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“Yes. Four nights ago. She saved me. ” She said it matter-of-factly. Regardless of her opinions on tarot or the stars, or God or the devil, or any other unseen thing alleged to
walk the city … she believed in the elderly vodou queen.
Agatha remarked, “She has not spoken much about the Dead Who Walk. Some people think she made them herself. They say she’s building an army of the damned to throw the Texians out of New Orleans. ”
“They can say whatever they want. I do not believe she made the zombis. ”
“Zombi? Is that what she calls them?”
Josephine nodded down at the cards, maintaining the fortune-seeking charade in case they were being watched. It was safest to assume, in the occupied city. They were always being watched. “Do you know the word?”
“I do. ” For a moment she paused, as if she censored herself. “It should not surprise me. It is an old word, an African word brought to the islands, and then to the delta. ”
“Is it like your cards? One meaning on the surface, and another below?”
“It implies that the dead have brought their state upon themselves, and that they are restless because of their own sins. ”
Josephine murmured, “Aren’t we all?”
“It is a good word. Or an appropriate word, I should say. ” She turned her attention to the cards once more. Revealing the first, she said, “Here we find Justice. He suggests satisfaction and success, brought about by leadership and cooperation. Whatever question you asked the cards, this is an auspicious answer. ”
Josephine said, “I asked them nothing. ”
Agatha did not argue. She flipped the second card. “The ten of wands. You must beware of your own responsibilities, and keep your own house. Someone may try to deceive you, or play you for a fool. ”
“Meaningless. That’s every day of my life. ”
“So skeptical, for someone who so badly wants guidance. ”
“Is that what you think I want?”
“Well”—Agatha reached for the third card—“you want something. Look, it is the six of swords. ”
“And what does that mean?”
“Change, and swiftly coming. It is a card that urges concentration and focus, lest your goal be lost. And I suppose that’s meaningless, too. ”
“You know me so well. ”
The fortune-teller’s hand hovered over the spread. Impulsively, she pulled another card.
“What are you doing?”
“Asking a question. ”
“I thought it was foolish to read one’s own cards. ” Josephine repeated something Agatha had told her once before.
“Not a question for myself,” she said, turning it over. “A question for you. Ah. The Magician. ”
“Now that’s somebody I could use, right about now. ”
Agatha shook her head. “In this case, I think he stands for you. ”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because as you said, I know you so well. ” She smiled and leaned forward, pretending to explain some arcane bit of divination, but only leaning in so that even the closest observer might not overhear. “You believe Madame Laveau? You do not think she made the zombis, or controls them?”
“She says they Walk through no magic of hers. But she controlled them a bit. I saw her do it. ”
