Page 48 of The Promise of Tomorrow
‘You avoided oral cancer because of what that woman said,’ she continued. ‘Lucy’s gran won on the lottery – the fortune teller had talked to her about seeing big money in her life. All of these things confirmed what I already knew – that the promiseI’d made on the common, that night, would also come true. But the… the agreement I made with her has haunted me ever since and, once and for all, I want to get to face it head on. I want to meet this woman again.’
Rory lay his hand over Elena’s.
‘That night must have been very frightening,’ said Gayle. Red blotches appeared on her cheeks. ‘I wish you’d told me at the time, love. What person makes some deal with a ten-year-old child?’
‘Exactly what I thought,’ muttered Rory.
‘You don’t think I imagined it?’
‘You were never giddy or scatter-brained, even when you were little. This pact… was it something bad?’
A life for a life? Yes and no. Elena didn’t want to worry Gayle. ‘It’s just something I need closure on… Probably to do with the fact I’m coming up to thirty, the same age Mum was when she almost died.’
‘Understandable.’
‘What was the woman like?’ asked Rory. His voice had a hard edge to it.
‘She seemed kind,’ said Gayle. ‘But now I’m questioning that…’
‘The card, the king of hearts… Any idea why she gave that to me?’ asked Elena.
Gayle shook her head. ‘No. She just said it would be important to you one day. But the card makes sense – whereas one part of your story doesn’t. The fortune teller at that fair definitely didn’thave a crystal ball. I remember distinctly that her talent was reading cards. That’s playing cards, not tarot. It’s called cartomancy.’
Elena knew what she’d seen. There definitely had been a crystal ball.
‘After I shut the front door that night,’ continued Gayle, ‘after you’d gone to bed, memories came back. I’d see her at the fair every year, laying the cards out on a table. She always struck me as a down-to-earth sort.’
‘Any idea of this woman’s name or how I find her?’ asked Elena. ‘I’ve searched online under the words “touring Christmas Fair” and “touring fortune teller”, but nothing concrete came up. There are so many fairs, across the UK, at that time of year. I’ve never felt able to talk to Mum and Dad about it. When I was younger I was too scared to go to the fair again, in case I saw her and she called in the promise early that I’d made to do with our pact. Then the common was sold to property developers and the fair didn’t come back.’
‘No idea what she’s called, sorry, love. Her accent was Scottish; perhaps she comes from the Highlands.’
Scottish? Of course. That explained why, over the years, Scottish TV shows made her uncomfortable. The hint of a Scottish accent spooked her out. It wasn’t an accent thing – she loved listening to voices that were different to hers, like Diego’s. It was because the sound made her afraid for no apparent reason.
‘I do know the fair’s owner was called Jimmy. When you were a toddler, there’d been a big hoo-ha because a child went missing at the Christmas fair. The police were involved. Turned out the boy had been hiding under his bed all along. The story might be on the internet still. If it helps, it was a fair that toured the northwest only. Alf got talking to Jimmy once. We’d gone to look for Christmas gifts. The fair kicked off in the middle of November. Six weeks, six towns. Jimmy would pick them from near the cities – Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle… It went as far north as Edinburgh, I think. If you get his surname, you might be able to track him down. He could know what happened to the fortune teller, because of course it’s possible that she isn’t still…’
‘This is really useful,’ said Rory, swiftly.
‘Thanks so much,’ said Elena. ‘You’ve given me a lot to think about, Auntie Gayle.’ The two women looked at each other and Elena went over and gave her a hug. ‘You really helped Mum and Dad out all those years, babysitting,’ she said quietly. ‘I loved coming round here. It was like a second home, like a safe haven during those years I had a difficult time at primary school.’
‘You were – still are – like the daughter I’d never had. I wanted to go into your class myself, to sort out those bullies.’
‘You were bullied?’ asked Rory in astonishment.
Gayle blushed. ‘Sorry, Elena. Hope I haven’t said too much.’
‘No, it’s fine.’ Elena turned to Rory. ‘I was bullied because I had a slight speech impediment. Eventually we got a new headteacher and she took my ordeal seriously in a way the other head hadn’t. And I grew out of the lisp.’
‘Your mum and dad were so worried at how withdrawn you’d become, some days,’ said Gayle. ‘You’d come round to do drawing and I’d stick your pictures on the fridge. I’ve still got one somewhere, of Alf in his overalls.’ Gayle delved into her pocket and pulled out her phone. ‘Why don’t the three of us get onto this straightaway? I’m going to search for “Missing child found, Christmas fair, Bridgwich”…I’m not sure of the exact year.’
Rory and Elena did the same.
‘Bingo!’ said Gayle as she clicked on a tabloid article. ‘That was easy.’
The other two agreed. Elena scoured the article she’d found in a local paper. The other two read articles from the nationals.
‘It was 1997,’ said Rory. ‘No mention of Jimmy in the article I’m reading, though.’
‘Nor in mine,’ said Gayle.
