Kerry looked behind them again, and stared up at Dar, unable to come up with a response. “Uh.”
“Anyway.” Dar said. “Maybe I just imagined it all. Let's go in there and see what we find.” She focused her attention on the crowd, which had filtered in through the wrought iron gates into the garden. “Maybe it was just a draft from between those two buildings.”
Kerry latched onto her arm and collected her scattered wits. She edged into the garden and peered around, half expecting to see a tall, spectral figure watching them from between the bushes.
The guide was speaking, relating some details about the life of the Frenchman as they walked between the high hedges, but Kerry was convinced she kept seeing whispers of motion in her peripheral vision and as she realized that, she felt her heart start to beat faster.
Dar was strolling along at her side, turning her head to look between the flowers, and reaching out idly with her free hand to touch the petals stained gray by the night gloom.
A frog croaked to the left, and Kerry almost jumped into Dar's arms, bumping her partner abruptly and making her take a little hop. “Oh.. sorry.” She muttered. “Stupid frog.”
Dar moved, shifting her hand off Kerry's back as she draped her arm over the smaller woman's shoulders instead. “No problem, babe.” She looked up into the sky. “Was that a bat?”
“Are you trying to freak me out?” Kerry said, after a pause.
“No...am I?” Dar responded. “I really just did think I saw one.”
Kerry looked up herself, and sucked in a breath as a shadowy figure fluttered overhead, moving from one tree to another. “Oh!”
“Yeah, that's what I saw.” Dar had also been watching. “That's a bat, right? Not a bird?”
Kerry looked at the tree, then she let her eyes drop and she jerked as her gaze fell on a translucent form, with moonlight pouring through it, staring at them. “Ah!”
Then it was gone. “Did you see that?” She whispered to Dar.
Dar was half turned, her blue eyes grayish silver in the gloom. “I just saw some fog.” She said, after a moment. “What did you see?”
Kerry looked back over, and saw fog too. It was just a light mist, drifting between the bushes and she hesitated, now doubting what she herself had seen. “Well.”
“So sometimes, people walking in the garden so encounter the Frenchman.” The guide was saying, enjoying the wide eyes of his audience. “He's always dressed in a cutaway coat, and a cravat. Let's move on and see if we can find him.”
Had she seen something? Or was her imagination just working in overdrive? Kerry tried to recall what she thought she'd seen, but the more she looked at the fog, the less she was convinced she'd seen anything at all. After a moment, she relaxed and walked along with Dar after the group, most of whom were starting to huddle together.
They could hear the sounds of music getting louder, and as they reached the other end of the garden, the guide was almost having to shout over it. Kerry looked quickly behind her as they moved out back into the street, but the garden was quiet, and empty of anything but moonbeams and some fog.
But she felt strange. She took a breath and let it out, following Dar as they caught up to the back of the tour group on their way to the next station. Despite the empty trees she had the uncanny sensation that she was being watched, and no matter how quickly she glanced around she couldn't find a concrete set of eyes pointed in her direction.
“Ker?”
“Yeah.” Kerry cleared her throat and tucked her hand inside Dar's elbow again. “Hon, next time just tell me to go find an ice cream parlor, okay?”
Dar chuckled.
“What in the hell was I thinking?”
Dar leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Relax.” She told her partner. “Whatever comes out of the ether at you, I'll take care of it, promise.”
Kerry was glad of the reassurance when the guide took them down a narrow lane, and between towering buildings to stop at one, with a wrought iron balcony not too different from the one at their hotel. It was dark, and the wind was chill, and she kept hearing things being blown around behind her.
Leaves? She moved a bit closer to Dar. Sure. Leaves.
She heard a scuff and a crunch, and she half turned, to see a shadowy form that nearly made her guts come out of her ears before her brain sorted it out and she realized it was a dog. “Hey, looks like Chino.”
Dar turned her head, and smiled. “It does.” She agreed. “Glad it wasn't the Hound of the Baskervilles?”
Kerry cleared her throat and focused her attention forward. “Yes.”
Dar pulled her closer. “Chill, Ker, chill.”
“I feel kind of like a dork.” Kerry sighed, as they came up to the back of the group who had stopped on the sidewalk.
“So, we come to the tale of the Mad Butcher.” The guide began. “Many cities have a legend of a Mad Butcher, but here in New Orleans it takes on a different tune because of course, it also includes sausages, and a mistress. So here we go.”
“Hm.” Dar grunted softly.
“Back in the day, there was a butcher who lived in that house, with his wife, and his factory. He made the best pork sausages in town, and everyone bought from him. The butcher was happy, but as the years went on, and he and his wife got older, he began to tire of her.”
“I don't think I want to listen to this one.” Kerry said, with a faint grimace. “I can see where it's going.”
“You want to duck out?” Dar asked. “It's just a short walk back to the hotel.”
Kerry thought about it, then she nodded. “It's late, I”m really tired and my mind is going in circles.” She apologized. “Maybe we can try another tour tomorrow night.”
“No problem.” Dar guided her away from the back of the crowd, and down the next side street. As they moved along it, the music got louder and they saw bright lights and something big moving. “Hey, a parade.” She pointed. “That's a lot more cheerful than creeps.”
Kerry was glad to leave the spooks behind as they turned at the corner of Canal Street and saw a long cavalcade of floats and marchers, all in lurid, pungent colors, brass instruments blaring. “Oh yeah, this is better.” She eased in beside Dar near the edge of the street, smiling as one of the floats came even with them, full of revelers in masks. “Oh, those are pretty.”
It was all very frenetic. Kerry wasn't sure who or what the float was supposed to represent, but there were members on the floats and they were throwing things to the crowd with distinct enthusiasm. Strings of beads, round metal bits, cups, stuffed animals...
“Look out.” Dar's reflexes saved her from being bonked by a flying disk. Then she put her hands up and found them ringed by strings of beads that wrapped around her wrists.
“Hey babe!” One of the float members yelled, looking right at her. “Smile!”
Kerry did, and was rewarded with a tossed cup. “Holy crap.” She said, as the float passed. “What the hell is all this?”
“They're called throws.” Dar was laughing. “Hey, at least they didn't ask you to take off your shirt.” She dropped the disk into Kerry's cup, and took the beads from her, putting the around her neck “C'mon, hot stuff. Let's see what other swag we can get.”
Kerry felt the shadows fall away from her thoughts, and she grinned, seeing rows and rows of spectators also covered in beads, necklaces, and a range of other gaudy decorations. They were also yelling at the parade. “What are they all shouting?”'
“Morpheus.” Dar said, knowledgeably. “That's the group that's doing this parade.” She explained “Each parade is sponsored by a society of volunteers.. they're called krewes.”
Kerry studied the oncoming marchers. “They just all do this for fun?”