“I am a soothsayer, a sayer of sooths,” the man answered.
The long quail feather in his turban bobbed as he spoke, and Shona could not help but smile at his strangeness. His wide velvet sleeve flapped wildly as he swung his arms. He was dressed in true mystic fashion. His show had all the correct beat and contained all the appropriate flare and phantasm. He produced from one of his billowing sleeves a clear sphere and held it out for the audience to ogle. Rachel was immediately drawn in and began to snake closer through the crowd. Shona begrudgingly followed, pushing passed the enthralled masses. The mystic set the little crystal orb on a pillow atop a pedestal that he had pulled down from his cart. He waved his hands enthusiastically over it.
“This is an ancient tome, of the ancients. It holds great powers of past, present, and future. But only a select few are given the ability to tap into this power, like myself,” he held one hand up to the crowd and the other up to his temple. His eyes rolled as he waved his hand over the crowd. His hand stopped suddenly as Shona finally caught up to her daughter who was waving her hand wildly to be picked. “You, sweet lady, the great divine has spoken to me and said you too have this great power.”
He held out his hand and Shona looked left and right trying to see whom he reached for, but it was her arm he grasped. He pulled her forward and she grabbed hold of her daughter before she lost sight of her. Paul pushed his way into the crowd in the space they vacated and looked questioningly as Shona was positioned in front of the sphere. She gave him a playful smile as she focused on what the fortune teller was saying.
“All you have to do is place your hand upon the crystal ball, and it shall open your third eye to the future,” he opened her hand so the palm was flat and hovered near the top of the orb, “When you are ready.”
He took several steps back. Rachel stood close to her mother’s shoulder trying to see. Shona let her hand hover a little longer. There was a pulsing coming from the orb. It was like a heartbeat coming from deep within. The sensation intrigued her. Shona flexed her fingers and took a breath before forcing her hand down onto the spherical rock. The shock was instant, like a great burst of wind from every direction at once. Then there was complete stillness like she was floating. Swirling around her was only darkness except for a far off pinpoint of light, like she was look up from the bottom of a well. She willed herself towards the light and it grew into an endless tunnel, the light always just out of reach. Shona floated ever towards its end, searching for something she could not name.
While Shona transcended within, the world outside had erupted into chaos. The instant her hand had touched the stone it had blackened and a great burst of wind had pushed outward, forcing Rachel to the ground. The pupils of her mother's eyes swelled making them appear completely black. Shona stood stark straight and her hair hung suspended in the air as if floating in a pond. Paul leapt to her side, but the fortune teller halted him before he could reach his lover.
“Do not touch her,” the soothsayer warned.
“Why, what will happen if I do?” Paul asked taking a step back. Rachel looked to her father in horror. Her brothers came to her side watching their mother cautiously. The twins stayed back in the crowd that was quickly dispersing in terror. They were too struck to move.
“If you touch her, she might come out of it. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for a real soothsayer?” the mystic pulled off his robe and turban creeping close to Shona’s rigid form.
“I thought you were a soothsayer?” Rachel asked looking into her mother’s ghostly face.
“Of course not,” he chided, “I was starting to think they had all been wiped out. The fourth age was not kind to those with the gift.”
The crowd had all but disappeared at this point, and all that remain were of the family. They all drew together watching. Paul stood close behind the fraudulent fortuneteller as he waved his hands in front of the entranced woman’s face.
“What gift?” he asked the mountebank.
“She has the sight,” he replied drawing his pointer finger from his forehead to point out into space, “Go ahead ask her anything.”
Paul stepped forward holding his hands out to either side of his lover. He held the air around her, careful to avoid the pieces of hair that swirled dangerously around her like a demonic sail.
“Shona?” she did not react.
“Try, Seeker,” the peddler prompted.
Paul resettled his focus, “Seeker?”
“ASK,” boomed an unnatural voice from Shona’s mouth.
