Cartomancy (3 page)

Chapter 8

For the second day in a row Astrid laid in
bed in her dark room. Her mother kept coming in to bother her and
tell her that she had to eat, but all Astrid could say was “I’m not
hungry.” This time when the door opened again, she pulled her
blanket and pillow over her head, and said “please leave me alone.”
Astrid felt someone sit on the bed next to her. “I know you miss
him, so do I. Laying around in a dark room while the sun shines
outside, won’t help matters, believe me I’ve tried it. There isn’t
an hour of any given day that I don’t think about your grandpa.”
The tears rolled down Astrid’s cheeks as she turned over and buried
her face in her grandmother’s chest. The smell comforted her
instantly. “Tell me exactly why you’re crying my love.” She
whispered into Astrid’s hair. Astrid couldn’t bring herself to
speak; the words wouldn’t form in her mouth. After a few minutes
she said; “I can’t, I don’t want you to be mad at me.” She sobbed.
Her grandmother took Astrid’s face in her hands and looked her in
the eye. “Whatever it is, we’ll work it out.” She said in a way
that only a grandmother can. “Take a deep breath Astrid, and tell
me what you need to say.” She looked at her grandma and began
sobbing again. “I know what happened in the graveyard, and I know
there’s more to this than that.” Her grandma said plainly. Astrid
was shocked. “How do you know about the graveyard?” she asked, the
tears starting to fade. “Oh I know everything.” Her grandma said
with a smile. “Grandma you always say that!” Astrid was
exasperated. “I know I always say it, because it’s always true.”
Her grandma laughed. “Now, come on Astrid, tell me what is really
bothering you, I promise I won’t get upset.” Astrid collected her
thoughts and just said it aloud and to herself for the first time:
“I didn’t cry at grandpa’s funeral! I wanted to, but I couldn’t
make myself! And I know it makes me a bad person!” The tears came
back. This time there were tons of them. For the second time her
grandmother took Astrid’s face in her hands and stared her right in
the eyes. “Neither did I.” She said. Astrid just blinked. She
couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Astrid, sometimes in life
you are past the point of crying. Tears don’t mean enough so your
brain doesn’t waste time sending them to your eyes, it saves them
up, and they come out later….like right now.” Astrid wept
uncontrollably. “Your grandpa loved you so much Astrid and I know
that he wouldn’t want you to be sad about this. Or anything else
for that matter, and I know he wouldn’t want you wasting your whole
summer away in bed, so it’s time to get up.” Astrid blew her nose
and wiped away the tears, she had a terrible headache. Her grandma
handed her a glass of water and an aspirin. “When your grandpa
died, all I wanted to do was stay under my sheets and cry. And I
did for a while. But sheets won’t keep you safe; at some point you
realize it’s just a thin layer of cotton. She smiled at Astrid and
brushed her hair back behind her ears. Do you know what got me
through that time? Do you know what made me feel better and kept me
going?” Astrid couldn’t think of what to say, so she tried to be
funny. “Umm…Bingo?” she managed a weak laugh. “Well now I do love
bingo, however that’s not it.” Astrid’s grandma wiped her own tears
away. “It was you my love. I know it’s a great burden, but you are
my happiness in life.” Astrid stared at her grandma in
astonishment. “Well, I am pretty great.” She laughed. “Don’t get
too big for your britches Miss Sassy…Bingo is a close second.” Her
grandma winked. Astrid was extremely puzzled by how her grandma did
seem to know just about everything. Her grandma got up and was
opening the curtain to let some light into the situation, when
Astrid asked again… “How did you know about the cemetery?” Astrid’s
grandma threw a pillow towards her as she was looking for clothes
to change into. “Simple. Jordan mows my grass, and he was worried
about you.” Astrid’s eyes widened. “Oh my goodness!” She squealed.
Wait until I tell Waverly! She’ll want to be at your house every
day!” Her grandma motioned for her to sit on the bed. “I wouldn’t
do that my love.” Her grandma’s tone had changed suddenly. “Why
not? We won’t be any bother at all I promise!” Her grandma smiled
and patted her hand. “Oh, I know dearest, that’s not it. I don’t
know how to tell you this but...well… I’m afraid that Jordan isn’t
really interested in Waverly.” Astrid stared into her Grandmas
hazel eyes, which mirrored her own. She thought that her
grandmother must be wrong; Jordan would never tell her that he
didn’t like Waverly. “How do you know? What do you mean?” She was
so confused. “Astrid honey, I don’t want to be the one to tell you
this, but, Jordan likes….you.”

Chapter 9

Astrid walked out into the bright summer sun
to sit on the porch and wait for Waverly. She wasn’t quite sure
exactly how to tell her best friend that the boy she liked…or
loved…liked someone else. And that someone else was her. She was
staring up at the ceiling fan as it twirled with the sky blue paint
behind it when her mother stepped onto the porch. “So, did you and
grandma have a nice chat?” Astrid could feel a tingling in the back
of her throat, but she was not going to cry again today. “Yep.”
There was an awkward silence between them, and Astrid didn’t want
to be the first one to speak again. “You know you can always talk
to me or dad about anything at all….no matter what it is.” Astrid
knew this was some kind of a trick that adults used to get kids to
say something about anything, but the truth was that she just
didn’t feel like talking. “Yep.” She said picking at the fringe on
her jean shorts. “It seems like you guys had quite an adventure at
the cemetery the other night, but at least you found Miss Molly
safe and sound.” Her mother smiled. “I guess so.” Astrid said in a
short way that she really didn’t mean. “Well, I don’t know how you
girls knew that the dog would be there, but I have some potentially
good news…I overheard Kate’s mom at yoga telling people all about
how you and Waverly read Kate’s tarot cards, and that led you to
the dog, so a few of the ladies who were there seemed interested,
and I think one or two of them might be coming over for you to read
their cards as well.” Astrid had a sick feeling in her stomach.
“Really? I mean that’s great moneywise, but it was a fluke with us
finding Molly, I mean I don’t know how we did it. I don’t know if
we can read adults…for real.” Her mother straightened the fabric on
the card table and arranged the porch a little bit. “If you want we
can bring the wicker furniture from the back porch out here, it is
a little nicer. It’s totes up to you.” “Mom! Don’t say “totes”!
Astrid hated it when her mom used teen slang words, but she also
felt bad and her mom was only trying to help. Sometimes Astrid
didn’t know exactly why words came out of her mouth in a way that
she hadn’t intended. “Ok, that sounds like a good idea, it will
make it look more profesh…umm, I mean professional…to cover up for
the fact that we have no clue what we’re doing.” Her mother
laughed. “Well, whatever works best for you guys, I just want to be
supportive…and as far as the readings go, it’s like anything
else…practice makes perfect.” Her mother picked up the deck of
cards and a card slipped out. “Oops, sorry honey, I just wanted to
look.” She said bending to pick up the card. “No, it’s actually a
good thing; the card picked you, instead of you picking it.” Astrid
said confidently. Her mother handed the card to Astrid. It was the
Wheel of Fortune. “Oh, is that a good one? Did I win?” her mother
said laughing. “I’ll let ya know when I figure it out.” She
smiled.

Chapter 10

Astrid saw Waverly coming up the driveway and
she instantly had an empty feeling in her stomach. How could she
tell her best friend about Jordan? Waverly must have known
something was up because she immediately took Astrid by the hand
and said “we need to talk.” Astrid was frozen. “Okay, what about?”
They walked over to the tarot table and sat down. “Ok, you know
when we were in the cemetery and Jordan and I walked away to look
for the dog?” Astrid nodded. “Well, he told me that he came to the
cemetery because he knew that we would be there!” Astrid didn’t
know how to speak anymore. All she could say was “uh..” “Wait,
there’s more…Jordan totally likes YOU Astrid, isn’t that awesome?”
Waverly seemed genuinely happy at this revelation and Astrid was
surprised. “You aren’t mad?” Now Waverly looked surprised. “Mad at
what?” she asked. “Well, I mean…me, I guess. Aren’t you mad that
Jordan likes me? I swear Waverly I never liked him back…ever! I
always knew that you liked Jordan and I would never even…” Waverly
held up her hand “No, no Astrid it’s all okay because Jordan told
me that Uriah thinks I’m hot…and he’s way hotter than Jordan, so
it’s all good!” Astrid was relieved. She didn’t think either one of
them was hot, so it was all fine with her. “Well, now that we have
all that sorted out, I think we need to get back to practicing
tarot readings. “Okay, but I forgot to tell you that while you were
in your room sleeping for two days, I made some fliers and hung
them up around town; I thought advertising would help us get more
money, faster.” Astrid was impressed. “Yeah, my mom also said that
word is starting to spread around town because we found Kate’s dog,
so maybe that will help too.” Waverly smiled and said “Well, I know
Katy and Jordan have been telling people all about it, so that’s
cool.” Astrid took out the cards and began to lay them on the
table, three cards facing her and three cards facing Waverly.

“I guess we should just read the directions
on the cards, I mean, how hard can it be? Right?” Astrid wasn’t too
sure of the answer to this particular question. But she also knew
that one must usually begin at the beginning, so it was as good a
plan as any other plan. And plans were in short supply. Waverly
read aloud from the deck of cards while Astrid laid out the cards.
“Step one: The Questioner. The Questioner is the person looking for
answers. It will be necessary for the Questioner to concentrate on
a question for a few moments. The Questioner can say the question
aloud if they so desire.” Astrid shrugged her shoulders “Go on.”
Waverly continued…”I think it will be a ton easier of we get people
to tell us things, then we can make it seem like we know what we’re
up to.” Astrid went to her desk and got her rainbow-unicorn
notebook to begin taking notes. “I think we need cheat-sheets so we
don’t forget when we’re doing readings, we can keep them under the
mason jars or in our laps or something.” Waverly looked perturbed
“Well, ok but just keep it hidden, we want this to look legit.
Also, btdubs…WE are the Diviners, isn’t that cool? The Diviner is
the person reading the deck of cards. Anyway…STEP TWO: The
questioner must clear their mind and shuffle the cards, face down.
When they are done shuffling the cards are placed in front of The
Diviner.” Astrid hold up her hand like they’re in middle school
“Yes, Astrid?” Waverly asks in her best teacher voice. “So, we give
the person the cards, they shuffle them and give them back, is that
about it?” Waverly again doing her best teacher voice “That is
correct Astrid, any future outbursts will earn you a trip down to
the kitchen for snacks, understood?” “I’m on my way!” Astrid hopped
off the bed and opened the door and yelled out into the hallway to
anyone who would reply…”Madre! Can you please make us some
snackies?” Waverly took the cards and began laying them out into
various patterns. “Astrid! Focus!” she yelled at her best friend,
and Astrid returned to the bed. “What are you doing now?” Waverly
picked up the box and tossed it to Astrid. “We have to learn the
spreads” Astrid snickered. ” You said spread.” Waverly just stared
at Astrid and finally said “for real? Spread is what you laugh at,
is that the kind of person you want to become?” Waverly could
barely keep a straight face and Astrid started cracking up. “What
in the word is so funny?” Astrid’s mother said as she stood in the
doorway with crackers and cheese and fruit all beautifully arranged
on a special plate used for just such an occasion. “We are just
being stupid” Astrid said grabbing a handful of berries. “My…what a
special talent you girls have” her mother said winking and she bent
to kiss Astrid on the forehead. “My tiny, special girls” she said
laughing. “Thanks for the food, now get out of my room old woman”
Astrid said smiling as she hugged her mom back. Waverly just
stared, her mother had no sense of humor what so ever, and she
would be vacuuming the whole house if she spoke to her mother in
such a manner. She did envy Astrid’s family. That was for sure. “I
wish my mom was that cool and awesome” she said to Astrid after her
mom had left. “I have one question for you my dearest…and please
don’t take offense…” “What question would that be, my dear?”
Waverly asked. “Well darling, Astrid began…how in the world did you
know that Kate’s dog would be in the cemetery?

Chapter 11

Astrid awoke to a very bright light. Her
mother was taking down the curtains in her room. “What are you
doing Madre?” She asked in a sleepy voice. Her mother still loved
the sound of Astrid’s morning voice; it meant that a part of her
baby was still in that body somewhere. “Taking down the window
treatments and measuring, I want to get started on the
redecorating; I’ll go ahead and assume you want black curtains for
your crypt.” Astrid hadn’t thought about that but black seemed
legit. Her mother took down the lighting fixture as well. “What are
your feelings on damask?” Astrid still didn’t know. “I’m not quite
clear on the whole damask concept maybe you can show me at the
fabric store, I know how you so desperately love swatches.” Her
mother winked at her. “Cute. And yes, I do love a good swatch, now
get dressed and ready and we’ll go to the home improvement store
and get started on this room of yours.” Astrid got dressed and was
pulling her hair up into a messy bun when her father yelled up the
stairs to her. “Gimme a sec dad, I’ll be right down.” Her father
yelled up again for her to come downstairs, so she went over to the
top of the stairs. “I’ll be down in one second father…where’s the
fire?” She smiled, and her father smiled and yelled back to her.
“In the front yard my love.” He said pointing towards the front
door. Puzzled, Astrid ran down the stairs and peeked out the window
by the front door. What she saw made her heart race. She called
Waverly and said “get over here FAST “and hung up the phone.
“Daddy, what do I do?” She asked. “Oh don’t ask me, this is your
summer job, I’m quite sure you’ll figure it out, but I suppose step
one would be going outside.” Astrid gulped as she slid on her flip
flops and opened the front door. She couldn’t believe all the
people in the front yard, there must be fifty of them…ok, well
maybe not that many, but a lot for sure. Just then, Waverly rode up
on her bike and was weaving her way through the people standing
around in the yard. “Wave, what the H do we do with all these
people?” Astrid said mid panic-attack. “Relax.” Waverly said as she
tied her hair up on top of her head. “The first thing we do is
raise the price.” Waverly grabbed the deck of cards and gave half
the deck to Astrid. “You go read on that side of the porch and I’ll
read on this side, it’ll be faster and we can make more money that
way…we don’t anyone leaving because they had to wait too long.”
This seemed like a good and bad idea to Astrid. “Waverly, may I
remind you of one teensy problem? We still have no idea what we’re
doing.” Waverly sighed at her friend. “Well, it’s too late for that
now isn’t it? Just tell them what they want to hear, that’s what I
did with Katy….and it somehow worked.” Astrid turned to walk away
and before she could even reach the opposite side of the porch she
heard Waverly say “Who’s first? Tarot readings $5 dollars! Step
right up!”The girls had been outside for two hours when Astrid’s
mother appeared on the porch with sandwiches and lemonade. It was
pretty warm outside and some people were still hanging out on the
porch, sitting on the steps and under the tree in the yard. “If you
two could take a break from the great beyond, I made some snacks.”
Astrid’s mother said. The girls did need to stop to eat and
Astrid’s mom was clearing a space on the table and was picking up
all the cards to put them back in the box. One of the cards fell on
the ground. She stooped to pick it up. It was the “Wheel of
Fortune” card again. She showed it to Astrid. “Hey maybe I should
go on that TV show and win some money.” Neither girl knew what she
meant. “No, it means that fate has dealt that card to you, it also
means that there is about to be a big change for you, Mamacita.”
Astrid grinned. Her mom just laughed and walked back in side. The
time had gone by so fast that Waverly hadn’t realized how hungry
she actually was. “Thanks other mom!” she yelled stuffing a
sandwich into her mouth. Astrid walked over to Waverly and said
“Hey, get your own mom!” They both chuckled and returned to trying
to help people figure out their love lives and if they should
change jobs, and in one case, what outfit to wear on the first day
of school. People were seeking answers to all kinds of questions,
and Astrid was doing her best to be polite and helpful. She didn’t
really see any need to be negative and when negative cards came up,
she tried to use it as an option for something more positive that
would come as a result. So, when the death card came up, as it did
from time to time, she explained that it was just an end to
something, or a means to an end, not that anyone was actually going
to die. First of all, she knew that everyone was eventually going
to die, but it wasn’t her place to give such news. Waverly was also
trying to stay as upbeat as possible, although it proved difficult
at times. It seemed to her like some people just want to hear bad
news, she wasn’t sure why that was, but she tried to stay away from
it as much as possible. When the last person had gone home, they
poured out their mason jars and started counting the money. They
had $130 dollars. They had each read thirteen people. It occurred
to Waverly that they all seemed thirsty, so they made a plan to go
to the store and buy a case of bottled water and sodas to sell. As
far as money was concerned, the more the merrier. It was getting
late in the afternoon when Astrid’s dad came out onto the porch. He
was pacing around with his hands behind his back, so Astrid knew he
meant business. “Is there something we can help you with faa-tha?”
she said in her best southern accent. “Well, I hate to be a downer
since you gals seem to be having such a good time, and we are very
happy for your success…. but it is summer, and there are some sort
of child labor laws, I believe.” Astrid didn’t like where this was
going. “It’s not like we’re making shoes or working in a coal mine,
dad.” Her father sat down at the table opposite from the girls. “I
spoke with Waverly’s mother and she is concerned, as are we, that
you guys are spending too much time on this project.” Astrid
started to speak but her father held up his hand. “Please let me
finish, and then you may have your rebuttal. So, we have decided
that you may do this for two hours a day and that’s all. Go swim or
ride bikes, or e-publish or whatever it is you kids do in the
summertime, the point is that we want you doing other activities as
well…. now you go.” Astrid collected her thoughts and began. “Okay,
first of all dad, we live in the MOST boring town WORLDWIDE, and
there isn’t anything to do, and I asked mom if it was okay to get a
summer job and she said YES, so what’s the problem?” Astrid’s
father took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I believe I
already addressed the issues at hand and made a decision, so there
is no problem. Two hours a day…max.” Astrid knew there was no use
arguing with an attorney, so she gave up. Waverly just sat there
staring at her shoes. “Okay, can you please take us to the store so
we can buy some water and soda for tomorrow?” Astrid pleaded her
case one last time. Her father sighed. “Technically, your two hours
are up for the day, but mom wants ice cream, so you’re in luck
because I was going out anyway.” The girls finished cleaning up the
porch and Astrid’s dad put Waverly’s bike on the car rack, so he
could drop her off on the way home. It was pretty quiet in the car
on the way to the store. Waverly felt uncomfortable and decided to
break the silence. “So, Mr. Astrid’s dad, how are things with the
judicial system?” Her father adjusted the mirror to see the girls
in the back seat. “Well, Astrid’s friend, I practice probate law,
which mostly deals with wills and estates, and is pretty boring
stuff most of the time, but it’s going well, thank you for asking.”
Astrid whispered “suck-up” into Waverly’s ear and the girls
giggled. They parked the car and walked inside a full ten steps
behind Astrid’s father. All-in-all, the entire trip was pretty
uneventful……until the end. On the way out of the store there was a
message board full of ads for babysitting services and boats for
sale, and in home cosmetics parties, and ponies and clowns for
parties, and one that said TAROT READINGS on florescent pinkish
paper…it was that one that caught Astrid’s dad’s eye…mainly their
home address in a bold Comic Sans font that did it, Waverly’s
father despised a bad font. He grasped the paper and pulled it
down. He waited for the girls to come around the corner, and he
held up the pink paper. “What is this?” Astrid shrugged as she
seriously had no idea. Waverly on the other hand knew exactly what
it was. “Soooo, lemme explain…” she began. Astrid’s father pointed
to the parking lot. “Go get in the car” was all he said, and Astrid
knew they were in for a long car ride home.