The ex-Pony Express staff gathered on the porch of the old way station after a dinner at Rachel's. "Don't know about you fellas, but the night's young, I say we head on over to that gypsy tent I was tellin' ya about. Get our fortunes read, what do ya say?" Cody said, smiling.
"You believe in that stuff, but call what I believe superstitions?" Buck muttered. "That fortune telling is nothing but a lot of flash and mirrors, Cody."
"I don't rightly know about that, Buck. Some of those gypsy folk have a gift, the second sight, they say," Teaspoon said, stretching. "I wouldn't scoff at it too fast."
"Aw, it's just for fun anyway, fellas," Cody said.
"Yeah, that and to get a chance to talk to that pretty fortune teller's daughter, right Cody?" Jimmy laughed. "Well I'm game, I suppose."
Kid and Lou agreed; and Rachel smiled. "Sounds like fun, let's give it a try."
The group approached and stood in line by the gypsy tent. The father of the family was seated on top of a large, painted gypsy wagon stationed beside the tent, with all manner of tin wares hanging from it for sale. A dark eyed girl was sitting outside the tent, smiling and beckoning to the passersby to sit and have their fortunes told, and carefully reading their palms. Her beauty certainly attracted the male customers who might not otherwise have been interested; the line stretched down the length of several tents. Cody, for one, could not seem to take his eyes from the lovely girl.
As they reached the tent, she smiled a special smile for Cody, causing his heart to skip a beat. "Fifty cents for a standard palm reading; a dollar to include the tarot cards," she said, holding out her hand, glittering with rings on each finger and numerous gold bracelets hung with ancient coins. Cody, trying to impress the young lady, pulled out seven dollars. "My treat, everybody," he said magnanimously, handing the money to the girl. "We'll all have the deluxe fortune, ma'am. Hope you'll give me a good one," he said, tipping his hat gallantly. "What's your name?"
The girl smiled up through her thick lashes. "My name is Tsura; but my mother, Madame Esmerelda, does the special readings. Through there," she gestured into the tent. Cody's face fell and he entered the tent despondently. His friends laughed into their sleeves at Cody's open disappointment that Tsura would not be holding his hand and reading his fortune.
Cody pushed aside the sheer curtain that blocked the entrance to the tent and saw an older Gypsy woman seated at a small table. "Madame Esmerelda?" Cody ventured.
"Sit down, my son," she intoned, gesturing to a seat on the other side of her table. She held out her hand for his, turning it over carefully. Her old eyes lit up with surprise. She glanced up at him, curiously.
"What's wrong, ma'am?" Cody said weakly. "Something bad?"
She shook her head. "I can't remember ever seeing a hand this remarkable," she murmured. "You are destined for greatness, young man." Cody puffed his chest out.
"I'm joining up with the Army soon. You see anything about that?" he asked.
"Yes… you will survive this war that's coming. That's sure; your life line is very long," she commented. Her eyes softened a little. "Your heart line … it is not as good as the rest; you will marry, have children you will love very much. But the marriage will not be a happy one."
To his surprise, Cody felt a little disappointed. He really had thought this would be a fun adventure, entertainment really, and was surprised the woman was giving 'bad news.'
She looked at his palm more carefully. "But even if your marriage is a disappointment, you will be loved by thousands of people. You will be famous. I see you meeting royalty . . . making history."
Madame Esmerelda patted Cody's palm gently. "Let me read your cards, young man."
The old woman pulled out a deck of large cards, handing them to Cody. "Shuffle them," she instructed. He did so and handed them back to the woman.
She dealt out fifteen cards, arranging five in a cross and placing four vertically alongside the first five. She placed another card across the cross' center card. Examining the cards, the woman's smile broadened.
"What do you see?" Cody said excitedly.
She gestured toward the cards, shaking her head knowingly. "One of the most remarkable spreads I have seen, young man," she said seriously. "All the cards in your spread are right side up, to begin. And such cards!" She gestured again, pointing at different cards in turn. "Queen of cups. Meaning prosperity, high achievements. The World, signifying accomplishment, success. The Sun - again success, fame, acclaim."
Madame Esmerelda looked up at Cody. "You will be famous beyond your imagination. If only you reach for your dreams, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to." She tapped the heart line on his palm. "But don't forget the people closest to you, and their happiness."
Cody looked back at her seriously. "I won't ma'am," he said, half comprehending.
As Cody left, contemplating the fortune teller's words, Kid and Lou entered the tent together, hands clasped.
Madame Esmerelda smiled at the young couple, glancing at their hands with matching wedding rings. "Newlyweds?" she asked. The pair nodded, approaching.
"Then it is fitting you have your fortunes read together, since you have joined them," Madame nodded. She pointed toward a second chair and Kid pulled it to the table, where he and Lou sat down.
Madame stared at Lou for a moment. "You have not been married long… a few weeks only?"
"That's right," Lou said, smiling at her new husband. He put his hand over hers gently.
"Yet a child grows inside you already," Madame said, smiling, and pulling Lou's left hand towards hers.
Lou grew pale.
Madame drew Lou's wedding ring from her finger and placed it on a chain. "You are feeling sick in the mornings, true?"
"Well, yes … but there's been a bug going around."
Madame smiled. "You have caught no bug, my darling. You are carrying your first child."
Kid's eyes widened in delight. "When is this happening?" he asked excitedly.
"In about seven months, perhaps six," Madame said. She was holding the end of the chain above Lou's abdomen, which was still flat as ever. It hung steady; then started moving back and forth. Madame smiled. "It will be a boy."
Lou looked mortified. Madame looked sympathetically at the girl. "You are surprised?"
Lou's eyes were tearing up. "Yes. No. I don't know."
Kid put his arm around Lou protectively. "What is it, Lou? Could this be true?"
She nodded, calculating quickly in her head. "But … Madame, is the baby going to be all right? I'm worried . . . I was working … kind of hard up to a couple of weeks ago. What if I hurt the baby?" she said, starting to cry.
Kid smiled. "Lou, we don't even know if this is true yet, I'm sure everything will be okay."
Madame placed at their hands side by side, and looked at them closely. "I see a long life for both of you and many healthy children." She glanced up at Kid quizzically after a moment gazing at his palm. "I would like to read your cards alone, my son," she said slowly. "If that is all right," she said kindly to Lou, now drying her eyes. Lou nodded. Shaken, she stood and walked out of the tent quickly, resolving to see the doctor the very next day. I'll never forgive myself if anything is wrong with our baby, she thought worriedly.
"I asked to see you alone, because I see danger ahead for your wife," the fortune teller said gravely. "Her health line, it is broken, in the bottom of the top third of her life line, meaning very soon. I did not wish to say anything in front of her - - she is upset about her child. But you must take good care of her . . . Guard her health carefully. I see illness ahead for her, and she will have to fight to survive, and live the long life she is intended to."
Kid tried to look unconcerned, but the gypsy's serious tone affected him. I don't know how I'd survive if anything happened to Lou, he thought, before reminding himself that all this was just a silly card show.
"There is something else," she mused. "You are a difficult subject to read, young man. You seem simple, straightforward on the surface. Yet you are mysterious . . . With many secrets, true?"
He looked a little uncomfortable for the first time. "Maybe," he said evasively.
She nodded. "Exactly. And I see things in your palm, that I do not see in your aspect. Your face," she explained. She glanced down at his hand. "I wish to read your cards," she said, handing him the deck to shuffle it. He hesitantly took it, mixed the cards clumsily, and handed them back.
Studying the cards, she sighed. "Yes. There are conflicts in your past. Terrible suffering." She shook her head. "There is great anger inside you," she said. Looking up at him, she seemed disbelieving. "Yet you have a gentle face, a gentle heart. But when enraged, you are a different person. You can lash out at others. This is not your nature; but because of the past," she tapped a card, "you have this anger bottled inside you, waiting to come out."
He felt like a butterfly on a pin as she stared him down. "You have turned that anger against your wife. Have you not?"
He flushed. "Once," he admitted, shamed. One time, and one time only, he had treated her disrespectfully, out of uncontrolled emotions. But he never forgot it or permitted those feelings to rise up again.
"The child is a product of anger and love, mixed together . . . Of jealousy. Your other great flaw."
She returned to the cards, musing. "You will have to learn to confront your demons, not just hide from them, turn them inward only to fester. To trust that your wife loves you and you deserve to be loved. Then you will never need to feel that anger or jealousy again."
Kid looked downcast. The seer smiled encouragingly. "You are a good husband, a good friend, and will be a good father; just keep in mind that you need to master your emotions, not be mastered by them, and you will continue to be those things."
She pointed to the remaining cards. "These show me that you have great love in your heart; which is part of the reason you have such jealousy. The other reason is that you feel unworthy of love, and cannot believe you can keep it. By holding on too hard, it is possible to destroy love. You have learned that much in the past. Keep on that journey and you will succeed. The cards show your final success, but you must work for it."
Kid thought back over the last two years with Lou, over his life before then; and resolved to take this gypsy's uncanny advice and apply it in his life . . . Learn to control his anger and figure out where it came from, so he would never let it control him again.
Entering the tent next, Buck seated himself silently at Madame's table. She looked at him kindly. "I don't often see an Indian brave in my tent, young man. You are seeking answers about anything in particular?"
He shook his head, uncertainly. "You are not full-blooded Indian, are you?" she asked him.
"No."
"You dress as a white man . . . Wear the badge of the white man."
He nodded. She looked at his palms, side by side. "Your father was a white man. You never knew him." Madame studied his reaction, but his face was immobile. She returned her gaze to his palms, then shook her head. "I see nothing of use here." After the tarot cards were shuffled and placed in formation on the table, she nodded. "You have lost a friend, like a brother," she mused. "Such closeness between two people is rare. It was a great loss, one you will carry with you for many years."
She lifted the center card in the cross she had formed, revealing a card with two lovers. She smiled. "You are very close to finding a different kind of love; a romantic love. But there will be obstacles." She pointed to the card she had lifted. Buck looked at her mystified. "Your true love is coming to you. But she will not be easily won; you will have to be patient." Esmerelda nodded again, looking at the cross-wise card. "What is meant to be will come to you if you have patience."
Teaspoon entered the tent next. He smiled and removed his hat as he sat in the chair Madame offered him. "Reckon you should charge me half price, Ma'am. My future can't be as long to tell as those young 'uns," he smiled. Madame smiled back at the affable man, and examined his gnarled palm. "You have had a full enough life up to this time, I see," she mused. "Married five . . . no, six times, Marshal?"
Teaspoon nodded, assenting. "Reckon that's about right."
"I see your family growing, even late in your life as you are."
Teaspoon looked uneasy. "What's that you say?"
"I see a seventh and final marriage still to come, Marshal." She bent closer. "I need my crystal," she mused. She pulled a crystal ball from underneath the table and gazed into it, holding his hands on either side. "Look into the ball and concentrate, Marshal," she directed, before starting to hum softly and stare into the crystal.
Feeling more than a little ridiculous, Teaspoon looked into the crystal ball, but could not see anything; after a moment or two, she looked up. "I see a beautiful woman. With long blonde hair . . . I see her bearing your children."
Teaspoon gaped. "You don't happen to see her name, do you?"
Madame looked back, and shook her head. "Starts with an R, but I can't see a whole name. Does that mean anything to you?"
Teaspoon licked his lips eagerly and grinned. "Well, I reckon it does," he said, delighted. "How many sprouts do you see in store for us?"
She returned to the ball again. "Four … no, five, it seems."
Teaspoon's grin faded. "That many?"
The old seer nodded . . . "I see this woman, and five children, around you in a rocking chair."
Teaspoon looked a little annoyed. "I ain't that old," he muttered.
Madame smothered a smile. "I can only tell you what the crystal reveals, Marshal. Would you care to shuffle the tarot cards and have your card reading now?"
Teaspoon considered it. "No, I reckon that's enough good news for now . . . maybe I'll wait to be surprised on the rest," he said. His wicked grin was replaced on his face by now, and he exited the tent. Rachel was waiting to go next. He gave her a long appraising look up and down, and she looked at him quizzically as she went past him. What on earth has gotten into him? She thought.
Rachel sat down and greeted Madame Esmerelda. "Pleased to meet you ma'am," she said politely. She figured the fortune teller for a show-woman at best, a con artist at worst. But Rachel appreciated a well-executed scam along with the best of them, having played her own share of games back in the old days. She prepared for the woman's 'act' with inward amusement.
"I've seen you before!" said the fortune teller calmly. "Though it's true we haven't met before."
"Where'd you see me before?" Rachel played along.
The fortune teller tapped the crystal. "In here, just a few minutes ago. Does your name start with an R?"
Rachel's smile disappeared. "Yes," she muttered. So help me if this faker put any ideas in that old coot's head… she thought furiously.
"Then I have already seen you, married to the Marshal and with five children, in this crystal," Madame started.
"Are you sure that's the future and not just Teaspoon's wishful thinkin' you're seein', ma'am?"
"Quite sure; but if you need more proof, let me see your palm."
Rachel reluctantly held out her hand. The gypsy examined it. "You've had a great loss in your life . . . the love of your life in fact, died, and your child with him."
Tears stung Rachel's lids. A scam is one thing, she thought. But this isn't funny. She pulled back her hand abruptly.
"I speak the truth, do I not?"
Rachel nodded, tears spilling out. The gypsy handed Rachel the cards. "You know how to shuffle very well, don't you? Shuffle them for me. Don't be afraid."
Rachel took the cards and expertly shuffled them, then hesitated. She was not sure she was ready to learn what this mystic was about to tell her. The fortune teller took the cards back and mused a moment. "The ellipse spread for you, I think." Madame slowly laid out seven cards in a v-formation, smiling as each card was revealed.
"Card one - the past," she said, pointing to a card with two beggar children hobbling past a window decorated with five stars, each with five points. "The Five of Pentacles. Meaning terrible loss; but the church window represents that hope and salvation follow."
"Card two - the present; your card here is the Two of Wands. Symbolizing success is imminent, moving in the right direction. You are working well together with a partner or friend."
"Card three - the future." The card had a picture of a man and a woman with ten gold cups arranged in an arc above their heads. "The ten of cups. Symbolizing marriage, contentment, familiarity."
"And Card four - what to do?" This card showed a woman seated on a throne. "The Empress card. She represents motherhood, achievement of all things feminine. And she reminds us that an abundance of things comes from having an open mind."
Rachel nodded, thinking about Teaspoon. What a dear friend he was; how close they had become while trying to be surrogate parents to all the riders. What a good father he would be. She looked up at Madame.
"This perhaps is enough? You will think about what Madame has said?"
Rachel nodded again and rose, walking toward the door to the tent. As she exited, she caught sight of Teaspoon challenging the boys to a spitting contest. Leaning against a post, Rachel shook her head to clear it. Okay, I thought about it. And I'm done thinkin' about it too, crystal ball or no crystal ball, she reflected grimly, even as Teaspoon turned and winked broadly at her.
Finally, Jimmy swaggered into the tent. Madame looked up and shivered, as if at a physical chill. Wordlessly, she pointed to the chair. Grinning, he sat down. "You think my craft is a joke, Mr. Hickok?" the gypsy said, a little dangerously.
He started a moment. "How'd you find out my name?" he asked after a slight pause.
"Never mind that. Why do you come in here if you don't believe?"
Jimmy shrugged. "You got your fee, what's the difference to you if I believe in it or not? My friends thought this would be fun, is all."
Biting her lip, the woman glanced at his palm almost absently, as if already knowing what was there. "You have made many mistakes in your past, Mr. Hickok. Killed many who you thought deserved it … and some who didn't."
Jimmy jerked his hand away. "Anyone around here coulda told you who I was. You can see my gunfightin' rig. That's all, you ain't fooling me with your fairy tales."
"We'll see," she said, her eyes icy as they met his. She spread out the tarot cards, 72 of them, all different, before him. "Pick them up and shuffle them."
For what reason he couldn't say, he did, shuffling thoroughly and handing them toward her. She dealt twelve cards in a circle and glanced over them. "You have a brave heart, Mr. Hickok. You'll be a hero in the conflict that's coming . . . then later, a respected lawman. But not loved," she said, pointing to the King of Cups, the only card that was right side up after Jimmy dealt the cards.
Gesturing over the other cards, she said, "You will be lonely. And meet a violent death at a young age." She glanced up, pityingly. "Shot from behind with a bullet in your head." He stared back, coldly, before standing. To her surprise, he laughed shortly, his eyes steely.
"My friend Cody wasted a dollar on that fortune. You ain't told me nothin' I didn't already know." He turned and stalked out of the tent leaving the fortune teller astonished in his wake.
THE END.