Three Little Maids(12)
The girl cupped her hands under her small chin and waited, her flame red mouth pursed tight with concentration, her eyes intent on the cards displayed there.
Esmeralda picked up Justice and placed the card beside the Queen of Cups. The girl needed to sit down and think clearly and practically about her situation. The Eight of Clubs suggested her emotional disappointment. The Emperor beside the Ten of Pentacles showed that the girl’s attachment to material security was an overriding thing. She needed to place less value on it. The Page of Swords reflected her present troubled frame of mind. And the Tower was the catalyst that lay ahead, accompanied by the King of Wands, the Emperor and the Knight of Swords. Denoting the three men in her life...
‘So you wish to know what lays ahead for your future, my dear?’ Esmeralda said dryly. ‘It is what you make it. You have it in your own hands to do what you will with your life. I see you have a young man. Two men are close to you...’
‘Is the young man the right one for me?’
Esmeralda’s voice was caustic. ‘Don’t you know already? But which one do you prefer? Here is the Emperor. He represents the strong influence of wealth in your life. He is a rich man with much experience.’ She frowned. ‘But I now see more than two men here with you.’
Yvette’s black brows knitted together tightly. And her hand fidgeted with the slender gold watch on the bare honey brown arm held in her lap.
‘There is a third man here.’ Esmeralda looked for her reaction to this. ‘His intentions towards you are veiled from me.’ Her dark brows frowned. ‘But I feel that the portents are not so good, my dear. So beware - you must be careful how you handle your love life. You understand what I am saying to you, ma petite? You are so young. I must warn you that none of these suitors are right for you.’
‘You lie, Madame! How do you know this?’
‘You picked them out, my dear. You are in sole command of your own fate.’
‘What you say... It-it cannot be true.’
‘The cards tell me this and they do not lie. I advise you to take great care during the next few hours. It could be vital for your safety.’ Esmeralda hesitated and touched the Tower card. She saw it as a symbol of trouble, and closed her eyes for a second or so. What else could she say to this girl? Should she say, ‘Beware of the companion you choose for the weekend? He could be so wrong for you. Dangerous even.’
Instead she said softly; ‘Your choice should not be a married man. He is wrong for you. And this other younger man he is only thinking of prospering from you. He takes and never gives willingly. He leads you here into making a mess and chaos of your young life.’
‘How do you know this? Have you been told bad things by the old ladies who gossip at the hotel and you listen to them? Is that not so?’
‘No, child.’ Esmeralda shook her head, loosening a frond of bright hennaed hair from her turban as she firmly declared: ‘I knew nothing about your personal life before you walked through this door.’
‘I cannot believe what you say! You are a-a nosy old bitch,’ Yvette declared loudly and other sharp words followed in gutter French which Esmeralda was thankful she couldn’t interpret quickly off the cuff.
The girl stood up abruptly, shaking the light table and her purse fell open on the green rush matting floor, where its contents mixed with the fallen cards. She bent over and retrieved her possessions hastily and threw some coins down on the table. ‘Here - -here is your money. And I - I hope you choke on it, Madame!’
She walked out of the door and slammed it shut after her. Sending the long strands of glittering crystal beads on the ceiling mobile tinkling like crazy for a minute or so. Esmeralda sat still for a moment, thinking quietly. Then she picked up the angry voices filtering in from outside. Accompanied by the sound of the noisy traffic along the sea front it didn’t make pleasant hearing. The girl was arguing loudly with a man.
One of the men that she had warned her about. Esmeralda gathered up the cards slowly and those that had fallen and scattered onto the floor. She shook her head and sighed sadly. She had failed and it was entirely up to the girl now what she did with her life.
7
‘Raymond Perkins, Turner. What do we know about this lad?’ Kent said, as he took his seat in the car next to Turner, outside the police station prior to moving off. He took the top off of his carton of coffee cautiously. He hadn’t put the canteen to the test much before. ‘He’d be working at the funeral parlour today, I suppose.
‘It’s possible that Maureen led him up the garden path like she did her parents. He’d have some idea perhaps of what that young madam was up to last evening. If she felt like telling him.’