In the Shadow of Shakespeare (32 page)

"There
shall be no drama of comings or goings here.  Love, as your patron, I tell
you –"

"Tell
me naught, Tom.  The play is to be finished.  I must see to it. 
And Alice is the best one to procure the monies.  She is a skilled
conjurer."

Sir
Tom rubbed his eyes.  "Grammercy Celeste, yes, more wine."

"The
puzzle of your disappearance, my dearest playmaker, has been put together
wisely.  'Tis no room for error.  Every piece is there.  And
accounted for.  Come!"  He clapped his hands, and Aaron stuck
his head through the door. His jester’s hat sliding side ways upon his
head.  "To eat!"

 ***

Steam
rose from the rosemary scented quail as Celeste cut into the bird and began
serving the meat.  The mist briefly obscured Alice's view of Kit across
the table and when it cleared he was looking at her.  She touched his leg
with her foot and he smiled.  He picked up his fork and knife and began
cutting the quail, taking a bite.

"Celeste,
the bird is succulent.  My praise to the cook so faire."  Kit
said.

"Gramercy,
Master Marlowe.  I aim to have you savor this last meal with
us."  Celeste frowned.  "Beg pardon, Sir Thomas.  'Tis
not my place.”

"The
truth is well spoken Celeste.  Fear not."  Thomas took a bite.
"My regards also to the faire Celeste." 

Celeste
refilled his wine glass, and Skeres and Poley held up theirs.  She quickly
filled their glasses to the brim. 

"Tom,
how shall it be played?" said Kit.

"Have
I not writ the final act of your disappearance?  I have learned
well."

"The
Lord Admiral will be expecting the monies from myself," said Kit. 
"I have instructed our player, faire Alice as Bella Mira, to take them in
my stead. He will be on the lookout for queen boy."

"He
will be on the lookout for Poley.  As
I have
instructed, dear
heart."

"Nay,
the Lord Admiral will be seeking Bellamira, for I – "

"Nay!" 
Thomas glared at Kit, his eyes like knives glittering steel.  "Poley
is in my service.  He does what I am won't for him to do.  Let me
make it clear to you, my most dear, that the queen has given you a
pardon.  If not for that, you would be pulled apart by Topcliffe.  In
pieces."  Sir Thomas pulled apart the leg and the thigh of a
quail.  As the bones snapped, there was a visceral shudder from Kit. 

"It
is a grave mistake to be an atheist, love."  said Sir Thomas, biting
into a quail leg.

"I
am a free thinker.  A scholar.  No one owns me, Tom.  No
one."  Kit ran his hands through his hair and met Thomas's eyes with
a level stare. 

"Sir
Tom," said Alice, "Can we not divide the sum between us?  Kit is
won't for monies abroad.  When he arrives in France he shall be
penniless."

"I
see you need not worry of Topcliffe.  You are pulled apart by this
woman."  Thomas threw his fork on his plate and stood.  "I
retire to the great room."  He bowed slightly and walked from the
room.

All
eyes followed his receding back. 

"There
is the problem of the death." Skeres said softly.  He placed his
small hands on his knife and fork and began cutting the cod Hal had laid on the
table.  His movements were slow and thorough, and as he worked it seemed
as if he had entered a dream of cutting his cod.  He stopped, and his
hands rested in front of him.  He slumped forward. 

Poley
looked at him quizzically, then pulled a knife from the quail and turned
towards Alice.  She screamed and jumped from her seat as he looked at her,
blinking hard.  His eyes moved to the knife in his hand as he tried to
raise his arm.  The knife fell from his fingers and he slumped to the
floor.

"My
heart…is stopped."  Alice lay a hand on her chest as Kit stood behind
her, resting his hands on her shoulders.

Celeste
and Aaron entered the room.  Celeste calmly nodded as she surveyed the
scene and placed the jug of wine on the table. 

"See
here Hadeus.  As I've said.  To the mark they fall.  As soon as
the cod was placed before them."

"Mark? 
Codpiece on that.  Thou knows very well that you were worried of them not
falling.  And here is the wine!"  He grabbed the wine and began
dancing a jig, pretending to spill the wine, and then not. 

"Soft,
thou loud limbeck of mirth." said Kit.   "What of Sir
Tom?"

"Dead
asleep.  And snoring like thunder." said Aaron.

They
stared at one another and began laughing; Intensely feeling their
freedom. 

"For
the merriment," cried Aaron. He grabbed Celeste and kissed her on the
cheek.

"Tut."
She blushed and tried to push him away as he held tighter.

"Come
quick, gather." said Kit.  They sat in chairs and huddled around the
table as he leaned forward.  “The time
is now
to make our
mark.  I must leave for a ship bound to France."

"Aye,"
said Aaron, serious now.  "Of when Sir?"

"Soon. 
In the dead of night I must leave for fear of a one knowing my face."

Alice
well knew of the scenario that was about to ensue.  Kit would leave for a
ship anchored in Deptford where he would sail to a distant location.  Most
scholars thought that it was France that he at first sailed to. 

"And
of the sleeping?" said Alice.  "When shall the tired trio
awake?"

"They
shan't awake 'till late morn.  If that." Celeste said. 
"And have no memory of the night's events. But we shall move them to their
beds. 
To keep with the mystery
."

The
room was becoming dark, encased in shadows.  Alice got up to fetch a
candle from the side board.  She quickly lit the candle with a match from
the board and placed it on the table before them.  Their faces were
illuminated by its flickering light.

"Tis
dark now," Kit said.  "We must use it wisely to move into the
night concealed.  The ship will anchor in Deptford soon, and I must make
way to Eleanor Bull's."

"Will
not the trio turn on you now that you have deceived them?" said Celeste.

"Nay. 
The love of Sir Tom is strong, and the queen…she uses me well.  I dare say
Poley and Skeres would turn a quick knife if asked.  As they will with the
body of Penry."

"Penry."
said Aaron.

"Aye,
the one preacher. He is dead now as we speak," Kit looked around him when
he heard a loud creak.  "They will take the body and say 'tis
me.  A stab wound to the dead man's eye, and they shall say it is
me.  Whitgift shall have his proof.  His sacrifice."  Kit
grimaced.

"But
what of the plays." said Celeste.  "You will not be
stopped?  Nay, say 'tis not so, Kit.  You make the world laugh."

"I
shall become as one with someone else."

"You
will be a motley then?"  Aaron frowned. 

Kit
looked at Aaron, a startled amazement flushing his face.  He burst into
laughter.  "Fool, thank the heavens for such frivolity at this time
in my life.  Aye.  A fool, a simple man I will be hidden in. 
Shakspere."

***

They
looked at one another uneasily.

There
was nothing left to do but to say their goodbyes.

It
had begun to rain lightly, and Alice was not looking forward to riding back to
London. 

"I'm
sorry for this Alice.  But if Sir Tom would have got the money, he would
have say and sway where I kept myself."

She
waved her hand in dismissal.  "Peace.  I'm gone.  Don't
forget what I've done for you."  She turned to go and he grabbed her
arm, his eyes becoming dark –  burning into hers.  "I
shan't."  He said, then softening, "In Deptford we meet?"

Alice
nodded and escaped into the rain.

 ***

She
road hard through the night.  The rain pelted her relentlessly but it
cooled the horse as he galloped along the paths and roads leading into and out
of forest

The
day began to shine as the sun peeked over a ridge.  Framed in dripping wet
trees the fog rose from the meadow, heating the damp air.  She pulled on
the rains and stood silent in the clearing.  A magpie flew in the tree
next to her and she vaguely tried to recall the rhyme that foretold your fate
according to the number of magpies seen together. She anxiously looked for
another magpie, and when one did not appear, she wondered if this was a bad
omen.  The bird remained solitary.  Dropping at first down to the
grass, pecking, then flying into a distant tree.  

She
had only stopped for rest this once to give the horse a break from the fast
pace of threading their way through the forest.  He was a good steed, a
consistent steed, one that had served her well, and she was utterly grateful
when the city once again came into view. 

She
wound her way through the backside of London, smelling the refuse and
sidestepping the sleeping beggars.  Puddles filled the streets from the
night's deluge. 

As
they picked their way through the streets the sound of the horns began. 
It was barely discernible through the din of the streets but it became louder,
more insistent as she approached the Rose.  The beat of the drums began
and she felt it echo like the chamber of her heart as she drew closer to the
theatre. 

The
back side of the Rose was crowded with people.  The crowd had begun to
form a loose line waiting to get into the theatre.  A little boy with a
pointed cap ran in front of the horse and she pulled back hard on the reins to
avoid trampling him

"Watch
where you tread!"  The woman jerked on the boys arm, roughly pulling
him behind her.  She spit in Alice's direction.

The
drumbeat sound was louder now, and she heard the sound of the crowd roaring up
in laughter.  It amazed her the way the audience became like a living
thing, operating as an individual organism.  There were not individual
faces in the crowd; the crowd was the individual face. 

These
people knew of the myths, legends – the romance that had shaped Britain. 
And they knew of the simple things that could make a laugh erupt from the
gut.  A deep belly laugh that would heal the most aching and steadfast of
sorrows. 

She
pictured Richard Tarlton with his drum and tabor, blowing a tune to enchant the
audience.  Once the spell had been cast, accompanied by the drum and
tabor, he would begin a jig.  Not just any jig, but a jig that would tell
a story.  And in the middle of the story he would flip – completely
backwards.  The audience could never tell when.  Although they waited
with anticipation for him to perform this stunt. 

Making
her way through the crowds she dismounted the horse near the theatre.  A
girl stood nearby watching her and ran to her asking for a handout to tether
her horse.  Alice handed her the horse and a pence, quickly gathering her
skirts about her as she walked to the Rose. 

She
hurried, realizing that the tabor was beginning to sound thin and the pounding
of the drums was becoming less frequent.  Like a hungry animal the crowd
began a howling and hand clapping that drowned out the drum and tabor.

The
time was now. 

She
made her way through the opening of the Rose as the crowds in the galleys stood
along with the groundlings and proclaimed their enthusiasm for the first actor
who appeared onstage.  The audience stamped and clapped, drowning out the
actor on stage who laughed and held his hand to his head in mock disbelief,
waiting for the crowd to become quiet.  Alice used this moment to make her
way to tiring house. 

No
one noticed as she slipped around back and up the stairs, making her way to a
small room illuminated by a single candle.  A trunk full of costumes and
attire was situated in the corner and she walked towards it.  
Hearing the sounds of intimacy she looked sharply to the left.  Two
younger men stood locked in a naked embrace. 

Alice
grabbed a gown from the hook and threw it at them.  Blushing, she coughed
into her hand and looked away. 

"Bellamira?" 
One of the young men nervously twisted a red cap around his head while holding
the gown about him.  His companion had pulled on his pants and was pulling
his shirt over his head.

"The
very one.” said Alice.  “And unless you are playing Katherine, I’d advise
to put on your pants."

"I
am Katherine."  he said.

"Oh. 
Then what of the red cap?"

"Naught." 
He threw it down.  "Will you say anything to the Lord Admiral
Lady?"

Alice
pulled the gown from the trunk and began undressing behind a screen. 
"Nay.  What is there to tell?  Affection between two is the
business of the two embraced."

She
emerged and began combing her hair.  The makeup pot lay next to a mirror
on the wall and she approached it and began applying the heavy white paint to
her face.  She cringed remembering it was full of lead. 

"Now,
to the courtesan."  She outlined her eyes with black kohl and pulled
her hair on top of her head, then twisted a necklace of pearls into her
hair.  Stepping back from the mirror she surveyed her work.