Chapter 17. Ophelia

  The books in the window had been a good trick, but Yolanda didn't

  want to push her luck. The local policeman she was paying to turn

  a blind eye to her fortune telling had told her that she was starting to

  attract too much attention.

  It was time to pack up and go north to the mid-lands where the army

  camps were the size of small towns. There would be plenty of

  opportunities for an enterprising woman such as herself to make

  some money.

  There was a knock on the door.

  It was a young man who wanted to buy a book out of the window.

  Yolanda hid her surprise - the books all had prices on them,

  but she'd never actually sold one. She gave the books to the pigeon's

  after they paid for a reading. That way, if the law was to get involved

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  later she had an out - she could say she was selling the books and

  giving free demonstrations of the craft.

  No laws broken here your Honour.

  The young man introduced himself - Finn. He was quietly spoken and

  polite, which made it easy for Yolanda to talk him into a card reading

  he didn't want.

  Another pigeon and some extra money for the road.

  Yolanda lit the scented candles on the sitting room table. She told Finn

  to deal out six cards face down. ''The first pair will represent your past,

  the second pair your present and the third pair your future."

  She let her words hang in the air to add some drama. ''Before you turn

  the cards, show me your hands."

  Finn put his hands on the table palms up and Yolanda placed her hands

  on top of his. "Close your eyes."

  Sitting like this, she could usually pick up clues about the pigeon and

  weave them into the reading for good effect.

  His hands were soft - a young man who hasn't had to do hard physical

  labour, from a wealthy family perhaps.

  An unsettling feeling of losing her balance started to come over her.

  Yolanda tried to let go of Finn's hands. She became frightened when no

  matter how hard she tried she couldn't.

  Finn's eyes were still closed.

  A woman's voice spoke. "You have flown in the wrong window little bird."

  Yolanda screamed as an aura of darkness began to bloom behind Finn.

  It grew and grew until it filled the room and Yolanda was lost in it.

  An ice cold hand touched her shoulder. "If you ever want to feel the

  warmth of the Sun on your face again, you will do exactly what I tell you."

  *

  Days later, down stream from the Osney bridge, a lock keeper saw a

  body in the reeds.

  He recognized who it was straight away - the gypsy woman Yolanda.

  She was floating face up with her eyes open. With the War going badly,

  and the lists of casualties growing, his wife and other ladies from the

  parish went to Yolander asking about their loved ones fighting in France.

  All desperate for hope the lock keeper thought.

  The river water was cold and it made his bones ache as he pulled her

  body to the bank.

  "I wonder if you saw this coming, in those cards of yours?"

  *