Page 71 of Possibly Texas

With a laugh, I nodded with my head towards Molly’s, though my stomach was already clenching up from the thought of a reading from the mystic. As we stepped out of the sun and into the tent, I immediately felt cooler. Molly’s tent seemed to be at least ten degrees cooler than outside.

It didn’t make sense, how the inside of a tent could be so cool since it was baking under the sun like everything else in town. However, Mystic Molly’s was downright pleasant. Even though a Tarot card reading was not something I really wanted, at least it was a free way to cool off.

Molly’s eyes sparkled as we approached. Her lamp was lit, flickering golden fire in her eyes. Molly was still dressed like an old-fashioned fortune teller at a carnival, her long-sleeved dress of black, and her cobweb of a shawl draped around her shoulders. Silver hoops hung at her ears and a slash of red lipstick streaked across her mouth.

“Happy Independence Day,” Molly said in greeting.

“Hi, Molly,” Auggie chirped and plopped into one of the chairs opposite the table from her. “Happy Fourth.”

“Happy Independence Day,” I mumbled as I slid into the chair next to Auggie.

Molly’s eyes were only for me, though she had acknowledged Auggie’s greeting. It was if she knew I was the one who wanted a reading. Well, maybe I didn’t want a reading, but she knew I was the reason for our visit. My desire to get out of the heat had brought us to her table. Of course, no one had to be a mystic to figure that out. We hadn’t been that far away from the opening of her tent when I told Auggie we should get a Tarot reading. Molly had probably just overheard our conversation, so she knew I was her customer.

“Do you fancy the cards?” she asked.

“Uh,” I shrugged, “I guess? It’s free, right?”

“Jordan,” Auggie mumbled.

Mystic Molly laughed jovially.

She reached to the deck of oversized cards at the center of the table—which I had not noticed when we sat down—but her eyes never left mine.

“What would you like to know, Jordan?” she asked. “And yes, it’s free.”

I gave her an apologetic smile and found myself shrugging again.

“I guess whatever the cards tell you? I don’t really know what I want to know.”

Auggie chuckled and Molly grinned wickedly at me.

“A man not afraid to know his own fate,” Molly said. “Interesting.”

For some reason, Molly’s playful comment made my breath become a hard rock in my throat.

My fate?

Before I could object, or insist to Auggie that I’d made a poor decision, Molly was shuffling the cards. Within seconds, she had set the deck back on the table, cut it ten different ways with the speed of a ferret, and produced three cards from the top of the deck. One by one, she laid them out before us. Auggie leaned in excitedly, practically hanging his face over the cards as Molly examined them. I did everything I could to not look at the table.

I was afraid I’d see some guy getting his throat slit depicted on one of the cards.

There was no reason for me to believe that’s what I’d see, but I couldn’t force myself to look.

For what seemed like ages, Auggie stared down at the cards and Molly examined them. When she finally looked up at me to speak, Auggie sat back so he could watch her as she laid my fate out for me. I wasn’t sure I was breathing.

“When you take a step back, you will see the spirits,” she said cryptically. “Among the stars, you will make a choice that will have you meet your fate in a body of water.”

“W-what?” I stammered.

“It’s a free reading, kid,” the corner of Molly’s mouth turned up. “You get what you get.”

Auggie laughed uproariously. I frowned at Molly, though I wasn’t unamused.

“Is this where you tell me to slide you five bucks for two more minutes?” I asked.

Molly grinned.

“I will gladly accept your money,” she said, drawing the three cards back into the deck, “but there is nothing else to tell you.”