Page 2 of A Seer and Present Danger

It was a nice day (a little cool, since it was mid-April) and the breeze felt fresh and clean after the heat of the diner. I tromped over and settled at the picnic table, pouring hot, sweet tea into my thermos cup.

“I declare this a happy moment. Tea,” I said in toast, “I love you.”

“Oh no, what will we tell coffee?” asked Jean Reed, who was coming around the side of the diner.

“Must be amazing tea,” said Yancy Howard, who strolled next to her.

I jumped up and gave them a hug and ushered them over to the table. “Perfect timing! I just started my break. Come sit down.”

Jean was the youngest of the Reed sisters, and like her sisters, she was a police officer in Ordinary. Her skin was pale and freckled, and her pink hair was pulled back into one long braid with a little flower tucked into the end of it.

She wore a cute flowing green dress and a short jacket and was obviously off duty today.

Yancy was in his early 50s. He had a round, kind face and tightly curled black hair that was shot through with silver. He worked as a career advisor at our satellite office of the community college based in Salem. He wore a button-down blue shirt, light jacket, and slacks.

We were all seers and had become fast friends.

“What brings you out here?” I asked. “God gossip? Is Crow up to no good? Did Odin finally punch Zeus in the face?”

Jean grinned and shook her head. “No, but I heard Than is eating lunch here at the diner every day.”

Than was Thanatos, the god of Death. He was pretty new to Ordinary, like me.

“Not sure I’d call it lunch,” I said. “But he’s ordering one thing off the menu each day. In alphabetical order.”

Jean laughed.

Yancy raised his eyebrows. “Alphabetical?”

“Yep. He’s, and I quote, ‘intrigued by the concept.’”

“Of food?” Yancy asked.

“Diner food,” I said. “Apparently someone was singing the praises of our mom-and-pop joint and now he’s curious.”

Jean raised her hand. “That was me.”

“What?” I laughed. “Why?”

“He’s been coming to the Puffin Muffin every day and finally ran out of pastries to try.”

The Puffin Muffin was Ordinary’s best bakery, and Jean’s boyfriend, Hogan, was Ordinary’s best baker.

“Well, that explains it!” I took a sip of tea. “Any tips? He’s still on A.”

“Don’t get him started on which tea to pair with which dish,” she said.

I pressed my palm to my chest. “Cross my heart. I’ll leave the fancy teas to the experts. So, if you didn’t come for gossip, what’s up? Is it a seer thing or a festival thing? Or something even more fun?”

“Seer thing,” Jean sighed, looking more serious. “I had a feeling—not my normal doom-twinge—just a foreboding that something big is headed toward us. Toward the three of us seers.”

“Big like an ice cream truck is gonna roll through our neighborhoods twice a day, or big like we win the Lottery?” I asked.

She spread her hands. “I don’t know if it’s good or bad. Just that it’s going to shake things up for us. So, I asked Yancy if he saw anything.”

I nodded. “Good thinking. Well, Mr. I-can-always-see-the-future-clearly?” I teased.

C’mon, ice cream truck, I cheered inwardly. C’mon lottery.