Esmeralda stopped her shuffling and eyed him.
He shrugged. “Must have been one hell of a fish.”
She set the cards down and pressed on a hidden button on the base of the crystal ball. Glowing light emanated from a concealed bulb. For a moment, she saw her own reflection. Was this truly what she wanted out of life? To swindle people? To be a fraud?
She smirked and blew a kiss to herself.
Why not?This was the one thing she was good at, after all. And it was better to be the swindler than to be swindled. She’d learned that the hard way.
“Ready?” Gabriel asked.
She nodded.
He tucked himself behind the curtain where various pullies had been rigged. Gears began to grind and the main door to her wagon slowly opened, revealing a small but hopefully generous queue.
Gabriel’s voice, disguised through a loud-hailer, roared to life. “Come one, come all! Please, don’t despair. Come have your fate told by La Paloma Blanca, Fortune Teller Extraordinaire.”
“It’s about time,” someone grumbled.
Esmeralda’s eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second before she put on her most dazzling smile.When you become the lead act, you’ll never have to kiss any customers’ heinies for measly tips again, she told herself. She’d once overheard Melanie the Marionette bragging that her monthly salary was twenty thousand silvers. That was twice as much as Esmeralda had saved after ten months in the carnival. No wonder Melanie left without a word. With that sort of loot, Esmeralda would probably disappear too.
“First in line may come through,” Gabriel’s voice boomed. “Just add a silver coin into the coin box before you do.”
A few voices objected. One person, a woman dressed as asparagus, left the queue altogether. Esmeralda took a calming breath. She needed every silver coin if she wanted to add to her savingsandpay Gabriel for all his help. He always tried to refuse, since he made a good salary building haunts for the Fun House, but she never wanted to be in debt to anyone for anything.
The wagon swayed as her first customer clambered up. Theclink of a lone piece of silver thunking into the empty coin box nearly gutted her. The man wore a black mask in the shape of a wolf. His bowler hat was tugged low down his forehead, almost to his snout.
Trying to be mysterious, I see.
The door swung shut with a thud. The man reached for something, most likely a weapon tucked inside his coat.Ah yes, he must be the bootlegger Gabriel spoke of.Esmeralda wasn’t afraid of some rudimentary thug. She’d been brought up by a far scarierman.
She lowered her voice to something husky and equally mysterious. “No need to fear, señor. It is only you and me in this wagon.” She raised her arm and fluttered her fingers. “And the spirits of course.”
The chandelier suddenly shook. A fun innovation Gabriel had come up with after she’d gone a week without a single customer. Though, the first time he’d tried it, the entire thing crashed onto the table, spooking her customer so much that Esmeralda had to pay the customer for his troubles instead. Now, it seemed to be a fan favorite.
The bootlegger wasn’t impressed, however. He sat down unceremoniously. “Let’s get on with it, then.”
Why even come to a fortune teller’s booth if you’re going to be a bore? Being a bore goes against carnival rules anyway.
“What is it you wish to know?” she asked, smiling. “Would you like to hear from a loved one? Is there a secret you want brought to light? Perhaps you wish to understand the comings and goings of the officers in the county? My guides have told me the prohibition laws are quite strict around these parts.”
His eyes pierced into her from behind his mask. “What did you say?” he growled.
She waved her hands over the crystal ball. “I only repeat what the spirits show me within this enchanted stone.”
He leaned forward, peering at the ball. “I don’t see nothing.”
Obviously, she wanted to say. But she held her annoyance back. “That is because you aren’t looking with your mind’s eye.”
She circled one hand over the crystal while the other pressed the hidden button once more. Swirling shadows danced within the sphere. To any onlooker, they might appear as whirling phantoms trapped inside.
Gabriel came up with this particular idea after he and Esmeralda had snuck into a real fortune teller’s shop while Carnival Fantástico was stopped in one of the larger cities in the south several months back. Watching someone actually speak to souls from the Land of the Dead was rather interesting, especially when the king’s church proclaimed that all souls were reincarnated after death, and that the new lives they were given would be based on how well they served him in this one.
Esmeralda had never believed such a ridiculous notion and therefore happily lived her life spitting on King Amadeo’s portraits wherever she went. She never spat on the queen’s portraits, though. There was a steeliness in Queen Hermosa’s eyes that Esmeralda admired. Plus, she’d heard the queen went around telling the court about her husband’s thumb-sucking habits. Apparently, their arranged marriage wasn’t to her liking, and she tormented him whenever the opportunity presented itself, which was something Esmeralda couldn’t help but respect.
The bootlegger’s lips parted ever so slightly, and he leaned closer to the crystal ball.
Got him.
