Maxwell
WhenMaxwellpulledup his Range Rover outside The Oracle, he felt a tingle of excitement. Not just because he was about to find out the next ingredient in the ritual that would break this accursed curse. But because he was about to see Chloe again.
It was true that he had seen her just the day before, but something inside him was eager – very eager – to see her again. Maxwell was starting to admit, if only to himself, that his interest in Chloe was somewhere far beyond the initial burst of lust that had gotten them both into this mess. But he didn’t do serious relationships and getting involved with Chloe would be anything but casual. So he knew that nothing could, nothing should happen between them.
And yet nothing could keep the smile from his face as he pushed open the door with the tinkling bell and went straight through to the back room.
“Hi,” Tilly was sitting on the ratty sofa, her feet up on a pile of boxes that seemed to be serving as a coffee table. “Thanks for coming.”
“Is this next item so hard to get you have to break the bad news to us in person?” Maxwell asked as he sat down.
“Not exactly,” Tilly said, shrugging. “But it’s hard to explain on the phone, and you’d need more than a photo. Besides, it’s not like you’re super busy.”
“I guess not,” Maxwell couldn’t disagree. “But I am hosting a poker night this evening. You’re welcome to join if you’d like.”
“Nah,” Tilly shook her head. “Thanks, but poker isn’t really my thing. I can’t do the face.” She paused for a moment, looking like she was concentrating hard on making her face blank and expressionless, and then she burst into a merry peel of laughter. “See?”
“Maybe it’s for the best, then,” Maxwell grinned. “I’m sure Chloe will be here in a minute; she just had a showing down the road, so—”
“Oh, so you two are texting a lot, huh?” Tilly’s grin was bigger than his own. “Glad to hear it!”
“It’s not like that,” Maxwell told her. “We’re working on this curse and I guess we’re sort of becoming friends.”
“Sort of friends,” Tilly rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard that before.”
“Well, I did kind of curse her,” Maxwell said. “So it’s a slow process.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Tilly frowned, and perhaps she would have said more, but the bell chimed again, and Chloe appeared, looking out of breath in her thick winter coat. Her cheeks were pink with cold and exertion, and a few loose tendrils of hair had slipped from her sleek bun to frame her face. Maxwell couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Sorry I’m late!” Chloe said, sitting down on a rusty metal chair. “The showing was supposed to be quick, but the guy had all these questions about noise ordinances and grease traps. It was for the old fish and chip shop, just off Bailey Street. I have no idea what he’s planning to do in there that would require extensive soundproofing.”
Maxwell collected himself enough to chuckle.
“No worries,” Tilly said. “Now that I’ve got you both here, I can tell you the next ingredient.”
“What is it?” Chloe looked concerned. “Is it going to be impossible to get?”
“Not really,” Tilly shrugged. She held up a chunk of what looked like limestone. “You need a freshly harvested stalagmite, weighing between 300 and 400 grams, with a coral colour gradation. Like this one.”
“A stalagmite?” Maxwell repeated. “Like, from a cave?”
“Exactly,” Tilly nodded. “See, I told you it wouldn’t be hard to get. You can just nip down to the caves on the other side of the mountain. Okay, so it’s technically illegal to collect them, but…” She shrugged. “You don’t want poisonous spines, do you?”
“No,” Maxwell agreed. “I didn’t know there were limestone caves near here.”
“Oh yeah,” Tilly said. “Huge formation, just on the other side of Mount Crowley. Not as big as Jenolan, so we don’t get many tourists, but they’re worth seeing.”
It was then that Maxwell noticed that Chloe hadn’t said anything since the emergence of the stalagmite. He looked over at her, and he was surprised to see that her arms were crossed over, and she was chewing very hard on the lid of a pen.
“You okay?”
Chloe started. “Fine!” she said, but her voice was oddly high-pitched. “I’m just…not the biggest fan of caves. But it’s no big deal.”
“Oh, are you claustrophobic?” Tilly scrunched up her face in sympathy. “That’s a bugger.”
“I’m not!” Chloe protested. “Just not the biggest fan. It’s not a problem; I’ll be fine.”
“I can go by myself, I don’t mind,” Maxwell began, but Tilly interrupted him.
“No, you both have to lay your hands on it,” she said. “Sorry.”
“There’s no other way?” Maxwell asked. “We can’t just lay hands on the one you’ve got there?”
“I wish I could tell you yes,” Tilly said, and she really did look sorry. “But you need to get it yourselves for the ritual to work.”
“I definitely want the ritual to work,” Chloe said firmly. “I can do this.”