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“You’re too skinny to be desirable back then,” Marge pointed out.
Alice scoffed. “Nonsense. I would be the belle of any ball.”
Sylvie shook her head. “Actually, Marge is right. Back then, thin meant sickly. Having some meat on your bones meant you were healthy for breeding and from a family with enough money to eat well. It was more desirable to have curves.”
Marge grabbed her hips and squeezed. “Good birthin’ hips. That’s what they wanted. Back then, Doris or I would have been royalty. You would have been cleaning our shitpots with your scrawny little sickly hands.” Marge lifted her hands and started wiggling them in Alice’s face.
Alice gasped and pushed Marge’s hand away. “Stop. That’s the worst image I’ve ever pictured.”
I giggled. “You really think I could have been royalty?”
“Most definitely,” Sylvie answered. “You would have ruled over us all.”
My whole body flushed with the thought. Me. A queen.
“Actually,” Sylvie went on. “I’m changing my time travel wish. You know how I said if time travel was invented and everyone was racing back to take out the world’s baddies, I would go back to stop the trend of hairless women and shaving? I change that. I’m going back to changing when fuller figured women were considered hot and being a stick figure was out of style. I’m changingthat. I’d rather shave my legs than have to count every calorie to stay in shape. Could you imagine? Just eating all the food we can thinking, ‘Gotta put on a few pounds so I look healthy and plump to entice my spouse.’” Her eyes twinkled with the thought.
“Now we’re talking! I’ll travel back with you!” Marge agreed. “The bigger the better. That’s the message we’re gonna spread, and then when we get back to present day, it’s nothing but ice cream sundaes and pizza all day every day.”
They gave each other a high five.
“Maybe I’ll stumble into the stones while we’re here,” Sylvie said. “And if I disappear back to the past with Claire and Jamie, you can be certain I’m promoting plump ladies. That’s a promise.”
I smiled. “Oh, good. Then I can eat even more baked goods!”
“Exactly!” She grinned back.
“Speaking of food,” Marge said. “I’m starving. Let’s go down to the meet and greet so we can eat, and then I can get the hell out of this horrifying dress. And Doris, if you ever question that I love you, just remember, I wore a dress for you once. That’s love.”
I smiled sweetly at her. “Thank you for playing along. It means a lot to me.”
“Wearing this costume for an hour or two isn’t going to kill me. You’re worth it.” Marge winked.
“Actually,” Sylvie lifted her finger. “We stay in costume anytime we’re in the castle. It’s part of the rules to help all the guests who stay feel like they are back in historical times. All the food, drinks, and clothing at the castle are authentic. So, anytime we leave our rooms to go on the grounds, we are in historical dresses.”
I nearly popped my own eardrums with my squeal. “You mean this isn’t only for one night? We get to look like this every day?”
“Yep.” Sylvie grinned. “I thought you would like this part.”
“I love it!” I jumped forward and hugged her. “It’s even better than I imagined.”
“I can deal with looking like this for a few days.” Alice brushed a hand across her dress. “I need to send some photos to Alejandro. I’m thinking role play. I’m Claire and he’s Jamie.”
Marge lifted a hand. “Are you trying to tell me I have to wear a damn dress every time I’m here in the castle?”
“Yep.” Sylvie grinned. “Castle rules. We can change into normal clothes when we go out on Scottish outings, but the moment we get back, we change into these.”
Marge tossed her hands up. “Aw, man!”
“Be a good sport, Marge,” Alice taunted with a sinister smile.
Marge flipped her the bird.
“Okay, let’s go!” Sylvie gave them gentle shoves down the hall.
With excitement fluttering inside me, we headed off toward our first big dinner in a castle.
