She’s unassuming in her appearance, as if she’s not trying very hard to be believed, leaving it up to the customer to make the judgment.
And somehow that makes me trust her more.
“Hello,” she says. “What can I do for you?”
I nod at Rook. “He has no memory of who he is.”
The woman scans him. He stands still, hands in his pants pockets as if he’s delighted to be a specimen. “And you wish to find out who you are?”
“I’m open to learning,” he answers. “If you’re able to shed some light.”
“Of course. I charge a hundred cuts per reading.”
I grimace. “Oh. Right. I’m sorry. We don’t have any—”
Rook pulls his hand from his pocket and reveals a roll of coins. The woman takes them.
“Follow me.” She disappears behind the curtain.
“Where did you get that money?” I whisper.
“Do you want to know?” His eyes glint in the diffused light of the shop.
Is that some kind of challenge? Is he suggesting Idon’twant to know?
“Maybe?”
“That sounds like a question, Kansas, not an answer.” He winks at me and slips through the curtain.
I huff out in frustration. This man is surprising me around every turn.
Do I hate it?
Edward was easy. I always knew what he was thinking. I always knew what he wanted. I always knew what to expect.
With Rook, everything is unpredictable. I can’t seem to get a concrete read on him at all.
Do I hate it? I don’t think I do.
If this is a challenge, then I aim to take it.
I part the curtain and follow in his footsteps.
There are no windows in the back of Henrietta’s shop. She has lamps dotted around the long, narrow space and string lights hanging overhead. More gauzy fabric is strung through the open rafters. Fabric in purple and emerald green.
“Come have a seat.” Henrietta gestures to the two chairs opposite her.
Rook and I sit.
The table between us is draped in purple silk. There are several snags in the material, causing it to pucker and stretch.
A cone of incense burns in the center, placed on a glazed ceramic tray with a moon stamped into the clay.
How long has it been since the people of Oz saw the moon? And does their moon look like ours? Am I really to believe I’ve traveled to another world?
There is no other explanation for the odd things I’vewitnessed here. The Witch of the East subduing me with her wand. The Witch of the North appearing out of thin air. The slippers disappearing only to reappear in Em’s onion cabinet.
I can’t wrap my head around Oz existing in the same place Kansas does.
