After breakfast the next morning I settled our bill and we strolled out onto the sunlit street. A travel agent was our next port of call and I hailed a cab in the street to take us there.
"Here driver, that one will do."
I had adopted the 'casual touristy look" with shirt, shorts and bold sunglass's, the person in behind the desk was , by contrast, in shirt, tie and business suit. I asked him about travel arrangements to Brisbane, all went well till he asked me for my passport, to get the Australian visa. It was easier and quicker for him to arrange. We should have learnt from our first experience. I recovered quickly enough to tell him they were back at the hotel; we'd drop them by later and make the arrangements later. Back out on the street Magus and I discussed our problem, we needed to find out more about these travel documents. A moments thought brought up the airport, people travelling equalled travel documents.
We hailed another taxi, the driver took us through the side roads, to avoid congestion, and it was there that I saw the sign on the shop front, 'Green Magic'.
"Stop! Driver stop here." I almost shouted.
Magus looked at me quizzically. "What?"
"I've just seen a shop we must visit, 'tis called 'Green Magic'.
The cab stopped and I waved a fifty at him.
Out on the pavement I walked back the way we had come, some two hundred yards found us full of crystals, dream catchers and other paraphernalia.
A long haired youth left another couple who were browsing some jewellery and approached us.
"Can I help you?"
Magus puffed some blue powder at him. He now was feeling that he vaguely knew us, that we were connected somehow and that he should help us.
"I'm looking for books, books on magic and wizardry."
"All the books I've got are here," he said, leading us to the back of the shop,
The range of books was limited, those on magic even more so.
I turned to him, he shrugged his shoulders apologetically.
"My friend Davina over at 'The Temple Of Diana' has more," he said , unpinning a card from the notice board. "Here's her address."
I took the card.
"Thanks, I'll look her up now."
We took another taxi ride.
The temple when we got there was a pseudo church, with all the trappings of a personality cult. The alter had a sole chair, dressed in regal symbology.
To the side there was an entrance to a shop.
As we entered we were approached by a thirtyish woman, slim with red streaks in her hair, dressed in a smock like affair that came down mid thigh.
"Can I help you?"
I presented the card while Magus scattered more blue dust.
"I was looking for books, articles on magic."
"And Philip recommended me, remind me to thank him."
I looked around the shop; the books were along the wall to our right.
"What sort of magic are you looking for?" she asked.
"Oh, just general..., just seeing what's available."
"I've got some books that I've written. I'm a white witch," she proclaimed.
That got my attention.
"You know about magic?" I questioned.
"Yes, I mix potions and pronounce spells for the good of people. White magic not black magic."
I was intrigued; I had not thought of magic as good or bad, the concept was food for thought.
"I would like to know more of this magic of yours."
We were at the book shelves.
"You can take them and read them over in my house with a cup of coffee, if you want." She suggested.
Magus pulled the sleeve of my robe. "What about the airport?"
"Sorry M, this might be important." Came my answer, this was worth learning about this world. We still lacked the cultural understanding, we needed to learn more to effectively live and operate in this world, the rules I'd read in the books were mixed and confusing.
We went across a short gravel path to a detached house.
In the lounge Davina asked one of the girls there to make coffee for us, as we sat around the coffee table.
"So, what's your real interest in magic?"
I decided to be daring.
"We are both magicians of sorts, we practice a different magic than yours." I stated boldly. "I would like to learn more of the magic you practice here."
"Well you're welcome to learn what I know," she said leaning forward.
We talked through three cups of coffee, served by a charming young girl, 'my acolyte', dressed in the same garb as Davina.
It was near early evening Magus was dozing and I'd just finished the book she given me, she was now questioning my wizardry. Hers could be summed up as 'sympathetic magic', tuning in to the forces of nature.
I explained that mine was the manipulation of reality; Magus's was much the same with a layer dressed up in rituals.
"Can you show me?" she asked.
I drew out my wand; I could see Magus looking sternly at me. Pointing it at the cup in front of her, I pronounced the word 'levitus', the cup rose and moved toward her hand, resting on her knee.
She stared, mouth open at the cup, floating in mid air, inches from her hand.
She took the cup, but it took her several seconds longer to recover her composure.
"How'd you do that?" she demanded.
"By making reality bend to my will, changing the 'what if', to the 'what is'."
"Yes but how?" she implored.
"By taking the fabric of reality and make it do what I want it to, it like you change the rules."
I could see she was still perplexed.
"It's a skill you're born with, it can't be taught unless you have the innate ability. Something I can now sense in people."
"So I can't learn your tricks?" she asked, disappointed.
"No, I'm sorry," I said.
Besides us Magus gave a cough.
"Well, we must take our leave of you," he said. "I for one would like to fill my belly"
"Would you like to have a meal here?" she enquired.
"That would be nice of you," said Magus.
She brought us a bowl of fruit as an appetiser, dinner would be twenty minutes.
"She is no magician." Magus said quietly, the other girl in the room was over the far side, and hopefully out of earshot of his hushed tones.
"I know." I replied. "I can sense magic in people, if they have the gift."
"No, what I mean is women are very seldom chosen to bear the gift." He continued. "I have yet to meet a female wizard."
When the meal was ready we sat, seven of us crowded round the table. There was a sense of magic, one of our companions was causing my senses to tingle.
I nudged Magus. "I think you are about to meet your first."
"You feel it too?" he replied, looking round the table.
He drew out his little pouch of blue powder.
"What exactly does it do?" I asked him.
"It just makes people friendlier towards each other, more obliging." He informed me. "You as a wizard should be able to detect its effects and resist them."
I leant towards him looking into the bag. He took a pinch.
"Do you want to try its effects?" he asked.
I was curious, "Yes," I nodded.
He flicked his fingers at me; though they were empty I hadn't seen the blue dust leave them.
I felt no different. He took another pinch of the dust and blew it from his fingers towards the four young acolytes sitting opposite.
The meal over, one of the girls collected the crockery, while another took a biscuit barrel labelled 'Brownies' and came round offering it. I felt greedy when I looked and saw that everyone else had taken one whilst I had two.
Neither the girl who collected the bowls nor the one with the biscuits had the sense of magic when I touched them 'accidentally'. Leaving the two still sat opposite, the petite redhead or the brunette. I would seek away of testing the other two.
Davina stood and walking to the side put some music on, it was soft, slow and sensuous, some multi-stringed instrument and a light tinkling beat behind. She began dancing, a lithe sensuous dance. The girls, even the one from the kitchen were watching her, beating out the time by clapping their hand.
I began to feel a little light headed, getting up from the floor and sitting in one of the comfortable chairs. As she continued to dance I became entranced by the intricacies of her hand movements, she seemed to be making them flow like waves.
As the dance ended the red-haired one came and sat on the arm of my chair.
"She's very talented," she commented.
"Yes, yes she is." I felt comfortable, my mind was relaxed and open, the room and its furnishings all looked more distinctive, more interesting somehow.
I looked at the redhead besides me, I could see the texture of her hair, the red strands gleamed in the light.
She looked at me studying her and started to giggle. "This is some nice shit yeah."
I heard her words but didn't understand them. Shit, feces , what could be nice about that?
I looked at her again.
"Hi," she said. "My names Alice, what's yours?""
"T'Mershi."
"T'Mershi, what a beautiful name," she enthused. "Where does it come from?"
"I don't know, I'm an orphan, my mother died young."
"Oh I'm sorry."
"It's alright; it was a long time ago."
"Who's your friend?"
"Martin?"
"Yes, I think Davina fancies him," she whispered, leaning close to my ear.
