Page 34 of The Starling and the Hatter

Two piglets were released in the pen, each dressed in baby clothing. They both started running and squealing, and those of us who had committed to the game gave chase. Since there were two pigs, the crowds ran this way and that, bumping into one another and changing directions. The bonnet of one piglet flew off in the beginning, while the bonnet of the other fell over its eyes, making it even more frantic.

We laughed and ran and lunged when a piglet came close.

The one with the bonnet over its eyes was caught first, but the rest of us continued to chase the other, and it was eventually snagged by a boy of about twelve.

Robert and I stopped running, our breathing made even more difficult by our laughter. I put a hand to my stomach and bent over, trying to catch my breath and grinning at the sight of the boy holding the squealing piglet over his head in victory as several competitors patted him on the back.

Robert was still chuckling as he led me from the pen. “I’m glad you don’t mind trying new things,” he said.

“I love it,” I admitted. “I’ve never really had the opportunity before, so thank you for that.”

“Of course,” he said.

Around noon, he and I went back to the Hatchers’ tent so that I could fix the noon meal for Marshall, Hatcher, and myself. Robert claimed he would find his own luncheon, but I made him sit on a log and eat.

After that, I donned my costume and Robert and I went our separate ways for a time, both determined to put in the work required. I was surprised he’d been so willing to wile away the morning with me. I’d felt guilty over it, but since he’d been the one to lead our romp, and since I’d truly wanted to spend time with him, I set aside my worries.

When the afternoon waned and the sun started its descent, I took up my purse and my perch and threaded my way through the waning crowds. I stopped at a jeweler’s stand, putting on a bracelet that had caught my eye. I admired the way it looked against the tanned skin of my wrist.

There was a couple looking at necklaces beside me, and I was surprised when Robert appeared and started doing his sleight-of-hand magic tricks for them. I smiled, making sure to stop and watch him the way I hadn’t been able to this morning.

To end his little act, he pulled out his pocket watch and used it and two of the jeweler’s pieces to juggle. He threw them higher and higher, eliciting sounds of awe from the spectators. Finally he spun around before snatching all three items from the air in one hand and then holding out his arms in triumph.

The couple laughed and clapped but moved on without giving him a coin.

“Better luck next time,” I said.

He shrugged it off easily. We both knew that there were far more people who wouldn’t give than who would. He held up the bracelets so that the vendor could see him putting them back. “Thank you for the assistance,” he said. The woman nodded then looked pointedly at me.

“Oh,” I said, remembering I still had a bracelet on my own wrist. “It’s lovely,” I said, taking it off and returning it to the table.

“Blast,” Robert muttered beside me.

“What?” I asked as we moved away from the jeweler.

“My chain,” he said as he continued to look down at his pocket watch. “It’s broken. Completely. And half of it is missing.”

We each looked around where he had been performing, but we couldn’t find it in the waning light of the setting sun. “It’s got to be here somewhere,” I said, confused that it had disappeared so completely.

He groaned in frustration. “It probably flew off somewhere and is trampled into the ground already.”

“What will you do? Can you just keep it in your pocket without the chain?”

He shook his head. “That would make me too nervous. If it’s not secured to my clothing, it’s too likely that it will be lost.”

“So you need a new chain?”

He nodded. “Don’t know where I’ll find one though.”

I chewed on my lip, thinking of all the extra costume pieces and bobs that the Hatchers kept on hand. “Come on,” I said, picking up the wooden perch that I’d set down to look at the jewelry. “Maybe the Hatchers have something. I’ve seen some in their shop before, but I’m not sure if they travel with any.”

“Shop?” he asked, raising a brow at me. “Are the Hatchers festival mice?”

“Yes, and some of the best people I know,” I said, not wanting him to look down on them. “They have a home and shop in Dressle, but they travel during the festival seasons.”

As we walked, he became serious. “Tell me, how did you end up with the hatters?”

I was glad he’d asked. I’d been wanting to share more with him but didn’t know how to bring it up. “After I left my brothers, I needed a costume. Hatcher helped me. Then I met his little sisters and they decided they wanted to adopt me. I stayed in their home in Dressle over the winter, and after a while”—I shrugged, still marveling over those events—“I had become one of them.”