The Fall of Chance (17 page)

Unt was touched by Bull fighting his corner but he wished he’d stop it with the dour-jokes. Once or twice was alright but a joke repeated often enough stops being funny and then it’s just a statement.

Crystal was looking almost afraid and Unt wondered if he should step in but Min got there first. “Bull,” she said, “Wasn’t there someone you wanted me to meet?” She looked up at him like she could drag him down with her eyes.

“Yeah, these guys,” said Bull, oblivious to her signalling.

“But wasn’t there someone
else
you really wanted me to meet?” Her hand was behind Bull’s back and he suddenly twitched like she’d struck a switch.

“Oh, yeah,” he said quickly, “I think they were waiting for us outside. Unt, Crystal, we’ll see you later, yeah?” His last words were almost lost in the crowd as they quickly disappeared toward the exit. Unt didn’t think anyone would be seeing them later.

He was caught between the urge to laugh and concern about the impression Crystal was getting. He checked for her reaction but she was looking away as though scanning the crowd. Whether or not she really was, Unt couldn't tell.

He fingered the cord that Bull had put in his hand and could feel Crystal in its fibres. He could feel the love that had gone in to it but that love was for another.

“Sorry about Bull,” he said.

When she turned her head back to him it was like she was fighting an elastic force. “He was fine,” she said. “I’m just surprised he managed to drink so much so quickly,” she added.

Her head snapped back away with the invisible elastic. “I’d guess he got a head start before we came over,” said Unt, although he wouldn’t put it past Bull to put that much away so fast.

He was worried when Crystal looked disapproving. He’d been keen to make excuses for Bull’s quick drinking but she probably thought starting early was worse. Maybe she thought Unt had been drinking too.

As they walked toward the serving tables he led her gently by the hand. With their bonds gone, her touch was even lighter than before, as though only the memory of the knot connected them.

“What should I order for your parents?” he asked, hoping to use their order to gauge her attitude toward drink.

“Oh, some of the punch, I suppose.”

They weren’t teetotallers, then. “What about you?”

“I guess I’ll have the same.”

Unt was trying to judge the measure of that answer when Bull’s parents appeared from the side.

“Unt, darling, how are you?” asked Yvesse.

“Very well, by the looks of him,” said Sandy, twitching his head significantly at Crystal.

“Crystal, these are Bulton’s parents,” Unt did the introductions. Crystal, in diplomatic mode, smiled and responded politely.

“Unt’s been like a second son to us,” said Yvesse, “You’re a very lucky girl.”

“You’re neighbours?” Crystal asked them.

“Oh, of course!” Yvesse made the connection. “You’ll be living next door. I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other, then. You must feel free to pop in whenever you like.”

“I’ll be certain to,” said Crystal.

“I say we’ll be seeing you two more than we’ll be seeing that boy of ours, eh?” Sandy nudged his wife in the ribs. “Speaking of which, have you seen that miscreant?”

“Er, I think they went outside,” said Unt.

“His sisters are out there playing,” said Sandy. “Maybe they’re playing with them.”

More likely with each other, thought Unt.

“Well,” said Yvesse, “we won’t hold you back any longer. I expect you young ones have got lots of friends you want to talk to. If you see Bulton, tell him we’re looking for him, won’t you?”

Unt promised he would and they went their separate ways.

Once more, he and Crystal were alone in the busy hall. They reached the serving table with the punch and while Unt was pouring glasses, Crystal was looking elsewhere.

“Is there anyone you want to try and see?” asked Unt. It was a question loaded with many meanings and Unt wasn’t sure which he intended.

“What? Oh, not really,” Crystal put her glass to her lips but didn’t seem to drink.

Unt was scratching for another thing to say when the band took to the stage. He and Crystal watched and applauded like it was the most wonderful thing.

The band leader, a round, bearded man on legs too thin for him, approached the microphone. He wore a Lincoln-green jacket, hooped trousers and a red-and-white spotted neckerchief. By luck or design, he resembled a pixie.

Tapping the the mic, he introduced himself. “Good afternoon, Lovers! My name’s Jaro and these here are the Odds Men and we’ll be providing your entertainment today. The clock says it’s time enough, the punch says you’re merry enough and there’s one or two folk I see who’ve already had enough. All of which means, it’s time for the first dance! Now, how are we all feeling?”

Distracted noise went up from scattered corners of the hall.

“Oh, that’s no good,” said Jaro. “What do you think, Stipple?”

He looked to one of the wind players who drew a long, sad note on his instrument.

“No, Stipple doesn’t like that at all,” Jaro translated. “Let’s have that one more time: how are we feeling?”

The noise combined into a general roar with more voices and more enthusiasm.

“One more time!”

The din multiplied and became a roar. Unt joined in. Crystal didn’t.

“Now what say you, Mr Stipple?”

A flurry of comic fairy-notes answered.

“I think that means he’s happy,” said Jaro. “All that remains now is for us all to choose a tune. I have here three cards, each with the name of a dance on them. I’m going to lay these card face-down and what I need all of you to do is shout out a number, one, two or three. The one that gets the most noise is the one you’re gonna get. Got it?”

“Yes!” answered the crowd.

“Ok then, Lovers,” said Jaro. “Give it to me…now!”

A jumbled mix of the three numbers was shouted out. To Unt, there was no clear winner but he thought that “three” might have edged it.

“What do you think of that, Stipple?” Jaro asked his player. Two notes came back in reply.

“Two?” said Jaro, “Then let’s have a look, here.” He bent down and snatched up the middle card. “Why, it’s Dolphins and Kittens,” he proclaimed. “So, without further ado, please, take up your positions. You all know the drill: four rings, please. Three for the girls and one for the boys.”

This was the old music of the town, the dances they had learned through endless repetition. There were twenty seven classic dances, all with their own movements and arrangements. The Artisans only came up with a new one when the dice let them and that hadn’t happened for years. Unt and Crystal set down their drinks and went out onto the dance floor.

Despite all that practice, with several hundred people to organise, a good deal of instruction was needed. As Jaro called out orders and Unt was taking up a position, he smiled inwardly at the bandmaster’s style. It was corny but he had to admit, it was effective.

It was all theatrics. Even the random dance selection was showmanship. Jaro hadn’t said which way he’d numbered the cards: only number two was fixed and that was the one he’d claimed was loudest. For that matter, there was no guarantee of what was written on any card. It was a fraud but a happy one and the people were willing to be deceived.

In Dolphins and Kittens, the men’s large circle was touched on opposite sides by three smaller rings of women. The men would walk clockwise and the women would go in the opposite direction. All the couples were positioned so that when they reached a point where the circles touched, it would be their own partner that they faced.

The couples would lock arms, spin and then the man would take his partner into the men’s circle, walk her round and deposit her in the next women’s circle. The whole thing would continue until every man had picked up every woman and danced with her several times. All the time, the music would be getting faster. Eventually, everyone would end up in their original positions.

It was many minutes before everyone was in place. Unt was at least a dozen spaces away from the connecting point and Crystal was out of sight. It was almost like a repeat of that wait before the ceremony when he’d doubted that she’d be there.

The music started, its jaunty notes held in check for the moment by a deliberate, slow tempo. The circling march was almost funereal. He saw the flicker of the first couple’s spin; the glimmer of something interesting around a long bend.

He counted off the couples’ twirls: one, two, three. All the while he was getting nearer to the point of activity. At sixteen, he could see Crystal. At eighteen, they joined. He slipped his arm around her and it was the first time he’d done so.

He hadn’t realised the material was so thin. As his arm glided along the silky surface, he could feel her body beneath as though there was nothing there. He could feel the softness of her flesh, the warmth of her blood, even the outline of her bones as he nestled his arm on her hip. Practice dances had been with girls but they hadn’t worn dresses like this.

It was exciting but she felt painfully frail, like she was a little bird in his hand that would crack under too much pressure. As he plucked her into the air and swung her around, he feared he would break her.

It was a relief when she touched the ground, her feather-light feet meeting the floor soundlessly. They walked side by side with Crystal on the inside of the circle, Unt’s arm still around her waste and hands stretched and joined ahead of them.

Once more, Unt looked into her face, longing for an answering glance. But Crystal’s head was fixed pointedly forward, posture as formal as a professional dancer. She danced with technical perfection and you could suppose she was just focused on the dance but Unt knew it was more than that.

It was almost a relief when he deposited her at the next circle but there was an equal measure of fear. He felt relief that he was free of that awful tension but fear that it had been cast off so easily. He felt relief when he swept up his next partner and felt a body he didn’t feel he would break. He felt fear that Crystal would find more pleasure in the next man who collected her.

He burried those fears and told himself he was reading too much into a simple dance. But they were symbols that he was reading and symbols have a force of their own. Symbols aren’t just images with a borrowed meaning: there’s a truth behind them.

The dance moved on, the speed increased and the girls came and went. Again and again, Unt rejoined with Crystal but each time was quicker and there was less time to dwell on it. The opportunity to think receded in proportion to the tempo as it became more and more necessary to just focus on living the dance. Unt welcomed it, and lived through his body instead of his mind.

By the end of the dance, the routine was bordering on chaos. Legs made weary by work and unsteady by drink were struggling to keep up the pace. Every stumble and misstep was met good-naturedly but the dance was on the point of collapse. But just when it seemed sure to break, the music stopped. Unt found himself in exactly the same place as he’d started: only everyone’s shattered appearance proved the last twenty minutes had even taken place.

“Well done, Lovers,” came the voice of the band master. “Go find your partners and have yourselves a break. We’ll do the same and we’ll see you again shortly.”

The circles disintegrated as couples sought to reunite. Unt looked for Crystal and eventually found her. She looked like she hadn’t moved since the dancing stopped.

“Hey,” he greeted her with a tap on the shoulder. His sweat was freely running from the effort but Crystal seemed unaffected. It was like she’d been picked up and tossed about without any exertion on her part.

“Oh. Hi,” she answered.

“That was an ordeal, wasn’t it?”

“It was.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Oh, yes. I suppose so.”

For the first time in his life, Unt had an appreciation of how Bull felt when faced with his own reticence.

“Do you want to take a rest?” he tried.

“I guess. I suppose we should take my parents their drinks.” It was the first time Unt had heard her speak like there was a person attached to the words.

“Ok. I’ll fetch them and catch you up.” Unt wasn’t keen to rejoin the in-laws.

He paused, uncertain. “See you shortly, then.” He rushed his head forward to peck her cheek. He only did it because it was what he guessed a husband was supposed to do but she reacted like she’d been stung with ice. It was an instinctive reaction, one quickly covered, but he saw it and it hurt. He was already walking away when her soft voice said, “See you.”

*              *              *              *

Unt was glad to see that the drinks had been removed while they were dancing. It gave him an excuse to go back to the bar and kill as much time as possible before the next dance.

When he returned, his new family were sat, perfectly quiet, like they’d had nothing to say to each other this whole time. Unt supposed that if you lived in a house together you maybe ran out of things to say but every meal he’d had with Bull’s family said otherwise. Theirs was a happy chaos: this was a sombre reflection.