“Let’s go over there.”
Rainey pointed to a tent off in the corner.
“What if someone we know spots us?” I asked urgently.
Rainey looked at me from the corner of her eye. “You worry far too much.”
“You worry far too little.”
Impatiently, Rainey waved my words away. “Everythin’ is fine. There is nothin’ to fear.”
Rainey all but dragged me the rest of the way to the tent that had, TEMPLE OF KNOWLEDGE, written above it. There were smaller signs erected by the entrance. The price was five cents for a “special reading.” One sign said, “Who will be your sweetheart?” Another below it read, “Do you know your enemies?” And then, “Where will life take you?”
I would be lying if I said my curiosity wasn’t piqued. Those were all questions I would love to have the answers to. However, Étienne was incredibly superstitious, and that wasn’t by chance. Momma always said he was like Daddy. And there was a saying he would tell us frequently, Dieu seul connaît l’avenir.
I didn’t carry Étienne’s strong beliefs in the clairvoyant. This was all in good fun. At least that’s what I was telling myself.
Rainey stopped at the entrance and looked at me. “Ready?”
There was no one in front of us, which made me more apprehensive. Why was there no one coming to the palm reader? Before I could ask my question, Rainey opened the flap of the tent and walked through, taking me with her.
“Hello, ma’am,” Rainey confidently proclaimed.
An older woman sat behind a table. Even though it was a rather humid summer night, the old woman had a shawl draped over her shoulders. Gold earrings dangled at her ears, and numerous rings decorated her slender, yet wrinkled hands. I couldn’t decide if this was how this woman customarily dressed or if it was merely a costume.
“Good evening,” the woman said.
“You’re the palm reader?”
The older woman eyed us suspiciously. “Yes. I’m Freya.”
“Aren’t you rather old?” my best friend blurted.
“Rainey,” I hissed.
My friend turned to me with wide eyes. She saw no problem with saying the truth. It was one thing to be straightforward when surrounded by family and close friends, but in front of a stranger? It could lead to a dangerous situation.
Freya remained straight-faced. “You don’t look old enough to be here alone.”
The remark caused Rainey to nod, and me to give the entrance of the tent a furtive glance. This was beginning to feel like a terribly bad idea.
After several seconds of regarding us with narrowed eyes, she said, “With age comes knowledge. If you are here with questions of your future, then you have come to the right place.”
Freya’s irises were so dark, they appeared almost black. She looked past Rainey and directly at me. Even though it was humid in the tent, goosebumps prickled my skin. My mouth opened, ready to tell Rainey that we needed to leave.
But then my best friend spoke, “How much does it cost to know our future?”
The woman was unalarmed by Rainey’s question and pointed to a bowl on the corner of the table. “It will be ten cents to read each of your palms.”
“Outside the sign said five,” I meekly said.
Freya gestured toward Rainey. “Because of her, it’s now ten.”
“Thanks a lot,” I hissed.
“What? What did I do?” Rainey hissed back as she began to search for the correct change in her small clutch. Reluctantly, I stepped forward, knowing I couldn’t beg off now. Rainey sorted through the coins in her hands and handed them over.
Freya counted them for herself, and once she was satisfied, she put the money away and pointed to Rainey. “You. First.”
Rainey happily took a seat.
“Before I start, you must know what I say is the truth. It might be difficult to hear, but I cannot help that. However, you can.”
The chance to escape this tent all together was an impossibility. Rainey was steadfast in her decision to do this and I couldn’t leave her here.
“We want to know,” Rainey confidently told the lady.
“Then let us begin,” she said.
Rainey placed a hand on the table, palm up. Freya cupped my best friend’s hand between her wrinkled hands. She peered intently at Rainey’s palm. Her eyes never settled on one place for long. It was almost as though she was reading a book.
A silence settled across the tent. It came instantly and blanketed itself across the three of us so placidly, I knew this was a process that happened with each person who stepped into the tent.
Then, after several minutes of silence, the woman spoke, “Although your family is comfortable now, fortune does not follow you into the future.”
With that said, Rainey turned to me with a smirk playing on her lips. “If I become penniless, may I live with you at Belgrave?”
I smiled back. “I will ask Étienne, I believe so.”
Rainey turned back to a hunched over Freya, who kept her gaze fixed on Rainey’s palm. She lifted her head and pinned Rainey to the chair with her dark irises. “You use humor as a barrier to protect your sensitive soul. Your unyielding will protect you from enemies, but not all. There’s one that perceives the truth in you.”
Freya let go of Rainey’s hand. It dropped to the table with a thud. Slowly, Rainey drew her hand back onto her lap before she cleared her throat. “Is that all?” she asked.
Freya nodded. “That’s your reading.” She looked to me and pointed to the seat next to Rainey. “Come sit.”
Cautiously, I stepped forward and took the seat opposite of Freya. I placed my hand on the table and waited, looking at my best friend from the corner of my eye as though she could offer me last minute advice, but she was of no help. Rainey was leaning back in her chair, arms crossed, carefully watching the fortune teller. Freya’s hands were cold but smooth. Like she did with Rainey, she stared thoughtfully at the lines on my palms. I tried to anticipate what she might gather from the line, but to me, they were only grooves in my skin. They told me nothing. Freya frowned and leaned closer. As she did with Rainey, she stayed in that position for several seconds before she pulled back and kept my hand between hers.
She looked between Rainey and I, almost accusingly. “Both of you have the hands of death draped around you.”
With that chilling statement, I swallowed and looked to my friend. Rainey continued to stubbornly keep her attention on Freya.
I turned back to Freya and said in a measured voice, “We’ve lost people in the past if that’s what you mean.”
Freya shook her head, impatience filling her gaze. “In your past, yes. But in your future. Death is not done with the two of you.” Her eyes remained on Rainey. “You will lose someone you love.” Her dark eyes flicked to me so fast I nearly flinched. It felt as though she’d been staring at me the entire time. “You will lose your heart to someone you love.”
With my hand clasped between hers, Freya continued to stare at me with her all-knowing eyes. “I see pain in your future. Not pain from the past. This is new.” Once again, she looked at me accusingly. “It will be man-made.” Freya mused over her words before she softly smiled to herself and shook her head. “It’s always man-made.” As quickly as the smile appeared, it left. “Pain cannot compare to the hands of fate. What is meant to be in life finds a way.”