An Order of Reflections

The silver Porsche tore along sun-soaked country lanes, passing farmhouses and fields, Eva couldn’t believe this turn of events.  She shot a glance across at her companion as he guided the car, his profile set against the countryside as it flashed by, his dark blue suit, immaculate shirt and cuff-links, she felt as though she were in a film.  Eva smoothed out her skirt and took a deep breath.

That morning, She’d been at the local market shopping for supplies for the meal she was cooking for Jordan that evening.  In her late twenties Eva was ready for more than just dating.  Her marketing job meant she had little spare time, and as she rushed from one assignment to another she felt that life was running away from her.  Earlier that year, she’d created a profile on a popular dating site, and had met Jordan, a firefighter, five or six times over recent months.

The fishmonger’s stall was busy and as Eva had waited in the queue, she’d been distracted by a gentle tap on her shoulder.  Turning around, she’d been met with the sheepish smile of the man she now found herself in the Porsche with.

“Hello,” said the suited stranger, he looked quite out of place in the bustling Saturday market, “I do hope you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you something if that’s okay?”

Caught off guard, Eva left the queue and stepped towards the man.  His dark hair shone in the sunlight and he’d removed a pair of dark glasses to reveal bright blue eyes.  He’d rubbed his face, looking slightly embarrassed.

“How can I help?” Eva asked.

The man looked around as if gathering his thoughts, “I know this sounds crazy, but I’m supposed to be at a wedding today, and well, my date has let me down at the last minute.”

“That’s a shame,” Eva smiled with sympathy, “but what do you want me to do?”

“Please say no if you don’t feel comfortable, but I really can’t turn up on my own.”  The man had an old-fashioned sort of charm and Eva felt instantly attracted.

“You want me to go to the wedding with you?”  Eva suddenly felt foolish at her assumption and began to redden.

“Yes, that’s exactly it.”  The stranger took a step towards her, expectation etched on his face.  “Would you, please?  That would be so wonderfully kind of you.”

 Eva pondered, this sort of thing didn’t happen to real people, maybe in films but certainly not to her.  The thought of Jordan, and the meal that evening suddenly didn’t seem that appealing anymore.

“Yes, I’ll come with you!  But I have nothing to wear…” Eva indicated her jeans and trainers.

“Oh, thank you!” the man smiled broadly.  “And don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything!  I’m Toby by the way, and you are…?”

Pleasantries exchanged, Toby quickly led Eva through town to a small boutique.  That had been just over an hour ago.  Martha, the lady in the boutique, had dressed Eva in a perfectly fitting, exquisite turquoise silk dress with a sequined bag and shoes to match.  The colour brought out the beautiful dark tones of Eva’s hair and eyes and she looked and felt radiant.

Now she and Toby were driving through the countryside.  Eva had tried to find her phone to let Jordan know their date was off.  She was sure she’d put it in the bag with her purse and her keys.  Toby had assured her not to worry.  The phone must be at the boutique, and Toby would make sure they went back there to collect it later.

The Porsche purred, pulling up hills and sailing down valleys. “Thank you so much for helping me out,” Toby glanced across at Eva as they drove over a small stone bridge. ”We’ll be there soon.”

“What sort of place is it?  What will the people be like?” Eva suddenly felt a little nervous.

“You’ll be absolutely fine, you’ll fit in perfectly!”  Toby winked and Eva was immediately assured by his gentlemanly charm, though she couldn’t help questioning her judgement, going off with a strange man.  Just as Eva began to question the morning's events, the car began to slow and Toby pulled up at a huge set of black gates in a forested area.  He leaned out of the window to speak to an intercom, then turned back towards Eva with a smile as the gates opened and the Porsche moved onwards into the dense forest.

The car made its way along the narrow road, sunlight shining down through the canopy.  Eva thought she could see small houses amongst the trees, and pathways weaving their way through the forest.  “Where are we?  I’ve never been here before.” Eva asked as Toby moved the car gently along.

“Not many people have,” replied Toby, “the house has been here for years and the estate stretches for miles.  The couple getting married are lucky to be having their special day here.”  Toby’s tone had taken on a more serious nature.  “I hope you understand, it really is a special place.”

“I’ll consider myself very lucky then!” Eva laughed, but then felt silly and said no more.

As the car emerged from the trees, Eva gasped at the view.  Nestled between two green hills, stood the largest and finest mansion imaginable, with turrets, tall windows, beautiful lawns and fabulous columns framing the doors.  Everything looked perfect as the car crunched down the gravel drive.

“We can leave the car here,” Toby switched off the engine, “someone will come and take it to the garage.”

“You must have been here before?”

“Yes, I’ve been lucky, as you say.” Toby looked at her for what felt like a second too long, and then smiled. “Here,” he reached into the back of the car, “one thing I didn’t mention, but we’ll need to wear these.”  Toby pulled out two black silk bags and handed one to Eva.  She peered into the bag, unsure of what would be inside.

“Okay, now I can see why you didn’t tell me about this!”  Eva held out the mask of a cheetah.  It was beautifully carved from fine, light wood and painted with feline features.  She turned to look at Toby, and was met with the face of a brown labrador.  “That suits you!’ Eva giggled a little nervously, and then fastened the ribbon to secure the cheetah mask to her own face.

As they approached, the doors of the house opened revealing the splendour of the entrance hall inside, marble and gold, a great high ceiling with wide staircases at each side.  The hall was filled with noise from a huge gathering of people.  Men all in tailored navy blue suits, with pristine white shirts, and women wearing turquoise silk dresses, dresses just like the one that Eva was wearing, and every single person wore a mask, rabbits, bears, chickens, hamsters, lions and wolves, every creature imaginable.  A whole cacophony of curious animals in blue suits and turquoise dresses.

“What the..?” Eva took a step back but was caught by Toby.

“You’ll be fine, don’t worry, I said you’d fit in didn’t I?”

The sound of a bell from somewhere in the roof made a loud clanging that filled the hall, and the people fell silent.  As the bell struck its last note, a portly looking man wearing a wild boar mask made his way down the right-hand staircase and stopped half way.  “Everyone!” he boomed to the crowd below, “The time has come for the festivities, and for the wonderful union of Morgan and Kate to take place!  Please, make your way to the ceremonial room!”

The hushed crowd of blue and turquoise creatures moved to the far corner of the hall and filed out through a heavy oak door.  A sound of harps filtered through the rafters and Eva glanced up towards Toby, as with his hands on her waist, he ushering her to follow the crowd.

Eva followed the bustling sea of masked guests into a grand room, her heart pounding with excitement and a little unease.  The place was lavish, adorned with silver and hues of blue and green.  At the far end stood a stage draped in deep purple curtains, where a man in a lion mask and a woman in a mouse mask held hands.

“I’ll find our seats,” said Toby, “I’ll just be one moment,” and he headed over towards a seating plan mounted on the wall.  Feeling self conscious and out of place, Eva followed, making her way through the people to stand behind Toby’s shoulder.  Toby was tracing his finger over the plan, trying to find his name, then he stopped and tapped the plan on table number eight.  Eva could see the name ‘Toby’ above where his finger had stopped, next to it was the name ‘Eva’.

Toby turned round, almost bumping into Eva.  “Table eight,” he said, taking her arm, “we’re on table eight.”  Eva sensed a degree of irritation in Toby’s voice and regretted following him. They made their way through the huge room to their table near the stage.

Toby pulled out a chair for Eva, “How did they know to put my name on the table?” she asked as he took his seat to her right.

Toby leaned towards her, his labrador mask close to her face. "They’re very efficient here.  Now just relax and enjoy.  The ceremony is about to begin."

The man in the wild boar mask was now on the stage with the lion and mouse, presumably Kate and Morgan.  The multitude of masked people, now all seated at their tables became quiet, their attention focused on the stage.  Eva wished she had her phone with her so she could take some pictures, no one was ever going to believe her when she told them about this wedding.

What followed was the most unusual wedding ceremony that Eva had ever seen.  The wild boar man who Toby told her was called Bertrand, presided over the proceedings, reading out the conditions of the marriage, which included all the usual things but with additions such as ‘to live as my mask’ and ‘to honour the mask of my beloved’ which Eva though was rather over the top.  She’d heard of themed weddings, but this one really did take it to the extreme.

Bertrand turned to Morgan and Kate, “A marriage must be sealed with a kiss, so that we can commence our celebration.”  At this point, Eva noticed what looked like children, all of them dressed in blue smocks, and peacock masks, bringing glasses of champagne to the guests.  “We shall toast the happy couple,” continued Bertrand, “as they seal their union.  But of course, we cannot do this wearing our depictions of who we are.  We must remove our masks and join together!”  Bertrand then motioned to the couple on the stage and to the crowd, and began to unfasten his mask.

Eva watched in anticipation at seeing the couple’s faces and her fingers trembled as she began to untie her mask.  She looked from Bertrand, to Morgan, perhaps they were father and son?  But then Kate.  Eva’s heart nearly stopped, it was like looking in a mirror, perhaps a little younger but nevertheless, Kate was the very image of Eva.  Eva looked across at the woman sitting opposite her as she removed her dolphin mask, to reveal a likeness that could be Eva herself, but older with fine lines across her face.  Her eyes darted to Toby, who had removed his mask to reveal the face from earlier, but his face was mirrored by the men surrounding her, all with dark hair, and piercing blue eyes.  "This can’t be real," Eva whispered, panic rising.

Eva moved to stand and leave, her world spun as she looked from one identical face to another.  This was too much.  Was this some sort of trick or mad prank?  She looked up towards the stage where Morgan and Kate were now in the raptures of a long and deep kiss, their masks dangling from their hands, as Bertrand looked on, clapping and smiling and raising a toast to the guests below.  “To Morgan and Kate!” he shouted.

“Morgan and Kate!” cheered the crowd, as they stood and raised their glasses.  Toby drank from his glass and then firmly grabbed Eva’s wrist and pulled her back into her seat.

Eva turned to Toby, tears pricked her eyes.  “You’ve tricked me,” she gasped, “you’ve brought me to some sort of… what the hell is this?  What’s going on Toby?”

“Take it easy, here, take a sip of this,” Toby handed her the glass of bubbling champagne.  Eva grabbed it and knocked it back in one.  She needed to get out of here.

Eva could feel soft cotton sheets as she rubbed her eyes.  Her head felt thick and heavy, what time was it?  She looked at her watch, ten-thirty, was that morning or night?  There wasn’t much light and all she could fathom was that she was in bed and she felt terrible.

“Hello sleepy head”, a familiar voice.  “I wondered if you’d ever wake up.”

“Toby?”  A dim light gradually lit the room, coming from a tall lamp in the corner, underneath sat Toby, was it Toby?  “How?  What?  How do I know that you’re Toby?  What the hell?”  Eva was coming round now and her mind raced back to the wedding and the faces, oh god, the faces…

“Yes it’s me, see,” Toby produced his labrador mask, “I’m the only brown labrador here.  I’m sorry about earlier,” he said softly.  At this Eva pulled herself round out of the bed, glad to find that she was still clothed.  The sense of unease that she’d felt earlier returned with full force and she felt sick, panic grabbed her by the throat and shook her.

“Please Toby, just let me go.  I won’t say a word, just let me go home, please?”

“You have a choice,” Toby walked across the room and sat on the bed next to her.  “There’s a choice for you to make that could change your life forever.”

“Choice, what choice?” Eva was breathless, her throat tight.

“Let me explain,” Toby continued, his voice low.  “This place was bought by Bertrand’s great grandparents Albert and Mary in the mid-nineteenth century.  They were wealthy from birth, but had become disillusioned with society’s fixation on appearances.  They bought this place in order to create a new sort of society.  They named it the Order of Peacocks, a strange nod to such vain creatures.  Their aim was to create a place where everyone was the same, not judged for their looks, but by their character.  So, with Victorian determination, they set about building a community of people who looked just as they did.  People from all walks of life from neighbouring towns and villages with the right sort of features were identified and brought here and stayed as they were offered everything they could ever want.  Each person would be given a mask, a creature that would show their true character, so they could never be judged or admired for their human looks alone.  Children were educated and raised in the woodland communities and on reaching adulthood, received their masks and moved into the house with the rest of the Order.  Over time, Albert and Mary developed genetic processes that refined the looks of each child born here until they achieved their dream of creating a legacy of a perfect society.”

“So this is some sort of crazy genetic experiment?  Well, I want no part of it!”  Tears poured down Eva’s face.

“Here, take this,” Toby offered a handkerchief.  “Please, let me finish.  Recently there has been an imbalance in our society, with not enough girls.  Bertrand set on special envoys such as myself, to find new members, to join us here.  Finding you was quite easy, your dating site profile provided a perfect picture of you physically and gave a wonderful insight into your character.  That’s why I chose the cheetah mask for you.”

“What, spotty with long legs?!”  Eva blew her nose into the handkerchief, realisation beginning to take hold.  Toby took her hand and looked at her, almost pleading.

“Spirited, clever, fast, a survivor.  A perfect mask for you Eva.  Your life has been out of control though hasn’t it?  You work yourself to death, and you feel the only way you can find a soulmate is through a dating site.  You’ve had so little time to create a life for yourself that is truly worth living.”

“What are you saying Toby?  You want me to live here?”

“It’s up to you to decide what you want.”  Toby looked into her eyes searchingly.  “I can arrange to return you to the life you had if that’s what you want.  But what I can offer you here is something completely different.  The Order of Peacocks will take care of you for the rest of your life if you choose.  We have many people that we care for on the outside too, people born here who did not have the right features, we set them up with homes and a means of making a living.  Martha at the boutique for example.”

Eva stared at him, her mind racing. “Why me?  Apart from my face of course.”

Toby sighed. “Because you’re perfect for this, Eva.  Just like I was.”  Toby picked up the cheetah mask that was lying on a table at the side of the bed.  “Take this and think about the future you could have, beautiful Eva.”

Eva held the fine wooden mask in her hands, feeling its warmth and smooth contours.  She looked at Toby, searching his face for the man behind the mask.  An unexpected calm settled over her and she smiled.