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 Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:40 pm
Lucrezia loved the smell of a fresh morning on a world that didn't stink like rotten eggs and brimstone. They had moved during the night and she was delighted to find the day dawning over high, wooded mountains. It was rather crisp and cool - they were somewhere in the northern latitudes.
She checked her schedule and found she had the morning free. On her way down to the mess tent, she gathered a bit of information about the town and decided to do a bit of sight seeing. After all, some things like this you had to see to believe.
Upon arriving in the mess tent, she piled her plate with hot cereal and scrambled eggs, and scouted out a table. Spotting a familiar face, she sat down across from Jo.
"There's this place on the outskirts of this town called the Shrieking Shack," she informed him, "And it's the most haunted building in all of Europe. Do you have the morning free?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:15 pm
There was something indescribably good about waking up to the smell of trees and wet air when he'd fallen asleep to the sharp tang of ash in his mouth and the chalky rotten egg taste of sulfur in his throat. Standing on the step of the trailer he shared with a majority of the other unimportant old boys, he took a few minutes to breathe in the new air. Jammed his hand quietly along the edge of the trailer, tapped his prosthetic foot absently to double check the way it was strapped on and then limped down and across the soggy ground. He swung past the animal tent first, throwing Specks his breakfast before taking off toward the mess tent.
All he needed was a good solid breakfast and then maybe he'd go explore. He wasn't exactly one hundred percent sure where they were but it was the most earth-like place they'd been to in a gahdamn long time and he was prepared to enjoy it. Maybe a little digging would turn up a few horses. He'd been keeping an eye out for an appropriate pair...
A few minutes later Jo was bent over a hearty breakfast of slightly too-crispy ham, bacon and eggs. Guzzling coffee. He could go out, do some poking around in the village they were parked on the outskirts of. He kept glancing in the general direction of the little houses, the smoke rising from the chimneys. It was nothing like home, but it was the homiest thing he'd seen in a while.
He was polishing off his coffee and pushing what was left of his ham around in the soup from his eggs when a familiar face showed up: "Lucrezia," he said, rocking back. Elbows on the table. So they were in Europe. Good to know. Wondered what time period, if he could send a letter to his family... He'd have to keep an open eye in town. "Sure, I've got time for haunted houses."
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:43 am
Lucrezia smiled and poked at her eggs. She mixed them with her porridge absentmindedly and declared, "Magnifico!"
She ate a few mouthfuls of breakfast before continuing, "I really want to look around the rest of the town, as well. What I heard on my way over is that it's a wizard village."
Lucrezia was not entirely sure what that meant, other than there being magic involved.
"But anywhere has to be better than the last place we stopped, hasn't it?" she asked. "I woke up this morning and felt like I was breathing for the first time in months."
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:01 pm
A wizard village. Well it couldn't all be the same - and that certainly ruled out the possibility of sending a letter to his family. This was clearly some kind of weird alternate dimension of his world. God knew that witches and wizards weren't just running around willy-nilly back home. He tucked away a brief flare of disappointment - it was only sensible, out of all the possibilities it was pretty unlikely he'd be seeing home any time soon - and focused his attention back on Lucrezia while he finished off his coffee.
"And how - pretty keen on the weather myself. It's good to see grass again." He'd have to take Specks out for a graze and fresh air later. The poor pony had stayed under lock and key at the last place; Jo'd barely let him out of his sight. He didn't trust any of the natives as far as he could throw them. But this place seemed a little more innocent, a little more trustworthy. Normal, he guessed - which maybe wasn't more trustworthy at all.
Finishing his coffee he paused a moment to feel for his billfold. Never knew where his money was going to be good, but might as well bring it along just in case. If it was a wizarding village maybe he could find some magic horses or something ludicrous like that. Something the locals wouldn't realize were special. Jo wasn't above swindling for a good deal.
"You ready to hit the bricks, then?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:35 pm
Lucrezia held up a hand for him to wait while she finished off her breakfast in a most unladylike fashion. "Oui," she said brightly, and hopped to her feet. She picked up her plate and headed towards the exit, dropping it into one of the wash bins as she passed.
"We visited some pretty strange worlds for a while, didn't we?" she asked. "That water place, and then that last hellhole!"
She gestured to the grassy green expanse outside the tent, towards where some manual laborers and local hands were assembling the big top. "I hope that the dry spell is over," she enthused. "This place seems much more akin to where we were performing when I first joined."
She waited until he was beside her and then set off down the still only half-defined central avenue of the fairgrounds. "The haunted house is on the outskirts of town," she said strategically. "We could check it out first and then go to the shops later? It's still early - some of them might not be open yet."
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:16 am
It took a few seconds for him to untangle himself from the table and bench seat, easing his ramrod straight leg carefully out from between the two. Snagging his plate and tin coffee cup he moved after her in that weird rolling walk of his, dumping his dishes on top of the others in the bin before moving out into the grayish sunlight of the morning.
"God willing," he agreed. Gave his pockets a last once over out of habit. He really didn't have much to carry, didn't have much he owned, but he liked to know that he had it all with him. A comfort thing, born out of hopping trains and scraping together dimes for a hot meal. Never could be too careful.
Jo fell into step beside her easily, snagging his dwindling pack of smokes from his pocket as they lurched along down the midway towards town. He'd have to look around town and see if they had any kind of replacement. Wasn't sure he'd survive another world hop without a fresh pack. "Sounds swell. Do you have any idea what the year's supposed to be here?" He paused, hammering a cigarette out and sticking it between his teeth. He offered the pack out to Lucrezia, a silent inquiry, as he pinched the matchbook from his other pocket.
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:52 am
Lucrezia politely declined the cigarettes and thought about it for a moment as they walked. "I don't know," she said, "Though I think we could probably find out." If this was a version of Earth, which their being in Europe made her think it was, then it probably used some form of the dating system they were familiar with.
The fairground faded smoothly into the streets of the village. Cheery little wood and brick cottages with neat little gardens lined the road they were on initially, and then turned into pleasantly old-world shop-fronts and tudor style buildings. Furthermore, the street was strung with lanterns like there was some kind of festival going on. Lucrezia checked the windows for flyers that might indicate what was going on.
The advance man for the cirque had done a good job - every single store they passed had a poster for the Cirque in its window. In addition, some had a second poster - ATTENTION HOGSMEADE RESIDENTS The First Annual Victory-Day Celebrations will be held on the Hogsmeade High Street every weekend from April twentieth through May Twentieth, Nineteen-Ninety Nine.
A memorial service commemorating those who fought & died in the battle of Hogwarts will be held on school grounds May First at noon.
Please inquire with participating merchants about special Victory Month discounts!
"It's April," she said, "Nineteen-Ninety Nine."
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