Lucifer's Daughter. V. J. Banis

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ one of defiance.

      “You’re kidding? And you’re afraid of carousels?” Allyson said.

      She felt Elizabeth’s hand on her arm. “Are you sure, Julia?”

      Julia gave a little laugh. “Sure, I’m sure. I love roller coasters.”

      “Have you ever ridden on one?” Elizabeth asked. Her eyes were soft and understanding. “They’re pretty dangerous, you know.”

      Tell them you like danger.

      Don’t go, Julia. You’ll get hurt.

      Julia gave her long, dark hair a flip back over her shoulders. “I don’t mind a little danger,” she said with a haughtiness in her voice she’d never noticed there before. “Besides, it might liven things up a bit.”

      CHAPTER TWO

      But the roller coaster ride didn’t liven things up at all. On the contrary, Julia’s stomach felt tied in knots and her head ached unmercifully. The plunging, careening ride scared her half to death, although she’d never admit it.

      See, I told you not to ride on it, the soft, sympathetic little voice said.

      Oh, shut up! So what’s the big deal about a little upset stomach and a headache. It was fun.

      You could have gotten hurt.

      So what? That’s what you’re living for—to take chances.

      Needless chances?

      Julia shook her head. “Oh, quiet,” she said sharply. She had gotten a little ahead of Allyson, which she blamed on her eagerness to get out of the car and away from that terrible amusement ride as quickly as possible. Allyson didn’t hear her speak, but she did see her shake her head and put her hands to her temples.

      “Are you all right?” Allyson asked when she caught up to Julia. They started down the ramp and headed toward where Elizabeth and Margaret were standing waiting.

      “Yes, fine. My legs are a little wobbly though.” She forced herself to laugh, hoping to smother the voices that were arguing inside her head.

      Allyson laughed, too. “That’s not all that’s a little wobbly with me. Quite a ride, wasn’t it?”

      “It was fun.” It hadn’t been fun at all. She’d hated it She felt sick.

      As they got nearer, Elizabeth frowned in genuine concern. “Julie. You’re as white as a ghost. You shouldn’t have gone on that thing.”

      Julia gave a little toss of her head. “I’m fine, Liz; really I am.” She forced a smile. “It was wild.”

      “It was certainly that,” Allyson agreed. She glanced at Julia. “In case you didn’t know, Julie, you’re supposed to scream your head off when you go down those dips. They say it helps get rid of your inhibitions.”

      “It would take more than screaming on a roller coaster to get rid of all my inhibitions,” Julia said pleasantly enough.

      “I’ll buy that,” Margaret interjected, with more than just a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

      Julia threw her sidelong glance. She bit down on her lip and said nothing in spite of the voice inside her which was goading her to be unpleasant.

      “Speaking of inhibitions,” Elizabeth said, pointing to a drab little tent sitting next to a penny arcade, “there’s a fortune teller over there. Let’s go find out about ourselves.”

      “Oh, Elizabeth,” Margaret said. “Surely you don’t believe in fortune tellers.”

      Elizabeth laughed. “I believe in anyone or anything that will get me a husband.”

      The girls laughed gaily and started toward the tent. Julia went along, but not as eagerly as the others. There was something about the sagging, neglected little tent that seemed to warn her to stay away. But Elizabeth was pulling her along, forcing her to come with them. Julia’s legs felt shaky from the unnerving effects of the roller coaster. Her head was throbbing, yet there was a lightness inside her that caused her heart to beat faster as though half expecting something wonderful and exciting to happen. She was afraid, but anxious at the same time. She felt strange, as though she was suspended between the two worlds of pleasure and pain, doubtful as to which she would be dropped into. The brooding shadow that had always followed her seemed suddenly less brooding. She knew she should stay away from the tent and the dark-complexioned gypsy woman seated before it, her hands folded contentedly in her lap, but Julia found she could not. She blamed it all on Elizabeth’s firm grip on her arm. They were forcing her to go into the tent and there was nothing she could do about it.

      The old gypsy’s weather-beaten face turned on them as they approached. A trace of a smile tickled the mouth, but the eyes weren’t smiling. The eyes were cold and dark and the color of death. She greeted the girls, letting her eyes take each of them in as they came to stand before her. Julia was standing slightly behind Elizabeth. The old gypsy’s eyes widened as though in recognition when she looked deep into Julia’s face, but the woman said nothing. Then, with an obvious move to compose herself, the gypsy got slowly to her feet, carefully avoiding looking at Julia again.

      What had she seen? Julia wondered. She seemed to recognize me from somewhere, but Julia had never laid eyes on the woman in her life.

      The gypsy cleared her throat in a nervous gesture and said, “Well, my pretty things, can I tell you what man lurks in each of your futures?” Her eyes traveled from face to face again, but did not venture as far as Julia’s face.

      “How much do you charge?” Margaret wanted to know.

      “Private readings are five dollars.”

      “Five dollars. Oh, wow, that’s too much,” Allyson complained.

      The old gypsy chuckled. “However, if you don’t mind knowing each other’s secrets, I can do a group reading for eight.”

      Allyson, Margaret, and Elizabeth went into a hurried conference. Again Julia felt unwanted. They had automatically assumed that she had no intention of including herself in their adventure. She felt perturbed, but did not push herself into their whispered discussion. The girls agreed that eight dollars was reasonable enough.

      Then Elizabeth turned to Julia. “Do you want to be included? It’ll only cost you two dollars.”

      “Yes, come on, Julia. Don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud,” Margaret insisted.

      So that was it, Julia told herself. They weren’t all that interested in including her except one more added to the group session would bring the price down.

      However, it wasn’t spite alone that tempted her to refuse them. For reasons she could not explain, she didn’t want to learn about her future. She felt she had no future...not even a future manufactured from the experienced imagination of an old gypsy woman. Ever since she could remember, the future seemed to be meant for everyone else but her.

      Strange, now that she thought of it, how unimportant the coming years seemed. Nothing had ever lain in store for her. The present was all that had ever existed and all that would ever continue to exist. She lived СКАЧАТЬ