The explosion rocked the main street according to the local paper and so there could be no doubt that the subsequent fire was arson. My sister Melissa and the neighbouring shopkeepers were for the time being out of business.
Melissa stepped into her husband’s shoes at Cauldron Flash Print when Ralph died. Almost immediately, it began to do much better and, in spite of what people began to say, I am convinced that that was only because Ralph was such a dreamer, my sister is a real go-getter. Others would not agree but you know the rubbish people talk and how things escalate. People are such dingbats.
It came to be said that if you ordered one hundred wedding invitations from Cauldron you could count on having exactly one hundred guests turn up and that you could confidently plan your catering on that basis. Your Uncle Jim would somehow find his way up from Scott Base or down from the Space Platform. The doorway to Cauldron Flash Print was a doorway to the arcane.
And it was claimed that if your prize cat or pedigree Borzoi puppy went astray the simple act of having Cauldron print flyers would bring it back. No need for even a single letter-box drop. It would almost certainly be waiting for you at the gate when you arrived home and, if not and it had been stolen, the thieves would feel a sudden remorse and return it. I’d say that someone had lost a pet and been over hasty in getting printing done only to find it had been unnecessary. You know the way these stories start. It doesn’t take very much at all.
Even more ridiculous, where business announcements were printed by Cauldron it was thought best to distribute only a handful in any one day to avoid the sort of over-night pre-opening queues that we see with the release of each successive Ipad or Iphone or a new Harry Potter. They’re a queer lot down there but then again they’re not alone in that.
To show you how queer, I was staying with Melissa a month or so back. I was in the shop when they were running off an ad for a Customs Sale and I picked up one of the leaflets as it came off the machine and, blow me down, an agitated passer-by rushed in from the street. “Put it down”, he
CAULDRON PRINT Page 2 shouted, “Those things are dangerous!” I gave him my ‘what sort of idiot is this look’ but he was serious. It is true that auctions are dangerous. People always tend to lose what little sense they have at auctions.
I have to confess that I went to that auction but you’ll understand that it was only out of curiosity and the thought that they might just have something that I could use. Nothing IMPELLED me to go though I must admit that I did get caught up in the group excitement and put bids on almost every lot that was put up. Fortunately, I was outbid on everything but some binoculars. Maybe I’ll find a use for them some day. Again I’ll have you understand that there was definitely NOT a hint of magic involved.
The trouble is that people have wrongly decided that Melissa is their resident witch even though a good witch. Maybe the idea’s origin is the subliminal message given by the the name ‘Cauldron’ although that was Ralph’s family name not ours. Most people today have come to accept the idea of good witches from television soap operas such as “Bewitched’ where Elizabeth Montgomery performed her wonders simply by twitching her nose. Witches, good and bad, are only entertaining fantasies. THEY ARE NOT REAL1
And yet there are the believers stern for the Bible’s injunction, ‘you must not look for omens, you must not practice magic’ and there has always been a standard way of getting rid of witches. FIRE! These days the burning of witches is hardly permissible but the burning of the premises from which they operate is possible and all too easy.
Melissa is looking at moving up this way to re-establish her business and I am anything but happy about that. Her reputation is sure to follow her and to have a known kinship with even a supposed witch is something that I’d prefer NOT to have. Some idiot might decide to settle a just retribution on me.
And it would not be too hard for to get herself re-established here. It is a strange thing but the fire
CAULDRON PRINT Page 3 which began in her shop wiped out an entire block of shops and yet scarcely touched her equipment or stock. Probably it was just a matter of which way the wind was blowing but you can understand why people there feel themselves confirmed in their wrong conclusions.