Editing Quick Change


''August 19th, 1867, Monday''<br>
''En route to Nurnberg''<br>
''1017 hrs, local time''<br><br><br>



Josephine dropped off her coffee cup as she'd acquired it, quietly without anyone the wiser. It was a short trip through the dining car. Its linen and crystal and china gleamed softly in the late morning light and Josephine automatically noticed the three folk lingering over their breakfast and the four staff discreetly resetting the service for luncheon. She slipped past all and sundry with her leather bag in hand and made her way onto the car beyond. The carpet changed underfoot to something more luxurious and Josephine strode on for Katherine's door. She paused briefly and smoothed a hand over her hair before setting her knuckles to wood and rapping.<br><br>

"Katherine?" she called softly. "Is this a bad time?"<br><br>

---

Katherine stirred from her nap at the knock on the door. She had been dozing fitfully and at the sound, blinked the sleep from her eyes, rising to her feet in a smooth motion. It was only as her fingers found the door that she realized that she was not certain who knocked at her door.<br><br>

Katherine opened the door and tilted her head quizzically as she saw Josephine standing there. "Yes?" she asked politely.<br><br>

---

Josephine swept her friend with a glance and stepped back.<br><br>

"I am sorry, Katherine. I didn't intend to disturb you at your rest. I had thought to beg the use of your compartment to change out of this costume but I can find another place and let you sleep."<br><br>

Josephine was already reviewing the interior dimensions of the WC at the far end of the car. It would be a tight fit but she could manage it.

---

The Eldren blinked as her sleep-fuzzed mind finally comprehended what her friend was requesting. She swept back from the door, gesturing Josephine in. "Good heavens no, Josephine. This is your compartment too. Please make yourself at home and change." She shook her head and tried to smooth her mussed hair into some semblance of neatness. "I was dreaming that Madam Rembecki was on the next car and how I would finish what we started in Paris. And my father was watching and he was shaking his head and then Ezekiel was watching and he also was shaking his head." Her lips pressed together. "It was not the best of dreams."<br><br>

---

"I should imagine not." Josephine entered the compartment and turned to Katherine. "I confess I hadn't realized I would be sharing the compartment with you. My mind must have been elsewhere when it was assigned. Thank you for this."<br><br>

As compartments went, it was a beauty. ''First Class does have its privileges''. Mahogany, velvet, brass, and crystal made the compartment shine. The bolsters on the couches were thick and Josephine couldn't blame Katherine for succumbing to them. Just looking at them made Josephine want to sleep where she stood. Moving to the side, Josephine noticed that it was double the length of a standard compartment, taking up the space where two would have been. As a result there was a proper sitting area separate from a sleeping compartment, glimpsed past a cunning pocket door toward the rear.<br><br>

"Is Flora sleeping as well?" If so, Josephine would have to change right here in the sitting room. Velvet curtains covered the compartment windows facing the passage and the outside windows showed nothing but pastures and fields. Privacy would not be an issue.<br><br>

---

Katherine smiled gently. "No, she's with Bertie I assume or has fled to the Club car for some peace and quiet. The rooms are yours. I can leave if you wish to give you some privacy." Her lips turned from mirth to rue. "I am glad you rescued me from my sleep. I wasn't doing it well. I hope that Morpheus is kinder to me tonight."<br><br>

---

"May he be kinder to us all," Josephine said and quickly put her valise down. "You look exhausted, Katherine. I wouldn't dream of making you leave. Please stay. It's just us women here. I'm not shy."<br><br>

Truly, Josephine didn't like the way Katherine looked. ''I doubt she slept a wink in jail. God, it must have been horrifying for her''.<br><br>

"Won't you sit down?"<br><br>

---

The cat eyes fixed on her a moment before Katherine nodded and almost fell onto the couch behind her. Sighing, her hands found her hair once again in a useless effort to fix it before she pulled the combs and pins from it to let it fall the rest of the way down. "I will not argue. I am exhausted. But not more than you or any of us. Hopefully, the others are resting. With the exception of Bertie, I do not believe that any of us slept last night. " She slid fully onto the couch, laying her head down to watch the other woman. "Thank you for sending the embassy staff for us. I had childishly hoped for Ezekiel.' Her words were broken by a sudden yawn, upon her so quickly that she was barely able to cover it with her hand. "But he was called to other duties," she continued after a moment. "I am grateful that you were able to help us." Her green eyes were lidded; her breathing slowing as she fought sleep. <br><br>

---

“In truth it was the only thing I could think to do as I seriously doubted the Surete would recognize my authority.  I needed someone with the political power to make them release you and Embassy was willing to accommodate my request. It really was the best I could make of the situation. I regret that I could not make the process go any faster than it had.”<br><br>

Josephine locked the compartment door as she spoke, unbuttoned her shirtwaist and stripped it off. She'd kept her camisole from earlier in the evening but nothing else of her gentleman's outfit remained. She noticed it had not been packed by the Embassy staff into her trunk, unlike her valise, and Josephine resigned herself to its loss. ''Clothes are costume and the entire world's a stage. The play will call for another such ensemble soon''. Josephine pulled the tapes on her skirt and let the garment fall around her ankles without a single note of embarrassment about the whole business.  It was a luxury theatre folk rarely enjoyed and Josephine had gone through too many costume changes in far less pleasant surroundings to have much body prudery left. She kicked off the inadequate women’s shoes and continued talking, standing in nothing but her camisole and knickers. <br><br>   

"The Embassy had something more suitable for me to wear but I confess it isn't the same as wearing your own.  'Clothes make the man', as the saying goes and I cannot deny that there is a comfort derived from one's favored dress. This, for instance," Josephine said as she lifted the first of many items from her valise. It was a slim leather sheath with straps and buckles. "I shall feel much comforted once I've put this on."<br><br>

---

The Eldren nodded. "How very useful," she commented, her voice soft with fatigue. "Where does one get one?"<br><br>

---

Josephine's eyebrow rose as did her regard of the Eldren woman. She buckled the knife sheath to her forearm and said, "A saddlemaker made this for me. And this," she added, pulling its mate from her valise. Her gun rig joined the sheath on the couch. "This, too."<br><br>

Josephine quickly fitted both arms with a knife sheath and concealed them under a dark blue blousing shirtwaist with black velvet trim. She donned a pair of her jodhpurs next and buckled on her rig. "German, near München. We stayed for a couple of weeks there one summer and since I had the coin and he needed the work, it seemed mutually beneficial." Josephine strapped the holster to her thigh and checked the belt circling her hips. She tightened it a notch and slid her Navy colt into place. "They’re full grain. Made to last. They’ve been rained on, dumped into countless bodies of water, stretched and baked and ... truly, they’ve held up just grand."<br><br>

Josephine tugged on a fresh pair of woolen socks and her boots next. They were leather in the equestrian style and she strode up and down the sitting room to settle everything on her body. She adjusted the thigh strap on her holster a notch and nodded. "There," she sighed. "It's a shame to cover these up but appearances must be maintained."<br><br>

In less than a minute Josephine wore a dark blue gored walking skirt, concealing her weaponry from view. She slipped her hand through the slit she'd made on the inside of her skirt pocket and drew her gun to see if it fouled on the garment.  Everything went smoothly and Josephine slid her gun home. <br><br> 

"Do you shoot, Katherine?" Josephine asked, pulling her knives from her valise and installing them underneath her sleeves.<br><br>

---

Katherine smiled. "Yes. I enjoy it very much."<br><br>

---

Josephine smiled back and emptied the pockets of her borrowed skirt.  Her father’s watch went through her left hand pocket slit to the corresponding pocket of her jodhpurs. Her cigarette case and vestas took up their position in her left skirt pocket and her slim switchblade was tucked into the back waistband. She bloused her shirtwaist over it to conceal it. Finally attired as she preferred, Josephine clasped her hands crosswise and raised them over her head in a stretch, rising on her toes and arching her back to work out the stiffness from tip to toe.  She relaxed and everything settled into place.<br><br>  

“Much better,” she sighed and busied herself folding her discarded clothing and stowing it neatly in her valise.  She sat across from Katherine and pulled the pins from her hair, shaking it down to its natural shoulder length.  She palmed the pins and pulling her hairbrush from her valise, she looked over at Katherine and asked, “Which weapon do you prefer? Rifle? Revolver? Blunderbuss?”<br><br>

---

She had watched the process of Josephine getting dressed with interest. As the spy sat to brush her hair, Katherine pulled herself more upright. She wasn't going to sleep with such an interesting conversation started. "I prefer rifles," she said with a bit more animation than before. "Although a good revolver cannot be ignored. In most situations, it is very difficult to hide a rifle. But I much prefer them for accuracy and for distance. Up close, I prefer the hand knives that Sadif is training me with. Or the skean dhus that I have now. Or a sword." She smiled "I wish to cross swords with Ezekiel. I am certain that he is quite adept. But I am quite certain that that indulgence will have to wait until we are married. So, are you good with a sword, Josephine? Or do you prefer the pistols that you carry?"<br><br>

---

"I have some skill, enough to get by on stage or in a darkened alley. I do wish to better myself with the sword, however. Until that happens, I must content myself with my knives and my pistol. And my wits." Josephine deftly put her hair up in a French twist and pinned it in place. She stowed her brush and leaning forward she continued, "Father always said a woman's most powerful weapon was her mind. It is ever so much easier to gain the advantage over an opponent through the element of surprise and surprise can be tailored to fit the situation. So to answer your question if I favored a blade over a pistol, I would have to say yes and no. It would depend on the situation."<br><br>

She gave the Eldren woman a quick grin. "Who is Sadif?"<br><br>

---

"My teacher. She is a rather," Katherine winced with a quick rueful grin, "demanding instructor. I have had quite a few bruises and cuts to show for my efforts with her. She is a small Indian woman who is quite efficient with weapons like the katars and the chakram." Her posture became even more upright. "I am afraid to admit how much I love learning such things. The sword has been interesting, the staff even more so, but the techniques of hand to hand with the katars." Her head shook, but her eyes were alight. "It is quite lovely and quite deadly." She suddenly moved to a sitting position, leaning forward, her gaze sharp on Josephine's face. "I will admit something, but you cannot let anyone else know." She waited for the answer, the irises of her eyes wide with the intensity of her gaze.<br><br>

---

Josephine took in her friend's posture and avid gaze and knew Katherine wanted something badly. ''Careful. This could be trouble''.<br><br>

"Even from Ezekiel?"<br><br>

---

"I believe he senses it. But I don't think that even he realizes how much I loved the combat with Madam Rembecki. It was exhilarating. When she hit me with that vile blue bolt of light, I felt the rush of something inside. I was able to crouch down to keep to my feet and I felt so alive, Josephine. Springing forward to detain her like I was almost predatory like an animal." She drew a deep breath, closed her eyes and shook her head. "Quite more than I expected." She smiled shyly at the other woman, tilting her head as she reopened her eyes. "Not very ladylike at all. But then Neecy has strained to keep me proper despite my own proclivities."<br><br>

---

Josephine listened closely and committed Katherine's nuances in body and speech to memory. Traveling with William’s troupe, Josephine had learned to size up their reception in a new town by watching people’s expressions upon first meeting.  Delight.  Loathing.  Puzzlement. Fascination.  Hero worship.  Envy.  Josephine had seen it all and looking at Katherine now she found a combination of calculated observation liberally mixed with delight and excitement.  She wondered what she could tell Katherine that would satisfy her curiosity yet not lead her off the narrow path she must maintain.  Beignet would never condone her teaching Katherine anything directly but the same man apparently arranged for Sadith to teach Katherine some rather unlady-like martial arts.  ''Interesting''. And that gave Josephine the opening she needed to dig a little deeper.<br><br>

"No, it isn't ladylike, but it is natural. Combat is like that. And I find it an interesting paradox that although Dionysius takes great pains to constrain you to proper behavior, he has still arranged for Sadith to be your teacher. Why do you suppose that is?"<br><br>

---

"He loves me," came the simple, honest answer. "Within the confines of who I must be, Neecy tries to give me what little freedom he can. I am the daughter of a military man who spent much of my life in campaigns for the glory and gain of England. It is a certainty that a little of that man, that thirst for adventure and for life, is within me. Neecy has been kind enough to not stifle it; instead he guides its growth. My father chose him well and I will make certain that Neecy's love and care will be repaid with any means at my disposal." Stretching, she pushed back into the chair and curled her feet underneath her. "I was quite cross with Ezekiel this morning," she announced abruptly. "I was a whiny child about being left by him in jail and he was understandably indignant that I failed to understand that he was confident in my abilities to care for myself and that he was constrained by other duties. Do you know if he sleeps or is he up and about? He was exhausted and I hope that he is resting."<br><br>

---

Josephine would have liked to pursue the topic further but let it drop in accordance to Katherine's change of subject. She thought of Ezekiel praying in the baggage car despite the pain of his affliction and tried to respect his need for privacy while allaying his fiancée’s fears for his welfare.<br><br>

"I saw him briefly on my way here. He was praying to the Host and did not look as if he wished to be disturbed." Josephine let her expression take on a tinge of disappointment. "I would have liked to draw him into conversation as to last night and this morning, but was loath to intrude."<br><br>

True enough as it went, if a little equivocal on the details.<br><br>

---

"His time with the Host is important and inviolate," Katherine stated softly. "He needs time to communicate for guidance and for peace. We can wait until He is done with Ezekiel." She stroked the velvet of the couch for a moment and then asked, "May I ask what you wanted to speak to Ezekiel about? I had the impression that you were with him for much of last night and this morning."<br><br>

---

With that query, Katherine’s attention to her every move took on a completely different aspect.  Josephine instinctively knew she was on very thin ice and chose her next words with care.<br><br>

"Please don't tell Dionysius this but ..., "Josephine leaned in and whispered, "I'd stepped out onto the rear platform to smoke a cigarette and gather my thoughts. After I was done, I went back inside to find Ezekiel had entered the baggage car some time behind me. I'd interrupted him and apologized and on my way out, he asked me to get him at a quarter past noon if he did not show on his own. It seemed to me he and the Host had much to discuss."<br><br>

She sighed and continued.<br><br>

"As for last night and this morning, most of that time was spent going our separate ways--I to the Embassy to arrange for help, he to ride Selene's wagon to the Surete as a guard. I found out later that he had failed to keep her from being abducted again and I can't imagine he would take it as anything but a personal failure. His honor would not countenance such a thing without feeling it keenly."<br><br>

The last was conjecture based on what she'd observed of Ezekiel, but she was willing to bet her last farthing that she was closer to the truth than off it.<br><br>

---

''This feeling is quite like what I felt in pursuit of the Madam'' Katherine thought to herself. She was hardly dangerous, her hair falling around her in a mess of waves and curls, her dressing gown and slippered feet hardly the picture of a Valkyrie, but suddenly she was aware that Josephine regarded her as an opponent and a very serious one at that. She quirked her head, smiling as she studied the other woman and then finally laughed merrily. "I don't begrudge you your time with Ezekiel, Josephine. I trust him; would I be marrying him otherwise? You don't have to explain that you spent most of your time without him. I---" her gaze turned inward as she paused and then she continued, "I did not mean to put you on the spot, but I will admit that I do worry that I make you feel as if I had."<br><br>

---

Josephine steeled herself to maintain her posture and expression ''exactly'' as it had been before. To relax now was to give the entire game away, a common mistake committed by inept liars.<br><br>

"There's nothing to forgive, Katherine. I understand. Please don't give it second's thought." ''You love him'', her tone said. ''He is yours completely''. "And I would never marry anyone I did not trust completely nor anyone who wasn't already my deepest friend. Marriage cannot be a matter of financial alliance or social convenience. I want more than a polite fiction for my spouse. I want a partner in all things and ...," Josephine breathed a laugh. "If I listed my wants, I would still be talking well after the sun went down. Let us say I think you and Ezekiel are a great match and I cannot think of either of you without the other at your side."<br><br>

---

Katherine frowned lightly in an effort to hide a wicked smile. Sometimes she wondered if fate had chosen well for Ezekiel; her own insecurities convincing her that she was hardly the woman that he deserved. She was not a saint or an angel and not the accomplished and erudite woman that he so richly deserved. But she loved him beyond all words, that much she knew. And there was a tiny part of her soul that was annoyed that Josephine had fallen for Ezekiel, a tiny part that wanted to exact its bit of flesh. Even if she was comfortable with Ezekiel and cared for Josephine deeply, she was not above playing with the woman and watching her dance as a payment for her inconvenient affections. She nodded with understanding, listening with serious intent. Once the woman stopped talking, she raised her eyebrows. "I don't know that I would want to listen to the list, Josephine," she said with a brilliant smile. "You might describe someone that I would want also." She let her eyes twinkle a moment and then added, "Ezekiel might be jealous were I to want another so accomplished a man."<br><br>

---


"Then I shan't tempt you with the details," Josephine grinned back at her friend but didn’t miss the flicker behind Katherine’s eyes.  Was it unease or was it jealousy?  She tossed her head with an eyeroll and a humorous grimace. “I am convinced such a being cannot exist, for must he not only possess all the characteristics and virtues I demand, he must be available. Which history has shown to be impossible.  Therefore I shall simply let the matter drop.  A woman must marshal her energies and pick her battles carefully, and know when to surrender the field to the victor and move on.”<br><br>

Josephine dropped all pretense of jocularity and looked Katherine in the eye.<br><br>

“I swore an oath to you, Katherine,” she said, serious and low. “I swore you had nothing to fear from me where Ezekiel’s affections are concerned.  Why can you not believe it?” <br><br>

---

The Eldren smiled gently. "I do believe it. But you must understand that I thought that you were going to Moulin Rouge to get Ezekiel and bring him back with you to help us capture Madam Rembecki. Although Ezekiel has explained what happened instead, I am not above wondering what your subconscious motivation was. I know that you can be trusted as far as your conscious mind. That person is beyond reproach. But the woman inside, the one who I watch sometimes, the one who watches Ezekiel as a forbidden treat, one cruelly offered and then taken away, that person I watch. I have my own green-eyed monster to fight. I, myself, know that you, Josephine, can be trusted. But my little monster does not believe what she has been told." Putting her hands on her neck, she rubbed the tight muscles there. "I can only apologize to you. You are unfairly burdened by my inferences and they will lessen me in Ezekiel's eyes. I know where his heart lies and yet I am petty enough to question yours. I can only ask for understanding, Josephine. I love him and there is a petty madness to women in love."<br><br>

---

''I thought I was to bring him back, too. Fate decided otherwise''.<br><br>

"You have it, Katherine. And I thank you for your candor. I realize that it cannot be easy to extend and I should not have forced it from you. I'm sorry."<br><br>

---

Katherine leaned forward, her face serious but calm and she inhaled and then sighed before she spoke. "We must have candor, Josephine. We are facing a foe who is well connected and has proven cruel. You must trust me and I you. If I question your motivations and you question mine, then we endanger the man we both love as well as the other men I love, Neecy and Bertie." Her lips twitched and she nodded. "And yes, I do love Bertie. He is my childhood companion you see, more like a bothersome brother than cousin sometimes."<br><br>

---

"I do trust you." Josephine said, meaning it. ''Yet another pothole to fill. I will be so glad to lay my shovel down''. "I realize that it has been only five days since we've met and instead of having the luxury of coming to know each other in the natural passage of time, we've had to forgo that process and carry ourselves like old friends. I know there will be misunderstandings at first as we find our footing with each other and I know I do not love the men in your life as you do, but I promise I will do my best to bring everyone home safely."<br><br>

''Even Dionysius and Bertie''.<br><br>

---

The Eldren rose to her feet and extended a hand. "Truce then, Josephine? I will cage my green-eyed monster and pledge my sword and honor to helping you accomplish your mission. And I will be honest with you when that monster escapes. You may remind me that I am honor bound to return it to its cage when it does." The twinkle returned to her eyes, the edge of a bright smile teasing at the corners of her mouth. "And you will grow to love Neecy. He has twice the courage and honor of a man in half the package. I can't promise anything for Bertie though."<br><br>

---

"Truce." Wondering how they'd arrived at such a pass when all she intended was to reassure, nevertheless Josephine rose to meet Katherine and shook her hand. ''I must sleep soon. Fatigue is making an idiot of me''. "In return I must ask you to remind me to rein in my impatience with Beignet's verbal convolutions. As for Bertie, no promises need be made."<br><br>

---

A merry laugh finally erupted from the bright smile. "He is rather verbose sometimes. Just know that under all the insults, he is an honorable man who will do good by you if only for my sake." She covered Josephine's hand with her other one, capturing it neatly but firmly. "I am going to teach you to be better with the sword and the hand knives. Once you've gotten your second wind, we must go to the baggage car and practice there. Those skills might be needed from the both of us, yes?" She held onto Josephine's hand and waited for the affirmation.<br><br>

---

"Oh, yes," Josephine laughed weakly, quite undone by Katherine's change in demeanor. She began to feel a certain sympathy for Dionysius as well as respect for his staying power. "Let's. Only, might we wait until we are both better rested before we try it? I doubt Dionysius or Ezekiel would appreciate any injury I might cause you through fatigue. I know I shall never forgive myself if I so badly slipped."<br><br>

---

"Oh, it wouldn't be any worse than what Sadif has dealt, Josephine. Physical wounds are simple to heal." She released the other woman's hand, her face softening as she studied Josephine. "You need sleep, my dear. You are fatigued. Let me get dressed and I will leave you to take a nap. As I've said before, Morpheus has not been my friend this morning and I'm much more awake than I was when you came in." She shed her wrap and picked quickly through her dresses until she found a burgundy velvet that seemed to please her. "Can you help me? Maybe a lovely walk through the train is what I need and that will leave this compartment for you to rest."<br><br>

---

"Certainly." Josephine moved to help her friend. "Do enjoy your walk but I must do one last thing."<br><br>

---

"Is it something that I can help you with?" The Eldren seemed to be returning to her pleasant, cheerful self, the child quickly reasserting itself over the adult.<br><br>

---

"No." Josephine shook her head, glad to see her friend's mood improving. Suspicion ill became Katherine's nature. "I merely need to speak to Dionysius for a moment."<br><br>

---

Katherine straightened her petticoats and chemises and then shimmed into the dress, twisting and shaking it into place over the bustle with Josephine's help. "If Neecy wouldn't be scandalized beyond repair, I'd just wear one of my Rosettis," she murmurred to her friend. "Dressing should not take this long." A martyred sigh escaped her lips. “But he would very irritated at me so being so bohemian on a public train." She gathered her hair and pinned the sides back, leaving the bulk of it to flow down her back. "I, at least, am not going to be bothered by my hair for now. So, am I presentable enough?"<br><br>

---

Josephine drew a lock of Katherine's hair forward to drape becomingly over the woman's shoulder.<br><br>

"Perfectly presentable. Eyes can naught but admire you, Katherine." ''And you will take those eyes off me. A relief''. "Will you wear your bonnet?"<br><br>

---

Her mouth twisted. "I suppose that I must." She flipped through her things again and pulled out a small, ornate hat and pinned it at a saucy angle on her head. "I am now gilded and fripperied and may go forth without offense." She curtsied to Josephine gracefully. "I thank you for your help and understanding. You are a lady among women. Maybe I can find Ezekiel and ask that he add me to his prayers." She winked at Josephine and went out the door. ''Keep all foes guessing'', came Sadif's voice in her head and Katherine smiled. Josephine wasn't a foe, but was entirely too cagey with her thoughts. ''Spies are meant to keep secrets'', she reminded herself. But the next thought came quickly and made her smile. ''Cats often get their whiskers burned by being too nosy, Katherine'', came her father's voice and she tossed her head. "Maybe," she mouthed to herself. "But only a cat may look at the king, father," and made her way down the hall.<br><br>

---






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