Fairytale 4
Ever After Gifts was a place of fascination and terror for the children of the village. The store windows were a portal into another world- One where myths and tales seemed real and their characters could come alive. Oily smudges from little fingers and noses dotted the glass from where children dared to take a closer look at the display. A dummy dressed in rich fabrics sat center with her thousand, live saving tales around her. In the other window thieves crept around the antiques, ready to spirit them away while a wispy blue genie sat tethered to his lamp. The display would change again soon with the onset of winter.
Jane opened the door with the type of enthusiasm that a child enjoys on Christmas morning. The bell dinged merrily as the door opened and let her through. Inside the store, even the lighting seemed magical. Everything was bathed in the amber glow of simulated candle chandeliers and classical piano sonatas. “Hello? Ms Brown?”
The beaded curtain behind the counter parted and the village witch appeared. Tall and thin with silver hair reaching her waist, she wasn’t so scary looking up close. Her eyes were large and blue, framed by half moon spectacles and a soft smile curved her lips. “Jane, right?” Without waiting for a response, she reached out and touched her hand. “You look so much like your father you know.”
She didn’t know. “Everyone says I look like my Mom’s side of the family.”
“That’s just ‘cause they don’t know the Bryants well enough. You have their spirit in them and your Gran’s beauty.”
Spirit Jane had heard before. Whenever her mother and her fought, she never failed to it or how her Dad had been the exact same way. But beauty? Catching her reflection in an antique mirror, she wondered if her looks could really be considered anything but plain? Light locks that could be called dark blond hung bone straight to her shoulder. Her frame wasn’t as small as she would have liked it to be, she’d never be a size two, and then there were the freckles that collected en masse on her shoulders and the bridge of her nose.
“I know that look- Your Gran used to get it when people would tell her she was pretty, never believed it, not until she met your grandfather.”
“You knew her back then?”
“Of course I did. We’ve both lived in Forest Grove since we were girls and neither of us left. Didn’t you know?”
“Uh-” How do you say you have no clue about an apparently crucial part of an immediate relative’s life without sounding like a horrible person?
“Its okay, dear. I know old people like us are boring.”
Jane laughed softly. “No, its not that.”
Tillie leaned on the counter and looked right into Jane’s eyes. The look was piercing and seemed to go right into her mind. “Then tell me, what is it?”
What could she say to that? Jane’s mouth opened but nothing came out. “I guess you’re right.”
Her laughter was unexpected. It was like bells, loud and clear. “A young person who will admit that? How refreshing.” She brushed his hair from her face. “I think you and I will get a long well. As for your job, I’m sure you’d like to know what you’ll be doing. Most of your work will be cleaning and dusting. The antiques up front are mostly knick knacks, some furniture but nothing our patrons order or the higher quality items. Those are in the vault.” She raised the wooden partition of the counter. “Come back and I’ll show you that.”
Behind the beaded curtain was a whole new world. No longer were they in the calm chaos of the front of the store. Back here seemed like an acid trip of colors- orange glass lanterns hung over rainbows of fabric and beads. Cubby holes reached from floor to ceiling and made the room seem more like a hallway. They could barely stand beside each other. “More stock.” Mrs Brown told her, leading her to a door. The key to the lock she kept on a pale blue ribbon around her neck. Pulling it from the pale silk of her blouse, she unlocked the door and pulled it open. This was the treasure trove.
“Wow.” Jane took two steps in as the musty smell surrounded her.
Tillie pulled on white museum gloves and passed her the same. “We always wear these in here. Some of these artefacts are hundreds of years old and you wouldn’t want to damage them with the oil from your skin.” Seeing her freeze, she laughed. “Go ahead. Look around.”
Jane tried to take everything in. There was just so much to look at- It was like being in a candy store. Her fingers touched everything. A few times her breath caught in her chest, amazed at the items hidden in here. When she thought she was done looking, a new something would catch her eye. Just as she left, a leather bound book caught her eye. It was in bad condition, the corners frayed, pages yellowed. Picking it up, the musty smell began stronger. ‘Le Conte Du Loup’ was in flowery script, the gold worn from most of the embossing except for the crevices. “Now that, is a real gem.”
Jane turned, not realizing Tillie was still there. “It doesn’t look as taken care of as the other books.”
“Of course not. It’s a children’s book.”
“What does it say?”
Tillie fixed her glasses. “It says, The Wolf’s Story. It just came in and I needed to have it delivered to your Grandmother but if you wouldn’t mind taking it to her-?”
“I can do that.”
“Good, consider that the rest of your shift then.” The old woman smiled. “Come back tomorrow, same time?” She slid the book into an envelope then handed it to the girl.
Nodding, she grabbed her jacket and made her way out. To Grandmother’s house she’d go.
The bus ride didn’t seem to take as long as it had last time. Then again, Jane was distracted. Her French was rudimentary at best but the pictures were helpful and the writing simple. She counted herself lucky her Grandmother ordered a children’s book. From what she could tell, it was like Little Red Riding Hood with a friendlier wolf. Instead of eating the little girl, the wolf was there to trick her out of her own treats and lead her into mischief by turning into a boy. Although still sinister, no one was gobbled up or became a cross dresser.
The pictures were strange. Everything was dark and grainy, like a pen and ink of an old photo. The girl was slight with great big eyes like one of those velvet paintings. The feral boy’s shaggy hair hung in his emaciated face and his clothes were rags. He would have blended into the scenery if not for his mischievous eyes. The scenery was simple darkness, littered with high hanging pine bowers. The only other detail was the full moon, present somewhere in all of the illustrations. Jane couldn’t see any parents wanting to read this to their kids before they tucked them in.
Bruno stopped the bus right outside the orchard. “Your stop, miss.” He told her with a curious expression on his face. If he was a dog, it would have been called a laugh: mouth open, tongue lolling just over his bottom lip but as a human, it was just strange. She eyed him as she got off then watched the bus drive again deeper into the forest lane, towards the dead end.
Jane shook her head and walked up the walk, past all the other houses. She shivered as an invisible wind spun around her. The door was unlocked when she tried the handle of the cottage. “Grandma?” There was no answer. She kicked off her shoes and hung up her coat on one of the hooks. “You home?” There was no answer but a startling sense of déjà vu. Only she didn’t hear David’s voice this time.
In the kitchen, the door to the orchard was open a bit. She poked her head out and saw no one. Dropping the book down on the table, she checked the bedrooms and the door to the bathroom was wide open. No one was home. Sitting at the table, she waited. Someone had to be here soon- right? She picked the book back up and began to look it over again. The front page was stuck to the cover. Picking at the thin paper with her nail, she tried not to damage it. When the corner came free she peeled the rest of the page away. The script on the revealed cover was beautiful, even under the layer of paste. Of course whatever it said was in French. Grabbing her purse, she pulled out her agenda and scribbled down what she could make of the words. It seemed to say: ‘Mon cher …, soyez prudent sur votre chemin et faites attention aux loups sous le couvert des hommes.’ and it was dated 1901.
“Jane?” David came in the back door. “What are you doing here?”
She tried to hide her surprise. “Waiting for signs of life.”
“Huh?” His brow furrowed in confusion.
“Do you know where my Grandmother is?”
“Yeah, she went into town for tea. I was just helping her rake leaves. They say we’re going to have an early winter and she wanted the grass clear.” He went to the sink, washing his hands. “Did you take the bus?”
“Yeah but I didn’t fall asleep on it this time.”
“You fell asleep last time?”
She chuckled, “Yeah, I did.”
“Don’t.” He warned, sounding serious. “It’s not safe.”
“David, no one ever goes on that bus except you and me.”
“And Bruno.”
“Oh what is he going to do?”
“To a girl like you? Gobble you up.”
Jane’s eyes met his and she shook her head. She could barely imagine Bruno getting out of his seat, never mind attacking her. “He’s just a harmless old man.”
“He’s a dog.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say.”
Wiping his hands off, he came and sat with her. David looked at the book and picked it up. “The Wolf’s Tale.” He chuckled, “I haven’t seen this in a while.”
“Its yours?”
“No, course not. My Grandmother used to read it to me though. She said it had a good moral. Personally I just thought it was a caution against playing with girls. Have you read it?”
Jane shook her head. “I tried to.”
“French is a little rusty?” He chuckled, “Well if I remember correctly, it was about a little boy who turned into a wolf. He planned all sorts of fun things to do with the girl he liked and she kept trying to get him killed.
“Fun things?” She echoed, “He put her in a bucket and dropped her into a well!”
“She wanted a lucky penny.”
“No one ever stands up for the wolf.”
David looked at her, eyes glowing playfully, “Maybe it’s time someone took his side. After all, he can’t be that bad.” He leaned back in his chair and looked at her. “So what are you making me for lunch?”
“I’m not cooking anything for you.”
“Please? I raked the whole yard.” He gave her a sad puppy look. “And that apple stuff was really good last time.”
“I hate you.” Jane grumbled and rose. Going to the cupboards, they were almost bare. What had her Grandmother been living on? She made a note to herself to bring her more groceries. Grabbing a box of mac and cheese, she tossed it to him. “This meet your standards?”
“I’ve eaten worse.”
She shook her head and began to cook. Filling the sauce pan with water, she shoved it on the stove and flicked the dial onto high. She was going to make it the way her had Dad had liked it- And that required extra ingredients. Out of the freezer she pulled a pack of ground beef and tossed it in the microwave. Grabbing a pepper out of the fridge and a sharp knife, she diced it and then threw it in a pan. The earthy and sweet smell of the pepper rose into the air. The pasta was dropped in boiling water and beef into the pan. When everything was done, she poured in the cheese powder and mixed it all together. “Student dining for a King.” She said, placing a plate of it before him with a flourish, just like her Dad always had. “Bon appetite.”
David leaned over and breathed the scent in before shovelling the first spoonful into his mouth. “Mmm.” He pronounced with a grin. “That’s good.”
“And you had doubts.”
“Me? Never. I bow to you kitchen supremacy.” With another two bites, he’d finished it. “Any more left?”
Jane emptied the rest of the pot on his plate then dumped it in the sink to wait for him to finish eating. “I’m surprised you’re not mad at me still.” She murmured, sitting across from him. She licked a speck of the sauce from her finger.
“Mad? Why would I be mad?”
“The other night, at the bowling alley, you seemed upset.”
“It’s none of my business.” David’s eyes came up from his food. “If you like being his property, good for you.”
She watched him carefully, wondering if he realized how the two contradicted each other. If it was none of his business, he sure acted like he cared. Realizing how conceited that was, she went to do the dishes instead. Andy clearly had made a bad impression. Turning on the water, she got it to a comfortable temperature and added soap to the sink. As she washed each dish in turn, she reminded herself not to look up.
David came over and placed the plate on the counter. “Hey Jane?”
She looked up at him. “Yeah?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Me, worry? Never.”
“That’s like assuming the wolf is never the good guy.”
“Not back to that.”
“There’s no argument needed. The wolf is never given his due in books.”
“Maybe you can change that one day in your debut novel.”
“And Little Red will be the bad guy.” He teased her, the tension easing again with their laughter. “I’ll base her on a girl like you.”
How was she supposed to respond to that? “Thanks, I think.”
“Welcome.” He looked around. “What do you want to do now?”
“I guess I’ll go home.”
“Or you could stay.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“It’s better than spending the night at the Quarry.”
“David!”
“What?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“So you keep saying.”
“Then maybe you should pay attention.” She leaned against the counter, stopping her busy work. “It’s not like I can just go out and find another Prince Charming. Remember, we had this conversation already.”
“You can’t just settle because you’re comfortable. Life can’t be put on hold. You need to keep on moving.”
She began to hum On the Road Again and turned back to the sink. When her cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket, flipping it open. “Hello?” Balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder, she tried to talk while cleaning.
Andy’s voice crackled to life. “Hey, babe, where are you?”
“Hey, Andy, I’m just at Gran’s house.”
“Why?”
David looked at her, eyes narrowing. He moved her out of the way and pushed up his sleeves. She rolled her own eyes and walked into her living room, hoping for better reception. “I had to deliver an order. Remember, I told you about the job I got?”
“Yeah, you’re working with your Grandmother’s crazy friend. Seriously, Jane, couldn’t you have just applied at the diner or the convenience store? My Mom thinks you’re crazy for working for Ms Brown.”
“Babe, it’s just a job.”
He grumbled something under his breath. “Want me to come pick you up? We could hang out, grab something to eat.”
She looked back towards the kitchen and sighed. “I’m hanging out with David. Mind if we wait until dinner?”
“David? The fag from the bowling alley? Why would you want to see him?”
“Andy!”
“What?” He sounded sulky.
“Pick me up in an hour, kay? I just want to do a couple of things around the house and then we can get a burger.”
“Fine. Be ready when I get there.”
David tried to pretend that he hadn’t been listening when Jane came back into the kitchen. That, of course, resulted in making him look incredibly guilty. She hoisted herself up on the counter, letting her legs swing like a child. “Why don’t you like him?” Her voice was soft, holding back what he could only guess to be a wave of emotion. Her eyes were so big right now and so blue as they begged for honesty.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Well besides the fact he didn’t exactly exude warmth towards me-” He tried to joke but it fell flat. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Like I’ve said before, Jane, I know you better than you think I do. Your Gran has a big mouth. She’s told me everything about you from the time you were born to when you were six and broke your arm trying to climb a tree to get another kid’s kite down to when you were eight and you’re a Dad died. I’ve seen your grad pictures and about a million others in the albums she keeps under the bed. Andy doesn’t deserve a girl who used to want to be a pony when she grew up or who graduated in the top ten of her class. He doesn’t want you, he wants to control you.”
Jane starred at him with her mouth open. Grabbing her purse, she grabbed her cigarettes and went out the back door. She lit one with trembling fingers that kept threatening to drop it. After a few inhales, he appeared. He didn’t have to say thing to repeat his contempt towards her habit but he wasn’t going to say anything this time. Maybe he’d been a bit too honest with her? “Can we call a truce to the rules? Just for a few minutes?”
“So what do you think about those Yankees?”
Her laughter broke the tension a little as he broke yet another rule. David smiled and closed the door, preventing the smoke from drifting inside. His large fingers covered hers, taking the cigarette from them and raised it to his own lips. He took a drag and made a face as he exhaled. “That’s horrible. It tastes like- blech!” Giving it back, he wiped his fingers on his pants, trying to rid them of the stench.
Jane rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have to try it, you know.”
“I wanted to see why you insisted on smoking them.”
She looked at the burning paper. “I don’t know. There isn’t a reason really. It’s just something I do. I have since high school.”
“Well, you’re not in high school any more, Jane.”
“You’re ruining my fun.”
“And saving your lungs.”
“Blah, blah, blah.”
“Very mature.”
“Maturity is my specialty.”
He leaned against the wall, looking down at his feet. From the corner of his eye, he saw her watching him and tried not to smile. “I was thinking we could do something next week. What do you think?”
“David, I can’t.” She bit on her fingernail. “Not with Andy…”
“You thought I meant a date? Oh, Jane, no. I just thought we could go out as friends.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks reddened. She didn’t know if it was worse that she had assumed it was a date or if she was disappointed it wasn’t. Why didn’t she learn to think before she talked? The red rose up the back of her neck. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. It’s just- when I told you that you deserved better, I didn’t mean me. If I was your boyfriend, I’d be just as jealous as he is.” He looked towards the orchard, like he could hear something that she couldn’t quite catch. “Look, I have to go home- Andy’s pulling up the drive any ways.”
It was only then that she could hear the sound of the car. She looked up at him and gave him a half smile before walking into the house. David moved across the yard and towards the orchard before disappearing from her sight. Sighing, she made her ways through the house and back outside. With a wave, she hopped into the truck. “Hey, babe.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “How was your day?”
“Fine until I found out you were hanging out with the douche bag.”
“Andy, David’s just a friend.” She took his hand locking their fingers together. “You have nothing to worry about from him, okay?”
He took his eyes off the road for just long enough to look at her. Deep furrows rutted his forehead, lines that she had never seen there. Reaching up, she ran her finger over them. Slowly he began to relax. Jane slid closer and put his arm around her. So what if she might be pretending? So what if it had taken David to point that out to her? She could be happy if Andy was. All she had to do was keep telling herself that.
Jane was having an epiphany. Imagine Snow White waking up and seeing Prince Charming standing over her and instead of saying, “My Prince!” thinking to herself, ‘Maybe I would have rather taken an extended nap.’ That being said, Snow White’s animal friends couldn’t talk to her. Jane had an advantage- Her only friend could talk.