Your name is Nancy Astley. You're a young woman from Whistable, Kent and have spent your life shucking and selling oysters in your family's semi-famous oyster restaurant. A narrow, weather-boarded house, painted a flaking blue, half-way between the High Street and the harbour. A bulging sign hangs above the door, that reads //Astley’s Oysters, the Best in Kent//(a title bestowed upon themselves). Inside is a dim, low-ceilinged, fragrant room with tables covered in chequered cloths.
You live comfortably. Well, as comfortably as you can when you have to get up every morning at seven and must share a room and bed with your younger sister, Alice. You have a beau: Freddy. He's sweet and a bit handsome and your family likes him; but you find yourself thinking that you would much rather go to the [[music hall -> music hall]] than spend time kissing him.
Ah, the music hall. It's hot as hell in the summer and nearly freezing in the winter, it's small and rather shabby - it smells of wood and grease paint and spilling beer. Of gas and tobacco and hair oil. It smells like laughter, like applause. It is your favorite place to be.
Alice's beau, Tony, works at the Canterbury Palace Music Hall and so you and her are often able to sneak in to see the shows, free of charge.
One summer night, when it's so hot that nobody wants to eat fried fish or lobster soup, your mother lets you and your sister off work early, to do whatever your hearts desire.
What do you want to do?
[[Walk the beach, it's much too hot out to be stuck in a stuffy music hall. -> walk the beach]]
[[See what's playing at The Palace! There are new shows every week. -> go to the palace]]
If it's too hot for people to want fish, then it's certainly too hot to spend the evening packed like sardines with stragners in a stuffy theater, even if you do love everything about it. There will be other nights to see the acrobats and the singers and the magicians.
Instead, you and Alice walk to the beach and remove your shoes and stockings, wanting to dip your toes in the chill waters. She talks about Tony, a smile tugging at her lips; you don't say much about Freddy.
The sun dips under the horizon and the previously sweltering air quickly becomes unbearably cold. You both rush to put your shoes back on and run home, giggling wildly.
Back home, mother informs you that this Saturday the entire family: Father, Mother, Davy (your brother), Alice, Freddy, everyone, will be going to [[The Palace->family]] to celebrate the weekend.
Of course! Why wouldn't you enjoy your night off at your favorite place? You and Alice get dressed up in your Sunday bests and walk arm-in-arm to the theater, enjoying every cool breeze that passes over your heated faces.
You reach The Palace and find that tonight is the opening night for Gully Sutherland! Alice squeals - Gully is her most favorite comedian! You both rush inside and find seats in the gallery, above the stage. Here, you can see the shape of the stage and the sweep of the seats; and you marveled to see your neighbours' faces, and to know your own to be like theres, queerly lit by the stage lights and with a grin so wide it felt like your face might split.
Acts come and go, each getting more applause than the last as the audience continues to get drunker. You're starting to get impatient for Gully's act when the Chairman (a friend of yours, named Tricky) announces an act new to this theater.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he cried, "a little treat for you now. A little bit of helegance and top-drawer style. If you’ve champagne in your glasses, raise them now. If you’ve beer - why, beer’s got bubbles, don’t it? Raise that too! Above all, raise your voices, as I give to you, direct from the Phoenix Theatre, Dover, our very own Kentish swell, our diminutive Faversham masher ... Miss [[Kitty Butler! -> Kitty]]"
"Hallo!"
You look up at the greeting and suddenly you are the only one in the audience. Standing on stage was the most marvellous girl you have ever seen. She wore a suit - a handsome gentleman’s suit, cut to her size, and lined at the cuffs and the flaps with flashing silk. There was a rose in her lapel, and lavender gloves at her pocket. From beneath her waistcoat shone a stiff-fronted shirt of snowy white, with a stand-up collar two inches high. Around the collar was a white bow-tie; and on her head sat a top hat.
Kitty Butler... She walked the line between boy and girl. Her figure was slender and boy-like, but also vaguely rounded at the bosom and hips, in a way no real boy's ever was. She strode like a boy, and stood like one, with her feet far apart and her hands thrust carelessly into her trouser pockets, and her head at an arrogant angle, at the very front of the stage; and when she sang, her voice was a boy’s voice - sweet and terribly true.
You look around you and find that your neighbours are all equally entranced by the girl, dozens of pairs of shining eyes gazing at her.
Her set only lasts the customary fifteen minutes, but to you it feels like hours and you never want it to end - seems the rest of the audience doesn't want that either and they cheer and shout her back on two more times. But all good things must end, so for her final number, Kitty sings a gentle ballad about roses and a lost sweetheart; she then pulls out the rose from her lapel and places it against her cheek. As the song comes to a close, she approaches the audience and tosses the rose to a nearby girl, supposedly the prettiest girl in the audience. The people in the crowd go wild and call for Kitty to come back once more, but there are no more encores. And just like that, it is intermission.
You find yourself thinking that there would be nothing more wonderful in the world than to recieve a [[rose->after show]] from Kitty Butler's hand.
Saturday arrives and your family (plus many friends you encountered along the way!) shuffles into the theater. Your seats aren't the greatest, but it's difficult to find a dozen good seats together. If someone wants to get a message passed along, it must be passed, in a shriek or a whisper, all along the gallery, from cousin to cousin, from aunt to sister to uncle to friend, disturbing all the rows along the way. You feel utterly embarassed.
Freddy places his hand over yours, but its effect is the opposite of the comforting caress it was meant to be.
The first performer walks out and your family, the entire audience, goes wild. You, too, perk up as the singer started his song.
The night continues and your annoyance soon melts away, as you find yourself enraptured with every act. Finally, the Chairman encourages everyone to settle down so he can announce the next act.
"Now, would you all please help me welcome the wonderful Miss.[[Kitty Butler-> Kitty]]!"
After the show ends, you make your way out into the cool night air and decide right then that you must see Kitty again.
So you return the next day. And the next. And the next. You sit in the same seat every time.
Your family teases you for wanting to see Kitty so often, but you don't care. You sing her songs under your breath as you work on the oysters and try to imitate the steps you see her do while you sweep the floor.
You return to The Palace once more that night - Kitty's act seems to get better every time you see it. Tonight, however, would be the performance you'd never forget because tonight, when Kitty sings her final song, she takes her rose and makes eye contact with you before gently tossing the flower into your lap. Your heart beats wildly in your chest, threatening to escape, and continues to do so as you move to leave the theater, cradling the flower delicately in your palms.
Just before you leave to catch a train home, you hear Tony call your name.
"Hey, hey," he says breathlessly, "someone’s merry, and I know why! How come girls never look so gay as that, when I give them roses?" You blush.
"What do you want, Tony?" You ask.
He smirks. "Miss Butler would like a word."
[[Go with Tony->talk to kitty]]
[[Go home->go home]]
You follow Tony down a dimly lit hallway in the back of the theater. You pass many of the performers you saw that night as they leave to go home, and you notice how different they all seem from their stage personas. You wonder if Kitty will be different as well.
Tony stops in front of a door marked with a brass '7', the only feature distinguishing it from the several other doors along the hallway. Tony knocks and a silvery voice welcomes you in.
Kitty sits in front of a vanity, perhaps removing her stage makeup, but turns to greet you when you enter. "Aha!" She says, "my mystery admirer! I was sure it must be Gully you came to see; then someone said you never stay beyond the interval. Is it really me you stay for? I never had a fan before!"
"I do like your act," you say, "Tony lets me in for nothing, but I would pay to see you if I had to! I like your act so very, very much."
Kitty smiles and you both continue to talk as she removes her makeup and smokes. She sings a song about an oyster girl when you mention where you work.
//As I was going down Bishopgate Street,
An oyster-girl I happened to meet -
Into her basket I happened to peep,
To see if she’d got any oysters ...//
You study her face and find that underneath her makeup is a splattering of freckles. You smile at this discovery.
But too soon the time for the theater close arrives and you and Kitty must part ways. "Thank you, Miss Astley. For coming to see me. Perhaps I will see you again?"
You nod, blushing, as she lifts your hand to her lips. But the moment is ruined when you realize that you must smell dreadful!
"Oh!," you cry, ripping your hand away from her, "I smell like a herring!"
She smiles, "Not at all like a herring. But perhaps, maybe, like a [[mermaid.->visits continue]]"
You gape at Tony. Kitty Butler wants to speak with you? Why? She was amazing and beautiful, and you're just... an oyster girl.
"Oh, Tony, I can't! She would be grossly disappointed of me. And what if she's not as wonderful as I make her out to be? It would ruin everything! No, Kitty can never become anything more than what she is to me right now. And I can never be anyone more than the girl who comes to her shows every night. Thank you, Tony, but I must leave."
You run out of the building before he can protest, hoping you don't miss your train.
Eventually Kitty leaves The Palace, on to bigger and better things. You see her name in the paper every so often - she ends up marrying her manager, Walter. You feel a pang in your chest when you read ''that'' headline. You wonder what would've happened if [[Nancy Astley did get to meet Kitty Butler that night...->after show]]
You continue to visit Kitty nightly, and your friendship grows with each passing day. She insists that you call her Kitty - no longer "Miss. Butler", and she asks if she may call you 'Nan', for Nancy is what everyone else calls you.
Kitty's dressing room becomes your second home. You get to know every inch of it: her vanity wracked with age, her faded old cigar box which held her sticks of grease-paints, her rack of costumes - oh her costumes! You become so intimately familiar with Kitty's costumes that she proposes you become her official dresser.
You'd come to Kitty's dressing room before the show to help her change and get ready, stay there while she performs (you can hear her music through the theater walls), and see her once again after the curtain dropped to change her back into a girl and press whichever suit she wore that night.
[[Become Kitty's dresser->accept dresser]]
[[Don't become Kitty's dresser->refuse dresser]]
You accept Kitty's proposal without any hesitation. She performs, you dress. She sings, you iron. She amazes audiences, you tidy up. And when it's all done, you get to spend time with Kitty. You couldn't have asked for more.
Your friendship with and feelings for Kitty grow even more as the days tick by - you even find yourself laying awake at night thinking of her. You wonder if Alice can see the pinkness of your cheeks in the dim lighting.
Your family insists that you invite Kitty over for an afternoon tea, so you do and she happily accepts, but you fret over what she will think of your family, your house, your entire life.
But, as it turns out, you had nothing to worry about. Kitty is enthralled with everything you show her, as her childhood differed greatly from your own. She charms everyone in your family and even enjoys some of your famous oysters (after getting your help with opening them correctly). You realize that you're falling in love with her all over again.
Later, Kitty pulls you aside, saying she has something important to tell you.
"You see, Nan, Tricky, at The Palace, has offered to extend my contract through the new year."
"Oh, Kitty, that's wonderful!" You exclaim.
"He wants me to stay on, but I've turned him down."
"Turned him down? But why?"
"My manager, Walter Bliss, has offered me a contract at a music hall in London! He says I'm so good that I could find fame and fortune in the city!"
You smile a sad sort of smile. You're happy for Kitty, but rather sad for yourself. Kitty sees this and exclaims,
"Oh, Nan! Don't look so sad! I meant to ask you to come with me, to London. Come as my dresser, Nan. It's why I've been trying so hard to impress your family, so they'll allow you to leave with me."
Your face erupts into a grin, "Oh, Kitty, of course I want to come with you!" You both fling your arms around eachother in a fierce embrace and laugh with pleasure, hearts bursting with excitment for [[what the future holds.->To London!]]
You tell Kitty that you couldn't possibly be her dresser, that you'd surely find a way to mess everything up. She looks saddened by this, but respects your descision.
Kitty continues to wow The Palace's crowds and you continue to grow more fond of her as the months pass by. Her contract is extended several times, but sooner than you would've liked, she is offerent a contract at large theater in London - The Star. Her manager, Walter, insists that she go, and you can tell that she wants this as well.
You and Kitty share a tearful goodbye at the train station, several packed bags sitting at her feet.
"Oh, Nan! Please tell me you'll write!"
"I will, Kitty! I promise you."
And you do. But Kitty moves house so often that you eventually don't know where to address your letters. Your collection of letters from her sit quietly at the bottom of a drawer, collecting dust.
[[Just think of what could've happened, had you a reason to follow Kitty to London.->visits continue]]
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