“Isn’t there anything for me?” the other middle-aged lady demanded. She was the only one to whom the spirits had not yet spoken.

“Mother, are you still there?” Jake called out as if he really expected an answer.

Madame didn’t speak for a full minute. Then she slowly raised her head and looked around. “Oh my, you do not look pleased. Did someone receive bad news?”

“I didn’t receive any news at all,” the neglected lady said.

“I cannot control the spirits, you know,” Madame said apologetically. “If they choose not to speak, it is not my fault. Mr. Miller, did you make a connection?”

“I guess,” he admitted.

“He wouldn’t forgive his mother even though she said she was sorry,” one of the elderly ladies said venomously.

Madame gave him a sympathetic smile. “Sometimes it is difficult to be reunited with our loved ones. I hope you received the answer you sought.”

“Not really,” he said.

“I am sorry to hear it, but the spirits can be stubborn.”

“She was probably just hurt,” the old lady insisted. “I wouldn’t talk to you, either.”

Jake wasn’t sure how he should respond to that, so he didn’t say anything.

Madame Ophelia summoned Persephone to see everyone out. Being a gentleman, Jake allowed the ladies to precede him, and before he reached the door, Madame Ophelia called his name.

“May I have a moment, Mr. Miller?”

Jake returned with a show of reluctance. His experience had been less than satisfactory, so he wouldn’t be anxious to stay.

“Please sit down.” When he had taken the chair to her left as he had during their first meeting, she said, “Do you believe you contacted your mother?” Jake had to admit she looked like she really didn’t know what had happened.

“It seemed like I did, but she didn’t really answer my question, so I can’t be sure.”

“Mrs. Anderson said she asked for your forgiveness.”

“That’s what it sounded like.”

“The spirits don’t think the way we do, and sometimes their messages to us are not what we want but rather what we need to hear.”

“So you think I needed to hear that she was sorry?” he asked skeptically.

“Perhaps she needed to tell you.”

“It’s too late to make amends.”

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t you like to make peace with her even now?”

Which was, he had to admit, a very intriguing question, and the answer could easily lead to many return trips to the land of the spirits at twenty dollars apiece. “I’m not really sure it would change anything even if I really could make peace with her.”

“So you still doubt that you were in contact with your mother?”