The Stone Read online

Ellie looked at him with disappointment on her face. However, inside she was not too hurt, as she felt that maybe with the two girls together they would have a little more fun.

  The next morning, Ellie’s mobile chirped a text early, from Rowena. ‘c u at 12, 1or 2 for lunch?’

  She looked up and Gary was already at his laptop, and he sensed her stare. ‘I’ve been at it since six this morning, but I hope to complete before you get back, darling’ Gary looked at her apologetically.

  Ellie texted her reply, ‘Just me and you, see you soon’

  To her relief the early start had meant that she missed the pre-Christmas shopping traffic on the way to Salisbury, and was pleased there was no panic for parking, as her friend had saved her a space at the back of the shop. The spaces were quite small but it was no bother for Ellie, as the Polo was small enough, she thought to herself.

  Rowena too had made quite an effort for Ellie’s visit. She had closed the shop for lunchtime, even though it was usually her busiest time. Many of the visitors love to wander along the riverside and watch the swans being fed by the children, and her little shop is adjacent to the pathway.

  After greeting Ellie she shooed out the remaining stragglers and shut the shop, ushering her into the tiny backroom. Ellie gasped with surprise as she surveyed the wonderful banquet that Rowena had laid out for her. A large cafetiere of Columbian coffee was steaming in the middle of the table.

  ‘Is that decaff?’ Ellie asked, Rowena nodded and smiled widely. They settled down and attacked the smoked salmon.

  Eagerly Ellie asked ‘well, what have you found out Ro? I really can’t hang on any longer.’

  ‘It’s a very interesting stone Ellie, so interesting that I really wished that I had more time with it.’ Rowena looked at her friend, hoping that she might suggest her keeping it longer, but Ellie was in no mind to let her keep it one moment more. ‘We haven’t been able to tie down its origin, or its geological makeup. Usually these days with the tools available, just about all specimens on this earth have been classified and someone, somewhere has written a paper on it.’

  ‘What have you done, Ro, have you chipped it or something?’ Ellie blurted.

  ‘No definitely not. I think I can describe it to you, but can’t tell you its origin. I have spoken to several eminent people in their field, one has even been down from London to see it, in fact, he wanted to take it back for further examination, but I knew you wouldn’t approve.’

  ‘Where is it now, Rowena, has someone still got it?’ Ellie looked rather seriously at her friend.

  Rowena walked over to a low cabinet with narrow drawers and ornate brass handles. She pulled out the top drawer, took out a purple ring box and gave it Ellie.

  Ellie opened the box, and nestling safe and sound on a pretty purple cushion was her stone. It seemed darker than when she had handed it over last weekend, and yet when Rowena dropped it into the palm of her hand, Ellie seemed to feel a warm glow and as she stared at the centre of it, she saw a reflexion of something, but not of anything in the room. As she was looking at the stone, she could perceive this distinct glow moving up her arm, giving her quite a pleasant lift of some kind.

  Rowena watched intently as this was happening, not alarmed, more interested, without showing any outward emotion to her friend. She noticed the change in the stone, but even more, the changes in Ellie.

  Ellie brought the stone up closer to her face. ‘Ro, what do you think the hole in the top of it was for? It seems such a small hole, not big enough for an ordinary chain.’

  Rowena looked closely at the stone and not wanting to take it out of Ellie’s hand, shook her head and did not reply. Nor did she tell her that, for all the time she and others had looked at the stone for the past week, there was no hole in it, as if it had only appeared when in Ellie’s hand. It now seemed to her, that the stone somehow was reluctant to give up any of its secrets. ‘No, that’s not possible’ she thought. She also sensed that Ellie was still looking for an answer to her question.

  ‘I think that you have the most amazing stone that I have ever encountered, just for the reason that it is an enigma to me. Although I realise that you need some clear answers, I can only suggest at the moment, that the only person that would know anything about it, is the man that gave it to you.’ Rowena hoped that her answer would be of some help.

  Ellie looked into her friend’s eyes as she spoke, almost in a pleading way yet with a hint of fear in it. On reflexion, she decided not to comment, only to keep the words in her heart for the time being.

  She didn’t want to return home just yet, so with Rowena’s agreement she left her car at the shop and decided to explore the city.

  Although there was the usual smattering of chain stores and supermarkets, there was still the quaintness of timber framed buildings and narrow alleyways to hold her interest, and so with no restriction on her parking, she enjoyed the luxury of taking her time and drinking in the wonderful atmosphere.

  She started down the first narrow alley, just off the Market Square, its Tudor buildings were almost touching on the first floor, hiding any light, and here she opened a black windowless door to a small shop boasting ‘Fifth Generation Jewellers’.

  The shop area was very small and in a few steps from the door, she was leaning against a low glass cabinet acting as the shop counter. She could hear no sound as she peered around the shop, however as she turned around, she jumped as the old shopkeeper; a short, bespectacled man in his sixties was looking up at her smiling.

  ‘H…Hello’ stammered Ellie, ‘er.. I’m on the lookout for a very fine chain to fit this.’ She pulled out the stone and showed the tiny gap in it. The jeweller took out his glass from his waistcoat pocket.

  ‘Mmm, a very small gap for a chain, isn’t it dear? Will you wait here while I look for you’ and he disappeared into the backroom not waiting for an answer.

  Ellie scanned the tiny shop for anything of interest, and while she waited, she noticed in the corner, there was a table so dark, that it was hardly perceivable! As she approached it she could see that it was poorly made, and only a couple of feet square, covered in small dog-eared brown cardboard boxes. They reminded her of the same type that Gary kept his spare screws in, and somehow he could never find the one that he was looking for.

  As she got to the table, the old man appeared from the backroom, and from the look on his face, she could tell that he couldn’t find anything to fit.

  ‘What do you keep in the boxes over here?’ she asked

  ‘Well, those are collections of leftover jewellery that customers have in the past asked me to value or sell for them. They are usually clearout after a relative’s deceased effects have been looked over, if you know what I mean. I am certain that there is nothing of any value there, but I haven’t had much time to look at them. You’re welcome to have a look in the boxes, and if you see anything of interest, give me a shout and I’m sure we can come to an understanding.’ With that he shuffled back into the workshop.

  ‘How trusting’ thought Ellie, she looked at her watch, ’plenty of time’, she thought again, and started to rummage.

  The first three boxes produced very little except gaudy costume jewellery, and then just before she thought about giving up, she decided to try a slightly larger box at the far side of the table. Emptying the contents out on a space she had made, it revealed more paste jewellery and a very thin necklace. She picked up the necklace for a closer look, and what a state it was in!

  The old clasp was broken as if someone had forced it, and in the centre was the remains of a mounting for a coin or a medal, but all that was left was a twisted half of a semi circular mounting. Although seriously damaged, Ellie could see that the diameter of the chain would certainly fit into the stone.

  ‘Excuse me!’ shouted Ellie. The old man quickly appeared and smiled as her noticed Ellie hanging the chain through her fingers. ‘Could I purchase this from you please?’

  She asked. ‘What would you take for it?’
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  ‘Looks like a silver chain with some damage’, and without taking it out of Ellie’s hand, ‘How about fifty pounds?’ He offered.

  ‘No, sorry’, she said, ‘I don’t think it is worth that, considering the damage and all.’

  The old shopkeeper looked at her quizzically, and after a moment, took a closer look at the necklace.

  ‘Can you see this, my dear? It is a very fine snake chain, beautifully made, and probably Victorian and I cannot accept less than forty pounds.’

  They finally agreed on thirty-five after Ellie stuck out for the damage element, and with the Jeweller’s receipt in her hand and the necklace in a smart little bag, she felt quite triumphant.

  As she walked back to Rowena’s shop, she passed a lovely teashop and decided to call in for a treat. A pot of tea and a warm fresh scone seemed the right thing to celebrate, and she made room on her table for the contents of the small bag, and took the stone out of her jeans pocket. The workmanship of the chain was very fine, and with a closer inspection of the stone, there was no doubt it would thread through that hole! She had never seen a snake chain before, and was amazed how the interlocking sections actually were like a snake, and marvelled at such intricate workmanship. As she pulled the chain through her fingers it felt perfectly smooth as if it was made of one piece.

  After paying the waitress, she rushed back to Rowena looking forward to hearing what she would think of her purchase.

  There were two customers in the shop, and they were just about to leave. Rowena was still writing on the counter as Ellie approached her.

  ‘You look pleased with yourself, Ellie. What have you got there?’

  Ellie laid down the bracelet on the counter in front of Rowena, ‘Can you take a look at this Ro? Ignore the damage, and just look at the chain.’

  Before Rowena answered, she pulled out from underneath the counter a small box, which she opened, revealing her treasured set of jeweller’s tools, some so small that Ellie could hardly make out what they were.

  She quickly set to work releasing the central mounting, which was soon despatched to the bin, and then set to work on the clasp. Clasp removed, Rowena took a small damp cloth and carefully pulled the chain along it taking as much dirt off it as she could. The whole operation took no more than ten minutes, and Ellie looked on admiringly.

  Finally Rowena placed the empty chain, which by now was sparkling, onto a square of purple cloth. Ellie gasped at the sheer beauty of the result of Rowena’s work, a radiant circle of about sixteen inches circumference.

  ‘Is it silver Ro? The old jeweller said it was, although he didn’t look too closely.’

  ‘OK Ellie now please tell me where you got it, and what did you pay for it?’ Rowena asked patiently.

  Ellie told her in full detail how she found the shop and how she came to buy it, handing over to her the shop receipt with a smile. Rowena looked at the receipt and laughed.

  ‘Ellie, you have got one of the finest platinum snake chains that I have seen in all my time in this business, and just as a blank chain, I would value it at least four hundred pounds and it is a hundred and fifteen years old.’

  After she had got over the shock, Ellie asked her friend,

  ‘Do you think you could find a suitable clasp for it? I have no idea of what style; I’ll leave that to you.’

  ‘Find one? I’m not going to find one. I’m going to make one, a very special one. This is a big challenge for me, and I already have the design in my head. Look, Ellie, why not come here next Saturday, come to my house, I’ll close the shop, and we’ll have a girly day out and do some shopping in Bath, what do you say? I shall have done the clasp by then too.

  That was just what Ellie wanted to do, take all the silly cobwebs out of her mind and have a good laugh with her best friend.

  ‘It’s a date!’ she said, waved goodbye and then started her journey home, with lots to tell Gary.

  As she opened the front door, expecting Gary to be leant over the laptop as usual, she was taken aback by the wonderful warm aroma of cooking that greeted her took. She could smell onions particularly, but couldn’t quite put a name to the dish that was cooking. The house was quiet and as she pushed open the kitchen door, the full rich aroma greeted her. But most surprising of all, the kitchen was emanating an air of peace and order!

  Gary gave a gasp of mock surprise as he entered the kitchen from the door leading to the downstairs cloakroom.

  ‘This is a first darling,’ he said, giving her a big hug. ‘Surprised? I finished the report for work and emailed it off not long after lunch, so I thought about making my favourite dish’.

  ‘Shepherd’s Pie.’ she laughed, ‘that’s just what I fancied.’ What Ellie was more pleased about, was that he had given her some thought as well as his all-imposing career.

  ‘Well, that’s one thing I can’t get wrong,’ he said. ‘How was your day, exciting?’

  ‘Darling, yes it was exciting but, let me shower and in a couple of ticks I’ll be down to eat your creation and then I can tell you the news.’ She laughed, running up the stairs. In ten minutes Ellie was making the gravy that was not his forte. But she knew that even with the gravy, he would be still pouring on his HP as was his wont.

  It was past eight before they had cleared up and settled down on the couch, the second helping of the Shepherd’s Pie had filled them up completely, no room at all for a sweet.

  ‘That’s what you call comfort food. I’m stuffed’ Gary wheezed. ‘Just stretch out darling and tell me about your day.’

  Ellie did her best to tell him what had happened since she had left home that morning. Gary wasn’t surprised that Rowena hadn’t been able to identify the stone as he had looked at every Internet site that was connected in any way to crystals and stones sites. He was, though, very impressed with her success in getting the chain so cheaply.

  ‘Maybe I should go back to the shop when Ro has completed the clasp, and give the old jeweller a bit more money, considering its real worth.’

  ‘I’m sure that the thirty five pounds you gave him, had already exceeded what he had expected, considering the state of it when you found it.’ He looked into her green eyes. ‘Anyway I don’t suppose he would recognise it after all that you and Rowena have done to bring it up to scratch.’

  She knew that he was only trying to be kind, but she wasn’t convinced that such a low price paid for such a beautiful platinum snake chain was really justified. There was a period of silence between them, so that Gary thought she had nodded off. She hadn’t.

  ‘Have you thought about the whole chain of events today?’ Ellie mused.

  ‘Do you mean that you think they are connected in some way?’ Gary asked.

  ‘Not really darling, sorry, it was just a thought that passed into my mind, as if something is controlling events today, just silly thoughts that’s all!’ She was just about to suggest an early night when he interrupted.

  ‘Well darling, I told you that I had sent the report off about one today and I was just about to power the computer down, when I got a message immediately in the inbox’

  She sat up straight, now fully awake. ‘So who was it from?’

  ‘It was from old Freddy Aldwinkle’

  ‘Isn’t that the.....’

  ‘Oh yes, he’s the head honcho, and he wants to see me urgently on Monday’ he said.

  ‘What can that mean, Gary, are you losing your job? Ellie looked worried.’

  ‘I don’t think so, love, quite the opposite, Firstly I would get a letter, and even if anything like that would be happening, the old honcho wouldn’t be contacting me.’

  ‘So what you’re saying, is it promotion?’ Ellie shouted.

  A couple of weeks had elapsed since the first contact from his boss, the old ‘Honcho’, since then it has transpired that the size of the promotion was staggering! His current job was based at the Oxford site and he rarely needed to be away from home. In short, as promotion from his job as divisional works manager, h
e had been offered the post of full Commercial Operations Director reporting directly to Freddy.

  The numbers were breathtaking and so were the benefits. But, Ellie thought, ‘at what price?’ She was at pains to point out the possible downside of the offer. He was going to be based in Belfast, where the Head Office was situated. Not only that, but because of the job, he would be doing a lot of travelling within the Group, and perhaps elsewhere. They had given him two weeks to mull it over, and the final day for decision had come.

  Of course, Gary was ecstatic about the offer, and in response to Ellie’s words of caution, his final words were always ‘well, who wouldn’t be over the moon?’ Over the past two weeks neither of them could change each other’s mind on the matter. To Ellie it was very frustrating, as if he was blind and deaf to any of her arguments, and he was obviously on ‘cloud nine’ about the whole thing.

  She knew that all Gary was doing was waiting for her to give him the nod, and as time was running out, Ellie finally said to him,