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.The storefront was dark, the light fixtures stripped from the ceiling, palerpatches on the wooden floor and walls where the counter and shelves hadrested.Where once a beaded curtain had clacked gently, a hulking metal firedoor with a breaker bar now blocked the entrance to the back rooms.Moll had akey for this as well; for all its bulk the heavy door swung open easily, andSelene followed Moll through, returning to the first covenstead she had everknown.The inner room was only a little less dark than the storefront.On anightstand beside a four-poster bed in the corner of the room where the Gypsyfortune-teller's tent had once stood, a small pink-shaded lamp spilled a poolof warm rose light across the faded Persian carpet, silhouetting a nightgownedform sitting up behind gauzy age-yellowed bed curtains.A clawed hand drew back the curtains a crack; crooked fingers beckonedstiffly."Come closer," demanded a querulous old voice.Selene stepped intothe light."It certainlylookslike you," allowed the voice grudgingly."Hello, Benny."But there was still no welcome in the quavering reply."Never mind my name.Say your own, first.""Selene.""And before Selene?""Helen.""No!""Helene, then." Mystified, Selene corrected herself."But only for a day."Page 101ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"That's better.Can you kiss me?""Of course.""Do so."Selene parted the curtains a little farther.It was indeed old Bensozia, herwhite nightgown and her wispy white hair as yellowed as the bed curtains.Shewas propped up against a small mountain of pillows and bolsters, under apatchwork quilt she and Andred had sewn together during the Depression.Selenebent to press her lips against the powdery old cheek."No, on the mouth."Selene brushed the cracked dry lips with her own; impatiently, the otherwoman grabbed Selene's face in both hands, her grip surprisingly strong thoughher fingers were crabbed like twigs, pulled her closer, and kissed her hardupon the lips.Selene inhaled a scent of old face powder and Johnson's babyshampoo as she returned the kiss, closing her eyes and parting her lipsslightly, softening them against the crone's insistent pressure.Finally Benny let her go."Selene Weiss," she said softly."Blessed be.""What was that all about?""I had to be sure it was you.""As opposed to?""Any number of things.A shade, a wraith, a daimon, a fetch.""You can tell from a kiss?""Ghosts cannot kiss; wraiths will not.""Even succubi?""Not on the mouth," Benny replied."But they can lick the black offlicorice." With what sounded suspiciously like a cackle, the old woman reachedfor an unlabeled medicine bottle of antique brown glass on one of thespindle-legged nightstands.Her stiff fingers pried at the cork futilely.Mollstepped forward and took it from her, poured a scant finger of slimy darkgreen liquid into a gold-rimmed shotglass."Tom Tyffin's Tonic," Benny explained, draining the glass and falling backagainst the pillows again, the color beginning to rise slightly in her ancientcheeks."For my arthritis." She smacked her green-flecked lips.Selene nodded." 'Rosemary, Rue, and Life Everlasting Mashed and pulped, andta'en after fasting& ' " She quoted from the formula in theHerbalis.Benny nodded approvingly."That's the exoteric recipe.But I'm glad to seeyou kept up with your studies.""I had some very inspiring teachers," smiled Selene, as Moll walked aroundthe bed, drawing back the heavy curtains.Then she thought of something, andthe smile faded."I'm so sorry about Andred."Tears filled the dim old eyes."I'm very angry with her." On the other sidePage 102ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlof the bed Moll had taken up a hairbrush from the opposite nightstand andbegun working on Benny's sparse, flyaway white hair."She passed over a yearago, and I still haven't heard a word from her." The old woman turnedquaveringly on Moll."Stop fussing, won't you?""Sorry." Meekly, Moll put down the brush."You're alwaysfussing." Benny took a few deep breaths; her bony chest roseand fell under the yellowed bodice of the old-fashioned nightgown."Here, youtwo." She gestured toward the medicine bottle with a clawed hand [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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