The Winged Witch 3/15

Jennifer Jane had to wait until the weekend before she had any time to herself. She cycled over to the Smugglers Cave on Saturday morning and browsed among the contents until she could catch the shopkeeper by himself.

“I happened to see the man who sold you one of those ivory models the other day. He looked to me as if he might be foreign, does he take his payment in pounds sterling?”

“Funny you should ask that, Bobby was in here a couple of days ago asking the same question. It’s rather unusual actually; he insists on being paid in gold. I spotted the fact that he was foreign as well. Mainly it was because of the very strange wristwatch he was wearing.”

“Yes I noticed he was wearing a watch myself, but what was so unusual about it?”

“It didn’t seem to have a dial, it was more like a black button strapped to his wrist. He pressed the button now and then while he was waiting for me to finish serving a customer and I’ll swear I heard a voice telling him the time!”

“Golly that sounds fascinating, did you notice anything else out of the ordinary?”

“His accent seemed unusual as well; certainly English isn’t his mother tongue. Why are you asking all these questions?”

“My dad’s next door neighbour bought a model of a flying dragon and she was wondering where it might have come from. She doesn’t have too much time to spare, so she asked me if I could pop over here and make some enquiries for her.”

“I remember her. A very nice lady, she bought the first model I was asked to try and sell.”

Jennifer Jane thanked the shopkeeper for his help as she left the shop. She should have picked up the clue about the wristwatch earlier, but it was such an ordinary thing, that she hadn’t really taken any notice. Of course nobody in the alternate world wore one. Those sailors that had bought one from Eve or herself always kept them under lock and key on their boats. They were far too valuable to the owner to take any chance of them being lost or damaged.

She pedalled back home as fast as she could and arrived in the kitchen puffing and panting. Her mother was out in the garden tidying up, while her father had just pushed the motor mower onto the lawn and was pouring some petrol into the tank.

“I think you’d both better come inside in case anyone overhears me,” she said once she’d got her breathing under control.

She told them what she had just learned from the owner of the Smugglers Cave. “If he’s right, then I think the salesman must come from a high tech parallel world. I’m going to go to Lurbridge and ask some questions at the timber yard quayside. I bet somebody there will have seen him and may well know how he travels. The only problem is I may be gone for some time, so I’m letting you know in advance for a change.”

“Well that’s certainly a first,” said her dad, “at least we know where you’re going, even if you don’t know how long you’ll be away!”

“You mind you take care, tell Abigail your theory as well, maybe she can keep an eye on you somehow.”

Jennifer Jane agreed to do as they suggested and disappeared.

“I find that instant travel spell very unsettling,” said her mother, “I know it saves her a lot of time but I’m worried that one day something will go wrong.”

“We mustn’t forget her safety spell, if anything did happen to her, she should return safely to her space in the Witches’ Home guard house!”

They looked at each other helplessly for a moment, then shrugged their shoulders and went outdoors again to continue their gardening.