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Jul. 13th, 2011 08:28 pmKate Barlow had been right, Carlotta reflected the night after she last went to the bar. If she wasn't careful, she was going to spend the whole of her youthful years doing dreadful, serious things.
For the first time in months, she feels the spark of energy come back. Under no circumstances does she intend to let a little thing like a war and a broken leg stop her doing what she loves best!
She grabs the crutch and heads out into the stable yard, with a sudden flash of inspiration. If she can't be a trapese artist for a while, or a horse acrobat, she'll jolly well use her strong upper body instead. Picking a quiet spot behind Orion's stable, she hobbles around picking up all sorts of items; pieces of wood, old horse jumps, and a variety of obstacles Will's father had once used training a collie to do tricks on.
Then, she rests the crutches on the stable wall and, taking great care of the cast, flips over to walk on her hands. She then proceeds to work her way around the obstacles, up the little steps, through the poles, and pausing only when she gets to the see-saw. Then, determined, she walks up it and very carefully transfers her weight so that the other side slowly goes down.
As she gets to the bottom of the see-saw, she hears a little gasp, and looks around to see Libby, holding baby Julia, staring open-mouthed.
"Carlotta! I don't know if I should encourage you but that's simply marvellous." she says. "I would have laughed but I was afraid you'd fall."
"Thanks." Carlotta grins, moves back over to the wall, then carefully turns over again. Libby hands her the crutches. "I know it's frightfully naughty of me, but it doesn't hurt my leg at all."
"Oh I don't know, your body's probably used to being upside down most of the time." Libby says. "I wonder you don't sleep like a bat!" She sits down on one of the beams Carlotta just walked across, bouncing Julia slightly. Carlotta sits next to her.
"Libby? Would everyone be dreadfully cross if I went back on tour?"
"Of course not." Libby says. "That was always the agreement. When, though? Not with that leg of yours in plaster, surely?"
"Well I'd have to gather people first. And yes, once I'm out of plaster. I certainly couldn't be a show on my own. But I was thinking, there's a lot of women involved in circuses and there's no reason why they ought to always be in the dark. Why, we could perform just after tea, and then the evening would be free of blackout problems and the cast could do voluntary work for the war effort."
"Will people be able to afford tickets?" Libby ponders.
"We'll all have ration books, so we won't starve." Carlotta says. "We could pass around a hat rather than charging tickets. And... collect milk bottle tops for the RAF... heavens, I need a notebook!"
Libby digs in her pocket and finds some paper and a pen.
"You should do it." she says. "What do you have to lose? If things go wrong, you can just come back here. And with all the men away, you can fulfil your dream of being a female ringmaster!"
"You're sure the family won't mind? It's not like I'm doing anything terribly useful."
"I think it's about time some morale got spread around." Libby says, giving her a hug.
For the first time in months, she feels the spark of energy come back. Under no circumstances does she intend to let a little thing like a war and a broken leg stop her doing what she loves best!
She grabs the crutch and heads out into the stable yard, with a sudden flash of inspiration. If she can't be a trapese artist for a while, or a horse acrobat, she'll jolly well use her strong upper body instead. Picking a quiet spot behind Orion's stable, she hobbles around picking up all sorts of items; pieces of wood, old horse jumps, and a variety of obstacles Will's father had once used training a collie to do tricks on.
Then, she rests the crutches on the stable wall and, taking great care of the cast, flips over to walk on her hands. She then proceeds to work her way around the obstacles, up the little steps, through the poles, and pausing only when she gets to the see-saw. Then, determined, she walks up it and very carefully transfers her weight so that the other side slowly goes down.
As she gets to the bottom of the see-saw, she hears a little gasp, and looks around to see Libby, holding baby Julia, staring open-mouthed.
"Carlotta! I don't know if I should encourage you but that's simply marvellous." she says. "I would have laughed but I was afraid you'd fall."
"Thanks." Carlotta grins, moves back over to the wall, then carefully turns over again. Libby hands her the crutches. "I know it's frightfully naughty of me, but it doesn't hurt my leg at all."
"Oh I don't know, your body's probably used to being upside down most of the time." Libby says. "I wonder you don't sleep like a bat!" She sits down on one of the beams Carlotta just walked across, bouncing Julia slightly. Carlotta sits next to her.
"Libby? Would everyone be dreadfully cross if I went back on tour?"
"Of course not." Libby says. "That was always the agreement. When, though? Not with that leg of yours in plaster, surely?"
"Well I'd have to gather people first. And yes, once I'm out of plaster. I certainly couldn't be a show on my own. But I was thinking, there's a lot of women involved in circuses and there's no reason why they ought to always be in the dark. Why, we could perform just after tea, and then the evening would be free of blackout problems and the cast could do voluntary work for the war effort."
"Will people be able to afford tickets?" Libby ponders.
"We'll all have ration books, so we won't starve." Carlotta says. "We could pass around a hat rather than charging tickets. And... collect milk bottle tops for the RAF... heavens, I need a notebook!"
Libby digs in her pocket and finds some paper and a pen.
"You should do it." she says. "What do you have to lose? If things go wrong, you can just come back here. And with all the men away, you can fulfil your dream of being a female ringmaster!"
"You're sure the family won't mind? It's not like I'm doing anything terribly useful."
"I think it's about time some morale got spread around." Libby says, giving her a hug.
