Djina

Chapter 1



Alex darted through the falling raindrops towards the hot dog stall, eyes downcast as she dodged the growing puddles of mud which dotted the field where the flea market was held. Crowds milled around assorted rickety tables and soggy cardboard boxes of junk, but she weaved around them, guided by the inviting smell of fried onions. She had grabbed a piece of toast before her mother had hurried her into the van at daybreak. Now it was almost one pm, and what had promised to be a glorious day had turned into yet another wonderful wet Sunday.



        A crowd surrounded the stall, sheltering under the wide candy striped awning as they waited for their food. Alex sighed impatiently as she joined the end of the jostling queue, studiously ignoring the inquisitive looks of the child clinging to the legs of the woman stood in front of Alex. The child seemed to have decided that Alex was destined to amuse him, and with an undisguised glee, swung a soggy, battered teddy bear towards her legs.



        Shooting him a look of undisguised loathing, with all the disdain a sixteen year old could possibly muster, Alex stepped backwards out of his reach.  He pulled his arm back, preparing for another shot.  Deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, Alex moved quickly to the side, out of the line of fire. Unfortunately, this resulted in a bang on her legs from a small table which she had not noticed until then. As she spun round to prevent herself stumbling, she noticed a tiny, dark skinned lady across the table.



        Reminding her self it was impolite to gawp; Alex closed her mouth and tried to look away. She had never seen anyone so bizarrely dressed as this woman in her life, and you saw some sights when your mum insisted on dragging you to these sales most weekends. If you were being polite, you would say that the woman looked a little like a Romany, her head covered in a bright cloth, wound tight and turban-like, to cover any signs of hair. She was so small; her head barely reached the table top. Her skin was a deep nutty brown, and her eyes were so dark they appeared black. She wore a broad grin as she gazed back at Alex.



        Grinning back, Alex saw a fat raindrop land on the woman’s ear, causing the thick metal hoops she wore there to jangle She was startled to notice that the woman’s ears seemed a strange shape; too long, and pointed at the upper tips, reminding her of a drawing she had seen in one of her old story books of a pixie.



        The woman lifted her hand and beckoned to Alex to come closer. Alex looked hesitantly at the queue for food; saw she would still have a long wait and, with a shrug, she walked around the table.



        “Hi, I’m Alex.” She held out her hand politely towards the woman as she introduced herself. “I have a stall here, up there.” She pointed across the field in the direction of her mum’s stall. “Well, it’s my mum’s really, but I help her..”



        All the time Alex was talking, the woman nodded her head and smiled. Then she held a finger up at Alex, seeming to signal her to wait, and scurried off around the corner of the hotdog stall. Alex looked around, confused and nervous. She had been left alone with a table full of items for sale. Luckily the rain seemed to be deterring most people as they huddled under any available shelter.  After a few moments curiosity got the better of Alex and she began to study the contents of the tabletop.



        Rather than the usual assortment of second hand clothes, dog-eared books and souvenirs from family holidays that were usually on sale at these markets, she saw intricate carvings of strange animals, tiny scraps of fabric with the most delicate embroidery she had ever seen, and an assortment of things whose purpose she could only guess.



        She unearthed a delicate glass jar from beneath a heap of embroidered squares, and raised it up for a better look at its incandescent colours. The jar seemed to be made from tiny splinters of glass in a rainbow of colours. Each shard seemed to blend into the next seamlessly. An intricately worked copper stopper sealed the top.



        As Alex twirled the jar, staring in fascination at the kaleidoscope of colours, the tiny woman returned, clutching a paper napkin surrounding a steaming hotdog smothered in onions and ketchup, just how Alex preferred them.



        “Al-ex” The woman said, her voice high pitched and strangely accented. “For Al-ex.”



        Alex hurriedly put the jar back on the table, realising that the woman had fetched her food from the rear of the stall. She slid her hand into the pocket of her jeans, looking for the money for her food. She pulled out two coins and offered them the lady in return for the hotdog.



        “No. For Al-ex.” The woman shook her head violently, refusing the coins. The hoops in her ears rang with the sudden movement.



        “Thank you.” Alex said as she raised the bun to her mouth.



        “Mea-ner-va.” The woman pointed to herself.



        Alex screwed her face up, puzzled, but unable to talk with a mouthful of food.



        “Mea-ner-va. You Al-ex” The woman tapped herself on the tatty looking fur that covered her chest, and then stepped forward, reaching up to touch Alex on her arm.



        “Oh, you’re Meanerva, yes?”



        "An-er-va” the woman’s grin seemed to grow wider. “Friend”.



Picking up a piece of embroidery, Alex asked if Anerva had made them.



        “Sis-ters, An-er-va, all ma-ke.” Anerva waved her had to encompass all the objects on the table.



        “What about this?” Alex picked up the glass jar.



        A frown crossed Anerva’s face. “Bro-th-er, sis-ter, all ma-ke. Much mag-ik.”



“It’s magic? That is so cool!” Alex grinned. She did not really believe in magic, but she was fascinated by the story of the jar.



        "Why is it magic? What does it do?” Alex asked.  She still held the jar close to her face, watching the almost hypnotic patterns of swirling colours as she moved it around.



        “D-ji-nna. Al-ex know? D-ji-nna.” Alex looked at her blankly. She did not know what D-ji-nna meant.  Anerva searched through the scraps of fabric on the table, looking at the embroidered scenes on each one, before she discarded it. Eventually she found what she was looking for, offering the fabric scrap to Alex. “D-ji-na”



        The scene showed a small jar, similar to the one Alex held. The seal had been removed, and a wisp of smoke seemed to be drifting from the neck of the jar. As Alex looked, the embroidered smoke seemed to move, billowing as if blown by a slight breeze. A face seemed to be visible through the cloud of smoke, a young girl of around Alex’s age, with a crown of scarlet hair. Alex reached out and softly ran a fingertip around the shape of the face, tracing a line from the delicate chin to the neck of the bottle. A memory stirred at the back of her mind. “D-ji-nna?  Djinna? Is it a genie?”



        Anerva nodded furiously, smiling as Alex seemed to understand her. “D-ji-nna. Sis-ters ma-ke D-ji-nna go away. Here.” She pointed at the jar. “Sis-ters must ke-ep not D-ji-nna. An-er-va must ta-ke away from sis-ters.” Anerva shook her head despondently. The cheerful chimes of her earrings seemed a strange contrast to the sorrowful expression the tiny woman wore.



      As she gazed at the jar, Alex thought about the money she had back in the car, chewing her bottom lip as she quickly added up how much she could afford to pay for the jar. “Is it for sale? How much?” she held the jar towards Anerva.



        “Al-ex want? Al-ex can ta-ke D-ji-nna. Al-ex friend.” Anerva wrapped her tiny hands around Alex’s hands and the jar, pushing them towards Alex’s stomach as she spoke. “Al-ex friend D-ji-nna pl-ease?” She stared at Alex holding her gaze for several minutes as Alex thought about what Anerva was saying. Tears welled in the tiny button eyes. “Pl-ease?” she repeated.



        “You want me to take the jar? Be friends with the Genie?” Alex looked from the jar to Anerva and back, a frown creasing her forehead.



        Anerva nodded, smiling despite the teardrops that rolled slowly down her russet cheek.



        “Well, ok, if you are sure?”  It seemed strange to Alex that Anerva would give such a beautiful object to a stranger, but she found the jar to fascinating to refuse.



      The rain seemed to be slowing down and the crowds were beginning to leave their shelters, visiting all the stalls once more. Putting the jar safely inside her jacket pocket, Alex turned to Anerva. “I better go; mum will wonder where I am. Thanks for the jar, I’ll look after it. See you next week?” She turned to walk away, giving a cheery wave to Anerva as she ran off.



        “Goodbye Al-ex.” The strange voice of the tiny woman sounded after her.











        “Alex!” Mrs. Lacy shouted up the staircase to her daughter.



      Alex lay on her bed and continued to peer at the glass jar, despite her mother’s call. She was still a little bemused about her meeting with Anerva, and the little old woman’s insistence that she could keep the exquisite jar. As she stared, until she found it difficult to focus, the colours in the glass seemed to swirl and change. A soft glow of fiery reds and oranges seemed to float at the centre of the jar, with blues and gold adding to its exotic appearance. Alex rolled over onto her back, raising the jar to the light.



        “Alexandra Lacy!” the use of her full name alerted Alex to her mother’s growing impatience, and with a sigh she placed the jar carefully on her desk before going to the to of the stairway.



        “What’s wrong?” She called down to her mother.



    Mrs. Lacy stood in the hallway, looking upwards, the telephone receiver in her hand.    “Your dad’s on the phone, he wants to know if you want to go and stay for a few days in the holidays.” Alex saw the hurt in her mother’s eyes as she spoke of her ex-husband.



        “Ok.” Alex hurried downstairs and took the offered receiver, paused for a few seconds as her mother left before she spoke. “Hi dad.”



        As her father spoke, Alex could hear the sound of children playing in the background. She knew that Sue had twin boys, but had no interest in meeting them. She knew she should not blame the twins for her father leaving her, but it still irritated her to hear them intruding on his conversation with her. There was always a sense of forced jollity whenever her father spoke to her since he had left, and Alex could hear the strain in his voice as he invited her to visit him and his new girlfriend.



        “You know we’d love you to visit Alex. The boys are looking forward to meeting you.” He said, rushing out his words, as if to get everything out before Alex had chance to answer. “And I’m sure you would get on fine with Sue, if you just give her chance.”



        Alex scowled as she thought about her father’s new girlfriend, at least ten years younger than him. Sue had worked with Mr. Lacy for several years. She remembered the way her mum had cried when she had found out about Sue, how awful it had been when her dad had left them. “No thanks.” she answered her father abruptly.



        She thought she heard his voice drop in disappointment, as he tried to change her mind. “Alex…” he seemed about to say something, but stopped as Sue’s voice drifted from the background, questioning Mr. Lacy about some household trivia.



        “Bye dad.” Alex took the chance to hang up the phone, standing staring at it for a few moments, as if she expected her father to suddenly materialise from its mouthpiece. With a resigned sigh, she turned and set off towards the kitchen. Her mother stood at the sink, gazing through the window, her back towards Alex. Alex walked quietly up behind her, slipped her arms around her mother’s waist and rested her cheek between her mother’s shoulder blades. She could feel her mother shaking and knew that Mrs. Lacy still wanted to cry when she heard her husband’s voice.



        They both stood unmoving for several seconds, before Mrs. Lacy turned to face Alex. “If you want to go, it’s ok.” She spoke quietly, resting her arms across Alex’s shoulders. “I mean, I can understand if you want to see your dad, it’s been weeks since…” Alex noticed the quiver that entered her mother’s voice when she spoke about her estranged husband. “Well, since… you know.”



        “I know Mum. But I don’t want to go yet. I’d only say something to upset her, then dad would wish I’d never come. Anyway, you know how I feel about babysitting.” They both grinned at the reference to Alex’s professed dislike to young children.







        It was still dark when the jangling alarm awoke Alex the next morning. She stretched out her hand to turn it off, groaning silently at the thought of getting out of the warm bed. She could hear the tap of rain on the window; it was not a good day to be delivering newspapers. Still, she needed the money, since her father had left, the household budget did not include any spare cash to spend, so the small amount she got for her paper round was important to her. Stretching slowly, she sat on the edge of her bed, trying to ignore the sound of the lashing rain as she reached for her clothes and shoes. Hurriedly she dressed, remembering to silently curse Sue and her howling brats as she did so.



        As she was going out the door, she remembered the glass jar Anerva had given her, and spun around to pick it up and slipped it into her school bag. She wanted to show it to her friend Molly. Grabbing the bag she headed off down the narrow, dark staircase, treading softly so that she did not disturb her mother.



        Mrs. Lacy was already waiting for Alex in the kitchen, however, with a steaming mug in her hand and a bowl of cereal ready. “I thought you’d fancy some hot chocolate on a morning like this.” Mrs Lacy said, nodding towards the window. Dawn was just beginning to break, the ruddy glow barely visible through the curtain of liquid that fell.



        Alex gave her mother a grateful smile, as she sipped the scalding, sweet liquid. “You didn’t have to get up mum, I could have managed.” Alex said between mouthfuls of cereal.



        “It’s ok, I couldn’t sleep anyway.” Mrs. Lacy replied, staring out of the window.



        There was a gentle knock on the back door. Alex recognised Molly’s silhouette through the glass. Raising her wrist, Alex checked the time on her watch. It was later than she had thought; she was going to have to race round her round if she was not going to be late for school. Mrs. Lacy waved her hand at Alex, urging her to finish her breakfast, as she moved to the door to let Molly into the warmth of the kitchen.



        “Morning” Alex’s friend said to them both, shaking her mane of dark curls. A fine spray of rainwater flew off, hitting Alex’s bare arm. Alex winced at the cold droplets and scowled at her friend.



        “Are you ready, lazy bones?” Molly asked Alex, ignoring Alex’s surly expression.



        Grinning at her cheerful friend, Alex grabbed her sweater from the nearby chair and quickly pulled it over her head, reaching down into the neck to free her hair. Next she pulled on her waterproof coat, the hood covering her head, and concealing most of her face. She paused for a moment, thinking, before she reached for her school bag, which she had left on the kitchen chair.



        “Right, I’m ready. I won’t come back home mum, or I’ll be late for school.” She said as the two girls headed out of the door and into the deluge.



        Mrs. Lacy stood in the open doorway and watched the two girls scurry out of sight. She felt the cold rain strike her face, causing rivulets of liquid to run down her face. After several moments spent stood, lost in her thoughts, she sighed, turned back into the silence of the kitchen and began to clear away the remains of breakfast.