7. It's The Thought That Mystifies (The Gift That Keeps On Receiving...)
It was well after 11:00 when William got to the market square. The only things open were the bookstore, and a small cafe/coffee house. William began to walk down the block slowly, scanning the few people still in the square, looking for Angelica's blue stocking cap. He arrived at the bookstore, and looked in the windows. No sign of Angelica. He went inside, thinking she might be in one of the reading chairs in the back of the store. No such luck.
William let his fingers trail across the books in the bargain bins as he left the store. As he opened the door, he gave a second's thought to rushing down the stairs as he did when he first encountered Angelica. Then he gave a "pfffft," and scanned the street from the top of the stoop. Still no sign of the woman he had collided with on Wednesday. William walked down the two steps, looking both ways.
William took a few steps down the sidewalk on either side of the bookstore, looking between buildings and cars. His hope of seeing Angelica again - tonight - or ever - were beginning to slip. He threw his hands up and let them slap against his sides, starting to try to rationalize again why he was in the middle of a market after 11 PM, looking for a strange - and now becoming mysterious - homeless woman. William gave another thought to going back into the store to look again. He placed one foot on the first step - then backed down. He scanned the street again. No blue stocking cap. No Angelica. Anticipation was quickly turning into annoyance.
William stepped up to the trash barrel next to the stoop of the bookstore and grasped the handle on the lid. He hesitated for a few pregnant seconds in a form of self-entertainment - then whipped the lid off, lifting it high in the air in an "a-HA!" motion. Nothing in the barrel but plastic shopping bags with the Bound Dreams logo, and those from other stores in the square, and some shredded papers.
"What are ya looking in THERE for?? I'm not THAT desperate!"
William slammed the lid back onto the barrel and spun around.
Angelica.
Angelica was standing there, seemingly out of nowhere. He had just looked up and down the street mere seconds ago. The same blue stocking cap, the same army surplus jacket...the same worn and faded jeans...the same 100,000-mile tennis shoes. She was giggling softly through the wide smile on her face, which curously enough, revealed nearly perfect teeth. Her hand was extended, waiting to take his.
William gave just the briefest pause, remembering the uneasiness he felt from the last time he had taken the woman's hand - then brushed his hand on his coat and extended it to meet hers. She gripped it firmly with both hands - more of a handhold than a handshake. He immediately felt the same warmth he had before - and the uneasiness began again as well.
"Ya made it! Ya came back!" beamed Angelica, and she stepped forward, moving her left hand from his to around his back, embracing him. It seemed like her entire body was a heater. "I knew ya'd make it. Ya just didn't seem like the kinda person to let someone down, William, and ya didn't. The only thing I was worried about is that maybe ya wouldn't come back before Sunday. But ya did!" She then took a half-step back, still holding onto his hand.
"Why...what's Sunday?" asked William.
"It's the day after Saturday and the day before Monday," Angelica replied, trying to sound worldly. Then she snickered and gave William's hand a squeeze. "But this Sunday is the first night of the new moon. And ya gotta remember that."
"...okay," William replied, looking up at the thin crescent in the night sky, midway between the horizon and the zenith. He slipped his hand from Angelica's, and into his front pocket. "Listen...Angelica...I brought what you asked me last Wednesday to bring." He brought his hand from his pocket, holding a twice-folded $20 bill and slowly extended it to the woman. "And I was just wondering--"
Angelica's eyes got wide, and she began to speak faster in her Kirstie-Alley-esque voice. "Ohhh, William! Ya came through! I knew it! I knew ya'd come through! Kathy said ya wouldn't. Misty said ya wouldn't even show! But ya did, ya did! It's just like I said, and I told 'em - ya didn't seem like the kinda person to let someone down, and ya didn't! Oh thank ya, William!" Angelica slipped her first two fingers on either side of the bill while she said this, sliding it into the front upper pocket of her jacket.
"You're welcome," said William. "Kathy? Misty?"
"Friends of mine. Non-believers, if ya will. Oh, but I believed, William. I believed from the first time I saw ya."
William still couldn't figure out when that was. The first time he'd ever seen Angelica was Wednesday in front of the bookstore - or rather, hadn't seen, since they collided. "Angelica," he started again, "I also came back to ask you something--"
"Ooooo William, wait!" she interrupted. Then she took his hand again, and pulled him down closer to her level until their noses were nearly touching, as she had done on Wednesday. "Remember, I asked ya to bring two things when ya came back. Did ya bring everything I asked ya to bring?"
William brought up his free hand, and patted his palm on his chest. "The....?"
"Yeah. Did ya?"
Now William tried to sound worldly. "I did. I did indeed, good woman, just as you requested." He smiled into Angelica's eyes. I just might be winning her trust, he thought.
"I knew ya would," continued Angelica. "That's the most important part, ya know. More important that the money, even."
Angelica then let William stand up straight. Her voice became softer as she spoke. "William...you've been so kind to me. When I knocked you down, you didn't yell at me, you didn't swing at me or anything. Some people would, you know. I'm like 'street people' to them...you know? But not you, William. I knew that, though...from the first time I saw you. And because of that, William...because of that, and because," she patted her chest in the same manner William had his own, "you know...because of all that - I have something for you now."
Angelica reached into her jacket. "Angelica, you don't really have to--" William started.
"Oh yes I do," Angelica stopped him. "I do, because this is for you, and nobody else. Nobody else." She first produced a piece of paper which looked like it had been torn from a notebook and folded twice. "Here's the rules," she said. "Don't read 'em yet until you get all the stuff."
Angelica then pulled from her jacket and handed him a small black velvet box, the type that a watch or bracelet might come in. It was wrapped twice with a gold string which glittered, and tied at the top in the same way that one would tie a shoelace. Next she gave him a small white candle, which William sniffed, and he once again caught the strong scent of vanilla. She then gave him a tightly-rolled piece of paper - the same kind of paper the drawing was on. It was also wrapped with the same kind of gold string, and tied with the same shoelace bow.
William looked at the items. "Angelica...this is nice, thank you...but what--"
"NOW read the rules," Angelica cut in. "Read 'em aloud, so's I know ya can read my writing. Everything has to be understood, William. If ya break even one of the rules, the rest doesn't mean diddly."
William opened the piece of notebook paper. It was written in a neat and full cursive script. It almost looked like something from a penmanship manual or from a laser printer. He began to read aloud:
"THE RULES!
Until the first night of the next new moon (which is Sunday
night):
DO NOT open the box.
DO NOT uwrap the box.
DO NOT unwrap the scroll.
DO NOT light the candle.
On the night of the new moon, a few minutes before midnight:
Take a full-length mirror into a quiet room. Then turn off all
the lights. Close the door. Make sure there is no outside light
in the room.
Light the candle.
Unwrap and open the box. DO NOT open what is in the box.
Place what is in the box in front of the mirror. Make sure you
can see the reflection of it in the mirror.
Clear your mind and heart of EVERYTHING EXCEPT: the
mirror...the candle...the scroll...and what is in the box.
Just before midnight - unwrap the scroll.
At exactly midnight - open the scroll and read it aloud. Read EXACTLY
what is on the scroll, from beginning to end - don't leave
out anything. Say the words with all that is in your heart. Speak
NOTHING ELSE aloud but what is on the scroll."
"That's it, William," said Angelica. "Ya got it all. I'm glad ya could read my writing...it's not what it used to be."
"It's written very clearly," William replied, giving the paper another look, then folding it and putting it into his shirt pocket. He wondered what her 'good' handwriting was like, if this was 'not what it used to be.' He then looked back to her. "Angelica...what happens if I do all this?"
Angelica beamed a wide smile again, and looked at the items she had given him. She then brought her head up, and pointed upward.
William followed her finger. She was pointing to the sign on the bookstore - the winged unicorn.
William then remembered, in the midst of all the giving and the rules and all else, he still hadn't asked Angelica if she would like to come back for tea. He wondered what Kathy and Misty were like. He turned back to Angelica. "Listen, would you--"
She was gone. The same way she came. Poof. From out of and back into nowhere. William scanned both ways quickly. No Angelica.
William stood there for a moment, trying to take in everything that had just happened. Just like last time, and still since their first meeting, he had no clear answers about the mysterious woman.
William then looked at his watch. It was nearly 1 AM. He suddenly realized that there was nearly no one left in the square, let alone Angelica - and that he was in the middle of downtown, alone, in the middle of the night. He put the things Angelica had given him into the inside pockets of his long coat, and started the walk for home.
to be continued...
