It felt far too long but surely enough I heard the curtain of beads rattling. My head snapped over to the tent to see Michael stepping out with a brown paper bag. I sprang to my feet and stepped towards her, “Michael deary, what did she tell you?”
She replied, “Well for one there’s a cafe in town by a similar name, Heart Hoax. Apparently someone had seen the angel near there first so that’s how it was called the Harold of Hoaxes. It’s here in Wickerwoods a couple blocks from here.”
My eyes lit up a bit in excitement. Finally we were making some progress, “Wonderful, now le-”
“Hold your horses there bud.” Michael interrupted me as she started to open up a brown paper bag, “I wasn’t finished yet. Sage wanted us to have these aswell.”
She took out of the bag two wooden rings. Each had decorative feathers attached and white thin strings weaved around the ring to create a web design. Both of them have a singular metallic bead on one of the strings as if caught in the web. My eyes narrowed at her a bit on seeing them, “Michael… These are dreamcatchers. You know they don’t actually do anything right? It’s just an old folktale. Even if they did, what exactly is preventing bad dreams from happening going to do for us right now?”
“I know it looks like a dreamcatcher but it’s entirely different. Sage said they just look like that to sell better and so we don’t lose the bead. We bought them for the bead, not the rest of it.”
“BOUGHT them? Deary, you spent money on this rubbish? Not to mention we don’t NEED them. I hardly even want them. Come on now, we are burning daylight. Lets find that Cafe and get to the bottom of this.” I started a brisk pace towards town as she quickly trailed behind me.
The crowds around us split again as she spoke up over the carnival noises, “They’re supposed to help! Sage said you sleep with the bead nearby and you will get telling dreams. Dreams that give you insights and better understanding.”
I grumble under my breath, “Look hun, I get it. You’re trying to help out but this isn’t it. Dreams are probably the least accurate source of information you could get. It’s literally your brain's excuse to throw a hodgepodge of bullshit in your face. I’m not one to believe in pointless events that never happened. If I dreamt that I became a pair of chopsticks, it more than likely means I had something to eat before I went to bed and I should probably lay off the late night snacks. Not that I was destined to be something I’m clearly not. There’s nothing to glean from that.”
We had left the carnival as she didnt have to raise her voice above the crowds anymore, “It’s not about getting a meaning. It’s about just understanding it.” She had walked beside me and holds out one of the dreamcatchers, “If it doesn’t do anything you can throw it away. But atleast give it a chance… I spent good money on the better quality ones…”
I rolled my eyes at her as I snatched the dreamcatcher, “You really aren’t good with money are you? Do you even have any other job other than with Wendell? Something for extra things? Maybe savings incase of an emergency?”
She glanced away as she put her own dreamcatcher away in the bag, “Well… no.”
I looked at her in a bit of concern, “Then go get one. I know Wendell is covering everything but his stingy ass would never cough up anything for medical bills.”
She turned her head to face me again with a furrowed brow. I was looking ahead again at this point but could see her expression shift out of the corner of my eye. She seemed to want to ask something before changing her mind and swapping the subject again, “And what about being Italian. Sage said something about that and you looked scared.”
We were slowly approaching a store. I sighed, “I’ll have you know I wasn’t scared.”
“But you’re not Italian either? Why did you lie?”
As we walked I grew quiet. I could feel her eyes locked in on me and my jaw clenched, hoping I could avoid the subject.
“Dante?”
I took a deep breath as we started to walk in front of a clothing store. I looked over her and at the display in their window. She rubbernecked at the store trying to see what I had looked at so I stopped in my tracks for a moment. There was no putting this off forever and it at least distracted her from other things. I hesitantly started to explain, “Do you ever feel strong and like no one could do anything to you?”
She nodded a bit while swapping to watching me explain.
“That’s the feeling that these lies give me. If you never know anything about me and believe me to be this mysterious new person named Dante from a land far far away, then that’s less ammo you have to hurt me.”
Her face fills with even more confusion, “Your name isn’t even Dante?”
The confusion seemed more sad. She almost seemed heartbroken that she didn’t know me. I couldn’t hold her gaze and instead looked away to the store window again. In it was that same damn jacket on display.
She spoke up but was clearly hurt by the thought, “I mean that’s ok. I was just trying to get to know you… I’ll stop.” She lowered her head and looked to the ground. I must have gave a more sour look than I intended. But sad or not, it got the point across. Hopefully she will learn from it.
I cleared my throat to break the tension, “So to the cafe then? We’ll ask the owners what they know and hopefully that will be the end of it. Maybe get a restraining order on this individual.”
Michael sounded uneasy, “Well you can go do that. I have plans. I said I was meeting up with someone about an hour from now and I need to put this away somewhere it won’t get lost,” she gestures to the brown bag with the dreamcatcher inside.
I understood and nodded, “Very well. I will see you at the lodge for dinner this evening then. I will see who this person is and make sure they are not to step foot on the property again.”
She gave a polite nod back before turning and walking away. As I went my own direction I had some time to myself again to think. Though my curiosity wondered who she was meeting with. Could very well be Wendell. He may be wanting to have a talk with her about what I had to clean up this morning. Perhaps she knew what was happening and was playing naive. Even if this was the case, I wouldn’t be changing any of my current actions. Attempted murder or not, I still don’t want some homeless man striking fear in my clientele while my boss is watching.
My own thoughts seemed absurd. I was still baffled at being paid to clean up an attempted murder. Maybe if I was paying more attention I could have found some clue of who could have done it. Come to think of it, why wouldn’t Wendell have wanted to investigate it? Does he not fear for his life?
Just then my phone rang. Instinctfully I swung my arm up to my head and turned my ear piece on. My call was forworded to my hearing aids as I spoke with clear and precise words, “Dante Valentino speaking can I he-”
“YOU HAVE TO HELP ME. PLEASE!!!” The shrill voice screaming through my head left my ears ringing.
I winced and ducked from the sudden yell, “FUCK- My fucking ears what the hell?!?”
“Wendell said you could help me! PLEASE!!! I sent the address. I NEED you here ASAP!!!”
The panic in their voice sent me a rush of adrenalin. I checked my phone and found a text from Wendell with an address and an order, “Help him.”
I started a brisk jog to the location. Focusing on trying to reschedule my plans for today occupied my mind. Questioning what I was about to be asked to do was the least of my worries. But it should have been.