all seemed to breathe at once, as if pleased and moved by Ash’s announcement.

  I couldn’t move. He had them in his hand.

  Then a man from the crowd called out playfully. “Is my wife unfaithful?”

  People laughed, but Ash focused sharply on the man, and the man flinched ever so slightly. I didn’t think many people noticed, but I did. His question was more serious than he pretended.

  Ash had seen this too.

  “What makes you think she might be unfaithful?” he asked. “Have you not been a loving husband? Not shown her your love?”

  The man’s left eye twitched.

  “And because of this,” Ash went on, “she’s ceased showing her love for you?”

  The man went still, but the crowd was still too, hanging on this exchange.

  As I waited to hear what happened next, I realized Raven was standing right beside me, leaning down to speak quietly.

  “Can you see what he’s doing?”

  I hesitated and then decided to say what I thought. “He’s reading faces. He’s reading reactions.”

  Raven nodded. “Yes.”

  “And he tells them what they need to hear.”

  At this, Raven started in surprise, but answered, “That’s exactly what he’s doing, and he’s better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

  With that, Raven took his place at the center break in the curtain again.

  Turning back to the events playing out on the stage, I heard Ash tell the man, “Your wife is not unfaithful. But unless you change, she might be. Go home and show her love, show her your value of her. Then you never need worry.”

  Many people in the crowd were nodding.

  I stood frozen as this type of exchange played out five more times. Someone would ask a question, and Ash would return with questions of his own, and then he would dispense wisdom or provide an answer.

  The crowd loved him, and when he finished many coins went into the hats, but my own despair only grew. What Ash was doing out there required incredible confidence—which I lacked. I could never do what he was doing.

  After his act, a more involved dance number followed in which Marcel and Bonham played wildly, and Jemma, Emilee, and Deidra danced in a circle, often running past each other and then reforming the circle. This took perfect timing as their legs and arms moved in unison.

  It was both beautiful and exciting to watch.

  But again…I could never do it.

  When this dance finished, Raven introduced the final act, and Marcel ran back out onto the stage, without his violin, but holding three long handkerchiefs. To my astonishment, the three small dogs—now off their leashes—ran out after him, barking and yipping.

  A comic display followed, in which the dogs would leap up and bite on the handkerchiefs, and Marcel would pretend to be jerked and pulled about. Every few moments, he fell down and the dogs took turns jumping over the top of him as he dramatically begged them to stop.

  Then he would get up, and the whole process began again.

  The crowd roared at their antics, and then he fell to the stage, as one dog jumped over the top of him, the second dog simultaneously jumped higher over the first dog, and the third dog jumped over the top of the second dog.

  It was something to see.

  This act was clearly a favorite, and I could understand why Raven saved it for last.

  When the comedy ended, all of the players ran out onto the stage to hold hands and bow, and Raven thanked the audience for their kindness. But I barely saw or heard this last part as the unwanted roaring in my ears was beginning to shut out other sounds. I was terrified.

  Everyone came back behind the curtain, chattering excitedly, and moments later, Teresa and Michel appeared with the hats.

  “A good take for such a small town,” Teresa said, handing her hat to Raven. “Look.”

  He glanced at the hat and kissed the side of her face, and then took the hat from Michel and poured them together. A few moments later, he began handing out coins, giving some to everyone who had performed, and then giving some to the three men who had not performed, but who had helped set up the stage and Lizbeth’s tent.

  From what I could see, he gave away about half and then poured the rest into a brown canvas pouch. When this was over, he looked to me.

  Of course I received nothing, as I had been only a spectator.

  “What did you think?”
he asked, his voice still filled with excitement.

  I was speechless.

  “What do you think you might do?” he pressed.

  Jade heard this and looked at him. “What do you mean? You told me you brought her along to use her in the show. You must have a plan.”

  “I…I…” My stammering sounded weak, but I had no idea what to say. “Could I not work behind the curtain?”

  “Behind the curtain?” Jade stepped closer to us both, and her eyes were blazing.

  But Raven held up one hand to stop her from speaking, and he looked to me. “Kara, you’ll need to take part in the show. Surely you can dance?”

  When would I have ever have learned to dance?

  “No,” I answered. “I cannot dance…I cannot sing…I cannot do any of the things you do. Please let me be of use in other ways.”

  Jade hissed through her teeth and glared at Raven. “You liar.”

  Whirling, she stormed off, heading in the direction of the camp. Raven stood stunned for a few seconds and then ran after her. “Jade!”

  The others glanced at me askance, but no one said anything.

  * * * *

  Although the last thing I wanted was a confrontation with Jade, I knew I had to fix this. There must be something I could do for the group besides perform.

  Only moments after Raven left, I started back for the camp myself, hoping I could catch the two of them alone, and they might find some duties to assign me. My only concern would be payment. Earning money would be necessary if I was to send a message to my lady.

  Remembering the way back easily, I entered the camp determined to find a resolution to this problem. But the sound of raised voices reached me, coming from inside the wagon parked beside ours: Jade’s wagon.

  The shutters were open, and Raven and Jade were shouting at each other.

  “Don’t ever call me a liar in front of the troupe!” he yelled. “Not ever.”

  “Why not? You are a liar. You told me the girl was coming with us because you wanted to use her in the show. I believed you! I can see she’d draw a crowd. I even kept quiet when you moved her into your wagon!”