Carefully, Willow packed her purse, dress, and sandals in the front basket of her bicycle.  The wind teased her hair around her temples and sent her back inside to braid it.  Irritants while doing an unfamiliar task on a busy highway probably posed a risk she didn’t want to take.
Each dozen yards down the driveway sent her mind whirling with wonder over the tortures of the bicycle.  Why did people choose such torturous ways of transportation?  If she hadn’t waited so long to leave, she would have walked.  Then again, people would see her ride it and understand how appreciative she was of the infernal thing.
The highway was another story all together.  The smooth road made riding both easier and a joy.  The wheels whizzed along the road smoothly.  Her legs used muscles in new ways and grew sore and tired but the wind in her face was refreshing and she reached town a quarter of an hour sooner than she’d anticipated.
At the convenience store, Willow stepped into the restroom and washed away perspiration, dusted herself with powder, and changed her shorts and top for her new dress.  She added sandals and rolled her clothes, tucking them back into the basket and exited the building.  She felt wonderfully alive and excited to be there even before the faire was fully set up and started.
At the corner of Elm and Market Streets, Willow pushed her bicycle toward the back of the Fox Theater.  She’d leave it there out of the way.  Bicycles were more trouble than feet.
“Willow!”
She spun at the sound of her name.  Chad waved from across the street and started to cross but a young boy zipped past on a skateboard.  Willow watched amused as Chad called the boy by name and held out his hand for the toy.  She wondered what he was saying as she watched him lecture and point to different parts of the child’s anatomy.  Shoulders slumped, the boy sauntered away and Chad jogged across to meet her.
“Hey, you made it!  Early too!”
“The bicycle is faster than feet.  You look busy.  What did the boy do wrong?”  She eyed the skateboard interestedly.
“No helmet.  That reminds me, you should be wearing yours.”
“I knew I forgot something.  That’s ok.  I don’t like how it slides around my head anyway.”
She put her hands up to demonstrate and felt her braid.  Absently, Willow loosed the braid and shook out her hair as she spoke.  Chestnut strands fell perfectly around her head as though carefully styled in one of the best salons.  The transformation was incredible.  Chad was used to seeing her hair sleek and straight with occasional waves on the most humid of days.  The tousled look she inadvertently achieved was most flattering.
Chad cleared his head as she dug into her purse.  “I’ll help you get it adjusted next time I’m out.  You shouldn’t ride that highway without a helmet.  The bike lane is good but if you it another rock or something…”
Grinning wryly at him, Willow pulled a brush from her purse but the look on Chad’s face stopped her.  “What?”
“You look great, why ruin it?”
Laughing, she whisked the brush through her hair until it lay smoothly down her back.  “Nice try.  I know how messy my hair looks when I shake it out.”
Sighing, Chad beckoned her to follow.  “Well, walk with me while I drop this off at the station and we’ll put your bike in the back of my truck.”
In her delight with all the excitement around her, Willow missed the occasional glances Chad gave her hair as they walked.  “What’s that?”
The cakewalk squares were carefully drawn on the parking lot.  Chad pointed out the cakes as they unloaded them from cars and filled tables.  “St. Michaels does it every year.  The money goes to pay for their kids to go to camp I think.”
“Mother and I camped by the stream once but we didn’t like sleeping on the ground so we went home around midnight.”
“The point of camping is to be far away from home and practice survival skills.  You’re whole life is survival skills.  Your equivalent was going to the Towers in Rockland.”
At the station, Chad lifted the bike into the back of his truck and covered it carefully with a tarp.  Inside the station, Willow chatted with Joe and Judith as Chad logged in the skateboard and made a call to the boy’s mother.  Joe dashed out of the station as a call came in over the scanner and Judith explained the protocols of law enforcement.
“I’ve got to get back out there.  You can stay here or come with- either way,” Chad said as he pushed open the door.
Willow waved at Judith, thanked her for the mini-lesson, and followed Chad into the heat of the afternoon.  Judith watched them as they wandered down the street, Chad pointing out interesting things and Willow seeming to hang on every word. “They don’t seem to have a clue,” she muttered to herself.
Chad’s watch beeped four o’clock.  “Two hours until I’m off.  I’ve got to make a few more rounds.  I hate this.”
The discouragement in his voice sent a furrow to her brow.  “Why?  I would think it was so important!”
“It’s ridiculous.  We walk around like a babysitter making sure our little charges don’t get into trouble while mommy isn’t looking.”
Shaking her head as he spoke, she pounced.  “No, no, you’re thinking of it all wrong.  A mother watches over her child as she plays in order to protect her from making foolish mistakes.  Just knowing mother is there, helps the child remember not to act impulsively.  You’re like a father.  You are there to help those around you feel safe just by your presence.”
Chad came to a standstill in the middle of the sidewalk.  “So I’m like a lock on the door.  If someone wanted to break it down they could but because the lock is there, very few people try to breach the security of the home.”
“Exactly!  I think you have one of the most important jobs in the world.”
“Well, I love the job,” Chad began.  “I just thought it’d be-” He paused.  He didn’t know how to explain himself.
Willow watched the emotions cross his face and laid her hand on his arm.  “Chad, we both know I am basically ignorant of how everything works but I do know that people choose to live in this town because it is safe, friendly, and a true community.  They work hard and travel far in order to make enough money to afford to live here.  What you do makes what they desire possible.   I don’t understand why you can’t see that.”
Chad started down South Market Street and Willow turned around to view the vendor booths.  A wolf whistle sent Chad spinning on his heels.   Amused, he watched as Willow paused to glance at some trinket oblivious to the jester who made the gesture.  “She has no idea how attractive she is,” he thought to himself.
***
“Your purse is ringing.”
Willow glanced up at the man in the bookstore.  “Oh!  My phone.  Thank you.”
“Hey Willow, I’m leaving the station now.  I’m going to go change and then I’ll meet you somewhere.  Have you eaten?”
Willow slid the book from the shelf and went to stand in line for Alexa Hartfield’s autograph.  “No, I thought I was supposed to wait for you.  I know what I want to eat though.”
“Anything but pasties and I’m good.”
“I found a place at the corner of the square that sells meat and vegetables on sticks.  It smelled so good.  I’ll meet you there when you’re done dressing but I have to go.  It’s almost my turn.”
Without another word, Willow snapped her phone shut and slipped it inside her purse.  “Hello Miss Hartfield.  I’ve finally decided to try one of your books.  I picked this one because it looked like your newest one but which do you recommend?”
With a smile, Alexa stood and disappeared amongst the shelves of books returning with another one.  “I think this would interest you most.  I’d love to hear what you think of it.”
“Your dress is lovely.  I think claret must be your color.”
Alexa glanced at her medieval gown.  “It’s one of my-” She paused.  “I know better than to say that.  They’re all my favorites.  Thank you though.”
“Did you have it made for the faire?”
A titter spread across the room but Alexa ignored it.  “Actually, I planned to wear my favorite white Edwardian gown but my brother Wes said it was incongruous to imagine me in the Shakespeare Bee wearing something so modern in comparison.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Alexa continued handing Willow the signed book.  “Wes has a gift for you at my house.  I’ll walk home and get it before the bee.”
“Oh you don’t have to do that.  I can stop by on my way home if you tell me how to get there.  How kind of him.”
“They’re some of his best pictures.  I loved them.”
Willow left the bookstore and stood in line at the Shish-ke-Bob’s stand.  She shrieked and whirled to kick her ‘attacker’ when hands covered her eyes from behind.  Chad backed away, his hands thrown up in surrender.
“Uncle!”
“What?  You scared me!”  Willow’s hands still trembled, making Chad feel like a heel.
“I’m sorry.  I never thought I’d frighten you.”
Bob the shish-kebob hawker waved an empty box under their noses and demanded their order.  “Chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, or veggie?”
“Two of each,” Chad answered pulling out his wallet.
“I brought money Chad-”
Something in his eyes told Willow to drop the subject quickly.  They found a bench under one of the nearby trees and Chad hurried to retrieve mugs of cider from one of the several cider vendors.  By the time he returned, Willow had their meals sorted and a virtual dinner table spread with napkins as placemats and plates as well as folded carefully in their normal functional position.
“Wow.”
“This looks good, doesn’t it?”
They ate their kebobs with relish, Chad entertaining her with stories of past faires and the different exotic food options available.  Willow listened interestedly and then stared curiously at her stick of meat and vegetables.
“So what about these fits with the medieval theme?”
“Well, it’s a stretch really.  The justification I’ve heard is that the Crusades happened during the medieval times and those took place in places that now serve kabobs so therefore, it is perfect.  I think it’s just an excuse not to serve roasted pigs with apples in their mouths and lambs on a spit.”
They wandered through the streets laughing at jesters, smiling at children and making note of the things that interested them.  A dunking booth drew Willow away from the plan to plan and she plunked down her dollar without a second thought.  A jester danced on the dunking board and mocked her as she threw a couple of balls to Chad to get a feel for how they threw before she tried it.
“I’ve always wanted to do this.  So many of my books had stories of people getting dunked and I’ve dreamed of doing it.”
Her first ball went wide and nearly hit a nearby cider vendor sending the jester into pantomimed fits of laughter.  However, the second ball hit the target squarely in place but not hard enough to release the seat lever.  Suddenly, the jester knelt on the board and begged for mercy as she tried a third ball on Chad.
It missed.  Chad was sure she’d fish out another dollar and try again but she waved as though leaving.  “Hey, wait.  It’s my turn.”
He deliberately missed the first time.  The second ball landed in the tank and the jester howled in laughter.  Chad passed the third ball to Willow and shrugged. “Maybe you can do it; all I’m doing is soaking my pride.”
Solemnly, Willow accepted the ball.  She couldn’t risk wasting Chad’s last ball with a poor throw.  She set her purse on the ground at her feet and stepped back an extra foot.  “Ok, my last shot.  Here goes.”
The jester dropped into the water.  Willow squealed and jumped up and down excitedly.  “I did it!”
“We’ll come back at the end of the night and see if you win.”
Confused, she glanced at the sign below the dunk tank.  “I don’t understand.”
“Well, they always have a prize at the end of the day for the person who knocked them off after the longest time.  See, he’s putting how long that jester was up there before you knocked him down-” Chad gave the man Willow’s name and then led her off into the crowd.
Next, Willow and Chad jousted on low tricycles with pool noodle lances.  Nothing was too silly or immature for Willow to try making the evening a wonderful time for both.  They listened to minstrels, took dance lessons in groups, and ate frozen custards in between activities.  Near the gazebo, a group of women gathered trying to do some of the more intricate branle dances and one of the women convinced Willow to join them.
“She’s having fun, isn’t she?”
“Hey, Tait!  Having fun?”
“I brought Eden but she’s off doing something with the fortune teller so I left.  I get so frustrated sometimes.”
A wreath from Willow’s head flew off as she whirled and Chad scrambled to retrieve it for her.  Tait watched interestedly.  “You guys seem to be getting close.”
“Not like that.  She has a guy in Rockland who is interested.  He’ll have her there sooner than later if he gets his way.”
“What a shame.”  Tait’s voice held a trace of regret.
“Why?”
With a shrug, Tait stood and scanned the crowd for his houseguest.  “She just seems so happy here. I only know what I’ve heard of her and a miniscule bit of what I’ve seen but I can’t imagine her in a city.  It seems like it’d crush the life from her.”  He paused and then nudged Chad’s arm.
“Look at her.  Do you really think a girl like that would be satisfied in a crowded and jaded place like Rockland?”
Tait was gone before Chad could answer.  He watched fascinated as Willow spun and wove through the dance steps her skirt and hair flying behind her as she moved.  His friend was right.  Willow shouldn’t consider a life in the city.  As different as she was from her mother, she still valued what she had.
“Maybe Bill could commute,” he thought to himself as he waved back at her.