Cadoville (unfinished)

Chapter XVII

Slipping on an eyepatch and some boy clothes, I headed to the Île de la Cité, through the clogged and overcrowded maze of streets to a little tailor's, nestled between a tavern and a paper shop – Chez Laroche. Through the milky panes, I made out rolls of fabric and material on tables, cabinets of thread and needles, a dressmaker's dummy by the stove.... With a prickly tummy, I stepped inside, past a pokey little staircase, and cleared my throat. A rosy-cheeked face popped up from behind the table, making me jump. She rose to her feet, carrying bundles of yarn....

"I'll be with you in a moment, Citizen."

'Citizen,' that jarred in my ears. I hadn't long got used to 'citizeness,' after years of being addressed as, 'mademoiselle.'

"I'm here to see Carlotta," I replied, unsure as to what would happen if anything. The girl looked at me, one eyebrow raised, as though I had just asked her the way to Marrakech. "She asked me to meet her here.... Apologies, if I've got the wrong place, Citizeness...."

Seemingly amused, the girl curled her lip, told me to wait and tottered upstairs.

"Come up, Gabriella!" Cried a voice I had heard before. I went upstairs, my hat tucked under my arm – Carlotta already knew I was a girl – and found her sitting at a table by the window. A coffee pot, fresh from the stove, steamed on the table. Garments in all sizes and colours occupied the walls and workbenches, balls of yarn, sheets of dyed cotton – quite a sight. "Oh dear.... You look a little under the weather, if you don't mind me saying...."

"I didn't get much sleep last night," I replied.

Carlotta poured me some coffee.

"It's an Indonesian blend, one of the few things we still buy from the Dutch...." Carlotta carried on. I remember we both seemed to muse at the same time on Notre Dame's towers, looking down on us above the rooftops. "You know, as much as I loathe what this place has become, that view never gets tiresome.... You've met Margot, I see....

The girl who had shown me in kissed me on both cheeks.

"Enchanté. Welcome...."

I sat down and blew on my beverage.

"How's Dr Spice?" Asked Carlotta.

"He's fine...."

"So, where does he think you are at the moment?" She asked, mischievously turning up the corners of her mouth. ".... I'm just assuming he doesn't know you're with us."

She made it sound like some sordid affair....

"... At a rehearsal," I replied, awkwardly clearing my throat, although, as yet, I hadn't done anything Dr Spice would consider 'wrong.' "... But I will be rehearsing later on, and that's true."

Carlotta and Margot chuckled at me.

"I say, Gabriella. You lie like a pro...," she said. I rolled my eyes. Lying wasn't a choice, it was a way of life. This lie on the other hand was Dr Spice's fault – reconciling it like that, it didn't seem like such a dirty word.... "Did anything take your fancy downstairs? Dresses, corsets? Or are you more comfortable in boy's clothes these days?"

I stuttered, unsure if she was still toying with me.

"Oh...., I hadn't really looked...."

"Members get special deals...," said Margot.

"Members?"

Carlotta's eyebrows shot lifted.

"Indeed. Our little sorority, Gabriella...."