Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos(10)

At any rate, he didn't seem to object to the polite Gallic nothings his friends were murmuring to my knuckles, so I assumed they weren't actually propositioning me. I replied „enchante“ or „merci“ to whatever they said and smiled a lot. I wished Tad would rescue me, but he smiled, waved, and disappeared into the crowd.

Well, with any luck the French forces would drift off sooner or later. They were glancing at the portion of our booth they could see – Eileen's side, actually – with polite uninterest.

„Ah, they are yours, these potteries? Tres jolies“ one said, in the offhand tone of someone who actually thought pottery was tres boring but wanted to be polite to the demoiselle sharing a tent with his brother-in-arms.

„No, my friend Eileen does the potteries,“ I said. „I do the hardwares.“

I stepped aside so the French could see my side of the booth.

„You're a blacksmith?“ he exclaimed. His eyes widened, and he dropped both the blase air and his French accent. „Cool! Can you mend things?“

„Metal things, yeah,“ I said. „Do it all the time.“

„like bayonets?“

„Sure,“ I said.

„You made this?“ another of the soldiers asked, indicating my dagger.

„Yes,“ I said. „The blade, too; not just the hilt.“

„Do you take commissions?“

And so, for the next half hour, the faux French soldiers milled about my booth, examining my ironwork – especially the dagger – and apparently finding it to their satisfaction, as they grew more and more enthusiastic about commissioning me to mend or make various bits of weaponry and equipment.

I confess, I was less than enthusiastic at first. Call me mercenary, and I won't argue with you; I work iron for a living, not a hobby. And while I wasn't exactly starving, I had long ago learned that I couldn't pay the rent if I gave attractive discounts to everyone who was related to me, lived in my neighborhood, had gone to kindergarten with me, or, in this case, happened to share a hobby with my boyfriend. So when they asked me what I'd charge to make things, I gave them accurate estimates, possibly a bit on the high side, since in some cases I'd have to do quite a bit of research on top of the actual blacksmithing.

I found myself warming to them when I realized they didn't even blink at the prices I'd quoted. In fact, they all took my cards (including a stack to distribute to the rest of the regiment), kissed my hand several times each, clapped Michael on the back, and marched off in obvious high spirits, singing „Au pres de ma blonde.“

„You've made quite a hit with the guys,“ Michael said, beaming. „You'll have to come to all the .events after this.“

„Events after this?“ Michael had only joined the group so he could participate in the reenactment of the Battle of Yorktown and help make his mother's event a success. Or so he'd said. Was he really planning to keep on doing reenactment stuff? Since when had he and the guys become such buddies? Perhaps this was only a temporary burst of enthusiasm, sparked by how much he enjoyed running around in his French uniform. Maybe he'd lose interest again when he remembered that the National Park Service wouldn't let reenactors pretend to be wounded or killed, even without the stage blood he'd offered to bring.

„I think there's a skirmish next month,“ Michael said, taking a piece of parchment-colored paper out of an inside pocket. „Yes. Around Thanksgiving.“

„I think both our families are expecting us for Thanksgiving,“ I said.

„Great; that's perfect – I'm sure your dad would love to come, too. He's been having a great time; all the guys love his booth. I'll go ask him, shall I?“

He ran off, clutching his parchment, without waiting for an answer.

„Oh, Lord,“ I muttered.





„What's wrong, honey?“ Amanda asked, dodging a stroller as she crossed the aisle to my booth. „You seem upset about something.“

„Michael's having much too good a time doing this reenactment stuff,“ I said.

„Isn't it sweet?“ Eileen said. „They never really grow up, do they?“

„No, they don't,“ Amanda grumbled.

„He's talking about keeping on with it after this weekend,“ I said.

„Well, that's nice,“ Eileen said. „It's something you can do together, isn't it?“

„It involves camping out in ruggedly authentic colonial conditions,“ I said. „I'm not very keen on camping out under any conditions.“

„I'm a city girl; I know just how you feel,“ Amanda said, looking around as if the nearby trees scared her more than muggers. „And my idea of camping out is staying at a hotel without a four-star restaurant.“