Oberon Out by Hart Lucinda;

Author:Hart, Lucinda;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2019-05-31T00:00:00+00:00

Act IV

Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!

It’s only afternoon, but already the sky is darkening. Cobweb stops walking, gazes up at the giant golden edifice of Bath Abbey, floodlit from below. Behind the soaring towers and crenellations, the sky is dark turquoise with the sparkle of early stars. Cobweb’s breath clouds in front of him, and he winds his scarf again around his throat.

The Christmas market comes to Bath for two weeks at the beginning of December. Abbey Courtyard is crowded with wooden booths, decorated with bright fairy lights and evergreen boughs. There are stalls selling jewellery, handmade soaps, patterned gloves, chocolates. There are candles, Christmas decorations, Russian dolls, and stained glass. Cobweb shoves his hands in his pockets as they are burning from the cold, and slides easily through the crowd. He stops at one of the booths and buys a paper cone of chestnuts. He recognises some of the shoppers, staggering about with carrier bags, but they do not recognise him, not even the woman who lives in his street. He’s a master of disguise but, despite that, RG has voiced concern about his suitability as an agent. One day someone will recognise him from one of the TV parts he’s had.

Cobweb loves Christmas, the drama and theatre of it all. He loves the coloured lights against the intense dark winter sky. He loves the strangeness of the tree outside the Abbey with its cold ambulance-blue bulbs. He loves the thin, stooped Father Christmas who wears a crimson hooded robe, and looks like a shaman from the Arctic tundra. He loves the flashing carousel and later, when true darkness has fallen, he’ll ride one of the dipping painted horses.

He checks his watch. Time to go. RG called him that morning with a job offer. Only you, dear Cobweb, can do this one, he’d said. Escort work, maybe, Cobweb thinks. He gets a bit of that at this time of year, and he knows Mustardseed would never take that kind of assignment, especially now he’s met that nice girl Gemma. Cobweb remembers an escort job last Christmas where the old queen client threatened him with a broken vodka bottle. This year, he’s already got a New Year’s Eve party job booked. That one’ll need a suit and a haircut, he thinks ruefully. He’s grown his hair out, it’s thick and shaggy on his shoulders and currently an interesting pale silver. He leaves the market behind him, and the carousel, walks up towards the office and rings the bell. Fairy buzzes him in.

“How am I supposed to know who you are?” she grumbles. “Last time you were blond with spectacles. You could be anyone. You don’t even sound the same.”

“Chestnut, Fairy?” Cobweb holds out the cone.

Fairy sniffs, and helps herself to one of her extra strong menthol drops.

“Cobweb, Cobweb, come along in.” RG has appeared in the doorway. “You’re going to like this one,” he chuckles. “Fairy, bring us some green tea, please, and those little macaroons.”

Cobweb chucks his paper cone into the bin and follows RG into the back room.

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