Chapter 3: The Strange Coins
November quickly flew by, and before Ellie knew it Christmas break had arrived. Every year Ellie spent the first day of Christmas break doing all her Christmas shopping in downtown London. The previous year, however, hadn't been as pleasant as the others. Both Karen and Robert Richards were very busy with work that day, and Ellie had no choice but to go shopping with Dennis, who had just passed his final driving test. The entire ride to Oxford Street was terrifying, and Ellie was relieved that she was still in one piece when Dennis pulled into a parking garage.
This year Ellie was thankful to learn that her mother had errands of her own to do downtown, and would be driving Dennis and her to Oxford street. But of course there was a down side. Ellie's mother had dropped her and Dennis off at Cavendish Square, and before either of them had a chance to step out of the car the lecturing tone of Mrs. Richards rang out.
"Dennis, I want you to keep a close eye on your sister. Don't let her go off by herself. I don't want her getting abducted by some nutter. Don't even leave her side. Is that understood?"
"Yes mum." Dennis droned as he and Ellie climbed out of the car.
"I mean it!" Mrs. Richards said more forcefully.
Dennis gave an affirming head nod.
"Alright," Mrs. Richards reluctantly began, "I'll meet you both at this very spot in.." She glanced at her watch, "three hours. That should be plenty of time to get your shopping done."
"Three hours." Dennis repeated just to show that he was paying attention.
Mrs. Richards gave him a stern look before finally driving off.
Not even thirty seconds later, which was sooner than Ellie expected, Dennis turned to her and said, "I'm meeting my friends at the arcade. If your not back here in three hours you'll be spending Christmas in the intensive care ward. Got it?" He stared her down, waiting for a response.
Ellie had long since learned to stare back.
"Have I ever let you down before?" She grinned.
Dennis gave Ellie one last hard glare before walking away.
Ellie's parents were always worried that she would be kidnaped or mugged if she was ever in London alone without supervision. Little did they know that Dennis had ditched Ellie last year as well, and she was never abducted by any nutters. Ellie had considered telling on Dennis, despite his threats, but that would mean that she wouldn't get a chance to take her time shopping and walking the streets of downtown London without anyone slowing her pace.
After a few moments of considering where she would like to shop first, Ellie finally decided on Debenhams, which was only a block away. The pavement was still damp from the drizzle of rain earlier that morning. The sky was a pale grey, threatening more rain, but it was holing off for now.
Ellie stepped into Debenhams and was amazed by all the holiday decorations. Boughs of holly were placed on the clothing racks, various types of garland were draped along the walls, and dozens of sparkling, colourful ornaments hung from the ceiling. It was early afternoon, and the store wasn't too busy, since most people were still at work.
After two hours of walking in almost every department, Ellie had all of her Christmas shopping done. She had picked out a beautiful yellow print blouse and matching skirt for her mother, a light blue twill shirt and silk tie for her father, for Dennis she got a forest green knit sweater and a pack of Nike socks (the only kind he'd wear), and she got Jo a new red book bag, since the one she had was starting to fall apart. Ellie also bought a box of Belgium chocolates for her cousin Nicole, who always use to visit, and even babysat Ellie when she was younger. Ellie had always thought of Nicole as the sister she never had, but always wanted. However, Nicole's visits became less frequent when she started University, and even more infrequent when she got married and moved to Luton. But Ellie still kept in contact with Nicole through e-mail, and bought her a birthday and Christmas present every year.
Since she still had an hour till her mother was to pick her up, Ellie took her time walking back to Cavendish Square, and peeked in every store window on her way there. She also stopped in a little café and bought herself a hot chocolate and a biscuit.
Ellie took a seat by the window and watched the bustling shoppers and streams of cars pass by.
Suddenly, Ellie's peaceful time to herself was interrupted by an increasingly loud discussion at the cash counter. A young, blond server was having a dispute with a middle aged man wearing a deep purple cloak.
"I'm sorry sir, but you don't have enough money."
"But its all I have. I need something to eat."
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do for you."
"What if I give you some of these?" The man pulled out a few odd looking silver coins and one large gold coin out of his pocket.
"I'm sorry, we don't take any foreign currency." The server was trying to stay calm. "If you just go to the bank-"
"But I'm hungry now!" The man shouted.
"Sir, if you continue to disturb my customers I'll have to ask you to leave." The server said sternly.
The man was looking very frustrated, but finally left the café on his own accord.
Ellie always had a very good memory, and she knew that it wasn't the first time she had seen those strange coins before. In fact it had been the twelfth time. The first time had been when she was five years old, shopping for her first two wheel bike. It was the middle of summer, and a woman wearing winter boots, orange plaid pants, a thin pink shirt and a multi-coloured floral apron on top of it all was trying to buy a vibrant green mackintosh with the same odd coins.
"Some people shouldn't be allowed in public." Was her mother's only comment.
A year and a half later, Ellie noticed a man wearing a rich brown cloak in Selfridges holding those weird coins. When she questioned her father about the man's strange clothing her replied, "Its probably an uniform for some strange club or cult. Just ignore it sweetie, its none of our business."
But Ellie couldn't ignore it. In nine separate occasions Ellie had noticed men and women of different ages, either wearing a cloak or a bizarre ensemble of clothing in possession of those odd looking coins.
Ellie glanced down at her watch and saw that she had five minutes to get to the meeting spot. As she left the café an unsettling thought popped into her head. What if this strange cult, as her father referred to them, was responsible for the unexplained bombings around London? They seem to be quite and keep to themselves. But just because they dress weird doesn't make them a threat to society, besides they seem harmless.
Ellie's thoughts continued to go back and forth until she noticed Dennis walking down the street with only one shopping bag in his hand. Ellie wouldn't be surprised if he had only bought something for himself. Not even twenty seconds after standing together Mrs. Richards pulled up in front of them. Ellie shoved her bags of purchases into the back seat next to her. She spent the entire ride home continuously slapping the back of Dennis's hand to prevent him from peeking into the bags.
"Did you two have fun shopping together?" Mrs. Richards pleasantly asked.
Ellie remained silent.
"Of course we did! Right smelly Ellie?" Dennis glanced back at her from the front seat.
"The best time of my life." Ellie mumbled.