The Tales of Tarya, Books 1-3

Chapter 2 - Introductions on the Road-4

‘If you’ve never left Andon you might not know. Those are the Fureys,’ Isabella said.

Mina had heard tales of the Fureys as a small child. Shadow monsters lived there, deep in the crevices, hungry for lost animals, or children. If a child strayed from home, they might be caught and smothered in shadows, then devoured. Mina had never seen the mountains before, but the tales had been so real and shocking to a small child that she looked at them now with nervousness verging on fear. Yet there was a reassuring familiarity about their silhouette that made her nerves recede.

As the afternoon sunlight faded into dusk, they reached the lake. The wagon in front of them slowed to a stop and Isabella steered theirs into place. The girls dismounted and Isabella started freeing Petruchio from his traces with practiced actions, explaining everything she did so Mina could learn too. Having finished scrubbing Petruchio with a coarse brush, she smacked his flank and he wandered away a few steps and found some grass.

All the wagons had formed a semi-circle, not far from the lake. Isabella and Mina hurried to where the other players had clustered in front of Uberto’s wagon. Roberto and Dario were busy pulling a flap here and opening a door there. Within seconds, it seemed, the wagon was transformed into a stage.

Uberto clapped his hands. ‘My children, this is an important occasion. Mina, come and walk on our stage. It is your home now and you must get to know it well. Come with me.’

He bounded toward the wagon with far more energy than his silver hair would suggest. Mina wondered how old he really was. She followed him to the front of the stage, a lurching excitement in her stomach. Dario and Roberto moved the front steps into place. Mina stepped tentatively onto the first one. The painted clouds drifting across them looked so real she almost expected to feel a softness around her feet. Step by step, she mounted, until she stood on the stage.

Looking out, it was as though she’d walked to the heavenly realms of Tarya, home of the Creator and his muses. Ahead lay the shimmering lake, a softer blue than the ocean and encircled with emerald green trees. Though the sea was in her blood, this place tugged at Mina’s heart, serene and mystical. The daylight was almost gone, but the sky was still the colour of cornflowers.

‘Things look different from up here,’ Uberto said. Yet it wasn’t Uberto. Mina looked at him, and though he wore no costume, and no mask, she knew without a doubt she was looking at Harlequin. His eyes seemed to change colour, reflecting the turquoise lake and the emerald trees, then becoming a deep brown, before changing again to a colour she couldn’t even name. His face shone. Now he didn’t look old at all. Mina caught a glimpse of the young man he must have been once, incredibly handsome and charismatic. He smiled, and his teeth gleamed.

‘The enchantment of the stage, the energy of the audience …’ He touched her elbow. ‘Now look down.’

Mina looked. The other players watched back at her with strangers’ faces, waiting. She felt she must give them … something. She wanted to. But she didn’t know how.

‘They feed us,’ Harlequin said with a sigh. Then, as though a spell were broken, he spoke again with the commanding tones of Uberto.

‘Jal, Lisette, get the masks. Il Dottore’s needs repair. And check the costumes from the last performance as well. I thought I heard fabric tear. Repairs now. I will show Mina how the stage works, and then we begin rehearsal.’

Uberto turned Mina to the back of the wagon, directing her to look upward. ‘There. Some of our scenery. If you stand at the front of the stage, I will show you how they work. Do not move.’

Above, in the roof, bolts of cloth hung. Uberto walked to the side of the stage, then called out ‘heads’, just as Lisette and Jal came up the steps of the wagon. They stopped where they were. Uberto pulled a lever, and one of the bolts of cloth dropped to the floor. Mina took an involuntary step backward, fearful it would hit her, and began to lose her balance as her heel went off the edge. Jal, at the top of the steps, grabbed her around the waist and steadied her.

The cloth didn’t hit the floor. It unrolled as it fell, and Mina noticed the top was attached to a wooden beam hooked over perpendicular beams in the ceiling. The cloth now hung onto the stage, a piece of canvas painted like the interior of a house, with a candelabra and a table stacked with books. She had a fleeting thought that the house must belong to someone very rich indeed if they had so many books, then realised Jal’s hand was snaking up her body.

‘I’m fine now,’ she said to him, her tone firm.

‘Yes, you are,’ Jal agreed with a grin.

Mina grinned back, then reached down and crushed his fingers with her own. Jal’s pretty face contorted in pain. Lisette laughed, a raucous, sharp-edged laugh. Free of Jal’s hands, Mina turned to Uberto as he came back to the front of the stage.

‘If you hear someone say “heads”, get out of the way,’ Uberto said. ‘That is the signal that a piece of set will be coming down.’

‘And make sure there’s someone around to catch you if you’re going to dive off the stage,’ Jal added.

Mina punched him on the arm.

‘Ow. Uberto, she’s being violent. She should be fined!’

Uberto smiled. ‘I do not think it was uncalled for violence,’ he said to Jal with a smirk. Then to Mina: ‘However, be aware that fines are imposed for behaviour that harms others, or the reputation of the players. Being drunk on stage, taking out personal vendettas during a performance, behaving without discretion in any of the towns we visit …’ He turned away. ‘I do not think you will need to worry. Now, I will show you how the wings work. Stay here.’

Uberto walked to the right side of the wagon, where there was an enclosed space not revealed when the doors opened.

Lisette whispered to Mina: ‘There are the troupes where the boss fines everyone all the time, so he can pay them less. Stingy pigs! But Uberto isn’t like that. He fines rarely, and always is a reason.’

‘There are other troupes?’ Mina asked, surprised.

‘Now,’ Uberto said, before Lisette could answer, ‘we have another way to transform the stage.’

Uberto stepped behind a wooden board that ran from the floor to a track in the roof. There was much more up there than the wagon’s size suggested. Uberto pushed the board onstage. It had a door set in it. He opened the door and stepped through.

‘There is a window on the other side,’ he said. ‘Useful for scenes in a street. You will learn to operate all these scenic elements. All the players help with scene changes and props. We have no stars in this troupe, thinking they are too good to do the backstage work.’

Under her breath, Lisette spoke again to Mina. ‘Except Isabella. She thinks to be famous. Wait until she ask you to do many jobs for her.’

Uberto came forward, holding a long wooden box, and gave Lisette a warning look. Mina wondered at his hearing. Lisette had barely whispered.

‘Lisette, Jal, the masks. Check for repairs. Mina, you and I have work to do.’

He opened the long box and the others drew out an armful of masks. With their darkened leather, the masks looked like the carcasses of small animals. Uberto shook his head at Jal, who placed a few back into the box. Uberto pulled out two. Mina recognised the hollow, almond shaped eyes of Harlequin’s mask. Then Uberto strode off the stage, beckoning Mina. She took a deep breath and followed.

Chapter 3