Whispers Beyond the Veil by Jessica Estevao Page A

looked like the money bags most women in the medicine show secreted into their skirts. She looked so much like an aunt of Johnny’s I thought I had been followed from the medicine show. But then she smiled at me and revealed a full set of teeth, something not possessed by Johnny’s aunt.
    â€œIt was nothing,” I said. “It would have been a shame for you to lose such a pretty thing as this.” The woman took the kerchief from my hand and tied it over her hair with a deft motion. Then she reached for my left hand and tugged me to sit beside her on the warm sand.
    Flipping my palm up, she lowered her head over it and began to trace the lines etched there. Then she picked up my right hand and did the same. Holding the two side by side in front of her, she spoke.
    â€œYou are at a crossroads. You are torn between two possibilities but you are not happy with either choice.”
    â€œYou can see that in my palm?” I asked. Part of me was offended to be taken as the sort of person who would fall for such drivel. But another part of me felt like she was just the sign I was looking for.
    â€œThat and much more. You’ve suffered heartache and loss. This is not the palm of a person accustomed to a soft life. I see a strong fate line in both palms but they differ from each other.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?” I surprised myself by asking.
    â€œIt means your fate is entirely up to you. You have the ability to stand your ground and make the life you want if you have the courage to try.”
    â€œHow can you be sure?”
    â€œBecause I have a gift. You have one, too. See this raised place on your hand?” I nodded as she traced the outside edge of my palm. “It indicates knowledge of the unseen, an ability to communicate with the beyond.”
    â€œYou truly believe such abilities to be real?” I had no sense the woman was working a con. She radiated a peaceful sincerity.
    â€œWhy would I not when the experiences of my lifetime prove it to me?” She raised her hand and gestured at the beach. “Not only are these sorts of abilities real, this place enhances their strength.”
    â€œYou think the beach makes people more able to see the future or contact the world of spirit?” Even though the thought seemed unlikely I found it intriguing.
    â€œI am certain of it. If you wish to build a life around your abilities, you could not have found a better place to do so.”
    And in a flash, I felt sure of what I had to do. I could not have asked for a clearer omen that I should stay and take on the role ofmedium. I could hardly wait to get back to the hotel. As if sensing my eagerness, the woman rose and pulled me to my feet.
    As she did so she backed into a pinched-faced woman in a dusty black dress.
    â€œLook where you are going, you filthy beggar.” The woman’s raised voice was loud enough to carry across the sand and draw looks from others strolling the beach. The palm reader dropped my hand and turned to the dowdy woman.
    â€œMy apologies, madam,” the palm reader said. “May I make it up to you by reading your future?”
    â€œDon’t you dare touch me.” The woman brandished her parasol like a weapon. Unless I was very much mistaken she was preparing to assault my new acquaintance in the very same manner I had the pickpocket the day before. “Police.”
    â€œPlease accept my apology,” the palm reader said.
    â€œPolice!” The woman raised her shrill voice even louder a second time.
    â€œI only meant to help by offering to read your palm.”
    â€œMore like you wanted to help yourself to my property.” The gray-haired woman looked up and down the beach. “You there, police officer. Come here.” Officer Yancey hurried to her side and cocked his head as she spoke rapidly.
    â€œI assume you know how to enforce the vagrancy laws in this town, do you not?” the woman asked.
    â€œWhat