“This is wonderful!” Amber exclaimed.
It occurred to Ghost that having her very own Dressing Room was a dream come true for Amber, not to mention all the dresses and costumes that were scattered around the place. It normally made very little sense to wear fancy dresses; for a start shotguns and whips didn’t accessorize terribly well. But in the safety of the theatre she could wear whatever she wanted. There had been one or two disasters with make-up; it had been in scarce supply for most of Amber’s life and so she wasn’t to sure about the finer points. Some of Harlequins were gradually explaining it to her. In a way she was a reminder of innocence as she wandered around the theatre dressed to the nines and cheerfully cracking her whip, and that was something they all needed in this world.
Silver had been right about the snow. It came in howling winds rapidly piling up several feet high outside the theatre. Thick curtains kept the cold out and somehow the Harlequins had managed to get a supply of electricity that kept the whole place lovely and warm. Silver stayed in her Park. Ghost let her know she was welcome to shelter with them, but for her own reasons she preferred to stay where she was, though she often visited.
After a week of snow and being indoors, Amber was beginning to feel a bit cooped up.
“Please, it’ll be fun,” she looked at Ghost with her best puppy eyes.
“You might be abusing the term ‘fun’ I think,” he replied. He knew at this point it was useless. They were going to go. Still he felt he should at least give the pretense of thinking about it.
She pouted. “You know if we’re going to stay here more it makes sense to explore the surroundings and with all the snow and ice now’s the perfect time as no-one else will be looking around.”
It was, he had to admit, a good argument. “Alright, but in daylight, ok?”
The happy look on her face was answer enough.
“We’re going to need some warmer clothing though,” he reflected.
They spent some time looking through the costumes for warmer clothing, balancing keeping warm with freedom of movement, until finally they were happy with their choices.
The next morning came and went before Ghost woke up. If he was going to go out in the cold and the snow he was going to do it after a good night’s sleep and that preferably meant getting up in the afternoon.
As they walked out of the tunnel connecting back to the Park they were surprised at how bright it was outside. There was a thick layer of snow everywhere, but the clouds had gone for now, causing the sunlight to reflect brightly off everything. They shielded their eyes as they gradually got accustomed to it. Taking their time they trudged through the snow and out of the Park.
Next
