Part Eight
Love Potion No.9
Actually,
Josiah’s day had been strange from the onset, so he was not at all surprised by
how it moved from the sublimely bizarre to the extremely weird by the time the sun
set on the evening. Of course, Josiah had come to learn that such a state of
affairs was nothing unusual in
At
least he knew those were oddities whose presence in the world was fleeting and
once visited upon them would be gone fortunately from this realm and in all
likelihood, would never return again. However, the presence of a little blond
girl with the taste for the mystic ensured that Josiah’s life would never stray
too far from the extraordinary. Since the arrival of Lilith King and her mother
the new schoolteacher, an undiscovered vein of paternal emotion had surfaced
out of nowhere within Josiah for the young girl with a penchant for the
supernatural.
While
his feelings for her mother was currently navigating uncharted some waters,
Josiah knew exactly how he felt about Lilith following her initial bout of
conjuring. Until then, spells and mysticism were little more than fancy words
spoken by magicians while entertaining the crowds with clever card tricks and
vermin carefully hidden in formal headwear. He never imagined it could be real
but then as previous experience had taught him, the world was not a place of
absolutes and when he was plunged into the reality of his hearts desire, Josiah
learnt just how potent a force true magic could be.
A
hundred years ago, what Lilith praticised in her
dabbling with the arcane arts would have seen her burnt at the stake by the masses
and there were still factions among good Christian folk who would advocate such
penalties if they knew what held her interests. There was no doubt in his mind
that true magic was neither evil nor some by-product of satanic worship. Lilith
had made her first conjuring because she had wanted to bring happiness to those
around her. Josiah could not bring himself to believe that a force which could
be manipulated for such noble ends could be entirely bad. There was theatre of
belief who considered guns to be evil and yet men argued that guns were not the
true evil but rather the men who employed its application. Josiah seemed to
think magic could be utilised the same way.
Some
day, he had no doubt she would master the potential that was harboured in her young body and the power at her finger
tips could be save lives, bring hope to the despaired and perhaps change the
world in ways he could not imagine. However for the here and now, Lilith was a
little girl sitting on a powder keg and Josiah had appointed himself her
keeper. It was not a task he found laborious because for most part, Lilith was
a delightful child. She was young and inquisitive, eager to learn and able to
accept much of what he told her because her mind was open to all forms of
knowledge. And because he believed he filled a void in her life left vacant by
her father.
Josiah
enjoyed being that for her most of all.
They
spent a great deal of time together, mostly talking about things. She liked
listening to him recite poetry, telling her stories about far away places and
people with names like Helen, Perseus, Beowoulf and Gilgamesh. If she had been a boy, there was no
telling what that intelligence might do for her in the future and Josiah knew
that whatever course fate had in store for Lilith would no doubt be an
interesting one.
They
say the path to hell is lead with good intentions and never was this phrase
more true when one was referring to Lilith. When Billy Travis had professed a
desire to get Julia Pemberton and by the same token, all his friends which
included the seven and their ladies, the perfect Christmas gift, Lilith had
lent her assistance which saw her casting a spell that granted them all their
fondest wish. What had intended to be a spell to bring much happiness had
plunged them headlong into a nightmare of biblical proportions as the world
around them splintered into custom made realities for all those involved.
Josiah
had found himself a preacher like he had always wanted but knew inwardly was
not the life for him. Until then, he had nursed the dream as one would harbour the desire to take that long trip, they knew they
never would. The reality of that wish had made him grateful for what he was but
for the others, it had been downright frightening.
He
had managed to learn about their wishes with idle discussion about dreams the
day after and discovered that JD had thrown out all his books about
gunfighters and shootouts, the very books that had brought him to the West in
the first place. Nathan seemed more at peace about his sister’s passing and
Ezra’s feelings towards slavery in any shape or form was so acute that his
opinions bordered on abolitionist at times. Vin had merely mentioned that he
would have rather faced judgement in Tascosa instead of going after Eli Joe himself because it
would have probably ended badly and for some reason, Buck had not been able to
look at either Julia or Alex in the face for weeks after.
What
Chris had dreamed was a secret known only to him.
The
entire incident had given them all a finer appreciation for everything in their
lives but for Josiah, there had been an unexpected bonus. At the stage in life
the former preacher had reached, he was quite happy if things remained the same
forever. He had his friends and something of a family in the fellowship of the
seven and occasionally, when Maude Standish came to town, much to the chagrin
of her son, he had a little female companionship as well. Josiah was well aware
that Maude did not take him seriously as a suitor and wondered how she would
have felt if she learnt that he felt more or less the same. Women did have a
double sided view of such things. They enjoyed each others company, perfectly
content with the fact that there was no relationship to speak of, just the
mutual enjoyment of two people whose paths occasionally intersected.
The
first time he had met Audrey, he was not even in this world. He was in the
dream reality created by Lilith and he had been a preacher asking for her to
believe him. He remembered how it was to look at her that first time, to see a
face just as worn by the years as his and yet lovely nonetheless because the
sparkle in her blue eyes was not bound by time. She had believed him when there
had been no reason to do so and that had touched Josiah more than anything she
could have said. He still carried the memory of taking a turn with her through
that tree lined walk to the river and wished it was something he could share
with her.
Getting
to know Audrey was no easy thing. While she was artistic with a tendency to be
flamboyant in her speech and her manner, she was a surprisingly private person.
They say some women could be a mystery a man could spend a life time trying to
unravel and in Audrey’s case, it was precisely that. After nurturing a
friendship of so many months, since what they were could hardly be called
courting, Josiah found that he cared for Audrey more than he had for any woman
in his life. When they were together, they spoke of books and travels, of
things seen in life, of religion and politics and any subject that captured
their interest. He found his mind challenged by hers and reaffirmed Josiah’s
belief that
Audrey
had no idea or course that Lilith was an amateur sorceress. While Audrey was
aware that Lilith enjoyed reading that musty old book handed down from her
ancestors, she did not know that her daughter considered the book more than
just fascinating and was actively conjuring spells that had far reaching potential.
There were moments when Josiah considered telling her about Lilith’s
predilection and yet feared the reaction that might come from the revelation.
While he cared about Audrey and was confident enough to know quite a bit about
the lady, he could not say for certain how she would take the news that her
daughter was a powerful sorceress in the making. Audrey was open minded but
Josiah did not know if she was that open minded. When they had been in
that alternate reality, she had accepted what he had told her readily enough
but so much about that other world had been distorted to suit, Josiah did not
know if that included her response as well.
Josiah
did not know when the revelation would be made to Audrey but he hoped it was
later rather than sooner because things between them had settled into
comfortable and Josiah liked comfortable.
Unlike
the others, his world did not need shaking up.
**********
"How
am I gonna stay one step of her?" Buck Wilmington grimaced as he sat at
their usual table in the Standish Tavern, moaning his circumstances following
the sudden arrival of Millie back to town.
"Just
tell her the truth Buck!" JD groaned in exasperation, giving the preacher
a look at how ridiculous this was when the solution was so simple.
Josiah
smiled as he saw JD’s disbelief and thought to himself just how much the boy
who had first forced his way into their ranks had grown since that initial
arrival in
"Out
of the mouth of babes." He drawled in his low rumbling voice before
continuing to enjoy the lunch that Rain had set before him.
"It
ain’t that simple." Buck gave them both a look. "I don’t want to hurt
her feelings!" The big man said wanting to know why Josiah and JD found
this so hard to understand. "I’m a fine catch." He continued to
procrastinate. "I mean the poor girl could be devastated knowing that I
slipped through her fingers." With a perfectly straight face, he sat up
erect in his chair and added with great dignity. "I ain’t easy to get over
you know?"
"Of
course not." Josiah said with an equally straight face. "However,
might I remind you that your wife may not take to kindly with your attempts to
keep one step ahead of Miss Millie." Josiah pointed out, ever the voice of
reason.
"Yeah…."
Buck nodded, his face creasing with new lines of worry at that possibility was
presented to him. "Inez ain’t gonna believe I had nothing to do with
this."
"How
do you know that?" JD countered. "You and Inez are married now, I’m
pretty sure that she trusts you."
"Boy,"
Buck looked at the younger man as if he was talking a child. "You don’t
know the first thing about women do you?" He challenged. Without waiting
for JD to answer, Buck pushed himself away from the table and started towards
the door muttering. "I got lay low for a while. If she can’t find me,
there ain’t no reason to worry….."
JD
and Josiah stared at the new father as their gaze followed him out of the
saloon and shook their heads collectively after his departure. "You know
Josiah," JD sighed. "I’m starting to think I know a lot more about
women than he thinks, without actually knowing a woman." The last part of
his sentence came forth rather awkwardly and he tried to convey his intention a
little more clearly.
"I
understand your meaning, my young friend," Josiah said sparing him the
embarrassment of trying to explain. "I am afraid Buck’s affection for the
ladies, sometimes clouds his judgement as to what
they are really like. He has an image in his mind that does not always fit the
reality." The older man replied and felt some with Buck in that sense.
There was a time when Josiah was more in love with the idea of being in love
than actually caring about the object of his affections. He still stung from
humiliation when he thought of how ardently he had built the image of Emma in
his head when it was nothing like the reality of what she was. Josiah was glad
he had a more measured view of Audrey.
"You
think its that way with him and Inez?" The young man asked somewhat
shocked if it was. Buck and Inez were like fire and oil but the conflagration
they ignited by their passion seemed to feed of each other and it was
impossible for an outsider to watch without feeling the heat.
"Probably
not," he shook his head. "Fortunately, in that relationship, Inez is
the smarter one."
JD
laughed at the thought and could well believe it. The youth glanced outside the
window and frowned with displeasure at the storm that was forming just beyond
the confines of Four Corners. Josiah was aware that JD had plans to spend the
day with Casey and that a storm would almost certainly put an end to that
desire.
"I
wouldn’t advise it." Josiah remarked just in case the boy was considering
throwing caution to the wind. If it had been mere summer drizzle, Josiah would
have kept his peace but the clouds forming in the sky outside promised a
thunderstorm that would be most unforgiving to those foolish enough to venture
into its fury. "Weather’s looking pretty bad. That storm is gonna be
fierce."
"I
know," JD said unhappily, not at all impressed at having to disappoint
Casey. "I really wanted to spend some time with her you know?"
"I do," Josiah nodded understanding completely and reminded himself
he had to call in on Audrey because they had plans for supper tonight and he
thought they might go a restaurant for a change. She always seemed to be
cooking meals for him and Josiah felt that it was high time she was relieved of
the chore, no matter how wonderful a cook she might be. Still, he did not want
to impose upon any plans that she might have made already so it was best to go
check nonetheless.
He
had observed his friends long enough now to know what not to do when it
came to women.
"I
am sure Casey will be pleased just spending some time in your company JD."
Josiah said confidently. "Maybe you just spend an afternoon just talking
with her." He suggested.
JD
nodded, thinking that this too was a good idea. After all she had spent the
last few days alone without Nettie, perhaps she might be a little lonely and JD
hated the idea of picturing the young woman starved for human companionship.
Maybe they could do something in town, which did not require good weather. In
any case, he would go see her first and make sure a change of plans met with
her approval.
He
had observed his friends long enough now to know what not to do when it
came to women.
*********
Despite
the promise of bad weather, it was a rather nice day in Four Corners. There was
just enough hint of a breeze to take the edge of the summer heat and while
people were staying close to home in case the storm came their way instead of
moving on as they thought, they were nonetheless out in force going about their
business. The same could be said about the children who were running around,
playing and getting to mischief the way only the young could. With summer, came
the inevitable break from school and so the younger citizens of Four Corners
were also highly visible today. As he thought about children in general, Josiah
found himself sniggering at the thought of Ezra and Billy’s duel later today.
The
gambler was itching to get disembowelled by Mary if
she discovered that he was encouraging Billy in the boy’s card playing
activities. It was not as if Ezra had not suffered the wrath of Mrs Larabee once before after
teaching the boy the art of craps, which Billy displayed to his full potential
in Audrey’s school house during lunchtime. Josiah remembered how amused Audrey
had found the whole incident even thought she was meant to disapprove of such behaviour and was forced to take a punitive role because
she was meant to be instilling her charges with good moral fibre.
Suddenly
he saw Lilith emerge onto the boardwalk, making a beeline for home. There was
something of the furtive in her manner and immediately sparked Josiah’s
interest as he hastened his pace to catch up with the young girl. She was
carrying a little bag with her and seemed to be holding it with more care that
normal which immediately aroused the suspicious nature of the lawman inside
Josiah. Although he was aware that she still dabbled in her interest in conjuring,
Josiah knew that she had not referred to the Book of Shadows, which was the
real ignition for her latent abilities. He hoped the reason she was making her
silent advance was not because she was moving into those uncharted waters
again.
"Hello
Lilith." Josiah greeted as he came up along side of her and looked down
into a pair of blue eyes.
"Hello
Josiah." She met his gaze sharply and Josiah could smell something of the
shock she was displaying in that seemingly cherubic face. She was not scared
but he had caught her by surprise.
"What
are you up today?" He asked, trying not to sound accusatory since he had
no idea whether or not she was doing anything wrong. Women were filled with
secrets and little girls were no different, Josiah thought. It was beyond his
ability to decipher whether or not those secrets had anything to do with magic
and spells.
"Nothing."
She said trying to hide the anxiety form her voice.
"What’s
in the bag?" He pushed, once again reminding herself that she was not
under suspicion and that his question was merely mirroring his curiosity.
"Stuff."
She looked ahead, keeping her eyes from him.
"What
kind of stuff?" He inquired, perfectly content to play this game of
questions and answers.
Lilith
thought quickly, certain that Josiah was on to her and what she intended to do
with the contents in her bag was too important for her to abandon it. However,
she needed to give him an answer and quickly thought up an excuse that might
allay his suspicions. "Stuff to make an Indian charm." She blurted
out in a fit of inspiration.
"An
Indian charm?" He looked at her.
"Yeah,"
she nodded with a smile, seeing that he had been unprepared for her answer and
was just surprised enough to believe it. "I’m gonna make a good luck charm
for Billy." She continued, building the little white lie into something
more plausible.
Josiah
knew that it could very well be that since it was he who had taken her out to
the Indian village to visit Kojay on occasion. Audrey
who was not averse to allowing her daughter learn about other cultures had
allowed him to take Lilith for the experience of actually meeting Indians and
forming her own opinion, instead of the biased view held by most white folk.
Josiah knew that Lilith had enjoyed the day out and spent most of her time with
the medicine man and watched how the women in the tribe went about their
chores. She had remarked to him at the end of the day that their worlds were
not so dissimilar from one another, just a little different.
Josiah
remembered feeling immensely proud when Lilith had declared that she did not
know whose way was better.
"A
good luck charm huh?" He nodded slightly, showing his approval and on a
deeper note, his relief.
"I
figure he needs all the help he can get." Lilith added. "Him playing
cards with Ezra is such a bad idea."
"Well
not really," Josiah shrugged. A small smile crossed his face picturing the
cool, collected gambler, ever the picture of calm deliberation, sitting across
the table from an eight year old playing a game of go fish. Then the devil in
him flashed another thought in his mind at the image, what if Ezra lost?
"I reckon that it ain’t so easy to cheat at go fish."
"Ezra
wouldn’t cheat." Lilith exclaimed, unable to imagine Ezra Standish doing
anything of the sort. After all, Ezra was a professional as he was so often
fond of saying to anyone who listened.
"Of
course not." Josiah said with a perfectly straight face because he was not
about to fill the young girl on the facts of life when it came to the card
skills of one Mr Standish. While Ezra was a damn fine card player, Josiah and
the rest of the seven knew that he was not averse to tipping the odds in his
favor when he felt the need to salvage his pride or replenish his empty
coffers.
"The
medicine man at the village showed me how to make the charm," Lilith
continued to say, pleased that Josiah had bought her story because she did not
want to have to tell him that she was conjuring from the book, even if it was
for the best reasons.
"Well,"
Josiah said as they took the turn towards the house. "Just as long as you
promise me you ain’t doing nothing dangerous." He gave her a stern look
that was more paternal than it was warning and Lilith nodded obediently.
"I
won’t Josiah." She said feeling a twinge of guilt for her deception and
moved quickly to change the subject. "Are you coming to see mama?"
"Yeah,"
Josiah replied. "Is she home?"
"I
think she was going to visit with Mrs Potter this
morning," Lilith answered, trying to remember what her mother had on her
agenda today. Suddenly, she realised that Josiah
intended to come home with her and decided that would not at all do. She needed
privacy to cast her spell and knew that mama was not home anyway. "Said
she’ll be back this afternoon."
"This
afternoon huh?" Josiah paused, seeing no reason to continue if Audrey was
not going to be home. "Okay." He looked down at Lilith, "tell
you ma I’ll call in later or if she wants to say hello, I’ll be doing some work
at the church."
"Sure
Josiah," Lilith beamed at being able to deter him from his course.
"I’ll tell her."
*********
It
was more than an hour after his encounter with Lilith that Josiah finally saw
Audrey.
As
usual, he spent most of his free time when he was not helping out at the Lucky
7 ranch either playing the part of lawman in Four Corners or putting the
finishing touches to the church which had been his pet project since arriving
in town. He knew that as far as he was concerned he would never really get it
finished because part of his enjoyment at working on the place was the fact
that there always a little something else he had to get done. Josiah did not
mind, there were worst ways to spend ones time.
"Hello
Josiah." Audrey announced herself as she came down the aisle as he was
coating the pulpit with some varnish to turn its dull finish into something
more presentable.
"Hello
Audrey." Josiah poked his head from behind the stand and flashed her a
smile.
Audrey
looked as beautiful as always, with her dark hair worn up and delicate strands
cascading around her neck while she regarded him with those incredibly blue
eyes. Each time he looked at her, he knew that what he felt for her was no
romantic image of what a woman should be but a feeling for her that was more
genuine than any he had ever known.
"Lilith
said you were going to come up to the house." She replied, brushing her
skirt down as she placed herself on the steps of the raised floor, which lead
to the pulpit.
"I
did," Josiah agreed. "I was hoping to catch you before you made any
plans for supper tonight." He remarked putting down the paintbrush full of
varnish on to the newspaper he had strewn about to protect the floor and joined
her a second later.
"I
was going to cook," Audrey shrugged, having not placed that much thought
upon it. Josiah sharing supper at their table was so common place that it was
something she almost took for granted now. She liked seeing him at the head of
the table and knew that Lilith adored seeing him there as well. While he was
not her husband and never would be, Josiah in his own way had captured her
heart just as intensely. His presence had made her new life in Four Corners so
much more than she ever dreamed possible and even though this town seemed to
attract trouble like bees to honey, she knew that he alone made all that discourse
worth remaining.
"I
thought we might go out tonight." He suggested instead. Usually, every
penny he saved would go to keeping his sister in the convent at Vesta City but the truth was, he was so well ahead of his
payments that he knew that there would be no harm indulging one night out on
the town. Besides, Audrey was not his cook. She was a woman whom he cared about
deeply and there came a time when a lady needed to know the prose she inspired
inside a man’s heart. "Supper at the hotel?"
"That
sounds nice," she beamed, liking the idea that he would be taking her out
when they did it so rarely. Audrey did not mind of course, aware that he was a
man of moderate means and admired him for ensuring that his sister was well
taken care off. She was one of two people in Four Corners who knew about
Josiah’s sister and felt privileged that he would trust her with that
information. "Lily is going to be staying at Gloria’s though."
"Oh?"
Josiah glanced at her; unable to deny that he would not mind spending the time
alone with her, not that he felt Lilith’s presence was an intrusion. "How
come?"
"I
thought we might have some time alone to talk." Audrey replied and
captured Josiah’s undivided attention with that statement, as there was
something in her voice that immediately put him on guard.
"About
what?" Josiah asked after a moment, trying to hide the fact that he was
burning with curiosity.
"About
us." She said with an enigmatic smile that made him swallow the lump that
had suddenly formed in his throat. Why was he so bothered about this? They
talked all the time about things. Why did she suddenly need privacy?
"What
about us?" He faced front, suddenly pre-occupied by a book sitting on one
of the pews. Did she intend to end it between them? Is that why she needed to be
alone with him? His heart sank at the thought of not having Audrey in his life.
He was hardly a young man but even Josiah recognised
that he was head over heels in love with the lovely schoolteacher.
Audrey
caught the strained expression on his face and was suddenly struck with the realisation that he was mistaken about her intentions.
Exceedingly mistaken, in fact about what she had intended to convey to him and
wondered how a man so perceptive at times could get it so completely wrong and
she did not need to be a school teacher to answer that enigma.
He was a man.
"Oh
Josiah!" Audrey exclaimed. "Its not bad news." She declared and
took his face in her hands so that he would look at her and understand. "I
just thought we needed to talk about us."
"Us
is fine." Josiah said inwardly relieved even though he did not show it as
he met her gaze.
"I
agree." She said softly and lowered her lips to his with a gentle kiss,
which he returned quite readily before pulling back to meet his gaze.
"We’ll have the whole house to ourselves tonight Josiah. Gloria is keeping
Lilith with her until tomorrow afternoon."
It
took a few seconds for Josiah to understand what she was getting at and when he
did comprehend that mysterious smile on her face, his eyes widened in nothing
less than fear. Swallowing thickly, he drew away from her and stuttered a
response. "Are you suggesting that I..." he could not even bring
himself to complete that sentence.
"Stay
the night." She answered and removed the last vestiges of doubt in his
mind regarding his intention.
"Audrey..."
Josiah started to answer and once again he was struck with that stammer.
"Are you sure.... I mean its a big step...a very big step."
"Josiah,"
she smiled with not a shred of doubt or fear in her eyes at what she was
alluding. "We are hardly children any more and I want to be with
you."
How
did women manage to do that? How were they capable of dropping such startling
news on a man and yet be capable of remaining so calm and aloof as if they had
just made some inconsequential remark about weather?
"I
want to be with you too but this is sudden." He answered; trying to keep
the turmoil in his stomach from churning to such a state that he needed to
throw up. It was not as if he did not want to be with her. Hell yeah, he wanted
to spend the night with her and enjoy the bliss of her body just as completely
as he enjoyed her soul but it was too soon.
"How
is it sudden?" She countered. "We have been seeing quite a bit of
each other these past months and it is time we moved on."
"But
this ain’t right...." he continued to protest. "You’re a lady and a
proper Christian woman. Our union should be sanctified in marriage."
"Now
Josiah," she sighed. "I’m not that proper and I know that you’re just
trying to protect my honour. My honour
is just fine and we’re not having some sordid affair. I love you and I think
you love me too. A relationship can’t stay trapped in amber, it has to move
on."
"But
why now?" He asked, still refusing to believe that what she was offering
was purely arbitrary without some deeper intention that he was not yet privy
to. "We’ve been doing just fine the way we have been."
"We
are fine and this won’t change things," she kissed him again. "This
will only make it better. Now I know that you’re protesting out of some desire
to protect me and I love you even more for being so honourable
but I promise you I want this. You don’t have to worry that I’ll regret it
because I know I won’t."
Oh hell.
Josiah
did not know what to say and what was more he did not know how he felt about
her offer. He did love her and that much he had realised
with complete certainty in the last few minutes. However, it astonished him
that she could just come out with something like this and knew that his Audrey
did not make such choices lightly, if at all. Something was at work here. There
was no way this could be coming from her so blithely unless something else had
motivated her to behave this way. He racked his mind in the seconds after she
had spoken, waiting for his answer, trying to understand what could have made
her come to the conclusion she had when it came to him with a flash.
Lilith.
Lilith
had done this. That was no charm she had been making. She had been conjuring
again. It was the only thing that could explain Audrey’s aberrant behaviour. He knew Lilith wanted them to get together but
this was unforgivable! She had stared him in the face and uttered a bald face
lie at making some charm for Billy when all this time she had been conjuring a
spell to make her mother want him like this. How could she toy with people’s
emotions like that. All this time, Josiah thought he had made some impact on
her with his presence but the anger bubbled inside of him at the realisation that he had failed. He could not really be
angry at her he supposed, after all it was her desire to see him become a part
of her life that had inspired this course of action.
Somehow,
he had to talk to Lilith and get her to reverse the spell she had cast on
Audrey without letting the lady know that she had been a pawn in a bout of
magical conjuring.
"Josiah
say something." Audrey spoke up, snapping him out of his ruminations.
Josiah
faced her and decided upon his course of action at that instant. "Audrey,
if you are sure about this then so am I." He replied placing his hands on
her shoulders, hoping that would satisfy her until he was able to lift the
spell that had been placed upon her before the time make good on his agreement.
"I am sure." She said firmly. "So why don’t we go to supper at
the hotel as planned and let whatever happen next come naturally."
"Okay,"
Josiah offered her a smile of agreement, determined that by the time supper
came along. It would be a matter of making certain that things came about
naturally and not because of any magic spell.
**********
When
Audrey finally left Josiah, she made mention of going to town to run some
errands prior to heading home which gave the preacher the opening he needed to
find the lady’s daughter and question her about what mischief she had caused
with that accursed book of magic. Josiah had no doubt that Audrey’s desire to
get to know him in the biblical way was no doubt inspired by some love potion
that probably found its origins within the Book of Shadows Lilith was so fond
of studying. Even though she had promised him never to conjure any of the
enchantments contained within it, he had not stopped her from reading the book.
Going
to Audrey’s house, he pounded on her door for a few minutes and was greeted
with silence, a state of affairs which only served to prove that Lilith was
just as absent from her home as Audrey was. As Josiah departed from the
schoolteacher’s home before she made a return and had reason to question why he
was seeking her daughter with such determination, he wondered where Lilith
could be and made his next port of call at the Larabee
household. He assumed that Lilith would be at Billy’s side, no doubt offering
morale support for the youth’s duel with Ezra Standish.
However,
upon arriving at the Larabee household and was
greeted with the same quiet as he had at Audrey’s house, Josiah decided that
his best bet would probably be the Standish Tavern. After all, he realised after he had left the building that was home to
Chris Larabee and the Clarion News and searched all
the usual places that she might be that that his best bet would be to wait it
out at the saloon for the duel. After all, when Billy arrived there, Lilith
would sure to be with him.
The
first thing Josiah noticed when he arrived at the establishment was the larger
than normal crowds whom appeared as if they were waiting in anticipation for
something to happen. He saw Inez behind the bar, offering directions to the bar
maids she had recruited to deal with the extra patronage and went to the
counter to seek if there was trouble a foot.
"What’s
going on?" He asked the sultry Mexican once she was done with the
waitresses who scattered around the room to deal with the customers on the
floor.
"I
don’t know," she said somewhat mystified herself as she started to pour
him a drink without his needing to tell her what he wanted. Josiah tipped his
hat at her as he picked up his mug of beer and took a sip, grateful for the
libations after the morning he had just endured. "I could be wrong but I
think they’re here because of Ezra’s card game with Billy."
Josiah raised his brow. "Surely you jest."
And
then again after further thought, the notion did not sound so preposterous. How
many people here had lost their money to the gambler at one point or another
and would not mind seeing the gambler taken down a peg or two? More than Josiah
could count. Even if Ezra won his little match with Billy, he was still
going to look ridiculous doing it, to say nothing of the fact of what would
actually happen if he lost. Josiah shook his head unable to believe that Ezra
had let himself get into a situation like this and then wondered why he was in
the least bit surprised, after all, for his sophisticated, polished exterior,
the man could behave surprisingly juvenile.
"He’s
a brave man." Josiah had to admit.
"Brave
is not the word," Inez shook her head in disapproval. "I do not wish
to be around when Mary catches him."
"Oh
yeah," Josiah remembered that particular minefield that Ezra had stumbled
into and grimaced as he envisioned the carnage that would take place when the
editor of the Clarion News found out that Ezra was gambling with her son again.
"You’d think he’d learnt the first time."
"Not
Ezra," Inez remarked, remembering just how furious Mary had been after the
incident at the school house where Billy had been caught gambling, thanks to
Ezra’s tuition in one aspect of the craft. Mary had stormed into the saloon
following her interview with Audrey King who informed her that Billy had won a
wealth of lunches because of his skills and spent the next hour screaming at
the gambler. Chris Larabee had witnessed the entire
incident, unprepared to lift a finger to help one of his men. Not that anyone
would expect him to since gambling was not the lesson of choice for an
eight-year-old in any one’s opinion.
"This
time, it ain’t just Billy that’s going to get grounded for a month."
Josiah smiled trying to imagine how Mary would enforce that particular
punishment and then thought to himself that if anyone could put the gambler
through his paces, it was definitely Mrs Larabee. After all, one did not get to be Mrs Chris Larabee without a
certain amount of ingenuity, not to mention enough patience to sink Noah’s Ark
in the great flood.
"Well
I can live with it." Inez said with a smile. "I would not mind being
left to run the saloon on my own without Ezra telling me how to do
things."
"He
still lording it over you that he now owns the saloon again?" Josiah
inquired and bit his lip when he saw the smouldering
look in her eyes at being reminded about that particular point.
"Oh
every single time he has a chance." She grumbled. "I swear, if she
was not one of my dearest friends I could just kill Julia for buying the saloon
from Maude for him."
"Some
acts of kindness can have grave implications." Josiah said out loud not at
all referring to Inez’s situation with the Standish Tavern and Ezra but rather
an issue closer to home. He glanced at the clock on the wall and noted that the
time was fast approaching for the appointed hour of Ezra’s duel.
"Sometimes, one needs to consider whether the outcome is all that
terrible." His gazed melted into a place where only he could see and Inez
decided she had too much to do now that he afternoon crowd had arrived
prematurely to interpret what was on Josiah’s mind at this time.
Following
Inez’s departure from the bar, Josiah retired to the table normally occupied by
the seven whenever they were present inside the saloon. After awhile, Buck
emerged from the kitchen and they had a brief discussion where the big man
actually offered some valuable insight into his situation with Josiah having to
tell him about the finer points of his predicament. For instance the part about
the whole thing with Audrey being brought about by Lilith’s creating some kind
of love potion which she used on her mother and him.
For
a man who could be just as ridiculously juvenile about things as Ezra Standish,
Buck was capable of displaying surprising depth whenever he wanted. He supposed
that no one could pull Chris Larabee from the mire of
grief following the death of the man’s wife and child without having a lucid
understanding about people. Buck had made some interesting insights into his
relationship with Audrey and further convinced Josiah that his initial impulse
that it was too soon for himself and Audrey to move their relationship to such
an intimate level was right. Besides, he did not need the interference of a
child to make that decision for him.
Unfortunately,
the man who had led him to make this decision was soon running out of the
saloon upon hearing the mention of the name ‘Millie’.
********
Josiah
was getting impatient and he wondered if he was wasting time here when he ought
to be on the streets of Four Corners searching for Lilith. Even though the
saloon was full and the time was drawing closer and closer for the duel to
begin, there was still no sign of Billy and by that same extension, Lilith
either. He needed to see her before his supper engagement with Audrey or else
things could become exceedingly awkward when he had to explain to the lady that
this was not really her will at all but the by product of magic. Further more,
he had to explain that this desire for him was no doubt fed to her in the form
of some kind of love potion concocted by her daughter.
It
sounded so much more plausible when he was thinking it.
"Mr
Sanchez is there some reason why you are fidgeting like a five year old?"
Ezra asked, having observed the man’s behaviour
during the last hour to know that there was definitely something wrong
with the normally at peace preacher. While Josiah had refused to discuss the
present trials his relationship with the lovely Mrs
King was enduring, Ezra could tell that it still preyed on his mind heavily
because Josiah was one of the most laid back people he knew, next to Mr Tanner.
Unless
of course you brought up the subject of a wedding, Ezra thought with wicked
smile.
"I’m
fine." He growled. "When is this thing gonna start?"
"You
are referring to my little challenge with young Master Travis?" Ezra
looked at him innocently.
"No,"
Josiah retorted. "I mean the pissing contest you two are playing at
because of a woman." He replied with uncharacteristic venom.
"My
goodness," Ezra stared at him with some measure of surprise at that kind
language coming from the erudite preacher. "You must be singularly
preoccupied with a conundrum." The gambler remarked facing front again.
"However since the only civilised query I am
able to extract from you refers to the game I am playing with young Billy, I am
pleased to tell you that the games are about to begin." He tipped his hat
in the direction of the bat wing doors.
Josiah
sat up immediately and saw Billy entering the room but no sign of Lilith. He
watched the young boy meander through the bodies of the room and realised that there would be no little blond girl with sun
streaked hair in attendance. Letting out a groan of frustration at her absence
and realising he was fast running out of time, Josiah
let out a short growl and left the table without saying a word to Ezra. The
gambler barely noticed his departure since the man was too busy ignoring the
jibes and sneers rippling throughout the room regarding his match with an
eight-year-old.
Josiah
spent the rest of the afternoon searching for Lilith without much success and
when he did get a lead on her, it was usually a few minutes after the child had
departed. The preacher was starting to wonder if Lilith’s love potion involved
some vanishing spell as well. Finally, he came to the unhappy conclusion that
he had no choice but to confront Audrey and tell her the truth. As much as he hated
revealing Lilith’s secret to her, he had no other alternative. Audrey was not
acting on her own volition and he would not take advantage of her.
Their
supper engagement was still a few hours away when Josiah turned up at Audrey’s
door, hoping he could just phrase this right so that he would not insult her.
The last thing he wanted to do was to make Audrey think that he did not want to
be with her because he surely did. However, he refused to take advantage of her
because of a spell that had no right being. If he had been able to find Lilith
it would have made things less complicated. However, he had to face up to the
fact that even if he did find the young girl, she might not be able to undo
what she had done in time to make Audrey change her mind.
"Josiah,
what a surprise." Audrey said as she swung the door and found herself
facing him.
"Audrey I need to speak to you." Josiah asked as he stood by her
doorway, hat in hand feeling like a condemned man about to step up to the
hangman’s noose.
The
expression on his face immediately brought worry lines to hers and she gestured
him to enter, apprehensive about the reason for his sudden arrival when they
were due to have supper in a few short hours. Josiah said nothing as he
followed her into the house, aware that she was just as concerned about his
statement as he had been earlier when she had made similar remarks about
needing to talk.
"What’s
wrong Josiah?" She turned around and faced him once they were inside the
confines of her parlour. "Is it because of what
I said this morning?" She asked, wondering if her forwardness had
frightened him off. Had she misjudged him that badly?
"No,"
he shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders, not wanting her to get
the idea that he was upset about that at all. It was not her fault how she was
behaving. It was the love potion. "Audrey, it’s got nothing to do with
that." He paused a moment, knowing that was not exactly true and began
again. "Well it is, but not in the way you think."
"You
don’t think I’m a wanton do you?" She asked, horrified that her intimate
offering might be construed as the actions of an immoral. Audrey was afraid
that this might happen, after all he was a preacher once.
"Of
course not!" Josiah exclaimed, mortified that she could even think such a
thing. "I would never think that!"
"Oh thank goodness," she let out a sigh of relief. "For a
moment, I was really worried that you being a former man of the cloth and
all...."
"No,"
he shook his head so that she would dispel the notion out of her mind for good.
"I think what you have offered me is something special that I will look
forward to accepting one day when you are making that choice of your own free
will."
Audrey
looked at him sharply. "My own free will?" She knotted her brow in confusion
as she raised those pools of azure coloured eyes to
his. "What do you mean Josiah?"
He
took a deep breath and cleared his throat, preparing to launch himself into the
explanation he had rehearsed in his mind over and over again during the walk
here. "Audrey do you believe in things unseen?"
She
considered the question even though she was still rather confused at its
relevance at the moment. "Well yes," she nodded. "That’s the
basis of faith is not? To believe in things that aren’t tangible in a real
world sense."
"Okay,"
he exhaled once again. "Then you have to believe that there are forces
that exist in the world that may not make sense but do exist even though we’ve
been taught not to believe in them."
"Josiah,"
Audrey placed her hands on her hips and stared at him impatiently. "What
are you talking about?"
"Magic."
Josiah declared, deciding there was no proper way to word this except in the
most direct manner. "Do you believe in magic?"
"The whole world is magic Josiah," Audrey retorted. "There is
magic in the beauty of things, in the stars up in the sky, at the smile of a
baby. Those things are magic."
"No
you don’t understand," he sighed with a hint of frustration. "I’m
talking about real magic. The kind that makes witches fly on brooms and pulls
rabbits out of hats. I’m talking about spells and enchantments."
Audrey’s
eyes widened. "Do you believe in these things?" She asked
tentatively.
Obviously,
she did not know Josiah Sanchez quite as well as she originally thought.
"Yes
I do," he answered truthfully. "I never used to but now I do and
you’ve got to believe me when I say to you that offering yourself to me is not
something you wanted to do. It was because of some love spell or maybe even a
potion that was given to you to make you think that you wanted to be with
me." There, he said it and waited in anticipation for an answer as she
stared at him with an expression on her face that he could not quite fathom.
"You’re
saying someone put a spell on me to induce me to invite you into my bed tonight?"
Audrey asked slowly.
"Yes,"
he nodded sombrely, waiting for a more telling
reaction other than this cool, deliberate question and this impenetrable mask
on her face that was unreadable. "You’re not doing this because you want
to, you’re doing this because you’re under some kind of enchantment."
"Enchantment."
She nodded, as if trying to absorb the information Josiah had just imparted to
her.
He
could not blame her of course. It was not everyday a person was told that
everything they accepted about the worlds was false and even their own actions
were suspect when magic could easily manipulate them into perpetrating an act
that was completely alien to their normal behaviour.
"And
who put this enchantment on me?" She probed further.
Now
Josiah had reason to pause because he had not wanted to bring Lilith’s name
into it but could not see how he could avoid it now that he had mentioned the
spell. Perhaps, telling her the truth might allow Audrey to provide some
insight on how they could reverse the effects of the incantation. Or at the
very least, Audrey might know where Lilith was.
"I’m
afraid it was Lilith." Josiah answered after a momentary pause.
"Lilith
put a love spell on me?" Audrey asked.
"She’s
been fooling around with that book for some time and she doesn’t mean to cause
harm," Josiah quickly spoke up in the young girl’s defence.
After all, what she had done was out of love for both of them, not in malice.
"I think she just wanted to get us together."
"I
see." The lady nodded, once again slipping into that enigmatic place where
what she was thinking became a riddle he could not unravel.
"I
guess she wanted us to be a family and got tired of waiting." Josiah tried
to explain. "You have to believe me that more than anything I wanted to
get closer to you but this is not you and I won’t take advantage of the
situation when you are not clearly in your right mind."
"Well,"
Audrey let out a deep breath and a humourless smile
crossed her lips. "I guess that would not be right if I came to this
decision because of some love potion that addled my brain."
It
was at this point that it began to dawn on Josiah that perhaps, he was in
trouble. "Audrey....."
"Don’t
Audrey me!" She roared. "If you did not want to sleep with me, all
you had to do was say so Josiah Sanchez!"
"No!"
Josiah exclaimed horrified realising that he had just
aimed his oarless boat up a creek with a very, very
big drop. "That’s not true! I do want to sleep with you!"
"Oh
course you do!" She shouted back in nothing less than fury. "You know
of all the excuses you could have come up with, that has to be in my opinion,
the worst one I have ever heard in my entire life! It just so happens Mr
Sanchez that I am not under the influence of any love potion, enchantment,
spell or whatever the hell you want to call it! Not at all! I wanted to sleep
with you because I care for you deeply, not because I’m under the influence of
some magic trick!"
"But...but...Lilith...!"
"What
about my Lily?" She glared at him with eyes burning with blue fire, not at
all lessened in intensity. "How dare you use my daughter for such a
pathetic excuse! Lilith is a little strange and she has a penchant for books
that are less than orthodox but how dare you accuse my child of being some kind
of....of....witch!"
"But
it’s true!" Josiah cried frantically. "She created a love
potion!"
"A
love potion!" Audrey rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Will you
listen to yourself! You’re talking about a nine year old for God sakes!"
She started to turn away from him.
"Audrey,"
he caught her arm, trying desperately to convince her that he was not stark,
raving mad because she sure as hell was looking at him like he was a lunatic.
"I swear to you, everything I said is true. Lilith is a very powerful
magician. Its really quite amazing!"
"You
just don’t give up do you?" Audrey cried out disgusted. "I refuse to
let you slander my child any further! If you cannot deal with commitment of
progressing our relationship along then I am afraid I did not know you as well
as I thought!"
"Audrey
that’s not true!" Josiah protested as she turned on her heels and stormed
out of the parlour. "I do want to be with
you!"
"Well
you have a funny way of showing it!" She said finally before disappearing
into her bedroom and ending their discussion with the hard slam of door mere
inches away from his face.
Josiah
was aghast and unable to believe that she had taken it so badly. He thought she
might be upset but even he had not fathom just how upset she was going to be
about this. This was all Lilith’s fault and he had just made things worst by
telling Audrey that. Worst of all, he had not the slightest clue as to how to
make things right between them and wondered if things could deteriorate any
further.
"Hello
Josiah." A youthful voice immediately sliced through his thoughts as he
stood outside Audrey’s door. "What’s going on?"
Josiah’s
gaze moved sharply at the hallway and found Lilith staring at him oddly, trying
to discern what it was he was doing there.
"Lilith!"
Josiah strode immediately towards her. "What did you do?"
Lilith
looked at him blankly. "Do?"
"You
cast some crazy love potion on your ma, didn’t you?" He accused. His anger
was up and he knew he should not be so cross with Lilith but the scene that
just took place had justified his response.
"Love
potion?" Lilith started to stammer, unable to comprehend what Josiah was
taking about as the big man came to a stop before her and towered over the
little girl like a glowering giant. "I didn’t cast any love potion."
She replied.
"Now
Lilith," Josiah calmed himself down before he said something he would
regret. "Now I saw you this morning with all that stuff you were supposed
to make for a lucky charm. It was not, was it?"
Guilt
crossed Lilith’s features mostly because she hated lying to Josiah about it and
it appeared the truth was needed to clear up this particular misunderstanding.
"No it wasn’t." She admitted reluctantly.
"Then
what was it?" He asked satisfied that he was right and even more so when
she told him the truth.
"It
was a love spell but it didn’t work." Lilith confessed. "I didn’t
have all the stuff I needed cause I didn’t want to find a frog and put its eyes
out."
"It
must have worked Lilith," Josiah pointed out, glad she had not blinded
some poor amphibian nonetheless. "Your ma has been acting...." he
paused to rephrase his words carefully in order to make it suitable for a minor
audience. "Differently."
"But
the spell wasn’t cast!" Lilith exclaimed and then added. "And it was
not for you and ma. It was for me and Billy."
Josiah
merely stared at her.
"What
do you mean?" He demanded. Suddenly, an ominously sick feeling was
starting to rise up his gullet like bile.
"I
didn’t give ma any love potion! I wouldn’t do that to you or ma! I did it for
me and Billy and it couldn’t work because I didn’t have all the stuff I needed
to finish the spell off. I swear Josiah, I didn’t do anything to you or ma! Not
after the last time!"
During
her last conjuring, Lilith’s spell had caused Audrey to be killed and Josiah
knew that she was telling the truth because the experience of being without her
mother had been fearful enough without his having to hold her to that promise
of dabbling in their lives again. Which mean that everything that took place
today had no enchantment attached to it and Audrey’s desire to be with him....
Oh hell!
Josiah
swore under his breath and immediately hurried to Audrey’s door once again
"Audrey, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was talking about! I made a
mistake!"
"No
I made the mistake!" Audrey’s voice wailed through the door back at him.
"You’re just afraid of commitment Josiah!"
Josiah
let his hang bang against the door and groaned. "No I’m not afraid of
commitment! I want to be with you! I just thought....."
"You
thought that the only way I could want to be with you is through a stupid love
spell!" Audrey cried out. "I don’t know what’s worse, the reason that
you came up with such an excuse or the fact that you think I’d actually believe
such a ridiculous story!"
Lilith
listened to the grovelling and pleading for another
ten minutes, unable to keep from thinking that adults could be very strange as
Josiah continued to beg her mother about ‘being with her’ though Lilith felt
there was something about that sentence she was missing completely. Finally,
the young girl decided that she had better things to do then witness Josiah and
her mother engaged in their weird games and remembered that she had to spend
the night at Gloria Potters and went to get ready for the sleep over.
She
had no idea what Josiah and her ma had planned for the evening as she collected
her things for the night away from home but had no doubt that it would involve
a lot of apologising if her ma’s screaming was
anything to go by.
A
hell of a lot of apologising.