Part 20

          When I leave that day, it's with a necklace with a small pendant of black stone - jet - which she helped me carve a six-sided star into the face of.  "Though most people only know it as a Jewish symbol, it's also the basic outline of the Seal of Solomon," she explains as she watches me chalk out the outline onto the stone.  "Despite the name, it predates Judaic traditions, and has been used in a number of different cultures for magic and protection.  I find it's a good fall-back when you're not sure the direction of the trouble you're dealing with.  The same goes for jet, it's a strong protection against negative spirits and psychic invasions generally."
          She demonstrates using the small hammer and chisel on another stone, but has me do the work on my own pendant.  "Charms and talismans work best when they're made by the person they're intended for, there's more of you in it if you're the one who created it, so its power is tied more closely to you."  That idea actually makes a lot of sense to me - and while I don't know how much I believe in stones and symbols (and even if I did, if they'd be any good against someone, something, as strong as these two), I know it certainly can't hurt.  The process of creating a physical object is one that always strengthens my own spirit in any case, so I'm glad she suggested it.
          "I feel guilty that I don't have more to offer you, in protection or advice!" she confesses as I climb back onto my bike, after refusing to take any payment for the appointment or the necklace.  "I plan to do some more research, now that you've got me so curious, and I promise I'll contact you if I find anything that I think might be useful for you."

          It's not until I get home, the new pendant around my neck, that I open my bag... and find a flurry of torn paper.  I can't be positive - I haven't taped them all back together yet - but it looks like it's every page with Azal's name on it.

          Later that week, I haul myself down to the library - my books are due anyway, and I want to see if I can scrounge up anything new that might be helpful to me.  Doing research on the internet is obviously way easier, but there's nothing to curate the crazy out.  And it seems like every page about anything spiritual or paranormal is either totally skeptical, or what one of my professors liked to call "wooo-wooo", making little feathery motions with his fingers.  A little too far removed from our own plane of existance to be of much help.  And probably crazy.
          I'm disappointed to not see Mary behind the desk, but she's been subtley training me in the ways of the library.  I didn't even notice she was doing it, until one day she caught me scanning for a certain Dewey number, and cackled at me.  "There is no escape, my young apprentice.  Soon, you shall become one of us!"
          "Nooo! You'll never turn me to the dark side."
          "Card catalogs are a gateway drug.  Soon you'll actually understand what all those numbers mean."
          "Uh-huh.  You know, my math teachers all said that too, right before they flunked me."
          I take a stroll through the paranormal section again, but as usual, don't see much that looks helpful.  I do pick up a small book on crystals and charms, just for fun.  I decide to wander over to the religion section, thinking about Sylvia's mentions of angels, demons, and other things.  I vaguely remember something about djinn in Islam, I feel like they're another one in that category of spiritual beings, but I'm not sure where they fit in.  I pick up a book that looks like it gives a brief overview of a good number of different religions, then a paperback that claims, in an authoritative font, to cover "all the things the Church DIDN'T want included in the Bible!"  While it seems to take a more, uh, whimsical approach to facts, I figure it might at least give me some more specific directions to look into later.
          I'm aimlessly scanning the titles in another aisle, when my attention is drawn by two male voices in a nearby row, who aren't quite talking in the low whispers most people do here.
          "Now, what on earth were y'all conversatin' about last week?  Jim told me Mary nearly took your head off the other day."
          "Oh, it wasn't anything, you know how easily she gets riled up."
          "Al.  Now really.  You know she's the friendliest gal in town.  What did you do to upset that sweet woman?"
          "I've been nothing but charming and considerate, you know that!  I only asked her why she was letting out some of the non-circulating books to circulate, was all."
          "And that's any of your business?"
          "Well!  It is - you know I've been a pretty big donor to this library for decades now, and I was on the board for most of those years."
          "Alex, now calm down.  I'm sure she's not doing it willy-nilly.  There are always reasonable exceptions to any rule, you know that."
          "I don't see how any flighty little college girl is any more trustworthy than I am," he grumbles.  "The book I wanted was a little more valuable maybe, but I don't see why I couldn't just have borrowed it out for the evening.  It's not like I was going to skip town with it or anything."
          "Which one was it you were after, anyway?"
          "Well.  It doesn't matter now, does it?  Heck, why do you think I couldn't meet you here yesterday?  I had to wait for a day where Mary wouldn't be working, I really think she might throw me out.  Or at least watch me like a hawk the entire time I was here - and not in a flattering kind of way."
          "She'll settle down in a day or two, you know things blow over quickly with her.  Just take it easy and keep out of her way for awhile, then ease back into it.  You want me to see if I can get the book for you?"
          "No, I guess I'll just see if I can find the information somewhere else.  There's just so little on those folks in the records, that I hadn't had much luck."
          "Which folks, now?"
          "Now why are you being so nosy about it?  It's just a private bit of research I'm doing for my own satisfaction.  I don't know why everyone has to keep butting in and asking me so many questions about it."
          "Well, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to rile you.  Just being polite and askin'."
          "Being polite would be keeping your nose out of other folks' business!"
          "Gentlemen?  I'm sorry, but would you mind taking your discussion outdoors?  I have other patrons who requested it be a little quieter in here."
          "Even when she's not here, she sets her minions on me!  What'd I tell you.  No, no, that's all right, I'm done here anyway.  You can just tell Mary-- well, no, I'll tell her myself.  I'll see you later, Rich, I've got some work to do someplace else."
          I lift my eyes when I hear footsteps approaching the end of the aisle, and just catch sight of a cranky looking older man stalking off toward the exit.  He's wearing a dress jacket, despite the summer warmth, and looks rather like a businessman of some sort.  I don't get a good look at him as he strides quickly, but I'd guess in his 50s, and both looks and sounds like a generally cantakerous fellow.  I wonder what on earth all that was about?  ...I have a sinking suspicion the "flighty little college girl" who was loaned a non-circulating book might well be me and that first book Mary lent me with the flower meanings in it.  (Despite not being in college anymore, I'm close enough in age that half the town assumes I am.)  I really hope I haven't gotten Mary into any trouble - though I suspect this guy is the sort that enjoys inventing problems whenever he can.  Which isn't something that ever made sense to me, but then, my time-travel would probably make even less sense to him.
          I start toward the counter to check out my books, but then hear someone call my name.  Turning around, I see Susan standing beside the big community bulletin board, pulling down a few old notices.  She waves me over, and I shift the books in my arm to rest more comfortably against my hip.
          "That Alex Miller, he's such a troublemaker.  You know how some people just enjoy making everyone around them miserable?  Well, that's him.  He didn't come bother you, did he?"
          "No - I overheard some of what he was saying, but that was all."
          "Well, good.  Don't you take anything he said to heart, Mary's perfectly within her rights as head librarian to lend out whatever she sees fit to whomever she sees fit.  Alex always did think he was head honcho anytime he gave a few bucks to a cause - even as a kid, do you know, he bought a cookie from me at a church bake sale and then stood there for twenty minutes, telling me how I should have packaged the cookies and what a proper price would be and had I even thought about what my overhead costs were?"
          We both laugh at this, but then I ask, more seriously: "But you're sure I didn't get Mary into trouble?  Is there anything I can do to..?"
          "To appease the angry god Miller? No. But don't worry about it, it'll blow over.  Chances are, Mary knew he was just out to cause trouble with whatever the book was he'd wanted, and that's why she didn't let him get at it.  But here, he's gotten me so riled up at him that I almost forgot what I'd wanted to tell you.  We're having a special historical society meeting next week that I think you should come to - Brandon's bringing in the rest of his prints from the Reese collection of glass plates that he's been working on, and I know some of your Masons had photos done by Derick Reese."
          "Oh!  Oh that would be fantastic, I'd love to be there!"
          I scrawl down the date and time in my sketchbook (sighing a little as I flip past the pages that have been taped back together after Azal's last appearance - luckily, none of the pages Evelyn had written on were damaged), and pray my work schedule doesn't conflict too badly.  Though if it does, I'm sure someone or another owes me the favor of swapping shifts.  Even if there aren't any more of the Masons, Derick Reese's photos are beautiful, I really wasn't able to spend half the time with the ones at the gallery that I'd wanted to.
          What if it happens again, when I'm in a room full of people?  So far, I've either been basically alone or with a psychic... I wonder if that's partly what triggered them showing up, was being in a room with a medium, someone who's already more closely connected with the spiritual realm?  But what are they, anyway, if they're not ghosts?
          "...you alright, Kimber?"
          "Yeah!  No, I'm fine, sorry, my mind just wandered for a minute."
          "Now, you're too young for that sort of thing!  Go check out your books and get yourself some lunch, young lady.  The coffee shop next door has their amazing Italian wedding soup on the menu today."