The twins had been taking a nap in their tent when Greta went in search of them, so she left without disturbing their peace and quiet. Ethel had intercepted her as she headed towards her mother's tent, telling her there was no point attempting a conversation with the older blonde because she was as high as a kite.
Retreating to her own tent, the blonde had pulled out the flashcards Bette had given her and carefully laid them out in order, reciting the alphabet quietly to herself. Locating the letters of her name, Greta hunted around the tent for the paper and pencils that she knew were around somewhere. Finally finding them, she settled herself in front of the flashcards and carefully wrote out her name on the paper.
Smiling proudly, she returned the cards to the correct places in her alphabet line and then picked out the sounds she could hear in her mother's name. E – L – S – A. It joined her own name on the paper. Several others joined them, the girl sounding out as best she could.
D – O – T.
B – E – T.
E – V.
J – I – M – E.
P – E – P – A.
S – O – L – T – E.
"It looks like you are hard at work, liebling." Elsa's soft voice made the young woman jump and instinctively cover what she was doing with her hand. Laughing softly, her mother gently pulled the paper towards her and looked at it carefully. "Good… but what is this one?"
"Eve." Greta told her, looking over Elsa's shoulder to see which word she was pointing at.
"And this?"
"Jimmy… Pepper… Salty."
Elsa wrote the names properly beside her daughter's attempts and smiled at her. "You were very close, darling. English is a difficult language to learn… the letters do not always make the sounds that we expect."
Sighing, Greta put her head in her hands in defeat. "I am never going to get this..."
"You have been learning for a few weeks, Greta. Give it a little longer before you give up. Besides," she stroked a hand through her daughter's hair, "we Mars women never simply give up on anything."
Unable to stop herself reacting to her mother's gentle touch, the younger woman allowed her eyelids to flicker shut and she sighed happily, leaning into her side. "Ethel told me that you were high."
Elsa chuckled lightly, continuing to run her fingers through Greta's hair. "I was… but then I met a fortune teller who told me that there is still time for my career to take off. That I will still be a star."
"A fortune teller?" Greta asked, pulling away to look at her mother properly, arching an eyebrow cynically.
"Yes. She saw my past… my future. She truly has a gift."
"You do not believe that? You do not believe that she had the ability to see and predict your future?"
"Yes." Elsa replied bluntly. "I have hired her. But it made me think… I need to refine the show. I need to work on some new numbers and we need a new selling point; something to really drag the audiences in."
"Like what?"
"I want to pair you and Jimmy up… star-crossed lovers; Beauty and the Beast. That'll really draw the audience in…"
"No!" Greta shook her head vehemently. "I will not–"
"I am not saying you have to actually fall in love with the boy," her mother pointed out, rolling her eyes, "it is all an act. You play a part, liebling. You sing a duet, play up to the idea we are selling the audience, that is it."
"It is not that, Mother. I just… I think that Dot is in love with Jimmy. It would hurt her and she is my friend. Why could it not be her that plays the part? Perhaps it would turn out that it becomes real?"
"Because it has to be you, Greta. The audience will be fascinated with the idea of someone like them, you, falling in love with a freak, Jimmy. Two freaks in love is hardly the crowd-drawer we need."
"It is a horrible idea."
"Perhaps it is. But it will bring in an audience." Elsa decided firmly. She stood up, brushing invisible dirt off her skirt. "Come on, we will go and work on both our acts."
"But… Edward Mordrake…"
Elsa rolled her eyes. "Do not be ridiculous. It is superstition."
Reluctantly, Greta left her things were they were and followed her mother out of her tent. They crossed the camp and paused outside the big tent, listening to Dot arguing with Paul and Eve. Apparently the twins had had the same idea as Elsa and wanted to rehearse themselves.
"You Carnies are so superstitious… he's a myth!"
"I am the only myth around here." Elsa announced, sweeping through the entrance to the tent and pulling Greta along in her wake.
"They're not concerned about Mordrake." Paul told her quickly. "I'm trying to tell…"
"Of course they're not," she dismissed him with a wave of her hand, "simply a superstition." Behind her, Greta looked between her friends and shrugged. "You two run along now. A clairvoyant has sworn to me that a very important gentleman will be arriving very soon to reinvigorate my career. So I must rehearse some new material."
"What is she talking about?" Eve muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
Greta shrugged again. "I have no idea… I think she has smoked too much opium…"
"Well, you can rehearse when we're done." Dot told her in a bored tone. "We're the headliners."
"A bit of applause for a two-headed girl who sings a song and you think you can push me out?"
"We should probably discuss our salary, since we are now the star attraction."
"How dare you!" Elsa raged, reacting instantly as Dot touched her sore spot. "I have been a star for decades now. You are nothing… nothing… but a two-headed freak stumbling around the stage squeaking out a crummy tune. Go back to your tent and stay there, or I will take you into the swamp and leave you there."
The tension in the air around them was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. But then Dot and Bette stalked past Elsa and descended the steps at the side of the stage, disappearing from sight. The show runner looked at the music they had left behind, before swiping at it angrily and sending the stand clattering to the ground, the sheet music fluttering slowly through the air to join it.
"What are you staring at?" She demanded furiously of the four figures watching her from below. "Hmm? Do you value your jobs around here?" When Paul, Eve and Ma Petite all nodded, Elsa inclined her head slightly. "Then walk those long legs up to the piano and you pick up those drumsticks and start banging." As they reluctantly did as they were told, as slowly as they dared, she lost patience. "Schnell!"
"Moth– Elsa…" Greta looked imploringly up at her, seeing how scared her friends were at the thought of performing. "Is this really the best idea? I mean–"
"You shut up. Sit there in the front row and listen. We will work on your new act afterwards, do you understand?"
"Yes."
With no choice but to comply to her demands, the young woman sat down in the on one of the hard wooden chairs in the front row of the audience and looked up at her mother in the centre of the stage. The band started up and then Elsa began to sing. There was no doubting she was good, but the song choice made Greta shiver in her seat. As Elsa continued through the song, the younger woman felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck, as though she was being watched.
Her mother's face changed, although she didn't stop singing, and Greta was suddenly very aware of a chilly breeze around her legs. Glancing down, she saw a thick, swirling green mist covering the ground and completely hiding her feet from view. Turning quickly in her seat, her eyes nearly dropped out of her head at the sight of a tall man, dressed all in black, almost gliding down the central aisle of the tent towards the stage.
Feeling as though her heart was thumping fit to burst through her rib cage, Greta hurriedly turned back to face the front, not knowing what to do. She met her mother's eyes and silently pleaded with her to stop. Elsa furrowed her eyebrows at her daughter and shook her head sharply, never faltering in her performance. Clearly she didn't think there was anything to be worried about, but Greta felt sick to her stomach.
Eve glanced sideways, looking out into the audience, and the young woman on the front row saw the exact moment when her friend realised that they were not alone in the tent. Their eyes met and Greta shook her head slowly, widening her eyes to show she didn't know who the man was either. Ripping her gaze away, Eve turned to look at Paul. Neither of them stopped playing, but Greta could feel the tension coming off the stage in waves.
As the song ended, Elsa bowed low. When she straightened up, her smile dropped instantly from her face. Greta spun round in her seat and realised the reason for the change in her mother's expression; the man had vanished. Looking back at the stage, she saw the terror on the band's faces and the confusion and, although she would never admit it, fear on Elsa's.
"That was not…" Greta started in a choked voice, swallowing anxiously, "that was not… him… was it?"
Elsa was the first to recover. She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. "Of course not, you silly girl. You have allowed them to fill your head with nonsense. It is a superstition, that is all."
"But he–"
"Enough!" She turned to Eve. "We need to find a duet for Greta and Jimmy to sing."
"A duet?"
"It is my new idea for bringing the crowds in, that will show those twins they are not indispensible. It will be a modern day fairy tale; Beauty and the Beast. Sell the audience the idea that Greta and Jimmy are in love. What sells better than a doomed romance?"
Greta put her head in her hands, absolutely mortified by her mother's words. She couldn't bear the thought of looking up and catching her friends' eyes and seeing how they felt about the idea. She tried to tune out the conversation taking place on the stage; Elsa and Eve swapping ideas on the song that the pair could sing.
"Greta!" The blonde jumped at her mother's shout. "Come up here and discuss the song options I have picked out with Eve. You and Jimmy will have to rehearse together all of tomorrow morning because I want this in tomorrow's show. You are going to have to sell the love story, liebchen… make them believe it."
Reluctantly, feeling as though she was walking to the gallows, Greta climbed the steps and moved across the stage to hover behind Eve's piano stool awkwardly. Elsa smiled and patted her cheek before turning on her heels and striding away, leaving them to it. The rest of the band dispersed as well, eager to leave the tent.
"I cannot believe this…" Greta muttered as soon as they were alone, shaking her head and running her hands through her hair. "It is the most ridiculous idea I have ever heard."
"She's got a point, though." Eve admitted grudgingly. "The audiences will lap this up."
"You cannot seriously believe that?"
The brunette nodded. "Of course… the idea of Lobster Boy and Songbird Sally isn't so ludicrous. If Jimmy didn't have those hands, he'd be able to pick any girl he wanted and you…"
"Oh, yes, I am 'normal'."
Eve chuckled. "You must have seen those boys hanging round during the shows hoping to speak to you."
"You are joking, right?"
"Nope, they're here every night." She laughed again as the blonde pulled a face. "I heard one saying that he was going to rescue you from the freaks. Since your rant at the diner, word's got round that you're not like the rest of us. Face it, you've got a gang of admirers."
"He said what?" Greta ground out angrily. "Point him out tomorrow… I want to have a word with him."
"Alright, boss." Eve grinned at her. "Come on, let's look at these songs."
They spent a long time deciding which of the songs would be best for Greta and Jimmy to sing. Eve knew Jimmy's style and range and they used that to inform which song would work best for both of them. Finally, having come to a decision, they left the tent. The closer they got Eve's trailer, the more nervous Greta got.
Finally, she bit down her pride and asked the question that had been on her mind since they'd stepped foot out into the night. "Umm… could I…? I mean… can I sleep in your caravan tonight?"
Eve arched an eyebrow at her. "Sure, but… why? Are you worried about Mordrake?"
"No. I mean… yes, but… I would not want you left unprotected if he comes to visit."
"Go and get changed. I'll make up a bed for you." The older woman offered, seeing through her words at once but squeezing Greta's shoulder and smiling warmly anyway.
Nodding, the blonde hurried to her tent and pulled on her sleep things. She padded back across the camp and hesitated outside Eve's caravan before raising her hand and knocking lightly on the door. There was a pause and then a shuffling noise before the door was thrown open and Eve beckoned her inside.
"Thank you, I–"
"There's no need to thank me." Eve assured her gently. "I've gotta admit I'm quite glad of the company tonight."
"Do you think it really was him?"
"I don't know… I don't want to believe it was."
"But he just… was there… and then… he just… was not…"
"I know." Eve agreed softly, reading between the lines of the nonsensical rambling and working out what the blonde meant.
She slipped under the covers on her bed and looked expectantly at Greta who was sitting awkwardly on the other bed she had made up. Her hand hovered over the light switch, not wanting to extinguish it before the younger woman was ready.
"Can I share yours?" Greta asked quietly, biting her lip.
Eve hesitated for a moment and then nodded, shifting sideways so that there was space for the younger woman on the mattress beside her. Once they were settled, side-by-side under the blankets, Eve flicked the light switch and plunged them into darkness.
"Are you still awake, Evie?" Greta whispered what felt like hours later.
"Mmm…" Eve agreed.
"What if he comes?"
"You'll be alright, sweetheart, you're not a freak."
"That's not what I… But if he is real… if that really was him… then he will choose someone to take back to hell with him. That means that… someone…"
"Yeah." Eve agreed, swallowing thickly. She shook her head and then froze as she felt Greta scooting closer to her, snuggling into her side.
"I think we should just… try and get some sleep." Greta murmured, unable to stifle a wide yawn and blinking several times as her eyelids grew heavier.
Deciding to follow her advice, the older woman closed her eyes and did her best to ignore the odd sensation of having someone curled up beside her, their head resting on her shoulder and an arm slung across her waist.