Chapter 2 The Red-headed Idiot at Leene Square

Early next morning Prudence woke me up. I dressed hurriedly in my disguise and Prudence did my hair into a ponytail to look like the servants. My disguise was a pair of baggy white pants and a shirt. No dress. I picked up my crossbow and followed Prudence and the other servants out of the castle. I was bubbling with excitement. Today was going to be the biggest day of my life.

When we got out of Guardia Forest, I gasped. I saw a huge column of people all trudging up the hill towards Leene Square. All the shops were closed and many houses deserted. The servants didn't leave me any time to goggle. I raced up to catch with them but they were already lost in the crowd. I couldn't see Prudence anywhere. I called out her name but no one responded. I was shoved rudely to the side of the road by some men who seemed in a hurry. I stared at the huge line for a moment and slowly trudged up the hill. No one glanced at me. I smiled. I was part of the crowd.

Leene Square was packed with people. Little kids were running around and their mothers were calling them frantically. Groups of teenagers hanging around talking. There were even oldies enjoying the fair. It was so busy and I'd never seen so many people. Not even at father's speeches.

I squeezed my way past the ticket barrier and into the fresh air. There was a fountain ahead of me where many people were sitting by enjoying the spray of the water in their faces. It was a really hot day. Many of the stalls grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, I didn't have much money, only the little amount Prudence had saved up for me with her own allowance. There was one stall with pretty looking swords and another with antique jewellery. Another had toys and show bags. There was so much to see! I wasn't looking for Prudence anymore; I was having a fabulous time on my own.

The next part of the square was quieter. There were less stalls and the hubbub seemed more distant. It reminded me a bit of Guardia Forest. I walked around until I met Leene's Bell. It looked really huge and old. I suddenly recalled something I heard from Prudence: "People who hear Leene's Bell ring will have interesting and happy lives." Was that true? I walked closer to the bell, so close I could smell the slight rust and read the half-faded inscriptions on it.

I turned around to return to the main part of the Fair when, WOOMP! I hit the ground. 'Hey!!'

Did someone just knock me over?

I rubbed my head. 'Ouch, that hurt!'

I sat up and blinked, then saw this guy lying on the ground next to me. He wasn't moving. For a moment, I thought he was dead but then I saw his leg twitch. I suddenly felt guilty, even though it wasn't my fault.

'I'm so sorry!' I cried. 'Are you okay?'

The boy didn't move. Did he get hit that hard? He had a mess of red hair, although it didn't look like he had it combed that morning, and around it, just to keep the unruly hair out of his eyes, he wore a pearly white bandana. He had donned a blue tunic over his white pants and yellow sleeveless shirt. He certainly had muscles in his arms, I noted. And he also had a katana thrust in his belt. Self-defence problems too? No, the katana was made of wood.

Leene's Bell started ringing, which was odd because nobody was there tolling it. I looked at it and with a start remembered all about the pendant I had put on yesterday. All about Queen Aliza. My mother...

Which brought me to reality. 'Uh oh...' I muttered.

My pendant! Don't tell me I had lost it!

On top of escaping and disguising as a servant, I'd have to admit I took mother's pendant. And lost it. I was worried. Really worried. I forgot about the boy and started looking for the pendant among the concrete and grass. Where was it? Where could it be?

I didn't know the boy had got up. I almost screamed when I heard an unknown voice speak into my ear. 'Uh, is this yours?'

The guy was dangling my pendant in front of me. 'Oh, thank goodness!' I beamed. 'My pendant! It has a lot of sentimental value!'

He didn't give it back to me. That was odd. 'May I have it back?' I asked awkwardly. I looked at the boy's face. He was looking at the pendant. He knew it was worth a lot of money and he wanted it. I couldn't let that happen. However, the greedy look vanished almost as quickly as it came.

'Just kidding. Here you go!' He dropped the pendant into my outstretched hand. I looked at him again. He was fairly good-looking.

'I came to see the festival! You...live in this town don't you?! I feel a little out of place here,' I admitted bashfully. 'Would you mind if I walked around with you for a while?' I said suddenly. I dimly felt my heart beating at a faster tempo. I had never really talked to a boy of my age before. Prudence had talked of boyfriends but I had never really understood what that meant or why it was so different from having girl friends. Now I knew. Girl friends didn't make me feel so… feminine. I almost felt like I wanted to be dominated by this boy. Crackers, aren't I?

I'm not sure what must have been going through his mind but the boy nodded. 'Okay, but don't waste too much of my time, will you?'

I smiled. 'You're a true gentleman!'

The boy looked flattered.

'Oh, by the way...' I said.

He interrupted. 'What's your name?' he asked.

Oh dear, I forgot my alias! Whenever we were alone, Prudence would keep calling me by that name, but was it? 'My name is, er...'

Suddenly it came to me. '...Um, Marle!' I said firmly. 'And you're?' I looked at the boy.

'It's Crono.'

'Crono?' What an odd name. Who ever heard of a Christian name called Crono? Must be short for Chronology or something, I thought. 'What a nice name! Pleased to meet you! Now, lead on!' I cried.

Was I always this excited talking to people?

I gave Crono a little jab in the back. He took a few steps then tripped over something. He groaned. 'It's that stupid cat that keeps following me!' he complained.

I looked at the cat. Poor thing, it was only a kitten. Its ginger fur looked quite silky and it looked very frightened of the whole "fair" business, as if all it wanted was peace and quiet.

We managed to lose the cat and then I followed Crono through the fair. He was interesting to talk to and I got to know him a bit. I asked him why he was in hurry and he told me he was looking for his friend Lucca. It occurred to me that looking for a single person in this gigantic Square was equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack. And wasn't Lucca a girl's name? I didn't know exactly why, but something about that unsettled me slightly.

As we went along, I discovered that Crono would never shut up. He was a forward guy, definitely not the strong, silent type. He made me laugh a lot. He explained what he was doing with a sword. It was his passion, he explained. 'I'm going to be the best swordsman in Guardia even if it kills me! Then I'll be as famous as that Princess Nadia.'

I wondered what Crono thought of Princess Nadia. I wondered what he thought of Marle. I considered telling him that I was Princess Nadia but then decided against it. He'd probably not even look at me, let alone, show me around the fair.

Eventually he stopped and I almost slammed into him.

'They're still setting up,' Crono said. 'Lucca's exhibition was a massive one. It would take a long time to set up. We'll have to come back after a while.'

'Well, then,' I considered for a moment. 'Let's go play some games, shall we?'

We headed over to the entertainment part of the fair. It was massive and carefully constructed with the coolest-looking rides at the front, like the roller coaster and the water rides. Further along was a Ferris wheel and Merry-go-round and there were lots of snack stands and fairy floss stalls dotting the area. The square was absolutely filthy with litter and the crowd was so thick, but I didn't mind. It was a wonder I didn't lose Crono.

First, we approached a "Test your Strength" Booth. Crono picked up the hammer and swung at the bell. Unfortunately we only won a single Silver Point, which was rather measly. Crono explained to me that Silver Points were a sort of new currency won by playing games. You could exchange points for real money or play the more thrilling games if you had hold of enough Points. I kept track of how many we had.

The next game we came across offering Silver Points was a Soda Drinking Competition. A bunch of little kids were surrounding a table laden with cans of soda. An adult supervisor was watching them at it, giving handfuls of Points to the kids that drunk the most. Crono laughed, and then proceeded to drink eight cans in a row. The supervisor was impressed and gave him more Points than he normally dished out. Crono pocketed the Points and burped for a minute afterwards which I thought was really cool. Wasn't he awfully competitive?

After that we found a little field where a giant cat-like machine was standing motion-less. There was no one around, so I examined the machine more closely. It was easily twice my height and carried a humungous microphone in one metal claw. Most of it was painted pink which was cute because that was my favourite colour.

'What's it called?' I asked.

Crono glanced at the machine loosely. 'That's Gato, one of Lucca's inventions. It, um... Watch out!'

The machine had lit up and a split second later a huge leather punching glove burst out of it stomach about to hit me. Crono pushed me to the side and we both avoided the blow. I smiled sweetly. 'Uh, thanks, Crono, but can you get off me now? You're sitting on top of me.'

That got Crono off me in a hurry.

'Anyway,' he said, getting to his feet, 'Gato's weak spot is its stomach. I know because Lucca made me test it a billion times for her. Come on.'

I loaded my crossbow and shot at Gato. Pow! Right in its stomach. 'Like that?'

'Similar,' Crono replied, drawing his sword.

I watched Crono's swordplay against Gato. Looking back, I don't think Crono was that much of a pro but when I was watching him, I couldn't see a flaw in his technique. He looked so strong to be able to handle a katana!

After the brief battle in which I took barely any part, I heard Crono's stomach growl ominously. It was so loud; I heard it above the festival noise. Crono looked faint. As he approached a table laden with some take away food I had a sudden feeling that what Crono was about to attempt would not be pretty.

'Mmm, smells like chicken!' Crono jumped on the food, tore it savagely in half and wolfed it down. Scraps were flying everywhere. The dusty, paved concrete. The short, trimmed grass. The wooden picnic table. He upset drinks, knocked over bowls of edibles and even managed to spill water down his front. It was so hilarious to watch.

'You're such a pig, Crono!' I giggled.

Before I could finish laughing, I saw Crono had already wandered on ahead of me. I hurried after him. When I caught up to him, he was staring at a sword display wistfully. I figured Crono wanted the sword. Of course he would, with only a wooden weapon to sustain him. I looked up at the shopkeeper. He was an old man, a very old man, wearing a monocle over one eye. His clothes looked like they had gone out of fashion centuries ago. Millennia ago. I stared. The man must have lived a very detached life.

'Will I get discounts, Melchior, for being your friend?' asked Crono.

The venerable gentleman shook his head. 'Hey! I need to earn a living too, you know.'

Crono looked disappointed. 'Oh.'

Melchior caught a glance at me then. 'By the way...' he said. 'Could you talk that young lady into selling her pendant?'

Crono looked pointedly at the pendant around my neck and suddenly I caught on. This pendant was worth heaps of money with the valuable jewels and silver chain. If Crono sold that he would easily have enough money to buy the sword being offered and be set up for life. But it was mother's and I would never let it fall into a stranger's hands. I was about to refuse when suddenly the most peculiar look crossed Melchior's face. He was looking at my pendant with recognition and... Was it fear? I blinked. The look on Melchior's face was still there. He was still regarding the pendant with horror.

'Oh, my!' he gasped. 'It's...the pendant...!'

Crono raised his eyebrow. 'Huh? What's going on?'

Melchior turned to Crono. 'Er, sorry, but I can't buy that!' he whispered, taking a fearful glance at my pendant. 'It's...far too special!' He lowered his voice. 'Keep it safe!' Then it was over. We walked away from Melchior's stall and I glared, hurt, at Crono. He had almost sold my pendant to Melchior. He wasn't a true friend.

'I heard Lucca and her dad made another crazy invention. Hope it doesn't blow up like all the others!' I heard a girl speaking to her friend. I moved on then realized that yet again Crono had abandoned me.

He was confronting the girls. 'Don't insult Lucca, she's my friend!'

The girls didn't say anything. They just sneered.

Crono screamed in anger. I could see he had an extremely quick temper. I grabbed his arm before he could attempt murder in the first degree. 'Calm down, Crono!' I hissed. 'We've got to go see Lucca's exhibit, remember?' Crono yielded and followed me, but not before he threw the dirtiest look as could be imagined in the direction of the two haughty girls.

As we neared Lucca's show, I suddenly spied an old woman's stall filled with candy. 'Hold your horses!' I said suddenly, eyeing the candy. 'I want to get some candy!' Crono sighed and looked towards Lucca's show in the distance. I was annoyed by this and to my own fault, I forgot the previous episode in which Crono had defended Lucca devoutly.

'Come on!' Crono grunted impatiently. 'Let's go!'

'Give me just a second!' I snapped. What was he so obsessed with this Lucca girl for? What about me?

'Okay, okay,' said Crono. He didn't look too happy.

I felt a wave of fear come over me. Crono probably didn't like me, did he?

I turned towards the woman and away from Crono. 'Hi! I'd like some of this.' I pointed to a bag of chewing gum situated in the middle of the pile of candy.

'Sure, young lady.' The old woman smiled and obliged to my wishes. I payed up, thanked her, then finally turned to Crono.

'Thanks for waiting!' I said bitterly.

'It's all right.' He took a deep breath and smiled. 'Let's go now.'

I didn't even get a chance to eat my candy.

Preview

Is that the Telepod? Who's that girl who made it anyway? She looks like such a nerd. What, the Telepod actually works? Let me see that! Next time in the Long Weekend: Super Dimension Warp - Another Lucca Disaster! See you soon!