the priesthood, it probably saves a lot of hassle. I just hope she’s more sensible. You want a coffee?’
‘No thanks, I have to be off in a minute.’ Rowenna stood up and moved across to Jane’s bookcase. ‘You’ve got it all here, haven’t you? Personal transformation, past-life regression, communicating with Nature spirits…’
‘Yeah, I’m a sad New Age weirdo. Don’t spread it around.’
‘It’s not weird to be interested in what’s going to happen to us. Do you do anything like, you know, meditation or anything like that?’
‘I’ve thought about it after… when I once had a couple of odd things happen to me.’
Rowenna sat down again. ‘Go on.’
‘It was probably just imagination. I mean, you can make something out of everything, can’t you? Like, Mum, she reckons she sometimes gets these images of blue and gold when she’s saying her prayers, and so she connects it with God because that’s like the container she’s in. But it could be anything, couldn’t it?’
‘So what happened to you?’
‘I don’t talk about it much. I reckon if you try to analyse this stuff it just evaporates.’
‘Not around me, kitten.’
‘OK, well, I just feel this intense connection to some places. Like you were talking about hugging beams, I feel I want to hug hills and fields and—Hey, this is really, really stupid. It’s just hyper-imagination.’
‘Oh, Jane! Don’t stop now .’
‘Sorry. OK, well, like time passes and you’re not aware of it. It’s like you’re here but you’re not here, and then you’re here again – some kind of shift in reality. Maybe it happens to everybody but most people disregard it. There was an old woman in the village I used to be able to talk to about this stuff, but she’s dead now.’
‘I think there’s another side to all of us we need to discover,’ Rowenna said. ‘Especially us… I mean our generation. We’re growing up into this awesome millennial situation where all the old stuff’s breaking down… like political divisions and organized religion. That’s not knocking your mum or anything.’
‘It’s OK,’ Jane said. ‘She knows it’s all coming to pieces. She got these quite sizeable congregations at first on account of being a woman, but the novelty’s wearing off already. When the Church is just surviving on gimmicks you know it’s the slippery slope. Go on.’
‘All I was saying is that we shouldn’t pass up on the opportunity to expand our consciousness wherever possible.’
‘I’ll go along with that. What sort of stuff have you done?’
‘Oh, I’ve just kind of messed around the edges.’ Rowenna flicked the pages of a paperback about interpreting dreams. ‘Like, when we were in Salisbury I had this friend whose sister did tarot readings, and she showed me two layouts. I was doing it at school for a few weeks. It was really incredible how accurate it was. Then I did this reading for a girl who was getting to be quite a good friend, and it came out really horrible and she got meningitis soon afterwards and nearly died, and she never came back to school – which kind of spooked me.’
Jane shrugged. ‘That doesn’t mean it was the cards gave her meningitis. Can you still remember how? Would you be able to do a reading for me?’
‘Mmm… don’t think so. Rather not.’
‘Wimp.’
‘Maybe. Tell you what, though, I saw this poster down the health-food shop, right? There’s a psychic fair on in Leominster next weekend.’
‘Cool. What is it?’
‘You’ve never been to one? There are loads about.’
‘Rowenna, my mother’s a vicar. I lead this dead sheltered life.’
Rowenna smiled. ‘Well, actually I’ve just been to one and it was seriously tacky and full of freaky old dames in gypsy clobber, but good fun if you didn’t take it too seriously. We could check it out.’
‘OK,’ Jane said. ‘I suspect I’d better not tell Mum.’
‘I suppose she wouldn’t be cool about that stuff. Alternative
‘No thanks, I have to be off in a minute.’ Rowenna stood up and moved across to Jane’s bookcase. ‘You’ve got it all here, haven’t you? Personal transformation, past-life regression, communicating with Nature spirits…’
‘Yeah, I’m a sad New Age weirdo. Don’t spread it around.’
‘It’s not weird to be interested in what’s going to happen to us. Do you do anything like, you know, meditation or anything like that?’
‘I’ve thought about it after… when I once had a couple of odd things happen to me.’
Rowenna sat down again. ‘Go on.’
‘It was probably just imagination. I mean, you can make something out of everything, can’t you? Like, Mum, she reckons she sometimes gets these images of blue and gold when she’s saying her prayers, and so she connects it with God because that’s like the container she’s in. But it could be anything, couldn’t it?’
‘So what happened to you?’
‘I don’t talk about it much. I reckon if you try to analyse this stuff it just evaporates.’
‘Not around me, kitten.’
‘OK, well, I just feel this intense connection to some places. Like you were talking about hugging beams, I feel I want to hug hills and fields and—Hey, this is really, really stupid. It’s just hyper-imagination.’
‘Oh, Jane! Don’t stop now .’
‘Sorry. OK, well, like time passes and you’re not aware of it. It’s like you’re here but you’re not here, and then you’re here again – some kind of shift in reality. Maybe it happens to everybody but most people disregard it. There was an old woman in the village I used to be able to talk to about this stuff, but she’s dead now.’
‘I think there’s another side to all of us we need to discover,’ Rowenna said. ‘Especially us… I mean our generation. We’re growing up into this awesome millennial situation where all the old stuff’s breaking down… like political divisions and organized religion. That’s not knocking your mum or anything.’
‘It’s OK,’ Jane said. ‘She knows it’s all coming to pieces. She got these quite sizeable congregations at first on account of being a woman, but the novelty’s wearing off already. When the Church is just surviving on gimmicks you know it’s the slippery slope. Go on.’
‘All I was saying is that we shouldn’t pass up on the opportunity to expand our consciousness wherever possible.’
‘I’ll go along with that. What sort of stuff have you done?’
‘Oh, I’ve just kind of messed around the edges.’ Rowenna flicked the pages of a paperback about interpreting dreams. ‘Like, when we were in Salisbury I had this friend whose sister did tarot readings, and she showed me two layouts. I was doing it at school for a few weeks. It was really incredible how accurate it was. Then I did this reading for a girl who was getting to be quite a good friend, and it came out really horrible and she got meningitis soon afterwards and nearly died, and she never came back to school – which kind of spooked me.’
Jane shrugged. ‘That doesn’t mean it was the cards gave her meningitis. Can you still remember how? Would you be able to do a reading for me?’
‘Mmm… don’t think so. Rather not.’
‘Wimp.’
‘Maybe. Tell you what, though, I saw this poster down the health-food shop, right? There’s a psychic fair on in Leominster next weekend.’
‘Cool. What is it?’
‘You’ve never been to one? There are loads about.’
‘Rowenna, my mother’s a vicar. I lead this dead sheltered life.’
Rowenna smiled. ‘Well, actually I’ve just been to one and it was seriously tacky and full of freaky old dames in gypsy clobber, but good fun if you didn’t take it too seriously. We could check it out.’
‘OK,’ Jane said. ‘I suspect I’d better not tell Mum.’
‘I suppose she wouldn’t be cool about that stuff. Alternative
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