Notes: I've had a couple of people asking about Umid returning in response to the last chapter. I can say for definite that Umid will be coming back and we're not a million miles away from that point, but sadly it's not during Act Two. Though given that the chapter after this one is the final part of Act Two, there might not be too much longer to wait for him.
The path up to Barde Manor wasn't as smooth as either Badger or Gus had been expecting. They'd hoped to get there before the crowds started gathering, but it was already much too late for that. There were people wandering with intent long before the two of them had even reached the dam.
"It's ages 'til the auction starts, what're they doin' gan up this earleh?" whispered Badger, as the two of them weaved through the crowd.
"I don't know, but I'm seeing a lot of faces that I'm pretty sure have never gone to the auctions before," Gus answered, "I can't say for sure, since it's generally Marilyn or Crow's job to pick customers out, but I've got a feeling that a lot of these people haven't passed the Black Raven's test."
Badger gulped; "Th-that would be terrible..."
They picked out the customers the way they did for many reasons. And one of the most important ones was to maintain their secrecy. Anyone who cared enough to go through the challenge of finding the medals clearly wanted the auctions enough to respect the rules they had in regards to them. But if everyone in Misthallery knew, well, it could only spell out trouble.
Now Badger was so distracted by looking around the crowds that he walked right into old Joe, who owned the hotel in North Ely.
"Watch where you're going, lad. This is no place for children," he scolded.
"Sorreh, m-my mistake..." mumbled Badger.
"Actually Joe, maybe you could tell us what's going on here," Gus cut in, before Badger could dart away, "We were just heading up to see the Bardes and we didn't expect to run into so much of a crowd." Technically he wasn't lying about going to see Tony and Arianna, even if it wasn't the whole truth.
"Haven't you heard? I guess you lot do tend to keep to the market most days," replied Joe, "Well, it turns out there's some fancy auction being held up at Barde Manor. I didn't know anything about it, but then the customers started coming to the hotel all in a flutter about some guy in a costume who's been seen running around the rooftops. Apparently he's the mascot for this auction and now half of Misthallery wants a piece of it. I couldn't resist coming to have a look for myself."
Badger felt like the bottom had just dropped out of his stomach. All these people were here because of his chasing the other Black Raven. They'd been keeping the auctions a secret from many for years and now, because of this one mistake, there was a risk that everyone in town might find out about them.
"What if you can't get in when you get up there?" Gus pressed.
Joe shrugged; "Won't hurt to try, will it?"
"I guess not," agreed Gus, "Anyway, thanks for telling us what's going on. We better be heading off now."
"Good luck getting up there if you want to see those Barde siblings," Joe called after them.
The two of them moved away from the crowd as best they could before speaking again. It wasn't possible to get too much privacy, given that there were a lot of people and only one path, so they were sure to keep quiet when talking.
"What are we ganna do?" hissed Badger.
"I don't think there's much we can do," Gus sighed, "Let's just make our way up to the manor without attracting too much attention and see what Marilyn says."
With that, they made their way slowly along the rest of the path. The closer they got to Barde Manor the tighter the crowds weaved together, making it harder to push through. At least when they got as far as the garden they were able to break away from everyone and head for the tower around the side of the house. It was little known to anyone but the Bardes themselves, and now also the Black Ravens, but the tunnel that connected the tower to the house could still be used to go from one to the other if you knew the way. Given that getting through the front door would have been impossible, Badger and Gus knew that they had no other choice.
Once inside they pelted along the hallway to the room that had been set up for the auction. Sure enough, the others were all waiting for them inside and a definite air of worry was hanging in the air.
"That's all of us then," Roddy muttered.
"I'm guessing that we don't need to tell you what's going on outside?" checked Gus.
"No, we've all seen it," assured Scraps, "And many of those people had never heard of the Black Raven before today. It does seem there are a lot of tourists amongst them, but I'm willing to bet that plenty more locals know about us now."
"You're right about that. We even saw Joe from the hotel on the way up. And it's rare for him to leave his business for anything. Not even the spectre could shift him back when the Descole stuff happened," Gus said.
"This is awful! What are we going to do?" wailed Tony. He threw his hands up over his ears as if he was about to have a panic attack. Arianna quickly put her arms around him to calm him down.
"It's not awful. It's unplanned, yes, but not awful," corrected Marilyn. They all turned to look at her. She was the only one who could give them directions now; "This room is big enough to fit maybe half of those people in? If we work it out then we could do the auctions in two or three lots, rotating the customers as we go."
"You want us to just go ahead with this?" Roddy checked.
"When in Rome, Rod," confirmed Marilyn, "We might have some problems to deal with afterwards, but right now we'd be foolish to turn so many customers away. All we can do is carry on and hope for the best."
"M-mebbe we could get Crow...?" Badger suggested, "I know this week was about provin' we could do this without 'im, b-but this is way biggeh than we thought it'd be. I'm sure 'e'd undehstand if we called 'im back because of this."
"No, we're not getting Crow," Arianna sternly replied, "If we admit defeat now then he'll never give us another chance. Yes, we might sink and let him see that we couldn't do it anyway, but if we swim then there'll be no doubt that we can handle anything these auctions throw at us."
"Arianna's got the right idea. Now, the rest of you need to go and get changed into your costumes," instructed Marilyn, "I want Badger, Roddy and Scraps to then take up the positions in here, as we practised. Gus, Tony and myself will be stationed at different parts of the hallway to make sure everyone gets to this room without wandering elsewhere in the manor. Arianna, since this is your home, would you do the honours of letting them in?"
"With pleasure," Arianna confirmed, "I'll give you all five minutes to get ready before the doors open."
No one needed to be told twice. They all darted to get the outfits that had been prepared for them. The one Badger had been given was much cleaner than the copy he'd left back at Crow's house, which would need a good wash after all the running he'd done in it today. He tried not to think about how much trouble his running had caused as he pulled on the outfit and took his position at the side of the hall.
They had half the amount of Black Ravens in this room that they expected to have when they rehearsed, but it would have been impossible to make tonight work without a few of them free to move about independently of the plans. On top of that, they did have Roddy in the auction room with them and he'd already proven that he could handle any rowdiness in the crowds. That was probably why Marilyn had wanted him to stay here specifically.
The five minutes seemed to pass all too swiftly and before Badger knew it he could hear footsteps thundering through the halls. They arrived to the room in a thankfully more organised fashion than how they'd been hanging around outside, so he could only assume that the other four had managed to keep them in line. Either way Badger stood as still as he could until they were all inside, giving the impression of a confident Black Raven. He definitely wished that he could feel like one right now, that was for sure...
By the time the first lot were in the room it was so full that they couldn't even shut the doors. Badger had never seen anything like this, even at their busiest auctions. Their guests were all stood up, packed together like sardines, but it didn't seem to do anything to deter how eager they were. Badger noted that no one had even bothered to pass around paddles for bidding – there were too many people for that. They'd all just have to raise their hands and hope for the best.
Marilyn allowed the crowd some time to simmer before she took to the stage as the Black Raven. She held herself differently to how Crow would in the outfit and so it was clear to any of their regulars that she was not the same Black Raven that they were use to. But then Badger knew that they'd come to this auction expecting change. That and there were so many people here who weren't their regulars, so maybe it wouldn't matter anyway.
"Thank you all for taking time from your busy lives to come here this evening," Marilyn greeted, not making any attempt to imitate Crow's voice, "I am aware that due to the demand of tonight's auction, sadly everyone won't be able to see everything we have to offer. But all the same I hope the selection that we show you will be enough to get you excited. Now, if you'd all turn your heads to the centre of the stage, one of my assistants is bringing through our first item for today. An antique Georgian folding table that I know at least a few of you have expressed interest in."
The table was brought through by two Black Ravens who Badger knew had to be Scraps and Gus. Marilyn started the bidding quite high, but that didn't deter the customers at all. It was true that many of the regulars had been told about this item beforehand, so they were eager to have it for themselves. At this stage most of the newcomers were merely watching, but it did set the standards for what was expected of them.
In the end the table went to a large man with a Yorkshire accent, who Badger had seen at a few auctions before. He wasn't from Misthallery, but would sometimes visit the auctions if he was passing through and always spent large amounts of money on some of the tackiest items. The Black Ravens were always happy to see him.
Directly following the the sale of the expensive table, Marilyn had the others bring out a lot that was much lower in value. A set of fine glass goblets that looked nice, even if they weren't actually worth all that much. This allowed for the others to all have a go at bidding. Many of them seemed to not know how the game worked, but they soon got into it. In the end the goblets went to a nice local lady called Jasmine. Badger hoped that she could afford it without too much trouble.
The bidding went on with a mixture of items that varied in value. It was a usual tactic of the Black Ravens to keep the punters guessing and probably paying more for the cheaper goods than they were actually worth. It was a method certainly seemed to work here.
In what seemed like no time at all they'd already gone through fifteen lots and Marilyn was wrapping up the first batch of auctions to move onto a new crowd.
"I hope that you've all enjoyed what we have to offer," Marilyn announced, "These auctions are usually a much more exclusive gathering, but for tonight we wanted to give all of Misthallery a taster of our offerings. If you truly crave more auctions, then perhaps you should venture into the market. We are happy to welcome those who seek us out."
So that's what she was doing! Marilyn was making it out as if this big mistake was part of the plan. Even if all of town did find out what they were doing, it would still be known that the Black Raven was a gathering for the few and only the people who truly wanted this would be invited. Badger let out a little sigh of relief, which fortunately went unnoticed to the crowd.
"Now, those of you who have won lots this evening will be led through to another room by our friend, Arianna Barde, where you can arrange to collect your items. If the rest of you could make your way out of the manor so that the next bidders can come through then we'd be most grateful," Marilyn concluded.
The crowd ebbed out without incident, a few of them breaking away to follow Arianna. The Yorkshireman had won many of the more expensive auctions, so there were much less than fifteen people actually going to collect their goods. All the same, Badger found himself happy to see that a few faces he knew from around town had won. They'd never been people who the Black Ravens had considered inviting before, since they were always cautious with locals, but maybe if they turned up more often it wouldn't be a bad thing.
Once the room was empty again, Marilyn had a short stretch of time to address the others before the second wave came through.
"We've worked it out that there'll be three groups overall," she informed, "The next one will be about the same size as the one we've just had, but the last one will be smaller. I'd have liked to have done it in two, but there were just too many people for that. We also have no choice but to let people in on a first come first served basis, so who knows what each of these groups will bring."
"It doesn't matter, we'll be ready for them no matter what," assured Roddy.
"I have no doubt that you will," Marilyn agreed, "But for now, everyone back into character, it sounds like the next lot are coming through."
Sure enough, as soon as each of the Black Ravens had stood up to attention, another chattering group of people made their way through the doors. If anything, these ones were even more eager than the first, after being made to wait outside for so long.
"It was so nice of that Tony to offer drinks around while we waited," Badger heard a woman called Mimi tell her husband, "This garden seems like it'd be such a nice place to sit and relax on a warm summer's day. Maybe we could even bring our little lamb up here someday."
"Yes, that would save money on getting Sean to babysit," grumbled Greppe, her well-meaning but very abrupt husband.
From the sounds of it, Tony had managed to get the crowds outside under control without prompting from Marilyn. Badger was glad to hear that. Just so long as the Bardes didn't run out of orange juice before the night was through it should be fine.
Marilyn welcomed the second group in the same way as the first, changing only a few words of her speech to thank them for their patience. And even though the wares they were bidding for were different this time, the pattern went in much the same way. People got confused and excited and bid higher and higher, competing with each other fiercely until the lots were through. Badger almost got dizzy watching them, so he was glad when they finally milled out to the same tune as before.
"Only one to go..." Scraps sighed.
"You're all doing so well," praised Marilyn, "I know this auction has already gone on much longer than any of the others and we've still got another fifteen lots to go, but we can make it. We took a road-block that could have marked the end for tonight and worked it into something as organised as this."
"Yer the one that did that," Badger stated, "We'd neveh 'ave made it this far if it weren't fer you."
"I'm glad that you have faith in me, Badger," Marilyn replied. And it sounded as if she genuinely was; "But it was always us as a team that brought us this far. Maybe I had the ideas, but there was no way we could have done this without all of us."
Badger nodded in the Black Raven mask; "I see that now..."
And he really did. That was what this week had been all about – proving that they were a team who could work together, even without Crow. All this time Badger hadn't wanted to believe that, but in his heart he knew that it was true. He had just been too scared of losing Crow to admit it.
"Wind in the sap, here comes the punters!" Scraps called.
Each of them hurried back into position before their final batch of customers made their way through. This time there were thankfully a lot less of them. Gus was even able to close the door behind them as they came in. The room still filled out nicely though. Badger reckoned that the amount of people they had here was closer to what they'd normally have at one of their richer auctions. They could have passed around the the bidding paddles this time if they wanted, but it felt too late for that.
"Our final guests for the evening," Marilyn welcomed, "We thank you indeed for having the patience to stick around as long as you have. Ideally this would not be how our auctions would run, as some of you well know, but our intention today was to give Misthallery a taste of what is on offer if they come to look for us. We are as much a part of your lore as the Golden Garden is and for too long we've kept ourselves from you. So we can only hope that what we show you now will be worth all the waiting you've done for us. Now, without further delays, let's get to our first item..."
The bidding settled in as usual. Badger felt himself relax a little as the first few lots went through. Eventually one came out that Badger recognised as the Victorian teddy bear that he's repaired earlier in the week and a sense of pride hit him. Maybe he wasn't the best at repair work, but he did feel that he'd done a good enough job with a lot of the trinkets that had been on sale today. Thanks to him, the Black Ravens had made a lot of money. He should probably start thinking about what he did with that kind of self-satisfaction more often.
He got so lost in his moment of fuzzy warmth that he managed to miss the first bid for the bear. But he didn't miss the head of Roddy's mask jerk down into the crowd. Roddy was standing on the opposite side of the room to Badger, so he was in plain sight even when Badger hadn't been paying attention.
Badger tried to scan the room for what had caught Roddy's notice, but by now the second bid was already being called out.
"I'll pay £50 for it!"
He recognised that voice. Badger was just in time to spot Charlie's hand lowering from within the sea of people. What was that North Ely snob doing here? He'd always acted as if he had no interest in anything like this.
But if Badger thought that Charlie's presence was what had surprised Roddy then he was soon proven wrong.
"In that case, I'm raisin' my bid to £75!"
Now that was a voice Badger knew without a doubt. His heart thumped in his chest as he finally caught sight of Crow within the crowd. He was dressed in plain clothing, minus his usual hat and scarf. How had he managed to slip in without being seen? Was he even allowed to be here? It was hard to tell what any of the other Black Ravens' reactions to this were, given that their faces were hidden behind the masks. But regardless, Marilyn didn't call off his bid. How could she without raising attention to the rest of the guests that something wasn't right here?
"Make my bid £100!" Charlie called out.
"Do ya parents really give ya that much pocket money, Charles?" Crow teased, "All right then, £150!"
"£175 and that's my final offer!" Charlie bleated, his face red from embarrassment.
"£200!"
"What? Are you kidding me! That thing isn't worth that much!" snarled Charlie, as he glared over at Crow.
"It is down to our customers how much each lot is worth," Marilyn proclaimed from up on the stage, "Each item has different meaning to different people. So if you're not going to raise your bid then step back so that others can."
"Gaaah, okay then, I bid £225..." grumbled Charlie.
"£250," chimed Crow, without missing a beat.
"£275...!" Charlie shot. It was obvious now that this was only about him not wanting Crow to outmatch him when it came to money. His pride as a middle-class citizen of a better part of town was on the line.
"£350," Crow hummed.
"Oh, forget you! You're just showing off!" cried Charlie.
Crow put a hand on his hip and coolly replied, "Just 'ow can I be showin' off when ya've already seen there are goods 'ere that go into four-figures by the time the biddin' is through. The fact o' the mattah is that only the two o' us are interested in this lot, so it just comes down to who wants it more."
It was hard for Badger to make out from where he was standing, but it almost looked as if Charlie was blinking back angry tears. Clearly Crow had won this round.
"Fine, take your stupid bear!" Charlie snapped, "I hope it helps you sleep at night!"
"Are there any further bids for this item?" Marilyn asked, trying to bring order back into the room. After a short pause, she deemed that no one was going to top Crow's offer, so she concluded the sale; "...Very well then, the Victorian teddy goes for £350 to the smug guy in the red vest."
Badger half expected Charlie to storm right out of the room, but somehow he managed to keep his temper in the face of Crow's cool grin. The rest of the night went without too much trouble, though neither Crow nor Charlie bid on anything else. Which was probably for the best, since most of the other sets were for furniture and those tended to go for a lot more money than the trinkets did.
All of them kept an eye on Crow. It was hard not to. But he stared pointedly up at the stage, never taking his eyes off Marilyn doing what was usually his job.
By the end of the final auction, Badger couldn't wait for everyone to leave so they could all pull Crow aside to find out what he was playing at.
"Thank you all for coming tonight," Marilyn said to the room, as Gus opened the door ready for them to leave, "I hope that what we've provided you with has been an education as much as it has an experience. Our auctions might not be for everyone..." She purposely turned the head of her outfit to linger on Charlie as she said this; "...But for those who have enjoyed this brief taste of what we have to offer, we would be glad for you to seek us out in the market. The most determined of you will find the way. Now, if those among you who have won during any of the auctions tonight would like to follow Arianna Barde into the next room, we can discuss your items' collection. And to the rest of you, we shall say a good evening as you are shown out back the way you came."
It was Tony who showed them out, not in his Black Raven outfit this time. Badger figured that he must have left it somewhere when he decided to hand out refreshments. At least the Barde siblings could get away with being out of costume in their own home without attracting too much suspicion.
A few of the group made to follow Arianna to the next room to collect their goods, but Crow didn't make it that far.
"Not you, sir. You stay here," Marilyn called, barely keeping up her Black Raven act as she addressed him.
"Wot about my prize?" Crow quizzed.
"We got your teddy right here," assured Roddy. He tossed the bear over to Crow, who caught it effortlessly; "Now you'd better pay up for it. And for the damage you've caused today."
Gus firmly shut the door behind the last of the guests. Now they could talk freely. Each of them walked over to Crow, taking their masks off as they did.
"I'm gonna pay for it, I promise," Crow told them, "I wouldn't bid just to show off."
"Everything you do is to show off," Roddy reminded.
"All right, ya got me there. But no 'arm no foul, right?" offered Crow.
"No Crow, there's been plenty of harm done today!" Roddy snapped, pressing in close to Crow's face, "All of Misthallery is going to know about us now, just because you couldn't hold back your jealousy that we might be able to do this without you!"
"That weren't Crow's fault!" Badger cried, "I were the one who went up t' the posh ends of town flauntin' around the Black Raven!"
"...And who do you think you were chasing?" Roddy asked, his eyes never leaving Crow.
Badger too turned to look at Crow. Their leader didn't flinch or make any attempts to deny what he'd done. It had been him...?
"No, that doun't make any sense!" Badger retorted, "The person I was gan afteh knew North Ely realleh well..."
"Crow use to live there years ago, when he was a kid," revealed Roddy, "Bet you didn't know that. You only moved here when your old man got a job in the factory and Crow was already living in the market by that point. But before his mum got kicked out her nice house, he was Thomas from North Ely."
"Doun't call 'im Thomas!" Badger scolded. He knew that only Maureen was allowed to call Crow that.
"Calm down, Badge', 'e's right," sighed Crow, "It was me who ya chased around earliah."
"No..."
Badger lurched forward, pushing past Roddy to grab Crow by his collar.
"...Why would yer do that t' me? Why would yer do that t' all of us!" he demanded.
Crow withered under Badger's glare, only just managing to keep hold of the bear that he had yet to pay for. And Badger had a few choice words for him about wasting money on something like that as well.
"I-I... thought it'd be good..." mumbled Crow, "I knew that ya could do this easily, all o' ya. Mal knew that she wouldn't really be provin' anythin' to me by doin' the auction as ya were gonna, even with both our usual crowds combined. But if somethin' unplanned was to 'appen... I wanted to know ya could 'andle it."
"And we did," Marilyn pointed out, "We made it through with flying colours. Even you can see that."
"Yeah, I can," promised Crow, "I'm proud to call everyone o' ya a Black Raven."
"It's not as rosy as all that though," Roddy pointed out, "Maybe we did get through tonight and proved to you everything that we can do, but this is gonna have lasting damage, Crow. All of Misthallery is going to find out about us now and there's only so much we can do to control who can get in. You've dropped us in it right before you leave and that isn't fair."
"Badge', um, can ya put me down?" Crow asked, awkwardly.
"Y-yeah..."
He lowered Crow down again with trembling hands and stepped back so that Crow could walk over to Roddy.
"I'm not leavin' right away," Crow said, "Don't worry about that. Look, I'm not gonna beat around the bush to any o' ya any more – everyone's figured out that I'm thinkin' about goin' away in future an' that this week was all about me needin' to see that ya can do this without me. But just 'cause I know that ya can do it, doesn't mean I'm gonna just shut up shop an' let ya get on with it like that. I'll 'elp fix the mess that I've made first. An' when I do decide to go, I'll give ya plenty o' notice an' get us all as ready for it as I can."
"Good!" snorted Roddy.
"Thanks for this everyone," Crow went on. He turned to look at Marilyn, "...Especially you, Mal. Without ya I'd still be drownin' in a spiral o' not knowin' wot to do."
"That's what I'm here for," dismissed Marilyn, "I wouldn't mind a raise though, if you're offering."
"I think we're all due one after this week," Scraps agreed, "Good thing we can afford it right now, considering how well this auction went."
"Maybe this time I'll even be able to buy Aunt Taffy out of sweets before Tony can," Gus joked.
"All's well that ends well," hummed Marilyn, "What about you, Badger?"
But Badger couldn't get into the jolly mood that everyone else seemed to have settled in. He felt used and betrayed. He'd been a pawn in Crow's plan to mess with them, because Crow knew that he could play Badger so effortlessly. And on top of that, Crow had now said in his own words that he definitely was planning to leave. It didn't matter what Badger was also planning to do, because apparently Crow was fine with heading off without him. Badger was just someone else who'd needed to prove to Crow that he could manage without him. That hurt so, so much.
"Yer betteh pay fer that bear," Badger snapped, still looking at Crow and not Marilyn, "I made it fer someone who'd love it and care fer it. Not fer you."
The door creaked open behind them.
"That's most of them gone. Arianna's just arranging for some of the furniture to be picked up with a few of the last customers," Tony explained, as he came inside, "...Is everything all right?"
Badger caught Scraps mouthing 'bad time' to Tony as he turned around, but right now he didn't care. He couldn't stay here any longer than he already had.
Without so much as a backwards glance at Crow, he walked out of the room and left.
