Chapter 7: Omen over Tea


The trees whispered in the breeze as their leaves fluttered. It was a cool, grey and overcast day. The hill above the Pink Palace apartments was shrouded in the dew of the early morning.

Coraline Jones wandered up the trail, wearing her yellow rain-boots, purple and grey striped tights, and hip-length yellow raincoat. Several inches of her dark pink skirt stuck out below the coat. Her bobbed blue hair swayed as she walked with grim determination.

As she came around a bend in the trail and started down a small slope toward the old apple orchard, she was abruptly hit with an unpleasant sense of déjà vu – did she not have a dream about this very journey quite recently? One which ended very, very badly?

The plucky girl ploughed on, indifferent to the chill in the morning air, or the fact that her parents would probably be quite upset at her for sneaking out – without having breakfast, or leaving a note – before they had even woken up. She made her way through the trees and came to the familiar ring of mushrooms around the Old Well. After checking the entire clearing for signs of disturbance and turning up empty-handed, she began to question what she was even doing out here. Was the key really all that important? What if there were other entrances to the Beldam's lair?

Coraline turned and made her way back toward the Pink Palace. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she did not notice a dropped black skeleton glove lying in the long grass that bordered the clearing.


When Coraline returned from the hillside trail, she could see Mr Bobinski in the middle his bizarre morning exercise routine, which included (but was by no means limited to) squats on the apartment rooftop, and handstand push-ups on the handrails of the balcony outside the door to his attic apartment. At present, he was running laps around the back garden. Coraline sighed irritably and turned to go back to the house by the front entrance instead, when –

"Ah, dobroe utro, Caroline! Beautiful morning, is it not?"

"Hello Mr B," she sighed as he came up beside her.

"You are up early. Come to join my exercise regime?"

"Sorry, but that's the last thing on my mind right now," she said shortly. She made to march off toward the house but, as an afterthought, turned back once more. "Oh, and by the way: tell your jumping mice that their fortune-telling abilities are slipping!"

The look that Mr Bobinski gave her made it abundantly clear how crazy he thought she was.

Mr B thinks that I'm crazy? Oh, how the tables have turned…

Coraline glanced at her watch, as she approached the external stairs leading down to the basement apartment, to see that it nearly nine a.m. Surely the retired actresses would be awake by now. She gently rapped the drama mask doorknocker and waited patiently. An abrupt cacophony of high-pitched barking from the other side of the door startled her, like it did every time the elderly ladies' pack of Scottish Terriers heard someone at the door.

"Cease that blasted yapping at once!" came Ms Forcible's irritable voice, moments before the door opened. "Good morning, Caroline. How lovely it is to see you." The tall and plump woman was dressed in an ugly pink and green-trimmed robe. Her short white hair was still visible as she had not yet put on her flowing white wig.

"Oh, I didn't wake you, did I?" Coraline ventured cautiously.

"Oh no, of course not! Would you like to come in?"

"That would be great, thanks," she said, taking off her raincoat and wiping her boots on the doormat, before following Ms Forcible into the dim apartment. As she skirted her way around scattered wooden chairs, she noticed that there were only two small black dogs scurrying toward the tired-looking red lounge set at the far end of the room. "Where's Angus?"

"I'm afraid our little angel passed a few days ago," the old woman said regretfully, gesturing for her to sit down on the couch. "We sent him away to have him stuffed."

Coraline shivered involuntarily as she looked up at the shelves full of stuffed Scottish Terriers, all dressed in angelic robes. The two still-living ones jumped up into her lap to lick her face and she giggled, despite the horrifyingly-rude wake-up call she had received last night. The dogs' moulting fur stuck to her orange and red striped sweater.

"Make yourself at home, dear, I'll put the kettle on." Her hostess cupped a hand to her mouth. "April! We have a young visitor!"

As she bustled around in the kitchen, a short and rotund elderly woman with curled pink hair emerged from the bedroom. "Oh, how nice to see you, Caroline!"

"Still Coraline, Ms Spink," the young girl corrected out of habit. She tried to brush some of the dog fur off her sweater, only to have it stick to her skirt instead. "I'm sorry to hear about Angus," she said genuinely.

"Thank you, dear. I'm sure he's in a better place now," the former actress said, coming to sit down beside her, as Ms Forcible appeared from the kitchen and set down a tray of steaming tea cups on the coffee table. Ms Spink frowned. "I've told you countless times to bring her the oolong tea, Miriam!"

"We both know she likes jasmine better, April," her friend replied, sitting down in the armchair across from them. "Now, what brings you here, Caroline?"

The girl clasped her hands in her lap in a contemplative silence for a moment, and then lifted her gaze. "What do you two know about a Beldam?" she ventured.

The pair of old woman exchanged looks. "A 'Beldam'? I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," Ms Spink replied.

"Is your head still in dreamland?" Ms Forcible trilled, taking a sip from her cup. "Go on, drink your tea – it'll help you wake up."

"I don't have time for tea!" Coraline snapped. Seeing the shocked expressions on the women's faces, she realised how short she was being with everyone that morning. She supposed having a monster out to get you did not work wonders on someone's manners. "I'm sorry…" she said, taking a deep breath. "I… It's just been a long week, that's all."

"Why, yes, you've started at your new school, haven't you?" Ms Forcible said pleasantly. "Boy troubles, I assume?"

"Boy troubles?" Coraline spluttered, making a face. "Yech! I'm way too young for that!"

"Ah, but you're shaping up to be a very attractive young lady, Caroline. You would do well in the acting career, let me tell you!"

Acting careers and boys… The absolute last two subjects on Coraline's mind had somehow found their way into the conversation. She sighed irritably, wondering what she was doing here. Ms Spink, on the other hand, was regarding her with a thoughtful expression. Coraline noticed and met her gaze for a moment. Finally, the old woman lifted her hands to her chubby neck, unclasped a silvery chain hanging around it, and then pressed it into Coraline's hand.

"There you go, dear."

The girl looked down at the chain in bewilderment. It was quite pretty – thin and silvery, with a small and sharp-looking spike hanging off the pendant. But she could not understand why it was being given to her. "What's this?"

"Oh, just an old necklace. I've had it for god-knows-how-long. Can't even remember where I got the darn thing. That spike pendant is pure iron, you know. And the chain itself is infused with silver."

"Well… thank you," she continued hesitantly. "But why are you giving it to me?"

"I don't know why, but I just have this… feeling that you wanted it. Or need it. But who can tell the difference these days?"

The girl glanced down at the small iron spike again, rather doubtful that a forgotten little trinket was going to be very helpful. "Couldn't you just make me one of those funny seeing rocks again?"

"I'm afraid not, sweetie," Ms Spink said mysteriously as she reached behind Coraline's head and hung the chain around the girl's neck. "You see, I sense that what you seek is not lost. Rather, it is hidden away this time round. And you will need something that is good for bad things."

Coraline stared into the old woman's eyes, wondering about the meticulous clockwork that was obviously going on behind them. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door. The two retired actresses exchanged looks again – they were obviously not used to having many visitors at this time in the morning – before Ms Forcible rose to answer the door.

"Good morning, Miriam," Coraline heard her mother's breathless voice at the door. "Is Coraline here?"

Oh, man… she groaned to herself, preparing for the tongue-lashing she was about to receive.

"Coraline! What did you think you were doing, sneaking out like that?" her mother said, storming into the room. However, behind her angry scowl, Coraline was surprised to see obvious relief in her face.

"Sorry, Mum, I…"

"Please promise me you'll never do that again."

She heard the worry in her mother's voice, and an unpleasant feeling began to creep into her mind. "Mum, what's going on?" she said uneasily.

Her mother gave a long look, before finally answering. "It's Wybie. He's gone missing."


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I found this chapter a lot of fun to write. Who doesn't enjoy writing about a crazy Russian acrobat and a pair of crazy dog ladies?

Thank you everyone for the kind reviews so far. I appreciate them a lot. Please keep them coming, as well as any constructive criticism that you can provide on improving the story.