Greta had insisted that Eve tell the others what had happened during the night. It didn't take much persuading as the brunette was determined not to let Dell get away with his behaviour. They had gone to Ethel's caravan first thing in the morning and Ethel had gone to fetch a bowl of ice to soothe Eve's bruised knuckles, returning with Suzi and Jimmy as well.

"All I can think about is his grubby hands all over me." Eve muttered, attempting to pull her hand out of the bowl.

"No, keep your hand on ice. Your swelling will never go down." The bearded lady advised her softly.

Greta sent her a stern frown, taking Eve's hand in her own and plunging it back under the ice firmly, ignoring the wince and then scowl that appeared on the brunette's face. Out of sight, she let her index finger stroke over the bruised knuckles gently.

Jimmy shook his head, pausing in his pacing to look over at the four women. "Dell's done a lot of rotten things, but this? He must be out of his mind. We got to get our facts straight, so when we go to the cops–"

"Cops?" Ethel looked at him as though her son was the one who had lost his mind. "You of all people saying that. Dell is our problem; we're gonna fix it. We're gonna sneak into his trailer… kill him."

"What?" Jimmy exclaimed wildly, looking over at the four determined faces in surprise. "Whoa, whoa! Ma, where's this coming from?"

"I know him, Jimmy. I know what he's capable of. And you don't."

"Jesus, Ma, well, at least let me talk to him."

Eve narrowed her eyes at him. "What if he'd come after Maggie? You'd be the first one charging in with a gun."

"You don't know what it's like, peepers flipping up our skirts." Suzi chipped in.

"The number of times men thought that just because I was on the streets…" Greta added, trailing off and shaking her head bitterly.

"You know what your problem is, Jimmy? You're stuck on the rosy notion that the world operates on goodness… decency." Ethel told him, almost sadly. "Truth is, all goodness guarantees ya is an early grave. But the biggest joke of all… the thing that'll sink ya every time… is hope. Hope that the world will right itself; that the just will be rewarded and the wicked punished." She breathed heavily, barely holding back her sobs. "Oh, once you buy into that horseshit you're dead in the water. The only way to survive in this disgusting godforsaken world is to take control. Ain't nobody gonna take care of our people but us. Dell hurt one of our own… we can't let him get away with that. Can't let that degenerate prick win. He's got to pay."

Throughout Ethel's speech, Greta had been rubbing Eve's thigh soothingly, knowing that she was, unsurprisingly, wound up by the whole situation. When the bearded lady broke down, the blonde glanced at Eve and received a nod. Moving across the caravan, she wrapped an arm around Ethel's shoulders.

"He will, Ma, he will." Jimmy promised, crouching in front of her. "I can make it right. I'll kick his ass to the curb, I'll tell him to get the hell out of here, never come back. Trust me. I can handle Dell."

"You handle him. Or we will." Ethel said firmly.

Jimmy nodded and stood, starting to leave the caravan. He was just descending the steps when Greta caught him by the arm, pulling him back and fixing him with a serious expression.

"You had better deal with Dell, Jimmy, because I swear to you I will kill him otherwise."

"Greta…"

"No, Jimmy. What he did… I will kill him and it will not be quick or painless."

He gaped at her, not having expected to hear something like that from the young woman. Jimmy knew that she had a temper on her, but he had never heard her make such a threat before, nor had he ever expected her to. Turning on her heels, Greta went back into the caravan and shut the door firmly behind her.

The rest of the day seemed to drag past. Greta felt her anger bubble up inside her every time she saw Dell around the camp. She was itching to do or say something, but Ethel reminded her they had given Jimmy a chance to deal with things his way first.

Finally, as she was leaving Dot and Bette's tent in the early evening, Greta saw Jimmy and Dell heading away from the camp and she assumed that he was going to stay true to his word and deal with him. Satisfied for the moment, she met the other women in Ethel's caravan, before they all went to the big tent together, ready for the evening performance.

A commotion woke Greta the next morning and she rolled over with a groan. Disentangling herself from Eve, she padded over to the caravan door and poked her head out to see what was going on. Dell and Jimmy were weaving their way unsteadily through the camp, drunkenly singing at the top of their lungs. Stepping outside, the young woman pushed the door closed behind her and walked towards her mother who was standing on the threshold of her own tent; her arms folded and a thoroughly unimpressed look on her face.

"Hey! You two are drunk. I won't have you wake up the entire camp with your caterwauling." Elsa snapped as Greta reached her side.

"Too late for that." Desiree announced, striding across the ground and waving her arms wildly. "Jimmy, don't let that man corrupt you with his bad habits. You still got time to be somebody."

"Aw, he is somebody. He's my son. Thought I wouldn't go through with that, did you, Desi? But I'm proud to admit it. Jimmy's my son!"

"Yeah!" The younger man roared, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Wow." Elsa clapped sarcastically. "Congratulations, huh? Must have taken real courage to finally proclaim your progeny after twenty-four years. Why don't you two go to bed and sleep it off."

"Yeah, because it only took you twenty, didn't it Elsa!" Jimmy drunkenly slurred, pointing unsteadily towards Greta. She narrowed her eyes and stepped forward to defend her mother, but Elsa threw out an arm to stop her.

"You know, Jimmy, this is the perfect time for me to tell you something that my father told me." Dell slurred.

"What?"

"It's the Toledo code. The first minute you let a woman tell you what to do is the first minute you hand your balls to 'em."

"I want to keep my balls."

"You hold on to them, son." Dell advised him.

"Things are gonna change around here, Elsa." Jimmy informed her, waving his arms around drunkenly. "No more bossing us around, okay? You got two strong bulls here ready to run this whole joint."

Greta snorted with amusement. "You are not serious… you two in charge? What a laugh!"

"That's right." Dell agreed, narrowing his eyes at the younger blonde and clapping his son on the back with such force that Jimmy fell, face first, onto the ground. They both burst out laughing while the trio of women stared down at them in disgust.

"Idiots." Elsa muttered, shaking her head.

Dell reached down and pulled his son to his feet. "Come on!"

"Sing something else. Sing it! Sing it, baby! Sing it. Go. Shh, quiet, Elsa. Shh... You'll wake everybody up. You don't want to wake anybody. Shh. Shh! Quiet! Too loud. Shh. Shh. Be quiet, Elsa! Quiet. So loud."

Jimmy's drunken shouting was only quieted when the pair almost fell over the threshold to his caravan and the door was pulled shut behind them with a bang. Exchanging irritated looks with Elsa and Desiree, Greta shook her head and turned, stalking back to Eve's caravan and slipping inside as quietly as she could, hoping not to wake the older woman.

"Jimmy didn't take care of Dell, then?" Eve asked softly, making the blonde jump.

"Scheiße, Evie!" Greta exclaimed, clamping her hand over her rapidly beating heart. "Do not do that!"

"Sorry…"

"No…" The younger woman shook her head and sighed, rubbing her hands up and down Eve's arms. "I am sorry… I knew he would not deal with Dell… he is too nice."

"Ethel was right… he believes that everyone is good."

"Do not worry… I will make Dell pay for what he did." Greta assured her darkly. "He will not get away with it."

Eve shook her head, cupping her cheek gently. "I don't want you to get hurt or in trouble for me. We will get him… together… all of us."

"Not now, Pepper." Greta sighed, shaking her head at the excitable woman who was bouncing around her tent.

"Play!" Pepper ordered her again.

"Why do you not try some writing with me, Pep?" The blonde suggested, clenching her fists to stop herself overreacting as her friend sent the pieces of paper she was working with tumbling off her bed and all over the floor. "I will show you how to write your name."

"Salty."

"OK, I will show you how to write your name and Salty's."

With a broad grin, the pinhead settled herself down beside Greta and watched carefully as the young woman printed her name on a piece of paper. Handing Pepper a pencil, she encouraged her to copy the letters underneath. Once it was written, a slightly wobblier version, she beamed with pride at her achievement.

"Well done, liebling!" Greta praised her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "You are so clever!"

"Greta?" They both looked up as Ethel poked her head through the gap in the tent, a worried expression twisting her features. "Ma Petite's gone missing again."

"What?"

"We've looked all around here and there's no sign of her, so they're going to get a search party together to search the swamp and the woods."

"Count me in." Greta said at once, standing up and taking Pepper by the hand. "Come on, Pep…"

As they stepped outside, Greta blinked, not having realised that darkness had fallen while she'd been working. Taking a torch from Ethel gratefully, she watched as the bearded lady went to the big tent to sit with Elsa. Spotting Eve a little way off, the blonde hurried over to her.

"Ethel just told me about Ma Petite…" She murmured, taking her hand tightly in her own and squeezing it. "We will find her."

"She's so tiny and defenceless. What if something's happened to her?" Eve asked, turning tear-filled eyes on her secret lover.

Greta shook her head, wishing that they weren't surrounded by so many other people so that she could comfort her properly. "You cannot think like that, liebling. You must stay positive."

They joined the others heading out between the trees that surrounded the camp. Greta scowled as she watched Dell and Jimmy leading the search, fighting down her urge to creep up on the older man in the darkness and find a heavy branch to hit him over the head with.

Instead she focused on searching the undergrowth for any sign of Ma Petite, calling out to her desperately. They searched for what seemed like a very long time before a terrible scream filled the air. Not giving it a second thought, Greta sprinted through he trees in the direction of the sound.

"No…" She whispered as her eyes focused in on what Jimmy was clutching. "No!"

Turning, she attempted to hold Eve back, to stop her seeing what they had found, but it was pointless. The taller woman moved past her easily and cried out as she saw the scrap of fabric that was all that was left of their friend.

Greta knew that nothing she said would make the situation better for Eve, so she didn't even attempt it. She simply held her hand tightly as they walked numbly back through the woods towards the camp. Someone found a box and they put Ma Petite's dress in it carefully, carrying it to the big tent.

Elsa walked forwards slowly and looked at the box in Jimmy's arms fearfully. She lifted the flap and looked inside, gasping loudly at what she saw.

"Oh." The blonde whimpered. "No… No body?"

"Looks like an animal took her… maybe a coyote."

"Bones and all." Eve added, her voice trembling with emotion.

Elsa walked unsteadily away, clutching the dress and sobbing loudly. "Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. God. Oh, no, no."

Greta was torn between comforting the woman beside her who was gripping onto her hand like it was a lifeline and her mother who had dropped onto one of the wooden chairs and was still clutching desperately at the torn fabric. Seeing where the blonde's gaze was fixed, Eve gently pulled her hand free. When Greta looked up at her, confused, she looked over to Elsa and nodded, indicating that the younger woman should go to her.

For a moment she hesitated. Then, giving Eve's hand a final squeeze, Greta walked towards Elsa. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her mother into her. The older woman pushed her away violently, hitting out in her grief, but Greta persisted and finally Elsa gave in and allowed herself to be wrapped in the girl's arms. She leant against the younger woman and sobbed, burying her face in Greta's shirt and clinging to her desperately.

After a couple of minutes, when the convulsions that had accompanied Elsa's grief had stopped, Greta gently pulled her to her feet and supported her back to her tent. The young woman deposited her mother gently on the chaise lounge and went to pour her a glass of schnapps. It disappeared as soon as it was placed in Elsa's hand, so Greta refilled it.

"What do you want?" She asked gently, crouching down in front of the older woman.

Elsa turned tear-filled eyes on her. "Can you bring her back?"

"No." Greta admitted sadly.

"Then I do not want anything."

Reaching forward, she pulled a cigarette from her case and attempted to light it with shaking hands. Seeing her struggling, Greta pulled it from her fingers and lit it for her, handing it back in silence. Elsa stared morosely ahead, clearly not in the mood for conversation.

Just as Greta had made up her mind to leave the tent and go in search of her friends, there was a rustling sound and Ethel appeared through the gap. She observed the mother and daughter closely, before nodding sharply at the younger woman who stood and headed for the exit.

"No…" Elsa croaked out. Hesitating, her daughter turned and looked back, seeing the older woman's hand outstretched in her direction. With a sigh, Greta returned and sat beside her on the chaise longue, holding Elsa's hand tightly.

"Thought you'd be high as a Limehouse whore by now."

"She was too good for this place, you know? God put his very own light into that little angel. It was as if he knew that the world could only handle a tiny bit of his love at once."

"Well, come on." The bearded lady chivvied her along and Elsa climbed to her feet, following her across the tent to the small table that was already laid for her evening meal.

"Oh, Ethel. Looks like you have already taken steps to dull your pain."

"A woman's entitled to a little nip or two on a dark night of the soul. Sit. Eat."

"We will mourn her. Christmas is cancelled." Elsa announced firmly.

"I made mock turtle soup." Ethel said, ignoring the pronouncement and motioning towards the bowl on the table. "Yours is waiting for you in the dining tent, Greta."

"No!" The older blonde exclaimed quickly. "Bring it here… I do not want to be alone."

"You are not alone, Ethel is here." Greta pointed out. "I will eat my soup and then come back."

"No!"

"That was quite a show you put on in that tent." Ethel said, changing the subject abruptly, as though she had been dying to make the statement since she had arrived and could hold it in no longer. "Regular Joan Fontaine. I've seen you bring a full house to their feet, but you have never been better than you were tonight. You have got it, Elsa Mars… the sobs over Ma Petite… clutching her bloody dress; that was a nice touch. Bit of a house note, but damn... I almost believed you meant it."

Elsa slapped Ethel hard at the insinuation that it had been an act. Even Greta was shocked; she had briefly considered that it might be the case, but her mother's distress was so great that she had dismissed it quickly. The fact that Elsa's dead-eyed stare and occasional sobs had continued when it was just the two of them in the tent had convinced her daughter that her grief was genuine.

"How dare you? She was my most precious one."

"All that's precious to you is the roar of the crowd. And God forbid someone comes along and steals your spotlight." Ethel turned and looked at Greta. "You wanna watch yourself, girl. You might think you're flavour of the month now, but you could be next in the firing line."

"You know, I have seen the way whiskey can ravage the mind, but you come in here tonight and you accuse me of what? Of killing innocence itself? Huh? Get out!" Elsa ordered, before turning to her daughter. "Greta… I would… could… never…"

Before Greta had a chance to respond, the bearded lady was speaking again. "14 years. I've brought you your tray, washed your hair, listened to all those tall tales about what was, what could have been. I heard those stories ten times over, Elsa. I know you better than you know yourself. I always wondered why… I loved you so much; it gave me such pain to be around you. How when I'd leave here at night I'd just felt like I lost something. A woman shouldn't dread spending time with her best friend. Why'd I feel so uneasy? Now I know."

"Who am I, if not your saviour, huh? And this is the thanks. You call me a murderer on a night when I have already lost... so much?" Elsa screamed with rage and flipped the table, sending the crockery and cutlery flying across the tent. "Damn you for this! Goddamn you for this! Damn you!"

"You were our mother… there's people around here who never even met theirs. You understand the pain of being rejected by your own mother? Of course you do. That's how you sucked us all in here. Come one, come all, suckle at Elsa's bosom. All are welcome. Just don't ask for top billing."

"Enough of this." The blonde snapped. She turned to her daughter, schooling her features into a gently reassuring smile. "Greta, go and have something to eat, liebchen. I will be fine."

Shooting both women a wary look, Greta did as she was told. She paused for a moment outside the tent, but they were obviously waiting until she was far enough away that she wouldn't hear any more of their conversation. Pushing her hands into the pocket of her pants, Greta trudged over to the dining tent and slipped onto the edge of a bench beside Pepper.

"Where've you been?" Suzi demanded.

"Elsa was upset. She did not want to be alone." Greta explained, moving her spoon around the bowl of soup that had been placed in front of her. She sighed and pushed it away, finding that she had no appetite at all. "She is very upset about Ma Petite."

"Really?" The leg-less woman arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

Greta nodded. "She is. I had thought… I wondered whether it was an act… but I believe that it is genuine. She was distraught."

"She's not the only one."

"Where is Eve?" The blonde asked, looking around and realising that the Amazon wasn't there.

"She wanted to be alone. She went to her caravan, I think." Suzi said.

Nodding slowly, Greta got to her feet and headed away quickly. She felt awful that she had abandoned Eve in favour of her mother. While she had been holding it together after the discovery of Ma Petite's body, Greta knew that Eve was devastated by the loss of her best friend.

Knocking on the caravan door, slightly wary of just barging in, the blonde waited for it to be opened. She didn't want to upset Eve further by seeing her at her weakest if the older woman didn't want her to. There was a scuffling sound and then the door opened a crack so that Eve's eye appeared in the gap.

"Can I come in?" Greta asked softly.

Nodding, Eve moved away from the door and the blonde slipped inside. She pushed the door shut behind her and gathered her lover in her arms. As Eve broke down into noisy sobs, Greta held her tightly. She manoeuvred them over to the bed and sat down, refusing to loosen her grip on the heartbroken woman.

It almost made Greta angry, she thought as she continued to rock Eve and rub soothing circles on her back, that she was labelled a freak just because she was tall. She was only a little over a head taller than Greta was and no one called her a freak because of her height.

"I am sorry…" She murmured into Eve's hair, closing her eyes and hugging her tighter. "I am so sorry…"

"I can't believe she's gone…" The brunette choked out. "She was so innocent… she never hurt anyone… she couldn't…"

"I know, mein liebling, I know…"

Greta let Eve sob, barely even noticing the large wet patch that was growing on her shirt from the woman's tears. She held her, continuing to do whatever she could to comfort her until gradually the sobs receded and Eve's breathing evened out. Realising that the older woman had cried herself to sleep, Greta gently lay her down on the bed and covered her with a blanket.

Curling her legs up underneath her, Greta pulled Eve's head gently into her lap and stroked her hair as she slept. Her face screwed up every now and then, as though she was having a bad dream. Torn between waking her up to stop the nightmares and letting her sleep, the decision was made for Greta when Eve's eyelids fluttered and she blinked several times until her eyes focused on the face above her.

She smiled momentarily and then seemed to remember what was happening and the smile faded. Sighing, Eve pulled herself into a seated position and leant against the wall of the caravan heavily. Greta watched her silently, waiting for the other woman to speak first.

"Sorry…"

Greta frowned. "What are you sorry for?"

"I fell asleep on you…"

"Do you see me complaining?" The blonde asked, smiling at her.

Eve laughed softly. "I guess not." She sighed. "I don't understand… what was she doing out there?"

Thinking for a moment, the younger woman's face darkened. "The last time she went missing… that she left camp… she was with Maggie." She pointed out. "Where is Maggie?"

Eve blinked at her, shaking her head. "I don't know."

"Let's find her." Greta suggested. "She might know something."

"It's early." The brunette said, glancing at the time. "It's not eight yet… have you even slept?"

"No… but I do not care. I want answers."