Lucky Rabbit

Only about twenty students remained at school that weekend. That was a change from Gacha Love, where all of the main characters and most of the secondary characters stayed around. Of course, they were all sixteen or seventeen, and more of them had come from outside Knightmere, so that made sense. The situation was far different at Falconet, where the students were only eight to ten years old, and most lived in or near the city.

The upside of this quiet, almost abandoned, school was that Thaniel and the others who remained could go pretty much anywhere at any time between the hours of seven in the morning and nine o’clock at night. Bored-looking staff members haunted the dining hall and foyer, but there were few teachers around. The rain had returned, however, and by lunchtime on Saturday, the children were tired of cards and tiles, so Suzanne rather timidly suggested she could show them some new places.

“They’re all indoors,” she assured them, not quite glancing at Eleanor, who sank down in her seat, looking guilty. “But they’re usually off-limits to students. On days like this, though, exceptions are made.”

Thaniel and Geraldine leaned forward, their rebellious sides clearly intrigued. “Exceptions?”

The older girl smiled, eyes twinkling with a mischief Pandy hadn’t realized she had in her. “Come along and find out.” The younger children exchanged looks, but even Abbington nodded. He was definitely the one who worried most about breaking rules, but he knew by now that Suzanne wasn’t the type to get them into real trouble.

As soon as lunch was over, the whole group trooped along after Suzanne, who led them toward the back exit from the dining hall. This exit led to the stairs leading up to the staff rooms, as well as the kitchen, the stillroom, and – most importantly – one of two exits to the area behind the building, the other being at the end of the classroom wing.

Rather than going to any of those places, however, Suzanne stopped at the first room on the right, where a brass plaque read simply ‘SEAMSTRESS’, followed by ‘Mrs. Farrier’. Suzanne knocked gently, then, without waiting for an answer, she opened the door and entered, motioning for the others to follow.

Inside, they found the seamstress herself seated in a cushioned chair behind a table. She was running a piece of fabric through a machine, producing a neatly stitched seam. Beneath the table, her foot pressed a pedal in a steady, soothing rhythm. When they entered, she looked up, blue eyes smiling behind small, round spectacles, foot slowing to a halt.

“Suzanne!” Her eyes scanned the other children. They had all spent some time with Mrs.Farrier, doing chores, so she could greet each by name. “Have you come to give me more to do, or are you here to keep an old woman company?”

Suzanne smiled. “Neither, though if you have some embroidery to do, I’d be glad to help. I wanted to show everyone the costumes.”

Mrs. Farrier released a surprisingly hearty laugh. “Well, then you should do that. You know where they are.”

Suzanne nodded and led the children deeper into the room, past the table and chairs where students usually sat as they learned to sew on buttons and repair ripped seams. There was a curtain dividing the room, with a small gap at one end so Mrs. Farrier could enter to fetch whatever items she needed for her work. Suzanne swept this aside, revealing a space lined with cubbyholes to their left, while racks of clothing and a few dressmakers’ dummies stood to the right.

Pandy couldn’t help an instinctive flinch at the sight. In Gacha Love, dummies just like these came to life and attacked the main character. Pandy knew for certain that the murderous mannequins existed in this world, too, lying in wait on the only-occasionally-existent third floor. When none of these dummies came sweeping toward her, ready to stab her with scissors or wrap her in cloth, however, she cautiously advanced.

Suzanne, on the other hand, strode over to the clothing racks with more confidence than she had ever before displayed. Long swathes of white cloth were draped over the racks, probably to keep the contents from getting dusty, and Suzanne tugged this aside with a surprisingly dramatic flourish.

There were indeed costumes. The racks were filled with taffeta trees and felt frogs. The front and back halves of a horse hung from two different hangers, waiting to be reunited at some future festivity. Suzanne reached out and raised the sleeve of a gown that would be ostentatious on a queen. Golden lace dripped from pink silk sleeves, and gems that Pandy very much hoped were paste glittered from the full skirt.

“These are left over from previous events,” Suzanne said. “Sometimes we have a costume ball during midwinter, or a class or Small Group decides to put on a play for the Open House. Mrs. Farrier makes the costumes, and then she keeps them, in case one can be used again in the future.”

“We could have put on a play?” Geraldine demanded.

Thaniel nodded, looking mildly outraged by this belated discovery. “I would’ve made the best Pirate Pete. I even have a sword already!” He stepped into a lunge, holding out an imaginary sword so he could stab what looked like a particularly plump penguin.

A soft chuckle came from behind them. “The homeroom teachers won’t suggest it. The classes are too large for everyone to get a speaking part, and learning lines and making sets requires a lot of work. The plays are usually done by the Music and Dance class, in cooperation with Art.”

A small silence fell over them all as they remembered that there was no Music and Dance teacher anymore, since Mr. Benjamin had ‘returned home to care for his aging parents’. At least, that was what Augustus had told the students. Pandy had no idea what he might have said to the teachers and staff.

Mrs. Farrier cleared her throat as she lifted the garment she’d been working on. Raising a pair of scissors, she snipped a trailing thread and said, “Well, I’m certain we’ll have a new music teacher soon, so perhaps next year you can convince him or her to put on a play.”

Suzanne nodded and took a dress from the rack. Pressing it to her chest, she twirled, making the shimmering silver skirt flare out around her legs. It looked like it would be just the right size for the tall ten-year-old, and there was a definite feeling of ownership in the hand that stroked the bejeweled bodice.

“I’m going to wear this one for Guising Eve,” Suzanne said, smiling dreamily as she twirled again. “My brother is going to take me this year.”

Guising Eve was the name of the Halloween-like part of the Fall Festival, where anyone could dress up and go door to door, receiving small gifts or goodies from friends, neighbors, and complete strangers alike. In practice, it was usually young people who wore costumes and walked around, while older people stayed in their nice warm homes and gave out homemade snacks and toys. Young adults, especially those looking for a romantic partner, went to masquerade balls and costume parties, where they danced the night away while the adults and children were occupied elsewhere.

Geraldine and Eleanor brightened, turning newly excited gazes onto the racks of costumes. “Can we wear one, too?” Geraldine asked. In spite of her rambunctious tendencies, she also had a definite love of all kinds of frippery. She might be forced to wear the school uniform, but she still found every opportunity to dress it up – from large, lacy bows in her hair to the wide satin ribbons that served as laces in her boots.

Suzanne nodded. “Of course! This is the first year I’ve been able to go Guising, but even if you’re stuck at Falconet, there will be things to do. They’ll have a party in the Dining Hall after dinner, and Mr. Farrier will make all kinds of treats.”

A scuffing sound came from behind them, and they all turned to see Mrs. Farrier approaching. She smiled as she reached past Geraldine and withdrew an incredibly fluffy, bright purple dress from among the tight-packed garments. Holding it up to the little girl, she said, “I believe this will fit you, but of course you’re welcome to try on other costumes as well. So long as they only need minor adjustments, I’d also be glad to teach you how to make them fit better, too.”

Obviously, the seamstress wasn’t going to do the work for them, which was only reasonable, since she already had more than enough to do. Plus, this was another opportunity to teach the children a Handy Life Skill, which was something the school seemed to prioritize.

Thaniel and Geraldine both scrunched up their noses at the suggestion, and began digging through the costumes, looking for something that already fit. Abbington and Eleanor, on the other hand, looked intrigued, and shifted through the rack more slowly, examining each piece with great thought. Even Isidor got in on it, touching a sleeve here and there as the others shifted through them. Pandy noticed that he seemed drawn to two very different kinds of costumes. The first ones were armor-like, with some kind of stiffer substance holding silver cloth in the shape of breastplates and helmets. The other type, though, was distinctly more sinister, consisting of black or gray cloaks, hoods, and soft, loose, outfits suitable for Sneaky Sneaking Sneaks.

Pandy hopped off to the side, watching with amusement until Thaniel popped up, holding a small costume that looked suspiciously like a turnip. “What’s this?” he asked Mrs. Farrier, even as Pandy exchanged a glance with Miss Cupcakes and Lord Winston, after which all three pets began to back away slowly.

The seamstress chuckled. “Several years ago, an art class decided to perform a play using their dolls as puppets, so I made costumes for their toys. It was... memorable.” She laughed again, shaking her head as she returned to the pair of pants she was stitching.

“Are there more of those?” Geraldine demanded, already beginning to dig into the box Thaniel had pulled the turnip out of. A few seconds later, she squealed loudly and held up a silver fish wearing a fluffy pink skirt that was strongly reminiscent of a tutu. Miss Cupcakes crouched down, hissing as her pupils narrowed to thin black lines.

A brief chase ensued, with Miss Cupcakes eventually being cornered between the wall and the cubbyholes. The kitten yowled miserably, but since she was entirely unwilling to actually harm Geraldine, the fish costume was eventually forced onto her, and she sat, as stiff as a taxidermied feline, wide-eyed and clearly horrified by the indignity of it all.

Pandy, of course, was next, but she knew better than to resist. Once she’d been Turniped, she simply sprawled near the fishy feline – but not too near, because Miss Cupcakes looked very much like she’d like to take her frustrations out on someone, and Pandy was definitely Someone.

Eleanor was kinder to Lord Winston, only tying a small crown on top of his head. Crouching beside him, she ruffled his long, droopy ears and whispered, “There, now you’re my prince. What do you think?” The dog huffed and slurped her face, making the princess giggle and swipe at her damp cheek with her sleeve.

In the end, Geraldine went with the dress Mrs. Farrier first showed her, though it was a near thing between that and a fox costume that clearly made her feel very daring, since it included a pair of snug pants. Thaniel struggled to find something small enough for him, and eventually settled on a loose vest, wide sash, and an eyepatch, which he insisted upon switching from one eye to the other every few minutes, ‘so the other one doesn’t get jealous’.

Abbington found a robe that came with a long false beard and a pointed hat. The robe was too long, but he tugged it up and muttered about hems in a particularly knowledgeable way, so he obviously wasn’t worried about adjusting it. Eleanor was the most surprising, opting for a vest similar to Thaniel’s, but she combined it with a pair of short brown pants and a shirt that had been torn and stained so it looked old and ragged. She pulled a round little cap down over her face, and stuffed her hands into her pockets, sticking her elbows straight out. She made a very convincing boy, other than the long, curly hair that insisted upon escaping from the cap.

“Is that it, then?” Mrs. Farrier asked, as they all modeled their final choices. They’d pulled the curtain most of the way closed again, so each could change in private, and Eleanor had just emerged, barely managing to show off her cocky swagger before collapsing into a fit of giggles. Everyone nodded, and the seamstress walked around each of them, tugging here, folding there, and eventually nodding in satisfaction.

“They fit well enough, over all, though we’ll have to hem that robe, Bing, or you’ll be tripping over it all night. Ellie, we could put some patches on those pants, if you’d like, and they could stand to be taken in just a bit.” Abbington and Eleanor nodded enthusiastically, leaving Mrs. Farrier to face the last of their group.

“You couldn’t find anything, Isidor?” she asked, giving him a kind smile.

He shrugged, glancing away. “I’m not going Guising, so it doesn’t matter. I’ll just stay out of the way that night.”

The seamstress sighed, but didn’t argue. “Then take them all off and set them on the table. Bing and Ellie, you’ll need to come back sometime this week to work on your costumes. I’m a bit too busy to get you started at the moment, and you have better things to do anyway.” She turned a twinkling smile on Suzanne. “I suspect I know where you plan to take them next.”

Suzanne returned something that was very nearly a cheeky grin. “I’m sure you’re right. Thank you, Mrs. Farrier.” She dropped a little curtsey, and the other children copied her, while Mrs. Farrier clucked her tongue and shook her head.

“I don’t need any of that,” she told them. “If I had my druthers, you’d all call me Emily, too.” Focusing on Suzanne, she added, “And when you come back to visit from Kestrel next year, that’s exactly what you’ll do.”

The pink in Suzanne’s cheeks turned to a bright red but she smiled even wider, then motioned for the younger children to follow her as she exited back out into the hall.