The Amulet (6 page)

The girls and Faen got out of the car and
mingled in with the crowd of people heading towards the entrance to
the festival. The deep bass of music off in the distance resounded
all around them. As they got closer to the festival, the music
became more distinctive and the crowd got larger. Faedra couldn’t
help but get completely caught up in the atmosphere. She soaked it
all in, observing with interest the people in the crowd surrounding
her. Every age range, from babies in pushchairs to older retirees,
were present.

It seemed to her that there were three
categories of people attending the festival. Those who dressed in
ordinary clothing, like her and her friends. Those that were
dressed somewhat hippie-ish, with long hair, beards, and
psychedelic t-shirts emblazoned with the ‘peace’ sign. And those
who were just all out eccentric, wearing anything from renaissance
clothing to cross-dressing. One couple that walked past her was
dressed in silver clothing, wearing pink wigs, with one sporting
devil horns and the other a tiara. Faedra guessed they were using
the ‘good versus evil’ take on their costumes.

Finally, they were through the gates and the
festival spread out in all its enticing glory before them. There
were hundreds of tents, housing vendors of all descriptions, and,
from this angle, they could see at least two stages where bands
were playing live music.

“Where do we go first?” Amy asked, looking in
all directions.

“Well, we could start off in that direction
and make our way around. We’ve got all day,” Zoë responded.

“That sounds like a plan,” Faedra agreed.

They headed off toward a stage where a band
was playing some type of folk music. The band called ‘Hogwash’ had
attracted quite a crowd. People were standing around watching, as
well as, sitting down in the grass. Most were drinking beer. After
watching them for a while, Faedra grinned at her friend Amy who was
wiggling her hips in time with the movement. It had always been
virtually impossible for Amy to keep still if music was playing.
Even in the car she jiggled about in her seat to whatever song was
blasting from the radio.

A few songs later they decided to move on,
and spent some time glancing at the vendors as they walked past.
There were arts and crafts of all types. Faedra was interested in
the handmade jewelry. Zoë was more into the candles and incense
vendors while Amy was attracted by anything pink.

“I’m hungry,” Zoë mentioned after they had
been window-shopping for an hour. “Can we find a food tent?”

“That one over there looks fairly innocuous,”
Faedra said, pointing in the direction of a hotdog and hamburger
stall. She was starting to get a little disappointed; she’d been
hoping to see lots of ‘mystical’ stalls, but not a
Gypsy Rose
Lee
was to be seen so far.

They wandered over to the food stall and
tucked into some not-too-awful hamburgers. Faedra always thought it
was a bit of potluck, putting your digestive health in the hands of
a food vendor at an outdoor event. After they finished eating, Amy
wanted to find another stage and listen to some more music. They
all headed off towards the sound of music blaring behind a few more
of the vendor’s tents. Then it caught Faedra’s eye; a sign that
read
Runes read by Rose, Let the stones guide you.

“Hey, I’m just going to go over there,” she
pointed towards the tent she had just spotted.

“Oh, Fae, don’t waste your money. Everyone
knows they are all frauds,” Zoë cautioned.

“It’s just a bit of fun, I’ll catch up with
you. I’ve got my cell phone with me if I can’t find you.”

“Okay, we’ll see you in a bit, but your
wasting your money,” Zoë said, as she and Amy started off in the
direction of the music.

Faedra wandered over to the tent. Most of the
vendor’s tents were only enclosed on three sides, but this one was
enclosed on all sides, allowing privacy to the person getting a
reading, she assumed. She wasn’t quite sure what to do when she
arrived at the tent. It wasn’t as if there was a door to knock on
before she entered. She didn’t want to be rude and burst in on
someone if they were having their runes read. She stood outside the
tent for a moment contemplating the situation, and then decided she
would just call out. If anyone was in there, they would hear her
and let her know if they were busy or not.

“Hello?” Faedra called next to the material
that made up one of the tent walls. “Is anyone in there?”

“Hello,” came the voice from inside, “please,
come in.”

Faen whined. “It’s okay, boy. You stay out
here. I won’t be long.”

Faedra did as the voice said and pulled the
material aside to enter. The inside of the tent was exactly as she
would have imagined a
Gypsy Rose Lee
tent to look like.
There was the strong smell of incense burning, which she saw was
coming from a little table in the corner that also housed the
obligatory crystal ball. Rose was seated at a small card table in
the center of the tent that had a purple, crushed velvet cloth
edged with fringe draped over it. The chairs were just ordinary
plastic folding ones that probably came in a set with the table.
Faedra smiled, Zoë was more than likely right, but she thought it
would be good for a giggle, so she decided to stay.

Rose got up from the table and held her hand
out for Faedra. Faedra had to admit she was slightly surprised
because Rose did not fit the
Gypsy Rose Lee
stereotype she
had created in her mind. Yes, she was dressed in a gypsy-ish way
with a long floating skirt and billowy white blouse, but she was
younger than Faedra had imagined. She had expected a much older
woman, possibly with her fair share of wrinkles, but the lady
facing her right now didn’t look much older than thirty. She had a
fresh rosy complexion with beautiful green eyes and long, wavy,
dark hair hidden partially by a deep red headscarf.

“Hello, I’m Rose,” she said brightly as they
shook hands. “Please don’t tell me yours,” she continued as Faedra
opened her mouth to return the greeting.

Faedra clamped her mouth shut.

Rose gestured for Faedra to take a seat. She
then picked a small sign off the table that read
Reading in
session
and hung it on a hook that was on one of the tent
posts. Once she returned to the table, she made herself comfortable
and picked up a small black velvet pouch that was lying in the
center.

“Now, I want you to think of a question or a
situation you would like guidance on. You must not tell me what it
is; then pick out six Rune stones and hand them to me,” Rose
explained as she opened the pouch and held the open end to
Faedra.

Faedra thought carefully for a moment before
dipping her fingers into the pouch and pulled out the first stone,
handing it to Rose who placed it onto the crushed velvet
tablecloth. She did this five more times until all six stones had
been extracted from their pouch. Faedra watched as Rose carefully
arranged them in the shape of a cross. Rose then pulled the strings
on the pouch to close it, and placed it to one side.

Faedra watched as Rose examined the Runes
intently, and stifled a giggle when she thought back to Zoë’s
remark. Rose was certainly putting on a good show, umming and
ahhing for several minutes, but Faedra began feeling a distinct
shift in the once pleasant, if not slightly kooky, atmosphere in
the tent. Suddenly, there was a very tense sensation surrounding
her, and she drew her eyebrows together in a frown.

Rose’s eyes widened. “No, this can’t be,” she
mumbled to herself, “it’s just a legend.” Then she drew her burning
gaze from the Rune stones to Faedra.

Faedra shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“What do you see? What’s just a legend?” she
asked.

Rose didn’t speak for a moment.

She was contemplating something important.
“You,” she stated bluntly.

Faedra laughed, it escaped before she had a
chance to stifle it. “I’m sorry, but I think my friend was right.
I’ll not waste any more of your time.”

She started to get up to leave but Rose beat
her to it. Before Faedra even got her butt off the seat, Rose stood
up, rounded the table, and was standing behind her. She let out a
gasp.

“What?” Faedra demanded, turning in her seat
to see Rose eyeing the back of her neck. “It’s a birthmark, what of
it? Look, this is ridiculous. I’ll give you ten out of ten for the
dramatics, but I was hoping for a serious reading,” she stood up
and spun around so that she was now facing Rose.

“You have no idea who you are, do you
Faedra?” Rose whispered.

“I know exactly who I am, thank you very
much,” she stated obstinately, “and I know who you are; you are a
fraud… Hey, how did you know my name? I never told you my name.” An
uneasy feeling started to well up in the pit of her stomach.

“How old are you?” Rose asked.

“Seventeen,” Faedra snapped.

Rose closed her eyes, dropped her head, and
let out a heavy sigh. She had already said too much.

“Tell me how you know my name,” Faedra
demanded, “and why you’re so interested in my birthmark!”

“I can’t, you are not of age yet. I’ve
already said too much.”

“Not of age yet? What does that mean?” Faedra
demanded again, starting to get annoyed.

“I never imagined I would be in this
position. I thought it was all just a myth, but our people have a
pact with yours. You will find out soon enough. Sorry, Faedra, I
can say no more, you must go.” She moved over to the entrance and
held it open.

Faedra glared at Rose as she brushed past
her.

“Faedra?”

“What?” Faedra snapped.

“Good luck.”

Faedra looked at her and shook her head.
“Come on, Faen, let’s get out of here.”

She stomped off in the direction of the music
to find her friends. She was almost too angry to notice the burning
in the palms of her hands until it got too unbearable, so she
stopped at a drinks stall to ask for some ice.

“I don’t know who I am, indeed,” she muttered
as she held a couple of ice cubes that melted instantaneously.

“Who did she think she was anyway?” she
grumbled to Faen who was keeping very close to her side, much
closer than usual. He was always with her, but most of the time
kept several feet away. At the moment, he was glued to her leg.

Faedra continued her mutterings until she
found her friends dancing in a crowd that had gathered in front of
a stage playing modern music this time.

“How’d it go?” Amy shouted above the music
when Faedra reached them.

“Zoë was right, she was a fraud.”

“Well, I hope you didn’t give her any money,”
Zoë shouted.

“Didn’t get a chance to, she kicked me out
before I even got a reading,” Faedra complained.

“What?” Amy and Zoë shouted in unison. “Why
did she do that?”

“She said something about me not being of age
and not knowing who I was.” It sounded ridiculous to Faedra even as
she said the words.

“See told you,” Zoë chimed in, “frauds, the
lot of them. Well, don’t let it spoil your day, Fae.”

Faedra decided she wouldn’t and joined her
friends in a dance. The rest of the day passed without incident and
they arrived home safe, but exhausted. After dropping her friends
off, she pulled into her driveway. Her Dad was still out, and she
hoped he was enjoying himself with Uncle Leo and Nicki after a day
on the boat.

She darted up to her room, ran around the bed
to her dresser, and grabbed her small hand held mirror. Holding it
up in front of her, she turned her back to the vanity mirror on her
dresser and examined her birthmark. She’d never paid it much
attention before because it was at the nape of her neck between her
shoulders. It wasn’t easy for her to see, and, as her hair usually
covered it, she forgot it was there most of the time. Today she had
put her hair up because it was so thick; it was like wearing a
scarf on a sunny day. Now she could see it clearly in the
reflection in the mirror.

She leaned closer to get a better look and
her eyes widened with surprise.

“Wow, it must have grown. I can’t remember it
looking that big before. What does it remind me of?” She drew her
eyes away from the mirror to look straight ahead at her collection,
and then reverted them back to her reflection again, narrowing them
as she did.

“It’s a fairy.”

CHAPTER FOUR

The next couple of nights Faedra did not get
much sleep, it was fitful, at best. The events of the past few
weeks, and more recently the past couple of days, kept repeating in
her dreams. She would wake often, usually in a cold sweat.

She dragged herself out of bed as she had
done the previous morning, and all but crawled over to the dresser.
She thought about calling in sick, but integrity fought against her
and won.

“Urgh,” she groaned when greeted by her
reflection in the mirror. Dark circles framed her once sparkling
eyes that were now dull and lackluster.

“If this carries on too much longer, I’m
going to have to steal some sleeping pills from somewhere,” she
croaked to Faen.

She fiddled with her makeup and after
applying a healthy dose of concealer and foundation, started to
look a little less like the monster from the deep. Faen, who was
sitting beside her, looked up at her with what she considered was a
look of concern.

“It’s okay, boy, I’ll be fine. Not sure
what’s going on, but I’m sure it will pass.” She said it more as
reassurance for herself than anything else. After she was done
putting on the finishing touches of her ‘disguise’, she wandered
over to the closet and picked out something smart but casual for
work.

She had a job at a company that shipped
freight all over the world. It was located at the local airport. It
wasn’t a large airport but did have flights to Scotland, Ireland
and various European countries. She had flown out of there herself
in the past, on holiday to Spain. The view from her office almost
made the abuse she was dealt worth it. Her office looked over the
entire airfield, and she could see the planes take off and land all
throughout the day, but she hated her boss.