In Time and On Tune

Quila was a relatively quiet town in the Maricocho province of the kingdom of Esquivedra. Its proximity to the Beltasar River and the Carina Mountains made it an ideal place for farming. Much of the kingdom's grain and corn supplies were produced by the farmers of the town. A special breed of goat known as Vicbu had also been painstakingly bred specific to the region. The Vicbu grew to be nearly the size of deer. They were covered by a soft pelt of fleece with a distinctive black and grey dappled coloration which had come to be coveted by the locals and visitors alike. A cheese made from the milk of Vicbu, called Quila for its town of origin, was considered a delicacy throughout most of the kingdom and made trade all the more advantageous in the region.

Twice a year, the townspeople held festivals to welcome trade, once in the spring after the snow had thawed, and once in the fall just before the passes would become largely impenetrable. Aside from the summer season, Quila could be largely cut off from the rest of the kingdom for months at a time as snow and rains could make the passes difficult to travel. This was precisely why Jacqueline had decided upon today, a few days before the fall festival, for a trial run with Josephine.

The streets were growing crowded with the number of visiting merchants and travelers coming to Quila. Townspeople were hard at work putting up tents for the festival, decorating storefronts and streets, harvesting crops, gathering wares to sell, and appeasing out of towners along with all the other preparations necessary for hosting such an event. With all the chaos, Jacqueline had to dance her way through the crowd to find her way to the meeting place. Despite a restless night, she had overslept, and Josephine was already waiting for her when she finally arrived.

Josie was casually leaning against a waist-high stone wall in an alley near to the apothecary shop. In her hands was a wooden lute, which she was meticulously tuning with deft, delicate fingers. She was wearing a bright orange and yellow dress which had been crafted to mimic motley in appearance. Her golden hair cascaded in gentle curling rivulets around her shoulders and her crystalline eyes glittered with joy when she glanced up to spot Jacqueline's approach. In contrast, Jacqueline had dressed in comparatively drab traveling clothes designed to obscure her appearance. She wore a pair of brown breeches tucked into brown leather boots, and an oversize olive green shirt beneath a petite similarly colored cloak. Her dark brown hair had been carefully back beneath the cloak's hood in an effort to further disguise her appearance.

“I was wondering when you would get here.” Josie strummed her fingers across the strings of her lute and smiled, apparently satisfied with the instrument's tone.

“I'm not that late, and you can hardly blame me. There are so many people here today. It's perfect!”

The smile faltered from Josie's face and she turned her gaze down the alley to the passing throng of people on the main thoroughfare. “I suppose...are you sure you want to do this, Jaqi?”

Jacqueline frowned and placed her hands on her hips. “Yes,” she hissed in clear disapproval of Josie's question. “Listen, I can't do this without you and we already talked about it. It's foolproof! You'll see!”

Josie glanced down a her lute and then back up to Jacqueline with a pleading expression. “We can get in serious trouble if we get caught, Jaqi.”

“Then we don't get caught. Let's just...go over the plan again, okay?”

Josie nodded and began to play a gentle tune on the lute.

Jacqueline nodded her approval. “Good! Now we'll do it just like we said. You'll play through the street until you come to the well. Settle there and draw a crowd to you with a song or two. I'll watch the crowd for a couple of minutes while you play. What's my cue to enter?”

Josie sighed and started to play a river shanty on the lute, a jaunty tune with bawdy lyrics which was a local favorite. “When I sing 'Joame'.”

“Right! And what's my cue to leave?”

Josephine's fingers danced over the strings, “When I repeat the chorus twice and bridge into an instrumental. Jaqi...”

“You'll do great! You'll see! We can't fail at this Josie. Besides, you don't want to stay in Quila forever, do you? You're wasting your talent here, you know?”

Josie sighed again and ceased her playing. She set the lute against the wall and gave a hard look back to Jacqueline. “I do want to leave. But if we get caught, we won't be going anywhere.”

“Then we don't get caught! Just do it like we discussed. It's fool proof!” Jacqueline held her breath as she watched Josie's resolve wavering. She knew her friend well enough to know that she would typically come around if left alone, but Jacqueline had also never asked her to do something like this before. “Come on, Josie, just give it a try. If it looks like it'll be too risky, just end your playing before 'Joame', okay?”

“Okay.” Josephine retrieved her instrument and flashed an uncertain smile towards Jacqueline. “Okay. Good luck, Jaqi.”

Jacqueline watched her companion heading down to the end of the alley and called out, “I'm counting on you, Josie,” before she got too far away to hear.

Josephine turned around at the end of the alley where golden rays of sunlight surrounded her, giving her a distinctly angelic appearance as she smiled fondly to her friend. “I won't let you down.” With that, she turned to walk into the street and began to play her way through the crowd.