The Fortune Teller

8

On The Train to Jalandhar

“What are you here for?” The lady asked Deborah abruptly. Her sobs and sobriety had drowned down in a wink. She returned as her usual irritating self, as if, from a fit of normalcy.

Deborah and Thomas were yet to recover from their brief moment of shock, and were quite unprepared for this question. The woman, however, didn’t wait for an answer, but barked out in her hoarse stupid, and shrill voice, “Oh, you haven’t come here all the way for a honeymoon?” She stared at Deborah from top to bottom, as if trying to examine something on her body, then she looked at Thomas, and said in a tone that resembled a mad woman. “ Nooo.. You don’t look like that.” She giggled like a little girl, and said, “ I am sorry. I was just wondering.” Thomas just rolled her eyes in disgust as she continued with her interrogation. “What are you here for, young lady?”

Deborah answered in a quick outburst as she had revealed her origins earlier. Only, this time, for Thomas’ relief, she didn’t reveal everything out. “Work.”, was all she said, and then, she got silent.

“What do you do?” The lady asked a quick question.

Deborah had started gathering her wits by now. She had already thought of the reply before the lady completed her question. “What do you do? Why don’t you tell us first?”

The lady smiled. “In this foreign land, I met people who adopted me. They left me with a skill that would never part from me. I have made a fortune from it.” She answered.

“What skill is it?” Thomas jumped in. He wouldn’t let Deborah speak anymore lest she gave up any other crucial information to the lady.

“I read fortunes and tell people about their future,” The lady answered.

“The crystal ball or something?” Deborah seemed interested.

“More accurate than that.” The lady answered. “Here, show me your hand.”

Deborah stretched her hand in front of her.

The lady read the hand for a moment, and then looked at her with strange eyes, as though reading from her face.

“A life full of agony and struggle, is it not? You lost your parents young, and went out for studies.” She said. “You have lost four of your loved ones, one of them pretty recently.”  She continued. ”You are running from someone.” Deborah kept quiet, however, the lady continued unabated. “Times are good now. You are blessed. Long journeys await you. You don’t have any idea, lady, what you will do will change the world.”

The lady contemplated for a moment, and then spoke again. “What are you here for, lady?”

“Well I am a historian, just came here on a sabbatical.” Deborah concealed the truth cunningly.

“Stay with me, both of you. We have long journeys to make together. I can see it clearly now. the mountain by the Emerald Lake. This was the time that all of us were waiting for.” Her voice seemed deep and genuine by now.

“You aren’t here on a sabbatical, girl. You and this priest are here because you were touched by the God!” She grew silent and closed her eyes.

ego Deus gratias ago tibi, et laudamus te

Thomas could briefly hear her say in her lips as she sat with closed eyes.