Page 2 of The Claiming of the Shrew
“I still drive with you, and you put us in the ditch the first time we came here,” Leah pointed out reasonably. She swung herself out of the car, steadying herself on the door frame while she got her crutches arranged. It was just so nice to be able to do this from her own car now. She really owed Barnaby, Joy’s mate, a hug or twelve.
Joy sighed and looked around. “So that’s your theater company. With the lodge right there, why are they camping out?”
“To keep costs down,” Leah pointed out reasonably, “and to reserve space in the lodge for our audience when we open. Some of them are staying in the hotel, but everyone camping together promotes group bonding, at least that’s what Maggie says. Oh, there she is. Hi, Maggie!”
She waved vigorously at the theater group’s director. Maggie was a tall, graceful woman with waves of gray-streaked dark hair, wearing a practical sweater and jeans. She strode over to clasp Leah’s hand in greeting and also shook hands with Joy.
“We’re so glad to see you,” she told Leah. “Rehearsals are underway, but we need our special effects gal! And understudy—you’ve been studying Gloria’s part, haven’t you?”
“Oh yes,” Leah said eagerly. “I know it backwards and forwards. Er—Gloria’s definitely going on then, is she? Still perfectly healthy?”
“Yes, of course she’s healthy,” Maggie said with a small frown. “Why wouldn’t she be?”
“Oh, no reason,” Leah said hastily. Just in case anything did happen to Gloria, who was playing Peter Pan—not that anything would! terrible!—she didn’t want to be the prime suspect.
It was just that it would have been soniceto have a leading role for a change, rather than being behind the scenes making props and filling in for bit players when someone had the flu.
In the last couple of years, Leah’s theater hobby and her sister’s newly acquired shifter connections through the lodge owners had led Leah to become involved with a shifter-only theater troupe, the Menagerie Players. Being part a group where she didn’t have to hide her true nature had been wonderful. She was able to shift and trundle around on her shrewmobile (she had added a visibility flag, the type normally associated with utility and garden work, to make sure no one stepped on her), but the upcoming weeks were going to be extra special.
The troupe would be putting on a theater-in-the-woods showing ofPeter Pan.The plan was to finish rehearsals this week on location, then perform a few shows for a shifter-only audience at the lodge before they opened to the regular summer crowd after Memorial Day.
It was going to be wonderful and amazing, Leah knew. The opportunity of a lifetime. She was going to love it. But oh, she thought wistfully, how much more would she have loved it if she could fly through the woods on the wire contraptionshehad designed for Peter Pan?
She would be a great Peter Pan, she knew. She was tiny and twiggy and really a much better Peter Pan than Gloria, their leading lady, who was built along sturdier and more hourglass-y lines. But Gloria had got the part, as Gloria got most of the female leads, and that was that.
“Come on and get settled in,” Maggie was saying. “We’ve started setting up, but of course we need you to put the effects together. And we have a few new people I don’t think you’ve met yet. Your sister can have a look around backstage if you like—it’s Joy, right?”
“Yes,” said Joy, who was finally getting some color back in her cheeks. “But I need to let Hester know I’m here with the latest shipment of baked goods.” Hester was the lodge manager. “Assuming any of them survived the trip,” she added with a pointed look at Leah, who squirmed a little. She had forgotten that there was also a trunk full of muffins and cookies.
“Oh yes, Hester and Mauro have been wonderful to us,” Maggie exclaimed. “Actually they’re out in the set area right now. It’s good you’re here, Leah, we’ll need your input for putting the finishing touches on the rigging. Do you have luggage?”
If there was one thing that was usually true around a theater, it was the presence of spare hands for any work that needed doing. Soon there was a vaguely sulky-looking stagehand lugging Leah’s tent and suitcase, while Leah crutched briskly into the trees with Maggie leading.
The camping area adjacent to the lodge, barely more than trees when Leah first saw it, had grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. Now there were pleasant little gravel paths curving between the trees, and a number of campsites, mostly occupied. Leah looked around curiously. This would be her first time camping out, aside from a couple of Girl Scout trips. They couldn’t generally afford vacations when she was akid, and Joy couldn’t take time off work anyway, so she had little experience. She looked with fascination at the structures in the differently outfitted campsites, ranging from small tents to nice trailers. Her own tent was a secondhand one she had picked up cheaply, and she hoped it wouldn’t be too embarrassing.
They found the lodge owners examining a partly built stage between the trees. The two were a bit of an odd couple, Hester short and intense, Mauro tall and laid-back with his dark hair in loose, wind-tousled curls. As Leah and Maggie approached, Leah saw that Mauro had his arm around Hester’s waist, leaning into her as they pointed at the trees and talked.
Mates, Leah thought, a bit wistfully.
It only made sense that Joy had found her mate first, because she was the older sister. But there was something about seeing Hester and Mauro together that hit Leah in a painful place in her chest.
Surely there’s a mate out there for me,she thought, marshaling her hopes like battlefield troops.
“Hi!” Hester exclaimed, as she turned and saw Leah. “Oh good, Maggie said you were coming. I had to scramble to find a campsite for you, but you’re reserved in number twenty-seven.”
Maggie pointed, and the sullen-looking stagehand slouched off with Leah’s luggage. Leah looked after him with a frown. One thing the entire company had going for them was that most people were here because they loved it. The enthusiasm was part of the appeal for her. She had no idea what that guy’s problem was.
But she was quickly distracted by looking around at the sets. Along with the flying apparatus, the pirate ship had been her pet project, and she was a little disappointed to see that it was mostly assembled already (they’d tried to get it down to a science on breaking down and rebuilding) and thrilled to see that it looked even better set up in the woods than she had hoped whenthey were putting it together in a parking lot. There were fairy lights strung through the trees. This was going to beamazing.
“Yes, I think it’d be fine to anchor those wires between these two trees, as long as you take care not to damage the trees,” Hester was saying, talking to the stage manager, Alana, who nodded along as she marked on her clipboard. Like almost everyone in the Menagerie, she wore multiple hats; as well as coordinating the sets and actors, she was also playing the role of Wendy in the play.
(Leah had not so subtly hinted that she would befineplaying Wendy, in case other people were busy, ahem, but this had only resulted in her becoming the understudy to WendyandPeter Pan. This would be fine unless they both came down with the flu on the same day. Tragically, Alana had the constitution of a horse, which was appropriate since she also turned into one.)
“Hester!” Joy appeared out of the trees, a large pastry box in her hands. Several nearby actors instantly gravitated toward her like kids around an ice cream truck. “I delivered most of the baked stuff to the kitchen, but I couldn’t figure out how to get into the industrial freezer.”
“Oh, right, there’s a safety lock on it now. Yes, Mauro will show you.”
As Mauro went off with Joy, Hester made a beckoning gesture to Leah, who had started to turn and see if Alana needed anything done on the sets. “Excuse me, Leah, could you come with us for a minute, please? I wanted to talk to you.”
