on the floor while Nora took the real bed.
The alarm went off early. Leah and Maryann stashed their tents and they ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast.
“I had a dream last night,” Maryann said, chewing her sandwich thoughtfully.
“So did I. I dreamed that we found a violin case full of money but a dog puppet stole it,” Leah replied.
The other three stared at her for a minute.
“Your brain must be a very strange place,” Nora said.
Leah shrugged. “I never suggested otherwise.”
“I dreamed about the festival, but everyone was dead. The ground was just covered in bodies. There were ravens or crows or some kind of carrion bird pecking at all the bodies. The moon was red and it had two tiny black moons orbiting it, so maybe it was a planet. And there was this girl, like, our age, walking around the bodies. She had bloody ribbons in her hair and was eating a shiny yellow apple and laughing like it was some big joke.”
“Maybe it was Mars,” Isabella said after a few moments of silence. “It's the red planet and it has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. And Mars is the god of war, so maybe everyone was dead because there had been some kind of battle.”
“Whatever it means, that's creepy,” Leah said with a shudder.
“Yeah,” Maryann replied, looking uncharacteristically upset.
“Okay, okay, there's nothing we can do except be prepared for trouble, right?” Nora asked. “So let's find some kind of costume to wear today before the show so we can meet potential fans.”
“Can I put some protection spells on everyone, please?” Maryann asked. “Just in case?”
“If it'll make you feel better, go ahead,” Nora answered.
The redhead brightened immediately. “Cool! I'll get my stuff.”
“So, what costumes are we going to wear for the day?” Isabella asked Leah.
“Something light, please something light,” Nora answered. “No leather, no black.”
“Um, you know it's hard for me to avoid black,” Leah said. “It's kind of our thing. But I did my best, so hopefully we won't be too sweaty for any fans.”
“Ugh, unlikely.”
“I even got us matching hats.”
“That's helpful for avoiding heatstroke anyway,” Nora sighed.
The costumes were a take on a classic 1940s style cocktail dress, in black and white, but made of lightweight material, and floppy white straw hats with a black ribbon and a black feather. The temperature was so high wigs were out of the question, so they put their hair up in buns and donned large, matching sunglasses, and, of course, plenty of sunscreen. Leah had even found matching white fans that would fit in their purses or hang from wrist-straps. The look was slightly brought down by the white sneakers they were all wearing, but none of them wanted to wear heavier shoes in the heat or wear fancier shoes in the desert. Maryann cast protection spells on the group before they went outside.
They were feeling more optimistic until they exited the RV and saw a large raven had taken up roost on the roof.
“Okay, so we have a carrion bird on our roof,” Leah said. “That's great. And it better not make a mess up there.”
“It's just like my dream,” Maryann said.
“Oh, don't be like that,” Nora replied. “There are probably lots of birds around here who are going to be attracted to all the food.” She looked up at it. “This is not a bust of Pallas nor is it my chamber door. Go away!”
“If it says, 'nevermore' I'm leaving,” Leah whispered to Maryann.
The redhead nodded.
The bird tilted its head at them, but did not leave nor make a sound. However, in just a moment it was joined by a second raven that also looked at them oddly but seemed disinclined to leave the RV roof.
“Okay, well, let's just be going now,” Leah said. “This place is so weird.”
“Agreed,” Nora replied. “Why are we here again?”
“A gig is a gig,” Isabella sighed. “We'll leave first thing in the morning, okay?”
“Okay!” Maryann agreed immediately.
They walked away from the RV and ravens to mingle with the festival-goers and shill for their show that night.
“I feel like I should be drinking a mint julep at the Kentucky Derby in this outfit,” Isabella remarked.
“I'll take your word for that,” Leah replied. “I don't know what a mint julep is and I've never watched a horse race in my life.”
“We'd also fit right into the horse-race scene in My Fair Lady,” Nora said. “Except our hats aren't fancy enough.”
“Another movie I haven't seen.”
They wandered around the festival with their attention divided between the other bands and the various performance arts going on around them. They stopped every now and then to talk to festival-goers who had seen their show the year prior or were familiar with their band. They were at what was being labeled the “food court” when two tanned, beefy young men in identical outfits with similar but not quite identical features walked up to them. They were wearing denim shorts that were slightly shredded, heavy boots that looked like they were from an Army surplus store, dark red t-shirts, sleek sunglasses, and a leather cuff on their left wrists with metal studs. Their naturally black hair shone in the strong sunlight.
“Hey,” said one. “Are you that girl band Nevermore and the Ravens?”
Nora stared at him through the sunglasses. “We are the band Nevermore and the Ravens,” she answered stiffly. “And we happen to all be women, but we are not a 'girl band.'”
“Don't mind my idiot brothers,” said a young, tanned, stocky woman who pushed her way between the two young men. She was wearing an outfit almost identical to her brothers except her shorts were shorter and she was wearing a dark red tank top. Her long hair was also naturally black but she had dyed streaks of it to be dark red. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. “Insensitive jerks,” she said to the two men, who looked slightly embarrassed. “I'm Callista. These two are my younger, stupider, twin brothers, Terrence and Fred.”
“Hey,” they said in unison.
Maryann smiled.
“Lordy, not again,” Isabella said in a low voice.
“We're Nevermore and the Ravens,” Maryann said. “I'm Anna, that's Belle, Lee, and Lenore.”
“We know who Lenore is,” Fred said. “But she's the only one we can pick out on stage.”
Nora rolled her eyes and sighed.
“But it looks like you aren't in full make-up now either,” said Terrence.
“It's just too hot,” Leah replied.
“So, I like your band,” Callista said.
“Cool. We like new fans.”
“So, are we what brought you all the way out here?” Maryann asked the young men coyly.
“Well, no, but it's a nice bonus,” Fred answered. “We thought this would be fun.”
“Did you hear what happened last year?” Leah blurted.
“Sure. Everything went completely wrong,” Callista answered. “All the stories were about terror and dread and chaos everywhere. That's totally awesome!”
Nora looked ready to go into lecture mode, but Isabella shook her head at her. Nora sighed, “Well, to each their own, I guess, but it was no fun being caught in a haboob.”
“A what?” Maryann asked.
“It's a word that means 'sandstorm.' I looked it up,” she sighed again.
“So are you hungry?” Terrence asked.
“We'll buy you lunch,” Fred offered.
Callista rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I'm not offering, but if you don't mind me hanging out with you for awhile, I'll make sure my brothers pay for all four of you.”
“That sounds like a deal,” Leah said quickly.
Nora hung behind the group slightly.
“What's wrong?” Isabella asked.
“They're trouble.”
“Which one, Terrence or Fred?”
“All of
them. They're all trouble.”
“Even Callista?” Isabella asked.
“Especially Callista,” Nora answered.
“Hey, they've got some tables out this year,” Leah said as they got their food. The tables were crowded, but a fight started at one and the occupants soon cleared away, allowing them to take it over.
“So who's the lead singer?” Callista asked.
“We don't have a lead singer,” Isabella replied. “We pick the singer based on the song.”
“Oh. So who's the best singer?”
“It depends on the song, really. Anna can get the high notes, Lenore has a lot of power, I take the alto range, and Lee's got the contralto range.”
“I'll bet you're the best singer, Anna,” Fred said.
“And the best guitar player,” Terrence added.
Maryann laughed. “Oh, you're so sweet.”
The other four women rolled their eyes.
“Seriously, though, who is the best guitar player?” Callista asked.
“Probably Anna, actually,” Leah said.
“I thought it was Belle,” she replied.
“Well, thanks,” Isabella said.
“So who's the best drummer?” Callista asked.
“I'll bet Anna's the best,” Fred said.
Maryann giggled.
Isabella and Nora shared an annoyed look. “We all have different strengths,” Isabella said diplomatically. “That's why we switch our line-up for pretty much every song. If we want to sound our best, we need everyone to play or sing whatever they're best at. We do practice to get better, of course, but we've only got so many hours in a day and we spend a lot of time on the road.”
“A lot of time,” Leah said emphatically.
Now Callista looked annoyed. “So who writes all your songs?”
“Song-writing is a group effort too,” Isabella said.
“I'll bet yours