“We’re here!” my mother said. Great. Now not only am I a geek going to the renaissance faire in a costume, but a geek going to the renaissance faire in costume with her overly enthusiastic mother. Fantastic.
I’ve been going to this faire since I was, well, still in the womb. My mom is completely obsessed with the whole renaissance theme and everything else. I straighten out my bodice and looked out the window to see the massive gates. People all shapes and sizes were fit into time appropriate clothing. I buried my face in my hands. I was doing this again. I was trying to hide from my fears that were as thick as lead. But this I couldn’t hide from. The car slowed to a stop.
“Honey, stop burying your face in your hands! I can’t show you to my friends like that!” I almost forgot. We were meeting my mom’s friends here, too. Her friends aren’t well . . . sane. They act like teenagers even though they’re, like fifty.
“Mom, can I just stay in the car?” I asked.
“No! You’ll over heat! Besides, Cathy can’t wait to see you!” Oh so Cathy was here. Another plus. Cathy the goody-goody was a year younger than me and extremely annoying. She was like a cheerleader mixed with a choir-glee club kid with a dash of dork. This was going to be fun.
“Cool,” I said with extra sarcasm.
“What crawled up your butt and died?” my mom asked.
“I don’t know, maybe one of the pins that you were poking me with earlier, “that came out harsher than I wanted it to.
“Elinor Gillian Mare, what did you just say?” I bit my lip. Here we go again. My mom’s rage was enough to knock out a whole city block in one fellow swoop. She reminded me of a dragon. Majestic and malicious.
“Sorry ma,” I hung my head melodramatically.
“You should be,” she hissed. She fiddled with her mountain of hair on her head and started walking to the front gate. I hiked up my long skirt and headed out of the car. This was just perfect. I was deciding to piss her off later not now.
I dashed after her, muddying my shoes and stockings, and slipped. I hated mud. So instead of moving I just lay there, completely covered in it. The gray clouds looked even gloomier from this angle. “Maiden, are you alright?” someone asked. Suddenly a black cloak came into my vision. The hood was pulled up and, because of that, contorted the wearer’s face.
“Yeah, man I’m alright,” I started to prop myself up on my elbows when a hand graded my elbow and pulled me to my feet. “Thanks,” I smiled and looked at the cloaked man. He was only a bit taller than me, but not by much.
“You are welcome my fair lady, I shall get going now,” he stalked away mysteriously. I was tempted to follow, but then again I was tempted to do a lot of stupid stuff. Instead of following my call to adventure, I walked to my mom.
She was by the gate waiting. I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned fast and I was expecting her to yell at me for getting mud on my dress but all she did was give me a forced smile. I looked over her shoulder and saw a blond haired, short, freckle faced girl giving me a Cheshire cat grin. I almost gagged.
“There you are, Elli”, my mom said. Okay, I give up. How bad do I look, I thought. I braced myself and looked down at my dress. And it was . . . not covered with mud. I lifted my dress a little to see two shining shoes. How in hell . . .?
“I love your dress Elli,” Cathy complimented. I’m sure you do you little princess perfect, my mind hissed. I held my tongue and waited a little before responding. She shouldn’t be calling you Elli, only Mom calls me that.
“I like yours, too,” I said. I quickly looked at the powder blue dress embroidered with gaudy gold. Gold lace hung gracefully from the sleeves. She was . . . gorgeous, and I hated it. Her eyes, the two icy blue gems, store at me eagerly.
“Thank you,” she twirled around. My mom rushed off to go and meet up with some person whose name I can’t remember.
“So, how are you Cathy?” I asked, willing it not to come out as a growl.
“I’m great! I just got elected onto student council and . . .” Blah, blah, and BLAH!
“Oh, that’s cool,” I said, cutting her off in mid-sentence that was about how rare it was for a freshmen to be elected or something like that.
“Oh, thank you,” she muttered sheepishly.
“You’re welcome, me lady,” I replied. I walked away, leaving the student council freshy in a melancholy. I walked through the gate-showing the guards my pass. When I was in I fell into the crowd. Performers walked among them showing off their talents. I played along with some of the actors, causing some laughter. I created a little mischief by catching one of the actors on his break and asking him why he wasn’t talking right.
I stumble upon something that soothed me more than the mischief I had caused. The shop’s counter displayed them. I reached down and touch one of the glass blown pendants.
“You like them, me lady?” a plump woman behind the counter asked.
“I certainly do”, I ran my hand over the intricate swirls of red and purple.
“Would you like to see the others?” she asked.
“No thanks”, I said and smiled. Though I really wanted to see more of these pendants, I just couldn’t. I rubbed at my teary eyes. Claire would have loved these pendants. I couldn’t think of Claire now, or think of her at all. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let her . . . state bring me down.
I sat down on a bench and swallowed my tears. I stayed there for a while and laughed at myself. How would Claire like to see her partner in crime that she named “Ice Cold Stellar Ellar” crying at her suspense.
A sudden motion caught my attention; a blur of black that looked like a cloak. I headed towards the stand where it came from, but nothing. No man, no cloak, and certainly no answers. I decided to get back to where I could quench my hunger for action and headed back into the crowd.
Soon enough-way too soon for me-Cathy caught up with me. “Elli! There you are,” she smiled brightly. I had to suppress a gag.
“Hey Cathy, was up?” I asked.
“Your mom told me to see how you were doing and also get you,” she explained.
“Oh, well I’m doing fine and I kind of don’t want to be found,” I smiled hiking up my skirt a little so if I had to I could make a clean get away.
“Well, your mom wants Greg and Laney to see you. Do you remember them? They were here last year-“
“Cathy, I don’t want to be found, okay? I don’t care if my mom wants me to meet the president, all I want to do is be alone, get that?” I hissed.
“Elli-“
“To you, Cath, its Elinor,” I corrected, “So if you don’t mind-“
“Elinor, your mom really wants you to come,” she placed her hand on my arm.
“Cathy, leave me alone!” I yelled.
“Elli, I mean Elinor, calm down! People are staring . . .” she looked around cautiously.
She took in a nice little breath and seemed like she would continue when I interrupted her. “Let them stare. Okay, princess? Just . . . just-“I was at a loss of words.
Run, my mind whispered, run now!
And so, I did.
I ran past the little Cathy, and I just ran. I felt free with the wind whipping at my hair. The adrenaline coursing through my body made me feel like I was flying. I looked back after a little bit and saw Cathy, with her own skirt hiked up, racing after me. Fear filled my gut. She was fast.
I sped up, but already felt how tried I was becoming. My breath came out in heaves and cramps formed in my stomach. I dove into a crowd of people and started running towards the buildings hoping for a small alley way and I seemed to be lucky enough to find one.
I slipped into it and raced until I was in the back of the building. I pressed up against the back wall and sank down until I hit the ground. What I do just for privacy, God!
“Me lady, it seems that I find you yet again lying on the ground,” I looked up to find the cloaked man. “Do you need help getting up?” he asked.
“No, I got it,” I stood up and dusted myself off.
“May I ask why you are back here? I believe this is a restricted area,” he looked down the alley I came from.
“Oh sorry, I was running from someone,” I looked back down the alley. No Cathy, so I guess I could leave.
“Did they wish you any harm?” he asked concerned. He probably has a little sister, I concluded.
“Unless you include my mom’s words as harmful, then no,” I smiled at my slight joke.
“Well, if you are done running from your mother can you please leave this area?” he asked. I saw a strand of blond hair emerge from the hood.
“I wasn’t running from my mom, I was running from some girl who wanted to bring me to my mom,” I felt like I should add. I turned and started leaving but decided; you know, if everyone else is mad at me maybe one more won’t hurt. So I turned and faced the hooded man. “I actually don’t feel like leaving,” I smirked.
“You should, me lady. You do not know the man who stands before you. He could be a criminal,” I felt a shiver course up my spine. Never thought of that.
“Well, whoever you are, I don’t really care about that right this second. I just don’t want to go out there right now or that pinhead will take me to my mom and her crazy friends,” I hissed. Why was I blowing up at a complete stranger again? I forgot, but it felt right at the time.
“Elinor, Elinor. You never give up, do you?” he seemed to laugh.
“How do you know my name?” I asked. Okay, blowing up to this guy wasn’t such a good idea.
“I told you that you don’t know the stranger before you, but you proceeded to think otherwise. So, shall I show you, Elinor, who he really is? Or shall you leave and forget everything about this stranger?” his question sent me for a loop. I was always the one who loved challenges, but now . . . I wasn’t so sure.
“I-“
“There you are Elli!” just who I wanted to see.
“Leave me alone Cathy!” I turned around and there she was. The hem of her skirt was muddied, so I guessed mine was as well.
“Who were you talking to?” she asked.
“Ask him,” I said and jerked my thumb behind me where I guessed the hooded man stood.
“Who?” I turned to show Cathy the ‘who’, but there was no ‘who’ to be found, just a cloak, a black cloak. I snatched the cloak and hid it behind my back.
