by Molly Fitz
He reached out and grabbed one. He held it up for me to see: The Hanged Man.
I bit my cheek. That was unexpected. "Well...this is certainly an interesting start."
He raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean? Is that bad?" He frowned and placed the card down on the table gingerly.
"Not bad, per se..." I pondered how to describe it, though. "The hanged man usually represents letting go, sacrifice, or a new perspective." I paused and caught his eye. "But when you drew it, the card was upside-down, or reversed. And that refers to delays, resistance, or indecision."
Evan grumbled and shifted uneasily in his seat. "Right enough," he admitted. "Been in a number of deals lately that...shall we say...haven't gone as planned." He folded his hands and leaned forward. "What does that have to do with my little problem, though?"
I answered his question with one of my own. "Why are you on this cruise, Mr. Hawthorne?"
"I'm on this cruise for the same reason everyone else is, I suppose: to have a good time."
"And how are you enjoying it so far?"
He gave me a deadpan look.
I nodded. "My point exactly."
"Well, it's kind of hard to relax when I feel like I'm being watched." He gestured at the deck. "Go on, what does the next card say?"
I turned it over and bit my lip.
The Four of Wands.
He frowned. "What's that mean?"
My lips quirked upward. "It's telling me the same thing you just told me. See how it's upside down like the Hanged Man? When that happens, it means the opposite of its usual meaning. Usually the Four of Wands refers to harmony, celebration, or relaxation. So, basically, what you're supposed to be doing on this cruise."
Evan eyed the cards skeptically. "So if it's upside down, that means..."
"That's the fascinating part. It means conflict with another, or a transition. Remind you of anyone?"
He grimaced and swallowed hard. "You don't get to the level I'm at without making a few enemies. Still, I didn't think I'd find any of them on this ship."
"You never know. Shall I go on?"
He waved a hand at me. "By all means."
I flipped over the next card.
Death.
Evan's eyes widened.
Mine did the same.
"That..." his voice shook. "That doesn't literally mean death, does it? All these cards are just symbols?"
“Yes,” I admitted. "But this is a bit concerning."
"A bit concerning?" He scoffed and ran a hand through his hair. "You're telling me that someone wants me dead!"
"No, no!" I waved my hands and tried to calm him down. "It doesn't have to be as serious as all that. It could just mean a chapter of your life is ending. That you're about to embark on a new opportunity."
Evan eyed me. "Then why did you say it was concerning?"
I pointed to the other cards. "In combination with the Hanged Man, it can mean you're in a situation you feel you can't get out of. Which is true, based on what you've told me. Combined with the Four of Wands and putting it all together, it does sound like there's a relationship or a conflict you need to deal with. Perhaps something looming over you that you've been trying to forget?"
His reaction caught me by surprise. Evan pushed back from the table so quickly and violently that the candle tipped over, fizzling out in a pool of its own wax inside the sconce. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're just trying to get me stuck in my own head, aren't you? Did my pursuer put you up to this, perhaps?"
I stared at him, feeling more than a little whiplash. "I'm...sorry? I simply read the cards and interpret them. This is what the fates suggest."
"And I came here for reassurance, not for you to tell me I'm in even more danger." He growled and balled his fists, yanking the Death card off the table. "Death card, my foot. I want Loretta back!" He whipped around and stormed off into the night.
“Wait!” I slumped back in my chair and massaged my temples. Let's just say my first reading was less than a success.
Chapter Four
I sat there for a few long moments, trying to decide if there was anything I could have done differently. Was it just me, or was Evan acting erratically? And if he really was worried about someone following him, why didn't he notify the ship's security instead of me? I shook my head and stacked the cards back into the deck. Now I was one card short. I was trying not to let it bother me, but his accusatory tone echoed in my mind. What if everyone thought the same thing he did? Would I ever measure up to the old psychic Loretta?
"Don't worry about him, he's just a grumpy old man."
I jumped and dropped the deck. They scattered over the table and some fluttered on to the floor. Whipping my head around, I didn't see anyone in the room. "Hello?" I called out, voice shaking. Harry the bartender made a joke about psychics talking to ghosts. Surely he wasn't telling the truth?
"Down here." The voice came again, and I adjusted my gaze toward the floor.
Standing next to me was a Siamese cat, and if I wasn't totally going crazy, he had just talked. He had a sleek tan coat, with patches of black on his tail, ears, and face. His eyes were an icy blue, and looked at me curiously. "You can hear me, yes? You look surprised."
I blinked. Looked around again. No one else was here. So either I actually was going crazy, or that cat was talking to me. "Um...yes." I bit my lip. "It's just that...cats usually don't talk."
"This one does." He sniffed and tilted his head upward as if I'd insulted him. "The name's Darwin. Came in here looking for Loretta, but you're not her." He eyed me suspiciously. "Who are you?"
I sucked in a breath. So this was the famous Darwin. No one told me he could talk! "I'm...I'm Rose." The color drained from my face. "Loretta had to leave. I work here now."
He narrowed his eyes. "Just as well. She never listened to me when I gave her advice. Take it from me: you're in a dangerous business."
"What do you mean?" My voice was barely above a whisper.
"For starters, this ship isn't the cozy luxury liner everyone thinks it is. Something weird is going on here, and I don't like it. That's why I came to talk to Loretta, see if she could help."
I gulped. I didn't like the sound of that either. I came here to get away, to have a good time, and to make up some extra cash for bills before going back home. What was he talking about? "It's not that bad," I mumbled.
Darwin narrowed his eyes at me. "What do you know?"
I bit my lip. "I...I don't know anything."
"Listen, kid." He stepped forward, ears pricked and eyes wide.
I bristled at being called 'kid'. I was well over the hill at this point. "My name is Rose."
Darwin ignored me and continued, "If you're the new psychic, then that means we're going to have to work together. Not many on this ship can hear me. You’re one of them. You felt something when you touched those cards, didn't you?"
I froze. How did he know that? "Have you been spying on me?" I hissed.
He rolled his eyes. "Please. I have better things to do with my time than stalk you." He sniffed, taking a step back. "I stepped in right when you were totally botching that reading with Mr. Hawthorne of all people. Smooth move."
"I--" I sputtered. "I was doing my best! I'm still so new to all this, and I really need this job, and..."
Darwin looked up at me. "You mean to tell me you're not an actual psychic?"
I shook my head, face flushed. The secret was out.
He eyed me skeptically. "You say you're not a psychic, but you can hear me talk. Not everyone can do that, you know."
"I'm not..." I started.
"Think again. You say you're here essentially as an accident, but in my experience there’s no such thing as coincidence. You can’t tell me you haven’t been feeling a tad…different?”
I opened my mouth to retort, but closed it again. There was that rush of power when I touched the cards, and there in the bar that night…I thought I was just imagining things,
but what if it was real?
“I don’t—“
“Know what I’m talking about?” He finished the sentence for me. “Think on it, Rose. I think you’ll find that you do.” With that, he hopped down off the table and ran through the curtains and out of sight.
I sat there for a few seconds, mouth agape. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Had that really just happened? I ripped open the curtains and peered out onto the decks. The sun hung lazily above us, drenching the ship in warmth. The light reflected off the white railings and half-blinded me. I put up a hand to shield my eyes and scanned the deck, but the cat was nowhere to be found.
“Excuse me, is this where we get the psychic readings?” A woman wearing a swimsuit, sunglasses, and coverup tapped me on the shoulder.
“Oh! Um, yes! Right this way…”
As I led the next customer into the darkened reading room, I tried to put all thought of the cat out of my mind. I wasn’t here for fun, I was here to do a job. And right now, that job had nothing to do with a crazy-talking cat.
Well, I can say this much — the day’s readings went better than the first. In the breaks between clients, I looked through the trinkets on the shelves, grabbed a snack from the nearby smoothie stand, and paged through a book on crystals I found laying under the table.
I almost wished I had been around to meet this Loretta person. Felt like everyone knew her except for me. And just going off of all the stuff she left here in her “office”, she seemed like quite the character.
Whenever I had a free moment to myself, though, I found my mind wandering once again. As much as I tried to keep myself busy and on task, my thoughts drifted toward that weird cat again and again. What was he talking about? What did he want from me?
And did I really hear him talk?
By the time my shift ended, I was so tired and hungry I stumbled to the galley and went straight back to my room. I was still getting a feel for the ship, but I hadn’t gotten lost as much as I thought I would. The map helped, and I was finding myself using it less and less as time went on.
Maybe tomorrow I could try the daily circuit by myself.
All in all, the first day of work hadn’t been too bad. Beside that chilling first reading for Mr. Hawthorne, everyone else was fairly straightforward. They totally bought into whatever I told them and we both had fun with it. After all, that’s what I was here for, right? To entertain the passengers.
To that end, I even got a few tips. It wasn’t much — yet — but if I kept this up I could have quite the nice sum on top of my regular wages.
Not bad. Not bad at all. That night I took my dinner to go from the galley and holed up in my room, flipping through the TV channels until I fell asleep tangled in the quilts. I’d had service jobs before, but I always forgot just how tiring they were. By the time ten pm rolled around, I was out like a light.
The dreams that came to me that night were…strange, to say the least. First of all, that darn cat showed up again. I tried talking to it, but he didn’t answer, just looked at me like I was crazy. We were…somewhere else. In an office building, perhaps? The sight of a skyline outside the window told me we were in a city. High above one, that is. I followed the cat and he checked over his shoulder every few steps to ensure I was still following.
What was he trying to tell me though? I had no idea.
We grew closer to a tall wooden door. As my vision adjusted and focused, I noticed the light seeping out from around the edges. I held my breath and drew closer, Darwin still watching me. He lifted a paw as if to point, and just as I was about to touch the knob and see what glowed within —
Knock-knock-knock!
I startled awake at the sound of someone pounding on my door. Groaning and rubbing my eyes, I rolled over and squinted at the alarm clock on the night stand. It wasn’t even five in the morning yet…what the heck was going on?
Anyone bothering me at this hour was gonna get a piece of my mind. I snuggled deeper under the cover in the hopes that they’d just go away, but the knocks came again. Louder.
“Rose, open up! It’s the captain.”
That had my attention. The captain, at my cabin in the middle of the night? This couldn’t be good.
I threw my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. I clicked on a lamp as I went and tried to shake myself into wakefulness. Whatever this was, it better be important.
I yawned and open the door to find Captain Eckers standing there with another man in a security uniform. I looked from the captain to the guard and back. “Um, can I help you?”
“May we come in?” The captain asked. His face was a mask of stone, betraying no emotion. The other man, if possible, wore an even more stoic expression. He folded his hands behind his back and looked straight ahead.
“Oh, sure.” I stammered, stepping out of the way. They stepped into my cabin and closed the door behind them, flipping on the lights as they went.
I cleared my throat and poured them each a glass of water from the sink. “What’s the matter?” I asked. If they came knocking at this hour of the morning, it must be pretty urgent. “What’s going on?”
“There’s the matter of Mr. Evan Hawthorne,” the guard started. “You saw him yesterday, did you not?”
“Yeah…?” I furrowed my brow and yawned again. “What about it?”
The guard crossed his arms and looked down his nose. “He was found in his room shortly after midnight. He’s dead.”
My heart nearly stopped. “…excuse me?” I stammered. My head spun and my body felt like jello. This time it wasn’t due to the waves rocking the ship back and forth. I braced myself against the wall and stared at them. “Dead?”
“Dead,” the guard confirmed. “And that’s not the worst of it.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph, handing it over. “He was found holding this.”
I held my breath and looked down at the photograph, dreading what I’d see. Thankfully the photo only zoomed in on Evan’s hand, but the card clasped there was all too obvious.
The tarot card of Death.
Chapter Five
This couldn’t be happening. Could not.
Evan took my card when he stormed out, sure, but I was too asleep to even think about doing anything to the poor man in the middle of the night. He was a piece of work, but he didn’t deserve to die.
“You don’t really think I…” I started. My voice shook. Rumors would start flying. People might get the wrong idea. They couldn’t really think I did it, could they? I had a perfectly good alibi!
“I don’t know what to think,” Captain Eckers said, crossing his arms. “But I do know that you two had some kind of altercation yesterday, did you not?”
I winced. Did everyone know about that? Word sure traveled quick here.
“It was hardly that,” I scoffed. “I did my job. Read his cards. He wasn’t pleased. That’s all.”
Captain Eckers glanced at the guard. “Could you give us a moment?” He tilted his head toward the door. “I’d like to speak to Rose privately.”
The guard narrowed his eyes, looked over at me, but then nodded and took a step back.
“We won’t be but a moment,” Captain Eckers promised. The guard moved toward the door and gave us one last look before leaving.
“I’ll be right outside.”
“Thank you, Jones.”
As soon as the door closed, the captain rounded on me. I gulped, my heart stuttering as I tried to distill the news.
“You’ll have to forgive Jones out there,” Captain Eckers jerked a thumb toward the door. “He can be a bit overzealous at times.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Especially when one of our VIPs mysteriously dies.”
I shook my head and sunk down onto the bed. “I…I don’t get it. Was he sick? What happened?”
“We don’t know yet,” Captain Eckers said. He stepped toward the bed and loomed over me, his hands folded behind his back. The brim of his hat cast a shadow over us, not unlike the pallor I now felt
. “I was hoping you could help us out.” He cleared his throat. “Off the record, of course.”
I was about to ask what he was talking about, then it all came back to me. Rita’s ever-so-cheerful voice rang in my ears:
Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a real psychic. Everyone except the Captain, I guess. He’s into all that stuff.
“Wait a second…” I muttered. “You want me to, um…use my talents for this?” I drew my knees up to my chest. “That wasn’t part of the contract. I’m here to entertain the passengers, not solve your mysteries for you.”
“I didn’t say it was a request.” He looked down his nose at me. The friendly expression evaporated. “This is your chance to prove yourself. Prove your innocence.”
“What?” I yelped. “But I didn’t do anything!”
“That’s not what the guards think,” he pointed out. “I’m on your side, Rose, but by the time we next pull into port this ship will be crawling with police. Because of the circumstances, one of the first people they will want to talk to is you.” He remained quiet for a moment. “You realize what that might mean for your employment.”
My hands clenched into tight fists by my side. “Are you threatening me?”
“Not at all. I’m trying to help you.”
“Some way of helping,” I snarled. “It’s not like you leave me much of a choice.”
“Would you rather I turn you over to the guards right away, then?”
I stood up, exasperated. “What do you want from me?”
“Think about it this way,” he suggested. “The Frontier represents more than just a cruise liner to our guests. It represents luxury. It represents relaxation. It represents an escape. Now tell me, Rose, is having a mysterious death on our hands any of those things?”
“No…”
“And it would undoubtedly hurt business if news were to get out. Guests may not feel safe leaving their rooms…much less partaking in activities such as having their fortunes read.” His steely brown eyes bored into mine. “It benefits everyone on this ship if we can deal with this quickly and quietly. I have a reputation to upkeep, as I’m sure you do too. Understand?”