Many years would pass before the company returned to Venance and in that time Jacques taught Archie the magic of the mask. In his simple mask he learned to portray all the classic character types. He learned to play the sincere, the insincere, the hapless, the hopeful, the superstitious, the faultfinder, and the flatterer, the greedy penny pincher, and the generous benefactor. He learned that masks cannot be separated from their characters. He came to understand that the character and the mask are one in the same and that the actor makes it all come to life.
He graduated quickly to the more complex character portrayals. The fabricator of lies, the creature of petty ambition, the cowardly villain, and the arrogant hero. From the repulsive creature without moral feelings and the basely covetous boor, to the endearing fool and the hopeless romantic, he grasped each character trait until they became his own. In that way as an actor he could always deliver a character suitable to the moment. In that way as an artist he could bring life to his mask.
On their return to Venance there was a rehearsal for a special performance the following day. Archie had become a phenomenon in their small part of the world. He played all the great roles and was very popular on the tour. His success seemed assured and secured. Jacques decided it was time for the Company to make a change.
As they waited their turn to rehearse on the stage of the Adelphian Playhouse, the largest theatre in Venance, Archie and Jacques sat in the dark of the highest balcony seats and watched a ballerina dancing on the boards down below.
Fate is a beautiful creature Archie.
The sprightly fawn on stage was graceful.
She floats on the ocean waves and glides through the water at the helm of the great ship Destiny.
She executed the dance with elegance.
She’s there, day and night, looking out for us. Making sure our journeys are righteous.
Archie had never seen such a graceful figure.
The time has come for the company to make its way to the new world.
Jacques said with a hint of sadness.
Our performance tomorrow will be our last here.
The fawn finished her dance and those few in attendance applauded as Jacques delivered the rest of his news.
We artists are an adventurous lot, Archie. We must explore. We must discover. We must observe and experience in order to create.
Jacques took his adopted son by the shoulder.
And now it’s our turn, and yours.
Archie knew he couldn’t leave with them. The now mature young fox would stay behind to make his own way and to keep searching for his family.
Jacques then imparted his last advice
Live a glorious and extraordinary life, my boy.
He said with a tear and a smile.
Seek your fortune and your bliss with abandon.
Two days later the entire company, minus one, of the Jacques Burdick Traveling Repertory Dell’arte boarded the merchant vessel Surprise and sailed off toward the horizon. The fox had lost another family, but he was better off for having known them.
Archie Leach went from company to company and knocked on many doors. He auditioned at every theatre that would let him try, and he was turned away at every opportunity. Masks were considered a thing of the past. What the public wanted now was spectacle. Archie’s big break never came. His unique skills were no longer required. Eventually, he began to sing songs and dance on street corners for money. Ashamed of what he had to do he put his mask away.
Archie entered a bad time in his journey. He was lonely and tired of searching for a career that would never happen and a family he was convinced was better off without him. He visited many taverns. He began to drink. Heavily. He found himself with the wrong creatures and a life of petty crime quickly found him, as did the women. And they were all the wrong kind. He gambled when he could, and consistently lost his money when he did.
With no money for lodgings the great Archie Leach took to sleeping in alleys and gutters that ended in dead end streets. It was on one of these streets in the gambling mecca of Gaffle that the fox met an albino bear and an owl, or as they were known in their circles, the Chief and the Linguist.
Good evening, brother.
The bear poked the fox with his silver walking stick.
Good evening.
Archie slurred.
Are you here to rob and beat me?
The fox inquired.
That might indeed be our intent on this fine night.
The bear said with a laugh.
Are you going to kill me?
Archie asked.
While my associate and I may be so inclined,
The bear began.
And we are.
The owl chimed in.
What with the disposal of your body.
The bear stated as he lit a cigar.
Messy business that.
The owl agreed.
And the lateness of the hour.
The bear looked at the owl’s pocket watch.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
The owl chided as he snapped it shut.
We simply do not have the time.
With that the bear lit his large roll of tobacco.
Pity that.
Archie sighed.
Do you wish us to kill you?
The owl asked with surprise.
It’s more of an immediate desire to reach an inevitable conclusion.
The world weary fox explained.
Your desperation intrigues me.
The bear moved in closer.
Search my pockets. You’ll find nothing there but dust.
And to dust you shall return.
The owl added with a sneer.
Is it your plan to talk me to death?
The fox drunkenly snapped back.
What were you before you were this, brother?
The bear asked as Archie struggled to his feet.
I’m a ne’er do well actor.
The owl and the bear shared a glance.
Are you any good?
The owl asked, as he moved closer to the bear.
I’m the best. It’s a horrible gift.
The bear was staring at the drunk and puffing away like a chimney.
Acting is the very art of duplicity, Chief.
The owl whispered to the bear and the bear agreed.
My associate and I may have a use for your skills.
The fox walked with them and without much fanfare he joined up with a group of singular con artists and independent grifters known as the Organization. Archie Leach would now be known only as the Actor, and the Chief and the Linguist became his next mentors.
Everyone knows that bears are powerful, grounded and introspective creatures with deep thoughts, and that owls are highly intelligent and crafty creatures with an air of mystery that speaks of secrets. Though generally solitary and quiet, bears are natural leaders that derive their strength from within. Owls of course are known to be wise. They look from within and without and can always sense deceit and dishonesty. Many say you can never lie to a bear because they will always know. Many say you can never keep a secret from an owl because they will always find it.
As their leader, the bear always stayed on the up and up and was rarely ever seen. No criminal activity was directly connected to him in any way. He was a big white shadow that never committed any wrongdoing but masterminded and funded all the swindles. The owl was the direct contact for the Organization’s criminal operations and stratagem. He selected the marks and the personnel for each customized deception.
The Linguist did all the talking and had a mental portfolio of fellow bunko artists to pick from that consisted of the finest scammers ever
known. The Chief had grand ideas and con game tricks honed over decades as an independent grifter that drove the Organization’s philosophy of the true con artist helping the world by revealing its vices and weaknesses. In reality the Organization was taking what they wanted from whomever they needed to take it from.
Once the mark had been chosen and the bamboozle designed, the selected team, known as Associates, would meet at the Gaffle Canine Track and Field Stadium. While the competitors ran their heats and final races, associates would come and go, appearing to gamble on the outcomes just like any other visitor to the dog races. While there, the criminal cohorts would actually be receiving their meticulous timetables, character assignments, and carefully written scripts.
The con game was theatre in a different light, without a static stage, without a net, and with a very specific audience of one as its focus. The cons and their tricks were used to exploit characteristics of a creature’s innate nature. These natures all fell within the character archetypes that Archie had studied for his craft. Theatre and the con game seemed at times to be one and the same. Both were productions with rehearsals and written plays and openings, but the con game was dangerous and exacted a price. For the Chief and the Linguist this was their craft and its morality revolved around the belief that choices are neither good nor bad, they are only actions taken.
Archie as the Actor participated in several confidence schemes. He took to the work quickly and with a smooth expertise. He played every part offered to him and did all the foundation work for each con he was involved in. He began with the short cons that targeted suckers for whatever they had on them, or available in the bank. When he became trusted he took part in the long cons that took days, weeks, and in some cases months before they reached the big pay off.
The latest long con that was about to play out was a medical one. A small plague of sorts was coming to the city of Champagne. Its wealthy residents were about to be sold a cure in advance of the madness and death to come. Everyone in this city of affluence and abundance was wealthy. Even the servants to the rich had wealth. The payoff was enormous, but the Organization would take the residents for a relatively small percentage of their overall wealth. Archie was no longer interested in the life of a grifter and was growing tired of the excuses he was being given for thieving.
Most of the crew was already starting to take on their roles as physicians from the Crown with a warning. The rest would be arriving shortly with a solution and a price. The con was so large that shills were required. Accomplices would have to be brought in to play plague survivors with nothing but truth and positivity for the event and the cure in order to manipulate the target. In this case the mark was Count Emile de Champagne.
Archie had done the foundation work he was famous for on Champagne and all its residents. The city itself rose up from nowhere. Located not far from the capital of Largess on what was considered to be a massive tract of untamable swampland architect, Emile de Champagne began to build his city. This gifted and bold fox wanted to create a place that would be a modern sister city to the old world design of Largess. He wanted to build a bright shining capital for a new and growing Empire.
Emile proceeded with the blessings of the Crown and Champagne began to grow. So beautiful and dramatic were his designs of glass and steel that a who’s who of creatures vied to become residents. The demand became so great that prices surged and Champagne began to become occupied by only those who could afford its allure. Construction and expansion became the city’s economic sustenance and Champagne continued to grow and gain wealth.
The Royal House of Catamount was impressed, and Queen Anastasia conferred upon Emile the honorary title of Count for special services rendered to the Crown and the Empire. A widowed father who never remarried, he asked that the title of Countess be given to his only child. The Countess Aimee de Champagne was considered to be the most beautiful creature in all of Champagne and Archie fell in love with her the moment they first met. And she fell in love with him.
In order for the con to work the Count had to believe his city was in danger, that the Crown was offering its assistance, and that money was part of the solution. The Actor took on the lead role of Anthony Christopher, the Medical Adviser to the Queen. He was young for the part, but the script characterized him as young and daring, with new ideas. Traits that Count Emile would understand and gravitate towards. The Actor was also to be flirtatious and even seduce the Count’s daughter if necessary in order to win the charms of the family.
Anthony and Aimee spent a great deal of time together. She was proud of her father’s accomplishments and the city he built. She enjoyed touring Anthony through the vast city and he in turn relished every moment spent with her. Their flirtation began subtly but quickly. They shared many of the same interests and a rousing sense of humor. The laughter and the attraction was difficult for either one to resist.
The Actor as Anthony was welcomed into the family de Champagne. It felt good for the fox to be in a family of foxes. He began to remember how much he had given up to live a unique life. As he shared talks and meals and gatherings with them, his heart grew heavy. The fox enjoyed being with them but as they drew him closer, he began to feel more separate and apart. Even among his own kind he still didn’t feel as if he fit in.
Then came the night Aimee and Anthony spoke of love. It couldn’t be helped. It was a force between them. They admitted their feelings for one another. They admitted to an ache and a longing when they were apart. They had become each other’s beloved companions. They kissed for the first time. It was a small sweet and gentle meeting of their lips, but the wave of loving energy that passed between them made it remarkable. They both parted that night of one mind for the present but with separate thoughts for the future.
Archie thought the Countess deserved so much better than a vagabond fox with no hopes and no future but a life of lies and deception. She would never understand or forgive his past. She would never be able to see past that and into a future for them both. A masquerade ball was to be held to celebrate the arrival of the cure in advance of the plague. It would also provide the large distraction needed to get every associate of the Organization out of Champagne cleanly. The Actor would take advantage of the moment to right many wrongs.
Archie had worn many masks, but he had never crafted one himself. He needed the perfect mask to match the perfect performance. He needed to create a cover that would hide love and fool a dear heart. The acting would have to be flawless in order to mask his true feelings for the one he loved. The loved one he would deceive to set her free. The performance would have to be duplicitous. The performance would have to be a lie.
Upon her arrival at the ball, and before entering the Champagne Pavilion of Dreams where it was to be had, the Countess was met by a physician wearing a plague mask. She would remember two things from the encounter. The first being how much the mask made the doctor look like a crow and the other was the terrible news he brought with him.
The doctor was there to inform her that Anthony Christopher had succumbed to symptoms of the plaque. He had died just hours ago. The doctor assured the Countess that she was in no danger now that the cure had arrived. He continued to reassure her, but Aimee was gazing at the doctor longingly.
Did you think you could hide from me behind a mask?
She suddenly asked.
There’s a look in your eyes that your heart can’t disguise.
The fox was speechless.
Do you think I want to lose you?
No.
Do you want to lose me?
Never.
Aimee removed the Actors mask.
Investing in my heart is a foolish endeavor.
Archie explained.
One in which I am willing to invest with all my heart.
She implored.
I wish I could tell you that th
is is where they kissed and all was made whole again. With all my heart I wish I could tell you that was what happened. But it never did. As your storyteller I wish that I could tell you that I hadn’t fooled her completely. But that wouldn’t be true.
Matters of the heart are complicated affairs. They can scratch and bite and tear at one’s soul. But they can also be glorious and liberating and life affirming. Love won or lost is love still had, and that stays with a being until the day they die. Everything in Archie’s life would change and be transformed with this affair of the heart but one thing would remain a constant. Archie would always love Aimee, but she would never be his again.
When great love is denied something dies in the male of a species and that makes them ache for escape and so the fox left it all behind once more. On the same night that Benjamin Nightthorn’s family was murdered under the big top, the Actor was escaping under the cover of dark. It was time for him to travel now, not to the new world, but across the Empire.
With his plan in place the fox left Champagne and began his long walk. He had traveled a few miles when he found himself standing at another crossroads but this time he was not alone. He had spotted two figures standing there from some ways back. They hadn’t moved as Archie continued moved closer. They seemed just as determined to wait for the fox as he was to get away from them.
Then there they all stood.
Look who it is, boss.
The owl said with feigned surprise.
I believe it’s the Actor in our employ.
The Demise of Foxy Jack (Adventures of the X Pirates Book 1) Page 5