by S. E. Akers
“Don’t worry, Harry. I’ll give you a chance to win it back with a game of chess after dinner,” Samuel insisted. I shook my head. Little did poor Harry know, but Samuel was even more of an ace at chess than he was at cards. I’d found that out several years ago — the hard way. And there were no “gimmies” either. You paid up!
Empathy took hold of me. I shot unsuspecting Harry a stern, mental warning.
DON’T DO IT!
After a moment of curious contemplation, Harry replied, “Oh, that’s not necessary. I’ll pass, Samuel.” Harry and the other fellows rose from their seats, leaving us to our visit.
“What did you say to him?” Samuel posed with a raise of his weathered mocha brow as soon as his would-be sucker was well out of earshot.
“Nothing,” I lied as I hugged him. “Maybe he decided to listen to his instincts?”
Samuel’s disbelieving wide-eyes forced his brow to rise even higher. “Yeah, if his ‘instincts’ happened to be an eleven year-old girl who got cleaned out of her prized coffee can of quarters. Over eight-hundred of them, I believe.”
“Eight-hundred, forty-nine,” I shot back, still surprisingly ticked.
Samuel flashed a sly smile as he motioned to a vacant seat. After a quick surveillance of our semi-private surroundings, he asked discreetly, “So how did things turn out last night?”
“Fan-freakin-tastic,” Katie’s voice grumbled in my head.
“Not as planned,” I whispered quietly and flashed my diamond pendant. Samuel’s brown eyes glazed over with confusion.
“Wh—What on earth happened?” he asked, seeming dumbfounded.
“More like under earth,” I corrected as I wiggled in my chair. Samuel’s expression furrowed as I revealed every one of last night’s sinking events in chronological order. I didn’t leave a single detail out, verbally that is, not until I arrived to the subject of Gallia. Keeping in mind that Katie was listening, I grabbed a scratch pad lying on the table and made a shushing gesture with my finger. I jotted down,
Gallia is Dead!
Samuel’s mouth dropped open, thankfully unable to speak. He mouthed silently, “How?”
Turned to Stone
Samuel sat back in his chair and slumped slightly. He looked just as stunned as I was, but I could tell that Gallia’s untimely death wasn’t the only thing stewing in his mind.
“Was it the Onyx?” Samuel mouthed as he leaned closer.
I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. “Maybe? I’m not really sure. We were stuck in an underground cave,” I mouthed back as I scribbled several frustrated circles on the paper. “We didn’t actually see who did it.”
Whoever killed her has her bracelet
and the STONE WE NEED!
Disgusted by my last memo, I slammed my pen down on the table.
“Why are you two so quiet all of a sudden?” Katie questioned suspiciously.
“Samuel’s just shocked. That’s all,” I stressed to her aloud.
Samuel caught my drift and insisted, “Yes. I’m very sorry, Katie…and I’m sorry for you too, Shiloh,” he insisted and reached for my hand. Inescapably, his soothing touch triggered a soggy response. Lucky for me, someone approached our table so I was able to shut the valve to my waterworks before they spilled like Niagara Falls.
“Ah, Mr. Clark. There you are,” cooed a towering nurse with curly black hair. She looked to be around Samuel’s age. “It’s about time we head on over to the dining room. I’ve saved you a seat at my table,” the nurse announced in a rather flirty tone.
I turned my head back around and shot Samuel a sly grin. He paid me back with a swift jab from his cane under the table.
“Just give me one more minute with my girl, Ms. Marion,” he insisted politely.
“I’ll be waiting for you…right over there,” Ms. Marion beamed as she pointed to a nearby chair.
“My, my. They’re awfully attentive here,” I suggested, batting my eyes.
“Yeah. A little too attentive,” Samuel grumbled. “That woman’s hovered over me like a hummingbird the whole time I’ve been here. Taking me to therapy. Sitting me at her table. Shoot! Last week I found out she’s been finagling with my schedule. Crazy woman is doin’ her best to give me my sponge bath,” he spouted.
Hearing Samuel’s resistance to romancing a love-struck nurse, who was apparently hell-bent on stalking him, was just the hit my funny bone needed. I took a deep breath to muzzle a booming laugh that was just about to burst out.
“She seems sweet. And she’s attractive,” I added as I glanced over to give the perky nurse a second-look. “She’s got a nice smile, too.”
“Ugh!” he grunted.
“Won’t you even consider—”
“No,” Samuel protested under his breath. “You know how I feel about that. The love of my life is gone. I won’t disgrace her memory by trying to replace her,” he acknowledged sternly as he rose from his chair.
“No one can ever replace someone you love, Samuel,” I assured him as I thought about Daddy. “I just think you’re underestimating the importance of a pinch-hitter.” I wrapped my arms around my surrogate father. “They’ll never be the star of the show, but they can fill a need.” I could tell from the forcefulness of his return hug that I’d made my point, though I doubted if any words of wisdom or even a horny nurse could change his mind. His wife had been the greatest chapter in his life, and as far as he was concerned, that book was closed. I just wished he would consider cracking it open, at least one more time.
As I pulled my keys out of my purse, my mysterious masterpiece accidentally fell out and landed on the table. “Oh, Samuel…” I began as I unfolded the drawing. “Did Daddy ever describe anything like this to you?”
“No,” Samuel mumbled curiously as he studied the drawing. “What is it?”
“I don’t have a clue,” I replied.
“Where did you get it?” Samuel asked, clearly mystified.
“Out of my head…from a memory,” I replied, just as bewildered. “I sketched it during Art. I’m heading over to Bea’s now. I figure she probably knows. I just thought I’d ask ’cause it’s bugging me…and you know how impatient I can be.”
If Ms. Marion’s brash throat-clearing that echoed through the common room wasn’t a clear enough signal, the testy look she shot me sure was. “And apparently, I’m not the only one who’s lacking in that department. I think I’d better let you go,” I asserted, heeding the scowl that had set onto the now annoyed nurse’s face.
“Bye, honey. I hope you get answers to all your questions…and find what you’re looking for,” Samuel added in a grave tone.
“Me too,” I agreed as my mind made a mental tally of what seemed like unattainable goals. With my curious sketch folded and now back in my purse, I headed off myself, straight for Bea’s.
Other than fishing for why Samuel and I were really quiet during our visit, Katie didn’t say a single word on the drive back to Welch. I wished she had said something, anything before we arrived at Bea’s house. She knew I would have to take her off as soon as we hit the door. She always put up a fuss, begging me not to, but that was the drill — hours of solitude lying in a trinket box on a table in Beatrix’s spare bedroom. That would be the rest of her fun-filled evening.
“Good. You’re finally here,” Beatrix announced as I breezed into the house, heading straight for her spare bedroom. She followed right behind me and watched as I locked Katie away in her dainty bedside prison.
Beatrix closed the door as we exited. “Where are Gallia’s things?”
“Out in my car,” I replied.
“Well, be a dear and bring them in,” Beatrix requested, giving her hands a couple of direct claps. “Let’s be quick about it. We’ll pick up where Gallia left off last night. I suppose you’re ready to learn about hiding powers inside stones. But, we can’t begin until we tend to some business that remains regarding our dear, departed friend.”
Like an obedient student I headed bac
k out the door to collect Gallia’s things. I’d forgotten my backpack anyway, and as comprehensive as what Bea’s lessons could be at times, I needed my binder to take notes. When I returned, I handed her all that was left of the little Talisman.
Beatrix placed the pitiful pile on the coffee table. “We’ll burn her clothes, but not her hair. Not now, that is. We’ll bury it in the backyard,” she instructed. “As soon as it’s ready, then we can use it.”
“Use it for what?” I asked.
“To talk to her one last time, my dear,” Beatrix answered.
“Really?”
“Her locks were once a living part of her, a part that what killed her could not touch,” Beatrix revealed.
“Bea, what did kill her?”
“A white chalcedony, I believe. They’re very dangerous. Its magic can petrify anything… Even my golden topaz can only stave off its effects temporarily,” Beatrix added gravely. My bottom lip about hit the floor. Beatrix gazed at me thoughtfully. “But the diamond’s invincibility would keep your body from turning into stone.”
“That’s a relief,” I sighed.
“Not exactly, my dear. It would still paralyze you,” she clarified warily. “Alive, though immobile, you would be lying in wait for your attacker to have their way with you.”
I plopped down onto the sofa. “Is that why Gallia trapped us down there?”
“Possibly. She was very familiar with the magic of chalcedonies. So was Adamas. Someone used one on him when his guard was down. If Adamas hadn’t had some intervention, he would have been killed long ago.”
“Intervention? What saved him?”
Beatrix placed her arms on my shoulders. “The same thing that saved you, my dear. The healing power directly from the moonstone Talisman herself.”
“Seraphina… She absorbed his affliction?” Beatrix nodded. Tanner had revealed that the Moonstone Talisman had absolved one other person from what ailed them only once before. “But it didn’t kill her?” I questioned skeptically.
“No. The same way she didn’t die from the poison you ingested. Seraphina’s healing powers are unmatched by any other Talisman or their respective stones. Even your diamond has limits as to what it can and can’t do, but the Moonstone Talisman’s personal regenerative abilities are boundless. However, her power comes with a steep price. It took her years to fully recover from healing Adamas. I’m sure she’s still suffering from the lapis lazuli venom that infected you.”
“That’s horrible!” I exclaimed. The last thing I needed today was more guilt. “Is there anything I can do since I claim the lapis lazuli?”
“I’m afraid not, my dear. The affliction must run its course. That’s one of the burdens Seraphina must bear if she uses her power to directly heal a supernatural with one of her beams.”
“How long will it take her to get over it?”
“Hard to say. Maybe a year?” My heart sank. “She won’t be personally performing any miraculous healing acts for a while, but she’ll be fine,” Beatrix insisted. “Seraphina was well aware of the consequences when she made her choice, but she felt you were worth the risk.”
I nodded, though I still didn’t understand why. But now knowing she had done it for Adamas too, I assumed it wasn’t necessarily on my behalf as much as it was for the sake of whomever claimed the diamond wand.
“Enough about that,” Beatrix announced as she picked up Gallia’s hair. “Back to business.”
“How can we talk to her?” I asked.
“If we throw Gallia’s hair onto a fire after its rested in the ground for a spell, her spirit will appear. But not for very long I’m afraid. Just until the last smoldering hair.” Beatrix smiled as she stroked one of the woven braids. “Good thing she liked it long. It will give us more time.”
“When will it be ready?”
Beatrix looked up at the ceiling while she calculated in her head. “I’m guessing late spring, early summer at the latest…and the flames must consume her locks under the light of a—”
“Full moon?” I interrupted, starting to truly grasp the magnitude of the spherical beauty’s power.
“Yes, but not necessarily for you. When it’s ready, you could use it at any time.”
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Because you have a moonstone, my dear. The same energy that allows it to charge your stones can summon a beam with the essence of a full moon, even in the light of day.”
“If I had it back,” I remarked crossly.
Beatrix let out a laugh. “I promise, not too much longer, impatient one. It takes time for a skilled goldsmith to craft a ring for a stone of that caliber, my dear. Not to mention, all the precautions they must take to insure its safety. The moonstone is a highly desired gem by any supernatural. Compared to one of your charged diamonds, most of them would rank it as number two. A few of them crave the moonstone above all else.” Beatrix looked into my eyes with a direness to her gaze. “They’d do anything to acquire it. Keep that in mind when it does find its way back to you,” she warned. Not a second later, she rose from the sofa and laid another log on the fire with a gentle breeze of air. “Come, dear,” she motioned.
I followed her outside, to where an empty hole in the earth had already been dug, just under her largest oak tree. Beatrix placed Gallia’s woven clump of hair inside it and handed me a shovel. Scoop by scoop, I covered the golden mane until no visible traces of the Serpentine Talisman remained. I smoothed the lumpy mound tenderly, evening it with the ground.
“Is that it?” I asked, not sure if the ritual was complete.
“Yes,” Beatrix replied. “There’s no need for any incantations, but you’re certainly welcome to say something if you would like.”
This scene was all too familiar. I joylessly pondered the same thing I did as before, when I found myself standing over my own father’s grave.
“Gallia, I didn’t know you for very long, but you still meant so much to me. I’ll miss your pranks, just as much as seeing your face. I’m so sorry for what happened. I wish you would have let us help in some way, but I promise you that I’ll make your killer pay,” I vowed solemnly, my gut still churning with suspicion. I turned to Bea, whose eyes were glaring at the spot on the ground. She seemed more distraught than sad. She wasn’t mourning, not by her rigid stance. She was brooding about something and unfortunately for my curiosity, if she wasn’t voicing it, she had no plans to reveal any of her worries to me. “Whomever it may be,” I added. I figured it couldn’t hurt to cast a line.
Beatrix snapped out of her trance. “That was very kind, Shiloh. Let’s go back inside.” She didn’t say anything else as we walked back into the house, but I could tell something was baiting my mentor’s thoughts. Most likely, the identity of Gallia’s murderer.
“Now we have to get rid of her things, unless you want them?” Beatrix posed.
“No. The ribbon you gave me earlier is good,” I assured her. “Is there something bothering you? Something besides Gallia?”
“Nothing at all,” Beatrix evaded with an overindulgent smile. Knowing the old woman as well as I did, this was a closed subject, for now. However, I still had one other possibly taboo question to broach. While Beatrix adjusted the flames, I pulled the peculiar drawing out of my purse and laid it on top of Gallia’s things. With the fire now flickering to her liking, Beatrix spun around to collect the little Talisman’s remaining effects.
She paused with her hand locked rigidly over the table, clearly taken aback by my artistic surprise. In a blatant disregard for my strategic scheme, she casually brushed the drawing off to side with a flick of her hand. I caught the vexing insignia before it drifted onto the floor.
“Bea? Will you tell me what this is?”
With her brow arched high over her doe-like, aimless eyes, she took the drawing and held it up to her face. “Hmmm… Something to hang on my fridge?” she posed. Her tone coupled with her smug grin let me know exactly which way her pendulum was going to sway.
&
nbsp; “Cute,” I remarked. I crossed my arms in preparation for a feisty debate. “So?”
“My dear, we have a lot to cover today. Too much to cater to the stubborn demands of a willful little girl,” she scolded and placed the drawing on another table.
Taking a page from her “stubborn” playbook, I retrieved the drawing. “These four symbols here…they represent the elements,” I probed confidently, ignoring her dismissive front. Bea didn’t say a word. She just picked up Gallia’s dress and tossed it rather gruffly onto the fire. I wasn’t quite sure if she’d meant to pitch it with that much force, or if right then, she was ticked by my insolent attitude. I softened my stance. “That’s what I think they mean.”
Beatrix let out a sigh. “Since I’m your acting mentor, I won’t deny you a correct answer. They do.”
Like a child who wasn’t satisfied with their allotted inch, I went for the extra mile. “What does this symbol in the center mean? The one that matches the design on my hilt? And these other smaller ones?” I shot out anxiously.
“Ah, ah, ah. I said I wouldn’t deny confirming your answers. I never said I would respond to any questions with the right ones for you.”
“But, Bea…the vision came to me for a reason. Maybe I’m supposed to know? Ever think of that?” I contended.
“What happened in the dream, exactly?” Bea asked.
“Adamas was talking to a man named Helio,” I announced. Beatrix remained still. It was times like these that I wished she didn’t keep her third eye invisible. It sure would make her easier to read. “Did you know him?”
“Yes,” Beatrix answered, but with obvious reserve. “Anyone else?”
I gulped. “Gallia. She was there…alive.”
“Isn’t it quite possible that you needed to see her one more time? I’m sure you thought about her all day.”
“It’s possible.”