‘How was your meeting?’ Oriel said in greeting when Rose got back to Cornish Magick at around four o’clock.
‘OK … once I finally made it. The shellfish lorry squashed my car in Kev’s yard.’ Now that was something she wouldn’t be saying in Cambridge …
‘Oh my God. Is it driveable?’
‘Not at the moment. The garage in your village towed it away and said it can be repaired, but it’ll be a few days. There’s a courtesy car arriving tomorrow.’
‘What a pain in the bum for you. How did you get to Falmouth, then?’
‘Finn was going to the woodyard so he gave me a lift.’
‘Finn?’ Oriel frowned in confusion. ‘I thought Joey was taking you back to your car?’
‘He was called away to an emergency yacht rescue. Apparently, he was the best skipper available because he was familiar with that particular boat.’
‘Hmm.’ Oriel frowned again. ‘Was he?’
Rose wasn’t sure what Oriel was implying, unless it was that the emergency had been an excuse not to take her. Rose couldn’t believe Joey would have let her down, but that tiny element of doubt nagged at her. Then again, if he hadn’t been called away, she wouldn’t have got to know Finn a little better.
‘It all worked out in the end. I saw my colleague and Finn was going out to Penryn anyway.’ She smiled. ‘On the way home we passed a sign for the Nineteen Maidens, so we made a quick detour to see it.’ Keen to distract Oriel, Rose glided over the fact that they’d had lunch and that Finn had actually invited her to see the circle.
‘You mean the one with the big stone like a penis?’
Rose laughed. ‘That’s the one, though I’m not sure the stone was always standing up at that angle.’
‘Naomi says it’s phallocentric.’ Oriel curled her lip. ‘Bet that was the idea when some hairy caveman built it?’
‘Maybe.’ Rose couldn’t help chuckling at Oriel’s disgusted face. ‘Not many people know about it. It’s way off the beaten track.’
‘Auntie Lynne found me reading about it in one of the guides in the shop when I was a teenager. She took all the copies off the shelves and told me off. Anyone would think we live in Victorian times now.’ Oriel rolled her eyes. ‘She almost passed out when I told her I was gay and moving in with Naomi but she’s accepted it now.’
‘Good for you.’ Rose liked Oriel even more.
‘Well, I love Naomi and I want everyone to know,’ she declared.
‘Could you channel some of that assertiveness and make them listen to your ideas more?’ Rose asked.
‘It’s different. I enjoy working here and I’d like to make it more successful, but it isn’t mine, you know? I feel I’m totally dependent on what my auntie has to say. She was easier to talk to before Nige came along, but now she defers to him on everything.’
‘That’s annoying.’
‘He’s still going on about getting the Internet business up and running too.’ Oriel looked around her and sighed. ‘We’ve had no one in since lunchtime. I think he’d like Auntie Lynne to sell the shop and flat and try to get planning permission for it to be a holiday home.’
‘I thought you said the council would never allow it.’
‘Nige knows people at the cricket club who are in planning. Nothing would surprise me.’
‘They’re very strict on conflicts of interest,’ Rose said.
‘Maybe where you come from. I don’t feel so confident here. We need more customers. We’ve got a coach tour planned for next Saturday. It’s a local literary society. We need more like that.’
‘Is it another du Maurier society?’
‘Yeah. We keep some of her books in here …’ Oriel smirked. ‘The tours are run by an old guy called Mr Simpson and I wish we could get more of them. He’s a bit of a rogue but the tourists love him. He tells people that the shop is featured in several of her novels. It was a fisherman’s cottage then and it does sound exactly like the descriptions in the books, but no one knows for sure. Some of them ask me if she visited the shop.’ Oriel smirked. ‘Not even Auntie Lynne remembers that far back, and I don’t like to say that the tour guide has made it up.’
‘That doesn’t matter. Look at all the legends linked to places in Cornwall. No one can prove them, but they still draw people to visit. Like the Merry Maidens, and the Mermaid of Zennor. It’s the romance and mysterious aspect that appeals.’ Rose smiled. ‘You don’t have to believe in any of it to enjoy the magic. I wouldn’t be here if there were no legends, would I? However interesting these places are in an archaeological sense, it’s our imaginations that bring them to life.’
‘True. People buy crystals and herbal stuff because it makes them feel better, even though I know there’s no science behind it,’ Oriel said, cheering up again.
Rose was transported back to her moment of magic with Finn. Previously, she’d thought she’d become immune to any romantic notions about sites, but it wasn’t true. It had been incredibly powerful and atmospheric, for whatever reason.
‘Anyway, back to your day with Finn! Did you see any piskies dancing around or spriggans?’ Oriel said with a mischievous smile.
‘Not this time.’ Piskies were supposed to live around stone circles and other ancient sites and featured in a lot of Cornish tales. ‘As for a spriggan, I don’t think I’ve come across one yet?’
‘You don’t want to,’ Oriel said. ‘They’re evil little buggers. The woman from the post office said her great-grandad saw one hanging round the Nineteen Maidens on a midsummer evening. He was on his way back from working in a tin mine with some mates.’
‘Wow.’ Rose thought it sounded like something from a period drama.
‘They’d probably been on the ale though.’
Rose burst out laughing. ‘It’s funny how a lot of these sightings seem to happen after the pubs have closed.’
Oriel rolled her eyes. ‘Talking of which, are you coming to the cricket match on Sunday afternoon?’
‘Um. What cricket match?’
‘What cricket match?’ Oriel sounded scandalised. ‘Falford Creek versus The Lizards. It’s an annual grudge match. Everyone goes!’
‘Oh, sorry I hadn’t realised.’ She smiled, thinking of how important such events were in a small community like Falford. ‘Yes, I’ll come, though I know nothing about cricket.’
‘I’m doing the scoring and Naomi’s on first aid duty. You can meet her.’
‘In that case, count me in.’
‘Great, I’ll give you a lift. Finn and Joey will be playing for Falford.’
‘Oh. I heard Finn mention cricket practice, but he didn’t say anything about a match.’
‘I help with the scoring and Auntie Lynne does the teas.’ Oriel wrinkled her nose. ‘Bloody Nige will be there too. He’s an umpire.’
‘That sounds right up his street.’
‘You’re telling me. He’ll be in his element, enforcing nit-shit rules and ordering people about. He’s power mad.’
Rose laughed out loud.
The shop bell dinged. ‘Customers. Looks like the Druids,’ Oriel mouthed. Rose took her cue to go upstairs, vowing to stop daydreaming about magic and actually do some real work.