Page 38 of The Vanishing Bookstore
‘Sephy has a niece, a nice-speaking, British niece? Well, I never, that old girl can keep a secret or two. I’m Margo by the way, come on in.’
Dora smiled. ‘Thank you.’ Margo went through the black curtain into a room out the back, and Dora realised she should probably take a look at the list Sephy had given her. She unfolded it.
Raw amethyst chunks
Raw obsidian
Silver wire
Cinnamon sticks
Fresh pine needles
She looked around for the items but all she could see were vials of different liquids, tarot cards, coloured glass balls hanging from the ceiling and a small table with baskets of tumbled crystals inside them, all smooth and shiny. Margo walked through the curtains with a glass of water in her hand.
‘Can I grab these things for Sephy?’ Dora asked, passing her the list. Margo put the glass down and studied it.
‘She has all of this at home,’ Margo replied. She looked quizzically at Dora. ‘I’ve been told about you before.’ Margo smiled.
‘By my aunt? But you just said she kept me a secret?’ Dora looked at her, puzzled. Why had Sephy sent her here if she had all of these ingredients at home?
‘Beautiful alabaster skin, he always says,’ Margo replied dreamily. ‘And the most perfect eyes, like jewels.’
Ambrose… Dora thought to herself. Was ‘he’ the man from 1692 that her mother had mentioned? She hadn’t been able to get him out of her head ever since Lucine had mentioned him. Was he cursed too? Was he here? She felt drawn to him.
‘The man who talks about me, is he here?’
‘He’s down at the Ugly Mug.’ Margo picked up her phone and was instantly connected to whoever she had called. ‘She’s coming to you. Get her to eat something, will you, she looks like she needs some carbs and caffeine inside her to bring her back to life. Either that or a quick zap of a heart-start machine.’
Dora didn’t know whether she should be insulted or grateful that Margo cared enough about her. Margo came back into the shop and smiled at her.
‘Sorry, I get a bit carried away sometimes. I can’t help it, I’m always a sucker for a lost cause, they get to me, you know. You should see how many stray cats I feed every evening; those greedy suckers drive me mad. I think they go around telling all their cat pals to come on by to Margo’s house where the food is free, and the kitty toilet is her front flower bed.’
Dora laughed. ‘Am I a lost cause?’
Margo shrugged. ‘Ambrose certainly is. He’s been my friend for years. He’s been pining after you for as long as I’ve known him. I don’t know what you did to him when you last saw him, but he’s quite smitten. The Ugly Mug is a diner down on Washington Street. You get to the corner of this block and turnleft; you can’t miss it. It’s painted black and white with a picture of an ugly mug in the window. Food’s pretty good, or at least it must be because Ambrose goes there every day.’
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. Don’t be a stranger and say hi to Sephy for me. I haven’t seen her in a while, she’s been busy looking after her sister.’
Dora nodded then, clutching the paper, she left the shop and headed towards the corner and the diner.
22
The Ugly Mug was a little hard to spot, even though there was a big black-and-white-striped sign in the window and a Pride flag next to a picture of an ugly mug in the other. Dora stepped inside and smiled at the sunshine-yellow-painted walls with huge skillets attached to them, inside which were knitted eggs and bacon. Dora smiled. She felt a sudden rush of nervous energy but at least she didn’t have to worry too much about finding Ambrose. There was only one man sitting in the corner by the window with his back to her, the rest of the tables were full of couples and families. She realised her hands were trembling; she was nervous, which wasn’t like her.
He was staring down into a really horrible, huge, black-speckled mug of coffee, stirring it slowly with a spoon. Suddenly Dora felt a rush of something so warm and inviting it made her whole body tingle just looking at the back of his head, with his collar-length brown hair. As if sensing her staring, he turned around to look and a smile broke out on his face.
‘Dora.’
His face was tanned, and his aquamarine eyes sparkled with joy. He had to brush back the fringe of his floppy hair. He reminded her a little of Hugh Grant in her favourite romcom,Notting Hill, and she felt as if she’d known him her entire life, yet this was the first time she had ever set eyes on him. He stood up and pointed to the chair opposite him. And she soon found herself sitting on the chair, unable to speak.
‘It’s so good to see you again. How was Margo with you, did she say anything?’
‘Erm, Margo, was fine and say anything about what?’ Dora replied.
‘Ah.’ He nodded his head. ‘Well, I hope she didn’t offend you, she’s a little bit wild at times, not to mention outspoken, but her heart is in the right place. To be honest I’m a little scared of Margo so I tend to always do what she tells me.’
