Page 79 of Rest In Pieces
Igulp a bottle of water while Nevaeh picks pieces of glass out of my hair, my eyes on the team breaking down some of the set to make it ready for the next scene.
“Tip your head down and shake it,” she orders, taking the now-empty bottle from me. I do as she says.
“You need a shower,” she tells me as I flip my head back up. “I don’t even know how you got it in your hair when you were wearing a wig.” She worries her lip.
“I’m fine, Pippin, promise. It’s not real glass—it’s just sugar.”
Her shoulders relax. “So, you have candy in your hair?”
I chuckle. “Pretty much.”
“I was expecting some high noon shoot-out between two people so I was surprised when I got here and saw the set they’d made. Those buildings looked so real, especially when you were throwing yourself out the damned window. I didn’t even know windows had glass in the Wild West,” she muses, her writer’sbrain kicking in. Any minute now, she’ll pull out her phone to research it and end up falling down a rabbit hole.
“They did have windows with glass but it was considered a luxury so you wouldn’t normally find it in places like the set is depicting, but this isn’t a traditional Western. It’s like the other movies in the franchise; it’s set in an alternative universe so it can take certain liberties.”
“Ahh, okay, that makes more sense because I did have some questions.”
“Of course you did. Maybe just don’t ask Stefan. He doesn’t like people questioning his godliness.”
She grins. “Who does? Okay, so I’m just supposed to forget everything I know is true, and everything will be fine? Like having a kick-ass woman schooling the men when women had hardly any rights back then?”
I nod. “Yep.”
“Cool,” she says, giving me two thumbs up.
I laugh. “Welcome to the magic of the movies, where sharks can travel by tornadoes and snakes like to fly on 747s. But it’s worth pointing out that the Wild West was pretty lawless. Women didn’t have to stick to the strict social norms they did in later eras. While some might have ended up as prostitutes, there were also female gunslingers.”
She looks at me with wide eyes and an excited smile.
“You want to go write, don’t you?”
“I can’t help it if you inspire me.”
I shake my head at her trying to butter me up.
“I love having you help out on set, but I don’t need you here all the time. If inspiration strikes, go write. I’m going to go take a nap for a bit since I’m not needed on set again for a while anyway.”
“Perfect! I found the library in town yesterday, so I’ll go write there for a while.”
I give her a hug. “Have fun. I’ll text you when I’m wrapping up here.”
“Okay, I’ll pick up dinner. Something greasy for me and something bland for you,” she says with a grin, making me huff.
“Just because something isn’t covered in cheese doesn’t mean it’s bland.”
“Nice try, but cheese is life, and you’ll never change my mind.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I shout as she runs back to the RV to grab her bag and laptop.
“Hey, Spook.”
I turn at the sound of my nickname and see Jack jogging toward me. “Hey, Jack.”
“Gotta say, that last jump you did was a thing of beauty. It’s not often we pull something like that off in one take.”
I do a quick curtsy. “Why, thank you, kind sir.”
He chuckles. “Don’t mention it. So, we’ll start setting up for the next stunt in an hour, but we’re going to grab a bite to eat first if you want to join us.”