The Weight of Air by Kimberly Duffy

Author:Kimberly Duffy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;FIC042030;FIC042110;FIC014000
ISBN: 9781493440672
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2022-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

16

MISS MOREAU WATCHED HER. Mabel had caught her staring a dozen times since she’d entered the dressing room that morning but hadn’t had the opportunity to address it. Changing performers crowded the space—the three other aerialists who tittered and pointed, acrobats and rope dancers, members of the ballet troupe, and even a female clown who kissed Miss Moreau on the cheek and cast her worried glances.

It had been only two days since Mabel learned she would work for the world’s foremost circus, and she could still hardly acknowledge the fact. While the other women flung off bits of clothing and borrowed each other’s combs and pots of rouge, Mabel ducked behind the screen and changed into her costume. She ran her hands lightly over the simple bodice with deep reverence for the friendship that had been sewn into every stitch.

Mr. Pedersen had told her when she arrived that morning that she would be fitted for something grander. Something flashier and eye-catching. There were three rings, after all, and one couldn’t expect to be noticed by the audience if they wore something so unsophisticated.

She would only have this first show to honor Alice’s skill and Jake’s thoughtfulness. She tugged the bodice into place and smiled. It would be enough, for both would see it—Jake in the ring with her, and Alice, alongside Katie Grace, on the very front bench, watching.

Katie Grace had been beside herself with excitement when Mabel told her that morning as their belongings were loaded into a cart to be taken to the Hotel Veronica. The news had stopped the tears tracking the child’s cheeks.

“We will miss you,” Alice had said, squeezing Mabel’s hand in Mrs. Luvotti’s front parlor. “You must visit. Every time you are in New York.”

Mabel stepped back around the screen, pressing her stomach to dislodge the knot of grief settled there. She had become close to Alice and Katie Grace in the weeks since arriving in New York, and she hated leaving them. Always before, her friends had traveled with her. There had not been many good-byes.

The room had emptied while Mabel changed, everyone having gone to watch the show’s opening from the wings. Miss Moreau studied her with an unnervingly contained gaze. “You didn’t want to go with the others?” Mabel asked.

Miss Moreau shook her head, then bent over the dressing table and shuffled through a collection of jars and bottles. She lifted a sheet of papier poudré and pressed it to her nose. “I prefer to stay in the dressing room until it is time to go out.”

“I will stay with you, then. My performance is just before yours.” Mabel found an empty hook and hung her clothing on it. She turned to find Miss Moreau again staring.

During every minute Mabel had tossed upon the boardinghouse’s too-small bed the night before, going over every possible disaster that might happen to cut short this boon to her career—stage fright, injury, poor reception, negative newspaper coverage—not once had she considered she might engender the ill will of America’s favorite aerialist before even having had a proper conversation with her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.