Raining On Your Parade (Sebastian)

[Robyn Lester]

Whatever hopeless romantics say, life on the street isn’t all fame and adventure. There were some dear downsides to it all as well, and they always reached their lowest when it rained. There was nothing to say against a mild spring rain or a refreshing thunderstorm that swept away the summer’s heat, but there were some weeks when it felt like the world was slowly drowning in downpouring rain, when everything stayed damp, wet and cold and everyone wished for a good roof over their head.
Such were the worst times for carneys and Robyn had the feeling that they were only on the beginning of such a period now, after it had rained for almost two days now and there seemed no end in sight. The Raven Pack had hoped to bridge a slight gap of little engagements by travelling the midlands and touring from village to village, but there was no room for spontaneous feasts and plays in this neverending rain, as little people wanted to peek outside, not even for jugglers.

In consequence, the Raven Pack quickly ran out of their sparse resources and the bad weather pulled down everyone’s mood even further. Most of them had to steer their wagons and the coach box wasn’t the most sheltered place to be. Furthermore, the roads slowly resembled more mud pits than anything, and the wheels got so often stuck that Tybalt and Jerome, the strongest men of the Pack were constantly out in the pouring rain, walking beside the wagons in case a wheel got stuck again. Robyn was one of the few trying to uphold the good mood amongst her family and friends and entertained them with silly verses about the weather, their current state of absolute drenched-ness and other things that just came to mind at that very moment. Sometimes she was given the odd and mad eye, but every so often, she managed to get a laugh from their lips, which was more worth than gold.

Night was falling incredibly fast today and the darker it got, the more even the wind increased as well, whipping the rain into their faces. This was truly no time to be outside, but they had no idea how far it would be until the next village, as they were somewhere in Cantia, in a forest.
“We’re making camp!” Raven finally decided, shouting the order against the rain and the wind. With some difficulty and much cursing coming especially from the men, the Raven Pack steered the wagons on a little clearing and brought them so close together they were like a fortress to the outside. Then Molly had the fantastic idea to use one of their large leather canvases they used for some plays as a rain- and windshield, securing its ends on the wagon roofs with stones. It was a messy and tiring affair, but once it was done, they were half way sheltered and could even think about starting a fire. Things were definitely looking up, even though they would only have a scraggy meal out of their last resources.

While a so far only small fire was warming her soaked back, Robyn peeked out into the darkness beyond the wagons out of a detached interest, as she was wringing out her hair. Soon she would have to change clothes, as the tunic and trousers were sticking to her body quite scandalously, But then, she was amongst family and she first wanted to dry them a little with her body heat. Then however, she thought to see a figure coming down the road they had just left. Or was it a trick of her eyes?