Monty's Master – Part 10

"Would you come down already?" asked Perry for what felt like the tenth time.

Monty glanced down at him through the branches as he bit into a juicy apricot.

"And let them go to waste?" he said, jumping down and landing on the bench next to him. "Want some?"

Perry crossed his arms.

"Okay, I get it," Monty said, throwing the kernel over his shoulder. "You want to make a good impression on Ash-Rita!"

"It's pronounced Aah-shrih-thaa, try to be a little more sensible, would you? It means one who gives shelter in Sanskrit, quite fitting I suppose."

"Aha! So you do care about her! You researched her!"

"Please, I'm not a creep. I do research on every single person I interact with. I know exactly where she lives, her bloodline, blood type, shoe size…"

"Shoe size?" asked Monty.

"In case we need to track her footprints later, try to keep up!"

"Right. Cause that's not creepy at all."

"Monty, we're spies. For all we know she could be too, except she might be working for the enemy. People aren't usually so eager to help you unless they have an ulterior motive."

"Wow, those are some serious trust issues you got there, buddy."

"We can't take any risks until we know for sure," Perry said. "Oh, look, here she comes. Act normal!"

Monty rolled his eyes before jumping to his feet.

"Oh, I see you guys have found the best spot in the garden," Aashritha said, stopping in front of them. "Apricots are at their sweetest this time of year, but they don't last long."

"Told you!" Monty said, looking sideways at Perry and offering Aashritha the apricot he had refused.

Perry just shook his head.

"Thanks again, Aashritha. But are you sure this isn't too much to ask? I'm sure you got better things to do."

"Oh, you can just call me Ash," she said.

Monty gave him another smug look which Perry pretended not to see.

"Well, if that's alright with you."

"And don't worry about it. This is going to be fun! So what do you want to see first?"

"Whatever you think is best," Perry said.

"Well, how about we go see the fair then? I know it's not exactly historically significant, but it would be a shame not to go!"

"Sure! Sounds great!" said Monty.

The smile on Perry's face twitched a little, but he could only nod as he watched Aashritha greet the gatekeeper before leading them out.

They didn't even get to see much of the town before they found themselves lost among game booths and stalls selling homemade sweets or arts and crafts.

"Usually our little town isn't this packed," Aashritha told them.

"And this King of Snakes," Perry began, glancing at a clown who was offering children paper crowns and long balloons that he didn't even have to model in order to resemble serpents, "was he an important figure around these parts?"

"Well, not exactly. He's more of a symbol. No one actually knows exactly what he looked like or what happened to him, but everyone knows about his magic scepter and that he could control snakes. Of course, it's not a verified fact, but it's fun to imagine!"

"I see," Perry said as they passed a stand selling snake-shaped neck pillows. "So it's more of a marketing strategy."

"Something like that. I'm sorry, Steven, I see how this may be a little disappointing for you."

"No, not at all," Perry said, shaking his head, "I've always liked carnival games. My dad used to design them, actually."

"Cool!" said Aashritha. "My dad used to bring me here all the time when I was small! I have to warn you though; I can be quite competitive once I get into the mood!"

Perry let out a soft laugh. "Then we take the risk."

"Uh, actually, I think I'm gonna go watch the dancers," said Monty. "I'll just leave you two to it!"

And he backed away all while making finger guns and clicking his tongue.

Aashritha turned to Perry with a confused look on her face.

"Oh, don't mind him," he said.

Aashritha smiled. "So where to first?"

Monty felt like he deserved a big pat on the back. Funfairs were some of the most romantic places he could think of, no matter what Vanessa said.

He followed the sound of applause and tried to peek over the heads of the people gathered in a circle around a group of muscular stuntmen in elephant masks who were performing somersaults in the air, tossing their swords from one to the other and ending the act with a colossal human pyramid.

Monty clapped and whistled along with the crowd and stayed even after the rest of the audience began to wander off.

"You guys were amazing!" he said, approaching a shirtless man who had been the top of the pyramid and was currently polishing his sword. "I'm usually the base!"

Monty noticed that the man had very pale skin, almost lighter than him. It was clear that they weren't natives. It only made him wonder what the requirements to become a member of a traveling street stunt team were, when something else caught his eye.

"Hey, can I see your sword for a bit?"

The man stood up and looked at him up and down. Finally, he turned the hilt towards him.

Monty picked it up carefully and ran his finger over the blade. It was white and smooth with a long, sharp point.

"Is this a real elephant's tusk?" He let out a gasp and looked up at the stuntman who had meanwhile been joined by one of the others. "Are you guys poachers?"

"Uh, no, of course not," the stuntman quickly said, speaking perfect English if it weren't for the heavy Yorkshire accent.

"They're from the elephant graveyard!"

"We're elephant dentists!"

The two stuntmen, who had spoken at the same time, looked at each other, before yanking the sword from his hand and disappearing into the crowd, leaving a rather dumbfounded Monty behind.

"You got a good aim," said Perry, genuinely impressed, when Aashritha managed to hit the center of a spiral snake-shaped target board on her first try.

"I told you I got years of practice. Your turn!"

Perry tentatively took the dart, leaned forward a little, closed one eye, and released it. The dart zipped through the air but stuck into the wooden wall at least one foot above the actual target.

"Oops," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Guess this isn't my thing."

"Wow, no kidding," said Aashritha. "Are you sure you're not just going easy on me?"

"Of course not."

He was, in fact, holding back, but for a completely different reason than she thought. Luckily Aashritha was distracted by the game operator who let her choose her prize from a bunch of necklaces.

"Okay, now you pick!" she said.

Perry glanced around, his eyes resting briefly on the high striker. He could have definitely won that, but such a display of strength might have been compromising.

"Um, how about this?"

He led her to a game similar to Whack the Mole, except with snakes that had to be hit with a staff.

"My sister used to love this game when she was little," Perry said.

"Really?"

Perry nodded. "I could never break her record, but I can give it a go."

He might have lacked Candace's intensity or passion, but he could premeditate which hole each snake was going to poke its head out of.

"Whoa, Steven! You really got this!"

Her voice made him blink and stare at the plastic scepter in his hands as though he hadn't seen it before. It seemed to imitate a wooden rod with a golden snake coiled around it.

He wondered how faithful it was to the original when a stuffed snake the size of a log was thrust into his arms.

"Looks like you broke the record!" Aashritha said.

"Wow, how generous. This would have barely earned me a Yoyo back home," Perry said.

Aashritha chuckled and picked up the tail trailing on the ground.

"You know what, there's no way I can take this back on the plane with me. Don't you want it?"

"Really?" she asked, taking the snake and wrapping it around herself. "Alright, but only if you let me give you something in return."

Aashritha rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a pendant with a silver snake biting its tail, dangling from it.

"The Ouroborus?" Perry murmured, holding the necklace up to the sun.

"Yeah, you know what they say - it symbolizes infinity, but personally, it reminds me of my pet snake, Pickles. He's cute, but he isn't the brightest, always chasing his tail just like a dog. It wouldn't be a problem if his bite wasn't venomous."

"You have a pet snake?" Perry asked with an amused look in his eyes, slipping the pendant into his pocket.

"Well, actually it's more of grandpa's, but I feed him. Why? You think it's weird?"

"Not at all. When I was little I tried to get my mom to let me keep one of the platypuses by the river."

Aashritha grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah, but she said no poisonous animals in her living room."

"Oh, what a stupid rule!"

And they both laughed.

"Sorry to interrupt," said Monty, making his way to them, although the smirk on his lips did not look apologetic at all. "Can I borrow Steven for a minute?"

"Sure," said Aashritha. "I was gonna go get some Jalebi anyway. You guys simply must try it! Here, can you hold this for a bit?" And she handed the snake back to Perry before settling at the end of a line of people waiting in front of an orange van.

"I see things are going pretty well between you two," said Monty, poking the stuffed snake with his finger.

Perry rolled his eyes and lowered his voice, "Say what you have to say quickly."

"Oh, right. Agent P, I'm pretty sure we just got ourselves a case of poachers on the loose!"

"Poachers?" Perry said in a voice that made Monty take a step back. "Are you sure?"

"Uh, yeah. Unless Ash knows something about an elephant graveyard nearby. There's quite a few of them, but I still think we can take them!"

Perry glanced at Aashritha who was studying the toppings list, then over to a little girl who opened a can from which several rubber snakes burst out.

He took in a deep breath and turned to face him. "No. That would cause too much panic. I'm afraid we'll have to leave it for now."

"Oh. All right," Monty said, shrugging.

"Here you go!" Aashritha returned, handing them each a paper plate filled with swirls of sweet dough.

"Thanks, Ash, you're a good friend!" Perry said.

Aashritha smiled at him, before clasping her hand to her mouth. "Oh, I forgot the napkins, be right back!"

"Seriously?" said Monty. "Why do you have to keep friend-zoning her?"

"I only really have two zones. There's the friend zone and then there's the foe zone."

Monty huffed before raising his eyebrows. "Wait. I'm in the friend zone, right?"

Perry just rolled his eyes once more as he moved past him.

"Was that a yes? I'm in the friend zone, right?" Monty repeated, anxiety rising in his voice as he hurried to catch up with him.