Seeing the Future

That first day, Bertha showed her the basics of her new trade. The crystal ball was straighforward enough. All one had to do was to pretend that one could see visions of the future, when in reality there was nothing to be seen beyond the distorted image of whatever happened to be on the far side of the ball.

The tarot cards were a little more complex. Astra had to learn what each one meant, both singly and in combination. "You may get a customer who is familiar with their supposed meanings," Bertha explained, "so you can't just make up something, even though you'd be just as likely to come up with a true prediction."

Astra was a quick learner. After a couple of hours' tuition, Bertha said: "Well, I think you'll do. How would you like to handle this evening's session, starting at six? It's ages since I had an evening out, and I hear that there's an inn in the nearby village that brews some very good ale."

"Sure," Astra said. "I take it that I get my clients to cross my palm with silver, in the traditional manner? Is there any minimum amount?"

"Not so long as it's a silver coin. That guarantees that it will be worth something. Of course, you can mention to your clients that the more they pay you the greater the amount that you will be able to reveal to them. Since it's my caravan, and you'll be eating my food, I suggest that you should give me fifty per cent of whatever you take. Is that fair?"

"Yes, I think so, as long as I get to work a reasonable proportion of the shifts."

"Of course," Bertha said.

That evening, Astra had to wait a little while for her first customer, but business soon hotted up. It seemed that it hadn't taken long for word to get around that the new fortune teller was much easier on the eye than Madame Zara was, and that she was wearing only a skintight leotard. Astra noticed that several of her clients seemed to find it hard to keep their eyes focused on the crystal ball and the tarot cards during the course of their readings.

It was while she was with her third client of the evening, a man in late middle age, that Astra was startled when the crystal ball suddenly went opaque, as if full of milk. Then it gradually cleared to reveal a scene of a coach travelling through woodland along a dirt road. Astra nearly exclaimed: "Do you see that?" but caught herself in time. That would not lend credibility to her role. "Do you have a journey planned in the near future?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact I do," the man said. "I am travelling down to the other end of the kingdom tomorrow, by stagecoach. How did you know that?"

"I see a coach in the crystal," Astra said.

"I can't see anything. Can you see anything else?"

Astra was about to reply "No", forgetting that it might be a good idea to make something up. But then she saw half a dozen rough-looking men armed with swords, spears and bows emerge from the trees and force the coach to stop. "It looks like it's being held up," she said. "Yes, they're making the passengers get out and hand over their valuables."

"Is one of the passengers me?"

"I can't tell. Everything's too small for me to make out any faces. But several look to be about your height and build."

"I shall cancel my trip tomorrow, then," the man said. "Thank you."

As the scene continued to unfold, Astra saw that the robbers went on to massacre the passengers and driver. Apparently they didn't want any witnesses. She didn't tell her customer that, though, not wanting to frighten him. After all, surely the ball couldn't really be showing her the future? It must just be her imagination, mustn't it?

Astra saw no more visions in the crystal ball that evening, and had no way of knowing whether her predictions based on the tarot cards had any validity. But on the next day but one, that same client returned. "You saved my life, Sonja!" he told her. "The next coach after the one I was going to travel on found that coach in the forest with everyone on it slaughtered. Here!" And he pressed ten gold coins into her hand.

"Thank you," Astra said, but she was deeply troubled. If she had reported her vision to the authorities, then the lives of those on the coach might have been saved. It was true that no-one might have believed her, but now she would never know. The trouble was, she thought, that I didn't believe it.

1. Disturbed by what has happened, Astra gives up telling fortunes.
2. Bertha is delighted to receive five gold pieces as her share of Astra's "reward".
3. Bertha becomes jealous when she discovers that Astra really does seem to have a talent for foretelling the future.

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