Notes: Here's the first chapter of Act Four! I promise we'll be seeing a few characters we haven't heard from in a while during this act. Also, if you haven't checked it out already, then I wrote a side-story called "Journey of Many Nuisances" that covers from Roddy's perspective some of what the other Black Ravens were up to during Act Three.
As the train rattled along, Crow sat balancing a piece of paper awkwardly on his lap while he wrote a letter. They hadn't been lucky enough to get a table this time, so both of them were cramped into one of the sets of double seats. Badger had the one nearest the window, so for a while now he'd idly gone between watching the world go by and looking down at what Crow was writing. Not that he could read it for himself anyway, but it was still nice to look at the pen move across the sheet all the same.
They'd been able to avoid any ticket checkers so far, which maybe Badger should have felt a little guilty about, but years of being a Black Raven had corrupted him enough to not be bothered. If they were caught, he would pay. But right now he'd much rather have the mystery of not knowing where they were going. The only part that Badger did know for sure was that they were going south. Crow had got his own way in that department.
After a while, curiosity gave out and Badger asked, "What are yer writing there?"
"Just a lettah to Mum," answered Crow, "I've bin... not good about keepin' up with 'em. Even though I promised that I would. But I'm gonna get bettah about writin' to everyone." Badger had a feeling this wasn't just about letters though and, sure enough, after a pause Crow added, "...I've not really bin good about bein' myself at all, lately."
"Yer 'ad a tough time of it," Badger defended, "What with all the changes gan on."
"It ain't just that, Badge'," sighed Crow, "Lately it seems that I'm eithah great at wot I do, but too cold towards everyone, or I'm terrible at wot I do an' can't 'old a group togethah. I'm the leadah. That means I'm suppose to be good at everythin' I do all the time an' also good at dealin' with the people who do the other stuff."
"Dunno if that's realleh what being a leadeh means, but it doun't matteh anyway. Reet now it's just the two of us, so yer can worreh about being a leadeh lateh and just focus on being a Crow fer now," Badger soothed.
"I guess ya right..." Crow agreed, though he still sounded distant.
Eventually he finished his letter and put it away in his bag, presumably ready to send off whenever they found a post office. After that he joined Badger in looking out of the window. Even though it was well into spring now, the weather was still riddled with many rainy days and this one was turning out to be particularly miserable. Even the fields that they zoomed by were tinged with a deep grey from the heavy clouds overhead.
As the train got closer to where Badger assumed it would be terminating they reached a more coastal area. This prompted a change in Crow, who almost leaned over Badger in an effort to see out of the window. At first Badger was confused, but then he remembered how rarely Crow had actually travelled in the past. He'd lived his whole life in Misthallery, gone to London a few times and travelled to rural Northumberland twice, but none of the places they'd been were that near the sea. The closest they'd got to that was a village not far from it when visiting Wren and Socket, but they'd been too busy doing other things to properly focus on stopping to admire it. So Badger decided that if this was where they were going to end up then he'd definitely have to show Crow the seafront. Maybe on a nicer day than today, however.
It wasn't much longer before the train pulled to a stop and an announcement informed them that they were in Southampton. Crow nodded to Badger. That was the signal to get off.
The two of them ambled into the station, loaded down with all the bags that they'd brought. It was good that they didn't draw any attention, because Badger doubted that they could have made a quick getaway like this. The first thing that hit them was how salty the air was compared to what they were use to, which seemed to put a spring in Crow's step. The second thing that hit them was the rain, once they were out of the station and onto the streets.
"Can ya see this, Badge'? This is great! It ain't anythin' like London or Mist'allery. Maybe this is just wot we need," Crow clamoured.
"Mebbe," hummed Badger, "But I think what we need first it t' find a 'otel."
"Nah, we ain't gonna use one o' those," Crow dismissed.
"It's chucking it down!" Badger argued.
"I didn't bothah with that the first time I went to London. I just wandahed around an' 'oped for the best. Worked out all right for me," Crow reasoned.
"Need I remind yer that we lived in a 'otel fer the start of our stay in London?" Badger stated.
"Okay yeah, but we're startin' a new life 'ere, Badge'. We gotta take some risks," insisted Crow.
Badger bent down to be level with Crow and stared directly into his visible eye. When he spoke again his tone left no room for arguments; "We're booking in somewhere fer one night. Afteh that yer can do what yer want."
"All right, Badge'," mumbled Crow, defeated.
Even with that agreed upon there was then a matter of finding somewhere to stay in the first place. Neither of them knew anything about Southampton, so they did end up wandering fruitlessly through the streets for some time. And the rain didn't let up at all. It beat down hard on the travellers and from the looks of it even the drains on the roadside were at risk of overflowing. Not that any of this seemed to sour Crow's mood. He all but skipped along.
There journey did take them onto a harbour after a while. Badger could tell that this city was probably known for it's shipping, as the ports were filled with bigger boats than he'd ever seen. Crow's face was a picture when he looked at them. No doubt he was already considering what kind of business ventures he could make with something like that.
Unfortunately for them, not even the most eager of fish 'n' chip vans had gone out to do trade on a day like today and they were too late for most of the shops, so there wasn't much to pick up in the way of food. It didn't matter too much though, as Badger assumed that when they'd found somewhere to stay that any accommodation would provide them with something to eat.
He'd wandered up another street leading away from the harbour, but after a minute turned around and realised that Crow hadn't followed him. Badger hastily backtracked to find him a little further down the street, staring at a building.
"Coming, Crow?" he asked.
"Badge'..." Crow whispered, "Look at this."
With that, Badger followed Crow's gaze to the building that he was looking at so keenly. It was a tall, old structure that looked like it had suffered badly from a fire many years ago. The bottom of it was a boarded up shop front, while above that there were several floors of what was probably once a home or two. This sort of layout wasn't too unusual – there'd been many places like this in both London and Manchester, mostly in better condition, so Badger didn't get what the fuss was.
"Looks ah'reet," he commented, for the sake of being nice.
"It's perfect..." Crow purred.
"Are yer... are yer sure?" checked Badger. He looked at Crow and then back up at the building again, to make sure they were both seeing the same thing.
"Wot are ya talkin' about? O' course it's perfect," assured Crow. He stepped back a little and moved his fingers into the shape of a rectangle, as if he was taking a photo. Then he held it up towards the building and continued, "Just picture it. Once we give it a it o' work it'll be the ideal place to 'ave auctions. We could deck out the shop front for the quiet seasons an' live above it so we can keep an eye on it at all times."
"I'm sure I remembeh yer saying at one point that yer weren't interested in opening a shop," Badger reminded.
"That was back then," Crow replied, "I've 'ad time to think about it an' see 'ow the world works since then. A shop would do us good sometimes." But then he lowered his hands; "Not that it mattahs, given that we'd nevah be able to afford it anyway."
Crow went from looking optimistic to dejected in no time at all as this realisation hit him. But for once, Badger was able to fix the problem for him.
"I bet we could," said Badger, with a smile.
"Don't see 'ow, Badge'," Crow mumbled.
"Let's just find somewhere t' stay fer t'night and tomorreh I'll show yer what I mean," Badger answered, cryptically, "I doun't think we need to worreh about this place flying off the market oveh night."
It was obvious that Crow didn't know what Badger meant, but he had faith in him all the same. So the two of them left Crow's dream house alone for that night and went to find a hotel.
The next morning, after having a good rest at a bed & breakfast, both Crow and Badger set out to do some research on the house they'd found. The rain had let up at last, but the streets were still damp from last night's downpour. And in the light of the day they were able to get a better look at the building. To Badger it still looked like what a salesperson would probably describe as a 'renovator's dream'. It needed a lot of work. Honestly, this place might be ideal for someone like Socket, who always wanted to fix up everything for himself, but it would be a lot of effort for the two of them. Regardless, Crow still seemed ecstatic about it and Badger could hardly let him down about that.
Especially since it did turn out that the building was for sale.
Crow made a note of the contact details on a faded sign they'd not noticed yesterday. It looked like it had been on the market for some time, which Crow was certain was a good thing, even if he still had no idea how Badger felt they could afford it at all.
They tracked down the estate agents that were selling the property to a small, but formal office. Badger had never been to somewhere like this before and sat with his hands firmly on his lap when they were brought inside and put in front of a desk. The people here gave the impression that they thought the boys were too young to be looking into buying something like this, but Crow's confidence managed to get them through any doubt. He was good with people.
A smart woman joined them on the other side of the desk. She put down a file and Badger could see photos of the house Crow desired pinned to the front.
"Are you sure this is the one you want?" she asked, doubtfully, "We have plenty of other properties in Southampton, some of them also near the docks if that's what you're looking for."
"This is the one for us," Crow assured her.
"Well, all right," the estate agent replied, as she spread the papers out onto the desk, "Here's some of the details you'll need to know about it. The building is owned by a businessman from up north and we're dealing with the sale of it on his behalf. It had been a shop once and I believe he bought it with the intention of fixing it up into a little hotel by the sea, but it turned out to be too much hassle to repair and he didn't think it would turn much profit. Look... I probably shouldn't be this honest with you, but you seem like nice kids and you're obvious new to buying property. That place isn't an easy one to start off in. It's been on the market for years and most people only get as far as looking around it before they decide it's not for them. You'd be better off with something else."
"We probableh should check out the inside first," Badger whispered to Crow.
"If it's bin on sale for so long then I bet it's cheap," said Crow, who was still looking at the estate agent.
"The price has been slashed a few times," she confessed.
"Let's 'ave it then," challenged Crow.
So she told them the price. Crow struggled to keep his face in the usual indifferent frown it had when dealing with serious matters. To Badger, who'd known him for a long time, the slight disappointment in Crow was visible. The price was lower than they'd find anything else for, but it was still too much for them. At least that was what Crow thought. Badger knew better.
"We'll take it," Badger stated, as boldly as he could manage.
"We will?" gaped Crow.
"Don't you want to look around first?" checked the estate agent.
"That's fer him to decide," Badger answered, gesturing to Crow, "But as fer the price, we can manage that."
"Badge'... are ya sure about this...?" Crow asked.
"Just trust me," confirmed Badger, "And let me 'andle the payment."
There was doubt written all over Crow's face, but he figured that Badger knew what he was doing, so turned back to the estate agent and said, "We'll 'ave it then. An' we don't need to look around, I know it's what we want already."
While the estate agent still seemed to be unsure they were making the right choice, she also wasn't going to argue if it meant selling an unwanted property. So she let them get on with it. There were a lot of papers to sign and other official details that Crow helped Badger deal with, but ultimately it was all done in Badger's name.
And just like that, the building was theirs. It felt unreal. Even if Badger wasn't quite as keen about it as Crow was, it was still something that now belonged to them. And they'd bought it with their own money instead of finding it and relying on no one else knowing it was there, like they had done with the auction hall in Misthallery, or being given it on loan, like had been the case with Umid and Sharpace Rest.
Crow still had an important question though, which he launched into as soon as they were out on the streets once more.
"You've gotta tell me 'ow ya could afford that," he demanded, "I don't wanna see ya get into trouble ovah this Badge'."
"I woun't do, promise," reasoned Badger. Then he decided it was time to let the cat out of the bag; "Look, when we started t' figure out what we were doing in London I opened a bank account. Since then I've saved all the moneh I made from my parts of the auctions. All of it except what we needed t' coveh the essentials living there. And those auctions went pretteh well, even if yer didn't like them. I wanted t' save fer if we eveh realleh needed it."
Crow was overwhelmed; "But Badge'... That's ya money. I can't take it for somethin' that's a whim like this."
"Then doun't let it be a whim. Make it count," Badger insisted, "And besides, t' me, being able t' 'elp yer in any way at all is what mattehs most."
"I don't deserve ya, I honestly don't," mumbled Crow, "But I will do it. This time it'll work for both o' us, all right? Now let's go see our castle."
It went without saying that 'castle' was a stretch of the imagination. Once they got there and unlocked the door it was clear that the inside was in just as bad shape as the exterior led to believe. The boarded up windows made the whole lower level seem dark, but even when they turned on the light there was an eerie feel to the place. The person who wanted to turn it into a hotel must have realised quickly that it was a lost cause and hadn't done much cleaning out at all, by the looks of things. There were old crates littered everywhere, even on a very dusty counter that had an ancient cash register on top. Looking at it positively, at least it meant that they had the bare essentials should they decide to open a shop after all.
The shop front took up much of the lower level, with only a small room behind the counter that seemed to both be used for storage and also had the stairs within it. Stairs that creaked like no stairs had any business doing. Up above they found that there were three more floors and the remains of some furniture from where the last family had lived here, but nothing much. Most of what they found was broken. But every hole in the wall or door with the handle missing only seemed to spur Crow on. The excitement radiated from him and Badger knew that he'd done the right thing to make Crow this happy.
"It's perfect, absolutely perfect," praised Crow, as he stared around the hall.
"Well, it's got running wateh and electricity, so there's that," Badger replied, from where he'd been trying one of the taps in the bathroom, "Ganna take a lotteh work it get it readeh though."
"That's why it's perfect," Crow insisted, "We're gonna fix this place up an' make it so it's all ours. We'll make it work on our own, then make our fortune from it."
"Fortune...?" echoed Badger, as he watched a spider crawl out from where it had been disturbed in the sink. He knew that he'd have to get rid of that little beast before Crow noticed it.
"Fine, per'aps a fortune will take time, but it will get us on our feet an' we need that," Crow reassessed.
"And we can't call Socket in to 'elp fix this place?" Badger checked.
"I told ya, we've gonna do this on our own steam," Crow stubbornly stated, "An' besides, we can't pull Socket outta school for somethin' like this."
"To be honest, I think Socket would jump at the chance t' get 'is 'ands on this," sighed Badger. Though he realised there wasn't any point in debating this further. Crow had made up his mind about it and that was that. All Badger could hope was that after a few days hard work he might change his mind. He looked back at Crow and asked, "Where do yer want us t' start then?"
Crow motioned for Badger to follow him back downstairs to where they'd left their bags on the shop floor. He pulled one of the larger ones open and started to rummage through it, while Badger watched. What he pulled out was a familiar black cloak and plague-doctor's mask. Then he pointed towards the biggest display window.
"First we're gonna get the boards off that an' shine the glass up nice. Then we're gotta get that mannequin ovah there an' use it to put our friend 'ere on display," instructed Crow, "That way any o' our othah friend who might come by will know that there's welcomin' faces waitin' for 'em in the Black Raven's Nest."
"Yer... ganna call the shop that, aren't yer?" Badger enquired.
"Absolutely," confirmed Crow, "Could ya evah find o' a bettah name than that?"
"Nah, can't say I can," Badger chuckled.
That was just like Crow. Coming up with ridiculous names was one of his biggest pleasures in life. But it was something that kind of amused Badger as well. And as much as he might have doubted that anyone they knew would just be wandering around Southampton, it was also just like Crow to leave his arms open for them if they were. In his own way, he cared a lot about his friends.
So displaying the Black Raven was the first task they got to on the long list of making their new home work.
