Chapter 20

The opening day of the renfaire was in early July, and it was hot and sweaty. It was not a day to be wearing a woolen skirt, a woolen sash, and a long-sleeved white peasant shirt, along with the other accessories that went with the outfit. Vicky was wilting more than a little by the time the day came to an end, although knife sales had gone very well. It was a little easier on Jason; he was wearing a sleeveless shirt, less regalia, and a kilt of a wool/synthetic blend that, while it may not have been as pure a product of sheep like Vicky's, it was a heck of a lot cooler to wear.

Still, as soon as the show wound down and they hauled the somewhat-lighter knife display cases back to the campsite, the first thing Vicky did was to get out of the outfit and into a swimsuit -- a conservative two-piece, not the beyond-daring thong she'd teased Jason with a month earlier -- and headed for the nearest hose. Still wet, but feeling somewhat better, she planked down in a lawn chair behind the camper in the gathering dimness of late evening and started in on the iced tea to rehydrate, even while Jason was hosing himself down.

"Fun day," Sandy grinned from under the awning of Second Home a few feet away. "I thought it went real well."

"Not bad," Vicky shook her head. "But I will be damned if I want to get into that hot, smelly wool outfit again tomorrow. Do you think they'd get pissed if I wore a tank top with the kilt or something?"

"You could," Sandy grinned, sipping at a rehydrating beer herself while Dayna had some hot dogs on the grill. "Most people at these things dress a lot more lightly than they would have on a hot day in the old days. I sometimes wonder how they managed to do it way back when. Couldn't do any better, I guess. But hey, if you want, we can dig around in the costumes. Some of my stuff ought to fit you pretty close, and I can probably find something that looks the part but is a bit cooler."

"God, I'd appreciate it," Vicky sighed. "Thanks, Sandy."

"A bit hot," Dayna agreed. "I'd be tempted to sneak down to the lake and jump in, but I'm afraid there'd be a jetskier out to get me. Oh well, we could wait till after dark and join the skinnydippers."

"Probably no jetskier," Vicky sighed. "Bert dropped by along in the afternoon and told us there hadn't been any sign of him the rest of the day."

"With good reason," Dayna laughed.

Vicky shook her head. "The hell of it is I've been around that thing enough to know you literally can't hit the broad side of a barn with it, but that watermelon was heading for the kid like it had eyes. I thought it was a square hit for sure."

"I sure would have liked to have seen that," Jason laughed, joining the conversation, dripping wet himself. "Dayna, Sandy, for not having a keyboard, a blues band, and a symphony orchestra to back you up, the two of you put on a hell of a show."

"We've reworked it from last year some," Dayna said. "Of course, we're always reworking it, or else it gets boring. Vicky, you like a hot dog? I've got plenty."

"Sure, throw one on for me," she replied.

"How about you, Jason?"

"I could stand a couple," Jason nodded in exhaustion. "I had a brat along in the middle of the afternoon, but towards the end there we got just too damn busy to get away. I've been to gun and knife shows where I didn't move knives half as well at lots lower prices."

"Told ya," Sandy grinned. "I haven't been through the cash box yet, but from the cartons it looks like we moved a few CDs, too. It really helped to have the extra hands. It's usually just Dayna and me selling them, trying to autograph them, and schmooze with fans at the same time."

"Yeah, I remember that from when I was with Dayna down south that time," Vicky agreed. "This really is a lot of fun, even though the heat takes something out of you."

It got dark as they sat under Second Home's awning, and over the next hour or so, they had more than a hot dog; they had several, along with chips and other goodies. After a while, Dayna pulled out her old six-string Gibson she'd bought in high school and still her favorite guitar, although she didn't use it in shows anymore since it really wasn't glitzy enough. She started picking out some songs that really wouldn't be appropriate for renaissance faires or young audiences. That brought some nearby campers and show people, and soon there was a small-bore party going on. It went late; Vicky had been to a Saturday night party of renfaire people before and knew it was one of the best parts of the whole deal.

It was cool the next morning when Vicky pulled on shorts and a T-shirt for the quick trip over to Second Home. Dayna and Sandy were still getting around, but Sandy dug around in one of the compartments in the motor home and came up with a long dark blue skirt and a corset. "A corset?" Vicky asked. "I've never worn one of those."

"It's actually pretty cool," Sandy said. "About as bad as wearing a one-piece swimsuit. The skirt is ankle length, of course, but it's two layers of light taffeta. I think you'll find it cooler than wearing a shorter wool kilt."

The skirt was no big deal, but it turned out there was a trick to being laced into a corset, one that Vicky needed another hand or two for. "No big deal," Sandy said. "It's one of those things that comes with practice. I've gotten to the point where I'd just as soon wear a corset as anything else, but I've been doing it for a while."

It really was pretty snug when she got done lacing it up, but Vicky found she liked the sheer, smooth lines it gave to her waist -- she'd lost enough weight by now that she actually had one again. A glance in Second Home's full-length mirror showed it well, and while it flattened her bust line, it actually made her look fuller, with an even more impressive cleavage than she already had. "Not bad," Sandy said.

During the week before Dayna and Sandy had helped Emily and Kevin put together sort of period costumes that would do the job, although they didn't involve corsets; they were both dressed for business when they showed up not too long before the gates opened.

While Vicky planned on doing a little rambling of the grounds just on general principles, it had been hot enough the day before that she mostly planned on sitting in the shade of the booth working on knife handles with blades and gouges. It would let people see some work actually happening, though without the power machinery they had at home and employed for much of the process. It would be better than being out in the hot sun.

The customers coming by were about as interesting as the rest of the show, anyway. Some of the costumes they wore were downright outlandish, as out of place in the renaissance as a man from Mars would be, but she knew a lot of the fun of the thing was the sheer dress-up thrill, and sometimes the fun was drawing attention by wearing something outlandish. She knew how that worked; she remembered Shae doing just the same thing, adding to her already extreme height with heels to draw attention.

"Hey, you're looking good," she heard a familiar voice say, and looked up to see Scott standing there -- what timing! -- with Sonja along with him. Aaron and Amber were there, too; they were dressed in drab, but Scott had on a peasant shirt and baggy pants, while Sonja had that spectacular belly dancer outfit on, looking like she'd just stepped out of a harem somewhere.

"Aye, M'Lord," she replied, keeping in character despite the surprise of seeing the four. "'Twas not expectin' to see your fine an' friendly faces here today."

"Oh, we try to get down here once a year," Sonja explained. "Aaron and Amber have never been to one of these so we thought they ought to check it out, especially when we heard Dayna and Sandy were going to be here."

"Aye, the show 'tis in about half an hour, 'tis," she smiled. "'Tis usually a good crowd, so 'tis good ye got here to find a good seat."