I glanced around, searching for Walter.

“Walter is my late husband,” the fortune-teller announced. “He helps me channel information from the spirits.”

Jackie and I exchanged glances.

“We’d like you to tell our fortunes,” Jilly said.

Miss Elizabeth nodded solemnly. “One dollar each.” She held out her long, pale hand. “Four dollars please.”

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out four crumpled dollar bills. She handed them to the fortune-teller, who shoved them into a pocket of her red dress.

“Who wants to go first?” Again, her eyes moved slowly over our faces.

“I’ll go,” Jilly volunteered. She dropped into the chair across the table from Miss Elizabeth.

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gaze into the red ball. “Walter, bring me the words of the spirit world about this young woman.”

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck. I knew I shouldn’t be frightened. The woman had to be a fake — right? Otherwise, she wouldn’t be working in a tacky carnival like this one.

But she was so serious. So solemn. She didn’t seem to be putting on an act.

Or was I just being gullible again?

Now she took Jilly’s hand. She pulled it up close to her face and began to study Jilly’s palm. Muttering to herself, she moved her long finger back and forth, following the lines of the palm, tracing them with her bright red fingernail.

Jackie leaned close to me. “This is cool,” she whispered.

Judy sighed. “This is going to take forever.”

Jackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for Judy to shush.

The woman studied Jilly’s palm for a long time, squeezing the hand as she gazed at it, murmuring to Walter in the red glass ball. Finally, she raised her eyes to Jilly. “You are artistic,” she said in her scratchy voice.

“Yes!” Jilly declared.

“You are a … dancer,” Miss Elizabeth continued. “You study the dance. You are a hard worker.”

“Whoa. I don’t believe this!” Jilly gushed. “How do you know — ?”

“You have much talent,” the fortune-teller murmured, ignoring Jilly’s question. “Much talent. But sometimes … I see … your artistic side gets in the way of your practical side. You are … you are …”

She shut her eyes. “Help me, Walter,” she whispered. Then she opened her eyes again and raised them to Jilly’s palm. “You are a very social person. Your friends mean a lot to you. Especially … boy friends.”

Jackie and Judy laughed. Jilly flashed them an angry scowl. “I—I don’t believe this,” she told the fortune-teller. “You have everything right!”

“It is my gift,” Miss Elizabeth replied softly.

“Will I make the new dance company?” Jilly asked her. “Try-outs are next week. Can you tell me if I will be accepted?”

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ball. “Walter?” she whispered.

I held my breath, waiting for the answer. Jilly and I were both trying out for the dance company. And I knew there was only room for one of us.

“Walter can find no answer,” the fortune-teller told Jilly. “He only groans.” She let go of Jilly’s hand.

“He—groaned?” Jilly asked. “Why?”

“Your time is up,” Miss Elizabeth said. She motioned to us. “Who is next?”

Jackie shoved Judy forward. Judy dropped into the chair and held her hand out to Miss Elizabeth.

Jilly came running over to join Jackie and me at the edge of the tent. “Isn’t she amazing?” she whispered.

“Yes, she is,” I had to admit. How did she know so many true things about Jilly? I was beginning to believe Miss Elizabeth really had powers.

And now I didn’t feel afraid or nervous. I was eager to see what the fortune-teller would say about me.

She squeezed Judy’s hand and gazed deep into Judy’s dark eyes. “You have great love in you,” she announced. “Great love for … animals.”

Judy gasped. “Y-yes!”

“You care for them. You work … ”

“Yes,” Judy said. “I work in an animal shelter after school. That’s amazing!”

Miss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judy’s palm. “You also have an animal that you care about very much. A dog … No. A cat.”

“Yes. My cat. Plumper.”

Judy turned to us, her face filled with astonishment. “Do you believe this? She’s right about everything!”

“I know! It’s so cool!” Jilly exclaimed. She swept back her blond hair with a toss of her head. She kept bouncing up and down. She seemed too excited to stand still.

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes with Judy. She told Judy that she would have a long, successful life. She said Judy would have a big family someday.

“Of kids? Of animals?” Judy asked.

Miss Elizabeth didn’t answer.

Next came Jackie’s turn. Once again, Miss Elizabeth was right on target with everything she said. “Wow,” Jackie kept muttering. “Wow.”

Finally, I found myself in the chair across from the fortune-teller. Suddenly, I felt so nervous. My mouth was dry. My legs were shaking.

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up.

When she smiled at me, the thick makeup on her face cracked. Tiny drops of sweat glistened at her hairline.

“What is your name?” she asked in a whisper.

“Maggie,” I told her.

She nodded solemnly and took my hand. She raised my palm close to her face and squinted down at it in the gray light.