Cartomancy (2 page)

Chapter 5

After a weekend at her grandmother’s house
furiously doing crafts and reading books, Astrid was back at home
at the QAV. Within seconds of being home, Astrid had already asked
her mother if Waverly could spend the night. Her mother said sure,
but the girls would have to stay inside while she and her father
went to the movies. Astrid agreed, as she had no plans to go
outside anyway. When Waverly arrived, the girls ran straight up to
Astrid’s room and locked the door. “I have something to show you”
she said as she took a brown paper bag from under her pillow.
Inside was a purple velvety bag with gold ropes tied together,
inside was a large deck of cards, Waverly had never seen such
colorful, strange cards. She rolled her eyes at Astrid. “Are we
playing a game? Lame…” Waverly had deemed herself far too old for
games. “It’s not a game, this is our summer job!” Astrid said, very
proud of herself, as this seemed like a very adult thing to be
doing. “What do you mean “our” job?” Waverly was confused. “What do
we do with them, and how did I get dragged into this?” Astrid had
yet to mention to Waverly that she would need her help. ‘I’m not
one hundred percent sure, I’m still reading the book…basically we
lay the cards out in different patterns. Like there’s a cross, or
just three cards, or a person can just draw one card. It depends on
what the person wants to know, and then we tell them their future
…or whatever.” Waverly was not impressed, this seemed exactly like
the time they had tried a Spirit Board, and that thing never
worked. “I don’t get it Astrid, what are these cards, what is the
purpose?” Astrid stared at the ceiling, it all seemed perfectly
obvy to her. “They’re TAROT CARDS! And the purpose is to make
money. So here’s the plan; we set up a card table on the porch,
make a cool sign that says: TAROT READINGS and we make money. This
is our summer job. Like a more grown up version of a lemonade
stand.” Now it was Waverly’s turn to roll her eyes again. “You’re
missing one key element my dear” Waverly simply stated. “Oh
man…heavy sigh…and what would that be my darling?” Astrid said
sarcastically. The element known as “we have no idea what we’re
doing.” Astrid just shrugged her shoulders, “so, we’ll only charge
a dollar, people can’t expect 100% accuracy for a dollar.”

Chapter 6

The next morning after breakfast, the girls
walked to the craft store for supplies. Fabric for the card table,
they thought that black and purple would seem more “occult” not
that they had any idea what that word meant, it just sounded cool
and like something neither of their parents would approve of. They
also bought paint and glitter. In the front yard of the QAV they
got to work on their signs. When they were done, the signs read:
TAROT READINGS
:
KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNKNOWN
by
Mistresses Astrid and Waverly. “Don’t you think we should actually
learn something about tarot cards? I mean before we try to tell
anyone anything? Waverly asked. Astrid was trying to decide where
to place the card table on the porch. “Well, I have been reading
about the possible meanings of the cards, and I think we should
just start with the Minor Arcana.“What in the world are you even
talking about?” Waverly asked as she continued to arrange and then
re-arrange the fabric on the table. “Well, my grandma bought me The
Hipster-Gypsy-Coffeehouse deck of cards and it has directions and
meanings printed right on the cards , it’s a set for beginners.
There are two “sets” of cards within the deck; The Major Arcana,
and The Minor Arcana. There are four suits in the minor arcana and
they correspond with the four elements.” Waverly was trying to
understand what Astrid was saying, but to her it sounded a lot like
Astrology. “Believe me, I’m confused too but I’m trying to explain
it the way that it makes sense to me. Ok, there are four suits:
cups, pentacles, swords, and wands. Each suit goes with a certain
element. So, it goes like this: Cups with Water, that’s an easy
one. Pentacles are with the Earth. Wands are paired with Fire. And
last, Swords with Air.” Waverly was braiding her hair and trying to
make sense of all of this. “I think I kinda get it, but what do
they all mean?” Astrid wasn’t quite sure of the answer…yet. “I
think that depends on who you ask.” Astrid opened the deck of cards
and unfolded the instructions. “This is what it says on the
instructions: Cups have to do with feelings, Pentacles are kind of
like money/jobs, Swords have to do with thoughts or intelligence
and Wands mean ideas.” Waverly was looking at all the cards in the
deck. They had all kinds of weird images of people holding various
items. Kings and Queens holding cups of coffee, an archer shooting
locally sourced, reclaimed wooden arrows into the Air, and cruelty
free Swords. Whatever that meant. Waverly was more confused than
ever and had no idea how they were going to make heads or tails out
of these cards, let alone read them, but she supposed they would
cross that bridge when they came to it.

Chapter 7

“I think we’ll have to practice on reading
each other. At least until we get the hang of it.” Astrid said as
they began organizing. Waverly was almost one hundred percent sure
her mother would not like this at all, so it seemed like a good
idea to her. “Well, I suppose we should start now….Ass-trid.” The
two girls chuckled and continued working on their new profession.
When they had finally gotten the table set up and strung little
white lights around the porch, it was starting to get dusk outside.
Astrid’s grandma would call this “The Witching Hour” when the light
left this world on its journey to the next. It used to scare Astrid
when she was little, she imagined witches carrying off the light to
somewhere else, but she had learned in science last year that it
really had something to do with the Sun and the Earth’s rotation.
Which Astrid found disappointing and not nearly as scary. Astrid’s
mother had brought them mason jars with floating candles to add to
the otherworldly effect. Her mother had also given them an empty
glass jar to put their money in. Astrid had instructed Waverly to
sit across from her at the table, and she laid out a basic 3 card
spread. “I think for the purposes of learning, we will start out
with 3 cards, and no reverses.” “What’s a reverse?” Waverly was
still getting used to all the terms. “Oh, well it’s when a card is
upside down. That gives it a different meaning for the person.”
Waverly shrugged. Astrid had Waverly cut the deck, and she laid out
her three cards. “The cards represent, The Past, The Present and
The Future.” Astrid was explaining to herself as well as to
Waverly. “Ok, we’ll start with the middle card; because that is the
present…your middle card is the Ace of Cups.” Waverly had no idea
what this meant, but she was very excited. “Ok, the Ace of Cups
means that..” just then the girls heard a crashing sound in the
front yard, it was too dark to see who it was, but someone was
running up the path. “Oh no” Astrid groaned when she could finally
make out the figure running up the path. It was their frenemy,
Kate. “What do you think she wants?” Astrid said. Waverly just
shrugged her shoulders. Kate lived a few houses down, at the end of
the street by the woods. “OMG you guys, I need your help right
away!” Kate was out of breath and sweaty. Astrid knew something
must be wrong, as Kate did not sweat. As a matter of fact Astrid
had never seen Kate with one hair out of place. And they had all
known each other since kindergarten. “Calm down Kate, have a drink
of lemonade, chill out for a sec.” Kate gulped down the lemonade,
and was trying not to cry. “What in the world is the matter with
you?’ Waverly asked. “I have been out on my bike for an hour
looking for my mom’s dog…she got out and I can’t find her and my
mom will literally kill me if I lose that dog.” The girls looked at
each other not knowing exactly what to say. “I think you mean
figuratively” Astrid said in a very sassy way. “I didn’t come here
for a grammar lesson! Thank you very little!” Now real tears were
welling up in Kate’s eyes, and Astrid almost felt bad. “Well, we
can help you look, I guess, we haven’t seen your dog around here
though.” The thought of helping Kate do anything wasn’t at the top
of Astrid’s to-do list, but she knew that Waverly would be more
than willing to help, as Kate was Jordan’s twin sister. “Duh, I
don’t want you guys to help me look, I want you to do your weird
tarot witchcraft and tell me where she is.” Waverly could see that
Astrid was about to say something mean so she spoke up. “First of
all it isn’t witchcraft, it’s just cards. Second, we would be glad
to help…put your dollar in the jar and have a seat.” Astrid was
stunned; Waverly had never taken any sort of initiative on anything
ever. It just wasn’t in her nature. She must really like-like
Jordan was all Astrid could come up with. Waverly laid out the
three cards for Kate: The Five of Cups, Death, and the Sun. Waverly
stared at the cards. “Oh no! Does the death card mean that she’s
dead? If she got hit by a car, I’ll have to run away from home!”
Kate was pale and frantic. “No! Stop freaking out.” Waverly said.
“Let me look at the cards!” Astrid had no idea what Waverly was up
to, but she was secretly glad that Kate was freaking out. “Ok,
Kate…the cards say you have to go look in the cemetery.” Kate was
frozen. “Alone? At night? Have you lost your mind?” Waverly winked
at Astrid. “For five more dollars, Astrid and I will come with you,
but you should probably go home and get a flashlight……oh, and see
if Jordan wants to come too.” Waverly winked at Astrid one more
time.

When the girls reached the cemetery, the gate
was locked. “Did your cards say how the hell we are supposed to get
inside the cemetery?’’ Kate’s voiced cracked. “If you’re too scared
Kate, we can just find your dog for you…for a small fee of course.”
Astrid smiled. “We can go around behind the mausoleum and get in
that way.” Waverly offered. The girls walked the length of the
cemetery and saw the large stone structure. They started to walk
across the grass, when a bright light shone on them. “Do you girls
need any assistance tonight?” A man’s voice said. Waverly grabbed
Astrid’s arm, afraid to turn around. Kate turned to see the patrol
car marked BGPD. There were two officers inside the car. Astrid
peeled Waverly’s fingers from around her arm. “Actually, we are
helping our friend look for her lost dog, Sir.” The officer turned
off the blinding light. “Do your parents know you’re out here?”
Kate gasped, but Astrid stepped forward so they would look less
suspicious. “Our friend here, lost her mother’s dog and we need to
find her as soon as possible, my parents know that we came down
here, they said it was okay as long as we weren’t out too long.”
Astrid lied. “Well, what kind of dog is it ma’am? “ The officer
asked. Kate managed to stammer…”She’s a Scottish terrier, Sir….a
little black dog with a red plaid collar…her name is Molly.” Astrid
thought Kate would faint at any moment. “Ok girls, we’ll keep an
eye out, you have a good night.” The officers drove off, and Kate
almost started crying. “Jeezy that was close!” Waverly said in a
shaky voice. Kate bent over like she was going to throw up. “Can I
just remind you that we haven’t actually done anything wrong?
Astrid exclaimed, as she was fed up with Kate already. “Like
breaking into a cemetery at night, Ass-trid…that’s what we’re doing
wrong!” Kate hissed. Astrid kept walking. “Um, all we were doing
was walking down the street as far as they know…they only stopped
because we live in the most boring town ever constructed by
mankind, and they have nothing else to do.” Astrid sneered. “Also,
we are not breaking in to anything; we’re walking in….around the
back of the mausoleum…so come on.” The girls crossed the grass and
went around the end of the fence and into the cemetery. They
decided to run around the back of the large stone crypt because the
street lights did not reach that far and it was pitch black back
there. Waverly tripped over a branch and scraped the palms of her
hands. “Damn-hell that hurts!” Astrid and Kate immediately started
laughing at Waverly’s choice of words. “Are you ok, Wave?” Astrid
asked pulling her friend up by her wrists. “I’ll live, but can we
just walk instead?” She said blowing on her palms. The girls
continued walking out into the very dark cemetery. “Well, now what
do we do?” Kate asked. “Uh..I guess we just start looking around
and calling for Molly.” Kate was afraid to yell in a cemetery at
night, but she didn’t want to make that known to everyone, so she
managed a very weak “Here Molly, here girl!” Astrid threw her hands
up into the air. “You aren’t going to wake them up, Kate….it’s okay
to yell…Astrid whistled and clapped her hands…Here Molly!! C’mon
dog!” The girls listened for any sound at all. They walked further
into the cemetery, reading the names and the dates on the stones.
Waverly did not like the fact that whole families were buried
together. This thought had not ever occurred to her before, and it
made her uncomfortable. “How long do we have to keep this up?” Kate
asked. “Well, as long as it takes to find your dog, I suppose.”
Astrid said and kept walking. She had no idea what to do next, but
she figured she was in charge of this expedition, so they better
keep walking. “Maybe we should split up” Waverly said. “No way
dude, I am not doing this alone, plus I PAID you guys to help me
find my dog.” Kate said. Just then another light flashed in the
girls faces. It was coming from behind a very large grave marker.
Astrid yelped “Who’s there?” A strange voice came from behind the
stone “The ghosts of the people you are
disturbing…oooohh-ahhhh…you’re disturbing our eternal slumberrrrr.
The voice was oddly familiar. “Oh, hi-freakin-larious Jordan!” Kate
said rudely as Jordan jumped out from behind the stone. Waverly
immediately wished she had worn different jeans. “Bout time you
showed up Jordan.” Astrid said jokingly. “We’ve been looking for
Molly, and we need to split up, so me and Kate will go this way and
you and Waverly can go over there.” Astrid pointed in the opposite
direction. “Right, Wave?” Waverly couldn’t speak at the moment. “K,
well, see you guys later, c’mon Kate.” Before Kate could say
anything, Astrid grabbed her by the arm and marched off. At last
Waverly was alone with Jordan in the dark graveyard. And she had no
idea what to do next.“FYI Waverly wants to make out with your
brother.” Astrid figured Kate should know all the important details
of the evening. “Gross.” Kate said and looked like she might really
puke. She was about to speak again when she thought she heard a dog
barking off in the distance, and she took off running. “Come on!”
The girls ran towards the woods at the back edge of the cemetery.
Astrid was out of breath and her lungs hurt from the chilly night
air. “Stop a minute Kate! I need to catch my breath.” She panted.
Kate stopped ahead of her and leaned against the statue of an
angel. “Why is this part of the cemetery all angels and lambs?”
Kate asked. Astrid shined the light on some of the graves. Even at
night, Kate could see the fear in Astrid’s eyes. “What is it?
What’s wrong?” Kate asked. Astrid whispered to Kate “this is where
all the kids are buried, we shouldn’t be here.” The girls heard
barking again, and this time they walked softly in the direction of
the sound.They had criss-crossed the boneyard so many times in the
dark that Astrid wasn’t really paying any attention to where they
actually were. The barks were getting closer to them now, so they
were definitely going in the right direction. Astrid and Kate went
between the rows of stones and could see two dark figures ahead.
“Did you guys find Molly? Is that her!?” Kate yelled. She pointed
her flashlight up ahead and they could see what looked like a
little black dog. “Hey guys” Waverly shouted in a voice that Astrid
wasn’t quite sure of, and it kind of frightened her a little.
“Yeah…umm… we found Molly, just stay over there k? We’re coming.”
Astrid thought Waverly sounded kind of choked up. Astrid could
barely make out Jordan bending over to pick up the dog in his arms.
“Just stay where you are Astrid.” Jordan had said in a semi-deep
voice. Now Astrid was concerned for her friend. “Wave? Are you
okay?” Astrid replied ignoring her friends and walking towards
them. “I’m fine Astrid, seriously don’t come any closer please…ok?”
Now Astrid was in a sprint because she could tell that Waverly was
definitely upset. In the moment that it took for Astrid to reach
Waverly, she suddenly realized where her friends were standing…. It
was her grandfather’s grave. Astrid hadn’t been here since the
funeral. His headstone had an anchor engraved on it because he had
been in the Navy. Astrid felt ill, suddenly her legs became weak
and she felt the ground come up to her.