Finlay's Shop

She made a left onto Essex Street and found a two-story occult shop called The Bell, Book, and Candle. It was painted a bluish-purple with a dark purple door almost identical in color to Hester’s front door. Several progress Pride flags hung from the upper floor windows. On a gate to the right of the shop a sign invited passersby to visit a Shrine to the Goddess Diana in the back garden.

Inside the shop an elegant woman with box braids tied back from her face leaned into the door to turn a sign from closed to open. She nodded at Kylie the way Black women do when they recognize a kindred spirit.

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Shelves full of old and new books lined the shop’s mahogany-stained pine walls. Baskets of crystals and stones arranged by usage sat on top of a display table. Candles of multiple shapes and colors were stacked in neat rows on a pedestal next to it. From the ceiling bundles of green and gray herbs and knotted cords of ribbons and yarn hung from a stag’s antler.

Sitting on the counter by the register was a box of railroad spikes with cloth strips and strings tied around each one. A sign next to them read, Place at doorway for protection.