She said something, but Owen immediately shook his head and stepped away, turning down her proposal. Celeste smiled again and shrugged, as if to say there were no hard feelings.
Owen nodded, then moved away. Celeste stared at him a moment longer, her red lips puckered in thought, then headed back into the crowd. The lords and ladies left their browsing behind and followed her, playing their partsagain. A couple of the giants trailed after them as well, their hands still on their swords.
Owen saw me watching them and jogged across the grass to me.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Oh, Her Majesty Celeste was wondering if I could make a custom set of swords for her, but I told her that I just craft weapons for myself these days. And for my favorite Spider, of course.” He winked at me.
I smiled back at him. Owen always knew just what to say to make me feel better. Still, something about Celeste and the giants made me uneasy.
“It’s almost time for the noon show, if my pirate queen assassin will let this humble blacksmith escort her to the stage.” Owen grinned and bowed low.
My smile widened. “This pirate queen assassin would like that very much.”
Sophia and Iclosed up the Pork Pit truck and hung out a sign saying that we would be back after the show. Then Owen offered us each an arm, and we strolled over to the main stage.
Almost everyone in the park had gathered here for the show, including Finn and Bria. Finn was chomping down on a giant turkey leg, with grease already smeared all over his face, while Bria had a funnel cake toppedwith fresh blackberries and raspberries and generously dusted with powdered sugar. She was using a fork to daintily cut into and then eat her fried treat, just like a proper princess would.
I waved at them, and they toasted me with their food.
“Here we go,” Owen murmured, drawing my attention back to the stage.
Darrell Kline strolled out to the middle of the pirate ship deck. As if on cue,the wind picked up just enough to flutter the black flag with its white skull-and-crossbones that topped the main mast.
Darrell was still clutching his clipboard and wearing his green velvet Robin Hood costume. He smiled and waved, and everyone quieted down.
“Thank you so much for stepping back in time with us today.” He beamed at the crowd. “On behalf of the Ashland Renaissance Players andall our volunteers, sponsors, and vendors, we’re so happy that you decided to get tangled up in Winter’s Web. Ha-ha-ha-ha.”
No one really laughed at his joke, so Darrell cleared his throat and moved on. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, for your entertainment... the Pirate Queen Celeste and her Marvelous Marauders!”
Darrell swept his hand out to the side, then hurried off the stage. The secondhe disappeared, Celeste strolled into view. She plucked her two silver swords out of their scabbards and went through a much longer, more detailed routine than what she’d done in the park earlier. The crowd startedoohingandaahing, and Celeste grinned and spun her swords even faster.
Maybe it was my imagination or some trick of the noon sun, but it almost seemed like the weapons were sparkingand glowing in her hands, and I could have sworn that I felt a faint gust ofrealmagic in the air. My eyes narrowed, but Celeste was spinning, whirling, and twirling her body and blades around so fast that I couldn’t quite tell what, if any, elemental power she might have.
A cheery sea shanty started playing, and a plethora of pirates raced into view. In an instant, they had swarmed all overthe stage, standing on the railing, hanging off the netting, and even scaling the main mast up to the crow’s nest at the very top. They rose and fell on ropes and pulleys and did somersaults and other tricks that had the kids squealing with delight.
After that initial blast of action, the music died down, and Celeste and the pirates put on a brief play. The story revolved around the villainousCaptain Walls trying to take Celeste’s ship, but it was really just an excuse for Celeste to show off her sword skills again by defeating the other pirate in one-on-one combat.
Several characters also gave long-winded, flowery speeches about doing one’s duty, living by the pirate’s code, and dying with honor—usually right before they were forced to walk the plank to meet a grisly death at theteeth of the sharks supposedly swimming below. The two rival crews also clashed in a massive final battle, and they even set off the cannons, which belched out loud, thunderousboomsand thick plumes of black smoke.
All put together, it was a fun, lively, impressive show, and I smiled and clapped along to the jaunty music with everyone else.
Thirty minutes later, the show ended, and Celesteand the pirates joined hands, walked to the front of the stage, and took a well-deserved bow. The performers smiled and took another bow, soaking up the enthusiastic applause.
Several kids ran up to the bottom of the stage and held out faire flyers, and the performers, including Celeste, left the stage and came down to autograph the papers and pose for pictures.
Darrell hurried back out to themiddle of the stage, still clutching his clipboard. “Be sure to come back for our three o’clock show!” he yelled, although no one paid any attention to him as they drifted away from the stage and back over to the booths and tents.
I turned to Sophia and Owen. “That was actually really cool.”
“You sound surprised,” Owen said.
I shrugged. “I didn’t know what to expect.”
Sophia jerked her thumbover her shoulder. “Back to work?”
“Yeah, I’m right behind you.”
