“I’m starved.”
“Good. I know a great place for lunch.”
They made their way to a small café style restaurant. The curtains and tablecloths were created in a dark blue with bright golden half-moons. Ayden led Emmy to a table near the picture window, where a candle burned brightly.
A young girl around Ayden’s age came over. Her blue apron with the golden half-moons, matched the décor perfectly. She removed a small note pad and pen from the large center pocket.
“What can I get you?”
“All business today, Tonya?” Ayden flashed that brilliant smile of his.
“I’m always about business.” She cocked an eyebrow at the handsome gu/y. She fairly glared at Emmy.
“We’ll have two lemonades and menus, please.” Again, he flashed a smile that could melt a young girl’s heart.
Tonya fairly tossed the menus on the table and stomped away to get their drink orders.
“She’s hostile.”
“I guess she is.”
Emmy had to wonder what kind of relationship Ayden shared with Tonya. A girl didn’t act that way just for kicks. Something must have transpired between them to cause such blatant hostility. “Any particular reason?”
“I’m not sure,” Ayden lied but saw disbelief etched on Emmy’s face.”
“Remember you can’t lie to me. I can sense deceit.”
“If that’s true, I’m in big trouble.”
“Apologize for standing her up, and hopefully, she won’t poison our lunch order.” She gave him a strange look.
“How did you know?” Ayden saw their connection growing. It was more than a little daunting.
“I just know.” Emmy wasn’t sure how she knew about the animosity the young girl felt, but her sensitivity to this situation grew as the young server’s emotions toward Ayden grew. They overwhelmed her. She didn’t know if she liked this connection she had with him.
“Fine, I’ll go talk to her.”
“Thank you.” Emmy watched him rise and stroll behind the counter. He touched the pretty waitress’ arm and a small string of jealousy crawled through her. She couldn’t understand why she felt this way. They were friends and nothing more. She tried not to eavesdrop on their conversation, but couldn’t help herself.
“What do you want, Ayden? Did you come here to flaunt your girlfriend to me?” Tonya put ice into the glasses and removed the pitcher of lemonade from the small fridge behind the counter. She proceeded to fill the glasses trying to ignore Ayden as he stepped closer to her.
“She’s a friend. I didn’t know you were still angry with me.”
“What makes you think I care?” She brushed past him and placed the lemonades on the table. She glared at Ayden and stomped away.
“I don’t think she accepted my apology,” he told her upon his return.
“Were you sincere?”
“I thought I was.” Ayden found this situation amusing.
“Are you ready to order?” An older woman asked, as she approached the table.
Ayden looked back toward the counter and smiled. He placed their order and handed back the menus.
“I suppose she’s still angry.”
“So, it would seem.”
“Are you going to talk to her again?”
“I don’t think this is the right time. Perhaps I’ll stop by another time and speak with her. That may be best. In the meantime, let’s enjoy our lunch.”
CHAPTER 27
THE JESTER
After lunch, they stepped into the sunlight, but Emmy’s eyes never left Ayden’s face.
“What?” He knew what that look meant.
“Nothing.”
“Emmy, did you want to say something to me?”
“Not really.”
“Yes, you do. Go on.” He started across the cobblestone.
“Why did you stand her up?”
Ayden stopped walking. “What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know.” She thought about it for a moment. There were some things that didn’t concern her, and this was one of those things. “I’m sorry Ayden. I had no right to pry into your life. Whatever happened was your business, and not mine.”
“Thank you.” He continued to walk.
But Emmy was still curious. After all, Tonya was very pretty. This was his life and she had no right to intrude. Their connection was platonic and nothing more, so she had to leave this matter alone.
Ayden watched her emotions flit across her lovely face. A smile curled his lips. “You want to know what happened.”
She shuffled uncomfortably. “I do, but you don’t have to tell me anything. It’s none of my business.”
“That’s true.” He walked away from her all the while smiling.
“Hey,” Emmy called out.
Ayden laughed and stopped to look at her. “I can’t explain my actions to you or to Tonya without compromising the Professor.”
“Oh. I don’t want you to do anything that would cause problems. Look, I had no right to stick my nose into your business. Forget I said anything. This doesn’t concern me.”
“Agreed. Shall we see what else the market has to offer?”
“Absolutely.”
Ayden led her past the booths where they joined a gathering crowd.
“What’s going on?” Emmy tried to see over the people but failed.
“I’m not sure. Let’s move closer.” He went to the other side of the crowd and made his way toward the front of the people.
They stood amongst witches and wizards of all ages. Music floated through the air and settle over the crowd. Slowly, they swayed to the tune. This was the first time, Emmy was amongst witches and she liked being here. A short time ago, she believed that magic and witches existed solely for enticing tourists to Salem.
A young man in his twenties, stepped into the middle of the crowd and slowly began to sway to the music. His hair hung in dark lengths. On his head, he wore a jester’s hat with bells tinkling from four points, whenever he moved. A gold vest barely covered his well sculpted, chest, while puffy green and gold pants, and slippers completed his outfit.
He removed a torch from a cloth bag lying on the ground beside him, and held it up for the audience to see. He spewed liquid on the torch, igniting a flame from the breath he produced. From inside a puff of smoke, flames ignited once again, only this time, the fire he ignited turned into the shape of a belly dancer.
Emmy laughed as a fiery woman danced around the cobblestone and then vanished. “This is awesome!”
The show continued, and the man juggled torches. He caught a torch and sent it into the air, as his quick hands grabbed the next one, he then threw that one into the air. All the torches disappeared. The crowd cheered. The juggler went to a lone wizard standing slightly apart from the crowd and from his robe the juggler removed another torch. The wizard’s shocked expression encouraged the Jester to continue.
Emmy stood still and watched the magical finale. The juggler expelled a blast of fire onto the torch and watched the flame break apart and shower the area with brightly colored stars that turned into flowers. They rained over the crowd.
The people cheered, demanding more entertainment. Gold coins rained onto the talented young man. He bowed and picked up the coins that missed the small hats strategically placed around the arena.
Ayden walked next to Emmy. “Did you enjoy the show?”
“Are you kidding? That was the best thing I’d ever seen!” Her excitement grew by leaps and bounds
“I was hoping the show would be on today. I wanted you to experience some of the wonders of our magical lifestyle.”
“Thank you so much for bringing me here. This place is great and I’m having the time of my life.” She squealed with excitement. Everything she saw gave her some insight
as to what being a part of this magical world was about. She couldn’t imagine going back to a life without magic.
The rest of the day was spent walking the length of the cobblestone pathways, stopping to a have a look around the shops. Emmy was thrilled at everything she saw. They laughed and enjoyed their outing.
Ayden led Emmy toward an old bookstore. They entered to the sound of a small, ringing brass bell. He closed the door and surveyed a witch hiding beneath the dark hood of her black cloak. He looked at Emmy who exuded happiness.
“Let’s see what they have.”
“Cool. I love books,” Emmy told him, as though he didn’t know her likes and dislikes.
She moved toward the rows of leather bound books and searched the titles to see what types of novels were shelved in this ancient store. She saw stories depicting fairytales based on witches of old, fairies, dwarves and other colorful characters. She was attracted to novels whose pages held romantic poetry.
“These books are awesome. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“I know. This is one of my favorite stores at the market. I wanted to share this with you.”
She looked at him. “I’m glad you did.”
“Me too.”
“Do you come here a lot?”
“Yes. The Professor and I try to come here at least once or twice a year.”
“I never knew you’d been to Salem before, but seeing how many people you know at this market, I guess, it must have been quite a few times.”
“On the contrary, this is my first visit to Salem. The Professor’s been here before. He’s been keeping an eye on you and Grammie, since your arrival.”
“Really? But you seem to know Salem so well.”
He smiled. “I think I was here once when I first began traveling with the Professor, but I don’t think I left the house.”
“So how is it that you know these people, the market and even dated Tonya?”
“Oh, I see what you mean. This market is accessible by other means and in other worlds.”
“Now you’ve lost me.”
“I’m sure Grammie will explain this to you soon. If not then when you meet the Professor, you can ask him your questions.”
“I’d really like to meet him.”
The small bell over the door rang. Ayden tensed. He listened. “Excuse me for a moment, Emmy.”
“What’s wrong?” She sensed the tension flow through him.
“Nothing’s wrong. I forgot that I promised to pick up a book the Professor ordered.”
“Ayden, you’re forgetting who you’re talking to. I can tell there’s something wrong. Don’t keep me in the dark, especially if this has something to do with Grisandole.”
“I didn’t want to forget the book. I may not have another opportunity to return.”
“Hmm.” She didn’t believe him, but let it go. Perhaps one day, he’ll learn to trust her instincts as much as he trusted his own.
She watched Ayden walk away. Their connection intensified, and what this really meant was that Emmy didn’t believe Ayden’s story. Slowly, she made her way up and down each row of books until she had a view of Ayden who was in fact speaking with the proprietor of this shop. Perhaps he told her the truth after all, the Professor was a mystery to her.
She stood still and watched the interaction. Unable to hear their words she watched the body language and guessed they weren’t talking about any book order. She noticed a lone figure walk by. Her hood made it impossible for Emmy to identify her, but seeing Ayden turn and stare at this woman gave credence to her worries and thoughts. This woman was sent here by Grisandole.
The woman looked at Emmy, turned and walked away.
A few minutes passed and Ayden stood by her side. “Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“Who was that woman?” Emmy placed a hand on her hip daring him to deny his knowledge of her presence in the store.
“Who are you talking about?” Ayden tried to act as innocent as possible.
“I don’t know her. The person you followed around. I saw her and I watched you follow her.” His deception grated on her nerves. She knew what he was doing, but she didn’t know why he felt the need to lie to her.
“We’ll discuss this later. Ready?”
“Sure.” She hated it when everyone around her thought it was best to leave her in the dark about matters that directly concerned her. That she felt everything Ayden felt, should tell him she had the right to know if she was in any immediate danger.
They stepped into the sunlight and Emmy noticed that the hour grew late, but she wasn’t ready to leave. There was so much more to see and she really wanted to experience everything the market offered. Hopefully, she’d have an opportunity to visit this place again.
“Ayden, I’d really like to know who that woman following us was.”
“I don’t know.”
“Ayden…” Emmy’s tone was one of exasperation.
“Honestly, I don’t know who she was, but I do believe she was sent here to try and discover your identity. I think she’s a member of Grisandole’s coven.”
“Do you think she’s figured out who we are?”
“I do believe she’s assumed that we are the ones, but if she were certain we’d already be surrounded by Grisandole and her hags.”
“Should we leave?” Emmy scanned the area, trying to locate the woman she’d seen in the bookstore.
“No. We’d only be followed and I won’t allow them the opportunity to discover your identity or Grammie’s. We’ll continue our tour of the shops as though nothing out of the ordinary occurred. I hope the woman will reconsider her assumption and leave us be.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“Then I will do whatever is necessary to protect you.”
“Well, if you think it’s best, I can certainly continue enjoying myself.”
“Excellent. Let’s see what’s in here.” Ayden held the door open while Emmy entered the Jumpin’ Jellybean Joint.
The space was small, quaint even, with a large picture window where small stars and moons danced around creating a night time scene, only during the day. A long, wooden counter ran from one end of the room to the next.
Emmy walked around and laughed. Hundreds, even thousands of jellybeans jumped from jar to jar. They danced a special dance for the patrons of the shop. The beans waltzed in symmetry, as they touched down in one place and jumped to another. A rainbow of colors was formed by the jellybeans, as they continued to dance around the room.
Emmy laughed and watched the jellybean show until the end when the they settled into their respective jars. The patrons clapped their hands in enjoyment.
Ayden went to the counter. “We’ll take a jar of Jumpin’ Jellybeans.”
The small man with the short, brown hair wore a long frock of bright yellow with copper mushrooms that danced up and down the fabric. A pointy hat sat perched on his head. “What kind would you like?”
“A variety.” Ayden removed a couple of gold coins from his pocket and place them on the counter.
The storekeeper put the mixture of jellybeans into a glass jar and secured them with a stopper. He then tied a ribbon into a bow and gave Ayden the jar, who asked for a satchel to carry their purchases.
The man behind the counter smiled and placed the jar into one of his Jumpin’ Jellybean Joint bags, and gave it to Emmy.
“Thank you.” She put her candle inside the bag and allowed the bag to hang from her shoulder. “You’re spoiling me.”
“My pleasure.”
They went outside and looked around. His keen gaze searched the area for any sign of being followed. He stood still for a moment and sensed rather than saw that they were alone for now.
CHAPTER 28
GRAMMIE’S OUTING
Emmy
came down the stairs ready to continue her at-home-schooling. “Hi Grammie.” She poured a glass of milk.
“Good morning, Sweetie. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you came home. I had some business to take care of.”
“No problem. Ayden stayed for a while.”
“Did you have a nice time?”
“It was awesome!” Emmy turned round and round with joy. “I can’t believe how wonderful that place was. We had so much fun, but what about you. Are you feeling all right? You look tired.”
Grammie put a plate of toast on the table and sat down with a thump and a heavy sigh. She looked at her granddaughter knowing she couldn’t tell her all that happened the night before. She shuddered when she thought of her encounter.
Marsilia was on her way to a coven meeting, when she spotted Grisandole’s hags. She tried to walk past the old women, but for some unknown reason, they accosted her. A fight ensued, not the kind of fight one would expect, but a magical one. Wands expelled sharp lightning bolts, as Grammie tried to protect herself and as always, she tried to protect Emmy’s identity. If not for the Professor’s intervention, Grammie may not have come home at all last night, and everything they’d worked so hard to protect, would be lost.
She didn’t want to worry her granddaughter and decided to keep silent about her happenstance. Emmy had enough to worry about, and the last thing she wanted was to put more pressure on her. At this age, Emmy should be out, having fun with her friends, instead of staying home every day.
“Grammie?” Emmy reached out and touched her hand.
“What? Oh, Emmy. I’m sorry. I guess I was lost in thought.”
“I noticed. Are you sure, you’re feeling okay?” She bit into her toast. “Did something happen? Something you don’t want me know about it.”
Grammie kept her features from showing the surprise she felt inside. “Nothing happened. I’m a little tired.”
“If there’s something you want to talk about. I’m here for you.”
“You’re a good girl, but I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m fine.”
“Does this have anything to do with your not being here last night?”
Emmy and the Coven of Witches Page 15
