The Elementals Read Online Free Page B

her flesh with anticipation.
    “One thin dime, fella,” the doorman said. “Ladies for free; you got a girl with ya?”
    “Not tonight,” Kate said, fishing change from her pocket. With a wink, she gave up the dime and elbowed the doorman as she passed. “Maybe I’ll get lucky.”
    He laughed. “That’s the spirit!”
    Inside, bare bulbs hung from the rafters, a field of man-made stars lighting the dancehall. Humid air pressed all around, ripe with the scent of sweat and perfume. Boys in uniform swirled by, mixed with the ones not yet old enough to head
over there
. Girls with giddy smiles and thin skirts that clung to their thighs danced together, waiting to catch someone’s eye.
    Kate crammed herself into a corner table, then pulled her camera from the bag. She needed the table to stay steady, since it was impossible to sneak anywhere with a tripod. Tilting the lens toward the ceiling, she counted along with the “Dixie Jass Band One Step” and started to crank.
    Jazz and ragtime were perfect for making movies. She had to turn the film at a steady rate or everyone on the reel would look like mad hornets. Speeding up suddenly, dripping down slow like molasses—there was an
art
to capturing moving pictures, no matter what Daddy said.
    Taking in the lights first, Kate slowly lowered the camera to capture the people around her. A knot of boys in the corner looked like skinned rabbits in their brand-new military cuts. They passed a wrinkled stub of a cigarette around as they watched the girls moving on the floor.
    One of them leaned against his buddy. He gestured subtly, smoke ringing the tips of his fingers. He wasn’t looking at the fresh, pretty faces blooming around him. His eyes canted significantly lower; the curve of his smile was dark and a little wild.
    Careful to keep her count, Kate filmed every bit of it, even the way he smoothed a sweet mask over his face when a girl would look his way. Kate was capturing magic: the moment between bad intent and good behavior. Moving a bit closer, she reveled; this was perfect for her one-reel.
    Threading through the bank of tables, she shifted to catch the other half of that equation. Two girls with their backs to the room threw furtive glances as they shared a pot of lip rouge. Animated as they spoke, one girl was all sharp angles and emphasis. The other nodded, brows rounded earnestly as she listened.
    Then the music shifted to a rag, and the girls transformed. Sharp put on a doe-eyed expression, and Rounded turned into something smoky-eyed and assured. Daringly, they arranged themselves right at the edge of the dance floor, and they didn’t pretend to be dainty. They caught the soldiers’ eyes and danced away in their arms.
    “Perfect,” Kate murmured to herself, then yelped when someone touched her sleeve.
    “Ooh, sorry,” a pretty girl in beaded silk said, leaning back. “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
    Kate folded the crank down; no point wasting expensive film on nothing. “It’s all right. It’s a bit loud in here, don’t you think?”
    “It is! And quite acoustic! You can stand anywhere at all and hear the music.”
    “Are you here with friends?” Kate asked. She skimmed the nearby faces, but everyone savored their own moment, too busy to pay attention to anyone else’s.
    “Just one. She’s already dancing.” Seemingly caught on a breath, the girl edged closer. Pulling her gaze back to Kate’s face, she smiled again. “With one of the conscripts. Have you filled out your card yet?”
    Without hesitation, Kate shook her head. She’d been sneaking out for months now in her father’s clothes; most people thought she was barely out of short pants, but so far, no one had realized she wasn’t a boy. She’d answered questions about the draft so often, she already had an excuse for her lack of service. “I’m not fit. Curvature of the spine.”
    “That’s too bad; you poor thing.”
    “I do my best from home,” Kate said. With a