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Christopher’s ear. 
He giggled.  “He will never forget his sister.  Never.  Those
two had a bond.  A strong one.  They were like the oak and the
mistletoe, bound together, always together.  And because of it…He
will  be a friend to women.  Always.”  
    Goody
looked towards the window, staring at something at once inside and far
away.    Christopher followed her gaze, and watched her
eyes.  He carefully touched the old face, the old wrinkled skin.  He
touched her old bulbous nose; then, softly touched his own.

 
    Chapter 10

 
    Alice
tugged at the corset that was biting into her side.  Mercer La Mer at All
Occasion Costumes told her it would take awhile to get used to it, but then
she could swing into the Renaissance in style.  Alice went to Mercer for
the costuming of all her plays.
    Alice
pulled the corset up, feeling her bosom push up into her neck.  Coming out
of the dressing room, Mercer had been waiting for her. 
     “Ah
madame, exquisite.  It fits you, oui ?”
     “No,
it doesn’t.  It’s too damn tight.  I don’t like it.”  Alice
stared sullenly at her reflection in the mirror, secretly hoping the corset
would pop open, freeing her from this torture. 
    Mercer
lifted up her long brown hair.  “Now you can braid the hair Renaissance
fashion.  It will be very beautiful.”
    Alice
smiled.  At least Mercer knew how to make her feel good.  Tousling
her hair in her hand, she lifted it up on top of her head, sticking her tongue
out at her reflection.  Mercer laughed.
     “My
dear Alice, you have a bit of the imp in you.   You will be at home
in the Renaissance.”
    Sitting
at her desk she wasn’t so sure she was at home in the Renaissance.  She
didn’t know how to get these kids interested in it.  Maybe dressing up in
a costume would do it.  Sitting awkwardly at her desk, she stared at the
clock on the wall.  The bell sounded, and students began to pour into the
halls.  Alice got up from her desk and stood in the corner.  She put
her hands on hips and waited.
    Dion,
always the first to enter the class, bounded into the room, followed by
Alex.  The two were playfully pushing each other.  Dion looked to the
desk, frowned, then noticed her standing in the corner.
     “Hey,
yo, look at Ms Petrovka.  She gone Renaissance .”  Dion slid
into his seat staring at her. 
    The
rest of the kids filed in and sat in their seats.   Most of them
giggled when they saw her.  Alice stood quietly watching them, trying her
best to remain motionless like a mannequin.  She vaguely felt like
something from the wax museum.  They talked amongst themselves, quietly at
first, then loudly, to see if they could elicit a reaction from her. 
Finally, when the bell had rung for class to begin, they stared at her
expectantly.  She stared back.  When she couldn’t take it any longer
she burst out laughing.
     “This
is the longest I’ve ever had you stay quiet.  Maybe I should dress up more
often,”  Her corset began digging into her again, and she tugged at
it.  “Well I suppose you all are wondering why I dressed up like
this.  As Dion guessed, it is too launch ourselves back in time to
Elizabethan England, during the time of the Renaissance.  Incidentally,
Renaissance means rebirth, and we will be birthing ourselves into a new art
form – that of Mr. William Shakespeare.”  She flourished her hand towards
the poster of Shakespeare on the wall.  The class groaned. 
     “Now,
now.  Before you get all pooh pooh on me, we will be having some
fun.  I want us to get in the spirit of this.  Plays are meant to be
read out loud, that means performed.   So everyone, take out your
standard issue text books.”
    Howard
Bennely timidly raised his hand.  He wore glasses and a tight Izod short
sleeve shirt. 
    “Ms
Petrovka, what book do you mean?”  Howard gazed confusedly into the
contents of his backpack.
    “Yeah,
we got about five hundred books in here.”  Roberto