Welcome to Chapter 2 everyone! I'm glad you liked the first chapter. And I am SO sorry about it being two – three weeks wait for this chapter . I really need to learn to kick myself into gear…
Also, warning: Some minor swearing may occur. Turn back now if this offends you in any way.
Let's continue shall we?
October 28, 2009
The bell gave a screechy ring and students happily squished themselves into the halls once more as they headed for lockers. School had finally ended for the day. Shawnee gave a somewhat annoyed sigh and followed Brenna and Athos solemnly as her friend led the way to the school's auditorium, which was where band practice was held every Monday and Wednesday.
The room they entered was large and your voice echoed when you spoke. It had wood walls and metal seats with cushions of the actual seats in rising rows until it reached doors that lead out on to the second floor of the school. The room was also somewhat chilly. Brenna and Shawnee led the two musketeers over to the front most rows and pushed them into seats.
"Sit." Brenna ordered.
"And stay!" Shawnee finished, smirking. They then headed towards a set of stairs along a wall leading up to a second floor door.
"Where are you going?" Athos called. The girls turned to look back.
"Going to get our instruments. We need them to play music after all!" Shawnee called back before they bounded up the stairs and out a blue door at the top, blocking it with a broken music stand that was left up there for such a purpose. The two men shuffled awkwardly in their seats, sitting in utter silence except for the sound of their breathing.
There was a slight sound of murmuring then a bunch of younger children filed in, chattering and laughing and joking and poking fun at their friends. The atmosphere was relaxed and social. But one after another, the new arrivals headed for the same stairs the girls has taken and the men turned to see the pair of them climbing back down the steps carrying black cases, both a different size, and a black folder.
"What do you think they are doing?" D'Artagnan whispered.
"I am not sure." Athos whispered back.
Shawnee flopped the case down hard on a set of risers and popped it open as Brenna began to work on piecing together her flute. Shawnee pulled out piece after black piece of her instrument until she finally had it together and all pieces aligned properly. It held a vague resemblance to a musket if the length was halved. More of the students returned from the upper level and the large room became filled with the sounds of chatter and the clang and crash of instrument cases being put on the ground and personal items being dropped. The conductor came down last just as everyone was finishing with their set up, got everyone's attention and started with her announcements.
"Alright everyone. There are new pieces up here at the front so make sure you have those. And our first fundraiser is coming up…" She continued for a few minutes before raising her arms as a cue to start.
"Ok. Whole notes up the scale!" She said loudly. "One, two, three, four…" The band was led through a few quick warm routines of going up and down a concert B-flat scale before moving on to actually practicing the music. The two men sat back, listening to the music in silence in slight awe, being that it was much different from what they were used to hearing in their own time.
The practice only lasted an hour and once that was through, the instruments were packed up, belongings were picked up, and all the students trekked up the stairs to put everything away and head for home. Brenna waved to Athos and D'Artagnan for them to follow and the two men waited outside the music room on the second floor for the girls to come out.
"How do you think Chris and Jordan are doing with finding clothes for those guys?" Shawnee asked.
"I don't know… Hopefully they aren't causing trouble!" Brenna said, laughing.
While band was happening…
The thrift store Talize was oddly busy that day although it was mostly with older people. There were people weaving through the shelves of books and knick-knacks and walking around and around the rows of hanging clothes trying to find stuff to make the perfect outfit or simply to replace an old article of clothing. Chris and Jordan walked into the store followed by Porthos and Aramis who froze in the entrance way and looked around in shock and awe.
"How is that there are so many things?" Aramis asked as the four of them walked in and stood in the front area of the store.
"Alright. We need to find some clothes for you two." Jordan said. He turned and grabbed Porthos' wrist when he reached out to touch a porcelain piggy bank on a display shelf. "And don't touch anything! You break anything in here and we'll have to buy it!"
They wandered through the store to the where the men's clothing was situated and they began combing through it. Chris and Jordan were at the far end, closest to the exit and Porthos and Aramis were at the other end, closest to a wall with shelves filled with glass items and breakables odds and ends.
"What should we be looking for Aramis? All of these clothes… They look so strange to me!" Porthos said confused. Aramis could do nothing but shrug.
"I really do not know Porthos. There are so many clothes… Surely they must belong to someone of nobility." Porthos reached out and found a brightly coloured shirt covered with a loud floral pattern. He put it on happily then turned to show the boys.
"Will this work?" Jordan just stared at him.
"You're not supposed to look like a damn tourist!" Chris said loudly. "Technically you are a tourist but we don't want to you look like one." He yanked a plain blue shirt off the rack and tossed it to Jordan.
"Hold this." Jordan stood there, holding the shirt uncertainly.
"Uh…. What kind of clothes are we supposed to look for exactly? It's not like we know their sizes." Chris paused and looked at him with an 'I-hate-you glare.'
"You just reminded me of this now? Dammit Shawnee! Why didn't she tell us this?" Jordan shrugged. Chris growled.
"Let's just pick some normal clothes and get them to try it on. All we can do." They went back to shifting through the shelves, pulling off random articles of clothing that they thought might work to make a normal looking outfit when the yelling began.
"But I want this shirt!" "They already told you that you can't Porthos. Put it back!" "But Aramis I want this shirt." Jordan poked his head over the end of the rack to see Porthos and Aramis standing at a face off at the other end.
"Simply because you have no style –"
"What did you say?" Aramis demanded. "Come here you!" He wrapped his arm around Porthos' head, effectively trapping him in a head lock. Porthos backed up in hopes of causing Aramis to stumble but he backed up into the shelves against the wall. The one with all the glass and breakables. Chris was watching at this point as well as the two old warriors froze, hearing the sound of glass being shifted and the two looked up to see glass items falling towards them.
Porthos spread the shirt out, catching a bunch within it, and Aramis used the front of his cassock as a sort of basket. Porthos was still leaned over, holding the shirt net, when more items fell but landed on his back and forcing him not to move. Aramis found his arms overfilled and froze, knowing that if he moved, he would drop the lot.
A manager began to stalk over, face twisted with anger when Porthos' nose started to twitch. He wrinkled it, trying to calm the quelling storm but to no avail, letting out an echoing sneeze. The items on his back jumped and crashed to the floor and he moved the shirt in such a manner that most of the items on it fell out through the sleeves and shattered to pieces. He sneezed again, this time knocking into Aramis and sending his armload flying into the nearby section of the store where there were book shelves. Some other customers screamed as they were bombarded by missile like glass objects, running out of the area as fast as possible as they broke and shattered upon impact.
The two boys stood there in shock. Chris looked back over his shoulder to see the red faced manager standing behind them, glaring down at them. Jordan gave a sheepish grin.
"Hello there sir. We'll just be taking our uncles and going now."
"I don't think so kid. Your uncles just caused roughly fifty dollars worth of damage and it needs to be paid for." Chris dug into his wallet with a sigh and found that he only had forty five at his disposal. He shared a nervous look with Jordan and they both gave the manager big smiles.
"Could we pay you forty five and leave it at that?" The manager shook his head and gripping their shoulders, led them to a bench at the front of the store. Porthos and Aramis followed without question.
"If you four would sit here for a moment." He left them there under the eyes of the clerks at the checkout counters. Chris glared at the two ex-musketeers.
"Way to go you idiots! Now we're in big trouble!" They looked back at him, rather apologetic. The manager returned with a grim look.
"You will have to wait here. The police are on their way." Jordan leapt to his feet.
"What?! You called the police on us for accidently breaking a bunch of worthless junk?!!" The manager didn't respond and Jordan sat back down.
It didn't take too long for a cruiser to pull up to the front of the store and a couple of officers walked in. The manager stood off to the side with them for a moment as they took his statement, leaving the four of them to think over what happened.
"We're so screwed… Shawnee is going to kill us for this." Jordan muttered. Chris stared out the window for a moment then shrugged at Jordan.
"Well you can find out now. I can see her and Brenna coming up now."
Shawnee stopped and frowned at the police car outside the store curiously.
"What the hell? Wonder what happened here…" She led Brenna, Athos, and D'Artagnan inside to see three or four people at the side of the store and the sounds of glass being swept off the hard floor. The girls shared a look and headed over to cash registers to spot the other four of their party sitting there.
"What did you do?! I simply told you to come and try and find some clothes for them! Not destroy the damn store!" Chris gave her a glare out of the corner of his eye.
"Don't blame us. Blame those fools. They got into a fight over a damn Hawaiian shirt by that section with all the glass stuff." Shawnee blinked at him and began to chuckle.
"A Hawaiian shirt? In late October? Please tell me you're joking." But for the looks on the boy's faces, it was obviously no joke. She pressed a hand against her face with a great sigh. "Oh brother…. What the hell have I gotten myself into?" Brenna gave a small giggle.
"I don't know… Maybe you should never have touched that sword?"
"Hey! I thought we agreed that was a complete accident on my part!"
"Well now I'm saying it's your fault."
"Gee… Thank you so much Brenna." Shawnee said; her voice full of sarcasm.
"Anytime." Brenna said back with a massive grin. Athos smiled at the altercation between the two friends. It was reminiscent of what the four of them used to do to each other; in fact still did from time to time. Shawnee glanced over her shoulder at where the manager was still talking with the officers.
"Did he say just how much damage you did?" Chris sighed.
"Fifty bucks worth. And I'm short five." Brenna frowned and pulled Shawnee aside for a moment.
"Think you can keep an eye on all of them at once?" She asked.
"Am I not the captain?" She responded with a smirk. Brenna rolled her eyes and cuffed her shoulder.
"Smartass. Look, just tell the musketeers why we have to be so careful and give the scolding I know you want to give to Chris and Jordan for screwing up. I'm going to try and fix this mess." Shawnee nodded, a slightly evil looking smile crossing her face.
"You got it Brenna." Brenna walked over to the manager and gave a cough. The manager looked down at her curiously.
"Hi there sir. I am a friend of those boys over there and I was wondering if you could tell me just how much in damage they did."
"At least fifty dollars worth miss."
"Well I have a proposition for you." Here she drew out her wallet from her backpack and pulled out a fifty dollar bill.
"How about I pay for the damages and you drop whatever charges you have to put against them and they'll never come in this store again." The manager frowned in thought before gently taking the money from her hand.
"Very well. I'm sorry officers." He said to the two policemen standing by.
"It's quite alright sir." One of the men nodded and they left. Brenna went back over to the group to find them in various states of impatience.
"We can get going to the mall now. The problem's been solved. Oh! One more thing… Chris and Jordan… You owe me. Big time."
And with that, the chapter is done ^^ I hope you enjoyed it.
*comes in quietly* Hi everybody! Sorry I haven't been around but I've been a bit busy lately. But I'm here now! Hope you liked the chapter.
Thanks to Kimyco and Lady of the Deep. Glad to see you're enjoying this story so far! See you all next time!