Love at Second Sight (2 page)

Whatever the explanation, we’re different, but our friendship seems to work despite that. Effy is also a giggler. It’s one of her most endearing qualities. It’s so easy to make
her laugh. Ever since I met her back in junior school, Effy has cracked up at the most inopportune moments, in assembly for example, when Mrs Burton, our headmistress, says something about stealing
in the cloakroom or we have a guest speaker talking about their passion for a cause and we’re all supposed to be focused and taking it seriously. Effy’s shoulders will start shaking
with silent laugher. She tries to hold it in but usually fails. And that tends to set me and Tash off too so we all end up in detention for being giddy. Effy’s also endlessly curious. As well
as astrology, she’s into clairvoyants, tarot cards, visualisations and anything alternative. Miss New Age Nutjob, I call her. My mum’s into all that stuff too. She and Effy get on like
a house on fire. Most times, I just switch off from both of them when they start ranting on about life and all its mysteries.

Effy glanced at a poster on the wall by the bus stop. ‘Hey, look. The fair’s coming to the Heath this weekend. Tell you what, let’s go on Sunday afternoon. The boys are playing
footie that day, then meeting up with mates afterwards, so it would just be us. We could go to the fair, have some girlie time, win a few teddy bears then head back to yours, Jo, for a sleepover.
You in?’

I knew Mum was working late on Sunday night so it was either the fair and a sleepover or staying home alone. ‘Sounds like a plan. I’m in.’

By Sunday, the rain had gone and it was a glorious sunny afternoon as we made our way over the Heath for the fair. The good weather had brought out the crowds and the
atmosphere was buzzing. Effy spotted the clairvoyant’s tent almost immediately. She was like a bee to honey. She linked arms with me and pulled me over to read the small sign tacked outside:
Betty – Past-life readings, Tarot cards and Palmistry. Ten pounds a session.

‘Ten quid to have your fortune told. Come on,’ said Effy. ‘Maybe she’ll tell you if there are any boys in your future.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘I bet she tells everyone there’s a tall, dark stranger on the horizon. Honestly, Ef, you don’t really believe in all that rubbish, do you?’ I
don’t know why I asked. Of course she did. She was always consulting the cards, the runes, the I Ching or the stars. Last month, she did my horoscope for me online. She wasn’t happy
when I said that if I met a boy it would be because I’d made an effort to get out there, not because Venus was in conjunction with the moon or whatever.

‘Oh, don’t be a cynic,’ said Effy. ‘It’s only a bit of fun. Pleeease.’

‘Yeah, come on, Jo. Let’s give her a try,’ said Tash. ‘Our neighbour, Mrs Adeline, said there was a clairvoyant here last year who was brill.’

‘Waste of time,’ I said. ‘I can think of way better things to spend my money on.’

‘Then it’s on me,’ said Effy. ‘An early birthday present.’

My birthday is the 2nd of June, which was less than a month away. I’d much rather get some bath products or a CD but I didn’t want to appear ungrateful or hurt her feelings so I
eventually gave in.

Effy went first and came out fifteen minutes later. ‘She’s good,’ she said. ‘You’re next and I’ve paid for you.’

I looked at Tash. ‘No, you go next,’ I said. ‘I insist.’

‘Chicken,’ said Tash, but she went in all the same.

‘So. What did she say to you?’ I asked Effy as we waited.

She shook her head. ‘I’ll tell you when Tash comes out. We’ll compare notes. I don’t want to put anything into your head.’

‘So it was rubbish, then?’

‘No. No. Um . . . nothing that specific, though. I’ll tell you later.’

She went and bought us two candyfloss sticks and refused to be budged any further. Ten minutes later, Tash came out with a big smile on her face.

‘Don’t say anything,’ said Effy. ‘Not till Jo’s been in. Off you go.’

I took a deep breath and entered the tent. It was dark inside and smelt of sandalwood from a joss stick that was bUming in the corner. A middle-aged lady was sitting at a small fold-up table
which had a crystal ball and a deck of cards on it. She didn’t
look
like a clairvoyant. She looked ordinary, with short grey hair, a ruddy complexion and a boring outfit of blue shirt,
floral skirt and sandals.

She glanced up at me. ‘Jo?’

I nodded.

‘Sit,’ she instructed and indicated I should take the seat opposite her.

‘Give me your watch,’ she commanded, so I took it off and gave it to her. She held it in her hand and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she opened her eyes. ‘I feel sadness
and also resistance. I feel scepticism, but this will change.’ She handed me a deck of cards. ‘Think about what you’d like to ask, then shuffle the cards.’

‘I . . . there’s nothing I want to know specifically.’

‘Just shuffle, then,’ said Betty. ‘The cards will reveal all.’

I did as I was told.

‘Now split the cards and put them into three piles from the right.’

Again I followed her instructions.

Betty took the top cards from the middle pile and laid them out in front of her. She studied them for a while, then glanced at me. ‘Give me your hands,’ she said. I put my hands out
and she took them in hers, turned them palm up and studied them. She closed her eyes for a few moments. The atmosphere was intense and I felt slightly spooked. Betty let go of my hands and put hers
over the crystal ball. Again she closed her eyes.
I wonder what baloney she’s going to come out with
, I thought as I glanced around the interior of the tent.

I caught my reflection in a mirror at the back. A tall, slim girl with brown eyes stared back at me. I was wearing my jeans with my favourite jacket: plum velvet with a nipped-in waist and tiny
buttons right up to the high neck. I got it for Christmas last year from my favourite shop, Steam Punk, and have worn it constantly ever since. I love the clothes there, they’re kind of
Victorian Gothic. I’ve asked for a pair of the ankle boots from there for my birthday from Mum. The Catherine Victorian boots. Black with a delicate heel, unlike the clompy ones that are in
the shops at the moment. Effy says I look like Bellatrix Lestrange from the
Harry Potter
movies. The cheek. Effy and I just have different tastes in clothes that’s all. I like
old-fashioned, while her style is more Topshop’s latest.

Betty’s voice brought me back from my fashion fantasy. ‘Jo,’ she said.

‘Yes.’

‘You haven’t found love in this lifetime, have you?’

Effy’s been filling her in
, I thought as I shook my head.
I’ll kill her when I get out of here.

‘No. Not exactly’ I laughed. ‘But hey, I’m only sixteen!’

Betty didn’t laugh, in fact she had a strange look on her face. Her eyes had glazed and, oh Lord, she was starting to sway slightly.
Should I make a run for it
? I wondered as I
checked behind me for the exit. ‘You have travelled far through time to be here. There is no coincidence, it is all predestined.’ Betty closed her eyes, became still and started to
speak in a deeper voice. A voice that had authority. ‘You have not found love, but you will.’
Me and a thousand others
, I thought although I couldn’t help but listen and
stare. Betty was putting on a good act. You can find love, Jo. The reason you have not so far is because you have it imprinted in your unconscious that love is painful and that is why you have not
found your soulmate. In this lifetime, you must break the pattern.’

Whoa
, I thought.
That’s way heavy. She’s right about me thinking love is painful but imprinted in my unconscious?
I did
not
like what I was hearing. I glanced
back at the exit flap. Half of me wanted to run, but the other half was intrigued. I decided to stay. At the very least I could have a good laugh about it later with Effy and Tash.

‘I see a boy – you once knew him and he was your soulmate,’ Betty continued. She spoke fast, still in the deeper voice. ‘It was a great love. Powerful. He was your true
love in a previous life. We have all had many lives but this love was in your last life. You were a governess . . . your name was Henrietta Gleeson. You were working in a London doctor’s
house at the end of the nineteenth century. This doctor had children. Two. A young boy who you were employed to care for, and an older one . . .’ She lifted her head slightly to the right as
if she was listening to someone. ‘Howard. His name was Howard. A boy of nineteen. He was your soulmate and yet . . .’ She stopped, as though listening once again. ‘Something
happened to keep you apart.’

Typical
, I thought.
Bad luck in this lifetime and bad luck back then too. Cool story
,
though. I wonder how many other people she’s spun it to.

Betty opened her eyes and looked directly at me. As if she was looking right
into
me. ‘Jo. This is important. As you are back in this lifetime, so is he. Like you, he has travelled
far through time to be here. In this life, you must find him. He is your soulmate. You are meant to be together. You
must
find him if you are ever to be happy in love.’

I felt a shiver go up my spine, but I wasn’t going to let her get to me. ‘Was he by any chance tall, dark and handsome?’

Betty continued to look directly at me. ‘You may scoff at what you hear, many do. I simply tell what I see. It is always
your
choice to make of it what you will but this boy from
your past, he
is
your destiny. You can believe me and try to find him or dismiss what I say and drift from one meaningless love affair to another, never finding the true contentment that
your soul could know with him. You must choose.’

Whoa. You’re beginning to freak me out
, I thought, then we both jumped as someone entered the tent to our right. It was a blonde lady in her twenties. ‘Are you still doing
readings?’ she asked Betty.

‘Have you any more questions, Jo?’ Betty asked me, returning to her normal voice.

I shook my head. I felt light-headed. ‘Um. No, thanks. I’m fine.’ I got up and Betty beckoned the lady to take my place.
Another sucker
, I thought.
I bet she even
tells her the same story.

‘Oh my God, that is just
so
romantic,’ said Tash after I’d filled her and Effy in on the Howard and Henrietta story.

‘Did she say what kept them apart?’ asked Effy.

I shook my head. ‘Maybe he discovered he was gay.’

Effy ignored my comment. ‘But didn’t you ask her how you’d recognise him this time?’ she asked as we made our way over to the stage area. Minted were due to play at three
o’clock and I wasn’t going to miss that. A chance to stare at Finn O’Brady without seeming weird.

‘No I didn’t, Effy, because Betty
made
it up.’

‘He could be anywhere,’ Tash mused. ‘He might not even be in England. What if he’s American or something?’

‘Effy. Tash. There is no
he.
There’s no-one to find. You don’t actually believe it? She probably tells everyone the same story Who did she say you’d been in your
past life? Cleopatra?’

Effy shook her head. ‘She didn’t mention past lives at all. She told me I needed to focus on what I want to do when I leave school. That I have a tendency to start and stop things,
not see things through.’

‘Well, she got that right,’ I said. ‘But no mention of soulmates or anything?’

‘Nope. Nadah. I wish she had.’

‘Nor me,’ said Tash. ‘She told me that I would probably go abroad in the future and that it would be a good experience.’

‘Gap year. That one’s easy’ I said. ‘She guessed your age. Loads of people travel before college or uni so it’s not hard to put two and two together there. Hey, did
she do the deep voice and swaying?’

‘No,’ Effy and Tash chorused.

What deep voice?’ asked Tash.

‘Like she was possessed. Bit spooky if I’m honest but I guess it’s part of the act. Did she
really
not do it when you were in?’

Tash and Effy shook their heads.

‘It was probably her spirit guide coming through. Loads of mediums have them,’ said Effy. ‘Usually Native Americans or great souls.’

‘What if it was the spirit of Ethel, the dinner lady, or Fred, the dustbin man?’ I said. ‘Why do the guides always have to be exotic?’

Effy shrugged. ‘I don’t know. They just are.’

‘I think what she said sounds wonderful,’ said Tash dreamily. ‘Someone you’ve known in a past life. Maybe even lots of past lives. A love destined to be time after
time.’

‘Oh, come on. I mean look at me, Tash. Look at my jacket, my style. Victorian, vintage. She took one look at me and that set her off. Because I dress like this, she made up a story about
me being a governess in Victorian times. She must take her clues from people’s appearance. She’s got a good imagination, I’ll give her that.’

‘But maybe that
is
why you dress like that, Jo,’ said Effy. ‘Because you were Henrietta and you’re still stuck in the past.’

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. ‘God, you two are so gullible, you’d believe any old tosh. I simply like vintage style. Me and hundreds of others. Does that mean we were
all Victorians in our last lives?’

Effy looked put out. ‘Maybe.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘I despair. The here and now, that’s all we’ve got, Effy, the present moment and Minted are about to play. I’m going to forget all about what Betty said
and go and get a good place to listen and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. End of.’

Effy glanced mischievously at Tash. ‘OK. Lead the way . . . Henrietta.’

I playfully went to swipe her but she ducked. ‘Nutjob,’ I said.

Finn O’Brady. Tall, fit, tousled black hair, a teenage girl’s dream. He had charm, charisma, a wicked twinkle in his dark brown eyes, and knew how to work a crowd,
directing some of the slower numbers to girls in the audience. He even sang some lines to me. As he looked into my eyes, I felt the words right down to my toes. Maybe he had noticed me at the
magazine meetings after all.