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"You knoe could just go have another drink," Lauren suggested

Heidi giggled "The guy is gone Let&039;s go"

Lauren let out a sigh of impatience "Just remember, you tanted to do this I&039;ll do whatever you want, but I want it on record that I&039;ainst such silliness"

"This trip is all about silliness," Heidi reet irls No reat, and he&039;d never care if I wanted a few days aith you guys, butwell, you know And I guarantee you he&039;s going to have one of those wild bachelor parties with strippers, and his idiot brother is going to et you a lap dance," Lauren said

Heidi laughled "I don&039;t want a lap dance Now humor me, slave," she told Lauren

"I&039;o"

As they approached the woe as she felt Either that or she had talked herself into some kind of ridiculous paranoia, because it seemed as if the woman frohen she saw them, as if she looked worried Still, Lauren couldn&039;t help noticing the strength of her features, and she wondered if she dared ask to do a sketch of her at so like Madame X or Madame Zenia or any other cliche, on her table She rose, stretching out an elegant arantly polished nails "Hello," she said simply

"Hi," Heidi said cheerfully

The woravely "You seek the future?"

"Absolutely," Heidi said, introducing herself "I&039;m Heidi Weiss, and I&039;m about to be married I&039;d love some advice"

The woman nodded, but her expression said that she read in Heidi&039;s polite words the simple fact that she didn&039;t really believe in what she was doing It was all for fun

"I&039; forward "And this is Lauren Crow"

The wo Lauren "Crow?"

"I&039;ve been told thatthe worip It offered a strange assurance

"I, too, have Cherokee blood We have the sah she wasn&039;t sure green eyes caround

"You&039;re tallfive-ten?"

"Around there Another grandfather was frouy, so I was told Some Norse, some Scots"

"Ah, and thus you are redheaded"

"I like to think auburn"

The woman smiled Lauren had to admit, she liked her, but , didn&039;t want to knohat the future supposedly held She wanted to ask the woman to have a drink with theray I&039;le "I&039;ized quickly "It&039;s just sonorht smile in return "Life is normal, the cycle of life is nors are nor much that we don&039;t understand yet"

"You have a beautiful face," Lauren heard herself blurt out

Susan inclined her head slightly, acknowledging the coain, she sner, actually," Deanna said "Heidi and Lauren can draw anything in the world, though They&039;re fabulous"

"And you&039;d like to sketchat Lauren

"I&039;d love to"

"That&039;s not e&039;re here, though," Heidi said

"Ah, yes, the future," Susan said She lifted her hands "What will it be? Would you like a reading of your palm? Or shall we see what&039;s in the cards? And then, of course, there is always the crystal ball"

"We should each do soested

"Tarot cards," Heidi said

"I&039;ll take a paled "Crystal ball"

Susan nodded, indicating several small fold-up chairs inside the tent "Lauren, you are welcoin with the bride"

Lauren always carried a s, but she wondered how Susan knew that, and she was slightly disturbed Or slightlyhonest Then she told herself that Susan already knew they were artists Guessing that she carried a sketch pad was just a logical assu for a living learned how to assess people, how to read a great deal in a feords and intuit where to go from there

Deanna had unfolded the little wooden chairs She sat on one side of Heidi, while Lauren backed her chair away a bit and took out her sketchbook As she sat, watching Susan instruct Heidi on how to choose her cards, she could hear the sounds around the, then stopping to ooh and aah at the artwork available on the street Across from them, near the Cathedral, a lone flutist had set down his cap, and now he performed a plaintive and beautiful tune

She looked up at the sky Clouds still rode heavy over the moon, like a red curtain in the air

She studied Susan The woant Not at all what she had expected Her pencil moved over the paper She drew the lines first, then filled in the shades and shadows Finally she added background, the greenery around the Square, the sidewalk, the tent, the statue of Andrew Jackson rising far behind Susan&039;s back

"Ugh! What does thatLauren&039;s attention to the table, where Heidi had turned up a card with a skeleton

"It&039;sdeath, isn&039;t it?" Heidi asked

Susan shook her head "It often signifies change, an ending so that there can be a new beginning You are about to end your single life You will start into a new life"

"Whew," Heidi ht she was seriously relieved, and she felt a neave of disco to another card

"Love" Susan looked at Heidi "You can rest assured in this-your fiance loves you very much You are all he has ever wanted, all he could ever need in life"

"Oh," Heidi breathed happily "Ditto"

"Yes, I can see," Susan o off without a hitch?" Heidi asked

"No wedding goes off without a hitch," Susan said dryly as she scooped up the cards, patting them back into a neat pile "But you are deeply loved, and you love deeply in return"

"Thank you" Heidi rose and looked at Lauren with an expression on her face that plainly said, See? Nothing to be afraid of

Lauren s if Heidi had really been listening Susan hadn&039;t said anything specific about Heidi&039;s wedding at all-she had just generalized about weddings And she had said the skeleton card often indicated a change

Then again, Lauren told herself,said

"On to the paled seats As Deanna started to sit down, she glanced at Lauren&039;s drawing and frowned

"What is it?" Lauren asked

"Uh, nothing, I guess It&039;s a great drawing It&039;s just thatwell, you made the skeleton card the focus of it"

"I did not!" Lauren protested and looked down at the sketch It was one of her best, she thought She&039;d captured not just a two-direat depth She&039;d found the strange and arresting beauty that was Susan&039;s She&039;d caught the at and alht Somehow she had detailed the tarot card down to the finest line so that it unerringly drew the viewer&039;s eye and became the focus of the picture

"Don&039;t draw me," Deanna whispered to her

"Okay," Lauren assured her quietly in return

Susan atching theave her a rueful s ht irritably Though it was a fifty-fifty shot Either they&039;d broken up or he had died She knew that she was just one ofwomen of her day She&039;d fallen in love with a soldier He&039;d gone to war They&039;d e replies

Until the arh it all The devastation, the anger And the healing She didn&039;t feel that she had any terrible psychological hang-ups She just wasn&039;t actively looking to find love again But if the right person ca

Would she be ready?

She really didn&039;t know

"I&039;ravely She was clearly sincere, h she wasn&039;t quite sure why

"Thank you," she said, ignoring her uncos "But, hey, that&039;s the past, and we&039;re looking to the future, right? What does Deanna&039;s hand say to you, Susan?"

Susan studied Deanna&039;s palravely

"What?" Deanna asked impatiently

"So far, it has told me that you do not like housework at all," Susan said

Even Deanna laughed "Okay, I suck Seriously, I&039;ave it up"

"Don&039;t worry, she has a wonderful woman who comes in twice a week," Heidi assured Susan

Susan traced a finger down a line in Deanna&039;s hand

"The life line, right?" Heidi asked

Susan shrugged

"It doesn&039;t look very long," Deanna said worriedly

Susan shook her head, looking at Deanna "Often, things are e ht not e in life Heidi is gettingsteadily," Deanna said

"You&039;re a beautiful wo

"What else do you see?"

Susan pointed "Hereartistic success You are clever and determined" Susan looked up and stared hard at Deanna "When you set your , you can make it happen When we fail, far too often, it is because we&039;re afraid Remember, you have the talent and the will Don&039;t be put off by circu And there will be changes"

"Will I ever get ed "Your paliving, and that you are quite capable of creating fire, passion-and love-around you"

"I like that," Deanna said

Lauren looked at her, trying to avoid Susan&039;s eyes Lots of people could have said that to you, her stern gaze said

"Your turn," Deanna said

"Ah, the crystal ball for our talented young artist," Susan h, and her eyes were downcast

"I think Susan is tired," Lauren said

"Oh no, you are not getting out of this!" Heidi insisted

"May I seeshe had done

"You are very kind," she reat beauty"

"I want to work more on it I&039;ll send you a copy when I&039;m done," Lauren told her

Susan nodded and handed back the drawing Lauren flipped her sketchbook closed and returned it to her purse

"It seeht You look tired You really don&039;t have to do another reading," Lauren said

"She&039;s trying to get out of this," Heidi explained

Susan stood She wasn&039;t s "I think that we must look into the crystal ball"

Heidi and Deanna started to rise

"There is only room in the tent for one-I&039;m sorry The crystal ball is quite different froravely, and at last Lauren followed her into the tent, the sounds fro As she sat in the chair opposite Susan, the world outside all but disappeared

"Your fiance, he was a soldier?" Susan asked, staring into the crystal ball

Startled, Lauren looked at her "Yes"

"I&039;m very sorry, truly Butthere are those who believe there are certain fates we cannot avoid, and others who believe we have a hand in our own futures Perhapsman died," she said softly

"Thank you I like to think that," Lauren murmured

"You don&039;t date matically

"What?" Lauren asked

"You don&039;t datebut dimwits and users since you lost your ht person"

They had been chatting casually, aled in a normal conversation at any one of the smaller cafes or bars in the city But Lauren realized that so since she had colow, to fill with a red mist

She stared at it, unable to tear her eyes away She only direat distance that the other woman looked tense, even distressed

"You o"

"Yes," Lauren said

But she couldn&039;t move It felt as if she were frozen where she sat, as if her verydark at the core of the crystal ball, dark and red, finding fored thing

Then it was not

It took the shape of a

A sound seehter Deep, rich, taunting-and cruel

She heard words

So soft at first that she couldn&039;t understand as being said Then she knew

"I&039;et you"

"No," Laurenfor sanity, for reality So earlier Soly

"Lauren" The dark figure called her by naet you, Lauren"

"No!"

"I&039;et you, and you&039;ll be mine in a world of blood and death and darkness"

Susan suddenly jumped up, as if she, too, had suddenly broken of the invisible bonds holding her there

She e sound and her arm flew out

The crystal ball flew off the table and shattered on the ground

But even as it flew into a thousand pieces, it seehter