Notes: If you know me then you probably know how long I've been wanting to find an excuse to put Charlie and Socket in the same place at the same time within this story.
The trip to Monte d'Or had proven to be as relaxing as Badger had hoped it would be. When he'd first set out for it, he wasn't even sure that he needed to get away from everything as much as he did, but now he was back at the Turners' house he could definitely feel the benefits. For a bit more than a week he'd been able to stop himself from worrying about what was going on with all the others and just have fun. As much as Badger cared about his friends and wanted to work through their problems with them, he knew that this time apart from them had also been something that he'd needed. Hopefully it would mean that he'd be able to come back to the others refreshed and better prepared to help them.
His hosts were glad to see him when he arrived, although Socket did have an ulterior motive. He walked boldly towards Badger and held out a hand.
"Where is it then? That mask ya were gonna get me?" he demanded.
With a big grin, Badger went rummaging through his bag. He took out the plastic mask he'd picked up and plonked it into Socket's open hand.
"There yer go. Wrestled it from the Masked Gentleman meself," Badger claimed.
"I knew I could count on ya, Carrotnose!" cheered Socket.
Although he knew the mask was fake, it was all Socket needed to be happy. Part of Badger suspected that the mask might find itself on the front of an unfinished invention, which would be an interesting sight to behold.
With Socket satisfied, Badger then went to give his other gifts to Wren and her mum. He felt a little bad for forgetting Phant, but the dog didn't seem to mind at all. She was just happy that another person had come back to fuss over her.
"This is really nice," Wren said, "I'll put it on my desk. Oh, and Marilyn called, by the way. Her and Gus are back from Dropstone now, so since I've also broken up for half term we can go to Misthallery whenever you like."
"Well 'ow about tomorreh then?" Badger suggested.
"That's be great! I can't wait to see everyone again and tell 'em about 'ow awesome I've gotten," Socket boasted.
Badger chuckled, "I'm sure they'll be able t' see that just by looking at yer both."
So the next day the three of them set out to go back to the place that they all still thought of as home. It was funny really, Badger considered. Once upon a time Crow had come to Northumberland to try and bring both of them back, only to return without them. And now it was Badger who was going to Misthallery with Wren and Socket, even if it was only temporary for them all. Back then, Badger could never have imagined ever reaching this stage.
Ms. Turner drove them to the station, then made one final check that they all had everything before saying goodbye.
"Say hello to everyone at the market from me," she said, "And Penley, remember to change your shirt everyday. I'll be checking up with your sister to make sure you do."
"I told ya not to call me that in front o' my mates, Mum!" Socket whined, "It's Socket, okay?"
"Whatever you say, Pen," he mum laughed.
Socket got onto the train in a sulk, but he did give his mum a quick kiss goodbye before he left. Wren was much more polite about the whole thing. She reached up to softly hug her mum, then quietly whispered goodbye and followed Socket onto the train.
"I'll look afteh them, doun't worreh," assured Badger.
"Thank you. I'm sure you will. You seem very responsible, Badger," Ms. Turner praised.
"I... eh, kindeh... I guess..." mumbled Badger, embarrassed by the compliment.
After that Badger joined the other two on the train and they all waved as it pulled off from the station. It was a long journey back, as always, but in the company of good friends it went by in no time at all. Though he was sure they already knew about it, Badger told Wren and Socket about how Roddy and Scraps had gone to London, so they wouldn't be there. And of course neither would Crow. But Tony had rejoined the Black Ravens again, bringing Arianna with him, so there'd be four familiar faces waiting to greet them, including Marilyn and Gus.
"It's a shame everyone won't be here," said Wren, as the train pulled up at their stop, "Louis could have come with you, Badger, and joined us when we went down south."
"Reckon Louis's got a lot on right now..." Badger mumbled. He didn't like to be cryptic, but the fact of the matter was that he didn't even know what was going on with Louis himself.
When they got off the train it was a short walk from the town it arrived in to Misthallery. Badger briefly considered stopping in to see his dad, since the hospital was in the same town as the train station, but decided now wasn't the time. Both because they had to be somewhere and because he felt like he wasn't ready within himself.
So instead they made their way home, to find Marilyn and Gus waiting for them next to the rope bridge.
"Marilyn! It's great to see you," called Wren.
The two girls hugged each other, as Gus smiled and nodded quietly to Badger, who nodded back at him. It felt a little unreal that they were all together again after so long and Badger needed a moment to adjust.
"Is this it?" Socket whined, "No offense to youse two, but I was 'opin' for a bigger welcome mat, ya know?"
Marilyn let go of Wren and told him, "There would have been more, but we've got a lot of catching up to do after being away from the auctions for a week. The others are all there though, so you'll see them when you get to the market. But the boss wouldn't let more than two of us go away for too long and we weren't sure exactly when you'd get here."
"All?" Badger echoed. Two other people hardly counted as 'all' in his books. It was an odd choice of words if that had been what Marilyn had meant.
But Socket had another question and he was much louder about voicing it than Badger was.
"Wait a minute... I thought ya were the boss, Marilyn?" he pressed. And Badger had to admit that was a good thing to ask as well.
Wren and Marilyn shared a look. Then they both started to laugh.
"You mean you haven't even told Crow and Badger?" Wren said, between the giggling.
"Why spoil the surprise?" Marilyn replied, "I can't wait to see the look on Crow's face in particular. Badger, you have to promise not to tell him when you get back."
"Not t' tell 'im what?" asked Badger.
"You'll see," Gus promised.
With that, the group headed across the bridge that led into the market. Badger and Socket both had a lot of questions now. Between the two of them Socket made his annoyance at being left out of the loop more obvious, but even Badger wasn't sure what to make of it. As much as he knew Crow had every reason to trust Marilyn, the fact remained that she was just as good of a metaphorical chess player as he was, if not better, so she may well have made some big changes since they'd left. It sounded as if she had.
There were a few familiar residents wandering around the market, all of them glad to see the three returning travellers. Aunt Taffy was sat on a stool by her cart, the boatman Bucky was passing by to fetch some spare oars from his shack and a kindly woman called Jasmine was admiring some bread from one of the stalls. But they didn't see another Black Raven until they got to the manhole that led to their auction hall, where Tony stood on guard.
"Good to see you made it all right," Tony said, once they reached him.
"An' it's just as good to see they gave ya a second chance," Socket commented. He gave Tony a pat on the back, seeming to think that was how he could act as a wise old Black Raven; "Look, I know it ain't easy bein' the kid o' the group, I've bin there myself. But don't worry, I'll look out for ya an' I'm sure with the proper guidance ya gonna find yaself at the top o' the ladder before ya know it. Just like me!"
"Okay. Um... thanks?" Tony mumbled. He raised an eyebrow.
"Tony, you have to look at this!" A little head popped out of the manhole. It took Badger a moment to recognise it as Sean, one of the kids from town. His eyes fixed on Tony, Sean continued, "We were cleaning out the old boxes to make more room in the back and I found this clock that Arianna said is like... genuine Victorian. She said we could sell it for loads and it's all thanks to me. Isn't that great?"
"That is great," Tony praised, "Now you'd better go let Arianna know that our guests have got here."
"Right away!" With that, Sean was gone as quickly as he'd appeared.
Socket groaned; "Ya mean to tell me that after waitin' so long to have a younger Black Raven to look up to me, 'e's already go his own little Black Raven lookin' up to 'im? An' 'oo let Sean in for that matter?"
"Arianna did," answered Gus, "And we can't exactly ignore a direct order from the leader."
At that, Socket's eyes almost popped right out of his head.
"No way! Since when is she the leader? Crow will never like that!" he wailed.
"Well, if we were all still doing exactly what Crow wanted us to then we'd be stuck in the dark ages, wouldn't we? The only way forward is to move with the times. Every good Black Raven knows that."
As much as Badger felt sorry for Socket, it was almost funny to watch as the icy dread crept across his already unsettled face. He turned slowly on his heels and looked up into the smug face of Charlie from North Ely. Then he exploded.
"Wot is Curly doin' 'ere? We're not doin' this! No, no, no! Not ever! I'm gonna march down to Sout'ampton an' tell Crow that youse let 'is worst enemy into the base an' that 'e's probably a spy 'oo will tell all our secrets to everyone ever an' it'll be all youse guys faults!" Socket cried.
Charlie lifted up a hand to admire his nails, not even fazed by Socket's words.
"If I am a spy, then at least I make that outfit look good while I'm doing it," he hummed.
"There! Curly just admitted 'e's a spy! Youse all 'eard that!"
"Calm down, Socket. He's not a spy," Gus insisted, "Charlie's been with us for a while and he's proven very good at hosting the auctions now that Crow's gone. Even if he does insist on wearing... a different outfit to the traditional one."
"Youse let 'im stand up on stage!" Socket protested.
"It is where I was born to be," assured Charlie.
"Ugh! Just... uuuuggghhhh! Are there any other Black Ravens I should know about?" Socket demanded.
"Not at the moment, but we were considering Finch," Marilyn informed.
"Finch! That kid 'oo always 'angs around everythin' we do?" Socket checked.
"He has some good qualities," Charlie assured.
Socket glared at him; "I don't care about any qualities 'e might 'ave. This is... this is... I dunno wot this is, but I don't like it."
"They did what they had to so they could keep the business running," Wren reasoned, "You wouldn't want the Black Ravens to pack in doing auctions, would you?"
"No..." Socket sulked.
"Then just accept that Sean and Charlie are part of this now. And that Arianna's the leader. A pretty good leader, from what I've been told," Wren went on.
"She knows where everyone needs to be and what they need to be doing," Marilyn confirmed, "Everyone respects her, so it works out pretty well."
"But everyone respects ya, too... I don't get this," Socket muttered, "But fiiiine. I can see that youse needed to do somethin' without my greatness to 'elp all the time, so I suppose I'll let the Sean an' Arianna thing slide. Still not 'appy about Curly though."
"I'm sure Curly will live with that," Charlie replied, "Now shall I lead you all down to the hall?"
"We can see ourselves in, thanks!" snapped Socket.
He barged past Charlie, purposely bumping into him as he went. Then he climbed down the manhole and presumably disappeared on his way. Since they knew he needed to blow off some steam, the others gave him a minute before going after. Only Tony remained on the surface, guarding the entrance as he had been before they arrived.
As they walked through the tunnel Badger was overwhelmed by how it was just the same as it had been before. Which was a silly thing to think really, given that there wasn't much that the tunnel could do to change. It was just that he himself had changed so much since he'd left here and so had all the others. To be faced with something that was exactly the same as it had been in what felt like an eternity ago (even if it was only last year) was just... strange.
They got through the tunnel, through the market stalls with the samples of goods and into the auction hall itself. Badger was almost relieved to see that this had changed a little. Not too much, but enough that Badger could disconnect it from the life he'd left behind. There was a cool blue feel to the decorations now. Maybe Charlie or Arianna or both of them had made the decision for that change, Badger wouldn't be surprised.
Arianna was up on stage, talking to Socket, and Sean was peeking around from the door of the back room, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. Given how loud Socket could be, Badger wouldn't blame Sean if he was nervous of him.
"Wot took ya so long?" Socket called, once they were all in the room.
"Just thought we'd give you a moment to cool off," purred Charlie.
Socket scrunched up his face as if he was going to make a retort. But then he let the moment pass and calmed himself, looking instead towards the others; "Me an' Arianna were just talkin' about stuff. Told 'er that I ain't 'appy with all these changes, but I can live with it so long as Curly doesn't get to make too many decisions."
"Wait until you see my outfit," Charlie chuckled.
"Let's not get into that now," Arianna said. It seemed like she was trying to defuse a potential situation and that was a good choice; "We've got so much catching up to do with all three of you. Why don't we all take a seat so we can chat?"
They did exactly that. Even Sean came through to join them from the other room, though he didn't contribute much to the conversation. Not that Badger could judge anyone on that, given that he didn't either. For the most part he was happy to sit and listen to the others talk, only answering questions when the others wanted to know what him, Crow or the London Black Ravens had been up to. When he wasn't recounting what they'd been through, Badger listened to how the Black Ravens here had been doing since they left. It sounded as if they'd had a big revamp of how everything looked.
"It was the first thing Charlie wanted to do after Roddy left, since that was when he started to take being one of us more seriously," Marilyn explained.
"I can't believe that Curly would take anythin' seriously," huffed Socket. Though Badger did notice that, despite his complaints, Socket had chosen to sit down next to Charlie.
"Well, I do take my vision seriously. Though I have to confess that having Arianna and Gus to consult did help. They have a good eye for this sort of thing as well," Charlie said.
"You say that, but you ignored all of my pleading not to change the Black Raven outfit," Gus reminded.
"Youse really did let 'im change the outfit? Crow'll be turnin' in 'is grave..." Socket whined.
"Crow's not dead," Badger stated.
"Ya know wot I mean!" snapped Socket.
"Speaking of the outfit, maybe you three should come watch the auction tonight," Marilyn suggested, "It's all very well us talking about the changes we've made, but nothing compares to seeing them in action."
"That sounds like a great idea. What do you think, Socket?" Wren asked.
"I suppose I could put up with watching Curly flounce around on a stage for a little while," replied Socket.
"Honoured," Charlie laughed.
With that decided, they finished up their conversations and headed their own ways. Arianna, Sean, Gus and Charlie all had work to get back to, so they stayed down in the hall. For the time they were in Misthallery, Wren, Socket and Badger had arranged to stay with Marilyn, so she decided to take them to her house to drop off their bags. After that was done, Badger excused himself for a chance to walk around on his own.
The first place he went, though he wasn't sure if it was intentional or if he'd just happened to walk that way, was his old house. The one that had been unoccupied since his dad had been taken into hospital. A lump formed in his throat when he saw it. There was a 'for sale' sign up above one of the windows. He had no idea what the circumstances behind that were, what it had to do with his dad or what his dad would even do when he got out of hospital for that matter, but maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. At least it hadn't sold yet, even if this didn't change the fact that the house no longer belonged to him in any way.
For a moment he considered breaking in and seeing if there was anything left inside. Anything that he might have overlooked when he decided to move out. But then he decided not to. Whatever was still in that house was now merely the remainder of a Badger who was long since gone. Pulling those memories close would not bring him back. Not now that he was finally the brand new Badger that he'd wanted to be back when Crow had first left for London. Back then Badger couldn't even imagine becoming that person would put him through so much, but he wasn't sad for the wisdom he'd picked up along the way.
So Badger turned his back on his old house and continued along his way. The rest of the afternoon was spent all over Misthallery, seeing so many familiar places and stopping to talk to a few people who recognised him. He even dropped in for lunch at Paddy's Place, which was exactly the same as it had been, save for a few different items on the menu, which Paddy told him about in person.
Once evening came, Badger made his way back to the manhole. He was a little late, so various customers were already making their way down as well. For a moment, Badger wanted to hide from them. But then he remembered that tonight he was here with them as a customer himself, not as part of the act. So he nervously made his way down with them and through to the hall. Once inside he found Wren and Socket to sit with.
"We were worried you wouldn't make it in time," Wren whispered.
"Wouldn't miss it," assured Badger.
They all quietened down, even Socket, once the lights dimmed. Any stragglers amongst the crowd made their ways to the nearest seats and settled into them now, all eyes expectantly on the stage, even before the spotlights pointed in that direction. And Badger noticed these too had changed. Now the lights that shone from them were a combination of faint blues and purples, which came together to make an attractive and eerie image. 'Don't touch' it said. 'What's on this stage is from a different world to yours'.
The curtain then drew back just enough so that Charlie could step out, dressed in what had once been a Black Raven robe. Badger could instantly see why Gus seemed to have had reservations about it. The outfit was definitely over the top, with small jewels sparkling each time Charlie moved and a silver trimming around the edges. Yet something about it was mesmerising. Badger couldn't take his eyes off it.
"I, the Bejewelled Raven, welcome you all to my domain once again," Charlie purred.
Badger heard Socket gag from next to him and had to fight back a smirk himself. It was clear that the others had let Charlie run wild with this, but it must have gotten results if they kept on doing it. Once again, Badger just assumed that some people were good with crowds. People like Charlie, Crow, Max and Randall Ascot were all these sorts of people. Performers who loved the attention of others. And although Badger couldn't personally think of anything worse, he was happy enough to be a wide-eyed part of their audiences.
The auction itself went as was to be expected. It might have been given a new coat of paint, but it was otherwise still the same thing. Admittedly, it was a little strange to be part of the audience on his home turf, but Badger soon got used to it and was content in watching the crowd bid on the various items that came out. Of course he didn't bid himself, but there were a few times when Wren had to lower Socket's hand to stop him from doing just that. Something about Charlie seemed to rile Socket in a way that made him want to demand attention from the other boy. But the middle of an auction wasn't the right time to make an auctioneer pay attention to you unless you wanted to be out of pocket.
Thankfully many of the other people there seemed to have deeper pockets than Socket anyway, so he was soon drowned out in their bidding wars. Each item went for an impressive amount. The Misthallery auctions might not be bringing in nearly as much as the London ones were, but the totals were still something to be proud of, considering that they were based in a small tourist town.
Once the final auction was over, the 'Bejewelled Raven' bid them all a good night by blowing kisses into the auction. Socket muttered that it was a load of nonsense, but shut up when one was sent in his direction.
Then it was just a matter of sitting there, trying not to look too suspicious, as the other customers left the room. When they had the all clear, Marilyn, Gus and Charlie came out from behind the curtains to join them.
"The other three are dealing with the customers. Taking payments for goods and all that," Marilyn explained.
"I'm surprised yer doun't 'ave Arianna biddin' in 'ere like she used to," said Badger.
"She does sometimes. She's very much still the public face of the Black Raven. But she can't do that every auction, so today she's dealing with the customers after the show," Marilyn replied.
"Let's me have the stage all to myself," Charlie chimed.
"I bet ya like that. Ya great show-off," grumbled Socket.
"You say that like you weren't enjoying it," Charlie retorted, "But anyway, I have to head back home now, lest my parents worry about me."
He excused himself from the group, ignoring Socket's remark about how he still needed to listen to mummy and daddy (as if Socket was any different with his mum), then headed out through the large doors.
"Just us original Black Ravens now, thank goodness," Socket loudly stated.
"We do have a lot to talk about," Marilyn admitted, "I've heard some interesting things about you two."
"What sort of things?" asked Wren.
Badger shuffled a little in his seat, worried that the accusation was going to come back to him. It was true that he had spoken to Marilyn about the two siblings worries for each other, but he'd hoped that Marilyn would discuss it with them a little more anonymously, so it wouldn't seem so much like he'd betrayed their trust.
"Just about how you've been getting along up there. I've heard a lot from your letters and I've picked up more from you both today," Marilyn answered. It seemed that Badger had got out of the blame for now; "Some of what I've heard has made me worry, as your friend."
"Lemme guess, Wren 'as bin talkin' about 'ow I'm a stupid moron for droppin' outta school!" Socket shot.
"I don't think you're stupid at all!" argued Wren, "But you should stick in school now that you have the chance. If you don't then you might as well never have left Misthallery at all, since you just do the same stuff now that you always did here."
"Well mebbe that would've bin better, since then I'd be around my friends again. Instead o' Mum and ya always bein' out all the time," Socket replied.
"Mum needs to work to make money for us to stay in that house! And I need to get good grades so I can get a proper job one day," countered Wren.
"A job doin' wot? Ya still 'ave no idea wot ya wanna do! Bein' in school just means they give ya enough work so that ya don't 'ave to think about it!" Socket said.
"And what about you? One day you'll know exactly what you want to do, but you'll never be allowed to do it because you don't have the qualifications!" Wren snapped, "Marilyn understands that, don't you, Mal?"
Marilyn stared at them both. Her eyes boring a hole through them.
"I understand that there's a problem," she said.
Wren froze; "I-I thought you were on my side...!"
"I'm on both of your sides," Marilyn corrected, "I want to help you both."
"No, I don't need any help! I'm not the one with the problem! And if you can't see that then... then... Just forget it!" cried Wren.
She got to her feet and ran from the room, slamming the door behind her. Marilyn stood up as soon as she was gone.
"I'm going after Wren," she insisted.
"All right," Gus said, almost making Badger jump. Admittedly he'd sort of forgotten Gus had been there, amongst everything else that was happening.
"Wot about me?" Socket wailed.
"I'll talk to you later. I need to talk to you both separately," Marilyn told him.
"Huh. Well, wotever. I ain't gonna sit around and wait for ya," snorted Socket. He got to his feet and headed for the door as well.
"Where are yer gan?" Badger checked.
"Somewhere away from 'ere. And don't come after me! Not that ya would..."
With that, Socket disappeared along with his sister. Leaving the three of them sat awkwardly, wondering what to do.
"Mebbe I should gan afteh 'im?" suggested Badger.
"No, he needs to blow off steam and you're not the right person for that," Marilyn answered, "I have a good idea where he might go and he'll probably be all right for tonight. But I am going to go after Wren. Badger, I'm sorry that your first day back has been like this, but will you be able to see yourself back to my place all right?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Badger said.
"Good. I'll see you both later then," concluded Marilyn.
With that she was gone, leaving just Badger and Gus sat awkwardly in the hall in the wake of the Turner siblings' whirlwind.
"I reckon that's all been building up fer a while," Badger mumbled, to break the silence.
"It's a shame for them both," Gus sighed, "But I think that we can help them work it out. Marilyn and Wren are close, which is probably why it shocked Wren so much when Marilyn wasn't solely on her side."
"Yeah, I bet yer right about that. But I still doun't know what the solution is. Especially since Mal says they're both right t' be worried," Badger said.
"Sadly, I doubt this is something with a magical fix-all answer. We're all growing and changing, especially Wren and Socket. What works for other people might not work for those two," replied Gus.
"That's what Marilyn said t' me oveh the phone," Badger agreed.
"We've talked about it. Marilyn is the best when it comes to understanding others and I'm often the person she bounces her thoughts off," said Gus. He gave a shrug and got up from where he was sat; "Honestly, I'm glad that she thinks I've grown up enough to have that honour."
Badger looked at Gus. Really looked at him. In many ways he'd changed from how they'd been when they were kids, much like Badger himself. Gus had more confidence to him now and he'd even grown his hair out in the beginnings of a mohawk, though it didn't go well with his typical choice of red jumper. If Badger had to guess, he'd say that most people probably regarded Gus as being much more mature now, even Marilyn. And yet somehow, when Badger looked at him he still saw a lot of the old Gus, staying quiet and going along with what others thought was best. Because he was still in awe of them all and still thought that they knew better than he did. In truth, from Badger's perspective it didn't seem that Gus had changed as much as even Gus probably thought he had.
"Doun't it eveh make yer sad?" Badger said. Perhaps he hadn't meant to say it out loud, but he didn't stop it either.
"Doesn't what make me sad?" asked Gus, clearly lost.
"Just... livin' in Marilyn's shadow. I were like that with Crow and I thought it made me 'appy, but now I'm not so sure," Badger explained.
Gus shrugged; "I'm fine. Whether it's good for me or not, I feel content and isn't that what matters?"
"If yer say so," replied Badger, though he didn't agree at all, "Anyway, I am ganna 'ead t' Mal's place now. Goodnight, Gus."
"Night, Badger."
As Badger made to leave, Gus didn't do the same. Instead he walked over to the stage and pulled himself up onto it, taking a seat there. He then took a notebook, pen and some sweets out of his pocket, opening up the notebook to begin scribbling in it. Sweets had always been what Gus turned to for comfort when he was feeling unsettled, but the notebook was new. Badger wanted to ask him about it, but knew that now wasn't the right time. So instead he turned to leave, Gus not paying him any attention at all.
When he'd gotten out into the tunnel, Badger wondered if he was cruel to say what he had done. He'd only just seen Gus briefly and his analysis might not have been all that accurate. And yet the fact that it seemed to have hit Gus like it did suggested there was some truth to it.
Wren and Socket probably weren't the only ones who needs to get their lives in order, it would seem.
With a heavy sigh, Badger made his way back to Marilyn's house, to await the damage report that would come with her return.
