Threads

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

A Jinx for a Hijacker

     Business in Cairo was brisk, and the second day Alice worked the till while Azura went over the smaller details of the shop with Gabriel.  He caught on remarkably fast, and although he wasn’t physically able to enchant any of the merchandise, he was soon well versed in what everything did and applied this knowledge to his sales.  They both watched in admiration as he made sale after sale.  As the last customer of day - a weedy looking red-headed man with gangly arms and legs - left clutching a pair of dancing shoes, Alice clapped Gabriel on the back.

     “Gabriel, you’re such a super star.” 

     The Elf blushed brightly. “Thanks, Alice.”

     

     That Wednesday was Azura’s day off and Alice and Gabriel were running the shop by themselves. The morning went smoothly, but around twelve Alice was in the back room enchanting more singing erasers when a commotion reached her ears. It sounded like a good deal of stomping and yelling coming from the front of the shop. She quickly walked out from the backroom.

“Gabriel, what…” Alice stared in astonishment at the man standing just inside the door. Standing wasn’t the right word - the man’s upper half was completely still, but his feet were doing an awkward sort of shuffling sidestep. As they looked on in astonishment, the man shuffled all the way to one side of the store, then changed direction and shuffled back.  After a few moments of this he went into a complicated looking Irish jig. He had a look of intense frustration on his thin face, and his red hair was frizzy, sticking up every which way, and the large white dress shirt he had on was rumpled and covered with stains.  His skinny arms flopped uselessly. He didn’t do any dance moves with the rest of his body, and the result was a strange, angry looking river dance.

He looked straight at Alice and yelled, “Are you the shop owner?”

     “Yes,” Alice said in surprise, looking down at the man’s feet. “Are those our dancing shoes you’ve got on?”

     “They certainly are!” the man snapped. His feet stopped jigging and began a limping waltz. “I’ve half a mind to sue you!”

     Behind her Gabriel snorted, “Sue her, right.”

     The man’s face went more scarlet still. “These accursed shoes have malfunctioned - they’ve had me dancing for twelve hours nonstop! I’m exhausted!”

     He did look exhausted. Alice watched his upper torso flop around like a fish as his feet went into an enthusiastic hip hop routine. 

“Don’t just stand there!” he yelled.

     Alice looked more closely at the shoes. In addition to the usual pattern of magic on them, there were several new threads that had been clumsily cast over top. She gave him a stern look.

“You’ve been tampering with them.”

     The man’s face fell.

     “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” Alice put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Sue me indeed! I have half a mind to let you keep dancing!”

     The man looked panicked. “Please, don’t! I haven’t slept. I’m so hungry. Every time I try to eat something I spill it on my shirt.”

     “Alright,” Alice grumbled and crouched down by his flailing feet. “Gabriel, grab him and try to hold him still, please.”

     Gabriel went around the other side of the man. “I’m going to take hold of your arms.”