06 - Eye of the Fortuneteller by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) Page B

talking,” Kelsey whispered to Drew.
    “But we just walked around the shack. She wasn’t there,” he replied.
    “Maybe she heard us through the windows or something,” Kelsey answered.
“Trust me, these fortunetellers are all fakes. You said so yourself.”
    “Come, children,” the gypsy woman continued, opening the door wider. “Come
inside.” Then she gazed over her shoulder. “I have something for you.”
    “Um, thanks. But we can’t,” Drew said. “We really have to get home.”
    The gypsy ignored him. And so did Kelsey. She followed the old woman inside. Drew lunged for Kelsey’s arm and tried to pull
her back, but Kelsey jerked free.
    “You have some pretty neat things in here,” Kelsey said to the woman as she
stepped inside.
    “These are not my things,” she replied. Then she sat down behind a round
table. “Sit.” She motioned to two chairs. “You may call me Madame Valda.”
    “I thought she was supposed to be the Amazing Zandra,” Drew whispered as the
two took their seats at the table.
    Kelsey shrugged as she watched the gypsy set a folded velvet cloth on the
table in front of her. It was blood-red and held something inside it.
    “Madame Valda will tell your fortune now,” the gypsy announced. Then she
opened the cloth to reveal a deck of cards.
    “But we don’t have any money to pay you, uh, Madame Gypsy,” Drew said,
standing.
    “Madame Valda,” the old woman corrected sharply. “I will do it for nothing,”
her voice softened. “Sit! It is a great honor to have Madame Valda tell your
fortune.”
    “Sit!” Kelsey echoed.
    Drew sat. Madame Valda spread the deck of cards out on the table. She began
to sing softly in a language Kelsey had never heard.
    Kelsey watched as the fortuneteller swirled her head around in a circle.
She’d seen fortunetellers in the movies do this. They closed their eyes and sang
themselves into some kind of trance.
    Only Madame Valda wasn’t closing her eyes.
    She stared straight ahead. Straight at Kelsey.
    This is really creepy, Kelsey thought. A nervous giggle escaped her lips.
    Madame Valda didn’t seem to notice—or she didn’t care.
    She continued to sing.
    She continued to stare.
    Directly into Kelsey’s eyes.
    Kelsey stared back. She felt as if she were in some kind of trance, too. She
couldn’t stop gazing into the woman’s weird eyes.
    Finally Madame Valda’s chant came to an end, and she shifted her gaze to the
deck of cards on the table.
    Kelsey let out a long sigh. She didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath.
    Madame Valda flipped over three cards. They all had strange symbols on them.
Symbols that Kelsey had never seen before.
    The gypsy studied the cards for a moment, then turned to Drew.
    “Drew Moore,” she said. “I see that you are sometimes more a follower than a
leader. You must be careful to guard against that. It will get you into trouble. Especially when
you let Kelsey make all the decisions.”
    Kelsey shot a quick glance at Drew. His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide.
    Kelsey squirmed in her chair. How did she know Drew’s last name? she
wondered. How? Kelsey knew she never said it. And neither did Drew. Not
outside. And not inside.
    Then she spotted it. Drew’s beach pass. Pinned to his shirt. With his name
printed in big red letters, Drew T. Moore. Kelsey laughed out loud as she stared
down at her own badge. Then she pointed it out to Drew.
    “What is funny?” The old woman snarled.
    “Um. Nothing,” Kelsey replied.
    “Then why do you laugh?” the old woman pressed.
    “Well, it’s just that your fortunetelling powers aren’t all that, um,
mysterious,” Kelsey confessed.
    Drew kicked Kelsey under the table.
    “Do you think Madame Valda is a fake?” The old woman’s voice rose to a
screech.
    “I know Madame Valda is a fake,” Kelsey replied, imitating the gypsy’s
accent.
    “You have insulted the famous Madame Valda,” the fortuneteller roared. She
jerked to her feet and loomed