Read Online The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter - Free Book Online Page A

so kind as to let me study your palms?”
    Flora stared down at her hands, turning them over and examining them as if it were the first time she had noticed them.
    “Why would you want to study my palms?”
    His voice resonated like a trombone. “Please believe me when I say that I have not seen hands like yours since Lilly Doucet’s. Of course, you’ve probably never heard of Lilly Doucet, as she was well before your time, but you must take my word for it, she was a rare one and in possession of a keen and able intellect, most particularly unusual for a female.”
    “Lilly Doucet, I’ve never heard of her,” said Flora, still staring at her hands. “It sure is a pretty name. Was she beautiful?”
    “A beauty she was,” said the man. “Not unlike yourself, if Imay say. I should add that were you kind enough to grant my request and allow me to read
your
palm, I would dispense with my usual fee and perform my services gratis. Free of charge.”
    “Sure, why not?” said Flora, extending her hands then pulling them back immediately. “Ooh, they got a little dirty from carrying all these bags. Sorry.”
    “Makes no difference to me.”
    “Well then, here they are.” She held her open palms before him, and he looked at them for a long while, moving his lips and making notations in the air with his finger. Then he whistled through his teeth. “Take my word for it, Lilly Doucet has nothing on you. This is as remarkable a palm as I have seen in many years.”
    The man’s words flowed in a silky cadence Flora had never heard before. She stared at his long snaky fingers so black they were almost blue. She’d never met a Negro before. When he smiled, his teeth seemed as white as piano keys. She wondered if Negroes had more teeth than other people, because his smile seemed to go on for octaves.
    “Tell me my fortune.” she said, twirling one of her blond curls around her finger. “I want to know everything that’s going to happen to me.”
    He laughed. “That’s what you think now. But believe me, in my business, a little information goes a long way. I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
    The man traced the line across the top of her palm under her fingers. “This is where I can see into your heart,” he said. “I can read your loves, adventures of the soul….” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth then followed the crease at the edge of her palm above her thumb that traveled in an arc toward her wrist. “Your life line,” he said, then stretched her fingers with hisleft hand and ran his finger up in a straight line up from under her wrist to just under her middle finger. She was aware of how small her hand was in his, and how dry and calloused his skin felt. When he was finished, he rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes. “Oh my,” he said, his eyes still shut.
    “What do you see?” Flora placed her hands over her heart. “Will I fall in love? Will I travel the world? Oh please, tell me my fortune.”
    The man opened his eyes and put his hands on his knees. “You will live a long rich life, that is for sure.”
    Flora smiled at this news. “And what else? What do you know?”
    “Young lady, I can only say this, and I hope you will listen well.”
    “Yes, I’m listening,” she said, the smile still on her face.
    “You must hold on,” said the man. “That’s my advice to you. Hold on, and never forget who you are.”
    “What do you mean, ‘hold on’?” she asked. “Hold on to what?”
    The man got up from his seat. “That’s what I have to say. Thank you so much for your time. I am most obliged.” He made a slight bow and began to walk down the aisle.
    “Wait,” she shouted, “wait one more moment. I didn’t even catch your name.”
    “It wasn’t meant to be caught,” he said with a smile, and he strode down the aisle of the train then pulled open the heavy door that led him to the next car.
    Flora had the feeling that she was falling. It was the