"That's absolutely right, Edgar."
"It is?"
"Yes. I admit that we both ignored you. That was a mistake. I can make excuses, but you are part of the team, and sometimes I don't treat you that way."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," he said.
"Fortunately, this time we all survived all of our mistakes. I hope that the experience will make our team stronger."
He puffed up nicely and looked at Clarence. "Beatrice said we are becoming a good team. She said we are getting a reputation."
"Did she now?"
"She did," I said.
"Then I hope it's a good thing."
"She also warned me to call for help earlier next time."
"I like her advice," he said. Glancing back at the living room, he shuddered. "I don't think I can handle any more chamomile tea," he said. "And I'd like to get my notes about the artifact and the way it worked down while they are fresh. Would you mind..."
"I'd like to chat with Enid alone for a little while anyway. Go ahead. I'll make your excuses."
"When you get back will you review my notes and add to them?"
"I'd be happy to you. And I'll bring Uncle Mason's magical Jameson's bottle to neutralize the tea."
He bent down and abruptly planted a kiss on my cheek. "See you back at the shop." And he left a happy man.
"Fresh tea, dearie," Enid called.
"On my way."
Chapter Twenty-Six
When we were alone, Enid poured some of her never-ending chamomile tea into the delicate Wedgwood cups and handed one to me. "Beatrice mentioned that Belial was there. Clarence also mentioned him, I recall. He said that Bel disarmed him?"
"Yes, that’s right. The thing is, even though I met him, and we had a lovely chat, I have no idea who he is.” I perked up. “I meant to ask Beatrice about him.”
“Why?”
“She knew who he was.”
“Did she now?”
“Yes, and all I know is that he works for the Cabal. He seemed awfully polite to be one of them." I looked at her. “And you probably know him better than any of us.”
She sat up straight. “Me? What makes you think I'd know him at all?”
“Because he sent you a message. He asked me to give it to you.”
She choked on her tea. “Belial sent me a message?”
“Yes. He said to tell you he misses your chats. They meant a lot to him.”
She put the tea cup down and folded her hands primly in her lap. “I see.”
“I need to know who he is. He was there on Steele’s behalf. He told me that much. He also said that we’d meet again.” I left out the part about him saying we’d known each other before. That was just crazy.
"Belial doesn't work for the Cabal although he is under the strict control of Steele. Bel is his personal minion," Enid said, “I’m not even certain the Cabal knows about him. I’m certain that they wouldn’t approve of Steele using him and his powers to collect artifacts for his personal contention. That collection of his has always been a point of contention with the Cabal.”
“Bel has powers?”
“Yes. You see Bel isn't really a 'he' or a she. Bel has no gender."
She let that line just sit there for a moment, waiting for me to ask. Like a wary trout, I refused to rise from the depths and take the bait. But I wanted to know more, so eventually I said, "No? Not a he or a she? Then what?"
"An it, I suppose. Genderless. Bel is a homunculus."
"The word is vaguely familiar, but I have no real idea what it is."
"A homunculus is a created being, a living artifact.”
“I knew it,” Edgar said. “I told you he radiated the same kind of energy.”
“A test tube baby?”
Enid nodded. “In a manner of speaking, that’s exactly what he is, a life form created through the science of alchemy. He is a creature that is alive but not human or animal at all. And Bel is an immortal being."
"That immortality... that's the other part of what I sensed then," Edgar said excitedly. "We'd been thinking it was something around him, but he was the artifact himself." He paused. "And the immortality was the familiar sense," he said.
It occurred to me that Bel might actually be the first other immortal that Edgar had ever met. That had to be a shocker for him.
"I imagine that is exactly right. What you thought was an artifact was an emanation from the creature itself," Enid said.
“Where did he come from?” I asked. “I doubt Steele is an alchemist.”
“We’re talking about Steele here—he collected Bel. As I understand it, Bel was created by Theophrastus von Hohenheim."
"That name?"
She collected herself. “He was a 15th-century alchemist."
She nodded. "Belial took his last name." I saw her glance at Edgar. "Does that mean something to you, Edgar?"
I looked. Edgar was in some kind of reverie. "I knew that name sounded familiar somehow."
"It makes perfect sense for Belial to use it as the man was effectively his father." She clucked. "When Steele found Bel, he also found a way to force him to do his bidding. I have no idea what it is, and I don’t think Bel is able to say what it is, although he must know.”
“He gives Steele a big edge, I’m afraid,” I said.
“Yes, so we need to do something about changing Bel's loyalty when we get a chance. We need to find out what Steele's hold is over him."
I nodded. I could see Bel being helpful to our side of the fight. "With his knack for finding artifacts, that would be great. And from what he said... he isn't loyal to Steele but obligated to carry out his wishes."
"So maybe there is an object that controls him."
That made sense. "We will see if we can learn anything. But right now there is also another thing I need to figure out as well," I told her.
She leaned forward, looking concerned. "What is it? Can I help?"
I looked at Edgar who was waiting to hear with far too much eagerness. I took out the pen box and opened it. The power of the box sucked him in. "In you go, Edgar."
"Oh, please, Cecelia."
"I want to talk to Enid alone."
"But we are a team. I'm an important member of the team. You said so."
"And this part is a private conversation, Mr. Ghostly Presence." I snapped the box shut. Edgar was gone.
"Sometimes I think it would be convenient if every man came in a box like that," Enid said. "I certainly would've made use of one with Mason."
I was always amazed when Enid got clever that way, and I laughed.
"Now what is this private matter?"
"Okay, here is the problem, or question, whatever it is. When I was under the influence of the office, the dagger... I started to remember things. They were clear visions, but of things that I'm sure never happened."
"Well, your mind was clouded."
"But the thing is, I was having dreams like that before we even started on this little escapade. And they were the same sort of thing."
"Well, you've been through a lot, dearie." She seemed edgy.
"But the memories were so clear, and the dreams... they didn't feel like dreams as much as memories, vivid ones."
"I see." She folded her hands in her lap. "Do you think you can tell me any of them?"
Thinking about it, I felt a tension rising up and I forced myself to relax. "One thing was that I knew Beatrice was dead. She'd been dead for a while, and somehow it had been my fault. Also, I'd known Edgar a long time as well, even though I couldn't have, because until I found the pen box after the Cabal broke into the back room at the curiosity shop, I didn't know him at all."
"I see," Enid said. The look on her face unsettled me. "And those were the little things, I suspect."
I hadn't wanted to go there, but now I was committed. "Yes. In that reality, Uncle Mason was more than my uncle."
Enid went very quiet for a moment. She was frozen in place. "Dealing with artifacts always distort
s our reality, our sense of I. Perhaps you need to rest, recover your equilibrium before you... I'd think it a good idea to put those thoughts aside for a time and see if you don't feel better soon."
"But they started before I dealt with the dagger. Yes, the dagger's influence made me more aware, but the dreams... I know, somehow, that this is serious, Enid. And right now I have the overpowering sense that you are keeping something from me. Whatever it is, it relates to this nagging feeling, and it is important. Something is wrong. I don't know if it's something wrong with me, this reality, or time, but it is wrong."
"But dearie..."
As the pieces tumbled through my brain, the image of being in the Grand Storehouse came into my head and it clicked. "I know it had to do with the Grand Storehouse," I told her, talking even as the images played out in front of me, albeit in a haze that made details unclear. "Uncle Mason did something when he was there, didn't he?"
Enid grew pale. "Yes." I could barely hear the breathy response.
"What artifact did he use, Enid? What did he do?"
Suddenly Enid seemed empty, as if the life was going out of her. "Cecelia, I honestly don't know for sure. I wasn't there."
"But you have a hunch." Then it dawned on me. I understood Enid's reluctance to join in the searches or even leave her house. "You've had the same dreams and memories."
The nod was weak. "I didn't want to alarm you or Clarence."
"Consider me already alarmed and Clarence oblivious. And spill what you think you know."
Enid sighed. "At one point, Mason grew rather desperate. The Cabal, the machinations, the attempts on our lives, were wearing him down. They had the numbers and were willing to go to any lengths to win. I believe that Mason went into the storehouse to find the Skein of Lachesis."
"The what?"
"In Greek mythology, Clotho was responsible for spinning the thread of human life. Lachesis was the one who measured the thread spun on Clotho's spindle, and determined destiny. She measured the thread of life with her rod and then chose the person's destiny. The skein is an artifact that determines history."
"And you think Uncle Mason intended to use that to change history and create a time line where the Cabal was defeated?"
"Yes. And of course, using that artifact would change a lot of things, everything. It's possible that using it would leave those of us sensitive to such things with memories of things that never happened."
I was struggling to breathe. "Or with events that we know happened, but that we have no memories of." Enid nodded helplessly, as helpless as I felt. "Uncle Mason might have rewritten history."
Enid picked up the teapot and refreshed our cups. "I'm afraid so. It seems we have a great deal to untangle."
"And if we do it, Beatrice might be dead in that world."
Enid sighed. "Dearie, that might be only the beginning."
"The beginning?"
"Yes, and no more than that. Once we start that task...” she smiled sadly. “It’s like I always said to Mason, once you play with cursed things, well we have no idea what all will be different. No idea at all."
I knew it was time for me to go. As usual, solving the current mystery only opened up doors onto new ones. As Enid had said, that was how things went when you chased cursed artifacts.
As if she read my mind, and perhaps she did, Enid put her hand on my shoulder. "It's weird, I know. Get used to it."
She was right. She was being supportive. Still, as I walked down the sidewalk to where I’d left my car parked at the curb, my knees were a bit weak. It was the crash that came when adrenalin wore off, sure. That was part of it.
Still, I was a modern woman. Independent, and a business owner. A woman who carried a ghost around in a pen box.
It wouldn’t ever make any real sense. None of it.
THE END
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Old School Diner Cozy Mysteries
Murder at Stake
Murder Well Done
THE CURIOSITY SHOP Cozy Mysteries
The Curious Case of the Cursed Spectacles
The Curious Case of the Cursed Dice
The Curious Case of the Cursed Dagger
THE WE’RE NOT DEAD Yet Club
Fetch a Pail of Murder
Wedding Bells and Death Knells
Murder or Bust
Pinched, Pilfered and a Pitchfork
A Hot Spot of Murder
Witchy Women of Coven Grove Series
THE WITCHING ON THE Wall
A Witching Well of Magic
Witching the Night Away
Witching There’s Another Way
Witching Your Life Away
Witching You Wouldn’t Go
Witching for a Miracle
Teasen & Pleasen Hair Salon Series
A Hair Raising Blowout
Wash, Rinse, Die
Holiday Hooligans
Color Me Dead
False Nails & Tall Tales
Caesar’s Creek Series
A FROZEN SCOOP OF MURDER (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book One)
Death by Chocolate Sundae (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Two)
Soft Serve Secrets (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Three)
Ice Cream You Scream (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Four)
Double Dip Dilemma (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Five)
Melted Memories (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Six)
Triple Dip Debacle(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Seven)
Whipped Wedding Woes(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Eight)
A Sprinkle of Tropical Trouble(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Nine)
A Drizzle of Deception(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Ten)
SWEET HOME MYSTERY Series
Creamed at the Coffee Cabana (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book One)
A Caffeinated Crunch (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Two)
A Frothy Fiasco (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Three)
Punked by the Pumpkin(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Four)
Peppermint Pandemonium(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Five)
Expresso Messo(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Six)
A Cuppa Cruise Conundrum(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Seven)
The Brewing Bride(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Eight)
Whispering Pines Mystery Series
A Sinister Slice of Murder
Sanctum of Shadows (Whispering Pines Mystery Series)
Curse of the Bloodstone Arrow (Whispering Pines Mystery Series)
Fright Night at the Haunted Inn (Whispering Pines Mystery Series)
MAD RIVER MYSTERY SERIES
A Wicked Whack
A Prickly Predicament
A Malevolent Menace
The Curious Case of the Cursed Dagger (Curiosity Shop Cozy Mysteries Book 3) Page 19