The Spirit of Cattail County Page 7

  Sparrow spied Clara Casto, one of Maeve and Johnny’s older sisters, standing at the end of the line and took her place behind Clara. “Are you waiting to have your fortune told?”

  “I wouldn’t pass this opportunity by if I had to make a deal with the devil,” Clara said. “Which I practically had to do. I borrowed money from Maeve. That girl is a scrooge. Saves every penny and then doles it out like a loan shark. Charges interest and everything. But it’s going to be worth it. Did you read Miss Ruby’s article?”

  “Five times.”

  Clara pointed to herself. “Seven. I’m applying to Vanderbilt in the fall. I want to know if I’m going to get in.”

  Sparrow did her best to suppress her astonishment at the idea of a Casto applying to a prestigious college. The Castos had a reputation for making trouble, not grades. Every time she spoke to a Casto, they surprised her. “What do you want to study?”

  “Medicine.” Clara’s tone held a touch of challenge. It dared Sparrow to make a snide comment. The Monroes would, but not Sparrow. She was impressed by Clara’s noble goals.

  “You think you could hold my place here?” Sparrow asked.

  “I don’t know.” Clara hitched her thumbs into the back pockets of her shorts. “Been pretty busy and it’s like an oven out here. People don’t like waiting in line, especially in heat like this. Might be hard to hold your spot.”

  “I won’t be but a second. I just need to run over to that watch guy.” Sparrow pointed in the direction of the vendor with the broken pocket watch. “If someone comes, holler and I’ll run back over.”

  “Come right back if you hear me yell for you.”

  “Promise.” Sparrow took off toward the watch vendor, her flip-flops slapping against the bottom of her feet.

  When she got to the portly vendor, she pulled out the brass pocket watch. It was a lot better than the ones he had for sale. Sparrow’s actually worked. “I was wondering if you might want to buy this from me?”

  The vendor took the watch. “You got permission to sell this?”

  Sparrow reckoned she did. In her opinion, everything in Dalton House was hers. “Yes, sir.”

  He rubbed his sunburned nose. “How much do you want for it?”

  “Thirty dollars.” If Sparrow was selling something for money, she wanted to get as much as she could.

  “I’ll give you ten.”

  “I’ve got to get at least twenty-five.”

  “I’ll give you ten.”

  Sparrow pursed her lips. Ten dollars didn’t help. “Twenty.”

  “Ten.” The vendor crossed his arms, tucking the watch out of sight.

  Sparrow held her hand out for the watch. She wasn’t taking a bad deal.

  Reluctantly, the vendor placed it in her palm. “You’ll be back. Ten dollars is a good price.”

  “It’s an antique.”

  The watch vendor scoffed. “Sell it to a collector, then.”

  Sparrow looked toward Elena’s van. A man sat in a lawn chair behind the antiquities booth reading a newspaper. “I will.”

  “You’ll be back,” the vendor called as Sparrow walked toward Elena’s van.

  The man minding the antiquities booth didn’t have the line that Elena did. He didn’t have a line at all.

  Sparrow walked up to his booth. The man was so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn’t notice Sparrow. She cleared her throat.

  He looked up. His dark hair was cut short and he wore geeky glasses that somehow gave off an air of trendy chic. His clothes were simple but looked purposely casual, and he had a tattoo on his forearm that Sparrow couldn’t see well enough to read. He seemed surprised to have a customer. “Are you here to see me?”

  “Yep. I mean, yes, sir.”

  The man smiled. “Well, that’s nice. My niece has been stealing my thunder all morning.”

  Sparrow glanced over to Elena’s tent. Old Miss Annabelle was having her fortune told. Miss Annabelle was the oldest living Beulah resident. She had to be ninety-one at least. Sparrow wondered what kind of fortune she hoped for.

  “You’re Elena’s uncle.”

  “That’s right. I’m Eli.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Eli. I’m Sparrow.”

  Eli chuckled. “I do love your southern manners, but you can call me Eli.”

  “I’ll try. You know there’s a good article about Elena in the paper.”

  “I know. I read it.” He held up the Beulah Herald. “What can I do for you?”

  “Do you buy antiques as well as sell them?”

  “I do. Selectively.”

  “I have an antique pocket watch for sale.” Sparrow pulled out the watch and displayed it across her palm to make her offer more enticing.

  “That’s lovely. May I?”

  Sparrow handed Eli the watch.

  He looked over the outside carefully, and then clicked open the cover.

  Sparrow rocked up to her tiptoes so she could see the watch better. “It’s only brass, but it works.”

  He checked his watch. “Correct time too. Beautiful specimen.” He handed it back to Sparrow.

  “Don’t you want to buy it?”

  “No, you take that back home. I can’t know for certain without closer examination, but I think that’s gold. Not brass. If so, your watch might be worth a small fortune.”

  “This old thing?” The pocket watch had been neglected for years. Anyone attached to it no longer lived at Dalton House. “No one wants it. How much will you give me?”

  “It’s too valuable. It wouldn’t be right to take that from you. Wait until you’re older. Then you can decide if you still want to sell it.”

  Sparrow didn’t have time to wait. It had been days since her one card reading with Elena. The peace she had felt at knowing Mama was trying to contact her had drained away, leaving her anxious and desperate for reassurance. The only person she knew who could give her that was Elena. “I need money now. For a tarot card reading.”

  Eli sighed heavily. “That watch is worth a thousand tarot card readings. Well, that is, if tarot card readings were actually worth something.”

  Sparrow squinted up at Eli. “Don’t you believe in Elena’s powers?” She remembered what Elena said about her mother. She thought tarot cards were ridiculous. It must be hard for Elena to have members of her family be skeptical of something that meant so much to her.

  “I believe in letting kids explore their interests. My niece is precocious and I would never dream of stifling her, but don’t trade a valuable antique for something so … unreliable.”

  “Hey, girlie,” the watch vendor hollered, interrupting them. “You win. I’ll give you twenty dollars for the watch.”

  Eli scowled at him. “Look, don’t sell it to him. He knows it’s valuable. He’s counting on you not knowing its worth.”

  “I really need that reading.” Sparrow bit her bottom lip. She had to find a way to contact Mama. Each second that ticked by without seeing her felt like a nail added to her coffin. “Thanks, anyway.” She started toward the watch vendor.

  The watch vendor rubbed his hands together. “I knew you’d be back.”

  “Wait,” Eli called.

  Sparrow turned around.

  “If you’re that desperate, I think I have an idea. Why don’t you let me research it for you, and I’ll tell Elena to give you the tarot card reading today. If it isn’t as valuable as I think, we’ll come up with a fair price. If it is, then we can work something else out.”

  “Is that fair to Elena?”

  “Letting that swindler take advantage of you isn’t fair. Elena will understand.”

  “If you’re sure you can square it with her.” Sparrow didn’t like the idea of taking a handout.

  “She’ll be okay with it.” He went to Elena’s tent and whispered in her ear. Elena leaned around her uncle to look at Sparrow. She rolled her eyes. Sparrow hoped Eli had good powers of persuasion. Elena didn’t seem enthusiastic about letting Sparrow have a free reading.r />
  When he came back, he nodded. “It’s all set. You let me keep this for a few days, and I’ll find out what I can about it. In the meantime, Elena will give you that tarot card reading.”

  “Wow, thanks!” Sparrow couldn’t believe her luck. Eli was a kind man. Elena was lucky to have an uncle like him. She wished she had a kind Uncle Eli instead of a grouchy Auntie Geraldine.

  “Don’t tell anyone, though. I don’t think I could work the same deal twice. My niece is quite the entrepreneur.”

  “My lips are sealed.” Sparrow handed over the watch and got in line after Clara.

  By the time Sparrow’s turn came up, she was hot, tired, and thirstier than a cypress tree, but she felt the wait had been worthwhile. As the sun had climbed higher and higher in the sky and the day grew hotter, the crowd had cleared. No one else waited behind Sparrow, which she considered a good omen. She didn’t need half of Beulah eavesdropping on her conversation with Elena.

  She took her place in the chair across from Elena. “Did your uncle tell you about the trade?”

  “He did.”

  “Are you mad?”

  Elena shuffled her deck of cards with her practiced expertise. “He promised to buy me ice cream every day until we got home. Sounded like a bargain.” Elena’s mouth twitched like she was suppressing a giggle, and for the second time, Sparrow glimpsed the kid behind the fortune-teller.

  Beside Elena, a bundle of what looked like dried leaves bound together smoldered in a bowl. A small column of smoke emanated from the bundle and reminded Sparrow of the swirling spirits that seemed to be so fond of Johnny when they were in the graveyard the other day. “What’s that bundle?”

  “Sage. I use it as my cleansing ritual between clients. Keeps the energy clean and shoos away unwanted spirits.” She picked it up and waved it enthusiastically, filling the air with smoke.

  Sparrow resisted the urge to cough.

  When there was a thick fog of smoke, Elena put the smoldering sage back into the bowl.

  Sparrow waved her hand in front of her face, trying to clear the air.

  “Do you need to put that out? It doesn’t seem safe to leave it burning like that.” Sparrow’s primary concern was for Mama. As a spirit, Mama didn’t seem to be strong yet. If she were, Sparrow felt sure she would have shown up by now. Sparrow worried that the shooing smoke might make it even harder for Mama to give her a message.

  Elena flicked her hand dismissively, and her bangles collided with a clang. “It should be fine.” She cut her deck of cards. “Are you ready?”

  Sparrow nodded.

  Elena said her incantation. “Spirits near, spirits far, spirits old, spirits new, come now and guide this seeker’s hand.”

  Sparrow watched again to see if spirits joined them, and this time, as the air around them started to clear of the sage smoke, the Boy began to materialize beside Elena. He emerged slowly, fading in like an object coming into focus.

  Elena knocked three times on the deck and began to deal the cards. “I’m going to put five cards on the table and then I’ll read them like a story.”

  The smoke was almost completely gone now except for the thin stream that drifted up from the smoldering bundle, and the Boy looked almost solid. Only he moved lethargically, as if held at bay by something. Sparrow had never seen the Boy impeded before. He typically behaved as if he belonged in the living world as much as she did. Sparrow wondered if Elena knew her sage worked.

  The Boy watched curiously as Elena put down cards.

  Elena’s well-loved cards were tattered and faded, but each had an intricately drawn picture on it. The first card Elena set down was the Page, the same card Sparrow had picked the other day. The next card she laid down showed a picture of a lady dressed in Victorian clothing. Then she dealt a card with an illustration of a book with a lock. After that, she placed a card with a key on the table. The last card she set down had a drawing of a tree that looked a lot like one of the oaks that shaded Sparrow’s yard.

  Elena swept up the rest of the deck and wrapped it in a silk scarf.

  As Elena started to speak, the Boy leaned over her shoulder to get a better look. Elena shuddered as if she’d gotten a cold chill, and though she looked over her shoulder as if someone stood behind her, she did not comment on her reaction and Sparrow kept silent. The Boy was her secret.

  “You remember the Page from the other day?”

  Sparrow nodded.

  “He’s shown up again, so I’d take that to mean there is a message coming your way. The woman here represents someone dearly loved or sometimes a powerful ally. With the two cards next to each other, I’d suggest to you that the person trying to send you the message is someone trustworthy. Next, we have a diary with a lock. This represents a hidden secret but can also mean regret. Are you following me so far?”

  “I think so.” Obviously, Mama wanted to give Sparrow a message, but she already knew that.

  “Good. Next we have a key and a tree. The tree also represents a person you can trust. This person is offering help. But to get that help, you need to make a sacrifice. More simply put, you need to do something for that person to get them to help you. Make sense?”

  “Maybe.” Elena’s explanations sounded really vague. The person represented by the tree card could be anyone.

  “The key means a solution is near or it can sometimes mean the solution is impossible. When I look at the cards all together, I think there is a secret you must solve to get the help you require.” Elena sat back triumphantly.

  Sparrow tried not to be disappointed, but she needed specific information, and everything Elena said could be interpreted in a hundred different ways.

  Sparrow pointed at the last card. It reminded her of the view from her front porch on a sunny day. “It’s a tree. How in the world do I figure out who it represents?”

  “Typically, these things become clear in time,” Elena said airily.

  Sparrow bit her lip in frustration. She didn’t want it to become clear in time. She wanted to know now.

  The Boy slowly dissolved and Sparrow wondered if the sage smoke was too much for him after all, or if he had grown bored, as he sometimes did.

  Sparrow pulled the tree card toward her, and the longer she looked at it, the more it reminded her of the view from her front porch. Only now it didn’t look like a sunny day. It looked like a stormy one, with dark rolling clouds and even a flash of lightning in the far corner. It seemed so real. It almost looked as if the clouds were moving.

  As Sparrow looked on, she realized she wasn’t looking at an artist’s trick. The clouds didn’t just look like they were moving; they were moving. “Are they supposed to do that?”

  Elena looked at the card. Her eyes grew wide and she pushed away from the table.

  Sparrow felt a soft breeze tease her hair. Tendrils blew across her cheeks.

  The tent billowed slightly and then deflated.

  Sparrow looked up. The roof rippled like water and then stilled.

  For the briefest moment, the world seemed to pause, as if time itself stopped moving. Then it sped up again.

  The tent flew out and flapped about as gusts of wind tried to tear it from the ground.

  Elena’s cards blew off the table and Elena hopped up to chase after them.

  Sparrow ran after Elena to help her gather the cards before the wind carried them all the way to town.

  “Grab that card!” Elena tried to catch a card that tumbled out of reach. The card swirled about in an uncanny pattern that defied nature.

  Suddenly, the day turned dark and the sky churned with black clouds.

  A thunderstorm rolled toward Beulah.

  When Sparrow had finally chased down the last card, she turned back to Elena. Elena stood under her flapping tent, staring at the little table.

  Sparrow walked to Elena’s side.

  Two cards rested in the center of the table, untouched by the gusting wind—a coffin partially covered in a shroud and the picture of the tr
ee.

  “Elena,” Sparrow said gently. “I think—”

  Eli interrupted Sparrow. “Girls, you need to wrap it up. It looks like a bad storm is on its way. Elena, we need to get this stuff under cover.”

  Sparrow turned to Elena. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she glowered at Sparrow. “But …”

  “I really think you need to get going. You don’t want to get caught in that.” Eli pointed at the sky.

  Sparrow looked up. The Everglades were a capricious land, and the weather changed on a dime. Even though the sky awoke bright blue and singing that morning, it now rolled with thunderclouds black as night. The coming storm was a monster, and she needed to get home before the heavens opened up.

  Sparrow didn’t have time for explanations or questions now. She took off running.

  By the time she reached the marsh, the wind no longer gusted in occasional puffs but whipped steadily. The reed grass bent under its force, tips touching roots, and Sparrow knew she had mere moments before the rain came down.

  It wasn’t that she minded getting wet. It was the lightning that scared her.

  Lightning struck people down in the Everglades.

  Bright flashes lit the sky, and she counted Mississippis between bursts. Though miles away yet, lightning traveled fast. She needed to be faster. Sparrow picked up the pace and raced for home.

  She managed to dart under the cover of the front porch as the rain started to pour. She let the screen door shut with a loud slap and plopped down on the swing, trying to catch her breath. From the safety of the porch, she watched round raindrops pound the land.

  Like the weather of the Everglades, Sparrow was learning that grief wasn’t a steady thing. It changed moment to moment, and the sadness she’d been able to set aside in the excitement of making plans and talking to Elena came back as furious as the storm.

  Sparrow felt as bleak as the rain.

  She looked up at the dark clouds and whispered a pleading prayer to beg for what she wanted more than anything else in the world—Mama back.

  She closed her eyes and waited.