The woman spread the cards before her in an arch and then selected three. That's all. Three cards. If she turned them over and they all had dogs on them, I was gonna bolt.
The first card she flipped over had the image of a happy toddler on the back of a white horse. His arms and legs were stretched out with his glee, his pudgy face smiling, and a big yellow sun shone behind him. Oddly enough, the card was called The Sun. It was about the background more than the foreground.
“That looks like a nice card,” I said.
“It is.” She scowled at the card as if it had misbehaved. “But it don't feel nice today. I ain't sure why.” She flipped the second card. “Ah.”
Death. Yup, it was the cliché tarot card everyone knows. A skeleton in armor riding a horse. So weird. But I happened to know that the Death card didn't mean a physical death. So—
“Death's comin' for ya, girl,” the woman said.
“What?” I waved at the Sun. “But that's a happy card, right? And Death means change, not death.”
“Usually.” She nodded. “But the cards are strange today. Their message is different.” She turned the last card over. “The Moon.” She tapped the image of a full moon, then she stroked the dog howling at it. “Now I see. You be that Moon. Your place is up there. Out of reach. The dogs are howlin' for ya.” Shechuckled. “They always howl at the Moon, but they never get her. Not till now. Now, they gonna get you. If you let 'em.”
“Damn it. I knew dogs were going to show up on one of those damn cards.” I flopped against the back of the chair.
She shook her head. “Why you givin' them dogs such a hard time? You want them. They want you. The Moon is on Earth at last. Within their reach. But you still deny them. Silly Moon.”
I went still.
She met my stare.
“Who are you?” I whispered. “Are you one of them?”
She shook her head. “You askin' the wrong question.”
I thought about it. “Who's trying to kill me?”
“Closer,” she murmured.
“Why do they want to kill me?”
“Ah!” She smacked the Sun card with her palm. “Now, you're thinkin'!”
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Why do they want to kill me?”
“Yes, why would they?” She picked another card and turned it over. A couple stood, embracing on it. “The Lovers. Yup. Not surprising. It's always about love. Love gotten, forgotten, misbegotten. It's always love that drives them to kill.”
“Misbegotten?”
She leveled her stare at me and nodded. “Miss-be-gotten. Gotten wrongly. Stolen.”
“Are you saying that I took someone's man?”
She shrugged. “I'm saying to be careful, girl. The Sun won't shine for you until you figure out how to shine for yourself.” She swept up the cards and put them back in her box.
“Is that it?” I scowled at her.
She stared at me.
“Fine.” I got up, fished a twenty out of my wallet, and set it down.
She cocked her head at me.
