by Rose, Rhea
“This is the Cheshire dimension. You entered when you put my collar on your wrist. Here, you can speak cat. ”
I put her on the table and stepped back. I tried to say something but couldn’t think of anything. I put my hands on my hips. “Ssspeak cat?” I stuttered and heard that horrible power washing sound again.
“You’re good, actually, almost no accent at all.” Sia assured me.
“But, but...what’s that horrible sound I hear every time I speak?”
“That horrible sound is you. Your echo in the real world sounds like a meowing cat. Pay no attention to it. You’ll learn to modulate.”
“But, Sia, you’re a kitten, yet you sound like an old woman.”
“I’m Cheshire. We all sound like old women because we’re wise. Jane, you need to go. You can’t stay here too long. You’ve drawn the attention of the society.”
“The society?”
“The Cheshire Society, but never mind I’ll have to explain another time. Run along.”
“Okay, yeah, I’d love to run along?”
“Remove my collar from your wrist.”
“But I want you back. Are you in danger?”
I struggled to take off the collar. I didn’t remember it being so tight when I put it on. I worked away at the clasp and needed to chew it a bit to wiggle it free. As I loosened the collar, and removed it, the shop stood solidly around me. I planned to quickly put the collar on Sia, but the sad looking little kitten faded from my view, and I found myself back in the shop without her.
But I wasn’t alone. The long, dark shadow of “another” stalker, one I’d noticed following me for the past few months now stood inside the shop. He cast a very long shadow, but that was all he was.
Early, I’d caught a glimpse of him because I noticed the sharp details of his clothes: the spaghetti western coat and gloves with the missing fingertips, the black toque stood out. The rest of him I’d describe as nothing more than a misty, dark fog.
I tried following the shadow all the way back to the man, but that became impossible. I’d follow it, and then it disappeared around a shelf, and reappeared in another direction. Then the eerie shadow disappeared completely.
I was alone.
What a day! Trapped in a tarot card, then a quick visit to a very weird Cheshire land to visit my kitty who is still stuck there, and finally a mysterious visit from the shadow-stalker. I was exhausted.
I picked up all the stuff I dropped, the box of cards, the table cloth, the candle which to my amazement was still lit. I put it all back neatly, but not orderly. I didn’t want to sneeze again. Sia was nowhere in sight. I walked around the shop, searching for the shadow man, Maisie, Devon, anyone, but they all had definitely vanished.
Anyone might walk in and rob this place, although I did see the security cameras in the front and back room. I didn’t know what to do, leave the shop? Stay till someone arrived?
I decided to stay a bit longer, gather my thoughts and wait until I felt less shaky. I sat at the table and pondered everything. Devon had seduced me. Had I really been trapped inside a tarot card? The deck of cards sat in front of me. The urge to lay them out and see what they looked like now that the major spirits had flown the coop was irresistible.
I opened the tarot box and pulled out the first card, death. Below it was the star card, but I didn’t want to touch it. While most of the cards held only silhouettes of the characters previously pictured there, the death card held more than a silhouette.
I stared at the young woman inside the card. She appeared to be of African ancestry, but she wore a martial arts uniform, and she had a big sword slung across her back, maybe even two swords. The small card made it difficult to see all the details. She was obviously a warrior; she looked quite sexy, I mean for a fighter in a dobok. I then searched for the devil card and found an attractive devilish looking character that looked like a Chippendale dancer with Devon’s face! So, he was stuck inside his card!
Good.
The star card, which I’d expected to be empty, had a picture of an attractive woman who looked a lot like Maisie. She wore a long dark gown filled with stars and carried a water jug. She smiled up at me.
“Jane!”
Omg.
Maisie had called my name from the star card. I looked dumbly at her. I propped the card up against the votive candle.
“Maisie?”
“Finally decided to join me,” she said, sounding friendlier than before. She went and sat on a large rock by a stream and dipped her water jug into the flow and drank from the jug.
“I don’t remember seeing any of that landscape when I was in there,” I said.
“It takes time to learn how to create a scene. Never mind all that.”
“But you’re in the Star card, Maisie?”
“I’m rejuvenating. Keeps you young for a very long time.”
That proposition intrigued me. Before I blinked twice, Maisie disappeared. I heard the flush in the bathroom behind me. The door opened and out walked Maisie. The stars on her gown became sequins, her water jug a glass. She quickly moved to the table and pulled the star card away from the candle. “No, fire,” she said sternly.
“What’s with the flushing thing?” I asked.
“It’s a way to transfer from the card limbo to reality.”
“So, every time?” I asked her, staring and pointing at the bathroom door.
“Every time--introduce yourself to Emilia, from the death card.” She held the death card for me to see. “Emilia Darkiness. You’ll be working together.”
“I think I’ll pass on meeting Emilia. I prefer to work alone.”
“Know what you mean. But in this business we can’t work alone. I have to put up with Devon.”
“Do us both a favor, get rid of Devon,” I said.
“Devon has his uses,” She said stating the obvious.
“Is he rejuvenating, too?” I showed her his card. Maisie took it from me. She put it back in the box.
“He is,” she said. Maisie picked out the death card and looked into it. “Emilia, are you ready?”
Like a pro, Maisie flicked the card three times with two fingers and then handed it to me. It now held a card with only a silhouette, no picture of the fighting form of Emilia Darkiness that moments ago filled the card.
Again, I heard the flush in the bathroom.
I’m not sure what happened next. But it went something like this, the bathroom door crashed open -- an explosion of energy tumbled out, somersaulted over us to the front of the shop, proceeded to tumble and do gymnastics through the tight little store aisles, and not a single item fell or broke away from the shelves.
Emilia Darkiness, the woman from the Death card, came to a dead stop and screamed martial arts style, “HiiiiiiiYaaaaah!” Then she pulled out one of her two swords and began slashing at the air, stepping steadily toward us.
“Uh, Maisie, do you have a magic word to make her stop?”
“She’s showing off.”
Maisie’s show off death dealer sliced the tarot table in half.
I ran.
Before the votive candle hit the ground, she diced it into four pieces. Maisie didn’t look impressed.
The swords woman had my respect, but Emilia Darkiness wasn’t done. She then took her moves out on the nice comfortable chair Maisie had for readers in the front of the shop. She turned the overstuffed chair into small pillows. Meanwhile, I hid behind a bookshelf wondering how to climb back into the star card.
Emilia slowed a bit and instead of cutting everything up in her path she began hacking the air in crisscross patterns and shouting. “Ha, ha, Hiiiiyaaaah.” She’d bring her sword within centimeters of a precious object and stop.
I loved watching Maisie’s face twitch with annoyance.
Then Emilia stopped.
“No!” I said to her. “Don’t stop.” I wanted to see Maisie squirm some more.
That’s all it took, a little encouragement. Emilia started on another
round of moves and slashes. I found myself clapping and cheering her on. “Yeah, twirl it, like a baton!”
We made eye contact and she flashed me a smile and away she went again. Then, as it was bound to happen in the tight little shop, Emi, I decided I’d call her Emi, bumped a small crystal ball and it rolled off the shelf, crashing to the ground, smashing into powder. It looked really cool, but when I looked at Maisie her face shaded over and scowled. Her posture became menacing. It was clear she’d had enough. She walked over to Emilia and tapped her with a tarot card.
No more Emilia.
I was afraid that she’d tap me with a card to send me packing, so I ran from the shop straight home and decided to get outta Dodge, just like I’d promised myself.
Chapter 13
The Sun Card: Glowing Girls
I went back to my condo and grabbed my suitcase. I threw in panties and bras, swim wear, thong and tops and a few other necessities. I didn’t plan to be gone for good, but my plan included a little trip to Vegas to let this nonsense with Maisie settle, then come back when she’d forgotten me. I figured I’d go to Manuel’s and convince him to go to Vegas, his favourite play land with me and use him as a bodyguard of sorts. Even though he was my abusive ex we still had each other’s back, sort of.
My biggest worry was Sia.
I decided I’d call Glendie and have her come by and watch out for the missing cat. Glendie got to my house before I did. She’d let herself in and grabbed a beer from the fridge – Fleming’s Irish Red, to be exact.
“I’m outta here. Something’s up. I don’t have time to explain. I’ve got to hide for a while.”
“Is it Manuel again?” Glendie was about my size, so much so that we sometimes shared clothes, but not often because we had directly opposing tastes. She was a natural brunette with shoulder length hair and some very subtle but swish copper highlights. She always wore false eyelashes which gave her a kind of ingénue quality to her look. “How long will you be gone?” Glendie asked. I packed while she followed me around drinking her beer out of a long neck bottle. Glendie worked part-time at Koldwell Bank and she had the day off. She dressed more conservatively than me, but she was a real wild woman at times. I liked that about her.
She seemed different today. Normally she’s perky and cheerful and fun, but today she was over the top happy. She seemed to glow; her aura bulged out around her like she was back lit by a Hollywood light. Maybe it was the banana yellow and orange organza sundress she wore, embellished with a crystal sash, over dressed, or what?
I put sunglasses on to give her a hint.
“How long?” she asked again.
“Not long,” I said. “I don’t know, long enough,” I said, trying to convince myself. But I really didn’t know how long I’d be gone. I still had a month of summer holidays left. I hoped I didn’t have to stay with Manuel too long. “What’s going on with you today? Why so, so, so glowing? I’ve got to put my sunglasses on when I’m near you. You’re like a nuclear blast in midsummer.”
“I will take that as a compliment.”
“Oookay. About Sia.”
“Shoot.”
I gave Glendie the low down on Devon and Maisie.
“What is the Cheshire Society?” she asked.
“With all that’s happened they’re the least of my worries.”
“Well, a guy was here earlier looking for you, just before you got here. He said he was from the Cheshire Society and he gave me this card.” She handed the black card to me.
“What did he look like?” I asked dumb founded as I recalled Sia’s warning and stared uncomprehendingly at the card.
“He didn’t look like anything.”
“Tall? Short? Fat? Thin? Give me something to work with.”
Glendie took a long gulp of the beer. “Hmmm. He stood in the shadows. He wore a hat of some type, a toque, and a long coat and dark sun glasses.”
By the time she finished describing him I was packed. “Okay, don’t worry about him. He’s a sales man. But if Sia does show up, don’t take off her collar, only then did I remember I had her collar in my pocket.
“Oh, no.” I pulled it out and gave it to Glendie. “Here, make sure you put it on her if you can, although I don’t know if you’ll be able to see her because she needs to wear the collar to be seen.”
“What?” Glendie looked at me like I was lunatic.
“If you get her back into her collar and she gets out of her collar put it back on her immediately and don’t you wear it.”
“Why would I wear her collar?”
“Never mind. I will leave her collar in – I thought a moment – in the fridge! I need you to do me a huge favor. I need you to go to Maisie’s shop and steal her tarot deck I told you about. It won’t be difficult. She leaves it on the table in the back room. Pick it up. Put it in your purse and leave. I will meet you at the railroad tracks in the old part of town. Bring the tarot deck there.”
“Are you crazy or just high?” she looked askance. “There’s something different about you.”
“Crazy, I’m pretty sure that’s it.” I dragged my suitcase to the door. “Please, you know I wouldn’t ask if, if…my life didn’t depend on it,” I said, trying to sound pathetic.
“Really?”
“Yes!” I grabbed a pair of my Ray Bans and tossed the pharmacy sunglasses on the couch.
“Can I wear your blue Dolce and Gabbana ruched?”
“No, no not the blue one!”
“Then no deal.”
“Alright, alright, but if there is so much as a piece of dust on it—
“I’ll be careful.”
“But only if you bring me those cards!”
“You got it,” she said, overly cheerfully. She had this sickly sweet quality that I hadn’t ever noticed before. “And…” She looked at me patiently, waiting for me to agree.
“And…What?”
“Help pick out the tattoo I’m gonna get.”
I think she was getting drunk on that one beer, but at the moment I’d agree to anything.
“Okay, let’s do it. I’m packed and I want to get out of here. Meet you on the edge of town in an hour.”
“Promise? About the tattoo?”
For the entire year she’d talked of getting a tattoo but it became obvious to me that in the case of the Glendie-tattoo it was all talk and no walk.
“Whatever,” I said, walking out the door.
*
I waited on the outskirts of Meadowvale for an hour and a half. I knew Glendie really well. She worked in a bank. She was punctual, but not today, which only meant one thing.
Something had gone wrong!
I tried calling her on her cell, but of course no answer. I didn’t want to drive back into town, to the store and find her, but I felt I was obligated.
First, I went past her place and knocked, but I really didn’t expect to find her there. I even cruised by the local bowling alley, Glendie’s other favorite pastime, to see if maybe she decided to play a game, or maybe she’d forgotten to do this job for me. At times she was flakier than me, which hardly seemed possible, but I didn’t see her car at Ten Lanes.
I tried to think of all kinds of sneaky ways to approach and walk into the Curio shop and look for Glendie, but none came to mind. The direct approach was the only way. I did park my electric blue Kia Rio a block down from the shop. No point in being overly obvious. I didn’t see Glendie’s lime green smart car anywhere and I circled the block a few times to look for it.
I went into the shop. As usual no one appeared to be there. I went straight to the backroom and saw the deck of cards on the table. I looked left and right. I saw the camouflaged closet washroom, but no flushing. I grabbed the deck of cards, dropped them into my purse and turned on my heels to leave.
I walked right into Maisie.
“Going somewhere?” she asked, pleasantly. I didn’t answer but quickly stepped around her, and even more quickly headed to the door. “Glendie came by,” she calle
d out. I stopped in my tracks. “Thanks for sending her back to me. When they come into the shop, and they must come to the shop, you touch them with their card and, voila, they’re back in the deck.
“Only about twenty more to go,” she said.
I reached the door and started to push it open, but she stopped me. She got really close to me, and in my face she said, “Real people can’t be free of my control and live their mundane, lives in peace until all the cards are returned to the deck!”
“What?” I had no idea what she was talking about. Maisie smiled pleasantly, then cast her look at my purse and gave it a knowing nod. I left feeling like my heart raced two blocks ahead of me.
*
I ran to my car, dropped my keys twice before I made them work and got inside. I sped to the edge of town and stopped there to recover.
*
I found myself parked in the deserted train yard. Maisie’s sudden appearance and her all-knowing demeanor unnerved me so much I was still breathing hard. I reached into my purse and pulled out the tarot deck. With a shaky hand I pulled off the lid to the beautiful twilight colored box, and set it on the passenger car seat. I didn’t have to flip very far through the deck to see what Maisie was getting at.
The top card in the pile was the Sun card and the picture of the woman on the front looked exactly like Glendie, for a moment I thought she was holding a beer bottle in one hand, but on closer inspection it was a short scepter. Glendie looked beautiful. Her hair, long and dark, fell far below her shoulders and that crowning glory of hair was shot through with golden rays of sun.
She wore a metal outfit, like a gold sheet hammered to fit her form.
“Get me out of here!” she screamed at me from the card.
Startled I dropped the box of cards, of course like all things dropped inside a car many of the cards slipped between the seats. They were next to impossible to dig out. I grabbed a pen and tapped the cards out from between the cracks, but it took a while.