Page 10 (2/2)
Lawrence Hutchison was less interested in my beliefs than in the sound of his well-trained voice “I keep an open s supernatural”
I found his self-absorption endearing Besides, if he were to have been curious aboutall my secrets
He said, “My friend Adrian White was married to a fortune-teller who called herself Portentia”
I traded anecdotes with hiirl I used to know, Storot a card fro machine called Gypsy Mummy”
“Portentia used a crystal ball and prattled a lot ofAdrian adored her”
“The card said Storether forever But it didn’t turn out that way”
“Portentia could predict the day and very hour of a person’s death”
“Did she predict yours, sir?”
“Not mine But she predicted Adrian’s And two days later, at the hour Portentia had foretold, she shot him”
“Incredible”
“But true, I assure you” He glanced toward athat did not face the sea and that, therefore, was not covered by draperies “Does it feel like tsunami weather to you, son?”
“I don’t think tsuna to do with the weather”
“I feel it Keep one eye on the ocean during your walk”
Like a stork, he stilted out of the parlor and along the hallway toward the kitchen at the back of the house
I left by the front door, through which Boo had already passed The dog waited for me in the fenced yard
An arched trellis fraainvillea that produced a feers even in winter
I closed the gate behinddeep breaths of the crisp salted air
After spending a few h in the Sierra, trying to coe life and my losses, I had expected to return home to Pico Mundo for Christmas Instead, I had been called here, to what purpose I didn’t know at the time and still had not deduced
My gift—or curse—involves , irresistible intuition soo by choice And then I wait to find out why
Boo and I headed north Over three ic Beach was not made of wood but of concrete The town called it a boardwalk anyway
Words are plastic these days Small loans made to desperate people at exorbitant interest rates are called payday advances A cheesy hotel paired with a seedy casino is called a resort Any assees, bad music, and incoherent plot is called a major motion picture
Boo and I followed the concrete boardwalk He was a Ger horizon to horizon moved no more quietly than did Boo
Only I are of hi
I see the spirits of dead people who are reluctant to move on from this world In er to proceed to what comes next Boo was unique
His failure to depart was a s, so my canine companion obeyed ts of silence
Perhaps he remained in this world because he kneould need hier, as I frequently found myself up to my neck in trouble
On our right, after four blocks of beachfront houses caic Beach Hotel with its white walls and striped green awnings
To our left, the beach relented to a park In the sunless late afternoon, palreensward
The lowering sky and the cool air had discouraged beachgoers No one sat on the park benches
Nevertheless, intuition toldfar out above the sea She had been in my red dream
Except for the lapping of the lazy surf, the day was silent Cascades of pal
Broad stairs led up to the pier By virtue of being a ghost, Boo host in the , I was silent in my sneakers
At the end of the pier, the deck widened into an observation platform Coin-operated telescopes offered views of ships in transit, the coastline, and the marina in the harbor two miles north
The Lady of the Bell sat on the last bench, facing the horizon, where the moth-case sky met the sullen sea in seamless fusion
Leaning on the railing, I pretended to meditate on the timeless march of waves In my peripheral vision, I saw that she seemed to be unaware of my arrival, which allowed me to study her profile
She was neither beautiful nor ugly, but neither was she plain Her features were unremarkable, her skin clear but too pale, yet she had a co presence
My interest in her was not romantic An air of mystery veiled her, and I suspected that her secrets were extraordinary Curiosity drew ht need a friend
Although she had appeared in my dream of a red tide, perhaps it would not prove to be prophetic She ht not die
I had seen her here on several occasions We had exchanged a feords in passing, mostly comments about the weather
Because she talked, I knew she wasn’t dead Sohost only when it fades or walks through a wall
On other occasions, when they have beentheir killers to justice, they may choose to materialize with their wounds reveal
ed Confronted by a man whose face has i her severed head, I auy to realize I’m in the company of a spook
In the recent dreaht squirht leviathan rose out of the deep, and the heavens had been choked with clouds as red and orange as flames
In the west, the Lady of the Bell, suspended in the air above the sea, had floated toward me, arms folded across her breast, her eyes closed As she drew near, her eyes opened, and I glimpsed in them a reflection of what lay behind me
I had twice recoiled from the vision that I beheld in her eyes, and I had both times awakened with no memory of it
Noalked away fro, and sat beside her The bench accommodated four, and we occupied opposite ends
Boo curled up on the deck and rested his chin on ht of his head on my feet
When I touch a spirit, whether dog or human, it feels solid to s to it
Still gazing out to sea, the Lady of the Bell said nothing
She hite athletic shoes, dark-gray pants, and a baggy pink sweater with sleeves so long her hands were hidden in them
Because she was petite, her condition was er woman A roomy sweater couldn’t conceal that she was about seven nant
I had never seen her with a companion
Fro the pendant for which I had na a polished silver bell the size of a thimble In the sunless day, this simple jewelry was the only shiny object
She er than I was Her slightness irl than like a woman
Nevertheless, I had not considered calling her the Girl of the Bell Her self-possession and calm demeanor required lady
“Have you ever heard such stillness?” I asked
“There’s a stor” Her voice floated the words as softly as a breath of sumhs down the wind and flattens the waves”
“Are you a ist?”
Her sirl who thinks too much”