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Chapters (86)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Booklist
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
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  10. 6
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  12. 8
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  14. 10
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  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
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  75. 71
  76. 72
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  78. 74
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  81. 77
  82. 78
  83. 79
  84. 80
  85. 81
  86. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Elle stepped across the threshold, and with heartfelt awe she said, “Wow.”

The wide front windows glittered with rock crystals, crystal balls and globes of the universe with the horoscope stars lit from within. Built-in along the side walls was a knee-high enclosed painted chest shelf with locked, sliding doors underneath. On top of that shelf, glass eyeballs filled a basket labeled Eye of Newt. Next to that, small packages of cookies filled a bowl labeled Figs of Newton. Clocks with crooked arms and reversed numbers cluttered the walls, interspersed with self-proclaimed magic mirrors of every size and style. In the front corner, wizard staffs made of a variety of knobby, polished woods rested in a tall umbrella stand.

The long, narrow room was immaculately clean, and the scent of lavender and sage perfumed the air. On the back wall, a sign hung over an entrance to a small, dimly lit room: Library. Enter at your own risk. Knowledge within! Beneath that was a card that said, Palmistry, tarot, rune-reading, horoscopes performed by Madame Rune herself.

Rune bustled through the beaded curtain and into the shop in the full fortune-teller getup: gathered skirt, fringed scarves, dangling earrings and her long wavy gray hair hanging loose around her shoulders. “Darlings! Welcome to my shop, the home of my heart. I predicted you would be here early.”

“Ten minutes early,” Adam said, “and we have an appointment.”

Elle was willing to be impressed. “Ten minutes is ten minutes, Adam.”

Testily, Adam said, “I’m always ten minutes early for an appointment.”

Coins jingled as Madame Rune waved an arm and intoned, “Many are the ways of divination.”

Adam set his teeth and watched Elle wander along the shelves.

Behind a sign that read Divination Objects, stacks of tarot cards in various sizes and with exotic paintings were scattered on the shelves. Small velvet bags clanked with (naturally) rune stones. Elle shook out the small black dicelike rocks into her palm and stared at gold scratchings carved in the sides.

“No idea,” she muttered.

Scattered on the shelves were sheep, large and small: sheep figurines, sheep painted on pottery plates, cute and cuddly stuffed sheep. A miniature hardback book stood on the shelf: Buddhism for Sheep.

Elle picked up a skein of wool from the cubbyhole beneath the shelf. A warm gray color, the wool was thick, soft, inviting. “Why sheep?”

Rune replied serenely, “I like sheep. I sell yarn sheared, colored and spun from the backs of local sheep.”

“I don’t believe in the supernatural, but I do believe Rune is one helluva businessperson,” Adam told Elle.

Elle nodded. “I love this.”

“Most people do. Unless they don’t, and then—” Adam stopped.

Clearly, Elle was intrigued. “Then?”

Rune filled in the blank. “Adam rescued me once.”

28

“UPSTAIRS IS MY CONSULTATION ROOM. There I read palms, crystal balls, tarot cards, auras, and rune stones—” Rune used her best dramatic tone “—tossed by seekers of knowledge to reveal their destinies.”