Ok, I know this is a bit ahead of its time, and there is even a Beatles quote that I thought fit...but bare with me, please?
Chapter six: The history of the whore
The crowd was huge. Parisians all lined and squashed into the massive three ring tent. Mr. Kite was booming away about that nights preformance. Babies were plugged quiet with sugar tits, children watching in awe at the caged bear and lion off to the side, growling and pacing as best as they could.(the animals, not the children) There was an air of excitement that everyone held, their breath bated.
Except for Elvira. She was sinched tight into a pale blue costume with glitter. Her and Victoria were the first act, and if she hadn't seen it done, Elvira would have never thought it possible.
Soon enough; there was Victoria, in her matching pink costume, standing atop of Peanut, the elephant, an umbrella in her hand. Elvira sat down at the upright piano in the middle of the second ring, and began pounding the rehearsed music.
"When I get older, losing my hair,
Many years from now,
Will you still be sending me a valentine,
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?"
The whole troupe was amazed, as Elvira admitted on the boat ride to France that she could play the piano. So it was that she would play piano while Victoria sang and did a ballerina performance atop Peanut, who walked circles around the ring, close to the crowd.
It was all surreal to Elvira. She chose to go along with it, not knowing anything else to do. Officially; she was Mr. Kite's. He owned her, though he showed her nothing but kindness. Sometimes she would think of her Girls, and Tourtga Town. Her anger flashing at the though of Jack and selling her to a circus. If she ever did get out of here, she vowed to hunt him down, and at least get the money he was paid. She was owed that much.
"Grandchildren on your knee,
Vera, Chuck, and Dave,"
Victoria was nearing her finish. Like always, she would do a back-flip off of Peanut and land gracefully by the piano. It had been done before.
"Will you still need me?
Will you still feed me?
When I'm sixty-four?"
The crowd clapped as she bowed, then flipped backwards.
A collective gasp of horror went out as Peanut moved slightly to the side, throwing her off balance, and landing with a definite crack. Mr. Kite, Elvira, and Gorge ran to the still woman. She was unconscious, though still breathing. Gorge picked her up, and after a hurried apology from Mr. Kite, they were out of the tent and into the flat they had rented, right by the ground.
"Good heavens!" Grace gasped as she opened the bedroom door that Elvira and Victoria shared; letting the men and women in. The ballerina was gently placed on the large feather bed, and blankets drawn over her.
Knowing it was a selfish though; Elvira was more concerned about the glitter on the bed, then the person wearing the glitter.
"Send for a doctor...I think she broke her back...dammit!" It was the first time Elvira had seen Mr. Kite so agitated, and angry. The other two fled the room, one in fear, the other going to fetch a doctor. Mr. Kite took of his hat and ran his fingers through his dark hair.
"Vera?" Elvira looked up at hearing the name she had adapted.
"Yes?"
"Can you go and fetch some tea? It will be a long night," Elvira nodded and did so.
By the time she came back, a doctor had come and gone. Indeed, Victoria's back was broken. She could never walk again. Elvira and Mr. Kite decided to stay up with her, in hopes that she would wake up in the night.
"I never thought of her not being there," Mr. Kite admitted, when the tea was poured and Elvira had changed from her costume into a simply dress. They sat at the little tea table, eyes sorrow filled.
"Did you two have a...relationship?" she ventured.
"Oh no. No. But she has been there from the beginning. The troupe will seem so dull now." Elvira did like the way that Mr. Kite always referred to the people in the circus as though they were a threatre act. Not a traveling freak show(as Elvira sometimes like to call it).
Elvira found sufficient wages, other then that of the show. Claiming to go for walks in the evening, she would often slip into the more run down parts of wherever they were, and do her real work. She admitted that after a time, she needed it. Not only for the money. In every way, she was the tempest.
"She is beautiful. And she isn't dead," Elvira pointed out. Though; on close inspection, if one really looked–you could see the fine lines on Victoria's face. She was aging. She had been aging for a while.
"What about you?" Mr. Kite suddenly asked. Elvira frowned, uncrossed, and re-crossed her legs.
"What about me?"
"Where did you grow up? Did you ever have prospects? I know little of you. I think Captain Sparrow mentioned that you were a...lady of the night..." Mr. Kite coughed uncomfortably. "But you had to be something before that."
Elvira shrugged. "There isn't much to tell."
"We have time," Elvira looked up sharply. That was something she had heard aforementioned captain say.
"Indeed we do," she said rather waspishly.
"Please? I should like to hear more about you. You seem protected. Like there is a barrier around you. Or it could be my overactive imagination. Please?"
Elvira gave a wry smile. "Very well."
"I was born in London. My mother was Lady Sachrine. I didn't know my father, who died shortly after my birth. We were well off. Living in polite society. When I was sixteen, I was to be wed. Duke of something or another...I can't quite remember. We would go on one of those new marraige tours, for a few weeks. You know the ones...where you go off to foreign contries for a while...a perfect chance to get to know your spouse and see new things.
"The Duke was handsome. Oh yes. Fair skin. Fair hair. The greenest eyes in humanity. I often said that he was a child of the earth...given eyes like the leaves. Dim...I know. But he laughed at it. We were quite fond of each other." Elvira broke off and took a breath. She glanced over at the now sleeping form of Victoria. Why...if she hadn't have fallen so...they would most likely still be doing the show. Maybe Gorge and the bear; Arthos would be on...or Serge and the lion; Kitty.
"We were married. Happiest day of me young life. We started off on our marriage tour, first coming here, to France. Then we would go to Rome, Spain, Austria, and a few places besides. It was here..when...When Duke had gone off to get me a surprise. He said he wanted to get me a jewel that would outshine anything here. I...two armed officials came to the door of our inn. They found his body in the streets. All money gone. Apparently beaten so bad that they didn't want me to see it. Given my...delicate condition."
"You were pregnant?" Mr. Kite asked, taking a sip of tea, frowning into the cup.
"Yes," Elvira said flatly. "But I lost the baby right then. I had to sell everything just to get back to London. There I found that my mother had died of pnemonia while I was away. I was then destitute.
"That was when I began being the "lady of the night". I made enough money to get to Tortuga. I thought perhaps the Caribbean would hold more for me then Europe did. I was stuck in a rut, in the run down part of Tourtuga town. Soon, I made my way up on the whore food chain. I even took in a few girls. We lived in a shanty. That is...until the asshole of a captain entered out lives. I wonder if they are ok."
"You amaze me," Mr. Kite said after a minute; breaking Elvira out of her reverie.
"Sorry?"
"All this has happened...and yet...you still have a sense of humor. You still worry about others more then yourself. I think it was indeed a good day for my threatre when Captain Sparrow walked into your home."
"You may think that, Mr. Kite...but I have trouble," Elvira shrugged.