She took a deep breath to calm down and tried to be as fair as she could as the sand in the hourglass trickled down.
The band was ahead by one point, but the siblings had possession of the ball, and there were a few seconds left. Maryann knew if she called a foul that possession would go to the band, and therefore they were all but guaranteed to win the game and the soul. She started to move the whistle to blow it, but she stopped herself.
“They can do this,” she thought. “Don't cheat. They can do this.” She let go of the whistle.
The game continued and Terrence scored a three-point basket right before the last grains disappeared.
One of the ravens cawed very loudly and all the equipment abruptly disappeared. “That is the game. The forces of evil have twenty-nine points, and the forces of good only have twenty-seven points. Go change,” it instructed.
Now Maryann was crying and the ravens didn't protest when she joined her friends in the curtained off area.
“I-I'm sorry!” she sobbed. “I-I wanted to help but I didn't want to cheat! I thought-I thought you'd win! I've lost someone's soul!” She completely dissolved into tears. The others changed their clothes and comforted her as best they could. They walked out of the curtained off area and the basketball court was gone. The curtained off disappeared as soon as they exited. Everyone else was standing around unseeing and unmoving. The siblings had changed and were standing next to the ravens with their arms crossed.
“So the forces of evil aren't going to hold a grudge?” Callista was asking.
“You have fulfilled the obligation set before you. There will be no grudge held from these events. What may or may not transpire in the future is your own affair,” one raven answered.
Maryann was still crying.
“The battle is done,” said the other raven. “The forces of good have won.”
“What?” everyone exclaimed.
“But we won the game!” Callista said.
“The battle was not your game,” said the first raven. “Your referee was also on the side of the forces of good. She was tempted to cheat in order to assure victory. However, had the referee broken the rules, no matter how good her intentions, the forces of evil would have won.”
“You-you mean I didn't lose someone's soul?” Maryann asked.
The birds shook their heads. “No. The forces of good have prevailed and the soul is safe,” said one.
“Wait, wait, so it doesn't matter that we won?” Fred demanded.
“Or that they lost?” Terrence added.
“Sometimes what really matters is how you play the game,” said one raven. “And now the battle is finished, and the spell will be broken and no one will remember what has transpired except for you seven.”
Maryann suddenly hugged Nora. “I didn't lose anyone's soul!” she said, knocking off Nora's hat.
Nora sighed and patted her shoulder comfortingly.
“That would be so hot if she wasn't crying,” Terrence said.
Callista popped both of her brothers upside their heads. “Look, I know you idiots think these things, but don't say it out loud.”
“So what are you two doing now?” Isabella asked the ravens. Her spirit sight spell only showed a slight glow around them and didn’t provide a lot of information for her to guess what the ravens really were.
“We have done our job,” answered one raven.
“Who are you working for? I could guess, but ravens are almost ubiquitous in North American and European mythologies, so I'd probably be wrong.”
They exchanged looks. “That's a mystery you can ponder later,” said the other, and they flew away.
The wind changed direction, and everyone who was enchanted suddenly snapped out of their trances and went about their business as though nothing had happened.
“Well, that was fun,” Callista said. “So, what now?”
“I think we're not going to talk to you,” Leah said.
“God, you're so dramatic. No one was really going to get hurt,” she snapped.
“You don't know that!” she shot back.
“Well, maybe I have more faith in the forces of good than you do.”
Leah looked ready to tackle Callista, so Isabella grabbed her by the arm. “We need to go anyway. We've got work to do. Come on.”
Nora helped drag Maryann back to the RV so they could get changed into their stage costumes.
“Leah, don't let her get to you,” Nora said. “We can have faith it will all turn out in the end, but that doesn't mean there won't be suffering in the mean time. There's no reason to add to that suffering if we don't have to.”
“You're right, you're right. Well, at least having uniforms meant we didn't sweat into our dresses,” Leah said. “Well, except for Maryann.”
“But I still need a shower so badly,” Nora said. “Maryann, pull yourself together. We've got a show to put on.”
“Sorry. I'm just so happy I didn't screw up!”
“Yes, well, it came out fine, even if it was a weird day,” she said. “And I hope we never meet up with those siblings again.”
“Me too,” Leah said emphatically.
Their costumes for the evening contained more black and were heavier, as was their make-up. Two ravens perched on an amplifier during the show, but other than that nothing strange happened and the show went fairly smoothly. They went directly back to the RV and sent Isabella out to get food; the rest elected to stay put. They went to bed early, got on the road early, and were glad to have another Pandemonium Festival behind them.
The Lyrics:
Time to step up to the plate
Are sure you can take the heat?
Give your best; give it your all
Hey, are you trying to cheat?
Trash talk and head games
Is not a good lead to follow
I want a win to be proud of
Not a victory that's hollow
Refrain: There's no score in life
The outcome's always the same
It doesn't matter if you win or lose
But how you play the game
Sometimes there's a referee
Someone to make a call
Sometimes it's not fair
But I'm not going to take a fall
I always play to win
But sometimes I lose
Playing with integrity
Is what I always choose
Refrain
Life is full of adversity
You should do your best
It's probably just a game
But it could be a test
Refrain x2
Track 11 - Not a Murder (Only an Unkindness)
The Interview:
Kelly: So, ladies, this next track, “Not a Murder (Only an Unkindness)” is a kind of soul pop tune with plenty of blues influence. The cello is an unexpected instrument, but it adds a kind of haunting quality to the track. This is clearly a break-up song and our listeners want to know, whose break-up?
Belle: Who says this was any one of us? We all know people who've gone through a bad break-up.
Lee: Or this could be an amalgam of all our experiences in one single song.
Bryan: So you're not going to answer the question?
Lenore: No, we're not.
Kelly: You ladies are in the big time now. People want to know.
Anna: Isn't it enough for them to enjoy our song?
Lee: Anyway, every band has to have a break-up song. It's tradition, like smashing up a hotel room or making unreasonable demands before a show.
Belle: It's also tradition not to give too much information about who the break-up song is really about.
Bryan: So it is about one of you!
Anna: Funny, usually everyone thinks the songs are about them.
Lee: "You're so vain..."
Belle: That's not exactly vanity; it's the point.
Lenore: A good song will make you think we wrote it for
you or about you and your experiences.
Kelly: I don't think I've ever had a break-up that bad.
Anna: Well, I would hope not! I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Kelly: Well, influences aside, it does have a different tone than some of your other tracks. But then again, I guess bluesy soul pop was the only way to go?
Lee: Pretty much.
The Inside Story:
The band called Nevermore and the Ravens was uncharacteristically silent. Isabella glanced up at the GPS unit as she navigated the van through an unfamiliar route. Maryann and Leah, in their usual spots in the back seat, idly played games on their phones but weren't really paying attention. And Nora, in the front passenger side, stared out the window.
The GPS didn't steer them wrong and soon the band was passing through a small, old Maine fishing village.
"Fletcher's Cove really defines the word 'quaint,'" Leah said finally.
"It does," Nora agreed.
"It is very pretty," Maryann said. "And there's more sun than I thought. And it's not too hot."
"It is Maine."
"So with you here, that brings up the total African-American population to two?" Leah asked.
"Leah! Why do you say things like that?" Maryann replied.
"I'm trying to be funny. Anyway, Nora looks like I said something funny."
Nora did look amused, but she said nothing.
Isabella drove through the little town and soon turned up a hill that led to a very large and very old manor.
"We've gone from quaint to slightly creepy," Leah said, as they drove through the wrought iron gate with the words 'Castle Hill.' They looked at the imposing edifice. "All it needs is a cliff overlooking the ocean with a dark history of murder and/or suicide."
"Leah!" Isabella snapped.
Nora sighed. "The manor grounds do have that, actually."
"This is totally Lovecraftian."
"No, it's totally Nathaniel Hawthorne. I know Castle Hill Manor looks like the Pyncheon House but it's