All That She Can See(18)

‘Hi there,’ Cherry said. ‘Welcome! I’m Cherry. How can I help you?’

The woman smiled. ‘Hello. I’m Sally. Sally Lightbody.’

Cherry had been practising smiles in the mirror for the past few days but she now found she needn’t have bothered. She was so excited to share her treats with the townspeople that she was practically beaming at Sally until…

‘You don’t have a loo, do you?’ Sally asked apologetically.

‘Oh. Um. Yes! Yes, of course! It’s just around this corner. First door on the left.’

‘I will buy something when I come back out, I promise. It’s just me and me old age. Can’t walk five minutes out of my own house before I’m busting again!’ Sally waddled past Cherry, who couldn’t help notice that Sally’s patchwork bag had a similar crystal ball embroidered onto it to the one she’d seen in the window of the fortune tellers in The Barbican. Interesting.

While Sally was in the bathroom Cherry checked the display counter and fiddled with all the labels that she had purposefully placed to face her so she could make the correct choice for the customer once she’d seen what they needed. She glanced out of the window and noticed that Loneliness had made two friends. An odd-looking ball with tiny stumpy arms and legs was sat on Loneliness’s shoulders. Its oversized hands were pressed flat against the glass. On top of it sat a smaller but just as ugly Meddlum that looked utterly bored. Its arms were folded and it kept rolling its eyes, over and over. Cherry frowned at them all and the ball-like Meddlum started to shake, as though crying. It made it harder for Loneliness to maintain its balance and it began to wobble. Guilt on top of Obsessiveness on top of Loneliness. At least only the Loneliness is mine, Cherry thought.

‘Rightio, then,’ Sally said, reappearing, ‘let’s see what we’ve got ’ere.’ She wiggled her half-moon glasses, peering into the display case. ‘Got any Belgian buns? I love a Belgian bun.’

‘No Belgian buns, I’m afraid,’ Cherry said politely.

‘Wha – no Belgian… well! What sort of baker are you, then?’ Sally said, sitting on one of the brown leather stools and swinging her bag onto the counter.

‘One that’s very interested in the symbol on your bag. I’ve seen it before, just the other day actually. I passed by a shop in The Barbican. It was… um… what’s it called…?’

‘Psychic Sisters?’ Sally offered.

‘Yes, that’s the one! I saw one just like it in the window.’

Sally looked down at the embroidered crystal ball on her bag. ‘I bought this bag from Psychic Sisters but it was years ago and I’ve not been back there in a long time. I only used to go to see if my own readings were accurate. Can’t seem to part with the bag, though.’ Sally reached into the bag and pulled out a rectangular box. She slid the lid off and Cherry could see that inside lay a deck of black cards. Cherry looked at them, curious.

‘Go on.’ Sally’s lips curled into a slow smile. ‘Shuffle ’em.’

‘I thought you weren’t supposed to touch other people’s Tarot cards?’

‘Oh, you are a bright one! Nah, I don’t believe in that. It’s not like sharing underwear! Besides, this is your reading. You should touch the cards.’ Sally pushed the box towards her. Cherry picked up the deck and started to shuffle. Once she was satisfied that they were thoroughly shuffled, she placed them face down in front of Sally.

‘Here we go then.’ Sally turned over the first card, left to right, but held it up facing away from Cherry.

‘Well? Am I doomed?’ Cherry asked.

‘No, m’love,’ Sally said, returning the card to the deck and then putting the cards back into the box.

‘That’s it?’ Cherry said, surprised.

‘One card is all I need.’ Sally winked. ‘Now. Why no Belgian buns?’ She leaned her chin on the back of her hand.

‘How about this? In an apology for my lack of Belgian buns and in return for the reading, I’ll give you something else to eat, on the house?’

‘I never say no to free cake!’ Sally said, her youthful eyes lighting up.

‘Great. But first, I have a question. How did you fall into fortune telling?’ Cherry had a feeling the answer would tell her all she needed to know about Sally’s Meddlums.

Sally looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘It sort of chose me, really. I get obsessed with things, y’see? I go through phases of loving something so bloody much that I can’t get enough of it. Then one day I wake up and realise I know everything there is to know and poof! I’m cured! Never think about it again. But I haven’t had that with fortune telling yet. Nothing’s lasted as long as this has.’ Sally gestured to her bag and laughed fondly.

‘How long has your obsession been fortune telling?’ Cherry asked, watching Loneliness scratch its claws at the front window. Sally clicked her tongue, racking up the time in her brain.

‘Oh, it must be around thirty years or so now.’

‘Wow! That is a long time. Why is fortune telling different from the rest of things you’ve been obsessed with?’

‘It’s the future, love. It’s always changing.’ Sally put the cards back into her bag. ‘Well, now. Where’s my cake, then?’