Music from: Klezmer Step on AudioNetwork
The weekend broke chill and crisp, but by the time Ivy and her dad got to the town square, the air had warmed to nearly spring temperatures. He walked slowly beside her in his casual clothes, chinos and a polo shirt, while she volleyed between wanting to pretend they weren't together and hoping they could spend the morning sampling carnival food.
"Don't worry, I won't cramp your style," he said, elbowing her side until she suppressed a giggle.
"I'm not worried," she told him, pulling her jacket tighter against a shift in breeze.
Around them the sights and sounds of the carnival were in full swing. The mainway they were on was already bare of grass in some spots, down to nubby green blades in others. To one side was the farmers' market and to the other the vendors with tables and canopies set up over tables of handcrafted items. The carnival rides and a small petting farm were beyond the market and vendors, scattered amid food stalls and trailers and skill games. The stage near the gazebo was already occupied with a brass band and a military quartet crooning songs from the Big Band era.
"Anyone you know?" Ivy asked her dad as his gaze rested on the uniformed singers.
He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm not that old, Ivybelle." He fished a hand into his pocket and came out with a fold of bills. "Now, before you get spotted by some of your friends—"
"Dad!"
"Take this and get something to eat. I know you promised to hang out with me, but I know how girls are." He winked, grinning. "Girl talk doesn't include dads."
She took the money. "Thanks, Dad, but I doubt we'll get much girl talk in. Lornie promised her uncle she'd help out, so it might not be so fun."
"Well, I'll be at the pie tables, wishing."
Some of her smile fell away. "Oh . . .? Anyone I know, Dad?"
He shook his head. "Not that, Ivy. Just pie. I like pie."
"I know. I wish I could make a better apple pie." She meant it, too. Maybe she should have put more of her talent time into baking than sewing.
"Your apple pie is just fine," he said, smiling crookedly. "With enough ice cream."
"Yeah, like a quart." She looked around at the menagerie of colors and banners vying for attention along the mainway. "I'm going to find Lornie. Meet you at the pie table at . . .?"
"Six? Or call if you need more time."
"Yup. Bye!"
She immediately dissolved into the crowd heading deeper into the vendor area. She was surrounded by out-of-towners, strollers with bewildered babies and excited toddlers, and a few dogs on leashes. The smell of caramel apples, varieties of bratwursts, and exotic French fries filled the air amid talking and laughter. It took a while to let the pack of people around her mosey to the larger tents nearer the carnival rides. She'd only seen Lornie's uncle's tie-dye display twice; most of the time, her uncle had a different schedule that clashed with Rasperville's Autumn Fest.
The canvas sides of the tie-dye tent were rolled up to allow visitors to browse the tables and racks stacked and hung with brilliantly tie-dyed shirts, hoodies, dresses, vests, and baby clothes. It looked like a rainbow had dived into a colorful playball pit.
The group of people in front of Ivy split off with "oohs" and "ahhs" as they dispersed to the tables and racks. Ivy had to wait a few moments to make her way around three giddy little girls pulling out matching tank tops at one rack. By the time she found Lornie, the festival main stage had picked up a new tune, this one folksier. A blend of voices harmonized with an accordion and violin.
Ivy stopped and looked toward the stage, which was out of sight. The trippingly bright tune wove through the crowds, making a quick hop echo above the laughter and carnival canned music. A man and woman's voices sang along, a Balkan or Serbian flavor to their tune.
"Ivy!" Lornie called.
Ivy's attention broke from trying to see the stage from the tie-dye tent.
Lornie stood across the tables and racks at the other side of the tent, waving, clad in a multi-colored flower-explosion sundress top and tie-dye mini skirt. She waved frantically as two plump women stepped between them.
The song ended and switched to a short seafaring shanty by the same voices, and then moved on to an upbeat, tuba and brass gypsy tune, and Ivy mazed along the tables to Lornie. Something in the music sounded familiar, but she couldn't determine just what. She'd never heard the combination of instruments before, at least, not since her father's Polish cousin's wedding a few years back. Fritz Hrez, also in the school play, had made a goodhearted attempt for the town's Hands Across Time talent show last summer with a polka and goscie jada number that stuck in everyone's minds for months. Maybe that was why it sounded familiar, she decided.
She couldn't understand the lyrics or language the gypsies sang, but by the time she got to Lornie, Ivy was humming along, too.
Lornie was making change for the two women with clear plastic bags of wildly colored tie-dye clothing when Ivy reached her. "It's been so busy!" Lornie nearly screeched. "Ah! Since, like, eight a.m."
"You got here that early?" Ivy stood beside Lornie as a teen boy and girl stepped up in the line forming of customers. "Why so early?"
"My uncle had to open early and then go help the gypsy camp."
Ivy burst out laughing, but one look at Lornie's miffed face as she made change made her stop. "Really? Gypsies?"
"That's what the Travelling Notes call themselves. In public." Lornie nodded to the stage area that was mostly out of sight from the canopy. "Something about a midwife, a broken wheel, and a set of lost daggers."
Ivy's face pinched in confusion.
"And a dowry. Yeah, don't ask. Something only the Camp understands." Lornie counted change and handed back the teen couple's money and bags of matching T-shirts. "I did see some really cool artwork on my way in, near the artsy tables by the stage. Like, gothic and romance era stuff. I think you'd like it."
"Yeah, I don't know. That was kind of last year, when we were doing charcoals in elective drawing class." Ivy tried to see more of the stage, but a food trailer selling elephant ears blocked her view. "How long will you be here?"
"All day." Lornie brightened. "At least time goes faster when it's busy."
"What about a break?"
"Not until two."
Ivy checked the time on her cell phone. "Three hours?"
Lornie hitched herself up on the stool behind her, clamping her feet around the long wooden legs. "It's not so bad. Really busy."
As if on cue, three women and two strollers carved a path between the tables and parked by the cash register behind Lornie on a taller stool, leaving barely enough room for people to squeeze past the nearest table.
Ivy waited for Lornie to ring up the three women's orders, including two tie-dye shorts sets for the toddlers sleeping in the strollers. "Want me to stay and—?"
"Actually," Lornie said, smiling with a giggle, "Dred's been looking for you."
Ivy felt an odd glitch in her stomach. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. He's been here twice, even asked for your cell phone number. Told him you were with your dad for the day." Lornie pulled her tie-dye mini-skirt down her thighs as she sat, eyes checking its modesty. "So, I think he's around if you want to find him."
"I don't know." Ivy's gaze drifted across the food trucks. Most were buzzing with hungry guests and a few bees.
"You like him?" Lornie lowered her tone. "I mean, he seems nice, and definitely interested in you."
"I think he's just new to town, maybe took the Welcome Wagon as a placeholder until he makes other friends." She bit her bottom lip, still searching the food vendors.
"Because it looks to me like you're looking for him."
Ivy's gaze shot to her. "Do I?"
"Yeah." Lornie shrugged.
A rhapsody broke out from the music, the voices following in lyrics.
"I guess he's all right."
A dark shadow passed over the tent, bringing with it a breeze that rustled the racks of clothing, leaving skirts swaying. Ivy and Lornie looked up in time to see a large, predatory-looking bird slip out of sight among the tall trees over the stage.
"I guess I could check out the artwork," Ivy finally said.
"Thought so." Lornie snapped on a smile as a woman approached with an armful of brightly dyed clothing.
Ivy moved out from under the tent. "I'll bring you back a candy apple!"
Lornie tossed her a wadded up five-dollar bill, which Ivy barely caught. "And a watermelon freeze!"
The Vampire Zodiac … Introduction … More from Sakurapu … All Chapters
PG13. #YearOfTheVampire #vampire #dramady #highschool #YA #fiction #VampireZodiac
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