A Day In The Sun
By Thomas Mc
Chapter 2: Crowds and Sunshine
Chris opened the rear hatch of the van he had been driving and pulled out two short swords in their sheaths, and one, very large, long sword, also in its sheath. He leaned the swords against the side of the van.
Catherine drew Vincent over to where Chris was, and then she reached up and gently pushed Vincent's hood back leaving his head exposed to everyone's view. Chris handed Catherine a black broad brimmed had with one side pined up and a large white fluffy feather stuck in it. It made Vincent think of the three musketeer movies.
Catherine placed the hat on his head. "There we go. The perfect rogue to sweep an innocent forest sprite off her feet." She then took the large sword that Chris handed her and attached it to Vincent's wide leather belt. "Every medieval rogue must have his sword." She stretched up, threw her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on him. "You have to be able to defend your conquests." She kissed him again.
Catherine released Vincent, reached into the back of the van that she and Vincent had been riding and pulled out a pair of translucent blue, green and yellow butterfly style wings that measured four feet top to bottom. With a little help from Vincent, she was able to get the wings attached to a harness that was hidden beneath her top. Finally, she pulled out a mask that was shaped like two silver veined leaves joined together with an eye-hole cut into each leaf.
Vincent was again aware that they were being noticed by many of the people around them. Some reacted with surprise, some with amusement, some with curiosity, there were even a few double takes, but nowhere was there even a hint of fear. In fact, the strangers around them all exhibited emotions of excited anticipation and many of them greeted Vincent and his group with a smile and an occasional wave. A few of the greetings were in cheery words of welcome in a fake old English accent.
Then it was Vincent's turn to do a double take when a tall shapely Amazon, wearing a chainmail bikini, long brown hooded cape, and sporting a sword as big as his, stepped out from behind Joe's Van. The road rash on the back of her left arm and the burn scars on her left back, shoulder and upper thigh only served to help complete the barbarian warrior maiden illusion. The road rash was from her youth and the burn scars were a souvenir of the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack. Despite the scars she really looked very sexy in her outfit.
For a moment, Vincent stared at her in amazed surprise then he responded. "Sammy?"
Joe was dressed as the perfect proper Renaissance nobleman. Vincent could not image a more mismatched looking couple than these two. The fact that their appearance was so diametrically opposite was part of what made them look so charming together.
Chris and his son Lawrence were decked out as barbarian warriors, right down to their matching horned helmets. Sharonwas dressed like a lady of the court. The image was just as fascinatingly strange as Joe and Sammy.
Linda's dress made her look like a medieval girl of the court except that she also had a short sword strapped to her waist. Little Elizabeth was dressed in a standard issue Disney style Snow White outfit.
Catherine strapped the two short swords to Jacob and Charles then Chris produced two more hats similar to Vincent's for them. "My, my, I seem to be surrounded by charming rogues." Catherine laughed as she took in the sight of Vincent and his sons. Then she addressed her sons. "You two better fetch your lady fairs before some other rogues make off with them." She giggled as she faced Vincent then her grin widened.
Vincent was finally beginning to relax as it became obvious to him that no one here seemed to consider his appearance to be more than mildly remarkable. Then he became aware of Catherine's gaze and looked into her smiling eyes.
Catherine burst into a radiant smile as she took hold of both his hands. "You look absolutely magnificent in the morning sunshine my love."
Vincent's fangs appeared as he responded. "And you are the most beautiful sprite to ever grace the spring morning."
Catherine and Vincent embraced once then Catherine held out her elbow. "Shall we go to the faire, my lord?"
Vincent smiled, swept a courtly bow and took Catherine's arm. "It would be my pleasure my lady."
Having caught on to what was happening; Jacob faced Linda, a huge grin spreading across his face, fangs fully displayed. "Well Lady Linda, shall I accompany you to yon faire?"
Linda giggled and blushed. "I would be honored gallant sir." She linked arms with him.
Charles took Elizabeth's hand, also showing his fangs in a big grin
They all started off in the same direction as the rest of the crowd walking toward the Castle like entrance to the faire.
After a short walk, they reached the faire entrance and became engulfed in the crowd that was slowly making their way through the gates. Catherine pulled out a stack of tickets and handed them out to the rest of the group. Though they drew a lot of attention from the crowd around them, the predominate emotions were curiosity, amazement and amusement. Many greetings and comments were exchanged. Everyone around them behaved as though they believed that Vincent and his sons were exactly what they appeared to be but it was all taken in lighthearted fun.
The guardian at the gate checked over Vincent's sword to be sure it was properly tied into its sheath. He then took Catherine and Vincent's tickets and passed them through the gate with a parting admonition that all duels must be taken outside the gates of the village, or to the tournament field. The rest of their party was passed through in the same manner.
Seconds after Catherine and Vincent's group had passed beyond the entrance to the Renaissance Faire, a voice called out from somewhere up ahead of them. "Vincent, Cathy, over here!"
Vincent glanced around and spotted Catherine's friend Jenny standing on a stone bench beside a sculpture of a knight in armor and waving her arms above her head to attract their attention.
Jenny was dressed as a generic renaissance lady of the court. Vincent and his group headed for her location. As they approached, they spottedNancyand Paul Tucker dressed as Robin Hood and Maid Marian standing beside Jenny.
"Jenny, Nancy, Paul, you made it." Catherine greeted them enthusiastically.
"Are you kidding?" Jenny responded, as she looked Vincent up and down. "How could I possibly miss the chance to see your handsome rogue lion on his day in the sun?"
Paul spoke up. "Well gang. Shall we mingle with the rest of the crazies."
Nancygave him a nudge in the ribs. "Hey, I happen to like being crazy occasionally."
The group headed further into the faire grounds. As they proceeded, Vincent glanced around at the diverse group of people wandering the grounds. As near as he could figure, nearly two-thirds of the people were in ordinary street clothes. About half of the ones in normal clothes were gazing around with their mouths hanging open in total amazement. He figured that his must be their first time to the faire. Then, realizing that his mouth was also agape, Vincent closed his mouth trying not to look like all those other first timers.
While trying to not be too obvious about it, Vincent was taking in the incredible variety of costumes on display. He spotted a dozen historically accurate Renaissance ladies and gentlemen mixed with all types of totally imaginary fantasy creatures. There were characters from the idealized versions of dozens of classic fairy tales. He was surprised at how many girls he saw sporting some type of large fairy wings. Catherine wasn't the only sprite wandering the grounds though he thought that she was definitely the most beautiful. Standing together by a food stand, he saw four young men dressed in classic musketeer style costumes. They were talking to a fifth young man in a fairly accurate rendition of a medieval samurai warrior.
As they were walking past the musketeers, Vincent's attention was drawn by the sound of clanking metal and saw two knights in full armor walking up to a small pavilion that was selling canned sodas. Vincent chuckled and when Catherine glanced curiously at him he remarked nodding toward the knights. "Canned people drinking canned soda." Catherine shook her head at his pun then giggled.
Vincent's attention was diverted by two half-pint knights in chainmail as they approached him. They both stopped right in front of Vincent and stood in front of him, looking up at him in awe. Vincent figured that they were probably around seven and eight years old. While trying to decide how to react, Vincent sensed a strong emotion of delight from close by. He glanced up to see a couple in ordinary street clothes staring at him. The woman squealed in delight, and raised a camera. "Tony, Billy, look at Mommy." She called out. The two youngsters faced the couple and Vincent clearly heard the sound of the shutter. "Fantastic." She called out smiling at them as her gaze swept Vincent's family. "Your costumes are absolutely fantastic." Her attention shifted to her two boys. "Come on boys there is a lot more to see." The two boys continued looking at Vincent and his two sons for a few moments more before reluctantly following their parents.
Five seconds later, a young girl, about six years old, dressed in the ball costume from Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' movie, walked up to Vincent and stared up at him. A young couple came up. The male complimented Vincent's costume as the woman, distracted by the shopping bag she was adjusting on her arm, took the girls hand. The woman glanced at Catherine and Vincent then suddenly froze and stared hard at Vincent.
"I know you." The young woman remarked. Vincent could sense extreme surprise and recognition in the woman. "I've seen you before." Her eyes narrowed and there was a hint of confusion then her face lit up with a memory. "Fifteen years ago . . . at a Halloween party at the publishing house where my father worked. You were there with a bunch of orphan kids. When the party was winding down, I was so fascinated by you that I tried to leave with you and those other kids. You took me back inside to my parents and told me that any time I read about you, you would be near by. Then you recommended the book 'The Hidden Kingdom' to my parents. It became my all time favorite book."
Vincent and Catherine stood there stunned. They both remembered the incident and the eight-year-old girl that had followed them out of the party. Catherine recovered first. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I see you have a little girl of your own now."
The young woman blushed and glanced at the ground. "Yea, that's my daughter, Cindy. I'm afraid I was a bit too young when I got married." She glanced down at the little girl holding her hand and staring up in awe at Vincent. The young woman looked back up at Vincent with a smile. "She's as much a 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Hidden Kingdom' fan as her mother and grandmother." She glanced around at the rest of Vincent's group, pausing at his two sons, and then back to Vincent. She frowned and cocked her head slightly as the surprise he felt from her returned twice as strong. After a second, she recovered and smiled. "Well it was great seeing you again." She seemed to hesitate a moment then threw her free arm around Vincent, gave him quick hug and whispered to him. "You're not really wearing a costume, are you?" Then she released him and smiled at Catherine. "Better keep an eye on him. He's too good looking to leave lying around loose." Then she turned, put her free arm around the man's waist. She walked off with her husband and daughter while humming the theme song from Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast'. The daughter kept glancing back at him till the crowd swallowed them.
Joe turned to Vincent with a chuckle. "Well it seems that you're a hit.
Catherine had felt the surprise in Vincent and asked. "What did she say to you?"
Vincent looked at Catherine, still a bit stunned, then responded. "She told me that she knew I was not really wearing a costume."
Catherine stared back in surprise then laughed. "Come on. Let's look around before any more women hit on you."
~ o ~
They came upon a living chess match and decided to stop and watch for a while. Being an avid chess player Vincent quickly realized that this game as more about the antics of the various chess pieces than about any real strategy.
He found the whole thing very amusing. "I wonder what Father would think of this game?" He muttered to himself.
Towards the end of the game, the white queen was brought up next to the red king putting him in check. He took off running around the board dodging in and out among the remaining pieces with the white queen chasing after him. Then the red queen took off after them yelling for the white queen to leave her man alone. The judge called an end to the game and declared it a draw.
~ o ~
A half hour later, they were passing one of the many stages scattered throughout the faire. Chris pointed to a bulletin board and commented. "It says that 'Merlin the Magician' starts in two minutes. Let's stay and watch the show."
Vincent knew that Chris had a fondness for magic acts. At Winterfest, he was always right there with the children that surrounded Sebastian when he did his sleight-of-hand tricks. Vincent grinned; he too had a soft spot for magic shows. "It sounds like fun." The entire group found seats near the center of the rows of benches. The seating filled up quickly and it was soon standing room only. From the comments Vincent overheard, this particular performer had been here every year since the faire first opened.
An old man, mumbling to himself, tottered out onto the stage. He had a long gray beard, and was wearing the classic long robes and pointed hat decorated in astronomical signs that were the standard attire for your average well-dressed wizard. As he made his way toward the center of the stage, he waved a wand negligently about. There was a sudden burst of thick smoke boiling up from the stage, apparently startling the wizard. As the smoke cleared a small potted rose bush was revealed. The magician looked at the small bush in surprise then looked at his wand. He shrugged, shook his head and mumbled some more. With a flick of the wand and another puff of smoke, the rose bush disappeared. He shoved the wand up his sleeve then, with a startled exclamation, seemed to notice the audience for the first time.
The old wizard smiled at the audience. "Oh, hello. I suppose you are all here for the magic show." He raised his hands dramatically as he scanned the audience. Then he froze as his gaze fell on Vincent.
At that same instant, Vincent recognized the face behind the long gray beard. It was Sebastian, a street magician and a long time helper from New York. A half second later, Catherine also recognized him. "Sebastian." She remarked quietly.
"So, this is where he disappears to every spring." Chris commented to Sharon.
Sebastian/Merlin the Magician shook himself then scanned the audience in befuddled surprise. "Ah, what is everybody here for?"
"Merlin the Magician!" The audience responded.
"Merlin?" He looked puzzled. "Oh, that's me. Would you like to see some magic?"
The audience cheered. Catherine remarked, grinning, to Vincent. "Nice recovery."
Sebastian/Merlin the Magician launched into his routine and everyone was soon totally engrossed. For years, Vincent had watched Sebastian do his little tricks at Winterfest but the magic tricks he was doing on his stage were far more elaborate and some were surprisingly spectacular.
When the show was over, Sebastian was at the back of the audience collecting donations as the people filed out. As Vincent and his group came up to him, Catherine dropped a few bills into his hat. He reached out to touch Vincent's arm. "I expect to hear all about your day at the faire, when I see you at the next Winterfest."
The teenagers wanted to go off on their own so, after a bit of cajoling, it was allowed. They agreed to join back up in front of the glassblowers shop in four hours. They also had cell phones in case anything urgent came up.
Joe and Sammy wandered off to look around on their own. Chris and Sharon also took off on their own. Jenny suggested that little Nancy and Brigit go with her over to the area that had all the amusements for the youngest children. This left Vincent and Catherine found themselves wandering the faire grounds on their own.
Continued in Part 3
'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.
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