So I decided to post another part of the reliquary story. I'm going to try this style for a little bit as it is a different style than the one I was working with in Oracle. Here is part 2:

Denis looked at the woman and shrugged his shoulders. "I think that I prefer you not to look into the future for me. I am just happy knowing the future when it comes to me." He nodded his head and Mrs. Clarens looked at him with a quizzical look in her eyes and then screwed up her lips.

"Huhhh. Well, that's just fine then. I got me what I came here for, but oh yes." The old woman reached into her large purse which looked for all the world that it could hide an elephant with ease. "I got a book for you then.

"A book for me?"

"Huhhh. That's right I got a book for you. I came across it when I was going through my old books."

"Cleaning out the shelves in your house?" Denis smiled benignly.

The old woman frowned. "Listen here, I am not as old as you make me seem."

Denis actually chuckled. "I never said that you were-"

"I know what you said, and what you didn't. It wasn't what you said boy, but what you implied." Mrs. Clarens began to root around her purse again. After a few moments, she pulled out a small, but surprisingly thick book. On the cover o it, in bright yellow lettering was the title "How to Save the World".

"Seriously?" Denis' surprise was more than obvious and he wasn't able to hide it when the woman handed him the book in her wrinkled hands.

Mrs. Clarens made a moue with her mouth and then said, "Of course! you should read it. I t could come in handy at some point in time. It would be a great asset to you."

"This book... an asset?" He turned the book over and there was nothing on the hardback book's back. There wasn't even a dust jacket for the novel. Just the large printed letters. He turned over the old novel again and then flipped it open.

"Huhhh. It's a good book. You keep it now. Don't let it get lost in the store."

Denis looked up at the old woman and once again shrugged his shoulders in an effort to show no indifference. "I'll think about it."

The old woman slammed her hand against the counter top with a rather loud sound. It made Denis jump. The woman's eyes were glittering pools of darkness all of a sudden. Her body appeared to be suddenly rigid and there was a sense of power behind the old woman and she stared him down. "You better keep that book boy. You better read it too." Denis looked back at her and nodded his head in a dumbfounded fashion. The woman suddenly became small and imposing once more. "Huhhh. You better."

Denis shivered slightly and then placed the book on the counter. "Is there anything else that you need?" There was a slight waver in his voice and he watched as she pulled a small lighter from her purse and lit the cigarette before she opened the door and nodded at him.

"You just keep yourself in good order. I don't want to hear about nothing bad happening. Remember to keep the book." Mrs. Clarens walked out letting the cowbell attached to the door jingle slightly and she nodded before taking a long drag of her cigarette. She nodded to him. "See you again then Denis. Remember to tell me what you thought of the book the next time I come in to see you."

Denis simply nodded his head again as the old woman left the small store and left Denis with her words. They were words that seemed to smack of prophecy. He thought about it once more and then rolled his eyes and turned to walk back to the Mystery section. Once there, he forgot all about the book and began to shelve the books. It was not another minute before the phone rang again. He frowned and sighed as he slowly traveled the length from the mystery section to the front counter and leaned over the counter and picked up the phone once more. Once again, loud sounds of static screamed through the telephone and he rolled his eyes. He was about to hand the phone up when he heard the voice.

It was high pitched and it simply said, "We're coming!" The voice was so inundated and blurred by static that he could not make out anything else. As he frowned in puzzlement, he heard a wind. he looked to the door and it wasn't open and then realized that it was coming from the other side of the store. As he looked over at the mystery section, he saw the curtain flutter from behind the bookcase in the romance section that was jutting out. He frowned and then heard a yell. Denis dropped the phone in his hand which had gone silent and then tried to rush his way to the mystery section. Before he made it past the children's section, he saw the curtain flutter and the bellow of a man could be heard. He stopped just short of the other side of the bins right before the mystery section and saw a large man thrown into the bookcase in front of the curtained door. The man heaved with a grunt and tried to stand up when he was thrown to the floor again by another small body that was thrown at him at the same velocity from the same place.

The second body was that of a small girl dressed in a small white sundress. She eased her hand to her head and rubbed what appeared to be a bump under her long dark brown tresses. The man, who was almost as burly as a lumberjack, and even looked like one as well. The girl looked around the store and then looked directly at Denis. as she did so, she tugged at the lumberjack-man's sleeve and then said, "I don't think we are in Kansas anymore."

The burly man shrugged his shoulder and then said, "We're from Canada. We never were in Kansas."