Talisman

The medium Carolina sat patiently waiting for the journey to commence so she could commune with the spirits on The Night Riviera, an overnight passenger train that ran between London and Penzance; along with her, a very few other weary passengers had boarded the train just before midnight. Carolina looked out the misted window of the cramped single cabin to the eerily quiet platform at Paddington Station. This was the second sitting in her contract with Dr James Barlow who was trying to reach a very important passenger who had died almost five years earlier, at 12:45 on the 22nd December 1945, in the very place she now sat. 

Carolina thought about Dr Barlow, she hadn’t known what to make of the man who had entered her fortune tellers shop in Hackney a fortnight ago for the first sitting; she guessed he was in his mid forties, well off, very posh, not the type to believe in her unusual gift let alone be seen in Hackney, and unusually he was a closed book to her; she could not get a read off him. Carolina had asked Dr Barlow to sit down to discuss what she could do for him and he had gotten straight to the point. 

“My sister Josephine Barlow, died tragically young travelling on an overnight train from London, she commuted every week for school. We miss her terribly, as you can understand. Unfortunately when she died she had with her a very important ring, an heirloom, an artefact actually. It’s quite priceless, the ring dates back to 1630BC. This is it here” Dr Barlow held up a black and white photo of Josephine wearing a heavy looking, ornately inscribed band with a stone carved in the shape of a scarab. “It wasn’t found on her or in any of her possessions, we would very much like to know where it is and to let her know we miss her.” Dr Barlow had added to sound less heartless.

“I am able to delve into the sub layers of the Universe to speak with the dead. If the dead are willing to give up their secrets.” Carolina had replied.

“How much do you charge?” Dr Barlow had asked.

“The price is different for every case, perhaps it will be easy to locate her, maybe I will need to go to purgatory to find her, we will see. It could cost you upwards of £100” Carolina had been serious, the soul shaking terrors she was witness to on the Otherside demanded a high fee.

“Why does it cost so much?” Dr Barlow had been offended.

“You will understand the cost, when you see the cost.” She had waited for his reply. He had reluctantly agreed to the price. 

“Please, sit.” Carolina had motioned to a comfortable looking chair in the corner.

Carolina relaxed back into the seat of the small train cabin and wrapped a warm plaid scarf around her neck as remembered the reading that day; it had been a grey and drizzly morning with not many people about, she had locked the door and shut the curtains in her small fortune-tellers shop lighting black candles at the four compass points, which had been placed in front of four mirrors around the room. She had brought out her teapot, steeping special leaves in the boiling water, she had sat down with a small engraved wooden box and the tea at an old antique table in the centre of the mirrors. As usual she had casually sipped the tea taking her time to let the drug she reserved for serious divination to do its work. Carolina had then opened the wooden box to reveal semi precious stones and runes, drawn a pentagram shape on the table in chalk, placed the stones in the corners, then pierced her finger with a needle to extract a blood sacrifice which she also dabbed in the pentagram’s corners. The tea had taken effect after a few minutes and she had begun to chant.

“Spirits of the past move towards the light, I bring you gifts of sight and sound from the world of the living. I invoke the spirits of my ancestors, mother Magdala visit with me, guide me through the spirit world. I seek one who was named Josephine Barlow” Carolina had sat waiting with her eyes closed, drunk on the tea infusion. Again she had repeated the same chorus, louder and more demanding. The dark candles had flickered low, Carolina’s breathing had slowed as if she had fallen into a deep sleep, her eyes had suddenly opened again glazed over with a grey haze, looking into the underworld.

At the time Dr Barlow had watched on entranced, although he could not see it Carolina had been searching in the other realm, her body held in a catatonic state. After some time Carolina had come out of her trance, slowly stepping back through the spiritual realms and layers; with a violent jolt she was conscious once more and her eyes had returned to their natural brown colour. When Carolina had finally spoken she had been breathless, physically drained and shaking uncontrollably.

“I cannot find her, there are some places I dare not go, perhaps she could be there.” Carolina had known she would not get paid without locating the woman but the cost to her soul of a trip into hell hadn’t been worth any amount of money.

“Are you alright?” Dr Barlow had been alarmed.

“Yes I’m quite alright although I will need to close the store for the remainder of the day” Carolina had taken a blanket from the nearest armchair and had wrapped herself in it, rocking herself back and forth.

“Perhaps if you visited the train? Where she died?” Dr Barlow had added eagerly, he hadn’t been ready to give up just then.

So, Dr Barlow had booked the next available ticket, in the train car where Josephine had died, for the following week. The very cabin where Carolina now sat; as she waited for the train to move she set up her fortune table in the middle of the room where she placed her carved wooden box and 4 black mirrors to face outward to each of the compass points. Out of the box she took a stick of white chalk which she used to draw the pentagram on the table. Carolina’s attention was drawn outside to a man rushing past her window, his face covered by his hat and trench coat in the cold night, he was the last to board and once he stepped on the whistle blew and the train began to move.

Carolina went back to her work, she took a pin from her felt hat and pierced her finger extracting the blood sacrifice, she dabbed crimson in each corner of the chalk drawing and sat back pinching the tiny wound while she casually sipped her tea, kept warm by a metal thermos which she placed back into her floral tapestry bag. After a few moments the tea took effect, gently she lay her hands either side of the pentagram and began to speak “Mother Magdala guide me, help me to see the events leading up to 12:45am on the 22nd of December 1945 ” Carolina’s breathing became slow and heavy as though she had fallen asleep, suddenly her eyes flashed open, grey cataracts appeared as before. She had diverged to the astral plane, she was still in the sleeper berth but time converged and she could see the many years and people who had existed in that spot where she now sat, the watercolour images of people ran through colliding in on one another at breakneck speed. Carolina witnessed time passing since the birth of the train, as she approached the hour of Josephines death it began to slow down. Carolina saw the woman she was in pursuit of, she couldn’t have been more than 18, thin, tall, pale, English looking; she resembled the image in the black and white photo supplied to her by Dr Barlow. Carolina watched a hologram version of Josephine storing her small suitcase, watched as she fussed with her jacket and looked through her hand bag for her book, Carolina watched through the night. As the time approached, the minute of her death, Josephines hologram image did something completely out of the ordinary, something Carolina had never witnessed before, the image - one which was supposed to be only a recollection, an imprint of a series of events - transformed. Josephine looked at her, directly into her eyes. At first Carolina was unsure of Josephines intent but then she motioned for her to follow her. Carolina’s heart jumped in shock and fear, this ghost was now in control of the experience, not her. Carolina had been paid to find this woman, this was what she had wanted - to find answers - now some part of her was unsure if she was willing to complete the task; a sixth sense was pulling at the back of her mind.

Josephine stood up and wafted out of the cabin. Carolina left her body in the cabin and followed Josephine in her astral form, once Carolina got to the door of her cabin she looked down the long, incredibly narrow, dimly lit, hallway. The lights flickered as Josephine’s ghost passed them. Carolina followed Josephine to another sleeper berth further down the hall where they both looked inside, the door had been left slightly ajar, to see a hologram version of a younger Dr Barlow sitting inside. Carolina was confused by the image, he had not told Carolina he had been on the train the night Josephine had died. Josephine held her finger up to her lips to warn Carolina to be quiet. Together they watched Dr Barlow set up a similar pentagram table to the one in Carolina’s room but where the mirrors sat outward with Carolina, to face the devil outward, in this room with Dr Barlow they sat facing inward, a crowd of dead faces screamed silently in the glass. Carolina became frightened, she looked from Josephine back to Dr Barlow, Josephine then began whispering urgently, incoherently; it wasn’t that she was trying to talk to Carolina, the steady stream of words she was uttering seemed almost like a chant, like an incantation. Carolina panicked she was out of her depth she didn’t understand what was happening, this ghost was different, she hurried back to her sleeping body but was unable to rouse herself; Josephine strayed back into the room, still hissing her whispered words, their faces inches from one another in the cramped space.

“What do you want?!” Carolina spoke loudly over her, she had had her share of experiences with the dead and some did not rest easy, some she could not speak to calmly, some dead slept most uneasily. “I’m here to help you Josephine!” the sound of her name stopped her silent “You’re brother hired me to find you, he says they miss you.” Josephine shrunk away from Carolina to the door almost turning to leave “and he would very much like to know where your ring is, the one with the scarab?” At that moment the cabin door slid silently open, Josephine’s ghost vanished as Dr Barlow slipped inside in her place (not the astral memory but the actual man), just as quietly as he opened the door did he slide it closed. Carolina panicked watching her catatonic body helplessly unprotected, in her astral form she tried batting her body to wake herself up but nothing could be done, the tea infusion allowed her a certain amount of time in the spirit world and that time wasn’t up yet. Dr Barlow sat across from her immovable body. 

Carolina’s astral self eventually receded into her body and she slowly came out of her trance, her body shook with the effort of the trip into the astral plane and with the Adrenalin that pumped through her veins at the shock realisation Dr Barlow was not who he pretended to be.

“Who are you?” Carolina shot the accusation, Dr Barlow laughed in response.

“I am who I say I am, why? What did she say?” Dr Barlow did not seem aggressive or dangerous but eager for news.

“She showed me the night she died, what were you doing on the train? Are you a seer? Like me?”

“Like you? No.” he said it most condescendingly “I have my own talents to speak with those who have passed, I have been riding this train for the past year trying to track down my sister. I’m surprised she so easily revealed herself to you. The ring she has hidden somewhere is a talisman, I need it to venture into parts of the underworld inaccessible to me. Did she show you where it is?” The fear he saw in Carolina’s face assured him she was of no threat to him.

“No. She did not. She never spoke, she only revealed herself to me to show your true nature” Carolina answered.

“Well now she is aware of your allegiance to me, she won’t trust you. I have no further use of you.” Dr Barlow seemed disappointed, he lay £100 on the table and left.

Carolina was very unsettled in her skin, she desperately wanted off the train which didn’t get into its port for another six hours.

The cabin staff came by shortly afterwards to deliver refreshments, Carolina had packed up her accoutrements and received the staff gladly, thankful she was not alone with Dr Barlow on the train.

“Good evening” Carolina said.

“Evening mam, tea or coffee?” 

“Coffee. Please.” Carolina felt more assured seeing the faces of the train crew, she was given her coffee and a tiny cake before they departed.

Carolina locked the door, she did what she could in the way of protection wards and incantations, incase Dr Barlow had any ideas on harming her, and tried with all her might not to sleep but the gentle rhythmic rocking of the train made it impossible to stay awake, she was exhausted. Around 2am her head bobbed down on her chest and she slept and as she slept, she dreamed, she saw the last night of Josephines life, the spells used by Dr Barlow, how he had used black magic to cause her death, a brain aneurism, something that couldn’t ever be proven as murder.

Right before the dawn, Josephine had one last image to show her. The location of the ring, the talisman from ancient Egypt. And there it was quite in plain sight in the overhead baggage compartment. Josephine had revealed it to Caroline; the ring had revealed itself to her as its new owner. Easily she picked up the heavy piece and stowed it in her luggage.

Carolina awoke and in the light of the early morning she felt more safe, she could hear the commotion of the cabin crew in the hallway, the loudspeaker announced their imminent arrival at the station. Carolina opened her small trunk astonished to find the ring there where she had stowed it in the dreamscapes; hastily she gathered the rest of her things and left the small haunted room to rejoin the living in the dining cart. She was afraid of Dr Barlow, he was dangerous, a criminal. With their last meeting she had not felt as though she were truly in danger but now in her heart she knew too much. She reasoned with herself, 'who would believe her story, she had no proof he was a murderer, she was no harm to him, he did not know that she had the ring'.

In the dining cart there was no sight of Dr Barlow, Carolina was shown to her table by a smartly dressed, friendly old waiter and served breakfast. The train pulled up at a misty Penzance Station at 7am, Carolina disembarked wrapping her heavy brown woollen coat about her as she made her way hastily down the platform with the rest of the train’s passengers and crew, she looked over her shoulder, there was still no sight of Dr Barlow. Carolina waited in the coffee shop for the return train that was leaving at 8:30am, she ordered a white coffee and toast, there were two other businessmen also having coffee, reading newspapers, waiting for the train to London. As she sat in the window she saw Dr Barlow pass by, he caught sight of her and doffed his hat, Carolina froze waiting to see if he would come in but he kept walking, she let out the breath she had been holding in.

“Here you go love” the waitress poured her coffee and placed the toast in front of her.

“Thank you” Carolina smiled and picked up the coffee with shaking hands.

Carolina returned to her little shop that day and never saw Dr Barlow again. Her ability to see the Otherside enhanced enormously with the strength of the ring talisman and the other worldly access she was granted by the spirit of Kamose, King of Egypt who now accompanied Carolina on her journey to the Otherside, along with her ancestor Magdala.

Kamose had been the first owner of the ring, a ring he claims was stolen from his tomb, one which had been given to him directly by Amun Ra.