5
The next day I decided to go back and visit Beatrice. Maybe she had some of the answers I had been searching for. Maybe she would know something about the book that Ultan had mentioned.
As I entered the smoky shop, I heard a light chime from above the door. I hadn’t noticed that the day before but I guessed it's because I was so wrapped up in Joy bringing me in here and I didn't want to go. I couldn't figure out what had been keeping me from entering the store the day before but today it seemed welcoming not smoggy. The shop was still totally full of crap but this time it felt cozy instead of cluttered and claustrophobic. I looked around and noticed that most of the blinds were open today, allowing for some natural light to shine in. Beatrice came shuffling around from the back room, turning her head this way and that. I couldn't tell if she was completely blind or if she just used her emotion tracker to find people but she quickly realized who the visitor was. “Paige, isn't it?”
“Yes ma'am,” I nodded. “I was wondering if you could do something for me.”
She smiled a small thin line and rested her hands on the counter. “You better come with me child.”
She tightened her shawls around her shoulders and shuffled into the back room through the beaded chains. I quickly followed her, my feet making creaking noises on the old hardwood floor as I walked. I dipped my head through the hanging beads and entered a dark room with overstuffed chairs and a small table in the middle. Sitting in the center of it was a round, pearl colored globe.
“I thought you read emotions, not fortunes.”
She sat down gingerly in the red chair behind the globe. Even with all her shawls, she still seemed small. “Sometimes I do both. When spirits call me to. You shouldn't be concerned with the spirits child, they don't seek to harm you.”
I tilted my head. “Someone wants to hurt me?” These were the answers I'd been looking for. Either Beatrice was a total crackpot, or she was speaking more sense than anyone else had.
“Fire and ice do not mix well. Your mother knew that, it's why you haven't visited here in quite a while, isn't it?”
I shook my head. “I don't think I understand. I came here to ask you about a book.”
“A book? Your family's book?”
“Sure.” She sounded like she knew she was talking about, I could go with that.
“And how did you hear about this book?”
I didn't want involve Ultan, I wasn't sure that he would appreciate me outing his rumors. “Gran mentioned it once. But she can't find it. Any idea where it might be?”
She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair making me feel as though she could tell I was lying. “Aine knows where the book is. She would never misplace such an important artifact. She does not however, know that you are going to find it.”
I swallowed hard. “Beatrice is there something I should know?”
She shook her head slowly back and forth. “There's nothing more I can tell you child. A family must take care of their own. Yours will choose when the time is right, but be wary Paige, they do not fear the danger among them. They may wait too long. Your protector knows that. It's why he's come for you. You should embrace him.”
One person came to my mind. Ultan. “How will he protect me?”
“Depends on his task. I see much work in his future. But he will try to break the laws. And laws cannot be broken.” She turned her head once more and tilted it as if she were listening. “You must go. Do not come here again, they are watching.”
Fear and confusion had my feet glued to the ground and I was afraid to move scared I would fall over.
The old woman stood up from her chair and stuck her hand up at me. It was only then that I noticed the pentagram tattoo etched into her palm. “GO!” She said it so forcefully for such a small soft-spoken woman that I immediately obeyed. I was outside and walking away from the shop without even realizing what had happened. Beatrice may have been a crazy old lady, but she saw something in Ultan that I hadn't. He was going to keep me safe from whatever she feared so much.
I thought I could begin to ask Gran what was going on when I realized she had left for her weekly poker tournament, though she told everyone she was going to high tea. I felt a chill of loneliness in the large mansion. I really hadn’t explored it much since I’d arrived and all I kept thinking about was Ultan talking about a book that Gran had. Beatrice believed Gran knew where it was hidden, and the only place I could think of that Gran would trust would be her own home. So I decided to take her keys out of the side table in the foyer and do some digging around.
I started upstairs, searching the bedrooms. I figured if anything of value was still left in the house it would be up there. I found my mother’s childhood bedroom first. With pink walls and delicate white furniture I knew it had to be a little girl’s room. But not much had changed in it since I was a child. I had stayed here many times when I was little, but thinking back on it, Beatrice had been right. I really hadn’t stayed at all as a teenager. I guess I was a bit wrapped up in my own world though, so perhaps I had avoided coming to visit. I shouldn’t have done that with Gran getting older. I was realizing that soon she wouldn’t be around anymore for me to spend time with. As I looked through my mother’s old things, a chest filled with dirty costumes and a closet full of toys, I began to feel sad about not visiting her enough. Not seeing any books lying around, I figured this wasn’t the one I was looking for, so I moved on.
The next bedroom I found was a guestroom completely covered in dust, with sheets covering all of the furniture. The shutters were closed in this room, which I thought was kind of odd and I tried to feel around as the lights no longer worked. I had to assume Gran had some of the electric turned off so she wouldn’t have to pay such a high bill in this old house. No point heating the rooms that weren’t being used in the winter. I continued to feel around, noticing the beautiful dressing table and the delicate, ornate mirror. I lifted the dusty cover off of what looked like a stool and sat down on what was left of the plush seat, in front of the mirror to look at myself. The piece was beautiful and had been kept in immaculate condition. I had half a mind to ask Gran if I could put it in my room but then she would know that I’d been snooping around. As I looked at my reflection I noticed something behind me. I quickly turned around but nothing was there.
“My eyes just playing tricks on me I guess,” I said aloud, hoping it would boost my confidence. I could have sworn I’d seen a blue light but perhaps I was just scared, letting my fear and confusion take over.
I covered the vanity back up with the cloth and was on my way to leave the room when I heard a noise. It was coming from the same area that I had seen a flash of a shadow in the mirror. There was a bookcase still there with several books lying on it, but I had looked through all of them and none of them were the one I was looking for. That is, if I had any idea what I was looking for. I thought that when I found it, it would simply jump out at me, but perhaps it wouldn’t and this bookcase needed further investigation. I walked slowly over to the bookcase and ran my finger along each of the books one last time. It was then that I noticed one sticking out slightly. I pulled it out to look further at its pages when a miraculous thing happened. Behind the book was a small knob. It was an old one, maybe from the Victorian era and I thought that perhaps some of my answers may be behind the bookcase. These old homes held secret passageways for escaped slaves or hidden secrets. I was elated with my discovery, but realized quickly that whatever was behind there would probably be just as dark and scary as this bedroom was. I needed a flashlight.
I ran downstairs to the kitchen to the junk drawer where I knew that Gran kept things like flashlights and batteries. The only flashlight I could find was hot pink and from 1985, but for some reason it still worked, so I dashed back upstairs to learn what was behind the door.
I used the flashlight as a spotlight and reached to turn the knob. I heard a loud screeching noise as the door slowly swung open to reveal a set of stairs. I had to assume that they led to the attic and what I would find there, I didn’t know. I slowly ascended the dark stairs, each one creaking under my weight. Praying that I wouldn’t fall through them because in an old house like this you’d think you would go straight down to the basement. Of course there was no railing to hold onto. All that was left were brackets for one, so there had to have been one at some point, but it must’ve decayed and fallen apart from age. I arrived at the top of the stairs and shown my flashlight around the small room to determine what I could find up here. As I moved my light slowly, it fell upon so many different items that I didn’t know had existed.
A grandfather clock stood in one corner of the room, while a headboard and matching footboard leaned against the wall on the other. The room only seemed small because of all the things that were in it. I decided the best way to look through everything was to start in one corner and make my way around. I moved towards the grandfather clock first, dust billowing up around me as I stepped on old carpets that had been piled on top of each other, covering the floor. There was an armoire next to the grandfather clock that I attempted to open but it was locked. None of the keys on the chain would fit in the small keyhole. I hoped what I was looking for wasn’t located in there because I was sure that the key had been long lost.
As I continued to move through the room I stepped over old mirrors and picture frames scattered all over the floor. There were plenty of chests around, but all of them just seemed to contain old period clothes. Nothing of any value to me. With my light having such a limited view it took almost two hours just to get through half the room. I knew Gran would be coming home shortly and I wasn’t trying to get caught. I closed the third chest up I was looking through and decided I’d have to come up another day. On my way towards the stairs I noticed a small lamp sitting on one of the dressers. It was a pink ballerina lamp. I remembered it because it had been my mother’s. Gran had tried to give it to her when I was a little kid, but for some reason mom didn’t want it. I remember things had been slightly strained in their relationship at that point. Most adults don’t realize how perceptive young kids can be and I had noticed how tense things had become. I would’ve really liked the lamp, though. I traced its dusty figure with my finger when I heard Gran calling up to me.
“Paige, I’m home! Wait until you see how much money I’ve won! We’re going out to dinner tonight honey!” I smiled as her words carried up the stairs before I realized that if she caught me up here, I would have a lot of explaining to do. Forget about dinner tonight and probably for the rest the week. Gran was old-school, so that meant consequences were serious. I quickly ran down the stairs and slowly closed the bookcase door, carefully replacing the book so that she wouldn’t know I had come upon her secret place. Though, with the dust and the looks of things up there, she hadn’t been there in years, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I clicked the lock shut on the door as quietly as I could before realizing I still had the keys in my hand. Shit. She would totally catch me if she decided to come upstairs or if she realized that her keys were missing. There was nothing I could do but stash them, so I quickly tiptoed into my own bedroom where I laid them between the mattress and box spring, hoping that she would never find them. I walked down the hallway and down the stairs casually calling out to Gran, “That’s great! Where are we going?”
She was so wrapped up in her win that she hadn’t noticed how long it had taken me to come greet her. She was unloading some groceries from a small bag onto the counter. “Well I don’t know dear, how about we try that new Hibachi place downtown?”
Whoa, she must really be feeling good. “Sure, I’m in,” I said cheerfully. Don’t look guilty.
She smiled back at me totally unaware of my indiscretion and said, “Let’s put on something nice for tonight shall we?”
I continued my façade and took her arm in mine, “We shall.” I said it with such confidence and I meant it. Tonight would just be a carefree ladies night. Just what the doctor ordered for both Gran and I.