Murderous Matrimony(26)

“Did you see what he was watching?” Chase asked as we cut across the cobblestones and walked across the soft, damp grass of the Village Green. “I Love Lucy. The man is either a crown prince, and out of touch with the real world, or he really is a sorcerer.”

“I know. I’ve always known he was odder than the rest of us.”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “That’s a major judgment to make. Odder than Bawdy Betty? Or Bart and Daisy?”

“I think so. Even odder than the Brothers of the Sheaf.” I could hear the brothers chanting as they baked bread for the next day at the Monastery Bakery. The scent of the baking bread wafted across the Village, even in the rain.

“I’m afraid I’d still believe the crown prince story over the sorcerer,” Chase said. “I’ve met too many people who said they were sorcerers.”

“That’s what I was thinking when Madame Lucinda told me in the first place. But now—talking to Wanda—my perspective has changed.”

He laughed again, and put his arm around me as we walked through the quiet Village. “You know, this is when I like it best. It’s quiet and people are inside for the night. It seems real, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.” I smiled at the thought. “We would have been excellent Renaissance people.”

We could see the lights shining from the tavern long before we reached the front door. The two men Chase had told to meet us there were huddled under the heavy branches of the Hanging Tree. They popped out when they saw us.

“Any movement?” Chase asked.

“No. No vehicles. No furniture.” The first man was still in his Renaissance garb. “If someone is moving in tonight, they’re mighty quiet about it.”

“Well, it’s not like they need our permission. We already knew they were coming.”

I went with Chase to welcome the new owners of the tavern. I was as interested to see who they were as anyone. You couldn’t always trust the gossip even though most of the time, it was correct. Sometimes, it was way off.

The two security men stood behind us as Chase knocked on the solid wood door. It opened slowly, and a slight, older woman answered.

“Yes?”

Chase smiled. “I’m the Village Bailiff, Chase Manhattan. We stopped in to welcome you to Renaissance Faire Village, and to see if you needed help with anything.”

The door opened a little wider. Yellow light from hundreds of candles spilled out into the night. It was amazing that anyone could light that many candles. It must have taken hours.

Everything inside the tavern had changed since that morning. Even the floors had been re-done. The lights fixtures above us were different. It was like walking into a whole other place.

When had there been time to get all that new furniture inside without anyone noticing? How had the floors and lights changed so quickly? The security guards had just seen her moving in.

“Thank you very much. I’m Tilly Morgenstern.”

“Hi.” I offered my hand. “I’m Jessie Morton from the Arts and Crafts Museum. Nice to meet you.”

Tilly daintily shook my hand. Hers was cold as ice. “Nice to meet you, Jessie. I’ve heard your name mentioned.”

Did that mean she was somehow related to Ginny?

Her eyes were like dark diamonds, shiny and hard. Her hair was completely white and hung down past her waist in curls. Though it lacked color, it was thick and shiny like that of a much younger woman. Her face, however, was wrinkled and prune-like.

“And this is Leo, my man servant.” She introduced us to a tall, muscled man who looked like a nightclub bouncer. His head was shaved, and his huge arms were covered in dozens of tattoos. The really strange and scary thing about him was that there were no pupils in his eyes. In fact, there was no discernible iris either.

“He’s been blind since birth,” Tilly explained.

“Hello.” I reached to take his outstretched hand after Chase had shaken it.

“He doesn’t speak either,” she said. “He was raised by African pirates who killed his parents in a raid. They cut out his tongue.”

Leo had a lighter grip than Tilly. He stared vacantly forward. It was impossible to tell if he was thinking about anything.

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Chase said to Tilly. “Adventureland requires me ask for your ID the first time I meet you. Just a formality, until we’re all familiar with you.”

“Of course.” With barely a nod, Tilly sent Leo to get a large handbag. “Wouldn’t want riffraff moving into my tavern, would I?”

She had a very infectious laugh that sounded like that of a small child. It only took a moment before we were all laughing with her. She showed Chase her ID, and that was that. We were back outside the tavern with an invitation to return when she’d re-opened.