The Amulet Read Free Page B

he’s got it in for me.”
    Faen barked, as if agreeing with her.
    “You know, boy, sometimes I could swear you
understand every word I say.”
    She walked the few steps it took to reach the
front door, kicked off her shoes inside the front porch, and lifted
up the old-fashioned, black wrought iron latch on the door that led
into the living room. The latch made its familiar chinking sound, a
sound full of history and memories. It must have been lifted many
thousands of times over its history, sometimes to welcome people
in, and sometimes to bid them farewell. The memories it held
seemingly endless. The quickening of a heartbeat when someone,
patiently awaiting a loved one to return home, heard the latch
chink. The relief, when an unwelcome or irritating visitor exited.
Faedra’s memories of walking through this door had always been
happy ones, except for one solitary entrance, the day her mother
died. She knew it would never welcome her mum home again. She let
out a sigh.
    As she swung the door open, she felt the need
to duck, even though the ceiling was at least a foot taller than
she was. She looked around the cozy living room. There was a
fireplace, also. Actually, there was a fireplace in all the
original rooms of the cottage, as back in the day, that was the
only way to heat the house. She listened for signs of life and
could hear voices coming from the kitchen.
    “Come on, boy. They’re in the kitchen.”
    She closed the living room door and wandered
through to the contrastingly spacious dining room. The kitchen was
located on the other side. Faen followed at her heels. He very
rarely let her out of his sight when she was home.
    “Hi, guys,” she called as she reached the
kitchen.
    Her dad, uncle, and her uncle’s wife, Nicki,
were all seated around the kitchen table, situated in the center of
the room. They had their hands wrapped around cups of tea, and a
plate of cookies sat in the center of the table. Faedra strode over
to where her dad was sitting, and planted a kiss on his forehead
then leaned past him to grab a cookie.
    “Hey, Dad.”
    “Hello, darling. How was your day?”
    “Oh, you know, the usual.”
    “Mr. Thompson still treating you badly?”
    “I don’t know why you put up with his crap,
Faedra,” Uncle Leo chimed in, “I would have told him where to stick
his job a long time ago.”
    “Thanks, Uncle Leo, but I need the money and
it’s not for much longer, I’ll be starting college soon.” Faedra
made her way around the table to where her uncle sat, and leaned
over to wrap her arms around his neck. “I’ll survive, I promise,”
she smiled her cheeky grin at him and planted a kiss on his
cheek.
    “Well, you have the patience of a saint,
that’s all I can say,” Leo continued.
    “Hey, Nicki, what are you doing this
weekend?” Faedra asked, quickly changing the subject of her dire
working arrangements.
    Her uncle had met Nicki not long after her
mother had died and Faedra had taken to her straight away. Although
Nicki was a good ten years older than herself, she had treated
Faedra like a sister and taken her under her wing. She was happy
that her uncle had found such a wonderful person and wished that
her Dad would do the same. It had been nearly twelve years since
that fateful day, and her Dad had never been interested in meeting
anyone else even after all these years. She worried all the time
that he would be so alone when eventually the inevitable happened
and she moved out.
    “We are attempting to take your Dad out on
the boat tomorrow, get him out of this house for a change,” Nicki
replied.
    Faedra watched as her father raised his eyes
heavenward. She knew her uncle had been trying to get him out to
meet new people, mainly of the female variety, for a while. She
sympathized with her dad after he had confided in her that he felt
like a prize bull being paraded around a judging ring.
    “That sounds like fun, Dad. I’d go with you
if I didn’t already have plans. I was going