Chapter 3

Back at the bookshop he asked the assistant if they’d ever heard of a moon calendar and explained what he wanted.
“Oh yes, there’s lots of interest in the moon at the moment. There’s a section over there on astrology, quite a few to choose from.”
Picking up the nearest moon diary he turned the pages till he found the next full moon. Three days away.
“You’re not into all that hippy nonsense are you?” a familiar female voice intruded from behind.
His hackles raised he turned to find his old friend who he’d recently met for coffee. It seemed like so much had happened since then.
“Hey, nice to see you,” he replied, seeing who it was, “no, not into hippy stuff,” although as he said it he immediately felt like he’d betrayed something subtle and important. Not sure what to do next he moved the conversation on.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just browsing.”
Previously he would have suggested going for a coffee and sharing everything that had happened with his old friend but some silent instinct told him to hold back. He made a quick decision.
“Listen, I’m in a rush. Nice to see you but I’ve got to dash.”
Feeling suddenly defiant, he brought the diary and left without turning round. He hadn’t intended to do that but his friend’s judgmental attitude had made him feel protective over the magical thread that had recently been his guiding his life. He’d made a stand and was pleased he’d changed an old pattern but was annoyed with himself for his initial reaction.

***

Back home with diary in hand he now wondered why he’d felt the need to buy it as he could scarce afford the extra expense. He decided to explore his new purchase and see what a moon diary was all about. Opening it on the forthcoming full moon he looked closer and could make out some additional symbols for that day. He recognised the sign for Jupiter from the legend on the back: ‘Jupiter represents expansion and a benevolent influence’. This seemed good. What about today’s date. He scanned the page and found the sign for Mercury and Venus. Looking them up it read, ’Mercury good for communication’ and ‘Venus the planet of relationships’. He didn’t feel any the wiser but perhaps it might prove useful later on. His phone beeped, it was a text from his old friend. ‘Are you all right? You left in a rush. Fancy a coffee in half an hour in the usual place?’
Well that was interesting timing. He wondered if this had anything to do with Mercury and Venus. Before replying he thought he’d take another look at The Book and see if there was any advice it might offer for his current situation. He wanted to keep some things close to his chest, yet he also wanted to be honest with his old friend. He opened it and continued reading.

‘Precious things are close to our heart
When things are precious we also long to share
But with whom and at what time?
When you can hold a secret all secrets can be revealed
Roots grow in the dark’

And then there was a symbol of a key and above it a figure of eight:
He shut the book placing it back in his bag and texted his friend to confirm the meeting and set off for the cafe. On his way he pondered the meaning of the latest lesson from The Book. He felt sure he would like to share with someone what had happened recently but not at the expense of losing the magic. Also there was the issue of taking The Book’s initial advice about people who don’t value his time. He wasn’t looking forward to this meeting as he felt sure now was the time to put his house in order.

***

Arriving at the cafe as expected he found her already waiting at his favourite. Strange how she was on time when she wanted something. Is this how it worked he wondered? Taking a seat they ordered their drinks.
“What’s up? It’s not like you to rush off like that. Is everything alright?” she said, coming straight to the point.
Taking a deep breath, thinking of the book’s advice and trusting that it was all for the best, he replied.
“Ok so this is not easy for me to say because I love our time together, but it really bothers me that you’re always late. It makes me feel like you don’t value my time.”
There, he’d said it and it had been a long time coming, and for better or worse it was out now. He took a sigh of relief. Just then the coffees arrived and there remained an awkward silence. Feeling slightly nervous he continued.
“And this makes me hold back on sharing things that are close to my heart.”
“She looked at him with wide, uncomprehending eyes and it was at this moment he knew that none of what he’d said had gone in.
“Well, I thought that this might be what it was all about, I thought you were better than this. You know how crazy my life is right now. I thought you understood! That’s why I like you, because I thought you were easy-going. Well I guess that was just an act. Tell you what, thanks for letting me know, I’ll pass on that coffee.”
She dropped a few coins on the table and in obvious disgust stormed off, visibly upset.
It couldn’t have gone worse he thought and immediately regretted his honesty, after all it was true, he had put on an act and that stung. He felt his mood starting to plummet.

***

What did The Book have to say about this. He instinctively reached inside his bag for some reassurance but there was nothing there. Confused, he searched the main section of the bag. Nothing. He looked again in the side pocket but it was empty. He looked around vainly scanning the tables and chairs knowing it could not be there. A mounting anxiety started to build that he was having a difficult time suppressing. He absolutely couldn’t lose The Book. Was this some kind of punishment for the way he’d treated his friend, taking the advice of a book? He felt bad and regretted his decision. He’d lost a friendship, The Book and the magic. Looking around in desperation one last time he left the cafe and headed back to the house. A long shot, but it might just be there.
What was the panic he suddenly thought, he could always pick up another copy from the bookshop. A wave of relief swept over him and he immediately made a detour towards town.
Arriving at the the bookshop he looked in the window, it wasn’t there. With a growing anxiety growing he went in and asked the assistant. She’d never heard of it. Exasperated he asked her to check the catalogue. Nothing came up with the title ‘The Book’.
“Strange title,” she queried, “who was the author?” And that’s when his mind went completely blank and the world stopped. He had no idea.

***

With an heroic inner effort he controlled the panic and wondered out onto the street. Books don’t just disappear. There had to be an explanation. He pondered for a while taking stock of the situation. Could this be some sort of test he thought, after all The Book’s lessons seemed to be exactly related to the situations in his life. He really felt it had been trying to help him. It also seemed to be saying that his inner response to an issue was a major part of its teaching. When he was positive, excited, passionate, inquisitive, daring or trusting this led to a magical unfolding of events, making his life better than he could have ever imagined. When he felt anxious, desperate, stuck in a rut of doubt or depression, The Book encouraged ways to change his inner attitude, showing it wasn’t fixed, but could be transformed.

He considered the current situation and concluded there must be a better way to respond to the lost book. Why was he so desperate to get it back? Was it the fact it seemed to talk directly to him, or was it the pearls of wisdom that were now lost. Or were they? Could he remember them? Okay he thought, there’s only one thing for it. He was going to have to write down all he could remember from memory. He hurried home to write it out while it was still relatively fresh.

***

Recalling the different situations he’d been in before really helped him to remember the essence of each lesson. He jotted down all he could and surprised himself that he could recall much of it word for word. In fact the act of writing it down helped him to gain extra insights, how the lessons could be applied to a wider range of experiences. He also tried to make a sketch of the symbol on the cover but this proved more challenging. He attempted a couple more times to sketch the design but somehow the beautiful balance and intricacy of the lines eluded him and he knew he didn’t have it right.

Spotting his guitar he thought he’d change the mood and play the haunting melody again just to make sure he could remember it. He picked it up and strummed a few chords and then began to draw out the melody in a spontaneous flow. His fingers danced over the strings with the music starting to cast a spell over the room. He began to lose himself in the rhythm and be taken on a journey where his thoughts and feelings became one and merged into a hypnotic inner world. It was while his mind was open and empty he found he was gazing at the scattered sheets of his attempts to draw the symbol. There was something familiar about them, something other than the symbol from the cover of The Book. What was it? They were starting to speak to him, telling him of ancient days, secrets and magical adventures in far away lands. And then he had it. He knew in a flash where he’d seen them; at St James’s church on the slate carving of the knight. They were the same as the border, arranged in a chain all woven together. He would have never have seen this if he’d not made multiple copies of the design. When they were laid next to each other they interlocked and made a beautiful new design that he could never have guessed from seeing the single design. It was a building block, a corner stone, a key that unlocked a mystery. A key to unlocking itself.

***

He knew now what he had to do. Gathering a pencil and notebook into his bag he excitedly hurried out of the door and headed for the church. It was dusk by the time he arrived and there was no one about. A sudden thought came to his mind, what if the carving of the knight had disappeared too? He reasoned that if The Book could vanish and the bookshop could find no trace of it, then perhaps the carving could vanish too. It didn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility now as something had definitely shifted in his inner world and the impossible now seemed possible. He found his way to the Lady Chapel and breathed a reassuring sigh of relief to see it was still there. He settled down and immediately started copying the border in the rapidly fading evening light.
He managed to copy most of one side before it became too dark, but even in the dusk he could see there was more to the border than he’d previously thought. Cunningly placed at intervals around the edge were a series of letters. He made a note of them:

X-S-M-N-D

He closed the notebook and sat in the stone seat at the back of the Lady Chapel, a darkness enveloped the church and a profound silence descended on the sacred space. Enjoying the solitude he let himself relax. The difficulty with his friend, losing his job, the missing book now slowly became distant memories that melted away.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting in the dark when he began to notice a beam of soft silvery light extend across the floor. It was almost exactly aligned to the same angle as the sword in the slate carving. The light continued to grow across the floor until it stopped a few feet in front of him. Wondering what was causing the beam he got up and traced the beam back to its source. He could see there was a cunningly arranged stained glass window that channelled the light of the moon across the church floor. Just then a cloud covered the moon and plunged the church into darkness.

***

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Continues in Chapter 4…