Perchance to dream: theatre illuminata #2 by Lisa Mantchev

Author:Lisa Mantchev [Lisa Mantchev]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Jeunesse
ISBN: 9780312380977
Published: 2010-05-25T06:39:21+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

Garments of Changeable Taffeta

Bertie didn’t have any desire to linger, dressed in rags or not. “I should catch up with the others. I don’t like to be any trouble.”

“There’s trouble, and there’s trouble. And a troublesome young girl without the sense to wear something travel appropriate is only slightly more troublesome than a button come loose.” Valentijn gestured to an ancient folding screen tilting drunkenly against a stack of sticker-plastered leather valises. “That will afford you some privacy while I locate something suitable.”

With the Keeper of the Costumes between her and the door, Bertie didn’t like to test the theory that she’d be faster and more dexterous than the muscle-bound Strong Man.

He could fling me into the nearest open trunk with half a thought.

“Take this with you.” Valentijn handed her the embroidered chemise and turned to flick through a freestanding clothing rack.

Moving past the new silver Harlequin costume and the matching golden Columbine, all diamond points and glittering spangles, Bertie ducked behind the thin shield of paper and wood. Setting aside the journal, she easily shucked her ruined vestments without needing to unlace or unbutton, wishing she could strip away Valentijn’s premonition as easily.

That doesn’t mean you won’t die alongside him.

The Strong Man’s boxcar was cold; unlike the caboose, it didn’t have a visible source of heat, and her breath silvered as she hastened to pull on the chemise. Head emerging from the cloud of immaculate linen, she wished for something more than that between her skin and the frigid air. The appearance of a heavy, medieval-style surcoat of palest lavender wool stemmed the threat of hypothermia.

“This will complement your hair,” was the observation from the opposite side of the screen

Bertie examined the proffered overdress, the same color as frost on purple grapes. Having never once voluntarily worn something not black or jewel toned, she immediately lodged her protest. “I’ll look like an Easter egg.”

“Wear it or go without,” was Valentijn’s casual dismissal of her concerns. “It makes no difference to me.”

Not so much like Mrs. Edith, then.

Her caretaker would never have let her so much as poke her nose out of the Wardrobe without every stitch in its proper place. Deciding that color was less important than warmth, Bertie wriggled into the surcoat and struggled to tie the laces. Her mind wrestled with another issue: the glower the Strong Man had given the sneak-thief. “Why don’t you like Waschbär?”

“I have no use for one such as he. He never sees anything through to the end.” Without warning, Valentijn moved the screen as easily as a lady closing a paper fan. “How’s the fit?”

“All right, I suppose.”

“May I?” He waited for her nod before deftly adjusting the overdress. “Not bad. Not ideal. Something in green would have been better.”

Bertie’s thoughts instantly strayed to the many bottles of industrial dye back in the Wardrobe Department. “Green highlights would be interesting, I suppose.”

“I meant the dress.” Valentijn gestured to a pair of beaded, low-heeled dancing slippers that sat on a nearby trunk.

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