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4

Ginger dragged Rita into the princesses' chamber and slammed the door shut.

"Men in the castle!" she warned them.

"Men?!" The princesses shouted. Some were delighted while others stressed at Ginger's alarm.

"They've never made it up to our wing before," Lucy said. She barely looked up from her nail filing.

"Now nobody panic," Katherine said, racing to the trunk at the foot of her bed and pulling out a couple of knives, a few swords and a mace and chain. "We all knew this might happen. Just let me at 'em!"

"How many?" asked Marilyn

"Two of them," Rita said.

"Is that all?" asked Ava coolly. "Come on, girls, they're probably just like all the others. You'll get swoony over them too, even though you know they're just here for the reward."

"They're spies!" Rosalind said.

"Good looking spies?" Betty asked.

"Not bad," said Ginger. "But these ones are soldiers."

"We never had soldiers before either," Judy said nervously.

"What does it matter?" Dorothy said. "It's always the same. 'Darling, you can tell me anything. Unburden yourself and we'll run away together.'"

"Yeah, and they're always speaking into your neckline," Lena said.

"One of them dropped crumbs in there once," said Lucy. "Right off his moustache!"

"These ones are different," Ginger said. "Not too old, not too young. Now that the war's over, we might get overrun."

Betty tilted her head. "Maybe they're knights."

"Ooh. Do you think we'd be allowed to marry knights?" Marilyn asked.

"What sort of knights would spy on girls to make a living?" Rita said.

"Just in time to spoil our last bit of fun," Judy said unhappily.

Lana shrugged. "So we'll do what we always do."

"As long as I don't have to wear the sheet again," Lucy said.

"Someone's got to be the ghost."

"Yeah, but I keep tripping on it."

Dorothy patted her shoulder. "Drawing straws is the fairest way. I'll go pluck the broom."

"Good," said Rita. "Nobody wants to snoop around a haunted castle."

"Let's hope," Ginger said.

"And while we're hoping," said Rosalind, "we better get dressed for dinner."

*****

Two chairs for the guests were added to the long banquet table, and Rita and Ginger made sure to sandwich them on either side. The large dining room clock ticked away loudly as they waited for Danny and Francis to appear. There was an awful lot of cheek pinching going on to ensure the girls had a rosy glow in the candlelight. More than once, Lady Winifred had to suggest a bodice be lifted for modesty's sake. All some of the girls had to do to lower them again was take a deep breath.

No servants meant the cook would bring out all his courses. He entered the room several times awaiting his cue, a sour look of displeasure every time Fred waved him away.

At last, freshened up a bit – meaning they wore the cleaner pair of whatever they had with them - Francis and Danny found their way to the table and their awaiting chairs.