#anywhere

Dee paces near Willy's workshop

back and forth, back and forth

"She's SO Damn good. SHe tied the Chief" tip tap tap "I'm so proud of her, and scared of her, I could wet myself" Tip tap "Joust Club... I can take her..." Tip tap "IF I get very lucky" Tip tap "Oh the baron is going to be pissed if I get creamed" Clip clop

"Easy, Dee, you're the better rider... " Clop clop "Probably." Clop Clop "And the Lance is your favorite weapon" Clop; clop "Course, she IS the weapon" Clop clop

Each
Clip
And
Clop
feels
like
a
thud
on
Willy's
Con (CLIP) cen (CLOP) tra (CLIP) tion! (CLOP)

the chatter of pride mixed with worry also may not help

The workshop door creaks open. It is dark, and cold, inside.

"Okay, if I work her left, wait, she knows left is her weak side, she'll work it especially hard which will make it her strong side... but wait, then her strong side IS her right side... "

She sees the workshop open "Willy, I need to see one of the lances we're using, get the right feel for it. I need to understand the lance. I need to BE the lance"

There's a long pause, and then something is chuckled out of the workshop to land on the porch. A lance tip.

There follows the hand-guard; the two metal pieces of the weapon.

She takes it "Thanks, Willy. You're the best. You're the greatest. You're in my top five favorite nockers of this hold"

Cold silence from within.

"Four" She corrects and takes the lance and practices lightly with it, gets the FEEL of it

"Satyresses loooove lances" She says

And off she goes

the clip clops finally blissfully stopped

The door creaks shut again. And a latch inside drops.

..........

Sometime before that...

the NIGHT of when most holds have had pennons

late at night in fact

Madern hobbles in at two in the morning

A bit drunk, but with a bottle of wine that is NOT opened

A voice from the dim entryway, apparently someone has waited up. "I trust that is not the Château Le Pin Pomerol I smell on your breath?"

Soft tapping of a hoof betrays Julius's presence, if his voice did not!

"You're still up? Oh hey.. nope... the Chatty De Pommy is right here" He offers it , swawying a bit. The bottle still intact

Julius seldom takes advantage of his satyr speed and and dexterity, but he does now to swiftly move in and rescue the bottle from the swaying grasp. Cradled like a precious child!

"And what have we learned from this exercise?"

"Rivervale has some SCARY warriors" Blink blink "Lesson learned. Oh, they also got some great chefs. I thought it was just their hearth"

"Mmm-HMM. Add 'Stay the hell out of my wine cellars', and we'll call it a day." But he does give Maddern a small smile.

"Yeah.. about that..." He reaches into a pocket, and pulls out a money order "This.. this yours"

BLINK. "Excuse me?"

"I got one too.. see, I borrowed the wine bottle, so... that was your calater.. collater... it was you contributing, and I won... so two to one odds. " He explains

And... the money order being held to him is for 10000 dollars

Julius reaches for it, but then just closes Madern's fingers around the slip. "Listen. I'm only going to say this once. But you got away with it. It's nearly Samhain, so it's okay if you are selfish for once. It was a ballsy, stupid bet, but god damn, you won it.

As long as you keep your tricks out of MY hair... keep up the good work."

"It was dumb luck... And I don't know what to do with 10000 dollars, let alone TWO 10000... you should put this to work for Bluebell. Hey is she up? Bet she's got ideas.." He looks around "Heey Bluebell"

Julius rolls his eyes. "Then give it to me. I'll invest it in my winery business. That's another gamble... but in a few years, if things take off like I hope they will.. well, you'll have recouped that cost at least 3 fold."

He grins. "And don't downplay 'dumb luck'. How else do you think I'd have bagged a babe like Bluebell?"

"I figured it involved carrots and dancing but beyond that I didn't want to presume" He admits "If she had a younger sister my age, I would totally check her out" He gives up the money orders

Julius tosses an arm over Madern's shoulders. "Come along, Drinkerbelle. You ever try tequila?"

"Nope, I hear it has worms... " With the satyr supporting him he wobbles less "Someone told me beer was a bad habit, so I took some whiskey instead. "

"Buck up, m'lad. we're doing shots!"

"Yeah? Okay..." He tries to rally

Julius grins, a touch devilishly. Madern is in for a night....
(Fade to SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS)