Notes: And here we go with Act Three, the next big part of the story! If you haven't checked it out already, then I wrote a side-story entitled Advice from the Market Stall that shows a lot of what was happening behind the scenes during Act Two. But if you're ready to move on with Grasping Liquid itself then I can say that I'm also excited to be getting into an entirely new part of this tale!
It took time both to heal the damage and to prepare for what was coming next. Much to everyone's relief, this was not rushed. Crow still cared deeply about the Black Ravens and had managed to reassure them that he always would. This care came in the form of readying them all for what would happen once he wasn't there any more, as well as providing a few theatrics to stir up Misthallery about... well, about them.
Because it turned out that Crow's move to make them more known amongst the town had been beneficial. Many locals who usually wouldn't bother with the market were now coming there for a chance to find the secret auctions they'd received a taster of. The Black Ravens couldn't be more talked about than they were right now. And as much as Badger still couldn't say for sure how he felt about Crow's trick, there was no getting around the fact that it had helped them and would continue to help the others once Crow had gone. Which was probably his intention.
Outside of that, Crow would often take aside members of the group individually to talk to them seriously about the change. These talks increased in number the closer he came to finally leaving, with Marilyn, Roddy and surprisingly Arianna being the ones he would want to speak to most frequently. Badger didn't ask Crow or any of the others about what they'd discussed though, since it was their business alone.
But as Crow's fussing grew more and more it became ever apparent that his plans to move were getting closer to coming to fruition. Because of that, none of them were surprised when one day Crow called a meeting that he said was definitely not optional – he wanted full attendance from all of the Black Ravens currently living in Misthallery.
It had now been a few months since that fateful day when Crow had told Badger that he wanted them to leave the town together. Badger felt that he couldn't be more ready.
There was also little waiting around to be done, as each of them were eager to hear it from Crow's lips, so the auction hall filled out within a short time of the notice reaching everyone's ears. Gus pulled the doors closed behind them as the last few filed in.
"Thanks for comin' as soon as ya could," Crow began, once seats were taken, "I've bin... puttin' this off for a while now, but I reckon the Black Ravens are as ready as we'll evah be."
"Get on with it then; don't keep us in suspense," demanded Scraps. He'd never been one for showmanship or drawing things out.
"All right, yeah, I'll 'urry it up," Crow chuckled, "As all o' ya know, I plan to leave Mist'allery an' try my luck elsewhere in the world. I'm not gonna go ovah all the details about why I'm doin' this, 'cause I've probably said it so much at this point that ya sick o' 'earin' about it, but I am. An' Badgah's comin' with me. Which is why I've brought ya 'ere today to say that it's 'appenin' soon – next week, in fact. This will be our last chance to prepare as a group before ya on ya own, but believe me when I say that all o' ya are ready to 'andle it. I've watched ya grow an' I couldn't be more proud. When Badge' an' me come back, whenevah that may be, I fully expect that ya will 'ave reached potentials I couldn't even 'ave imagined."
This announcement brought a small cheer of approval throughout the group, who Badger assumed would be keen to prove to Crow that this was the case. It was funny – before all this happened they'd have been terrified to lose Crow, but now they were all ready for him to move on.
...Though Badger was quietly happy that he was going with him. That way he didn't have to be ready to lose Crow in the same way that the others were.
"Maybe we'll have become such a big deal that we won't even need you back by then," Tony bravely called out. This was met by light-hearted laughter and nods of approval.
"That might be the case!" agreed Crow, "But anyway, before I do leave I want to give ya a chance to ask any questions that ya might 'ave 'ere an' now. There'll be othah opportunities if any o' ya would rathah talk to me on ya own, but this might be our last meetin' togethah as a group for a while. So... anyone got somethin' ya wanted to ask?"
Scraps stepped forward. He didn't wait to be prompted by Crow before he started to talk.
"You're going to London, correct?" he asked.
"That's right," confirmed Crow.
"And what are your immediate plans when you get there?" Scraps went on.
"Well, to start with Badge' an' me are gonna stay with some friends at the Weathered Duke's 'otel, probably do a bit o' work there to get our feet on the ground," Crow explained, "But it ain't my intention to stay there too long. Not this time. So as soon as we can we'll move to a place o' our own an' try to set up the auction business there."
"Hmm... yes, that sounds adequate," Scraps mused. He nodded sagely.
"...Adequate?" checked Crow. His voice sounded as curious as the others probably all felt about Scraps's ominous questioning. For some reason Badger found himself growing cold in anticipation of what Scraps might say next.
"Yes, it's perhaps not as swift as I'd like, but it sounds stable enough," Scraps answered, "So I've decided – I'm coming with you."
"WHAT!"
"No way!"
"Is he serious!"
The yells of surprise came from various different people in the crowd, but even those who didn't call out looked shocked. None of them saw this coming. Badger looked around wildly, first at Crow and then towards Marilyn. They both seemed as stunned as everyone else. Even the two puppet-masters hadn't seen this coming!
"But you can't go!" Gus protested, "You're the best treasure-finder that we have!"
"I've been training Tony up ever since the week of our first auction without Crow. He's more than ready to take over from me," assured Scraps.
"No, that isn't fair!" shouted Tony, "I-I still don't know exactly what it is I want to do for the Black Ravens. Look, I know I can find treasure in the trash now, you've taught me a lot, but I'm nowhere near as good at it as you are!"
"No, you're not. But you're good enough and you'll only get better," Scraps assured him, "I'm sick of hearing you go on about finding your one special role in the Black Ravens. It's been obvious to me from the start that you don't have one. Instead you're a good all-rounder. No matter what we throw your way, you manage. Maybe you're not going to be the best at one thing, but you can do a lot of things all right and sometimes that's more important. So right now I'm telling you to cover for me until I either get back or until you teach someone else to do it in my place."
Tony was blinking back tears and still looked a little terrified. Badger couldn't blame him – Scraps was always blunt and to the point. If it had been Badger on the end of that grilling then he'd probably be crying too.
But ultimately, Tony nodded.
"F-fine, I'll do it," he decided, "Maybe I don't like it, but I think you're right. And I do think that I'll... I'll do okay. At this and at everything else."
"Good. It's settled then. I'm going to London and Tony will act in my place for the group," stated Scraps. He turned to stare back up at Crow.
"I-I didn't say ya could come yet," Crow stammered, in a rare moment of being caught off-guard.
"I'm coming with you," Scraps assured him.
"Very well then, I guess it'll be Badgah, Scraps an' me who are goin'. Though I am a bit worried that'll leave things short 'anded around 'ere," he admitted, "Especially if..."
As that sentence trailed off, Crow looked over at Roddy and so did Marilyn. None of the others had any idea what they were referring to, not even Badger, but it seemed that something must have come up during one of the talks Crow had with Roddy and Marilyn that could affect the numbers of the group. Whatever it was, it can't have been a good thing.
"That's not going to happen for a while," grunted Roddy, "Just you lot do what you want and I'll sort out everything on my end."
Crow cut in, "But what if-"
"I'll. Sort. It. Don't worry. Just keep your birdie head in the game and I can manage everything on my end," insisted Roddy, "Honestly, it'll be easier for me to manage all this without the pain of having to babysit you at the same time anyway."
"If you're sure..." Crow resigned, not looking too happy about whatever they were talking about. Badger mused that Roddy was also probably the only person who could refer to Crow as being babysat in front of everyone without getting any sort of backlash for it.
"Getting back to the matter at hand though," Marilyn prompted. She gestured Crow back towards the wide-eyed faces of the rest of the group.
"Y-yes, sorry about that," Crow mumbled. He turned to face them all properly again; "I'm sure that even with all these unexpected changes that ya gonna manage fine. The Black Ravens proved to me what ya capable of when bein' pushed already, so I 'ave no doubts about that. Now, if there are no furthah questions then all that's left to do is announce the leadah who'll be takin' ovah from me when I go."
The room fell silent. No one had anything else to say in light of that. After a pause, Crow went on.
"...None o' ya are gonna be surprised by this choice, I don't think, but given 'ow well she 'andled things durin' my week away, I can think o' no bettah person for this role than Marilyn," announced Crow.
There was definite and loud cheering throughout the hall at this. Marilyn had been everyone's first choice and none of them could be happier than having her take charge. They'd all be safe and well-guided under her care.
Marilyn nodded her head; "Thanks for trusting me with this, boss."
"I should be callin' you that now," laughed Crow, "But I'm glad that this is somethin' everyone agrees on. An' if that's it then I guess we can call this meetin' to a close."
"Just about," Arianna interrupted, "Tony and I have been preparing for this day coming. We might not have known exactly when it would happen any more than the rest did, but well, I believe we're ready. So, to celebrate Crow, Badger and Scraps moving onto new horizons and Marilyn taking up the reins here, I propose we have one final party all together, up at Barde Manor. We can go out onto the lake and enjoy the last of the good weather before the warm days leave us for good."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Marilyn agreed.
She wasn't the only one. All of the Black Ravens were ready for a chance to let their hair down. It had been a long time preparing for today and would be a long time still after Crow had taken his leave before everything was steady once more. They deserved this time just to put it all aside and have some fun.
In good spirits, they all left the hall to head up to the manor. Crow was the last one out. Badger caught him giving the doors to the hall a fond smile as he pulled the shut. This was the end of an era.
The week after that final meeting went by all too quickly.
They'd had a great time at the party - each of them managed to forget that soon afterwards everything would be different. Or if not forget, at least put it on hold for a little while. The good thing was that this time they had been given a chance to prepare for the massive change, instead of having it thrust upon them from nowhere. They could celebrate being together one last time.
Plus, this wouldn't change the fact that they were all Black Ravens. Nothing would change that. Even Louis, Wren and Socket, whatever they might be doing right now, would still always be Black Ravens. And hopefully the three of them would be just as happy about how things had turned out as the rest of the gang were.
But now the party was over. And the week was over too. It was Crow and Badger, stood in the doorway of Crow's house, being seen off by a teary-eyed Maureen.
"I'm so glad... so glad that you told me you were going this time, Tom," she bubbled, "A-and I'm very proud of you both. You're going to do so well out there... Just please come back sometimes."
"I promise we will, Mum," assured Crow.
Badger felt that he could take at least some of the credit for Crow being upfront with his mother about his plans this time, since he'd been the one who told Crow that was a condition of Badger coming with him. He liked to think that Crow would have probably told Maureen anyway, but perhaps not to the full extent. This way was for the best.
"You'd better, young man," Maureen went on, "Or at least write as often as you can. I know that you have to do what you think is best, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. And Badger, please do make sure that my little boy looks after himself while he's away. Sometimes he forgets to stop working."
Badger laughed; "Trust me, Mrs. Carr, I know all about that!"
"Would the two o' ya cut that out?" Crow protested, "An' I'm 'ardly little any more, Mum!"
"You might be old enough to leave home now, but you're always gonna be my little boy," insisted Maureen.
"I'm not winnin' this one, am I?" Crow sighed.
"I doun't think you are, Crowlo," answered Badger, "A-anyway, um, before we go I just wanted t' thank you, Mrs. Carr, fer lookin' afteh me all this time. I think you know all about me dad anyway, but I'm glad you didn't ask questions about it and j-just took me in. No one's eveh been as nice to me as you 'ave."
"If that's the case then my son needs to be a lot nicer to you," dismissed Maureen, as Crow withered slightly, "But all the same, think nothing of it, dearie. Everyone deserves a place they can all home. You'll always have that here."
As she spoke, Badger felt himself start to tear over. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jumper and gave a loud sniff.
"Oh yeah, we got ya somethin', Mum," announced Crow, to take the focus away from Badger, "'ere ya go."
Badger uncovered his eyes in time to see Crow hand Maureen the teddy from the auction. It was the first time he'd seen it since that night. He'd gotten so angry with Crow over his bidding on it that he hadn't dared asked what had happened to it.
"It might not seem like much," Crow continued, "But Badge' fixed that thing up for someone who'd care about it an' I... well, I got it from 'im so we could give it to ya."
Maureen held the teddy up into the dull light of the morning. She smiled warmly at it and then put it down on a side-table next to the door, before she reached over to hug them both tightly.
"Thank you so much! I'll put it in pride of place on the mantelpiece, so I can think of you both whenever I look at it. You're both s-such caring boys..." she cried.
"Yeah, we're pretty great," Crow agreed, "But, um, we've gotta go get Scraps an' get to the next town before we miss the train..."
"All right, I get it," Maureen tutted. She released them both, "Too much affection is embarrassing and you hate long goodbyes. So I'll just say... t-take care of each other out there. And don't be afraid to come back if it doesn't work out."
"Ya the best, Mum," concluded Crow, "So... s-see ya 'round."
With that he turned and stalked off outside and down the street with purpose. He really was stubborn when it came to getting emotional sometimes.
"Thanks again fer everythin'," Badger added, since he felt like he should make up for Crow's abrupt departure, "I do promise that I'll look afteh 'im fer you."
"I know that you will," assured Maureen, "And Badger...? Whatever happens between you two, well, that's okay. Don't think that I'll be angry."
Badger swallowed hard; "I-I-I dunno w-what yer... ehh, what you mean..."
"You better get after him before he races off out of Misthallery," reminded Maureen.
"Doun't worreh, runnin' is one thing 'e can't beat me on," snorted Badger, "G-goodbye then, Mrs. Carr."
"Goodbye, Badger..."
With that, even Badger had to leave. He wasn't in as much of a rush as Crow though and made sure to wave back to Maureen until he was out of sight. Once around the corner he made his way to Scraps's house, where Crow and their unplanned travel-partner were already getting ready to leave.
"I'm glad you're not holding us up," Scraps said to Badger, before they started on their way.
A big part of Badger didn't know how to feel about Scraps coming along with them. Very selfishly, in the months that had followed Crow asking Badger to come with him, the lanky northerner had built up this moment in his head quite a lot. It might be a scary prospect, but it was also maybe a little romantic to think about him and Crow going out to face the big, wide world together. Never in any of these fantasies had Badger factored Scraps in. That made the whole set up a lot less romantic.
Of course when they reached the other side of the rope bridge that led out of the market the others were all waiting there for them. Marilyn, Gus, Roddy, Arianna and Tony. Perhaps a few of the faces were different this time around, but it reminded Badger very much of how they'd all gathered here when Louis had moved away. Only the weather had been nicer back then. This time they were heading out to the lingering mist of an autumn morning. Nevertheless, Badger hoped that the next time the Black Ravens were gathered here like this it would be to welcome someone back, not say goodbye to more members. Because as much as they'd all beaten about the bush where that topic was concerned, they couldn't afford to lose many more of them if they wanted to keep going in Misthallery.
"This is it then," Crow started, "I'm glad all o' ya came."
"Wouldn't miss it," hummed Marilyn.
"An'... any news?" Crow asked Roddy.
"No, but don't think about that," Roddy demanded, "You'll have a lot more to think about once you get on that train."
"Ya right, o' course," sighed Crow, "Well, thanks once again – for puttin' up with me. I know that I've not bin an easy leader an' I've not always made the right choices, but all o' ya 'ave bin the best friends an' best Black Ravens I could o' asked for. I'm sure ya gonna do just fine. Also, I dunno if I evah made it official before now, 'cause part o' me felt there was no need an' ya knew it already, but Tony an' Arianna? The two o' ya are Black Ravens now. None o' this honourary membah stuff. Propah Black Ravens."
"R-really...?" Tony gasped, his face lit up.
"As if there was ever any doubt," Arianna chimed.
"Maybe we all come from different backgrounds, but we all want the same things. The two o' ya care about the auctions just as much as the rest o' us. It'd be a disservice to ya to not let ya in for real," concluded Crow.
"Just make sure you don't let anyone else steal the good treasure, Tony," Scraps instructed, "And Arianna... well, you can pretty much just keep going as you are. Even I can't pick fault with you."
"I'll take that as a compliment," giggled Arianna.
The three of them said their own goodbyes to the rest of the group after this. They were all so close by now that there was so much to be said. And Badger found that the one thing most frequently said to him was that he was going to be all right, he could do this and he could look after Crow. For the first time, Badger truly started to feel that they might be right about that.
After a while, Scraps brought their farewells to an end by pointing out that they'd miss the train should they stay too much longer. Maybe he was a little rude, but Badger had to admit that he was right about that.
"I packed you some lunch boxes for the train," Gus said, before they left, "You'll probably be fine once you get to that hotel in London, but I didn't want you to go without one last taste of the great food from home. There's sandwiches from Paddy's restaurant, fruit from Marilyn's stall and sweets from Aunt Taffy."
"Thanks, Gus," replied Crow, as he took his lunch box, "Maybe by the time we get back we might even be too old to get sweets from Aunt Taffy."
"You almost are anyway," Marilyn scoffed, "Trust me, you'll want to have them while you can. It's no fun once she starts seeing you as too old to buy them and I think she's getting wise to Gus smuggling them out for the rest of us."
"We'll savour them," promised Crow, "So... this is it then."
"We'll see yer all, um, I dunno when, but we will be back one day," Badger added.
"Take care of yourselves," Gus pleaded.
"We will. Just make sure none of you mess up while we're gone or I'll come back and sort you all out," Scraps threatened.
"You can count on us!" cheered Tony.
"And make sure you give us reason to count on you too," added Arianna.
"Not that you've ever let us down before, former leader," Marilyn teased. She gave Crow a cheeky wink.
Roddy finished it off; "Remember – don't fret. And look after each other. Badger, you need to let Crow know when he's being a pain."
"I'm sure Badger'll be the first to tell me," snorted Crow. He clasped a hand on Badger's shoulder, which made him jump a little in fright.
"Clocks ticking!" called Scraps, already partway down the road.
"We're comin', we're comin'," sighed Crow, "Bye everyone!"
With that, the three of them left. It was a noisy farewell, with the others calling out to them all the way down the road. Chances were that anyone in any nearby houses might have been woken up by the noise, but they weren't too worried about that. This was the Black Ravens' moment and perhaps the last one they would have for a while. They deserved this time.
When the three of them reached the station, it turned out that Scraps's worries had been for naught and they were in good time to catch their train. But maybe if they'd dawdled it might have been a different story, so Badger was glad they'd made it here when they did.
After a short while of waiting, the train pulled up and the three of them made to get inside with all their luggage. Naturally Scraps shoved in ahead of the crowd, he didn't want to miss out on seats by being last on. But Badger hesitated. Crow turned around to see him looking at the carriage door with a mix of terror and wonder.
"Everythin' all right, Badge'?" he checked.
"This is it..." Badger mumbled, "We get on this train and it's goodbye Mist'allereh, goodbye auctions and goodbye nice, safe life."
"Ya can always go back. It ain't too late," Crow said, though his heart wasn't in it. He definitely didn't want Badger to go back.
Badger shook his head; "If I go back there'll be no Crow. And if there's no Crow then there might as well not be owt else."
Crow smiled.
"Let's go then."
He took hold of Badger's hand and squeezed it encouragingly. It was a scary and electric feeling, but somehow for this one moment it felt right. Together, the two of them stepped onto the train that would lead them away from their old lives and into an unknown future.
