Equipping a Princess (2 Jul 2001) Alice shops at Kia's Restoration for "magical" items.

Kia's Restoration
This shop brings to mind the days of ancient Wild West towns with the old-style lettering across the front window, the creaky old door, the heavy wooden beams inside that support the second story and the planking underneath. Various curios of all shapes sit on shelves, tables, in glass display cases, ranging from the mundane tricycles and bicycles and antique typewriters, to the grandfather clocks and ship's sextants and a brass orrery, to walrus-tusk scrimshaw and carvings from coral and brass lockets. The owner, a Ms. Black (though she is not black but a pleasant grown-up of Irish descent) putters in the back area, mostly occluded from view by stacks of boxes.

Pushing the door open, Alice notices that one bell has rung, then another across the shop, and a final one in the back, creating a sort of musical echo. "Come in, do feel free to look around, dearie," Ms. Black says from the back of the shop. "I'm in the middle of fixing Mr. Kuning's watch, but I'll be with you in a little while."

"Okay!" calls out Alice to the woman in the back room. The young blonde haired girl doesn't think she needs any grown-up help really. After all, she has Lord Mel out and ready to assist her in finding things -- and not just any things -- magical and special things. They could be anywhere, as could be those mean Growlers, so she had better be careful. The little girl wanders off into the shop with Lord Mel tucked under her arm where he can see well and she begins looking for a princess wand, which is first on her list.

The search goes passably well. There is a magic wand, the classic sort with a black body and white tip, marked at $5, there is a slightly odd brass wand with a tarnished metal star on the end at $10, there are a few shiny plastic wands in gold and crystal colors, varying between $1 and 2. A porcelain doll about two feet tall dressed in a very becoming princess-style dress bears aloft just the sort of wand Alice would want, golden with a crystal tip wrapped in filigree metal, except that the wand itself is barely five inches long, pencil-like, and the doll is $20.

Behind the counter, Ms. Black tinkers with, well, grown-up machinery.

Alice consults with Lord Mel. "I like this one ... but it's small," she tells him as she regards the doll and her wand. Twenty dollars is a lot to spend, and she knows she just can't afford a doll right now. So she walks down the aisle a bit and stops at the two other wands of brass and wood, both sitting in an old metal vase. "A magic wand is for ar-cane Lady Sorcerer Nyu-mays." The little girl perches herself on her tippy-toes and draws out the brass wand and examines it. She doesn't think she has seen anything like that before. "Oh! Yes, I think it's very mysterious too, Lord Mel. Let's get this one."

Satisfied, the young girl nods once to an unspoken comment by Lord Mel, and then wanders off to find what's next on her list -- magical talismans and monster repellants.

The wand evinces no immediate properties, but it does have a good weight to it, rather than being insubstantial.

As for magical talismans... Well, there are plenty of things of unexplained purposes, like scrimshaw carvings of little animals, or things carved in knots that weave around and around, (generally $1 to 5 based on material) and there are tiny lockets, some of which open to show a cameo relief inside, or a tiny picture, or are just empty inside, including one which is a crystal vial with a golden stopper ($5). There are also a large number of metal things which could be interpreted as magical devices of some kind, including a genuine crystal orb sitting on a framework made of brazen dragons that look Oriental ($15). The most interesting looking things are inside a glass display case and reside with jewelry of various types; there is a jade pendant consisting of a dragon wrapped about a pearl ($10), an amulet set with a tiger-eye marble in the middle, or at least that's what it looks like ($15), and something that makes Alice feel creepy, what looks like a mummified monkey's hand clutching an iron sphere, the wrist ending in a brass plug.

The blonde haired girl makes her way up one aisle and down the other noting each little oddity that just might be magical enough to help her and her friends. She finally comes to stop at the glass case and leans over to peer inside, holding Lord Mel up to the glass so he can see too. Her eyes examine each little trinket until they fall across that strange monkey's paw. She leans back with a start, removing one hand from Lord Mel to cover her mouth in surprise while holding the black unicorn out lest it be a bad thing. "What is that?" she asks the unicorn as she leans closer again to take another look.

The monkey's paw purports to be a souvenir of a sailor's trip to the Caribbean, according to the tag. Curiously, there is no price listed for this item.

"That's so weird," remarks Alice once she's sure it isn't going to jump out and grab her nose. "Hexed? Think so? I think so too." She moves, looking for items of a religious nature.

There are a number of small jewelry crosses, including crucifixes in wood, stone, and metals ($1 to 5 again, depending on size and material) and some larger ones that might be intended as wall hangings, including a gilded crucifix with very intricate details that looks as if it might be brass... $10, that one. There is a solitary porcelain statue of some fat old Oriental man next to an antique brass nautical lantern, and some jade carvings of ki'rins and dragons and tigers. If some of these other jewelry have religious purposes, it's none that Alice recognizes, not being widely read on the subject.

On top of a shelf, where Alice needs to clamber onto an elephant's-foot holder of umbrellas to see the labels, there are some interesting relics. One is a vial which contains a wooden splinter, and the label reads, "Shard of the True Cross-- maybe. $5."

Not seeing anything that quite strikes her fancy, Alice contents herself with picking up a jade ki'rin statuette. "Look Lord Mel, isn't it cute? He looks a little like you too. Only very green when you're very black," she squeals. The little statuette is smiled at for a moment more before it is put back down and Alice moves up to look at the top shelf, this requiring her to climb up a bit as she's too short to see, and she peers at the vial. "Shard of ... the ... True Cross?" she reads, squinting.

It looks like a piece of some heavy, dark wood, much weathered. The vial appears to be continuous so that it couldn't be opened even if one wanted to.

Ms. Black looks up from the back area. "Did you need some help out there?" she calls.

Lord Mel, who regarded the jade ki'rin with stony skepticism, is hardly a match for it. He is very black and red, not at all green, and he's much bigger after all -- and much more intimidating of course. But the black unicorn doesn't have the time to regard the statuette very long before he's moved to peer at the vial while Alice consults with him about the nature of its contents. It sounds magical, but ... it can't be opened. And that's just no fun at all.

"No thank you, ma'am," Alice calls cheerily in the not-quite-attentive tone of a child quite used to the inquiry of adults. She lowers herself from her perch, carefully avoiding getting her dress caught or accidentally squishing Lord Mel. Lord Mel does not like to be squished; he's very serious about that.

Another look around shows an iron piece that looks roughly triangular shaped, with a number of grooves cut into it, and a hole in its center ($2); a silver Star of David, six-pointed on a necklace ($5), which Alice recognizes from seeing Rebecca's house; some more intricately carved amulets, dangling on ribbons from a rack which also holds up such esoteric things as hair bands and fancy combs ($8-10 for the amulets). There's a great number of possibilities from which to choose, but the trouble is that Lord Mel is giving no indication as to whether any of these pieces are particularly interesting or worthwhile to purchase.

"Rebecca would like this. She can take it with her when she goes to Stonia," comments Alice as she lifts the Star of David from its holder. This is hung around Lord Mel's neck so she can free her hands, and then she wanders over to the selection of amulets and ... oh, hair accessories. A neat band or magical amulets -- it's a very tough decision, certainly. But eventually after some consulting with Lord Mel she determines she likes her blue ribbon more, and Growlers probably wouldn't be afraid of a hair piece. So she selects one of the more interesting amulets and also hangs this around Lord Mel's head before moving off to the books section.

There's quite an assortment of books, but they don't seem that interesting... Some nature books and a few seaman's log books, probably good if you wanted to know what the weather was like fifty years ago around Cape Horn, otherwise useless. Alice's gaze seems to slide off of the old crackling leather bindings and toward more interesting things, like the antique umbrella with an ivory handle carved into the shape of a toucan ($5). Or perhaps the wood shield painted white, with a red griffin emblazoned on its front (also $5).

Time spent doing extra homework on the creation of democracy has given Alice only a small interest in things bound, so when she can't find what she's looking for right away she quickly loses interest and turns to regard some other interesting bits. The ivory handled umbrella is very neat she thinks, and she could use it when the boys want to play explorers. The shield she thinks Agatha would like, but as she walks over to pick up the umbrella and lay it against her shoulder like women in old postcards do, she doesn't think she has the money for it -- so she'll tell Agatha all about it at school tomorrow. Wand, umbrella, star pendant, and a copper amulet. Thirty dollars. As she thinks about her treasures, she decides to go back and replace the amulet with the five dollar crystal vial instead so she can hold the piece of Lord Mel's mane safely. With all of this she walks to the counter and places it all there. "Hi!" she greets the store owner.

After a bit of putting things away, Ms. Black comes out of the back area and looks at little Alice's acquisitions with a raised eyebrow. "Well, hello, Alice, and how is my best customer doing?" she says with a smile.

"I'm okay!" replies Alice, smiling brightly. She finishes taking the items hanging around Lord Mel's neck and putting them on the counter, then puts Lord Mel on the counter as well. "Lord Mel is okay too."

Ms. Black smiles at Lord Mel as well. "I'm glad to hear that." She starts ringing up the purchase, looking at the tags. "Dearie me, did I mark this ten dollars? Well, I'll mark this one down to five dollars, just for you, since you're my best customer and all." There's a bit of a teasing in her voice there. "What are you going to do with these things, Alice? Or is this for Lord Mel?"

Alice continues to smile as the grown-up talks, saying, "Thank you!" when Ms. Black marks down the price of the wand. The young girl doesn't seem to notice the teasing, in her mind believing she must really be her best customer of course. "The star-thingy is for Rebecca, annnnd the wand and umbrella and bottle are for me. Lord Mel helped pick them out!"

"Well, Rebecca will be very pleased you thought of her," Ms. Black says, still smiling. She rings it up and looks at Alice curiously. "That will be ... twenty dollars, dear. That's quite a bit of money!"

The little girl, who just happens to barely stand high enough to look over the counter, digs through her grown-up sized purse for her money. It comes in the form of quarters, and somewhat wrinkled bills -- mostly ones. She counts all of this with painstaking detail. "One ... two ... three ... " This continues on for a moment until she at last reaches twenty as she counts off a few quarters. "Nine-teen and twenty five, nine-teen and fifty ... nine-teen and seventy-five ... twenty!"

"Well! You must have saved up for a long time. I hope you'll enjoy your new purchases," Ms. Black says. She takes out some sheets of paper and starts wrapping the items up in them, preparatory to putting them in a paper bag which Alice could use to carry them, then pauses, holding the wand. "You must be very careful with this, Alice," she says. "A proper magic wand must be treated with respect and care, not used to hit people or things. It moves with grace and elegance, like so..." Ms. Black demonstrates a few of the proper strokes for the little girl, and they do indeed look elegant.

Alice watches with rapt attention, and quite a bit of awe. Adults know so very much she thinks -- that must be why they're very busy: lots of people asking them things all the time. "Wow! You sure know how to use a wand, Miss Black! I bet you were a princess too!" The girl nods enthusiastically to the thought; after all, that must be where she got all this treasure.

Ms. Black winks, and starts wrapping the wand up in paper, along with the other purchases.

The little girl regards Ms. Black with an increased sense of awe. She never knew the grown-up was so talented, and with all these treasures she thinks she surely must have been a very good princess. As she waits for the purchases to be put away, she picks up Lord Mel. "Lord Mel says thank you," she tells Miss Black before the black unicorn is put under her arm.

"Well, you are most welcome, Lord Mel," Ms. Black says, managing a quite reasonable curtsey. Perhaps she's out of practice.

Ms. Black hands the paper bag, which has two twine handles, across to Alice. "Will you be able to manage that?" she asks with some concern. "Or should I walk you home?"

Alice giggles a little at the curtsey, and she returns it, causing Lord Mel to bob a little in a bow as well. The bag is picked up and held in the girl's free hand. "Well ... could you maybe show me how to be a good princess when we walk home?" she asks, sounding hopeful.

The little blonde girl does look a bit encumbered. Lord Mel and her purse on one arm, bag of goodies held by the other. Quite the loaded little shopper indeed.

Ms. Black laughs lightly. "Well ... I'm sure that you know everything you need to know about that already, but why don't you tell me about being a princess while we walk?" She gets out from behind the counter and walks toward the door.

Alice turns to follow once the bag is helped from her hand. "Well, first thing is that you always have to be nice and help everyone. You also need a knight like Lord Mel. That's very important. And you also need a Lady Sorceress like Rebecca, and ... " The little girl goes on and on about how to be a proper princess, some of which she invents as the thought comes to her. They're all very important to remember though. Occasionally she'll also mention Lord Mel's suggestions. Alice is plenty talkative for all of them though, and she's quite happy to relate all the intricacies of princessdom throughout the short walk home.

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