Tarot (part 2)

6
The Two of Cups
It was nearing midnight when Iselda’s vardo came pulling up outside of Brook’s tent. Iselda looked down her nose at Brook when she had finally drawn to a stop.
“Coming home at last dear.” It wasn’t a question.
Brook wanted to cry but she kept her cool steady face, her countenance stiff and defiant.
“I always enjoyed your spirit,” she laughed.
“I am ready,” Brook replied, careful not to let the defeat slip into her voice.
“Oh no, you’re not! We’re bringing your sweetheart with you,” Iselda demanded pointing a crooked finger at Drew.
Malachi was kneeling next to Drew. He gave Brook a worried look and shook his head defiantly.
“It’s okay Mal, I knew she would do this.” Brook soothed as best she could. Malachi hesitated for a moment before throwing Drew over his shoulder.
“You know the way in dear,” Iselda said as she opened the back of her wagon.
Brook climbed in the back. The memory of the first time she had done so came rushing back. She was a prisoner once again she thought. Malachi gently laid Drew down beside her. His great weight caused the vardo to sink as he stepped on it to deposit his friend in the back. He gave Iselda a distrustful look. Iselda ignored him and latched the door shut.
Brook placed her hand on her lovers bound chest looking down at him as if to say ‘I’m sorry’. She could feel the wagon moving. Their dreaded trip had begun.
Ω
Danny awoke with an uneasy feeling. He checked his wristwatch: 2:00am. He shook his head still buzzing from last night’s indulgence. He got up and walked into his office. His tripwires were set but there was an envelope with a note lying on his desk. This made him uneasy. He grabbed his flask and took a quick pull, then sat down in his chair. Picking up the note he began to read. At first, his face got red hot. Then he saw the envelope. So that’s how this bitch wanted to play it? So be it he thought, one corner of his mouth lifting in his characteristic sadistic grin. He unlocked his top drawer and pulled out his pistol. He gave it a look over then popped the wheel out. Fully loaded. With a jerk of his wrist he snapped it back in place. Danny yawned as he placed the gun back in his drawer. “I’ll take care of her in the morning” he said out loud and stumbled back to bed.
Ω
The ride didn’t last long. Brook quickly came to the realization that Iselda must have been following her for the past 8 years. The idea of it made her even more uneasy.
Iselda opened the door. “Come in dear, it’s been far too long.” Iselda had to help Brook carry Drew in. Still bound and only half conscious he was all dead weight. Brook gently laid his head on the floor of Iselda’s cabin. Iselda simply dropped his feet, landing with a thud. Brook looked up.
“I know you want your medallion back. I’ll make a fair exchange, the medallion and me, as soon as you release him.”
“Ah yes. You were a little thief as I recall. What on earth makes you think I will give up my prize when I can have you both?” Brook began to protest but Iselda interrupted her, “I’ve no need of that anymore,” she said grabbing her roughly by the arm and tossing her headlong down the cellar stairs.
“There are always other ways,” she said slamming the door locked behind her.
Brook sat in the moonlit cellar. Her heart dropped. The ace she’d thought was up her sleeve had vanished so quickly it felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She began to feel the way she once had when she was in Iselda’s grips, before she had discovered a way out. That dark, empty feeling that came when all hope was lost began to sink in. It was a soul crushing feeling, but she had no time to feel sorry for herself. She quickly climbed the cellar stairs and pressed her ear to the door. She needed to know what was going on.
Iselda grabbed a large knife and began cutting Drew’s ropes.
“No need for these dear,” She said as she cut through the last one.
“Why don’t you sit down and have some tea? You’ve got a big morning ahead and you’re going to need all of your strength.”
Drew obeyed, still in a trance, he sat at her table taking a warm cup in his hands and sipping slowly.
“You’re sweetheart wasn’t pleased with the way I dispose of my minions,” she said with a look of vile reverie. “I can’t wait to see her face when her lover finishes himself off.” She cackled and clapped her hands with delight.
Drew merely sat drinking from the cup, oblivious to Iselda’s cooing.
Brook was getting knots in her stomach. A long time passed with no sounds coming from the other side of the door. Despite her best efforts she felt herself drifting to sleep. She reluctantly crawled down the stairs and laid her head on the cool dirt. The moonlight lulled her aching chest to a slow steady rhythm.
Iselda didn’t sleep. She was full of anticipation. She leaned closely into Drew and whispered.
“There is no pleasure greater than seeing a spirit break. Your girl’s got a good one,” she said with an evil grin, “I can’t wait to hear it snap in to.”
Drew’s eyes were vacant. He was now eating from a bowl Iselda had offered. He smiled with Iselda, his mind too far away to understand the ominous meaning behind her words.
Brook awoke suddenly to the sound of the cellar door. At the top of the stairs stood a girl, not much older than she was when Iselda had tricked her. Brook shuddered to think how busy Iselda had been during her absence. The girl sat a bowl of pottage down beside her.
“My mistress told me to give you this. She said she wants you full for whatever it is…” Her words drifted off.
Brook kicked the bowl over. “Tell her to eat crow!”
The girl covered her mouth with a startled look shaking her head. She obviously had no intention of relaying the message.
“So you are the one who did it?” Brook gave her a harsh look. The thought of Drew with her hurt. She knew that the girl had been coerced and Drew had been drugged, but it still tugged at her.
For a moment the girl looked confused then realization flashed in her eyes. Her face flushed with shame before she turned, ran back up the stairs and bolted the door behind her. Brook felt bad. She knew that the poor thing had no more choice in the matter than she’d had.
The waiting was killing Brook. She knew Iselda was doing it on purpose. The minutes stretched into hours, her broken heartbeat the only timekeeper. Finally the door opened again. This time Drew stood at the top with rope in hand.
“Bind her tightly boy,” Iselda’s voice rang out behind him. Brook didn’t fight him, she knew it was useless. She looked into his eyes hoping to see some hint of her true lover behind him, but they were cold and vacant. When he had finished he dragged her up the cellar stairs and dropped her on the floor.
The girl was standing their watching.
“Good boy!” Iselda clapped her hands together. “First things first,” she went on, turning her attention to the girl. “Now that I’ve got my best apprentice back I’ve no more need of you, you little twit!”
Brook looked on in horror as she saw Drew with knife in hand approaching her. The girl tried to get away screaming, but Drew was too quick. He grabbed her and slit her throat with the knife. She fell limp to the floor.
“Excellent work dear boy,” she applauded, patting him on the back.
Iselda turned to Brook. “Are you ready for your favorite part?” Brook struggled to get her hands free. She knew she couldn’t watch this, though her eyes were blurry with tears, she didn’t even want to hear this.
“There there dear,” Iselda cooed. “Let’s dry those pretty eyes.” Iselda dabbed her eyes dry with a rag that smelled like burning hair.
“Down with your pants boy,” She commanded. Drew did as he was told.
Brook tried to look away but Iselda held her chin tightly, forcing her to look on. Brooks hands were just beginning to slip the ropes but not enough.
“Shall we do this slowly then.” She taunted her.
Drew held the serrated edge of the knife just below his testicles. Brook knew what was coming next; couldn’t bear to think of it.
Drew began the cut, not sawing as she’d seen in the past, but one simple slide of the knife very slow, crying out as he did; a trickle of blood ran down the knife. Brook knew Iselda was going to draw this out.
Suddenly she heard a loud crash. The door to the cabin had been kicked in.
Iselda was taken by surprise.
“What the hell are you doing here?” She screamed.
It was Danny. He answered her question by leveling the gun in his hand at her. With one pull of the trigger he shot her clean through the head.
“I always hated that bitch.” He said calmly as he walked over to her body. He raised the pistol up once more and put two more rounds into her chest for good measure.
Brook finally managed to free her hands. She immediately rushed to Drew side, now laying on the floor.
“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Danny asked.
Brook ignored him. She was relieved to find that the cut wasn’t very deep. Hardly more than a scratch. She sobbed a sigh of relief. Then she checked his forehead. She watched as that terrible cut slowly disappeared.
“Nothing!” Brook cried in relief, “Nothing anymore.”
“Don’t know what the fuck you been up to. 150 bucks may buy you one dead witch, but it doesn’t earn you two a goddamned vacation!” Danny snapped, sliding the gun back into his belt.
“Get him cleaned up, and get back to the grounds, the both of ya,” Danny said just before walking out.
Brook could feel the bind between her and Iselda withering. Slowly at first, until all of the sudden she felt it release he completely. “Hah!” she exclaimed. She was finally free. She felt like a newly released convict making her first step on free ground.
“What happened babe?” It was Drew’s voice. Brook kissed him, cradling his head in her arms.
Drew surveyed the room; saw Iselda dead on the floor.
“Free?” He asked.
“Yes baby! Free at last,” she replied planting kiss after kiss on his face.
“Good,” he said, drifting off in her arms.

7
Sybil
Brook was sitting at her table when Jimbo walked in.
“Is it true, you’re free now?”
Brook smiled, “Free as a bird, but broke again.” She said the last part with a slight frown.
“If you need money…” Jimbo let it hang.
“Jimbo…” Brook sighed. She knew he was still in love with her. They’d had a sultry affair before Drew showed up to the carnival, but for Brook that was in the past.
“I know you still love me.”
“I was never in love with you Jim,” Brook replied.
“I know that’s a lie.” Jimbo had a hurt look in his eyes. After she had mended his jaw when Drew cracked it with the wrench all of those feelings came rushing back. She wished they hadn’t; Jimbo could be as stubborn as her.
Their conversation was interrupted by a young lady walking into her tent. “Esmeralda?”
“Yes dear.” She replied shooing Jimbo out. “Come have a seat.”
Now that the summer heat had started to fade business was picking back up. A good thing for Brook, who, after paying off Danny was now almost completely broke.
The young girl wanted to know if she would find love soon. Brook took her palm in her hand.
“I see two lovers in your future dear.” She said with a smile.
“Really?” Her eyes brightened up. “How will I know which one to take?”
“Take them both,” Brook advised. “Then you will know which one is the right one.”
The girl giggled, made her payment and left with a slight blush in her cheeks.
Brook grabbed another lucky from her pack, lit it, and began shuffling her deck as she was fond of doing.
Her mind wandered for so long that the cigarette burned her lip.
“Shit!” She exclaimed spitting the butt into the ashtray.
“I hope that’s not my reading,” came a voice from the entry of her tent.
Brook looked up to see a somewhat familiar face, her eyes narrowed. “You? But I thought-“
“That I was dead?” The young lady finished her sentence.
She tossed her blond locks back and laughed, a throaty ringing sound. Brook couldn’t help but notice the scar across her throat.
“No, almost, but Iselda’s death freed me as well.” She explained.
“What are you doing here?” Brook demanded a little harsher than she had intended.
“Haven’t you heard? Didn’t your tarot tell you?” She said looking down at the deck Brook was absently shuffling. Her voice was saccharine sweet but Brook didn’t like the look in her eyes.
She sat across from Brook, taking a lucky from her pack before Brook could stop her.
“Danny thought it would do to have another reader around,” she said with a devious smile as she struck a match and lit Brook’s cigarette.
“I’m the only reader around here.”
“Were, the only reader,” She corrected with a hint of steel in her voice as she took in a drag. “But Danny can be easy to persuade.”
Brook’s head began to spin. This was not the sweet innocent girl she had remembered from Iselda’s cabin. She must have been playing a close hand with Iselda, just as she had, Brook thought. Brook eyed the scar on her neck more closely. Sybil took notice of her glance.
“That’s right,” said Sybil running the finger along the scar, “You like scars. As do I.”
Brook was starting to lose her calm, she could tell when she was being toyed with and she didn’t like it one bit. Sybil knew that she was rattling her. With a rather pleased look on her face she went straight for the heart.
“That boy of yours knows how to please a woman. I think I’d have taken him even if Iselda had-“
Brook slapped her face hard from across the table. “You stay the hell away from him!”
Sybil turned her head back to look Brook directly in the eyes.
“Danny is partial to blowjobs isn’t he? Did your Gran teach you that as well?”
Brook instinctively went to slap her again but this time Sybil caught her by the wrist before she could. For a girl of 18 she was surprisingly strong. Not to mention the fact that she had read Brook so quickly; she was obviously not the twit that Iselda had taken her for. Brook tried to read her, but Sybil snatched her hand away before she could. She got up and walked to the entrance of the tent.
“Nice meeting you Brook.” She said with a mock courtesy; she was gone leaving Brook’s heart pounding with anger.
Brook quickly slammed down three tarot cards: blank, blank, blank. They never revealed themselves when she couldn’t concentrate and she was fuming now. She stormed off to Danny’s tent.
“What the hell is she doing here?” Brook demanded.
Danny was sitting at his desk, feet propped up sipping from his flask. He looked very much like a cat that had just finished lapping up a bowl of milk.
“You mean Sybil? Figured I could use an extra fortune-teller. ‘Specially after she told me the truth about that money you gave me.”
“I’m leaving Danny!” Brook threatened, “I won’t work with her around.”
“Do as you please sweetheart.” Danny shot back; he found her little tantrum rather droll. He was positively glowing, the first time in a long time that Brook had seen him in such good spirits. He loved to have his hands at each other’s throats; made them easier to manipulate. Besides, he knew she wasn’t going anywhere without Andrew.
Brook’s mind turned quickly to Drew. She left Danny and headed straight for his tent. She found Drew soaking in his tub.
“Hey babe.”
“Andrew,” Brook sighed. He knew something serious was on her mind when she used his full name.
“What is it darling?”
“That girl you kill-“ Brook stopped herself, “Almost killed is working here now!”
“Thank Christ! She’s alive?”
“Unfortunately.”
Andrew gave her a puzzled look. “What’s gotten into you babe? Would you prefer I was a murderer?”
Brook threw her arm around his neck and kissed him on the mouth.
“You were never a murderer sweetheart, it was always Iselda.” She knew that he didn’t remember anything while he was under the spell. A fact she was now tremendously grateful for.
“Just promise me something.”
“Anything,” Drew replied kissing her neck softly.
“Stay away from that girl. I don’t trust her.”
“You don’t trust anyone babe. Sometimes I wonder if you trust me,” he said with a playful grin.
“Please just promise me.” The concern in her voice surprised him a little. Brook was not easily excitable.
“I promise babe,” he shrugged. “I’ve got to get to work on one of the trucks anyway.” He said pulling himself up from the tub. “Then I gotta find Marcus, see if I can’t get another match. We’re going to need more money if we ever want to get out of this damn place.”
“Good.” Brook replied.
“Good? You never liked me fighting before.”
“I know Drew, it’s just I want to get out of this place so bad.”
Brook hugged his soaking wet torso, getting her dress wet in the process.
“Come by my tent tonight?”
Drew’s invitation was the first thing she’d heard all day that put a genuine smile on her face.
“I promise.” She said.











8
House of Mirrors

He wasn’t much to look at, balding prematurely with yellowed teeth tucked behind a crooked grin. Then again, Cybil didn’t really care what he looked like. He was easy to manipulate. Howard was clean if not attractive, and he had a cunning about him that was sharper than the average carnie. He’d arrived shortly before she had, and as far as she could tell Howard hadn’t formed any alliances with anyone. This was important. She needed someone she could trust, or at least trust enough.
“You haven’t told me why,” he said in a flat tone. Cybil knew his nonchalance was veiled suspicion.
“I’ve paid you to do what needs to be done. That should be sufficient.” she replied.
“And how do I know I’m not biting my own tail?” Howard curled his fingers over and began inspecting his nails in, what Cybil thought, was a clumsily ostentatious display of apathy. She had to suppress the desire to roll her eyes. She’d been thinking of Drew, the last man to make her cum, throughout this ridiculous discourse in anticipation of this contingency. Howard was clever, but every man had his weakness and now she was wet enough to play her trump card.
She lifted her dress, straddling his lap and smiled sweetly into his eyes.
“Why would I want to snub such a handsome toy as yourself,” she lifted a brow seductively, challenging him to argue.
Howard swallowed hard. Very few women had ever thrown themselves at him, fewer still who were sober, and none as pretty as Cybil. His jaw clenched, he wanted to get a read on her but he was torn.
“Just be good, and you’ll get rewarded,” she whispered into his ear, making sure that the heat of her breath fell on his neck.
He could feel her wetness sinking through now. The deal had been sealed. Howard reached up to grab her breasts but Cybil quickly rebuffed and stood up sternly.
“Not until the job is done.”
He sighed an amorous sigh of resignation looking down at the damp spot on his trousers.
“Just this one thing?”
“For now.”
He picked up the worn panama hat from her table that she had slipped off and slapped it on his head.
“Then we have a deal.” He declared, looking for deception in her eyes.
“So we do,” Cybil replied with sober affirmation.
Howard knew when he was being played just as he knew that lust could override his better judgment, but the risk seemed small. He stood just inside the opening of the tent until he was sure he was not being observed then slipped out quickly.
Brook’s tent was on the other side of the grounds and so he knew Malachi would have ample time to trace his path. He wound his way around the grounds before arriving at her tent.
Brook was stewing at her table. Since Cybil had arrived she’d noticed a sharp drop in her business. A fact she attributed to the girl’s unscrupulous nature though she couldn’t prove anything, not that it would have mattered to Danny. Or anyone else for that matter, though it still irritated her to no end.
Howard stepped in with a wink and crooked smile.
“You give a fellow a discount?”
“For what,” Brook asked, still aggravated.
“I’d like a reading.”
“Then you pay a dollar like everyone else,” Brook replied coolly.
Howard feigned disappointment as he took his seat across from her, strategically placing his hat on the table.
“Give me your hand.”
“Can you read tea leaves? My mother used to read them, she wasn’t much good at it though. She told me I’d be a banker. Hah! She was always going on-“
“I can read leaves if you wish,” she said cutting him off, she wasn’t normally discourteous to her customers but Howard was chatty and she wasn’t in the mood for petty talk.
Howard watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye as she got up to fetch the leaves and cup. She was a suspicious one he could tell. She didn’t completely turn her back on him for a moment. Howard was getting nervous. She was almost finished gathering the leaves, when suddenly she sneezed. It was only a second, but Howard was nothing if not a master of slight-of-hand. He swapped the Tarot deck on the table, slipping the original into his coat sleeve.
“What’s this?” Howard pointed to the deck he just deposited on the table. He had to admit even he was impressed at the flawless reproduction Cybil’d managed to construct.
“You’ve never seen a Tarot deck before?” Brook looked skeptical.
“I’ve heard of ‘em. I’ve only got my leaves read from my mother but she talked about it once. It was on this trip to San Fransico-“
“What sort of reading do you want,” Brook sighed not entirely convinced.
“Which one is better?”
“That depends on what you want to know.”
Howard pretended to ponder for a moment. Cybil had coached him on what to say next and he recited it with masterful conviction.
“I need to know how to go about getting on Danny’s good side. You see I’ve fallen behind, gotten in his pocket you know-“
“Then Tarot would be better,” she said taking a deep breath as she placed the leaves and cup down. She could tell she was going to have to earn this dollar.
“Danny doesn’t have a good side,” she preempted, “but the cards may tell you the best course to take.”
“Okay,” he replied, suddenly succinct. He really had no interest in the reading.
Ω
Drew arrived at his tent to find a cryptic message scrawled in pen: Meet me in the mirrors straight away
The mirrors had been closed for the night as the light was fading, Drew knew, but the handwriting looked like Brook’s, though not quite. Concern overran his suspicion though. Could she be in trouble? She had wanted to meet him in his tent tonight and he half expected her to be waiting for him here already. He dropped his tools and left quickly.
The House of Mirrors was eerily quiet and shadowy at this time of day, and for all Drew could tell, completely empty.
“Brook?” He yelled.
“No, someone else,” came a mysteriously quiet voice.
“Is this some sort of game,” he demanded.
“No games. I have information for you,” Cybil replied, stepping out from behind a mirror.
“What do you want?”
“There is something you should know about your lover,” Cybil replied.
Drew eyed her suspiciously then noticed the faint scar on her neck, barely visible in the low light.
“You’re Cybil, the one from Iselda’s that I-“ he stopped short.
“You did nothing wrong dear,” Cybil smiled reassuringly, “Iselda was a wicked one.”
“And so are you I hear,” he said, remembering the promise he’d made to Brook, “I don’t trust you.” Drew started to turn to leave.
“You don’t? Or she doesn’t? Or perhaps she knows what I’m going to tell you.”
“She doesn’t trust you, and I trust her judgment.”
“She said what she said to keep me from telling you the truth.”
Drew didn’t have a good feeling about talking to her and he’d always kept his promises to Brook. He began to leave.
“Won’t you at least hear what I have to say? You came all this way.”
Drew shrugged. If all she wanted was to lie to him he could listen for a moment. He knew through his own experience with Brook that ‘readers’ as she referred to herself, had ways of getting themselves across.
“What?” Drew said, staring out of the House at the lights on the wheel. He very much expected to stand and watch the wheel turn until the sound of her voice stopped and be on his way. He did not expect what he was going to hear. What he couldn’t tune out.
“Brook is very eager to leave this place.”
“You call yourself a fortune teller?”
“So eager in fact, that she’s been keeping her cut by blowing Danny.” It was half true, she’d blown him twice, to have the money to free herself from Iselda, though she’d never done it since.
Drew froze. “You’re a liar,” he accused.
“If you don’t believe me why don’t you ask her yourself?”
Drew’s face grew red at the prospect.
“You’re trying to stir up trouble. Brook was right about you.”
“I’m no liar,” she lied, “but I’m curious as to why you’re so convinced that she’s your true love.” Cybil had the hook in. She placed one hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Drew quickly shrugged her off.
“Poor, sweet, loyal Drew,” she chuckled. “Semper Fidelis.”
“She said she knew because she couldn’t read me,” he said as he turned to go.
“You earn a lot fighting don’t you? Enough to fly away.”
Drew was trying his best to ignore her as he left but her words kept circling around in his mind.
“Perhaps she can read you all too well!” She shouted after him.
Drew was fuming now. Why had he listened to her? He knew it would be a mistake. Though, try as he might he couldn’t shake the thought. He knew she’d done favors for Danny, but she’d been deliberately vague about them. All of the tiny tense moments he’d thought nothing of before… No, Brook had warned him not to go around her. Now he’d wished he’d listened.

Ω
Cybil had warned Howard not to let her touch his hands. He got up from the reading, which had been brief and utterly useless, careful to pretend to forget to pick up his hat.
“Your forgetting something.” Brook took hold of his hat.
Howard was almost at the opening of her tent. He held out his hands.
“Ah yes! Could you give it a toss, I’m in a bit of a rush you see.”
Brook tossed the hat, disappointed that she never got the chance to read him. She was growing more suspicious of him as the reading went on, but she couldn’t think of a reason to demand his hand. He left in a rush, and Brook sensed something on him. It was so faint it had almost escaped her attention entirely, a scent of something familiar yet she couldn’t quite place it. It almost smelled of…
Shit! Could that bitch be spying on her? Brook instinctively grabbed her deck and laid three cards down: The 9 of Wands, The Hanged Man, The Fool. It was vexing, not least of all the hanged man in the present. To sit and wait went against all of her instincts.
Ω
Cybil stared up with her bare feet on her table, legs spread and knees bent on her back while Howard penetrated her. He was not as endowed as Danny nor as skillful as Drew, but he was vigorous. She thrust her hips into him matching his rhythm but she hadn’t expected a man as sexually starved as he was to have so much stamina. Her small breasts bounced in time as the table shook slightly with his force. She began to suspect he was holding back on her, drawing it out to savor the moment. She closed her eyes more out of boredom than disgust. Grabbing his ass in both hand she forced him into her all the way, squeezing her muscles, using every trick she’d learned. After what seemed like an eternity he finally came. Howard was certainly a potent man. She could feel his cum dripping out of her as he slowly pulled out. She sighed in satisfaction, not of the act though she knew Howard would take it as such, but at least she wouldn’t have to use the spoon to get his will.