The Amulets (An 'Amulets of Andarrin' tale) (2 page)

“Thank you. Please, I need your help, I don’t…” the woman turned and looked at him.

Her face was beautiful. She didn’t look older than thirty but her eyes, as bright as they were looked as though she was much older. Her voice was sweet and calming “Is it always this tragic?” she asked calmly.

Jack didn’t understand “Is what always this tragic?” he replied with a puzzled expression.

The woman smiled which angered Jack. After all that’s happened she was smiling, did she not know? “What’s funny? Their dead and its…it’s my fault…”

At this she moved toward Jack and as she reached him she put a firm hand on the side of his face. “Your dreams…are they always this tragic?”

Jack filled with anger “How can you say I’m dreaming after what‘s just happened? This…can’t be”.

The womans hand still on his cheek she spoke in that soft, calm voice “Look around you…these buildings aren’t from the twentieth century”.

A glimmer of hope washed over Jack’s face “Who are you?”

At this question the woman removed her hand from Jack’s cheek, the comforting smile now fading into a more serious look. “You’re dreaming now but it’s nearly time…” she said.

Confused and still upset Jack didn’t know what to think “Nearly time for what? Who are you? He asked hoping for an answer.

“It’s too soon…things will change…but you need to…” but before she could continue Jack interrupted her

“Who are you?” As he spoke the woman turned away and started walking off. “Don’t be afraid, Jack”.

Jack reached to grab her arm “No wait!” as he did so he heard another voice coming from behind him “Hey…hey!” Jack couldn’t see anyone else, turning back around to the woman, his arm still outstretched to grasp hers but she was gone.

The other voice was heard again “Hey…are you listening? She’ll go”

Jack woke up to his sister, Catherine, as usual in his room “she’s going”.

Slowly waking up, Jack could remember the dream but only up until the point where he was pulled out of the hole.

“Cat?” he said as he rubbed open his eyes and saw his sister there. “That was such a mad dream. What time is it?”

Cat, as was her nickname, gave Jack a sharp look “Its half seven, aren’t you supposed to be working at eight?”.

He shot up and looked at his clock “ah bugger!” he shouted jumping out of bed.

Jack put his clothes on as fast as he could, went in the bathroom and had a wash. Running down the stairs his mother was already in the car waiting. Not stopping for a second he went straight out of the door and got in the car.

He took more abuse that morning on the trip to work than normal but he knew his mother was right so he just apologised and told her he would buy an alarm clock. He managed to get on good terms with his mother before going into work. What Jack didn’t know was his day was about to get a lot worse.

Jack went into work, signed in, hung his coat in the cloakroom and went into the staff room. There were only two people in there; Debbie who he didn’t much care for as she was never very talkative and serious about everything.

“Morning” he said and moved over to sit down.

Lily was the second person in there, looking her usual self apart from her hair was plaited. After looking at her, his face went from grimace to smile

“Alright Lily? How we doing?”

Lily looked at Jack and smiled “Good, what about you?”

Jack’s smile grew “Yeah I’m ok. Hair’s looking good today, loving the…” he signaled to her hair “the braiding, looks nice on you,” he finished and headed for a seat.

“Ah thanks.” she said gratefully “What time are you working?”

At this question Jack looked at the clock which said five past eight, about to sit down he quickly unbent his knees, and got up “oh err, eight.” he said with a smile.

Lily shook her head slightly and smiled “What are you like?”

“See you on the shop floor” he said heading out of the door with a cheeky grin.

It was early afternoon and Jack was moving clothes from a rail onto his department when a voice on the tannoy sounded.

“This is a staff announcement can Jack report to the manager’s office” Jack stopped what he was doing and tried to think what he’d done. He couldn’t think of anything apart from being in late and so headed for the manager’s office.

Jack met one of the other employees on the stairs on his way to the office, a young man with brown hair which stuck up at the top, he was wearing the same black pants as Jack but had a more formal black shirt on to the one Jack had, his was pinstriped. His face was young, thin eyebrows, brown eyes, long thin nose and a wide mouth.

“Alright Sam?
What’s this all about?” Jack asked as he approached Sam.

Sam stopped and looked to the top of the stairs and back at Jack. “Don’t know mate, but they’ve been calling a few in there today. I wouldn’t keep them waiting mate” Sam walked off downstairs and Jack went to the office.

Jack knocked three times before hearing a shout for him to enter “come in” a woman’s voice shouted.

He walked in to see Claire sitting in a chair and another short haired man sitting in the chair next to her. His face looked tanned, not natural but more like too much time spent on sun-beds. Other than his orange face his eyebrows were so light that it almost looked as if he didn’t have any. His lips were full and smothered in lip balm which could be seen at the bottom of his nose as if he’d been driving whilst putting it on and smudged it. Looking at his nose Jack thought he could have done with some kind of surgery on it to make it more fitting for his face, thinking that it was too fat. All this observation was cut short when Claire spoke.

“Have a seat Jack” Jack didn’t speak but sat down looking at the other manager’s disapproving face and back to Claire, this couldn’t be good.

“We have asked you in here today because the company has decided to make some cuts due to the fact that were not making enough money to keep people” Claire said.

Jack knew what was coming and wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to. He knew he wasn’t a dedicated worker and knew sooner or later he would be let go or fired so he let her continue without interruption.

“Unfortunately your lack of work has forced us to make you one of the few who we will have to let go.”

Jack felt disappointed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

Claire continued “I’m sorry Jack but you’ve been seen on other departments talking on various occasions, not to mention all the times you have come in late”

She looked to the other man sitting next to her who gave a nod and she continued “It would be unfair to others who wish to progress in the company if we were to let them go and not you. It’s only fair you have your say so is there anything you wish to say?”

Jack looked at the man and back to Claire with a defeated grimace “No…no the decision has already been made and I’d just like to say…thanks for the opportunity I guess, it’s been a pleasure to work for you” Jack said standing up. “Is this effective as of now?” he asked.

Claire looked from the other man and back to Jack “You can work to the end of the week and then finish”

Jack left the office and returned to work, the only thought in his mind “What now?”

After his shift Jack walked home because his mum was working late and, although it was raining, he didn’t want to wait at work after the news. Thinking about everything that had happened and what he was going to do now he laughed to himself about his dream the night before, thinking that the situation with the washing machine could have been a sign of the oncoming redundancy. The rain made him feel worse than he did but he felt that it was appropriate for his scenario until he thought about what he was going to tell his mum. “So much for making her proud” he said to himself.

When Jack got home he was soaking wet and his mother was in the kitchen cooking and noticed him coming through the door. “Why didn’t you wait?” she said suddenly noticing him soaking wet she continued “Look at you?”

Jack took his shoes off but looked angry, he hated his mum talking to him like he was a child which she always did. “I’m going upstairs for a shower” he said.

His mother shook her head, “alright I’m cooking tea so don’t be long. It will be ready in thirty minutes” she said continuing to stir something in a pan.

“Yeah” Jack replied as if uninterested.

This was it, Jack was at the table eating his tea and he knew he should tell her. His sister was sitting next to their mum and he was sat at the top of the table so they made an L shape. Gammon was on the menu tonight which Jack enjoyed, though tonight was different. He began playing with his food.

“So mum, how was your day?” Jack asked as he cut into his Gammon.

“Ok” she replied pleasantly.

“Is that it? Nothing exciting happen?”

“Not really just had some problems with a case but nothing I couldn’t fix” Jack’s mum was a solicitor and didn’t really talk about her work so there was nothing knew about her response. “What about you?” she asked.

Jack thought about telling her but looking up and seeing her smiling he thought better of it. When she’s smiling it’s best to leave her smiling. But instead he said something that made no sense to him considering his current situation.

“Same old boring day but I’ve been thinking about getting a flat and moving out”

Jack’s mum laughed which felt demeaning to Jack as if he didn’t have it in him “oh yeah when’s this then?”

Jack looked angry and his sister noticed “I don’t think he liked that” she said smiling at Jack with a goading look. 

Jack made a sigh “hopefully soon, anyway can I have this later I’m not feeling to good” he asked.

“Suit
yourself” his mother said as she began chewing on a slice of gammon.

Jack stood up “thanks, I’ll leave it in the oven for now” he said as he left to go upstairs.

Jack thought about not being able to see Lily at work but then she went to the same university so he’d be able to see her there he thought. Then he had an idea. He would move in with James.

Jack decided to ring him and, when James said the offer was still on the table, he took it. Jack told his mother who was less than happy about it but couldn’t really stop him and over the next week he began moving in.

Once he’d moved all his stuff out, his mother had told him that he could always come back if he needed to. This made Jack happy because sometimes he didn’t really see eye to eye with his brother but then things might be different if they lived together.

James told Jack he would get him insured on his car so he could travel to University and back and as the weeks passed everything was getting back to normal.

James worked as a driver so he never really used his car so Jack was able to drive it to University and back. Not to mention he was spending time with Lily there. Jack was studying science in University and because he only did it two and a half days a week Lily had told him to try business as a second course.

He had jumped at the idea and enrolled himself. However it wasn’t what he had expected. Sure he got to spend more time with Lily but the course itself was boring and Jack had little taste for it. All this he had told to his best friend Aaron in Science who knew a friend of Lily’s, Frankie. Aaron had said he would try and set up a trip to the highlands for a walk sometime soon. However Jack urged him to keep it on hold for the time being whilst he looked for a bit of part time work and settled in with his brother.

The weeks passed and University was going reasonably well for Jack. His grades were picking up in science and he was beginning to enjoy himself again.

Although he still hadn’t found a part time job he was getting by on his student loan and an added bonus was his brother wasn’t charging him rent. He’d settled in magnificently. His relationship with his brother was stronger than it had ever been. He imagined it would spiral downwards with them being around each other all the time but instead it seemed to be improving; they’d sit up and watch funny films, laugh and make fun of people on the television in rubbish movies, it was great for Jack.

Earlier that day Aaron had rung Jack about going away; walking for the weekend, whilst the weather was nice. Lily and Frankie would both be there and Jack had decided he couldn’t say no.

He’d invited his brother, but walking wasn’t really in his brother’s vocabulary and so Jack was kind of relieved as he knew his brother had better looks than himself and, given his ability to easily talk to women, he didn’t want Lily to end up liking him.

That night Jack had an uneventful night’s sleep and, at five o’clock, woke up feeling fresh and ready for the weekend ahead. After a quick shower and some cereal he put his small bag of clothes and toiletries in the car before heading to the University and picking up the other three.

As he rounded the corner to the University he saw Aaron, Lily and Frankie waiting. Frankie was an inch or two taller than Lily and her hair was jet black. She was slim with a bright face. She and Lily both wore jeans. Lily wore a small black leather coat whilst Frankie donned a dark blue hoody. Aaron was wearing a green pair of cargo shorts and a white top. His dark hair in the same mess as it usually was.

“Alright guys” Jack said getting out of the car and opening the boot for them to put in their walking gear and overnight bags. “You look great” he said to Lily as she approached with Frankie. Noticing Frankie looking, he quickly turned his gaze to her, “oh how do, so do you” he said happily.

“Ah thanks…you don’t look too bad yourself” Frankie said returning the smile.

“
Yeh you could do with a shave though” Lily said smiling as well. Jack had a small amount of stubble around his face only noticeable from close up.

“
Yeh I’ll have one later when we get to the hotel. Leave it on whilst we walk in case it’s windy” Jack laughed.

“
Yeh like that baby stubble’s gonna keep you warm” Aaron laughed.

They all got in the car. The girls in the back and the boys in the front and headed off up the motorway towards Scotland. The trip was tedious. A few jokes here and there before they put the music on and from then on it was an uneventful run. Passing into the highlands, the moorland stretched far into the distance with mountains formed behind it. Apart from that there wasn’t really much to look at and so it wasn’t long before Lily and Frankie fell asleep.

Around lunchtime they arrived at the base of the mountain. It was beautiful not to mention big. Everyone was awake now and after seeing the view around them they got out of the car and stretched to wake themselves up.

They decided to have a sandwich before they set off to give them some energy. After the drive Jack felt tired and didn‘t real fancy doing the walk. “Why don’t we sack the walk off and just go straight to the hotel? There’s a pool, a bar?” he asked hopefully.

“Yeh but we have all day tomorrow, plus there’s tonight so we may as well do this walk whilst it’s sunny” Frankie said. Jack wasn’t sold but if Lily went with it, so would he.

“Right come on then” Jack said trying to sound excited but didn’t seem to pull it off.

“Oh come on it’ll be fun” Lily said placing a hand across his arm as she walked past him.

“Hello
ello ello” Aaron said slyly to Jack.

“Right,
yeh this could be fun actually” Jack said with a new found sense of anticipation.

They locked the car up and headed across the road to where they would begin. Jack looked at the top of the mountain in the distance; it was massive and loomed over the surrounding mountains. Snow covered the top of it and Jack had a sudden urge to give up now. However he never got the chance. “Let’s do this” Aaron said eagerly starting the march followed by the rest of them.

As they walked the sun shone down on them. Bringing the colour out on the trees and surrounding grass. They walked over stones and small bridges, over narrow rivers and crossed styles. The birds chirped and the clouds were few and high. It was truly a wonderful day for walking. The soft breeze which cooled their faces was perfect and every now and then they would stop and observe the wildlife.

Jack was feeling it in his legs as they continued uphill and by the time they reached the top he was thankful for the rest.

They all sat finishing their sandwiches on the light covering of snow and staring out at the beautiful landscape around them; huge forests in the distance along with distant lakes and mountains. Far below them, in the haze, were small buildings, clearly a village.

“This is amazing” Lily said as she stared at the view. “I know. Quick we need a picture” Frankie jumped up.

“Who’s got the camera” Lily said.

“
Erm” Aaron stuttered not knowing his part in the whole camera situation.

“Jack?” Lily looked at hopefully.

“No I thought you guys had one” he said apologetically.

“Oh well that’s just typical” Frankie moaned.

“What, I didn’t know!” Jack retorted.

“Aaron was supposed to get it from the car.” Frankie remembered.

“Oh was he? Well I think someone should have asked him before assuming I would just know to get it” Aaron argued.

“I did ask!” she retorted.

“Nope, sorry didn’t get that memo” Aaron continued.

“You’re such a d…” Frankie didn’t finish instead Jack interrupted.

“Just use your camera on your phone it’s no biggie, we’ll just upload them onto a computer when we get back.”

“We’ll have to now” she scowled at Aaron who gave her a sly scowl back.

Jack looked quizzically at Aaron who gave him a look which said “what! I didn’t know”

Jack smiled and, after the girls finished taking pictures, they began preparing to walk down the mountain. They noticed that the sun was getting lower and would set before they had retraced their steps to the car. Jack felt that he could see a quicker way back down by
following another path from the summit, with some trepidation, the others agreed to give it a try.

They had walked for a good hour and a half before the day clouded over, hastening the onset of night. A slow rumble in the sky signaled rain was coming. As they walked down the path Jack hung back to sneak a wee in a wood with a small tarn just visible through the trees.

“What you doing?” Aaron shouted.

“Having a wee man, I’ll catch up” he shouted, leaving Aaron to carry on.

He walked down the hill and entered the wood with a small stream running through it. Jack couldn’t help but think it would look beautiful if the sun was still up. The tarn was still and clear. In the dusk, Jack could see through to the bottom of the water. He didn’t want to taint it so he decided to relieve himself on a bush away from it. Moments later he did his flies up and began walking back towards the hill.

Something caught his eye, a small sparkle coming from amongst the stones in the pond. He bent down to shift the stones to unveil the sparkling object. He shifted more stones, it was buried deep.

After he moved more stones, he uncovered a golden plate with a small handle. Jack bent down and grabbed the handle, as he did so small spikes flipped out of the handle and into his hand. He quickly pulled his hand back. Looking at it he saw blood coming from four small wounds across his right palm. Drops of his blood floated in the water. Jack sucked the blood from his hand before washing it in the pond. He waved the blood out of the way to see what had done the damage.

Bubbles were rising in the pond where the golden plate had been and then little pieces of what looked like metal began floating to the top of the pond. Jack caught some in his palm before they dissipated before him.

“What the…” Jack couldn’t understand what had happened. Was it toxic? He heard a rumble coming from the ground behind him. He glanced behind but, seeing nothing, he turned back to the water. He looked at where the golden handled plate had been, but it was gone. He scrabbled amongst the stones but there was no trace that it had ever been there.

He decided to leave, unsure as to what just happened. He turned around and saw next to a tree behind him the earth had caved in revealing a muddy sink hole in the floor. He walked over to it cautiously. Not knowing what might be in there. Looking down at it he saw what appeared to be another gold handle with a blue glow coming from it, even though it was still mostly concealed under the ground. He cautiously grabbed it, this time with his left hand. He pulled it out and rubbed off the mud, as he did so he realised it was some sort of pendant, it was beautiful.

Jack rubbed the mud from the pendant to reveal its true beauty. Only three inches in length, it was pure gold with silver indented through it. Buried though it had been, when Jack had wiped the mud off it, it glistened as if new, not a mark or scratch on it.

The pendant or amulet, Jack couldn’t tell, curled round at either end to form a semi-circle which pointed towards the right like the letter C. Jack knew it faced the right because it was marked on one edge with a sinuous line which ran the length of it and which emitted a sky blue light. It was mesmerizing to look upon.

“Jack” Lily shouted.

Jack looked up. “
Yeh I’m coming” he shouted back out of the wood.

Presuming that it had probably been lost by another traveler Jack placed the pendant in his jacket pocket, walked out of the woods and caught up with the rest of his friends.

“Come on then” he said as he reached them urging them on.

“Take your time” Aaron said starting his walk again.

“You alright” Jack said pulling back to walk beside Lily.

“
Yeh, I’m fine. Where’ve you been”

“Had to use the little
boys room”

“Uh lovely” she said unimpressed.

“Well you asked” Jack said matter-of-factly.

“True, anyway I can’t wait to get back to the hotel. It’s like a holiday resort there” she laughed.

“Yeh it is quite cool. So you coming for a dip in the pool when we get back” Jack said smirking.

“I doubt it will be open but if it is…” she paused forming a cheeky grin “then
yeh and then we can hit the bar” she said happily.

“Sounds like a plan. Just hope we get back before the rain starts.” Jack said looking at the dark clouds blocking out the stars above them.

“Come on you lot” Aaron shouted to them both “we’ll go through here” he finished standing next to a gate to some woods.

“Let’s just stay to the path” Frankie said seriously.

“Yeh probably best mate” Jack agreed.

“No listen I saw this when we were at the car it brings you out right next to it. Plus it’s quicker and I don’t
wanna be stood outside in this rain. At least we won‘t get as wet because of the trees.” he said trying to sell it.

Jack looked at Lily as if asking her without saying anything.

“Yeh alright but come on its started to spit” she said giving in as bits of rain began falling on her top. As they walked they all put their waterproof jackets on. Trees bunched together as far as the eye could see. The ground softening as the rain began to fall faster.

“Good job we have walking boots on eh” Jack said smiling at Lily’s pink and blue walking boots. “Well most of us” he laughed “not sure what they are” he finished jokingly.

“Don’t make fun of these. These boots are awesome” she laughed.

“Best go and see if this guy actually knows where were going” Jack said moving up towards Aaron.

“Hey hold up I need something out of the back-pack.” Jack said pulling up behind Aaron.

He unzipped the bag on Aaron’s back and pulled out a small lunch box he’d brought for his sandwiches.

“You know where we’re going or what?” Jack asked emptying the remnants out of the box.

“
Yeh I think it’s this way” he said pointing in front of him.

Jack wrapped the pendant in a bunch of tissue Aaron had brought in case of an emergency. Aaron continued talking as Jack placed the wrapped up pendant in his lunch box and placed it back in the bag.

“The paths over there” he started, pointing to the east “so if we keep to this route we’ll come out parallel to the exit. Plus we’ll be closer to the car” he added before a rumble in the sky signaled more rain.

“Let’s just hurry then” Jack said zipping the bag back up.

“Well we would if you’d stop stopping all the time” Aaron said jokily.