Dust Descending

chapter five

August melted into September and September froze. The Fall equinox approached rapidly and Mary spent near every waking second preparing orders, shipping orders, and preparing her own alter. The shop was in chaos with everything in stages that made sense only to Mary. Cameron found herself tripping almost every step she took in the shop.

They fell into a routine, "Good morning!" Cameron would call slipping into the shop as she did every day. She would trip her way to the desk and set a small crystal on its surface. Yesterday she had brought a perfect pine cone. The day before had been twelve small acorns with all their caps still on. Before that had been a strand of bells Cameron had suggested Mary use for the door, she did not use them for the door, rather including them in a spell. Every day it was something new that Cameron would leave for Mary to find. Mary wouldn't talk about the small gifts, though she would tuck them into pockets and smile at Cameron. That was just the routine, and Mary lived for routine.

And that was the routine. The two working in the shop, separate, their minds worlds apart but physically sharing a space, neither so far apart that they couldn't be reconnected by a glance.

Cameron would curl up in a corner to work from shop open to past closing time. One evening Mary had closed the shop and was sitting down with some tea while finishing up the paperwork. It had been a busy day and Mary felt it, taking every second to rub her aching shoulders and neck. Cameron stood up stretching and yawning so wide it caught Mary in it's grasp. Mary had honestly forgotten Cameron was there but had grown fond of the quiet company. She watched as Cameron closed her laptop and packed her notebooks into her backpack. Cameron stood for a second and then came over to sit next to Mary.

"It's been a while since you've given me any advice." Cameron remarked

Mary looked up from logging her orders. She pursed her lips for a second. "Someone is looking up to you, don't let them down."

Cameron nodded thoughtfully, smiled, wished Mary a good night, and then left.

. . .

The next morning was frigid, frost hanging to the individual twigs on the trees. Cameron walked faster than normal on her way to the shop. That is how Cameron met her. Soft green eyes, beautiful orange hair, shivering next to the stairs leading into the shop.

"MARY!" Cameron called rushing into the shop so quickly the door slammed into a pile of books causing them to cascade from their perch into a puddle on the floor. Mary quickly came into the room from the back looking worried and not only a little bit startled.

"What is it?" She asked frantically.

"Look what I found!" Cameron said excitedly pushing her hands out to Mary.

"A cat?" Mary asked in disbelief.

"Isn't she the most perfect thing you've ever seen?" Cameron asked. Mary looked at Cameron for a few seconds.

"No." Mary responded, her gaze not leaving Cameron's.

"How can you say that?" Cameron asked with a hurt expression, lifting the cat up closer for Mary to see. "She's right here!"

"And what are you going to do with her?" Mary asked.

"Well, I can't let her down! It's just like that advice you gave me! She was looking up to me after all! We need to keep her here! She'd fit in so good!"

"Of course the first time you actually take my advice it ends up with a cat. She can't stay here!" Mary objects.

"But my apartment doesn't allow pets and you have all this space and I worry about you being lonely and here she is! How often do cats just appear around here?"