Disclaimer: Weaver is the second book in the Alice Cunningham series. If you are reading and finding yourself totally confused, please read Threads first. That will help. Weaver has been written and posted. It had not been edited for minor spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. I try not to make spelling mistakes, but I'm only human. Please do not waste time by commenting on spelling and grammar. Happy reading!

 Author's Note: I'm normally as soft and cute as a bunny rabbit, but my story is copyright, so if you steal it and pretend it's yours, I will come down on you like the hammer of Thor. Thanks, have a nice day!

            “Thief!”

The high-pitched voice made Alice Cunningham jump, nearly dropping the mug of tea in her hand. She turned, startled to find a painting hanging on the wall of her shop, stuck between two tall shelves, a portrait of a thin, squinty looking old man in round spectacles. He looked, Alice thought, rather like a banker.

            “Pardon?” She said, as politely as she could. It was rather startling to be yelled at by a painting. “Did you say something?”

            The painting moved. The old man shifted a little, and he had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, “Well, you might be a thief. Right?”

            “Oh,” Alice cried, delighted, “You must be Mr. Duff, of Mr. Duff’s stuff! The alarm system disguised as a painting. I only ordered you a few days ago. Wow,” she mused, “Mr. Duff’s Stuff sure ships his stuff fast!” She stopped, a bit confused with all the tongue twisters.

            “Well that nice lady hung me here,” Mr. Duff beamed, “the one with beautiful silver hair and the pretty smile.”

            “Yes,” Alice wondered if a painting could get a crush on someone, “Azura.”

            “She’s not a thief,” Mr. Duff said pointedly, and he looked at her suspiciously.

            “I’m not a thief,” Alice protested, “Look, you can’t just go about accusing people all willy- nilly like that!”

            “Can so,” Mr. Duff crossed his arms and puffed out his skinny sweater-vested chest. “It’s effective.”

            “Well, I suppose if you call everyone a thief someone might be a thief someday.” Alice mused, “But I’m the owner.”

            “So you say,” the man in the painting narrowed his eyes at her and Alice sighed, “Well, it was nice meeting you, mostly. I haven’t got time to argue though. I’m about to move the shop.”

            She turned away from the painting and went into the backroom. Maya was sitting at the big oak desk, her fingers ticking away on the lap top key board. Alice had gratefully relinquished all of the paperwork to the girl, since she seemed to have a natural head for numbers. Azura was perched on the desk holding a tea cup and saucer, her long skirts draping over the side.  She gave Alice a fond smile.

            “Ready to move?” Alice asked.

Azura gave her a thumbs up, and Maya said, “Ready. Just let me know the moment I should close my eyes.”

            “Okay,” Alice leaned around the doorframe and shouted up the staircase towards the upper suites, “Hey everyone! Moving the shop, brace yourselves!”

            Gabriel poked his head out the first door and grinned down at her, “Yeehaa! Look out Prague, here we come!”

            Alice smiled. Gabriel had been pushing them to go to the city of Prague for weeks now. He kept raving about the “city of one hundred spires” and how amazing it would be to visit. So Alice had finally given in. After all, she’d already made them go to Hawaii this month. The sales hadn’t been amazing. Tourists mostly wandered in, wondered out loud about the lack of puca shell necklaces and shirts that said “all I got was this lousy shirt” and then walked out again. But it had hardly mattered. She’d got to spend two sun- soaked weeks roaming the beaches with Altair. Something she’d badly needed after all that ridiculous drama with Ambrose. Not to mention, lying about in the sun all day with a muscular, bronzed Altair hadn’t been half bad either…

            “You’ve got a gooey look on your face,” Gabriel was descending the stairs toward her, “I don’t want to know. Let’s just go to Prague now.”

            Alice blushed and turned towards the cupboard. “Right. Prague.” She pulled her necklace over her head, the key clinking musically against the little bottle of magic that hung on the silver chain. The lock clicked and the cupboard door swung forward with a squeak of protest. The dark interior was lit by a large knot of threads, glowing and pulsating with brilliant colors. Alice wrapped one hand around the strands, relishing the electric warmth they sent up her arm. She took a deep breath, “Okay everyone, brace yourselves.” She darted a look over at Gabriel, “You know where Altair is? I’d rather not leave him behind. At least, not quite yet.”

            “Hey!” Altair was standing in the doorway now, a coffee cup in one hand. It was clearly windy outside, since his shaggy dark blonde hair stuck up at odd angles, “can’t a man go out to get a coffee without you jumping to the other side of the planet without him?”

            Alice kept a perfectly straight face, “if you don’t fix your hair, everyone in Prague will laugh at you, and I’ll pretend not to know you.”

            “I say we leave him,” Gabriel volunteered, “he’s clearly a mess.” He smoothed his own hair back carefully, making Maya giggle, “he’ll only make us look bad.”

            Altair laughed, “You’re just jealous of my rugged good looks.”

            “Where’s Shakra?” Alice said, before the boys could really get going.

            Altair took a sip of his coffee and winced, sucking in air quickly, “Ow, hot. She’s by the fire. I just walked past her.”

            “Okay, great. Here we go.” Alice let the warm tingle of the threads take over, she said in a loud clear voice, “Prague, Czech Republic – please.”

            The familiar lurch still made her stomach flip uncomfortably, and she kept her eyes firmly shut until the motion stopped completely. Beside her, Altair let out a breath and swore, “Damn near dropped my coffee. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

            “Wuss,” Gabriel said.

            Maya’s eyes were shining and she tugged on Gabriel’s sleeve, “let’s go exploring!” She turned to Alice, “can we go? Let’s all go!”

            Azura laughed, “You go ahead. I’ve been here loads of times.” A shadow crossed her face briefly, then it was gone, replaced by a far away look and a sad smile, “It was one of Ruby’s favorite cities. The city of magic she called it.”

            “Where did we land?” Alice said eagerly, “Where’s the magic center of the city?”

            “Old Town Square,” Azura said, “always is, always will be. Go, enjoy yourself. I suspect you’ll love it.”

            They went, Gabriel and Maya in the lead, followed by Alice, gripping Altair’s hand tightly in her excitement. Shakra uncurled with a contented yawn as they passed by her, “Where are we?” She rumbled.

            “Prague!” Gabriel called back over his shoulder, “come on!”

            “Seen it,” Shakra flopped back down and began chewing on one paw.

            The bell jangled wildly as they pushed out onto the street, and Alice stopped, head tilted back, looking at the city around her in awe.

            Prague was like nothing she’d imagined. She didn’t know exactly what she’d been expecting. They were standing in a huge, open square. Surrounding them on all sides were colorful, baroque style buildings, and in the near distance the twin spires of a gothic church rose into a blue, cloudless sky. Horses passed by, hooves clattering on the neat cobblestones, pulling carriages filled with excited tourists. People walked around with cameras glued to their faces, and stood in large clumps in the square jabbering excitedly, a constant rumble of conversation, different languages mashing together into one vague murmur. To the far right stood a huge stone pedestal, upon which a statue of a man in flowing robes stood staring sternly down at the tourists sitting on the park benches below him. Alice stared up at the statue in awe, “Wow.”

            Gabriel explained eagerly, “That’s the monument to Jan Hus, a Czech priest who was burned at the stake for heresy.”

            “Oh,” Alice’s eyes grew wide, and her stomach curled at the thought, but Altair was elbowing her in the ribs and pointing straight ahead, “Look, what are they all staring at?”

            A large crowd was gathering in front of a tall clock tower at the other end of the square. Alice stepped forward, trying to make out what they were all staring at. The clock face was huge, colored in greens, reds and golds. There was a smaller sphere in the center, but none of the gold symbols made any sense to her. The clock at the top had normal numbers though, and the hands were slowly crawling up to the very top. Twelve o’clock. A faint chime began to sound, a bell. Alice stared in fascination as twin doors in the clock tower slid sideways to reveal robed figures sliding past, stiffly moving dolls clutching crosses and keys, hands pressed together in prayer.

            “Oh my goodness,” Maya said, “look, the little skeleton is ringing the bell!”

            Alice glanced down slightly. There was indeed a ghastly, grinning skeleton perched to the side of the golden clock, yanking on the rope that rang the bell at the top.

            “Amazing!” Gabriel’s mouth was hanging open.

            Altair folded his arms over his chest as he watched the spectacle, “enthusiastic little bastard, isn’t he?”

            “Gabriel, or the skeleton?” Alice asked, and Altair grinned, “Both, I guess.”

Gabriel ignored them, “This is so cool! Hey, let’s go see all the shops! It’s like a journey back in time.”

            Alice smiled at his enthusiasm. He was right though, the huge gothic steeples scraping the sky and the old fashioned flats packed together certainly spoke of another day and age. “Let’s go look for other magical shops,” she chimed in, and Maya plucked at her sleeve, saying excitedly, “Oh! Let’s try that one!” The shop she was indicating was done in reddish-brown bricks, with huge, wooden double doors decorated with scrolling black iron designs. A heavy looking wrought iron lamp was set in the center of the building, and red, velvet curtains peeked through all the windows, golden light escaping through the cracks. Altair led the way, yanking on one of the iron handles on the front door, which opened with a heavy creak. They entered the shop one at a time, Alice peering around Altair as they walked in. “Wow!”

            Maya was exclaiming with delight as they looked around. The inside was huge, the ceiling a high, arched dome with glass sky-lights that allowed the sun to shine down, reflecting off hundreds of mirrors that hung on the walls, bursting through the crystals that hung from the ceiling and bouncing little shards of rainbow lights across the walls and floor. The walls were dotted with tiny metal hooks, and hanging from each one were sparkling necklaces and bracelets. Alice tipped her head back and stared in astonishment at the jewelry lining the walls, some of them had to be nine or ten feet over her head, at least. “How on earth do you get one from up there?” She wondered out loud.

            “Magic!” A cheery voice said from across the room, and Alice blinked in surprise. She hadn’t even noticed the little desk in the corner. An older woman sat there, her silvery hair tucked into a neat bun. A pair of small spectacles sat on her nose and she peered over them at the little group in front of her with piercing green eyes. When she spoke, it was with a heavy Czech accent. “Of course,” she flashed Alice a white smile, “You must be Alice Cunningham, of Threads. The council told me about receiving your request to bring the shop here, we were so delighted.” The woman stood up and offered her hand to Alice, “the niece of my Ruby Cox is always welcome here.”

            “You knew my aunt?” Alice shook the woman’s hand. She had a dry, firm grip.

            “I did indeed. Wonderful woman, your aunt. I’m Peggy, by the way.” She looked almost wistful, “Your aunt often came to visit us here in Praha. It was one of her favorite cities, you know.”

            “Azura told me,” Alice nodded.

            Something flashed across Peggy’s face for a split second, and then the expression was gone, “Oh, yes. I imagine she did.”

            Alice stared at her curiously. Could it be that Peggy disliked Azura? The question was practically on her lips, but it would be terribly rude to ask. “You have a lovely shop here.” she said instead.

            “Thank you, child.” The wide smile was back, and Peggy gestured around her, “Pick something, Alice. Whatever you like, it’s yours.”

            Alice gaped at her, “Oh, I couldn’t…”

            “Nonsense,” Peggy said firmly, “your aunt was very special to me, and you’re her blood.” She surprised Alice by reaching out and taking her arm, her fingers gentle. She stared down at the charm bracelet on Alice’s wrist, her voice husky with emotion, “Where do you think Ruby got this?”

            Alice’s mouth dropped open, and she watched as the older woman rubbed one finger over the silver moon charm, “You gave my aunt the charm bracelet?”

            “I made it for her,” Peggy smiled again, fondly. Then she let go of Alice’s arm, and gestured at the jewelry on the wall, “I insist, pick whatever you like. Just one item, mind you. Pick wisely.” Peggy glanced up at the others standing behind Alice, “Pardon me, I’m terribly rude. I’m Peggy, nice to meet you all.”

            Alice wandered a little while the others talked to Peggy, Maya was marveling over a set of silver rings that Peggy got out to show her, the older woman explaining that there were little vials of potion in each one for an emergency, “This one will paralyze an attacker,” Peggy was saying, “but only for seconds, mind you. This big one with the gem will shrink you to the size of a mouse, but you’d better make sure you have the matching bracelet to grow you to proper size again, or you’ll be eating cheese the rest of your life. This one you point at someone and they’ll have uncontrollable fits of laughter…”

            Alice ran a finger over a large pink gem on the end of a silver chain. A lot of the jewelry on the wall was flashy, with big clumps of diamonds set in silver or gold. There were little tags over most of them, telling you what each one did. The big pink one was labeled, “Diamond of Love”, and claimed to make the wearer irresistible to the opposite sex. The disclaimer on the bottom told you that it only lasted for six hours and each time you wore it the power depleted a little more. She stopped in front of a pretty, silver bracelet with little bits of green gems that dangled down from the links. The description said, “Fortune Fair” and claimed to make the wearer richer every time they put it on. She squinted at the little words on the bottom of the note, and discovered that nobody actually knew where the money came from. Her eyes widened a little, and she turned to the next item, a golden bracelet with turquoise and blue stones that apparently turned the wearer into a mermaid. That was neat sounding, but the disclaimer warned about staying underwater for too long, because the power would eventually wear off. She continued down the wall until she came to a beautifully polished twist of white stone on a black cord. It looked out of place amongst the huge, sparkling diamonds, and she picked it up and ran her fingers over the smooth surface. A feeling of intense calm washed over her suddenly, and Alice stared at it with wide eyes. She looked up at the hook where it had been hanging, but there was no description card there.

            She turned back to Peggy, and the woman was smiling at her expectantly. Maya and Gabriel were busy pouring over the jewelry on the far wall, and Altair had found another “Fortune Fair” bracelet and was running his fingers over the smooth links, eyes shining.

            “I see something caught your interest,” Peggy said.

            “There’s no description,” Alice walked over and placed the necklace carefully on the wooden surface of the desk, “What does it do?”

            Peggy shrugged, “As best I can tell, it levels out your emotions. I’m not sure what else it might do, since I didn’t make it.”

            “Where did it come from?” Alice asked.

            “I bought it in Greece from a vendor. He couldn’t seem to remember where he’d bought if from. All it seems to do is make you relax,” Peggy smiled, “which is always a good thing.”

            “I think I like this one,” Alice said timidly, “is that okay?”

            Peggy looked at her sideways, studying her face, “You’re very interesting, Alice dear. A million pieces to choose from, a million sparkly, shiny jewels and you choose the plain stone.”

            Alice looked down at the little rock carving nestled in her palm.  It seemed to vibrate slightly, like it had hidden energy, “I don’t know. I just…have a good feeling about it.”

            “Then it’s yours,” Peggy said, and smiled at her again, “my gift to you, niece of Ruby.”

            “Thank you so much,” Alice darted a look over at Altair, who’d come up to the counter still holding the Fortune Fair bracelet, “Does this thing really work?” He said, skeptically.

            Peggy said, “All my product works, young man. You just don’t know how it works.”

            “What exactly does that mean?” Altair said, leaning his hip against the counter and looking down at her suspiciously.

            “It means that nobody knows how the money shows up, it just does. Who knows where it comes from. And after a few days the magic wears off,” Peggy said.

            Altair shrugged, he put the bracelet down on the desk. “Well, hell. It sounds okay to me.”

            “No it doesn’t,” Alice said, horrified, “Altair, you have no idea how the money comes. You could be stealing from….from orphans or something!”

            Altair raised his eyebrow at her, “Orphans, huh?” he dug around in his jeans pocket and tossed a few coins on the counter, “I’ll take my chances.”

            “No!” Alice tried to snatch the money back, but he caught her wrist, chuckling at her dismay, “Take it easy, sweetheart. I find the money is from orphans, I’ll return it right away, I promise.”

            “It’s not a good idea,” Alice protested.

            Peggy was watching them, mild amusement on her face, and Gabriel and Maya came over to see what the ruckus was about. Gabriel read the tag on the bracelet and said, “It probably won’t work anyways, let him spend his money like an idiot.”

            “All my product works,” Peggy insisted. She snatched the coins off the counter and said sweetly, “would you like a bag?”

            “Nope,” Altair slipped the bracelet over his wrist, and winced when Alice punched him in the arm, “Fine, don’t listen to me, jerk.” She turned back to Peggy and smiled politely, “Thank you so much for the necklace, it was really lovely meeting you.”

            “I’m excited to have you here,” Peggy said, “You must stay for awhile, Alice. There is much to see here in Praha. You must try the rooftop dining.  You can see every spire for miles, very beautiful at night.”

            “Thank you,” Alice said, “we’ll have to try that.”

            They bid Peggy goodbye and stepped out into the square again, this time they were drawn into a nearby bakery, lured by the scent of baking bread. It was crowded with tourists, and Alice leaned over and whispered to Maya, “I don’t think this shop is magic.”

            “Nope,” Maya moved sideways when one of the eager tourists jostled into her. “ I think you’re right.”

            They waited in line for five minutes, but it was worth it the moment Alice bit into the warm scone she’d ordered. “Oh my gosh,” she mumbled past the mouthful, “so good.”

            Gabriel grunted in agreement, taking another huge bite out the sausage roll he’d bought.

            “We should get back to Azura,” Maya looked around the square, “I really want to see more, but we should really get back to the shop.”

            Alice glanced back at Threads, and was startled to see a large lineup of tourists overflowing out the front door, “Oh, shoot. You’re right. It looks super busy.”