Married in Green

**Married in Green** is an InCryptid short story. It is the fifth in the Jonathan and Frances Shorts.

## Synopsis

After a rocky start and a lot of dangerous adventures, the day everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived: Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown are going to be married, and none too soon, since their first child is set to arrive at any moment. Alexander and Enid couldn't be happier about their son gaining a wife and a child, while giving them a daughter-in-law. The mice have been celebrating for weeks. If only Jonathan and Fran were so sure...

Marriage is a big step, and Fran is terrified of what her future will bring. Is this her happily ever after, or just one more short-term home in a long string of the same? Help comes in the form of her old circus friends...but that just raises more questions. Will she ever be happy holding still? And what does it mean to be married in green?

You are cordially invited to join the Healys and the members of the Campbell Family Carnival on the joyous event of the marriage of Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown. Assuming they go through with it.

Everything changes today.

## Plot

Frances Brown, eight months pregnant, prepares for her wedding day. She became pregnant before she became engaged, and Enid had to tell Jonathan to just propose already. Mishaps and cryptid calls have delayed the date several times now, but it's finally time for the ceremony.

Fran discovers her old friend Juniper in the kitchen and learns that the delays had been intentional as Jonathan tracked down the Campbell Family Circus, now Carnival. Juniper absolves Fran of being involved in Paul Campbell's death, as he was letting people be killed for the sake of a profit.

Juniper reacquaints Fran with the carnival, then reads her tarot cards in a spread resembling the Celtic Cross:

* The Signifier: You carry the west with you.
* The Present Course: You still have choices. You can walk away, if that’s what you decide.
* The Choice: Two roads diverged, and a path that must be chosen.
* The Choice Once Made: You’ll have your share of ghosts if you stay here.
* (Unknown): You’ll hunt monsters all your life; you’ll die with a gun in your hand, and you won’t have any time for regrets...that’s what waits for you here.
* (Unknown): Married in green, you’ll not long be seen.

Fran assures Juney that she never expected to grow into old age, and that staying in Buckley was worth the risks.

Meanwhile, Jonathan worries that Fran will see sense and leave him for the carnival. His parents talk him down. Fran and Juniper return, and Fran introduces Juney to the Aeslin mice.

Early the next morning, Juniper and Jonathan encounter one another in the kitchen. Juniper tells Jonathan that Fran loves him and asks him to take care of her.

Before the wedding, the mice thank Fran for bringing Johnny happiness. Several delegates hide in her clothes to witness the ceremony, and Alexander walks her down the aisle of the carnival to be married.

## Characters

* Frances Brown
* Jonathan Healy
* Enid Healy
* Alexander Healy
* Juniper Campbell
* Unitarian minister

**Mentioned**

* Paul Campbell
* Elmer

## Field Guide

* Aeslin Mice

**Mentioned**

* "giant monster bats" (possibly Ahool?)
* Gorgon
* Questing Beast
* Werewolf
* Basilisk
* Hedge witch

## Locations

* Buckley Township, Michigan
	+ Healy Home

**Mentioned**

* Boggsville, Colorado
* Ann Arbor, Michigan

## Trivia

* The tarot cards Juniper uses are not part of a standard tarot deck, but are of her own invention.

## Pop Culture

* Out Where the West Begins
* Sweet Margaret by the Hanging Tree
* The Road Not Taken
* A Boat Beneath the Sunny Sky
* Supposing
* Married in Green