He left and I was able to step out of the back room and breathe in the silence of the empty store. It was peaceful enough that I could see myself actually being able to do all this. It wasn’t a strong feeling, but it was there.
This won’t be so bad... I can do this...
I reached under the counter and grabbed a dusty green accounts ledger and scooped the bills out of the wire basket. I stacked the papers I had already collected, and gathered it all up to take to the diner. Maybe I could make some sort of sense out of it all while I ate my lunch.
As I stepped outside and locked the door, the muggy heat of the day smacked me in the face. I looked up at the cloudless sky and smiled. If this weather held much longer, the area would be in the middle of a full-blown drought. As horrible as that would be, I couldn’t help but think that it would be good for business.
That would at least pay a few bills...
I pushed the thought from my mind. I wasn’t desperate enough to start praying that there would be no rain and that the grass in all the pastures would brown and die in the sun. I wasn’t that desperate...yet.
I felt like I was dying, or at least melting, as I walked down to the diner. I could feel the steamy heat radiating up from the sidewalk. It was a relief to step into the icy air conditioning of the diner.
Slipping into the first available booth, I plopped down my stack of papers and immediately began trying to organize the bills and receipts into some type of order so that I at least knew how much money I had available.
It was a mess. There were checks for large orders that were a month old and never deposited, bills that were past due, and deliveries that were never paid for.
What am I supposed to do with all of this?
“Hey Harmony, what can I get for you?” The waitress asked when she came up to my table.
I vaguely recognized her as the girl that got pregnant our sophomore year of high school, but I could never remember her name. “I’ll have a, um... How about a sweet tea and a cheeseburger with fries?”
“Okay.”
“Make that two,” a male voice behind me said.
I looked around the edge of the booth and there was Kieran, looking very sexy in his jeans and tee-shirt.
He smiled, his teeth a glaring contrast against his tanned skin. “May I sit down?”
I could feel myself starting to blush, “Sure.”
The waitress raised her eyebrows and walked off. It was clear from her reaction that I would be the subject of her afternoon conversations with Mrs. Jennings the owner of the diner.
Kieran slid into the booth and rested his arms on the table, “So, what is it that you’re doing?”
Stacking everything back in a neat little pile, I pushed it aside. “I was going over the bills and stuff for the store.”
“So, is this normally where you do your accounting duties?”
I could feel him watching me, studying my every move, I didn’t dare look up. If I was to meet his eyes, I knew that I would turn into a stuttering idiot and just embarrass myself.
“No,” I replied. “I couldn’t really concentrate at the store with everyone talking about you all.”
Oh my God! Why did I just say that?
When I glanced up at him though, he didn’t seem offended. If anything, he seemed slightly amused.
“Ah, so they talk now, do they?” He asked in that enchanting accent.
I risked another peek up at him, “Yes. At first it was friendly curiosity, but now not so much.”
I just did it again...What the hell is wrong with me?
Kieran smirked, “That is usually how it goes.”
The waitress brought our food and drinks, lingering as she took the mustard and ketchup bottles from her pocket. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”
She wasn’t looking at me; she was focusing all of her attention on Kieran. I still couldn’t remember her name, but I would’ve bet that I didn’t like her in high school either.
Kieran seemed immune to her efforts, “Thank you love, but I think we are fine.”
“Well if you need anything –“ She leaned closer to him, giving him an unobstructed view down her shirt. “– Anything at all, you just let me know.”
Seriously?
I was glad to see that he didn’t turn and watch her walk away so that he could see her from behind.
“So,” I said as I took a bite of a too hot French fry. “It’s true then that you’re an Irish traveller?”
“Well,” he teased. “We are Irish and we obviously travel.”
“But you’re not really Irish travellers?”
“Some of the group is,” he said.
“But you’re not?”
“No. My family and I travel with them by choice.”
I thought about the conversations I overheard that morning. Why would anyone purposely expose themselves to that? It seemed everyone view this group with distrust, so why would he and his family choose to travel with them?
“So, if you’re not really an Irish traveller, why do you travel with them?” I asked.
Kieran smiled and motioned for me to move closer. He leaned across the table, so close I could see the tiny flecks of amber in the green of his eyes, close enough it made my heart flutter.
“The travellers,” he whispered. “They know how to keep secrets.”
Chapter 6
Late afternoons were a quiet time in the store. The customers had all left for the day and there was nothing to really do except tidy up and wait for five o’clock.
All of Corydon was starting to shut down, with stores locking up, the employees pulling the window shades, and everyone going home for the night. From the houses up the street, came the delicious smell of food cooking and as the traffic on the street dwindled to nothing, came the scent of freshly mowed lawns and honeysuckle.
I loved the way that the sun shone through the front windows and made long shadows on the floor. It made everything look dusty and dreaming. When I was little I used to make shadow figures on the floor while Grandma closed up the store for the night. Now it was just me locking the door and flipping the sign to show CLOSED.
Everything seemed darker as I walked back to the register, as if the back half of the shop was already settling in for the night. I sighed, full of the peace and contentment that only the end of the day can bring.
The ancient black cash register opened with a weary ding, the coins rattling as the drawer jutted out. I wrinkled my nose at the coppery smell inside as I lifted the tray to remove the checks and large bills from underneath.
I thumbed through the cash, counting it twice to make sure of the amount. I took out the calculator and added up all of the checks.
Looking down at the meager amount, I sighed. That wouldn’t cover the feed I needed to order and after I paid Alec, there wouldn't be anything left to pay on my grandmother’s left over hospital bills. I didn’t even want to think about how I was supposed to eat for the next week.
My mind went to what little was left of my one-time college nest egg. There might be enough left to get me through a few weeks, but then even that would be gone. I would hate to see it spent, not because I ever intended to go to college, but because once it was gone it would mean this really was my life and it wasn’t going to get any better.
So there it is... This is it...
I shook my head and counted everything again, then once more just for good measure. I was so busy counting that I didn’t hear Alec speaking to me.
He waved his hand in front of my face, “Harmony?”
I jumped, “What?”
He smiled at my reaction, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“You didn’t,” I lied. “I was just day dreaming. What was it you said?”
He swept at the floor, moving closer to the counter. “I hear you had lunch with one of the carnival people.”
Wow....Word travels fast....
“Oh yeah,” I replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“He’s the one in charge of the horses.”
I couldn’t look up at him. I could feel myself blushing at the memory of Kieran leaning across the table to whisper to me about the travellers knowing how to keep secrets. I could still remember the feeling of his breath on my face and the scent of clover that clung to his clothes.
“That makes sense then,” he said with a smile. “You wouldn’t believe how people were talking about it.”
Oh yes I would...
He went back to work and I busied myself with the bills and accounts even though now my mind kept drifting back to lunch.
After a few minutes Alec stopped and leaned against the broom he was sweeping with, “I was wondering what your plans were for tonight?”
I ran my hands through my hair, “Oh, I don’t know. I’ll probably just heat up a frozen dinner, take a hot bath, and crawl into bed.”
He smiled sheepishly, “Oh, I thought maybe we could do something. You know nothing special, just something to eat and maybe a movie.”
I barely heard him; my mind was already back on the bills. How was I going to pay off these debts and still have money to live on?
When I didn’t answer, Alec went back to sweeping the floor, almost smacking in the floor with each stroke.
“Never mind,” he grumbled.
Realizing that I had ignored this question, I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity.
“Oh Alec, I’m sorry, I –“
He turned his back to me and swept with even more vigor, “Forget about it.”
I didn’t try to say anything else. I had wounded his ego enough for one day. I just bit my tongue and watched him move across the floor.
When he got near the door, the breeze caused by his frantic sweeping made the carnival advertisement come loose and flutter to the floor. He leaned over, picked it up, and looked down at it.
“I wish those damn Gypsies would just go back where they came from,” he said as he hung the flyer back in the window. “Maybe then things can get back to normal.”
He propped his broom against the wall and then left without even saying goodbye.
What was all that about?
I didn’t follow him. I waited until I heard the back door slam before I left the counter, went through the back room, and locked the door.
I didn’t even peek out any of the windows to watch him limp off. I didn’t have energy to wonder too much about what his problem was, I just chalked it up to him having a bad day and hoped he would be in a better mood tomorrow.
Switching off the lights, I walked back through to the front room. Now that I was alone, it was silent and more than a little creepy now that everything was dim and shadowy.
I pushed the faded and worn buttons of the register so that the drawer jerked open again. I gathered the large bills and checks up again and placed them under the tray, spreading them out so that they were even.
The deposit could just wait until tomorrow, I thought as I slammed the cash register shut. It’d been a long day and I was more than ready to be done.
I twisted my hair and again stuck a pencil through the knot to hold it up. I knew how hot it would still be outside and I hated the feeling of my hair sticking to my sweaty neck.
Gathering up my keys and other things, I went to leave. I smoothed the flyer one more time before opening the door and walking out.
I stepped outside, the heat pushing against me. As I locked the door and turned, I saw Kieran and the tall traveler from the parade, the one that I guessed was maybe his father, walking along the edge the fairgrounds.
Even from where I stood I could hear the gay music and happy voices of the travellers’ camp. Everything seemed so bright and cheerful over there, unburdened by responsibility and debt.
I envied them. It didn’t matter that people thought they were thieves and liars. I just envied their freedom.
* * * *
I dreamed about the travellers again that night when I fell asleep.
As I lay in my soft and familiar bed, with the old metal fan on the dresser oscillating back and forth, I drifted off into dark dreams about the strangers that had come to town.
In my dream, I was in a misty, moss covered forest, surrounded by a cloud of nothingness.
What was this place? Where was I?
I turned in a circle, looking in every direction. For as far as I could see, all that I could make out was the great mist and the bony outlines of trees.
Far off in the empty distance, I could just make out some sort of music. It echoed against the trees, almost bell like, like a little girl’s music box lost and forgotten.
I moved to the edge of the clearing, hesitating near the first moss laden tree. Did I dare venture into the forest? Did I dare go looking for the source that strange music?
Just as I was about to step onto the leaf covered path, Kieran appeared next to me and took my hand. I looked up at him, amazed that he was even more handsome than when I saw him last, like an artist painting of how the real Kieran looked.
He took me by the arm, pulling me away from the path. I stumbled after him and into the clearing where he pulled me into his embrace.
Then we were dancing, a smooth floating waltz across the misty ground. Around and around we turned, so fast that if I looked away from his emerald eyes I would be dizzy and sick.
It was safe in his arms with the strange music filling the air. I watched his perfect face, the way his skin glowed in the light of the unseen moon, and though as magical as all of this was, there was still one question to be answered.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Kieran smiled down at me. I heard his voice, but his lips didn’t move. It was a strange, garbled language that he spoke.
“What are you saying? I don’t understand.”
Again he spoke, again without moving his lips, and again I did not know the meaning of the words.
I shook my head, “I don’t understand.”
“We are in the forest of the underground,” he whispered, this time lowering his head so that his moving lips rested against my hair.
A shiver raced up my spine. I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against his chest. I still had no idea what he meant, but at that moment, with him so very close, I didn’t care.
Suddenly the ground shook, forcing us apart. I went to scream, but again everything vibrated as the roar of cannons deafened me.
“Kieran,” I cried. “What’s happening?”
He spoke again in that jumbled language that I did not understand as the ground cracked and opened.
I screamed and reached for Kieran, but I was falling down into one of the crevices. Falling and falling until I bolted awake to the loud rumble of the garbage truck.
Chapter 7
I could still feel it, the sensation of Kieran’s lips near my ear and his cheek against mine. I could feel the strands of his dark hair tickling my eye and I could smell the delicious scent of the night air on his skin. If I turned, just a little, I could brush my lips across his cheek –
“Hey Harmony.”
I jumped as Alec interrupted my daydream. I blinked to bring myself back to reality.
Unaware that he was interrupting anything, Alec went on with his question.
“Do we have any more of those stainless steel scoops?”
Oh my God... Seriously?
I bit my tongue. It wasn’t his fault that my mind kept wandering back to that dream, just thinking about it made my cheeks flame.
Running my hands through my hair, I struggled to focus.
“Do we have any more what?” I asked, already forgetting what he had asked.
“Stainless steel scoops.”
“Sure,” I mumbled. “There are a few in the bag next to the chicken feeders on the shelf.”
Alec went off in that direction, but then paused and turned back to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I said defensively. “Why?”
He shrugged, “You just look tired.”
I could feel myself blushing an even deeper shade of red. I shuffled some of the papers on the counter and avoided looking directly at him.
“I didn’t sleep well,” I mumbled.
“That’s getting to be a real problem. You should take better care of yourself.”
I heard him limp off into the back room. Leaning down, I rested my forehead on the counter.
I’ve got to snap out of it... I can’t go through the rest of the day like this... I’ve got to pull it together...
Despite my best efforts I couldn’t get my mind off that dream. My Grandma used to talk all the time about dreams and their hidden meanings, but the only thing I took from my dream was the delicious tease of his lips at my ear.
I have to stop thinking about him!
“So Harmony,” Mrs. Allen asked in her sickening sweet voice. “What do you think about the travellers?”
“What?” I asked, not at all surprised that I didn’t notice her coming in.
She pretended to examine our small selection of wind chimes, even though they were the exact same ones that we had on display for over a year now.
“I was just curious what you thought about the travellers and their permit situation,” she said.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, not caring if she saw me do it.
Don’t you have your own store to hang out at?
“What about their permit?”
“They actually got it approved,” she said.
Alec came out from the back room, carrying the steel scoops and a few bags of birdseed.
“Who got what approved?” He asked as he put down his load.
Mrs. Allen forgot all about me as she honed in on the real reason for her visit.
“Those travellers,” she said with a shake of her head. “They got their permits for their freak show or whatever it is.”
“When is this supposed to happen?” Alec asked.
“This weekend.”
"Good," he snapped.
I was surprised by his tone. Alec was the type of person that nothing really bothered, so his attitude caught me off guard.
“Why do you say that?” I asked,
Faery Realms: Ten Magical Titles: Multi-Author Bundle of Novels & Novellas Page 105
