Little Black Book

It all happened on a Sunday. Karly awoke around 6am to catch the sunrise with her dog Chilli. There’s nothing extraordinary about Karly. She played tennis and did gymnastics as a child, but never placed first. Her grit was admirable but unfortunately never took her far. The pride and joy in her life is a dog named Chilli. They greet each other excitedly at the front door every time she comes home from work. He’s a thirty-five-kilogram Australian Bull Arab. She’s a five-foot nine skinny woman with big blonde curly hair.

Every Sunday morning, they drive to a nearby beach at Catherine Hill Bay in New South Wales. Karly purchases a coffee and two hash browns on their way through Mackas, sharing one of the hash browns with Chilli. Chilli hangs his big head out of the car window and sniffs the air, ears pinned back and tail wagging.

It is still dark when they arrive. Karly parks the car at the cemetery. Chilli runs ahead, marking his territory on trees and tracing unfamiliar scents. There was a time in Karly’s life when she would have been afraid of walking through a cemetery in the dark, even with Chilli by her side.

Warm coffee in hand and a gentle breeze gliding passed her soft skin, she can now see a glow rising up over the salty sea. This is the moment everything fades away. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, listening to the surrounding sounds. She steps closer to the water and enjoys the sensation of the frothy swash rushing over her feet.

When her eyes open, she gazes around seeking a spot to sit and watch the sun continue to rise up over the waves. She sights something black sticking up out of the sand. She whistles to Chilli and approaches the foreign object. Perched on a sandy mound is a black briefcase. Karly pulls it out of the sand and gives it a wipe over. She notices an eight-digit code under an elaborate gold handle. The digits read her birth date. Before opening the briefcase, she looks around to see if anyone else is on the beach. Not a soul in site, she pops open the locks. Inside sits twenty gold coins. Each coin has one thousand inscribed on it, a tiny red gem and an etching of a beautiful woman. They are around three centimetres in diameter and sit in two neat rows of ten. An envelope with Karly’s name on it, is placed on top of the money. She grabs the envelope and closes the briefcase. Inside the envelope is the following riddle, “The money is yours shall you seek the place to spend it. A place you ventured as a child, with sand and stone, salt and sea, you crawled and climbed and sometimes swam in me. Be careful when you seek shelter within, for the time of day you will sink or swim. – Queen Ruby”

Karly sat there thinking…

Her most frequent ventures were to the beach, a few places have stone but only three places she would climb, and only one place she crawled. There is a spot where she would crawl through a cave, but only at low tide, at the right time of day. It would have to be there!

She checked the tides on Google, called out to Chilli and headed to the car. The place wasn’t far from Catherine Hill Bay. She parked her car, grabbed the suitcase and put Chilli on a lead. They started walking towards a cave at Caves Beach. Karly was anxious considering dogs weren’t allowed on that beach, but couldn’t wait any longer and didn’t want to miss the low tide. It was early in the morning, maybe too early for the lifeguards…

Her heart raced and she felt light headed as she drew nearer to the cave. Thoughts racing to the speed of her heart. Where in the cave do I go? Do I have to do anything? What will happen to Chilli? They approached the cave and walked in. A bright light shone from a passageway on the left. Karly knew the passageway well and walked straight towards it, this must be it she thought. Chilli was barking as Karly dragged him through. She heard loud sounds of the ocean, as if she were inside of a seashell. Her entire body felt a strong pull at the same time, a weightlessness. Everything was bright and white. Until there was a halt. Her feet now firm on wooden floorboards, candlelight dimmed around her, the smell of eucalyptus burned and an antique store began to wrap itself around her. She looked down at Chilli to see if he was ok. He appeared larger than she remembered. Chilli looked at her and said, “Where are we?”

“You’re in Bruceby’s in Neutral Bay, and I am Mr Bruceby, I’m so very pleased to make your acquaintance”. Bruceby was a tall, tanned, surfy looking thirty-year-old with long blonde hair placed in a top bun. He wore denim skinny jeans and no shirt. His impeccable abs made Karly blush and gulp in response to his eighteenth century greeting. Then she began to process that Chilli had just spoken, she was holding a strange briefcase with twenty thousand dollars in whatever currency it was, and she had just entered a cave which was now an antique store, and it appeared to be night.

Mr Bruceby smiled, laughed and ushered Karly and Chilli into a lounge area, “Please make yourselves comfortable, I’ll be right back with some tea.” A fire crackled across from them. Karly looked down at her bare feet, then across to Chilli as he perched himself next to her on the lounge. He looked at her and said, “I like him”. Astonished, she uttered, “you can speak!”. Chilli jolted to the side and replied, “You can hear me!”.

Mr Bruceby returned with an ornate and large pot of tea. He placed three cups and saucers on the coffee table and started to pour the tea, “I take it you don’t yet know why you’re here. I’m a guide for the four realms. I’m completely neutral to all four, it helps with the balance you see. Open your briefcase and take a close look at the coins. That is Queen Ruby of Ruby Cove, you must have Ruby blood for her to call upon you. The coins are inherited from the deeds accomplished by your ancestors. Only when twenty deeds are completed, may the coins be passed onto the next inheritor. The other three realms are Emerald Fields, Sapphire Falls and Diamond Dunes. Each have a unique purpose. You will learn more once you’re in Ruby Cove. While you’re here, you’re to choose an item within my store, in exchange for your coins. The item you choose will determine your gifts and destiny. It is imperative you choose the item that calls to you, some will try to derail you. In your heart, you will know what is right for you. It is quite rare that someone enters my store with a furry companion. The bond between you two is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He may also choose an item. Meet me at the register once you’ve finalised your choice.” Mr Bruceby let out another one of his comforting laughs and walked off.

Karly looked over and watched Chilli sipping on his tea and looking around the store at all of the items. “I didn’t know you liked tea”, she said. He laughed and said, “neither did I”. She watched as he placed his cup and saucer onto the table and started sniffing the air. He slid off the lounge and trailed a scent, all the way to a hat stand. His nose met with a satchel bag hanging from one of the hooks. It was a brown leather dusty old thing. Chilli snuffed and snuffed at it, until it sneezed and yelled, “Crikey, are you alright mate?” Chilli jumped back and let out his first bark. He looked up at me and said, “this is my item”. “Oh no I’m not! I am meant for great things, not for the likes of you!” the bag grouched. Karly grabbed the bag and inspected it, “you sure?” Chilli put his paw out towards her and replied, “certain of it!” She placed the grumpy bag over Chilli’s head and one of his arms.

Karly felt drawn to a beautiful plant in the corner of the room. It was growing from a large blue ceramic pot. She saw a pulse in the soil, like a heartbeat. A desire to dig came over her but she wasn’t sure she was allowed to. She looked up but couldn’t see Mr Bruceby. She’d witnessed stranger things this morning, why not dig through a pot plant in an antique store? She started raking her fingers through the soil and scooping it to one side. Her fingers scraped along a carved wooden box. She dug it out, gave it a wipe over and opened it. It was empty! She heard laughter rip from the box as it opened and closed shut. Karly dropped the box and Chilli started barking at it. Mr Bruceby approached, smiled, laughed and said, “It gets everyone that one, I like keeping it around, one day something might show up”.

Annoyed and disappointed, Karly looked at Chilli for comfort. He looked up at her and said, “try sniffing”. She rolled her eyes and turned away from the plant. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to feel or hear something. A whisper…Karly…Moon child…Karly…Moon child… you are who I seek…She opened her eyes and followed the gentle voice. It took her to a bookcase. A little black book slid out slowly towards her. She carefully pulled it from the shelf and looked inside, it was full of blank pages. Although there was a strong pull connecting her to the book, she appeared unimpressed. She looked at Chilli and said, “how is a small empty book going to help me?”

“Haha… don’t be quick to judge, a book can be the most powerful instrument. This is the book of truth, it may appear empty however when required, it will reveal the knowledge you seek. Try it out, ask it a question. The only exception is that it cannot foretell the future”, said Mr Bruceby.

Karly opened the book and asked, “Are you the item for me?”

The words started to appear on the page,

yes

“Have you served any of my ancestors?”

No

Karly handed the briefcase with the gold coins to Mr Bruceby. He pulled out a large, thick book and wrote down their names, the realm to which they belonged, a date, time and the items they had taken. “It was an honour conducting business with you both. You can exit via a garden through the back. You will see five large doors, knock three times on the one for Ruby Cove. If you ever need me, I’ll be here at Neutral Bay. This is a safe place.” He started laughing again and it felt as though he was hugging them.

There they stood in Mr Bruceby’s garden, it was morning outside, warm and sunny. Across the garden were five Doors. Each door had a stepping stone path leading towards it. Emerald Fields was a grassy path with butterflies fluttering about, Diamond Dunes was a sandy path with an eagle perched above the door, Sapphire Falls had fresh water and lily pads surrounding the stones and Ruby Cove had salt water and sea shells. The fifth door in the centre had a black and white checked path, with large Horse chess piece statues on either side. Karly and Chilli walked up to the door with the big Ruby centred at the top and knocked three times. The door creaked open and their adventure began.