The loud applause in the theatre echoed behind the stage and up the hall. Ladybird supported herself against a wall as she finished giving her feet a final stretch. Beatrice attached the feathered band to her head and checked her tutu in the mirror. Wysteria tightened the strings of the bow to the violin and rose en pointe.
Sara-Ellen stepped backstage and rejoined the other dancers while an announcer took her place on the opposite side of the curtain.
Ladybird turned to her sisters and took their hands. "I want you two to know that I am so happy for this moment. I would rather be dancing with no one else other than my sisters." She embraced them both until Gracie called them forward.
"Dance your hearts out," she said then nodded for them to step through the curtain.
Applause rained down on the sisters as they took to the stage. They stood staring at the applauding and whistling crowed.
"What exactly did they tell them all to expect?" Wysteria asked.
Ladybird took a deep breath and positioned herself on one side of Wysteria opposite Beatrice. "Whatever it was, let's give it to them."
Wysteria looked at Beatrice who nodded then with a chasse she passed the bow over the stings. With another step she moved into Vivaldi's Autumn and Beatrice and Wysteria commenced to dancing, flitting about the stage like the birds they were. Every pirouette, every arabesque, every grand jete was perfectly in place.
Ladybird and Beatrice performed a grande allegro while Wysteria danced a bourree en couru while never missing a note on the violin. The sisters ended by coming together in a tight circle facing inwards with their hands intertwined.
The audience erupted in applause and people stood from their seats. Ladybird, Wysteria and Beatrice smiled at each other then faced the audience. Hands joined, they walked to the edge of the stage and curtseyed.
"Brava!
"Brava!"
"Encore!"
"Yes, again!"
"Do another!"
Ladybird laughed. "Well, sisters, do you two still have a little more dance left in you."
Beatrice stepped away from her sisters and stood in fourth position.
Wysteria tucked the violin under her chin. "I know just the song." She counted to three in her head then stepped to the edge of the stage playing I dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls.
Ladybird and Beatrice danced toward each other to opposite ends of the stage. Together the three of them pirouetted under the golden glow of the theatre lights before an enchanted crowed in the height of autumn.
/
"What a night!" Beatrice sighed from where she sat before the fire soaking her feet. "I don't think I'll walk again for days."
"I thought they would never let us stop dancing," Ladybird said. "Now I know how those little ballerinas feel when you constantly wind a music box."
Wysteria came into the parlor with the kettle and added more hot water to her sisters' basins.
"Wysteria, sit. You deserve a break," Ladybird insisted.
"My feet don't hurt as bad," Wysteria said going from Ladybird to Beatrice.
"But don't your fingers want to fall off from playing like that?" Beatrice said. "My legs are like led!"
Wysteria sat before the fireplace next to Sacha. "Beatrice, after hiking up that mountain your legs should be iron. Oh, but it was all worth it wasn't it?" she ruffled Sacha's fur.
YOU ARE READING
Winters' 3 Dears- The 12: Book Three
Historical Fiction-There are nothing like unanswered questions- Starting anew had been the goal of the Winters sisters since the death of their father Amos Winters. After setting up in the state of Massachusetts the three young women try to enjoy their new lives aft...
