by Kot, Eleyne
“Dead man bones and all that?” asks Jim.
“Aha,” says Sally. “He told me his ancestors were important members of witch clans, members of the oldest covens of Scotland and England. He has secret articles he won´t show to anyone who rummage his shop only for curiosity, but one day he let me see a couple of drawings. He was storing them and told me they weren’t magic articles, but just drawings made by the witch hunters depicting what they had found in one old lady's cabinet. Of course, the lady went up in flames...”
She makes a pause and continues.
“She was one of his ancestors, and the drawings were bought on the black market for a huge sum. Well, the drawings were showing exactly this thing... this design.”
We gasp at the same time.
“So he would be interested in seeing it,” she suggests. “I can make the introductions and you can find out more about that amulet.”
“Would you be so kind to do that?” I ask and she nods grinning and replies.
“Of course, honey. I told you I like creepy stories and I just found one here!”
We laugh and she adds.
“We’ll have to go there tonight before dinner. He’s flying to Spain tomorrow and he’s closing his shop before 8 p.m.”
“Then we have to tell Tony and Ted!” exclaims Eleyne, then we turn our heads and see them coming to us.
“Hey, gals, get ready,” says Tony, “we’re going to the city now.”
“But we have to tell you something,” I say to them, “Sally told us about a friend of hers who may know what this ring or amulet means and who made it.”
“Fabulous!” exclaims Tony. “Incredible.” He makes a pleasant face but deep inside he can’t be too happy.
“The forces of the karma?” asks Ted.
“What karma? What amulet is that?” asks Steve, clueless of what we’re talking about.
“Oh,” I say, “Sally told us something about this piece of antiquity that I was researching, and it’s wonderful! One friend of hers knows what this means and for me it’s very important.”
“Cool,” Steve nods, “so we’re going to the city and visiting your friend before dinner?”
“Yes, you know him,” says Sally, “it’s the man with this large collection of ancient objects, the one who invited us to his Halloween party two years ago.”
“A nice guy,” Steve seems approving of the friend, “and a great, crazy party he held. And a great mansion he has!”
“Indeed, he has inherited it from his family but he´s not actually rich,” comments Sally, “he receives special guests in summer.”
“I never thought that this visit will bring such curious consequences,” comments Steve, grinning “what did you mention, Ted? Karma?”
“Yes, I heard talk about that... karma,” replies Ted. “And Babette knows a lot of the matter, don´t you?”
Babette smiles.
“Karma is a kind of law that regulates the universe and a subject for a long conversation. However, now it’s getting late, it’s better to go or we won’t see anything...”
“The sex shop...I want to visit it, too!” I exclaim, sudden change of topic makes Sally and Steve stare at me.
I notice that Eleyne gets closer to Sally and hear her say quietly to her.
“She's just teasing them.”
“Well, we’re going to the city, let’s go to the car,” adds Jim.
Eleyne’s Story:
We’re on the way to the city. Ted's driving. Babette is sitting next to him on the front seat. I sit between Tony and Jim on the back. Yasmin and Colin are in the other car with Steve and Sally. We're all intrigued by what Sally said about Yasmin's ring. The guys, though, are still a bit weary of what can be revealed about it. I know the three of us would be delighted to be able to stay here in the ‘80s with the guys, but we're simply afraid of the implications this decision could bring. We don't even know if it's possible, if the magic or energy that brought us here would permit us to stay. Babette says.
“Yasmin once told me that we’re caught in a whirlpool of time...”
I voice my own uncertainty.
“Such a whirlpool would spit us out, sooner or later.”
“Gals, don't talk about this, it only makes us upset. We're going to that antique shop Sally was talking about later, before dinner, but now let's just have fun. We don't want to be reminded about the fact that you won't be with us soon, every time we turn around,” Jim complains.
Ted is equally dissatisfied.
“Exactly, just don't mention this until we get to that fucking shop.”
“OK, we won't say a word more about it,” Babette promises him and changes the subject. “Soooo.... which shops are we going to?”
“There's a shopping centre that you might find interesting,” Tony answers her.
“Oh, how nice I just love shopping centres,” she exclaims happily.
“So do I,” I agree with her. The guys smile. Knowing men, they will be bored to death babysitting us when we browse around all the shops, trying on everything that we may find attractive. But apparently it's more preferable for them than listening to us talking about leaving them. I try to promise myself not to exaggerate with browsing and limit myself only to very interesting things. Looking at Babette who’s smiling mysteriously I know she's thinking the same.
There's not much traffic on the way so we arrive to the mall quite fast. After parking the cars we go up on the escalator and I try to remember the place. Then I suggest.
“Ok guys. In case any of us gets separated we can meet here in... What's the time now?”
Colin looks at his watch.
“It's 5 o'clock...”
“We can meet here at 6 p.m, in case any of us gets lost,” Yasmin finishes. “I know you don't want us to wander far on our own, but it's only practical to make some arrangements for a case like this.”
“Why don't you want the gals to wander on their own?” asks Steve.
“They're too sexy, somebody might want to steal them,” Jim jokes.
All of us laugh but we see that men around keep on glancing at us. We’re dressed in our regular clothes, meaning low cut, sexy and revealing ones. Not to mention that our hairstyles and general looks are quite different from what other women around wear. But while men seem to be more interested in our boobs, butts and legs, women keep on glancing at our clothes and shoes. And at our hair. Sally seems to be quite interested in a source of our garments as well. She tries to find out, however, we can't tell her too much. What I and Babette are wearing comes from 2011, only Yasmin's clothes were bought in 1985, so we try to give evasive answers, saying we're wearing local small brands that don't export to Great Britain.
Time passes pleasantly while we're walking around looking into one and other shop. Our guys find some interesting stuff for themselves, too, they even end up buying some t-shirts for themselves. We’re trying to moderate our drives that would normally drag us into every clothes shop and make us spend at least an hour in each of them. We succeed till we walk up to a large shop with jewelry. Seeing all the sparkly crystals, earrings and necklaces sets me into a ‘magpie’ mode. I announce to our men.
“Guys, I think I won't go out of here fast. You might as well find yourselves someplace to sit on,” I wink at them. Babette follows me.
“Oh yeah, you just sit somewhere and wait for us. I may also take time.”
Yasmin follows her intrigued, though she's not saying anything. Sally stays outside talking to Steve. Our guys just look at each other with slightly painful faces, but turn and go a few metres to sit on the armchairs, which seem to be especially provided for the bored males who are forced to escort their girlfriends, wives or whatever other females to the jewelry shop.
Inside I just get into a trying on frenzy. Everything’s so nice and shiny that I would willingly put it all on me at the same time. While I'm busy admiring the glamour and design of particular pieces, watching how they look on my fingers, wrists, neck and ears, Bab
ette is doing exactly the same. So is Yasmin, though less feverishly. But I have always been a fan of sparkly things, so I simply lose track of time trying things on. It’s not too long before Tony and Jim enter the shop a bit irritated and impatient.
“Gals, it's already half past six, we still have some places to go to before dinner. Either select something or let's get out of here,” he says and we get snapped out of our trance.
It seems that at least Yasmin and Babette have found something that they like and want. Colin and Ted enter the shop and handle the purchase of the items. Tony and Jim look at me expectantly.
“Do you want something from here?”
“Well, preferably everything,” I laugh, “I just love the shop and the contents. But I wouldn't be able to wear everything at once.”
They laugh, and Jim asks.
“Is there something here that you would especially like to have?”
I smile at them.
“Guys, I have several jewelry boxes full at home. And I make such things myself.”
I take a pair of earrings from a nearest display and show them. “I could make these myself. I just need beads, pins and tools to do it. The jewelry I was wearing here was also my own design and production.”
When I talk to them Sally enters and hears my last words.
“What are you saying? Did you make these?” She reaches for my ears and touches my earrings.
“Yes, I did,” I put the shop earrings back on the display and take out mine from my ear to show her. Babette joins us when we’re all walking out of the shop.
“You’re not kidding us? These look like a shop production!” she exclaims.
“They’re really handmade by me,” I laugh, “it’s just a matter of getting the right crystals and good quality components.”
“Would you be able to make something like these?” She shows me the sparkly crystal earrings that she selected for herself.
“Yes, they look easy. You will need something matching for your neck,” I wink at her, “I think I have the crystals back at home.”
“If you make jewelry and you didn’t want to buy anything, why did you have to spend more than half an hour in this shop?” Tony looks a bit exasperated.
“Well… Perhaps for inspiration… Even though I won’t really copy any of these, my creations are unique,” I smile at him.
I can hear them muttering something under their noses. The three of us just smile meaningfully and wink at each other while they're busy expressing their disapproval about what they must consider a waste of time.
Yasmin and Colin join us, too. She asks.
“Do we have enough time to go to that sex shop before the antique shop and the dinner?”
“Gals, we have enough toys at home,” Colin sighs.
“What if we want to have the exact replicas of your dicks? They don't have a service like this here, do they? Making a dildo from a mold...” Babette teases the guys and they all laugh.
“Well, it would be much better if they had a natural bio drive,” I add, “but we can't be too fussy...”
“Gals, we still need to get to that antique shop and then to the restaurant, now the traffic is much more congested, you'll have to forget the sex shop for now. We'll go there tomorrow.” Jim still chuckles.
“Such toys can be funny...” Yasmin laughs. “Once a girlfriend of mine had a vibrator and her cat found it and managed to get it out. It rolled the new fantastic toy into the living room when her grand mam was visiting. Can you imagine the face of the elderly lady seeing a natural size dick rolled on the floor?”
We all explode laughing hearing that.
“I heard such stories about sex gadgets and cats too,” I admit, “but I think the ones I heard were about condoms... Used ones...” I wink.
We’re all laughing loudly and are in very good moods when we enter the car to drive to that antique shop. I wonder if the guys will still be so happy and cheerful after we leave from there.
Yasmin’s Story:
When we arrive at the parking area near the antique shop, we begin to have a fidgety feeling. The sunlight shines across the street, but the dark brown front of shop casts an ominous shadow on the street. Some Lovecraft's tales return to my mind, making me dread coming here, but Sally goes along, confident and radiant, entering the glass door, followed by us.
When we enter, we find ourselves in a twilight zone, where heavy cupboards and massive tables hold a strange and defiant collection of indefinable objects, some inside glass boxes, and others spread on neat shelves; but they all look so somber that I don’t think any customer would be tempted to take any out of their place and steal them. When we enter, a bell rings over our heads making us jump. We’re scarcely comfortable in such a weird place until out of a white inner door appears first the figure of gray bulldog, which inspires our lady comments.
“So cute,” says Babette and Sally adds.
“He´s Buglar. That means that Norton is here.”
One second later, Norton, a red-haired thin man, not much taller than Jim and maybe near his 40s, slides in like a silent cat in front of us. There’s surprise on his face at seeing so many people together in his shop. Then he smiles warmly to Sally and greets her pleased.
“I've come to wish you a nice stay on Ibiza,” she says and adds gesturing to us. “These are my boyfriends’ mates. You know, they´re rock stars...”
Norton nods, smiling and shaking hands with all us.
“The girls,” continues Sally, “are new friends of the guys. They’re here on a mission. This is Yasmin, she comes from Argentina and wants to show you something she found a few days ago.”
“Oh, well,” says Norton, “pleased to meet you. What is the thing you wish to show me? I assume that is something related to my métier: odd antiquities, rare pieces, magic articles.”
“Yes,” I say hesitating on how to continue, “it’s related to the last thing you mentioned: magic, pagan stuff.”
“Oh, please, continue,” he says politely, frowning his blue eyes as if to see better what I’m going to show him but then he stops, frozen and shakes his head a little. His jaw drops and stammers. “By the Great Goddess, what do you have here?”
It looks like that thin man is going to vanish in the air, shaking all his body in intense emotion, unable to utter more words. I take the chain off and offer him the ring to examine.
“Please, tell me what you know about this. Sally saw it this afternoon and told us an interesting story about it: she said you had showed her some drawings that were exactly like this amulet and that they represented some amulet stolen from your family.”
The man looks petrified at the object in his hand, after some seconds, he reacts and brings the object to a light in his counter and searches for a magnifying glass, then spends some time murmuring and grunting in a low voice, then he holds it back to me and tells me.
“It’s a copy of the original. I’ve never seen the original my ancestor wore but the tradition and the drawings shows some details that are absent in this. But, madam, I must warn you that it’s a magical object and shouldn't be used in a profane way, as it were a simple medallion.”
“Thanks, I wanted to know what it is and what it is for. Can you tell me anything about that?”
“I cannot reveal much but,” he stops and looks around. “Why are you all so interested in this?”
“We have had some strange dreams,” Tony confesses. “Yasmin wore that amulet on the Saint John night and we dreamt weird things. We connected the dreams to the object, you may think we’re crazy.”
“No, no,” Norton looks at us with a growing trust. “Your dreams are part of the goal of that amulet. I suppose the coven created at least four amulets, one of them was of Madam Tull, my ancestor and the rest are lost. The coven was harassed and persecuted and finally all its members were killed. The amulets were lost, maybe some of the descendants of the wizards and witches were lucky enough to save the design. But I have a question for you, please,
if you are so kind as to reply to it, where did you find this?”
There’s a heavy silence and then I proceed to reply.
“As I told you, I collaborate in research that’s related to paranormal phenomena in the surroundings of prehistoric monuments, like Stonehenge and others of that kind. While we were investigating paranormal phenomena in a place called Hekate's Mound or Passage, we found it there.”
He gasps and then comments.
“Awesome! That place was holy for many of our covens and still is a wonderful place to achieve spiritual wisdom.”
Then I ask the most sensitive of all the questions I have in my mind.
“You said you couldn’t reveal too much about this object, but I’m a researcher of the paranormal phenomena, I understand the rules of the craft.”
Norton nods politely, glad to hear those words, but I continue while the bulldog begins to sniff Babette and Eleyne’s shoes, then inspects mine and retreats shyly to its cushion beside the counter.
“I’m very much interested in knowing if this object has been designed or dedicated to cause some paranormal effects, ”Norton fixes his eyes on me and they’re narrowing slowly when I continue. “that might happen when a person or an object experiences traveling.”
“Tell me,” says Norton. “What kind of travel? A special travel like a dream? Yes, it was used for astral traveling.”
“What´s that?” Jim breaks in. “Travel to the stars?”
“No, sir,” says Norton, “astral travel is when one's soul goes out of your body and runs free, visiting any place in the universe.”
“Ok,” I say, “I know it. But in that kind of travel only the mind and soul, or astral body is involved...”
“Yes,” answers Norton, “maybe you have had such a kind of travel last night.”
“Perhaps,” I concede while he’s holding the amulet over the palm of my hand. Then I add suggestively. “Of course, your people were interested in the type of travel, to know and discover unknown kingdoms of the spirit.”