ROSEMARY AND TIME, Page two..
Copyright, Mary Mannon Reeves
It was a half-hearted curse and bounced back immediately, settling in her head in the form of a migraine. Blinking back tears of pain and anger, she left the dark, cluttered little shop and burst into the bright and cluttered street. She bumped into another shopper and hissed a complaint.
"Excuse me, sister, " the man huffed. "and a Fertile Midsummer to you, too!"
"Pardons," she offered weakly, but he was already gone. Alice blinked her eyes again, this time in relief. The manufactured migraine was gone. However, so was the last chance of getting Jonathon's toy. The only thing he'd asked for.
Something slobbered on her leg and she jumped away. Jasper's St. Bernard, the Great Despoiler of Shrubbery Arcane, was lolling a grin at her. She toyed with the thought of turning the miserable beast into a Chihuahua when a thought crossed her mind. Was it the presence of a witch the triggered the wards, or witchcraft? No, she had seen several amulets in the shop, all potent and unaffected by the old man's shields. She couldn't curse him in person, but she could deliver one. Or rather, the Great Despoiler could...
An hour later, and it was ready. The dog was lured easily and the ointment rubbed onto his head, where Jasper was sure to stroke the animal first. Now all she had to do was wait. She turned the animal loose and went about finishing her errands. Samuel took his oranges with a grim thank you. Tucked in the drawer of his wife's wardrobe, they would prevent her from drinking, and the indiscretions that usually followed. But when the wistful young apothecary asked her for the rosemary, she hesitated.
"Our gathering was small this year..." she hesitated.
"If it was small, then it was bigger than anyone else's. Thanks to that overgrown troll of dog, yours is the only rosemary in town. I'm willing to pay more, of course..."
"No,no...if it's needed, I'll take fair market price. On one condition."
Samuel roared with laughter after she explained, and swore on his mortar and pestle that he would assist her in any way he could.
Now all there was to do was wait.
One day passed, and it was Midsummer's Eve. Alice was putting the final touches on the peacock when she heard a timid knock on the front door.
Guess who. Krisss stretched from his spot in the sun-filled window and poured to the ground, a liquid flow of black fur.
"About time, too," she said.
She opened the door to Mr. Jasper, who was staring off into the distance, a puzzled expression furrowing his narrow brow.
"May I help you, Mr. Jasper?" she asked coolly.
"I...don't know..." the old man rubbed the back of his head, then stared at the figure he was holding in his hand. A Gnarly Gnomish Gnatman, of course. The Gnarly Gnomish Gnatman.
"Are you here in the spirit of the season, to tell me you've come down on the price?" she nudged.
"No! I mean... I dont' know. I can't remember. That's it! I can't remember anything. What day it is... where my shop is..."
"Where you've hidden the rest of the Gnatmen..."
He shook his head miserably. "Not even that. The apothecary, he says I've been cursed. I don't see how..." The man's voice trailed off. Alice waited with a patient smile on her face, then she brought him back to the conversation.
"About the apothecary..."she prompted.
"He said the only cure is a rosemary ointment. He said you're only one in town with the rosemary. My dog..."
"I know all about your dog," she snapped. "So. Here you are, at my door, wanting the only rosemary in town. You can have it. For five hundred silver Hecates."
"Five hun...! Five hundred silvers!! " Jasper sputtered. "That's ridiculous!"
"Not anymore ridiculous than 73 for a toy!"
"But this is for my health and my well-being."
"And my child's well-being matters for naught?" Alice scowled fiercely, then sweetened her expression with a smile.
"Of course, if you would consider a trade..."
The next morning, while Jonathon introduced his newest Wild Wicked Wizard to the other 34, Tom shook his head in amazement.
"I'm not sure I approve of your tactics."
"Nonsense. I left enough rosemary with Sam in case someone really needed it. Just not for Jasper."
"But you've left him free to price gouge other kids... kids without a mother as clever and ferocious as you."
"Nnnnot exactly. You see, the ointment takes about two days to really work. He's not going to remember where those Gnatmen are until tomorrow..."
"Which is when the shipment rolls in to the department stores, where parents are lined up for the after Midsummer's Sales. Remind me, sweet Alice, to never cross spells with you."
"Rosemary, love. Rosemary for remembrance."
The End
