HERE IS A LITTLE SNEEK PEEK INTO “MICHELANGELO – SPIRIT WALKERS”  I HOPE YOU ENJOY!  LINK TO THE ENTIRE BOOK IS AT THE END!  LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

Jessica came back to the front passenger door. She opened it and picked me up, placing me in the bag. It completely covered my body and let my head stick out of the opening. It sucked big time. I wasn’t going to complain though. At least I was going to get to go with them and see everything going on. She pulled the straps over her shoulder with my head parallel with her side and hip. I could imagine this sight being the butt of a joke with my brothers.

“Do you want to go check things out before we head to the shop?” Jessica asked Stefynie as she grinned mischievously and gripped the shoulder strap of the purse. Hey now! Stop jiggling this thing so much. I didn’t want to get sick.

Stefynie glanced at Jessica and a very evil grin spread across her mouth. Ugh! I was going to be subjected to browsing and shopping. Great. Forced to suffer as an accessory for rich girls and shopping! What else could they torture me with?

“I don’t see why not. Are we in a hurry?” She answered with a twinkle in her eye. Yes! We are in a hurry! If only I could speak my disapproval.

The girls walked through the crowd of people and made their way over to the long row of merchandise tents. They started at one end and began to stroll through slowly. Jessica held the bag tight against her so it wouldn’t jostle around. I appreciated that. As they looked at the tables and items, I observed the people milling about.

Sometimes an elderly person would glance down at my head sticking up out of the bag and they would genuinely smile. A child walked by holding their mother’s hand and immediately saw me. The child squealed with delight and tugged her mother’s arm as she pointed her finger at me.

The woman turned to see what the child was going ballistic about and when her eyes caught sight of me, she smiled. She pulled her child on down the aisle away from us. Well, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I was getting positive attention and I liked it. Who doesn’t?

The first canopy had wooden windmill chimes hanging at the corners of the tent and other wood-carved crafts spread out on the table. Next to it was another canopy filled with beautiful handcrafted homemade quilts. There was another with homemade jewelry sparkling in the sunshine and catching the attention of people passing by. Each table possessed a different type of craft or product that claimed to be handcrafted.

Jessica and Stefynie strolled down the line inspecting each table and admiring the merchandise put up on display. They became enthralled with the variety of beautiful items. Suddenly, I experienced a nagging feeling that tugged at my gut and I wished I could see what time it was. I don’t know why the time felt so important to me at that moment, but the desire to hurry was very strong.

Something caught Jessica’s attention and she skipped over to another canopy, shaking the purse vigorously and giving me a slight headache. This table displayed beautiful amulets threaded on black leather thongs that complimented the particular design of the amulet it was attached to. Jessica picked a specific one that had red and purple swirls intertwined with another in a circular shape, much like a doughnut. She held the amulet up for Stefynie to inspect and admire.

I frowned as Stefynie gazed at the colors swirling in the glass. A feeling of déjà vu came over me as I realized the item was so familiar. It resembled something important, something that I was supposed to be doing, something we all were supposed to be doing and quickly. A chill spread up my spine and lifted the fur along the way. Something wasn’t right and I couldn’t warn Stefynie before it was too late.

Someone grabbed Stefynie’s wrist. She jumped and looked up to find the merchant on the other side of the table. It was an old man who was completely bald including no eyebrows or eyelashes. He smiled at her revealing crooked and yellow teeth. His face was wrinkled and the skin on his cheeks hung loose and baggy against his bone structure.

The old man’s eyes disturbed me the most as his hand kept a tight grip on her wrist. They were dark as coal. So dark you couldn’t see where the irises began. Those dark coal eyes glared at her as his hairless eyebrows burrowed close together. I shrunk down further in the purse against Jessica. There was no way that I wanted that creepy man to see me. His baggy skin and eerie eyes somehow reminded me of that thing the night before.

“I can give you a good price on that amulet there.” He said with a creaky hoarse voice. Stefynie just stared back into his soulless eyes, unable to tear her gaze away from him.

Jessica moved up close beside Stefynie and I saw her smile at the old man before she turned towards Stefynie. She looked down at the man gripping Stefynie’s wrist and frowned. She might not have seen what we were seeing, but she felt something strange. He immediately let go of Stefynie and turned to Jessica with that smile again that revealed his yellow nasty teeth.

“How much are you asking for it?” She asked as she glanced back at Stefynie who was still transfixed at the old man. He cleared his throat catching Jessica’s attention and rubbed his hands together eagerly. I kept my head down in the bag where he couldn’t see me, but I could see him.

“For you lovely ladies, I will drop the price to $25 but I have them regularly priced at $50. The smaller amulets at the other end of the table are only $15.” He recited as he stepped back from the table a few steps and raised his arms gesturing towards the smaller amulets.

Jessica held up the purple and red amulet to the light exposing the swirls within a little better. I saw the recognition in her eyes and for a brief second she glanced down at me cowering within the bag. She was smart though and she didn’t let the man see her glance at me.

“Is there water or some sort of liquid inside the glass?” She asked the old man. You could feel the determination within her and if I wasn’t mistaken, she was trying to break the trance the old man had on Stefynie.

“It is filled with water and colored oil to obtain the swirls that you see.” He answered quickly without taking his eyes off Stefynie.

As Jessica was gripping the purse straps above my head, I could see goose bumps spread across her skin. She nudged Stefynie’s elbow like she was hoping to encourage her to move on from this table and vendor. The old man picked up another talisman and unclasped it before he held it out in front of Stefynie indicating that he wanted to clasp it around her neck.

“I have a handheld mirror under the table if you would like to try it on and see how it looks.” He offered her smiling, revealing his teeth again.

Alarm bells rang off in my mind and caused me to feel a strong desire to get out of there, like right this very minute. I don’t know how Stefynie and I had made the mind connection, but I remembered it was during extreme emotion and touch. Something told me to touch Jessica and to do it quickly.

With no hesitation, I reached my paw up carefully and slowly and touched her elbow. All my desperation and energy flowed from paw into her arm. We both felt a wave of power course through us. It wasn’t painful, but it took my breath away. Looking up at her, it was evident that it astounded her as well. She was panting and attempting to appear normal like nothing had just happened. She jerked her face towards me with fear in her eyes.

Something is not right. You have to get Stefynie away from that man. I pushed with my mind, hoping she would hear me in her thoughts. She jumped slightly and glanced back up at Stefynie. Her feelings and thoughts crashed into me, knocking me back into the bottom of the purse. Whoa! I pushed myself back up so I could see what was going on.

Jessica was feeling a strong desire to pull her cousin back and refrain her from allowing the amulet to be clasped around her neck. Stefynie began to lean towards the man, her eyes glossy and still transfixed on him and him only. Jessica tried to step towards Stefynie and found herself frozen, unable to move her arms or legs. She looked up at the old man and he glanced at her from the corner of his dark eyes. He smiled bigger and returned his focus on encouraging Stefynie to try the necklace on.

Invisible arms and hands wrapped around Jessica and gripped tighter the more she tried to reach towards Stefynie. Even her mouth became paralyzed and all she could do was watch. Her eyes rolled towards me screaming in fear.

What’s wrong? Why aren’t you moving? I attempted to speak with her mentally. Her eyes welled up and grew shiny wet. That was when I realized she was trying to move and couldn’t.

Daddy? I can hear you. Her thoughts echoed through my head.

My heart fell down to my stomach. In that moment, my daughter was a little girl again, begging her father for help. The fatherly instinct wakened inside me, but I didn’t know what to do. All the while people passed by us and I guess to them ,we just looked like any other women standing at one of the tables, ready to try things on and possibly purchase them.

I know. Push all your energy into your thoughts and focus them into Stefynie. Maybe we can reach her mind too. I answered her but we didn’t have time to reflect or say mushy things to each other. Her eyes grew large allowing those pools of tears to leak out. She heard me. I was excited about that, but we didn’t have time to be excited.

Jessica blinked the tears out of her eyes and glanced back up at Stefynie. She squinted her eyes over and over. I think she was trying to push her mental voice to Stefynie. It wasn’t working.

Something told me to reach up and touch her again, so I did. As soon as my paw touched her elbow, we both screamed mentally at Stefynie just as the old man reached his hands around Stefynie’s neck.

STOP!

Before he had a chance to clasp it closed, Stefynie was suddenly jerked back away from the man. She stumbled backwards into the crowd. A small gypsy woman caught Stefynie’s arms and she helped her to right herself. I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until that moment and I think Jessica had been too.

The glassy gaze in Stefynie’s eyes was gone. Jessica was still paralyzed and we both watched the gypsy woman glare at the old man and approach his table. He stood back and crossed his arms over his chest, the amulet still dangling from his fingertips. The evil grin, however had disappeared and was replaced with a grimace as he locked his gaze on the small petite woman. I recognized Mirela right away and I felt power or energy radiating off her in strong thick waves.

Jessica darted her eyes back and forth between all three and struggled against her invisible bonds. Reaching up, the gypsy woman placed her hand on Jessica’s shoulder. Immediately, Jessica felt the bond release and she almost stumbled forward into the woman as her body was still struggling for control.

The purse swung back and forth frantically and I had to firmly plant my limbs against the bottom sides on the inside of the bag to keep from falling out. Stefynie came to her side and helped her stand up as the woman wrapped her arm around Jessica’s shoulders and she began to lead them away from the table.

“Come, ladies. I have something better to show you at my store.” She spoke to them with a heavy Romanian accent.