The Packhorseman

14. Verona

14 Verona As William read the final pages of Romeo and Juliet, tears came to his eyes. Otter Queen saw it happen. “How could words on paper bring a man to tears?” she asked. “It is time for you to tell me this story. It must be a terrible one if it makes you cry.” “It is sad,” he said, “but it is not terrible. It has a strange effect. It has made me feel that I am larger and wiser than I was before I read it.” “Then you must tell it to me,” she said.“I told you about the trouble between the Wolves and the Birds, now you must tell me this story.” “You might be disappointed,” he warned her. “Much of this will be strange to you.The world of Old Verona is not like the world of Keowee.” “Verona,” said Otter Queen, trying out the new word. “Is this a town in Scotland?” “No, it is in Italy.” “Is that near England?” William drew in a long breath and slowly let it out again. “It is difficult to tell you about the world I came from. Italy is not near England. England and Scotland are right next to each other, but Italy is farther away. But Italy is closer to England than it is to Keowee. So perhaps it is not wrong to say that it is near England. Now here is the story. Once upon a time in Verona.” “In Italy,” Otter Queen added. “Yes, once upon a time in Verona, in Italy, there were two clans, the Montagues and the Capulets. There was trouble between them, not unlike the trouble between the Birds and the Wolves in Keowee. Whenever the young men of one clan happened upon the young men of the other clan in the streets, they would taunt each other into anger, and fighting would break out. They 174 / Chapter 14 were disturbing the peace of Verona, and the townspeople had grown weary of it.” “I thought you said it would be strange to me,” said Otter Queen. “It is just like here, except that the Birds and the Wolves do not break out into fighting. Not in the open.They fight each other with conjury.” “Just wait,” said William. “Some of this will be strange. One day the Prince of Verona found the young men of the two clans at each other’s throats in the streets, and he gave a warning to both clans. If they ever disturbed the peace again, he thundered, he would execute the combatants on the spot.” “Kill them?” “Yes, hang them by their necks.” “How does the Prince of Verona have such power?” asked Otter Queen. “King Crow would never say such a thing to the young men of Keowee, not even if he had the power of the English behind him. It is up to the clans to restore order on their own.” “I told you it would be strange. Where I come from, many people think the Prince’s power comes from God. He can do almost anything he wants. But let me get back to my story. It so happened that Romeo of the Montague clan went to a masquerade—a place of music and dance—put on by the Capulets.” “A feast,” said Otter Queen. “We would call that a feast. Everyone likes to come out and eat someone else’s cooking.” “Yes, a feast,” said William. “Romeo and his friends went to this Capulet feast wearing masks so that none would recognize them as Montagues. Juliet was a daughter of the Capulets. She was young and very beautiful—like you. The moment Romeo set eyes on her, he forgot about every other woman in the world. He was just as I was when I first saw you. And as Juliet danced, she saw that his eyes were fixed on her. She thought he was very handsome.” “But he had on a mask,” said Otter Queen. “Not one that covered all of his face like a Cherokee mask. It only covered the part around his eyes. She could see that he was handsome.” “It must have been a raccoon mask,” said Otter Queen. William laughed. “Yes, he was like a raccoon, with black around his eyes. So she saw him and she liked him—she liked his looks, just as he liked hers. So they moved closer to each other until they were able to find a private place where...