After trying, and failing, to fix the whip after a malfunction Bella had incurred a nasty cut on her hand. She’d managed to find someone to take care of the ride and she made her way to the medical tent. Usually it was the old doctor himself but she saw him loading kids into the Eli so someone else must have been in charge. When she finally made it over there she saw the girl inside. This was the girl Paul had started seeing. They’d seen each other around that was for sure but she hadn’t really had much of a chance to get to know her.
She smiled as she made her way into the tent. “Hiya. Sorry to bother you but I cut my hand trying to get the damn whip working.” She didn’t know why she even bothered to try. Bella was a teacher, not a mechanic.
The day proved uneventful at the med tent. A couple of visitors had come by to get bandages - "bandaids" to those in the future, it seemed - for minor scrapes but overall few had need to stop by. This left Beth to occupy her time with other tasks.
At the moment, she was flipping through a magazine she had picked up on a whim. The subject was tiny homes; she thought it might help her and Paul to make the most of their new space.
The approaching scent of blood drew her from her reading and she was on her feet by the time Bella entered. Ah. It was Paul's friend.
Beth returned the smile. "Not a bother at all," she assured. "That's what I'm here for." She motioned for Bella to take a seat. "Now let's see about getting this cleaned up."
Finding the closet cot she sat on it and put out her hand for Beth to examine. “You’re Paul’s lady aren’t you? He hadn’t told me much about you, just your name.” And that he liked her a lot. While Paul and Bella had fooled around in the past, she’d hardly gained any sort of feelings over the matter. Her heart belonged to the Reverend, now and forever.
“I’d say it’s about time for someone to finally tie him down, he’s in need of some serious schooling sometimes.” She teased. The truth was that Paul as good as it got, and she wanted to make sure she was worthy of him. Most of all, she wanted to get know her.
Color rose to her cheeks despite herself. Paul’s lady. Beth hadn’t heard anyone refer to her as such so never thought of it herself. But it was true. She was his lady. His. And he was hers. Even after being with him for a few months now it still made her giddy to think about. She could be such a silly girl.
“I’m glad to be the one to do that then,” she answered with a modest smile as she collected her supplies. Bringing up a chair, she sat down in front of the injured woman, gently taking her hand into herself and wiping at the bloody wound with a wet cloth.
Bella was casual, teasing. “And I don’t think he needs that much schooling. But I’ll be sure to give it to him when he needs it,” she added, attempting to mimic the playful tone Bella had presented when speaking about him. It was difficult; she was shy but she tried. She was Paul’s good friend; she wanted to befriend her.
She chuckled at Beth's response, trying to remain as still as possible while she mended her hand. Bella could tell Beth wasn’t anything like her, she was reserved and professional. She wasn’t wildly emotionally like Bella was where her temper often took the wheel. Beth was nice and Paul deserved a woman like that. “Well at the very least you have to be patient with him. He doesn’t usually have a lady on his arm this long”
It was true, Beth was a unicorn in the sense that Paul had never seen the same woman for more than a few days at most. It occurred to her that she might be scaring her so she shook her head and laughed. “I’m not really great at being a comfort. He’s a good man, don’t you worry about him.” She must have sounded strange to Beth, like she was trying to put her through an approval process and that just wasn’t the case.
Beth nodded slightly, uncertain how to respond. She was aware of how fleeting Paul’s past relations with women were, or at least partially. It was mostly hearsay and what she had noticed over the past year as opposed to any conversation with Paul himself. It wasn’t a topic she was particularly interested in discussing. Bringing up the other women he had been with, ones that were surely more interesting than she was, made her worry that he might realize just how boring and unworthy of his affections she really was.
“He’s a very good man,” she responded as she readied the antiseptic. With a brief caution that it might hurt, she wiped the wound clean. Then she was quiet as she wrapped the bandage, uncertain exactly what to talk about.
It was obvious to Bella that she was only making Beth more uncomfortable. A change of subject was obviously necessary if she was going to break through Beth’s walls. “So tell me about yourself, can’t say I’ve heard much about you. Where are you from, originally?” It always seemed like a good enough ice breaker but Bella didn’t have much in the way of friends so she wasn’t sure if that was even true.
Maybe that’s why she got so angry all the time, because she didn’t have any women around to listen to her. Closest she had to someone like that was Paul and it didn’t seem right to go to him anymore, not when they both were with someone. It occurred to her that she didn’t much like talking about where she was from and now she started to feel terrible about even asking. “You don’t have to answer that.” She added, shaking her head at herself.
Beth found no offense with the question. It was a typical icebreaker and, honestly, they were in dire need of one with the lull in their conversation. Bella seemed quick to tell her that she didn’t have to answer though. It made sense; many residents of the carnival didn’t like to discuss their past for various reasons. She wasn’t one of those people. While it was painful to know she could never go back to the way her life was before, she held on tightly to the memories. “No, it’s okay,” she replied with a reassuring smile. “I’m from Pennsylvania. Out in the country in a town so small you’d walk right by it.” She let out a soft chuckle. “Trees as far as the eye can see.”
Bella offered a smile at that. “That sounds lovely.” And it did. Trees, small town charm? What was there not to like about the sheer idea of it. “I’m from Chicago originally but I don’t remember much about it, just small fragments. My parents abandoned me here when I was six years old.” She scoffed at that.
“It’s for the better anyhow. What I do remember was a lot of smoke and a lot of cold nights on dirty floors.” She allowed herself a little chuckle because she knew she was better off here than she would’ve been in Chicago.
“How long have you been with Zion?” She knew she’d seen here around for a while but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it was.
“It was. A bit boring at times, maybe, but my siblings were good at keeping me too busy to notice.” She smiled fondly at the thought of her younger brothers and sister. She missed them terribly. How were they doing, she wondered. Were they happy? She hoped they were.
A gentle shake of her head whisked the thoughts away, allowing her to focus on Bella. She couldn’t help a slight frown at the woman’s story of her beginnings. How horrible it must have been to be abandoned by your parents. “I couldn’t imagine,” came her response, eyes soft and sympathetic. “I’m glad you found a home here.”
Beth paused, mentally counting the months she had been with the group. “A year and a half, about,” she answered. It had been the past February that she had arrived at the outskirts of the carnival exhausted, bloodied, and absolutely terrified. Her gaze lowered at the memory. What had happened the night prior to her arrival… the nightmares still happened though less frequently as time passed. A blessing. It didn’t get rid of her guilt and shame though.
“You work with the reverend?” She asked, forcing her attention away from her thoughts and to Bella once again. “You run the Sunday school.”
Bella offered a smile to Beth but it was clear there was some sadness beneath it. The truth was, teaching those kids was the only thing that seemed to make her happy these days. “All schooling for them actually. I love those kids. And the Reverend is my…” was he involved with her? There wasn’t a ring on her finger and he hadn’t even called her his anything. “We’re involved.” Was the best she could do.
“You like wine?” She asked her cause she always loved good conversation over a glass of red. “I’d love to share a bottle with you sometime, if you’re up for it.”
"All schooling?" Beth was a little surprised. She hadn't realized that there was a teacher for the carnivals's children. It made sense and she felt a bit stupid for not realizing it. "I bet that is quite a task. Children are great but they can be little terrors. As I'm.sure you well know." She chuckled. "I admire your resilience."
The news that Bella was involved with the reverand was met with a nod. She had seen the two of them together often so it wasn't a stretch that they were an item.
"I can't say I've had enough to know if I like it or not," she admitted. Her alcoholic preferences tended toward ales and ciders, mostly because of availability back home. "I wouldn't mind giving it a try."
Being half French, Bella found herself drawn to wine. While she couldn’t say what made wine good or not, she’d bought the wine for communion ever since she started helping the Reverend. She always bought a couple of extra bottles for herself because she loved the taste so much.
“Children are a blessing. I love each and every one of those little terrors.” And the fact that she was no closer to becoming a mother was something that weighed on her. Most women her age had an entire litter of kids. Bella just couldn’t seem to get the relationship part right. Still, she offered Beth a smile because she was right in a sense.
“It’s an acquired taste which means you have to drink a lot of it before you realize how good it is, and I buy only the best reds for the Sunday communion.” She chuckled a little as Beth stitched her hand up. It was going to take some time to heal but she didn’t mind. She’d suffered worse pain before and she’d suffer worse still.
"They are," she agreed with a smile. "They're lucky to have you." Beth liked children and enjoyed spending time with them when the opportunity arose. Of all the children, she spent the most time with Jericho's daughter because of their shared interest in sewing. Sometimes, when sitting with Lizzy helping with a sewing project, Beth wondered if she'd ever have a daughter of her own to teach. Before the curse, she had been so certain she would be a mother but now... she wasn't so sure.
"Well then, I trust you'll pick up something delicious then." A moment later she finished wrapping Bella's hand. "And finished," she announced. "You should be good to go though try not to use your hand too much until it's had some time to heal."
She pulled her hand back to herself and examined the dressing. It was clear that Beth was good at her job. “Thank you. It’s been really nice.” She said with a smile and stood to leave.
“I’ll see you later!” She said and left with a smile. It had been the first time in her life she really felt like another woman understood her. It felt nice and it was clear Paul chose the right woman.