by Marc Lindsay
‘Hey Rory, what’s up?’ Jason asked.
‘I just heard about the new exhibit at the library, sounds awesome.’
‘What exhibit?’ Jason asked perplexed.
‘You know, the one about the Myths and Legends,’ Rory answered. Jason just looked at him blankly.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Jason replied. Before Rory could elaborate the school buzzer sounded signifying the end of class.
There was a mad scramble as everyone bolted for the door.
‘One moment Mr Page,’ Mr Rosenbaum called out sternly. Jason was just about to exit when he heard his name called, sighing he did an about turn and walked back in. Rory who was walking next to him gave Jason a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he filed past and out the door. Mr Rosenbaum was seated behind the desk his head down, marking essay’s. Jason stood before him patiently waiting, the only sounds in the room were the scribbling of the teacher’s pen on paper. After what seemed an eternity Mr Rosenbaum placed his pen down and looked up at Jason, a barely concealed scowl on his face.
‘I’ve just read the paper you handed in the other day on ‘Great Expectation.’
‘And…?’ Jason asked.
‘And, I was thinking that it was very insightful. Too insightful,’ Mr Rosenbaum said with a narrowing of his eyes.
‘What are you saying?’ Jason asked.
‘I’m saying that I know this isn’t your work. You’ve plagiarised it, and I want to know whose work it is,’ Mr Rosenbaum demanded, his voice raising in anger.
‘That’s bullshit.’
‘Watch your mouth young man, I’m not one of your victims you can just bully around.’
‘What the hell are you talking about,’ Jason replied confused.
‘You heard me. I’m sick of your type, thugs who think they can bulldoze through life. Well guess what, not in my class.’
‘I don’t know what you think of me, but you’re wrong?’
‘QUIET!’ Mr Rosenbaum snarled, then taking a deep breath he smoothed his tie. ‘This matter will now go to the vice principal.’ Jason was about to protest but was silenced by a wave of Mr Rosenbaum’s hand. ‘You can leave now.’ Jason was livid but realised arguing at this point would be futile so instead he grabbed his bag and departed.
Later at lunch Jason filled Selene in on the events of English class.
‘I can’t understand why he would jump to such a conclusion?’ Selene said. ‘You should have seen him. It wasn’t just the allegation, he was furious with me,’ Jason said then sighed. ‘Now I’ll have to go home and tell mum.’ ‘You know what, as bad as it all sounds, the truth is that you’re innocent. So they can say what they want because there is no dirt.’ ‘You’re right, it’s not a witch hunt is it,’ Jason said with little conviction in his voice.
‘Hey you know what will cheer you up?’
‘What’s that?’ Jason asked pleased in a change of subject.
‘Gossip,’ Selene said mischievously. Jason smiled and shook his head.
‘Women.’ Selene ignored his jibe and continued on.
‘I don’t know if you’re aware but Hector has been off school since the festival,’ Selene said.
‘Oh, I’m aware, hasn’t it been great,’ Jason said smiling.
‘Well it turns out he has some mysterious illness, one that has turned his hair white,’ Selene said in a low voice, as if someone might be listening in. Jason burst out laughing.
‘Really, his hair white, what a crock,’ Jason replied still chuckling. ‘Where did you get this airtight piece of info?’
‘I overhead Mandy in the girl’s toilet,’ Selene answered, now looking a little sheepish. Jason laughed again.
‘And there it is, Mandy, really. I’d rather get my facts from a news of the world paper than believe anything that comes out of that girl’s mouth,’ Jason said.‘Okay, okay you’re right. Now are you going to come down from your soapbox or lecture me for the rest of lunch.’ Jason shrugged.
‘I don’t know I kind of like the view from up here,’ he said smugly. Selene punched his shoulder and he rubbed it pretending to be hurt.
‘Hey, Rory was telling me something in class about some myths exhibition at the library,’ Jason said. Selene’s eyes went wide.
‘Yes, I nearly forgot to tell you. I heard that rumour too,’ Selene replied. ‘I wonder why Ulysses hasn’t said anything.’ Jason didn’t reply, he just sat there brooding.
Chapter 3
After school they made their way to the library intent on finding out the answers to their questions. On arrival they found Ulysses in Greymead’s communication centre. A large sparse room with an intricately carved short stone pillar in the centre, a glowing crystal resting on its top. This crystal was able to project three dimensional images into the air above. Ulysses was totally immersed in an unknown project, he had various images blown up overhead, and as Jason and Selene approached they could see that they were mug shots of certain individuals from town.
‘What’s going on?’ Jason asked his interest piqued.
‘These faces you see before you are all people who reside in Perigord, who were not present during the Harvest festival,’ Ulysses replied not taking his eyes from those images.
‘And why is that so important?’ Selene asked.
‘I believe that Ms Gaia wasn’t working alone,’ Ulysses said.
‘Well we know that already,’ Jason interjected. ‘She had Onyx, Strix and the Stumpp Brothers in her employ.’
‘No. I mean yes. Of course we know they were working for her. but none of them are thinkers, they were employed as her muscle nothing more,’ Ulysses said.
‘And what you’re suggesting is that one of these people could have been aiding her?’ Selene asked. Ulysses turned his attention to the two teenagers beside him.
‘There are too many elements that needed to come together for Ms Gaia to accomplish her goal,’ Ulysses said.
‘Such as?’ Jason asked.
‘Well for starters, the information required. Where did she source it all from? How did she locate and hire her employees? The materials required for the ceremony, that was no coincidence that all the necessary ingredients all happened to be in the cider,’ Ulysses said finally.
‘Well, he should be our first suspect right? Mr Sucell, the owner of the ‘Black River Brewery,’ Selene asked.
‘I agree, but we can’t be sure the decision to change the recipe was wholly and solely his,’ Ulysses said.
‘There are at least two dozen faces on your list,’ Jason said pointing to the faces above them.
‘Twenty-nine to be exact,’ Ulysses replied.
‘How can you be so sure?’ Selene asked.
‘Greymeade has a detailed file on every face in town,’ Ulysses said then added. ‘And footage of everything that happened that night, the library was able to scan every face that was present. These twenty-nine are the only faces that weren’t there,’ The magnitude of that undertaking was not lost on either Jason or Selene.
‘Is there any way we can narrow the list?’ Jason asked.
‘As a matter of fact there is,’ Ulysses replied. ‘Nine were definitely out of town that night, so we can cross them off. Greymeade remove those nine.’ Almost immediately those nine faces vanished from the air.
‘Greymeade remove those incapacitated from injury or illness and or working that night at the hospital,’ Selene said. There was a brief pause, as if Greymeade had ignored her request, then fifteen faces disappeared from the list leaving only five faces to remain. Ulysses and Jason looked shocked.
‘I thought Selene couldn’t communicate directly with Greymeade,’ Jason questioned.
‘I didn’t even think about it, I assume now that she has been named as the Library’s champion, her circumstances have changed,’ Ulysses replied. Selene didn’t say anything but she looked extremely chuffed at this news. ‘That’s brilliant,’ Jason said giving Selene an approving glance.
‘So, let�
�s see who we have left,’ Ulysses said swiftly changing subject.
‘We have Ash, Beetle, Hector and I’m not familiar with the last two faces,’ Selene said.
‘The attractive young woman is Samantha Hain. She is the groundskeeper at the cemetery.’ Ulysses said.
‘That’s her?’ Selene replied incredulously. ‘I’ve heard stories about her at school, the other kids would say that she was six-foot-tall, extremely thin and as pale as a ghost. But she’s really quite pretty.’
‘I’ll say,’ Jason replied and received an elbow to the ribs courtesy of Selene.
‘Who’s the older fella?’ Selene asked quickly.
‘Mr Vert, he owns all the apple orchards in the valley,’ Ulysses said.
‘He’s supposed to be a real recluse, so it’s no surprise that he wasn’t sighted,’ Selene said.
‘Regardless, something doesn’t sit right about him. I’m leaving him on the short list,’ Ulysses said suspiciously.
‘I’ve known Ash and Beetle for a while, they couldn’t be involved with Ms Gaia,’ Selene said honestly.
‘You mean Ms Gaia the helpful science teacher,’ Ulysses said with a raised eyebrow.
‘Touché,’ Selene said blushing lightly. Ulysses moved forward and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
‘Don’t be ashamed, it wasn’t your fault, her deception was complete and thorough,’ Ulysses said, Selene nodded.
‘So what should we do about our five suspects?’ Jason asked.
‘Nothing, other than keep a close eye on them, besides we have another problem,’ Ulysses said.
‘What’s that?’ Selene asked.
‘Greymeade, display image from the night of the Harvest festival, 0330 hours,’ Ulysses commanded with authority. All of the other images faded and were replaced by a new one, a semi cloaked figure standing against a tree line, the face of whom was recognisable to everyone within the room.
‘Heinrich Perigord,’ Jason and Selene said in unison.
‘The very same,’ Ulysses said grimly.
‘Is that image for real?’ Jason asked.
‘I’m afraid so,’ Ulysses answered.
‘So, he is the mastermind behind all this?’ Selene asked.
‘No, I don’t think so,’ Ulysses replied. Jason and Selene both looked surprised at his denial.
‘How can you say that?’ Jason asked. Ulysses took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair as he contemplated his response.
‘I know this is going to sound crazy, but it’s just not his style. Yes, he has a history of manipulation, but he is very clear in his intentions behind any plan or scheme. In this circumstance I can’t fathom why he would place the power of the Gjallarhorn in Ms Gaia’s hands,’ Ulysses said. Jason shrugged, but Selene looked less than satisfied by his answer. For now, it seemed they had exhausted this line of conversation.
‘On a completely different topic, why weren’t we told about the exhibit?’ Jason asked.
‘I apologise about that, it’s really no conspiracy,’ Ulysses replied, he motioned for them to follow him out into the staff tea room. ‘The opportunity kind of fell into my lap. The art gallery was meant to host, but due to security issues that had arisen because of the recent break in, the exhibits manager wanted a more secure location.’
‘And you’re happy to have it here?’ Jason asked.
‘Of course, most of the exhibit consists of scrolls and manuscripts pertaining to Persian myths. But the real highlight is the centre piece,’ Ulysses replied.
‘I heard something about this, it’s a crown of some kind,’ Selene said.
‘Not a crown but a helmet. The Helmet of Rostam,’ Ulysses said.
‘Never heard of it,’ Jason said with a shrug.
‘Philistine,’ Ulysses said with an air of distaste. ‘It’s actually a very interesting story. The helmet was made from the skull of a slain Div-e Sepid, which roughly translates into white demon,’ Ulysses said.
‘Is it really the skull of a demon?’ Selene asked her interest clearly raised.
‘That’s pretty bloody awesome,’ Jason added.
‘You know what else is awesome?’ Ulysses said, then paused. ‘The job I have for you both.’ Jason shoulders deflated at the thought of what was to come. ‘I’m sure it’s awesome,’ Jason muttered, Ulysses ignored him.
‘I’ll need you two to hand out leaflets for the exhibition.’ They both groaned. ‘You’ll find the papers sitting out by the reception desk, okay.’ Jason again muttered something unintelligible as he shuffled out the door followed by Selene.
They walked along the quiet street, stopping every so often to place a leaflet into a waiting mailbox or under the window wiper on a car. Winter was almost upon them and in a few weeks the first flakes of snow were expected to fall. It was starting to get dark and the temperature was dropping. Not that it bothered Jason, his half alien metabolism stabilised his internal temperature, and as for Selene the clothing she wore as a gift from Ulysses reconfigured itself to her mental commands, in this case becoming thicker and more resistant to the cold.
Walking slowly from the opposite direction came a little old lady, wrapped tightly in a shawl, glancing nervously around the street.
‘Mojo… Mojo…,’ She called out, clearly distressed. As they approached she stopped them. ‘I’m sorry to bother you, but have you seen a little dog out here on the street.’ Jason and Selene gave each other a quick glance then back at her a little guiltily.
‘No, I’m afraid we haven’t,’ Selene answered.
‘What sort of dog is it?’ Jason asked.
‘He’s a pug,’ the old woman replied upset. Answers to Mojo, I don’t know how he got out and it’s getting cold.’
‘We’ll keep an eye out, I promise,’ Jason said sincerely, the woman nodded thankfully before continuing on down the street, her voice echoing out in the dusk.
‘I hope she finds her dog, it is getting rather cold,’ Selene said.
‘I’m sure the dog’s fine, in fact he’s probably already home,’ Jason replied placing an arm around her and pulling her close, they walked. ‘I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of dropping leaflets for today.’
‘Oohh, what have you got in mind?’ Selene said mischievously.
‘I was thinking a hot chocolate at Ash’s diner, before I take you home,’ Jason said completely missing her innuendo.
Arriving at the diner, they were surprised to find it bustling with activity. Jason cleared a way in and they managed to squeeze their way through and into a corner booth.
‘I wonder what the occasion is?’ Jason pondered, but the only answer he received from Selene was a shrug of her shoulders. The jukebox was playing some 1970s old school rock n roll. A pretty young woman in a tight revealing pink waitress uniform and roller skates zipped around patrons delivering meals and drinks, her fiery red hair flowing behind in a ponytail. Jason’s eyes followed the waitress’ short hemline and slim athletic legs, after a quick appraisal he noticed a small tattoo, a simple white rabbit on her ankle. This brought a rueful smile to his face.
‘See anything you like?’ Selene asked neutrally. Jason spluttered and whipped his head around.
‘It’s not what you think, I was just checking out her tattoo,’ Jason stammered.
‘Right,’ Selene answered, enjoying his unease, a playful smile emerging on her face. Before Jason could respond a gruff voice interrupted them.
‘I thought it was you two walking in,’ Ash said. A short figure approached them through the crowd moving with an ease and confidence that belied his height, he leapt up onto the seat next to Selene.
‘Hey,’ Selene replied and gave him a warm hug.
‘Jason it’s good to see you,’ Ash said, leaning across the table and shaking his hand, as always Jason marvelled at the man’s wide shoulders and huge hands. ‘What have you been up to?’
‘Well, Jason here has been checking out your new waitress,’ Selene stated bluntly. Ash chuck
led.
‘Oh, you mean Kit,’ he said with a raise of his eyebrows. Jason blushed and started to protest, but was waved away. ‘Hey Kit, I’ve got a couple of people I’d like you to meet,’ Ash called out. Jason went a darker shade of red and both Selene and Ash were enjoying his discomfort. Kit flew around a table of patrons on her skates and came to a skidding halt in front of their booth.
‘Hey gorgeous, who are your two friends?’ Kit asked, her clear blue eyes regarded them curiously.
‘This is my old friend Selene, and her new boyfriend Jason,’ Ash said. Kit crinkled her nose, and Jason noted that Kit had glitter sprinkled across it and all the way to the edge of her cheeks.
‘Aw, that’s so cute,’ Kit said a little patronizingly, Ash gave her a look that said play nice and she pouted back. ‘I better get moving baby, time is money.’ And before anyone could respond she was gone in a blur of motion. Ash shook his head and chuckled lightly.
‘Please don’t tell me you’re dating her,’ Selene scolded. This made Ash chuckle harder.
‘She’s not my type. I prefer my affections to be cast on a more, generous soul. That girl is a little too ruthless for me,’ Ash said honestly.
‘Well I’m glad,’ Selene said, and relaxed visibly.
‘Now I know you’re not just here for my company, so let me set you up with today’s special, you’ll love it,’ Ash said then he too, disappeared into the crowd.
Selene’s manner was sunny then she scowled thinking of Kit.
‘Eerrr, that woman really rubbed me the wrong way,’ Selene muttered.
‘See you were all jealous for nothing. And she wasn’t even that pretty either,’ Jason said.
‘You thought she was pretty,’ Selene said, and Jason rolled his eyes.
Chapter 4
Jason stepped out of the shower and towelled the water from his head. Even though his alien clothing cleaned the waste and bacteria from his body, he still showered for two reasons. One, his mother would become suspicious, and two he still loved having a steaming hot shower at the end of the day.
After drying himself he entered his bedroom and scratched absently at a series of welts on his forearm. The very same place the stranger in his dream had grabbed him when Selene and Jason had nearly drowned a few weeks earlier. When he had first noticed the welts they were nothing more than faint blur on his skin, now they were a dark purple and formed into a recognisable pattern. Three circles of various sizes within each other and at the centre a dark purple dot. The welt looked exactly like a bullseye. Jason was no fool and knew this was no coincidence, however for some reason even he couldn’t fathom, he hadn’t told anyone about it, instead choosing to keep it covered until he could make some sense of it, as well as the stranger from the dream.