Ghastly Glass (17 page)

“I’ll accept the challenge for my nephew and bring honor to my house and my guild.” Roger’s voice was firm and ringing in the shop.

I thought the ladies were going to swoon with delight at his pronouncement. It gave me an idea.

When the page and heralds were gone and the ladies had purchased their trinkets, promising to be at the duel that evening, they left. I took Roger aside and told him my idea. His eyes lit up and he grinned. “That’s a great idea, Jessie. But she won’t believe you now. Who’s going to carry the message?”

I still had the two-way radio, and this seemed like an emergency to me. I knew better than to randomly call for help, but I thought about calling Merlin. “He might not come,” I warned Roger, “but if he does, he’d be a great advocate.”

“I don’t think you can just call Merlin,” Roger said. “Chase is going to hear you and come running.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “There’s that.”

We sat in the shop for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. The problem was that Merlin could be anywhere in the Village, and that was a lot of territory to cover. There wasn’t a lot of time before the feast at the castle. The duel would commence as soon as the visitors were seated in front of their food. Nothing like a sword fight and some jousting to make someone hungry.

“What about if I call and say the message is for Merlin? ” I suggested.

“Chase monitors all the calls,” Roger said. “I used to do the same thing when I was bailiff. It’s the only way to keep up with everything that’s going on.”

I was worried about losing my newly acquired radio, but the course of true love never ran smooth. If I could get this information to Mary before the duel, it could make things much easier for me.

With that settled in my mind, I took out the radio and pressed the button. “Hello. We need a little help down here at the Glass Gryphon.”

There was some static before Chase’s voice answered back. “Is that you, Jessie? What’s wrong? Did something else happen? ”

“In a way. I want to talk to Merlin, but I’m not sure where he is.”

“Jessie, this is for emergency use only. Is this an emergency? ”

“Sort of. Merlin could take care of it, though. No need for you to bother, Chase.”

I could tell from his voice that he wasn’t happy with my decision to use the radio. “You’ll have to go and find him like you would if you didn’t have the radio. I’m sorry, sweetie, but I don’t use the radio like this and you can’t either. Get off the line.”

Before I was thrown off of the only communication that didn’t involve a page or the Black Dwarf, I tried one last urgent plea. “Merlin! If you’re out there, we need you here ASAP.”

“Jessie, get off the line
now
,” Chase growled.

I shut off the radio and looked at Roger. “What do you think? ”

“I think Chase will stop by the next time he makes rounds and confiscate your radio.”

“He wouldn’t! He’s afraid Death might kill me.”

Roger went back to his workbench and shrugged as he sat down. “It was a good idea, Jessie. Thanks for thinking of it. I just don’t know what’s wrong with Henry. The boy doesn’t seem to have a brain in his head. I guess he takes after my brother, his father. He could never think his way out of a paper bag either.”

Roger and I spent the next hour practicing with the hot glass. I waited on the visitors who came into the shop and handled their transactions with Lady Visa or Sir MasterCard. Then I hurried back to my creation, which didn’t seem to want to take form as Roger’s dragon had. It kind of sat like a lump on my workbench.

“Just be patient,” Roger advised. “Nobody gets this right away. I think your choice of a dog was a good idea.”

“Yeah. But his head keeps falling off. And I can’t tell if he has four legs or five.”

“I thought that other leg was his tail.” He scrutinized my work.

As it happened, Chase showed up at the same time as Merlin. It was a happy little coincidence. Chase was sort of angry, but Merlin was happy to the point of lunacy. They kind of balanced each other out.

“You can’t use the radio for nonemergency problems,” Chase told me. “I thought I made that clear.”

“Of course she can,” Merlin disagreed. “She’s almost been killed, and Livy wanted to sleep with her. Cut her some slack.”

“We have to keep order, sir,” Chase said defensively. “The whole spirit of the Village could be lost if everyone starts running around with cell phones calling each other.”

Merlin waved his hand dismissively. “Pissh! Chase, you do an excellent job, but you have to learn how to lighten up, boy. Jessie, tell me what your emergency is. I have a friendly little witch waiting back at the apothecary for me. And this better be good.”

I explained what had happened with Henry and how it could be used to bring Roger and Mary back together. Then I waited for Merlin’s response.

“It’s devious and underhanded. I like it! What do you want me to do? ”

 

 

“
H
ail to thee, fair lady!” Merlin greeted Mary where she sat making baskets on the back stairs at Wicked Weaves. I watched from around the corner (behind her back) as the sorcerer worked his magic.

“Hail to you, too. You’ll keep that robe down if you know what’s good for you. There’s nothing I want to see under there.” Mary was her usual self, not mincing any words. She never even looked up from her basket. This was going to be hard even
with
Merlin’s help.

“I wonder if you plan to attend the feast at the castle this evening.” He leaned on his staff, carefully not looking my way.

“I wonder if you can keep your nose out of other people’s business,” she shot back. “Why are you here? ”

“I’m here because of sad tidings this day. I thought you should know.”

“Know what? I’m kind of busy here. Spit it out.”

“Sir Roger of the Glass Gryphon will do battle on the Field of Honor this eve. He will battle Sir Reginald, mayhap to the
death
.” Merlin paused dramatically to let his words sink in.

“And? ”

“And I thought you might like to know.”

“Why? ” She finally looked up and paused in her basket making.

“Sir Roger is your chosen one. I thought perhaps you would want him to wear your favor into battle.”

Mary’s dark eyes narrowed. “Seems to me he should be wearing that little hussy Jessie’s favor. She was all over him right out there in the street. Whatever Roger and I had is over.”

“Yet it was
your
favor Sir Roger thought of, yet dared not ask for, when he was challenged.”

“Roger was
challenged
?” She humphed. “I’ll bet that stupid nephew of his was challenged and Roger was crazy enough to take his place. Like I said, you’d best be talking to Jessie.”

Merlin shook his head, his long white hair and beard moving slowly so as not to disturb the tall pointed hat. “It is a sad day, dear lady, when two who love such as you and Sir Roger are forced asunder by circumstance. He asked for you. None other. What is your reply? ”

“My reply is to tell him he’d better find someone else. Jessie, why don’t you give that man your favor, whatever that is? Or was that what you were doing out in the street today?”

It took me a minute (and Merlin staring at me after studiously ignoring my hiding place) to realize she was speaking to me. That little woman has eyes in the back of her head.

I stepped out of my spot at the corner of the building and walked into the backyard. Merlin shrugged when he saw me. “I tried. She’s not buying. Maybe you should’ve tried this yourself before you called me.”

“Thanks anyway.” I leaned against the plum tree. “Why are you being so stubborn? You know Roger loves you. I know you love Roger. What’s the big deal? ”

Mary said a mouthful in Gullah that I couldn’t understand. I guessed that was her venting. She finally took a deep breath and reverted to English. “The big deal? Just last week, Roger was accusing me of messing around with Damian. Then I see him out in the street with you on top of him and his lips trying to suck the breath out of you.
That’s
what’s wrong.”

“You totally misunderstood.” I related the whole story about the sign falling and Roger and I pushing each other out of the way. “The rest was just . . . gratitude.”

She laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “If that’s all it was, why send this crazy man to talk to me? Why not come yourself? ”

Maybe it was a good question. I looked at the almost naked branches of the plum tree. The autumn breezes had already taken most of the little leaves that were so pretty over the summer. “I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea. I didn’t think you’d listen to me.”

“But you thought I’d listen to
him
? ” She pointed to Merlin by nodding her head his way. “Jessie, child, sometimes I wonder if you ain’t a little
tetched
.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant, but it didn’t sound good. Merlin bowed to both of us and took his leave. I heard one of the wraiths in the street shriek as he passed her. He might be the head of Adventure Land, but he’s a dirty old man, too.

“Okay. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you myself. I didn’t think you’d listen to me. Really. What you saw out there was just stupid. Do you really think I’d give up
Chase
for Roger? I might be
tetched
, but I’m not crazy!”

She checked the blue scarf on her head. “And Roger is going to fight Sir Reginald? ”

I told her about Henry and Princess Isabel. “You know he has to show up or the whole Craft Guild will lose face.”

“Men are just plain stupid,” she declared. “I won’t be party to this. Roger should let Henry fight his own battles. The boy needs some growing up. He thinks Roger’s work should be handed to him on a silver platter. He’s a lazy snake in the grass.”

“I totally agree. But I think it’s brave of Roger to defend his family and the Guild. Maybe it’s not real, but it has meaning to everyone in the Village. What would happen to the Craft Guild if they lost face with the monks? There might be a bread embargo. And the Artist Guild might stop trading with the craftspeople. You know this place is crazy, but it has certain rules.”

She seemed to consider it, then waved her hand. “I won’t be part of it. Tell Roger I’m sorry. But I don’t have any favor to give him. He’s on his own if he goes out there tonight.”

I thanked her and left her alone. The street was busy with visitors scurrying to get a good seat at the Great Hall and residents trying to close their shops and make their way to the castle. Sunday evening was always a busy time in Renaissance Village.

Roger was waiting at the door to the Glass Gryphon with Chase. “Well? How’d it go? ”

“Not well.” I told him what she’d said. The light went out of his eyes. “I’m sorry. I guess I wasted my radio time getting in touch with Merlin.”

“I’d say so,” Chase chimed in. He reached into my pocket and confiscated my radio. “You know we have strict rules for using the radio or any other modern device in the Village. I’m sorry, but you violated that rule.”

“What if someone is really trying to kill her?” Roger asked.

It seemed like a valid question to me. Chase shrugged it off. “No one’s tried to kill her in the past six hours. I figure it was a temporary thing. Definitely not worth violating the radio rule.”

“Maybe not to you,” I replied, “but it was worth it to me.”

“Oh? How’d the whole thing go with Merlin and Mary? ” Chase raised his left brow at me.

“Not so well. But I thought there was a chance it would solve everything. It just didn’t happen that way.”

“That’s why we have the emergency radio use rule or ERU.” Chase
dared
to use an acronym at me. “If this had been a real emergency, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Don’t even talk to me.” I looked away from him and turned to Roger. “I’ll see you later. Good luck tonight.”

“What?” Chase followed me across the cobblestones toward the King’s Highway. “You knew when you used the radio for that stuff it wasn’t legal. You couldn’t resist using it. I understand. Modern devices are addictive.”

“Is there an acronym for that? ” I demanded as I walked faster away from him.

“You’re not mad, are you? ”

“Of course not. Why would I be mad? ”

My friend Da Vinci looked up from his drawing of a pretty young maid. “Don’t answer that question, Sir Bailiff. Trust me, you do not want to engage in that conversation. Buy flowers and apologize. It will be far less painful.”

I wished my costume for this evening hadn’t been delivered to the dungeon, but it was too late. Besides, I was angry, not stupid. Chase and I were bound to have disagreements. I just couldn’t believe he’d yank my radio like that.

“If you’re mad,” he continued, coming up behind me as I reached the dungeon door, “we can talk about it. I’m sure we can come to some understanding.”

“Like you’ll give me the radio back again? ”

“That’s not going to happen, Jessie.”

“Then there’s nothing to talk about.” I opened the dungeon door and the terrible banshee wailed again. “Chase, what’s wrong with you? Why can’t you fix that thing? ”

He swore softly and started inside. “Don’t go up by yourself.”

I stopped with my foot on the bottom stair. “Why? Don’t you think it’s safe? ”

“I don’t know anymore. I don’t know what’s happening. Someone keeps coming in here and turning this banshee back on.”

“Just give me my radio and I’ll call you if something’s wrong.”

“Hang on while I get rid of this again and we’ll go up together.”

“You don’t even trust me to go
upstairs
with the radio? ”

He gritted his teeth but finally took out the radio and handed it to me. “Fine. Take the radio. But don’t use it again unless there’s an emergency. A
real
emergency, like death and destruction. Can you understand that? ”