Mardi Gras Masquerade (20 page)

The woman held her breath as she stared at him in fear.
 
The sense of danger was almost palpable.
 
Just as suddenly, The Baron mysteriously disappeared into a sudden burst of fire and smoke.

All remained silent.
 
Maria still held her breath, not daring to break the spell.
 
She started when Steve began to clap loudly.
 
Instantly turning to stare at him, she saw he was smiling.
 
She finally realized that this had been the show’s finale.
 
Tenuously, she joined in Steve’s applause.

The drumbeat started again, and the pretty girl returned to offer them another drink.
 
After she served them, the girl whispered a few words into Steve’s ear, and then scurried away.

He turned to Maria and said, “She invited us to join the witch woman in her hut so she can tell our fortune.
 
Would you like to go?”

Maria looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.
 
In truth, the idea did not appeal to her at all.
 
She was repulsed and frightened by it.
 
On the other hand, she did not want Steve to think she was afraid.
 
So she nodded to him.

With a few quick swallows, she finished her drink.
 
Maria could feel the warmth of the alcohol rushing through her veins.
 
This made her feel strangely at ease with the situation.
 

Getting up from the mat, she followed Steve to the largest structure in the clearing.
 
They had to bow their heads to walk beneath the low doorway.

The interior was filled with the smoke of numerous votive candles and sticks of incense.
 
At the back of the hut, an ancient gray-haired woman sat hunched over a deck of tarot cards.
 
Steve and Maria moved forward to sit cross-legged on the mat in front of her.
 
When she looked up, Maria could see that the pupils of her eyes were clouded by a filmy, gray/white haze.

The woman gave them an almost toothless grin and turned a card to place it before Maria.

“There is turmoil in your life,” she said in a low, gravelly voice.

Maria nodded, but said nothing as she waited in awe.
 
The witch woman turned another card, placing it beside the first.

“Lies and deceit,” she breathed, and her empty gaze took in both of the listeners.

Without looking down, Maria felt Steve’s hand slip around her waist.
 
He gave her side a small squeeze.
 
Maria could not take her away from the woman.

She turned another card.
 
 
“I see distrust.”

Maria looked down at the tarot card, but she could not see how that picture gave the woman her surprisingly accurate information.
 
Another card turned.

“A major event is about to happen.”

Steve shifted a little.
 
Maria looked at him to try to see what he was thinking, but he only appeared to be seeking a more comfortable position.

The witch woman took another card off the top of her deck and held it in the air for a moment, appearing to have some internal issue with the card.
 
She closed her eyes and waved it around in the smoke.

For some reason, Maria had the feeling that this card would have some definite impact on her life.
 
She was unsure if she wanted to hear its interpretation or not.
 
In nervous tension, she bit her lower lip.
 
Would the witch woman see happiness or despair in her future?
 
She had been amazingly correct so far.
 
What would the last card reveal?
 

Finally, the old woman placed it down beside the others.

After a long, anxious pause, she looked up at her audience stoically, casting her cloudy eyes from one to the other.
 
She shook her head, as if to clear her thought.
 
Suddenly, her lips stretched into a grin.

“Love will find its way,” she hoarsely stated.

The hut was silent for a moment, and then Steve reached into his pocket to take out a folded bill which he placed in a glass on the floor beside the old woman.
 
She smiled and stuffed it in her pocket.

As they got up to go, she lifted a wrinkled finger to wave it at Maria.

“You been under the spell of someone who would use you and deceive you, girl.
 
Beware!”

With these ominous words ringing in Maria’s mind, Steve led out of the hut.
 
Neither of them spoke.
 
They went back to the boat where the same man was waiting for them.
 
After they stepped on board and sat down, the man pushed off to once again traverse the narrow outlet.

Maria could not get the witch woman’s last words out of mind.
 
Could she have been referring to Steve?
 
She glanced at him, but the man was staring forward with a forbidding look on his face.
 
Was he angered by the old woman’s last words?
 
Were they more revealing than he would have liked?
 

A new thought came into Maria’s mind.
 
The witch’s warning might have been in reference to Marla.
 
Her roommate was certainly manipulative.
 
Why hadn’t she answered the phone?
 
For that matter, why had she turned off the answering machine and her voice mail?
 
Marla had given her the impression that she would be there to talk with her about the situation in
New Orleans
.
 
If Maria had the slightest idea that her friend was going to break off all contact with her, she never would have agreed to do this favor for her.

As they pushed back out into the waters of the
Mississippi
, the sudden brightness of the starlight on the ripples was astounding compared with the gloom of the small
bayou.
 
They made better time now that their way was no longer obstructed by vines and curves.
 
On this trip, the current was with them.

After a few minutes, Maria looked at Steve and said, “You told her what to say; didn’t you?”

He looked at her with a disgusted expression and replied, “All I did was to pay this man behind us for a voodoo cruise.
 
As far as I know, he doesn’t even know who we are.”

“Then, how could she have known so much about us?”

“Really, Maria.
 
Her words were only generalizations that could fit almost anything.”

“But what about her warning that I should beware of someone who would deceive me and use me?”

“Can you honestly believe that I would pay her to say that?
 
I assume, of course, that you think she was referring to me.”

“I don’t know.
 
Was she?”

“If you think you should be afraid, you’re right.
 
I don’t like to be deceived.”

“But I was the one that is supposed to have been deceived.”

“Think what you want.”

Maria decided to let the issue lie at that.
 
It would be foolish to provoke the man into saying more things she did not want to hear.

As they moved on down the river for a while, Steve pointed to a brightly lighted structure set high on the right bank in front of them and said, “That’s our house.”

Maria looked up and replied, “The house?
 
It’s odd, but I thought all of the old Southern plantations had a name, but I’ve never heard you mention one for you home.”

“That’s because it doesn’t have one, and, by the way, it was never a plantation.
 
The family interest has always been in shellfish.”

“Have you thought about giving it a name?”

“No.
 
Outsider’s call it
the DuPont Estate
.
 
That’s the way it’s always been.
 
If my progenitors couldn’t come up with anything to suit them, I don’t see why I should bother.”

“Maybe your brother will think of something.”

“Maybe he will.”

Shortly after that, the boat docked.
 
Steve saw Maria safely back to her room, and they exchanged casual goodnights.
 
So much more might have been said, but neither party wanted to be the first to speak.
 
It had been a rather odd evening that had left them both feeling thoughtful.

CHAPTER 9

It had been almost a week since she arrived in New Orleans, and Maria still had received no word from Tienne DuPont or message about his date of arrival.
 
She could not help thinking about his flagrant neglect of his fiancée.
 
This disinterest did not coincide with Marla’s impression of a man who was ardently in love with her.
 
The prearranged marriage was now only two days away.
 
It seemed altogether possible that Tienne had as little affection for Marla as she had for him.

Maria wondered what would happen if he did not show up for the wedding.
 
Would Steve release her then or try to make her patch things up with his brother?
 
What a complication that could present!
 
If she could only speak to Marla, she might be able to get her friend to settle this all by herself.

When it was all over and the truth was out in the open, Maria could only guess what Steve’s attitude toward her would be.
 
After all of the lies she had told him, she could not imagine that he would want to see her any more.
 
The deceit would stand as an everlasting point of embarrassment between them.

No good could possibly come of the masquerade.
 
Maria would go home to
Illinois
and never see Steve again.
 
She would not even be worthy enough to be considered on a plane with his brother’s cast off fiancée.

All of these thoughts had passed through Maria’s mind while she had been dressing.
 
Since it was Sunday, she had put on a tan skirt suit since she did not know if Steve intended to take her to church or not.
 
It would be best to be prepared.
 

Most of the Creole people were Roman Catholic as far as she knew.
 
That would not be a problem for her.
 
She wondered if Marla and Tienne had ever discussed this.
 
Her roommate was Lutheran.
 
It might have presented an alteration in their plans.

When Maria went downstairs, Steve was waiting for her in the dining room.
 
A variety of dishes had been laid out in covered chafing dishes as usual.
 
Maria took what she wanted and sat down at the table.
 
Apparently, Steve had already eaten, for he only read his newspaper while she ate her breakfast.
 
His silence disturbed her.

Between mouthfuls, Maria said, “Are you still mad at me?”

The man lowered his newspaper enough to regard her over the top of the pages.

“Would it matter if I was?” he asked.

“Of course.
 
You must know it would.”

“Then, I’ll ask you another question.
 
Do you intend to try to run away again?”