Steiner and the Hypnotic Cue

CHAPTER 8 The Witch's Shoppe

We said goodbye to David Noble.  One quick excuse to Scott,  about wanting to buy chocolate and juice from  the newsagents, saw us parting company at the shop. Being pushed for time, he  raced back to school to let Denise go home.

This was exactly what I had counted on. I am so clever sometimes.

Out of sight, I crossed the road and meandered back towards Green Witch &  Mystic Moments, as the witch’s shop is called.

Here I was at last.  This scenario had  played out many times in my  mind; imagination had become reality. I hesitated and pretending I was interested in the artefacts, gazed blankly into the window display.  The couple in the shop left while I was looking in. It was empty. 

Time to consult the expert. I mustered up the courage, and walked inside.

Just as I entered the shop, the witch left, and went through the back, leaving a young girl at the counter. She wasn’t much older than me.

The girl had  dyed black hair. I could tell it was dyed because she had  ginger roots poking through; she had a few piercings in her face and ears, and wore a black T-shirt and black jeans. Even her boots were black.  The T-shirt had an Eye of Horus on it and the word ILLUMINATI emblazoned underneath. In class, we had learned that the Eye is actually called a Widjut, after the Egyptian snake goddess (Ha! I bet she didn’t know that), and  we also learned the Modern Illuminati were an imaginary  group. How could an ‘expert’ believe in the Illuminati?  It was made illegal as far back as 1777, and once something is made illegal, it ceases to exist. Doesn’t it?

So when she  asked if she could help me,  I said I wanted  The Witch.

“But I’m a witch too, you know,” she protested. “I can cast spells; read the Tarot; do psychic predictions; heal;  I’m in the biggest coven in Dunfermline.”

No chance!

I was here to talk to the Expert; so, I repeated that I wanted to talk to The Witch.

“Ok.,” she conceded. Turning around, she shouted into the back shop. “Chris! There’s a boy here says he needs to talk to you.”

On the back of her T-shirt was the sign of the Freemasons: a compass, a set-square with a big G in the middle. G.A.O.T.U. was written underneath, and underneath that, Jahbulon. We had learned a little about Masons in RMPE,  because their symbols appeared in loads of music videos and films. In case you don’t know about them, they referee all the football matches in Scotland. No matter how hard you try,  Masons will not shut-up about some guy called Hiram  Abiff, who had a friend called Tubal Cain. Apparently, Tubal spoke with a lisp termed a Shibboleth. Huh? What’s so special about that? My old Science Teacher spoke with a lisp, but no one wanted to make a video about him. So, why would every pop-star make music videos about Freemasons?

Chris reentered  the shop. She looked nothing like the girl, or like witches you see in films. She had bobbed, ‘blonde’ hair, and was dressed just like a teacher. 

“How can I help? … You’re from The School, aren’t you?”

She talked just like a teacher too.

“Yes,” I replied. “I need to talk to you.”

“Alright … I’m a bit busy … em … but ok.” For a second I thought she was going to give me the old ‘brush off’ after using the dreaded ‘busy’ word.

She pointed to the two chairs she has in the main shop area and we sat down. She asked the ‘Illuminati’ girl to put the closed sign in the window. The girl locked the door, put up the sign and got on with her business.