its people prepared for sleep. By
the time they reached the edges of the town, it was in complete
darkness. It was past midnight, and there wasn’t even a sliver of a
moon to give them any light.
So as not to
wake the town’s sleeping inhabitants, Carey shut the caravan’s
engine down to a slow purr, while Grudo strapped on the type of
harness more usually seen on a horse to pull it quietly along the
streets. The others had already slipped off into the darkness to
paste the show’s posters in the most unusual and unexpected places
they could find.
As they would
have to remain awake until everyone had safely returned, Carey and
Grudo began to swiftly set up the theatre as soon as they reached
the town square. They worked quietly and confidently, despite
having only the dim glow of a few lamps to see by. It would be
quite a shock for the townspeople, Carey thought with pleasure,
when they saw that this theatre had sprung up in their midst
overnight.
Neris and
Peregun were the first to return, followed not long after by
Ferena, Durndrin and Dougy. They were laughing excitedly, regaling
each other with tales of the difficult positions they had scaled to
give the posters maximum impact.
‘ We
put a lot of ours on a wall, which wasn’t particularly difficult,’
Neris admitted, ‘but it was already covered with posters so, just
in case there’s a rival theatre in town, we thought,
well…’
‘ Neris! That’s so unfair,’ Carey chided her.
‘ But
makes perfectly sound business sense,’ Grudo sagely pointed
out.
‘ Who
were the posters for?’ Carey asked, curious to know if it was a
theatre she had heard of but never come across before, or if it was
owned by people she’d met and happily chatted with on previous
occasions. If it were the latter, she realised, she would have to remove their own posters.
‘ Hard
to say.’ Peregun shrugged. ‘It’s so incredibly dark out there at
the moment.’
‘ I
bet they were for The Porcelain Theatre!’ Durndrin grinned
knowingly.
‘ Ah,
but do you mean “The One and Only”, or “The Original and Best”?’
Peregun asked with a rich laugh.
They all
laughed. A great many traveling shows had decided to call
themselves The Porcelain Theatre. Carey liked the name too, but had
decided they should keep the name handed down to her through
generations of travelling showmen and women; The String Theatre.
Besides, it was a far more accurate name for their kind of show,
wasn’t it?
‘ Which show will we put on tomorrow?’ Ferena asked, flicking
through a rack of her favourite costumes, the ones she wore when
playing an elf, a queen, or a white witch.
‘ Not The Meaning of Life ?’ Dougy growled hopefully.
‘ I
hope tonight’s rehearsal’s going to be a quick one.’ Neris
vainly checked her face in a mirror. ‘Even I need my beauty sleep,
you know.’
‘ The
show we already rehearsed for last night of course,’ Carey
said determinedly. ‘ The Porcelain Kingdom !’
*
When Carey woke
up the next morning, the long, almost uninterrupted travelling of
the previous two days meant that she was still a little drowsy. She
stumbled noisily around the cabin as she searched for fresh
clothes, a little water to drink, something to prepare for
breakfast. She opened the front door a little, to let in both fresh
air and the morning light.
Outside, she
could hear the steady patter of what sounded like a waterfall, or
at least running water.
Was she still
asleep? Was she dreaming?
She leaned
forward, peering out of the front doorway.
The caravan was
surrounded by people. They were all lightly clapping too, making
the odd noise she had mistakenly taken to be running
water.
As they saw her
peer out of the door, they all clapped even louder. There were even
cheers, and cries of joy.
She jumped back
in shock, instinctively drawing her flimsy night clothes about
herself.
‘ What
the?’ She noticed that the others had at last blearily stirred
the time they reached the edges of the town, it was in complete
darkness. It was past midnight, and there wasn’t even a sliver of a
moon to give them any light.
So as not to
wake the town’s sleeping inhabitants, Carey shut the caravan’s
engine down to a slow purr, while Grudo strapped on the type of
harness more usually seen on a horse to pull it quietly along the
streets. The others had already slipped off into the darkness to
paste the show’s posters in the most unusual and unexpected places
they could find.
As they would
have to remain awake until everyone had safely returned, Carey and
Grudo began to swiftly set up the theatre as soon as they reached
the town square. They worked quietly and confidently, despite
having only the dim glow of a few lamps to see by. It would be
quite a shock for the townspeople, Carey thought with pleasure,
when they saw that this theatre had sprung up in their midst
overnight.
Neris and
Peregun were the first to return, followed not long after by
Ferena, Durndrin and Dougy. They were laughing excitedly, regaling
each other with tales of the difficult positions they had scaled to
give the posters maximum impact.
‘ We
put a lot of ours on a wall, which wasn’t particularly difficult,’
Neris admitted, ‘but it was already covered with posters so, just
in case there’s a rival theatre in town, we thought,
well…’
‘ Neris! That’s so unfair,’ Carey chided her.
‘ But
makes perfectly sound business sense,’ Grudo sagely pointed
out.
‘ Who
were the posters for?’ Carey asked, curious to know if it was a
theatre she had heard of but never come across before, or if it was
owned by people she’d met and happily chatted with on previous
occasions. If it were the latter, she realised, she would have to remove their own posters.
‘ Hard
to say.’ Peregun shrugged. ‘It’s so incredibly dark out there at
the moment.’
‘ I
bet they were for The Porcelain Theatre!’ Durndrin grinned
knowingly.
‘ Ah,
but do you mean “The One and Only”, or “The Original and Best”?’
Peregun asked with a rich laugh.
They all
laughed. A great many traveling shows had decided to call
themselves The Porcelain Theatre. Carey liked the name too, but had
decided they should keep the name handed down to her through
generations of travelling showmen and women; The String Theatre.
Besides, it was a far more accurate name for their kind of show,
wasn’t it?
‘ Which show will we put on tomorrow?’ Ferena asked, flicking
through a rack of her favourite costumes, the ones she wore when
playing an elf, a queen, or a white witch.
‘ Not The Meaning of Life ?’ Dougy growled hopefully.
‘ I
hope tonight’s rehearsal’s going to be a quick one.’ Neris
vainly checked her face in a mirror. ‘Even I need my beauty sleep,
you know.’
‘ The
show we already rehearsed for last night of course,’ Carey
said determinedly. ‘ The Porcelain Kingdom !’
*
When Carey woke
up the next morning, the long, almost uninterrupted travelling of
the previous two days meant that she was still a little drowsy. She
stumbled noisily around the cabin as she searched for fresh
clothes, a little water to drink, something to prepare for
breakfast. She opened the front door a little, to let in both fresh
air and the morning light.
Outside, she
could hear the steady patter of what sounded like a waterfall, or
at least running water.
Was she still
asleep? Was she dreaming?
She leaned
forward, peering out of the front doorway.
The caravan was
surrounded by people. They were all lightly clapping too, making
the odd noise she had mistakenly taken to be running
water.
As they saw her
peer out of the door, they all clapped even louder. There were even
cheers, and cries of joy.
She jumped back
in shock, instinctively drawing her flimsy night clothes about
herself.
‘ What
the?’ She noticed that the others had at last blearily stirred
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