Amaranth

Chapter One

     "Hey, you guys go on ahead. I want to check out that shop over there," Mara Schafer waved her friends toward the cafe they all had been heading to.

     "Do you want us to order for you?" asked Kaye. Her eyes looked past Mara, searching out the shop her friend had pointed out. "And what shop?"

     "No, I want soup and I don't want it to get cold. Don't worry about waiting for me," replied Mara, already stepping off the curb. "And the brick one with all the vines!" she shouted as she ran across the street.

     "There's no--" Jessica began, but Mara was already well out of hearing range. "You see any brick buildings?" she asked Kaye. Kaye stared at the spot her friend was making a beeline for.

     "You see any buildings?" she replied. The two friends looked at the vacant plot where a building might have stood at one time, but now was most definitely empty. The girls exchanged concerned looks, then Kaye shrugged and hooked her arm around Jess' neck.

     "We're just looking in the wrong spot. Either that or she's seeing things and she'll be cranky when she gets back and want her food." Jessica giggled and the two sashayed into the cafe.

                               **************************************************

     The bell against the door didn't clang like the ones Mara had heard in other shops. It almost whispered a shadow of a gentle melody she was sure she'd heard somewhere before. Mara might have spent longer puzzling over it, but the contents of the shop captured her attention as soon as she looked away from the bell.

     Books lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Tea sets rested on old-fashioned tea carts, and shelves held dozens of brightly colored glass bottles that might have held anything from perfume to spices at one time. Antique trunks, locked up tight, supported paintings waiting to be hung. Vases, jewelry, and ancient weapons sat wherever there was space. A mahogany box rested on a cast-iron table with a base that had been shaped into the figure of a snarling beast--a dragon maybe. When Mara opened the box, the gentle plinking notes that emerged reminded her of the melody she'd heard when she'd opened the shop door.

     A sudden scraping sound behind her made her jump. She turned to see someone about her age bent almost in half trying to drag an enormous ornate urn across the room. Mara squinted, thinking that she recognized the girl. Tall if she hadn't been bent over. Pale skin that displayed a bad sunburn across the shoulders. Short, almost boyishly cut black hair. And while she had her back to Mara so that she couldn't see her eyes...

     "Twyla?" The girl gave a gasp of surprise and lost her grip on the urn, falling with a loud thud. Mara winced but the girl--who Mara definitely now recognized from school--was already getting back to her feet with a sigh.

     "Welcome to the shop--" she began, then turned and saw Mara. Her eyes widened in more than surprise; Mara thought she looked completely panicked. "Mara? Nonono, you don't need to be here. What possible reason could you have for needing to be here?"

     "Reason?" Mara was confused, and also beginning to feel a little insulted. "I just saw the shop from across the street and decided to check it out. I've never noticed it before," she mused. "Is it new?"

     "No, it's not new, and you need to leave. Like, now." Twyla moved forward, like she was going to herd Mara out of the shop.

     "Leave? But--" Mara felt herself taking a step backwards as Twyla came at her. "You know, this is not the way to sell something!"

     "Trust me, you don't want anything from this shop," replied Twyla tersely. She took Mara by the shoulders and spun her around to face the door. "You just need to get out of here before she gets you in her clutches!"