The Binding Witch and The Fortune Taker

Madame Miri's Fortunes

I headed out of the trailer park followed the din of the crowd to the fairgrounds. The festival was organized in the round, with paths cutting across the circle behind the main stage areas. The prime vendor spots were around the edge of the loop by the front, where Mom's tent was located, because they got the most foot traffic. I'd guessed the competition would be in one of the paths towards the back, since they weren't visible from Mom's tent.

After a short search enjoying the crisp fall air laced with the familiar scents of smoked meats and spilled beer, I found the other fortune teller and watched from the soft pretzel vendor across the muddy rut that served as a path.

She operated out of an olive green canvas tent with a piece of frayed purple acetate fabric covering the door. A hand-lettered sign with, "Madame Miri's Fortunes" hung on the side. A long line wound around the corner and out of sight and everyone in it either stared off into space, scratched their arms, or talked to themselves. One woman stood on one foot and did all three.

"What on the Goddess's green earth is this?" I muttered.

The tent flap fluttered open and a man and woman emerged and squinted in the cold sunlight. They stumbled, then caught each other and drifted away into the crowd. The next customer glanced around and ducked into the tent. The flap closed behind him and the rustling line of customers resumed their strange rituals.

Intrigued, I moved next door to the sari tent, the owner of which was my friend, Indira. If my mother was small (at five feet, two inches), then Indira qualified for tiny. I thought she might be four-nine. I towered over them both. She was also my favorite person to run into on the festival circuit. Though her English was minimal (better now that I'd given her some lessons), the language barrier wasn't an impediment to our friendship.

We seemed to hit it off right away even though she was about the age my mom looked - around forty years old. While she was friends both my mom and I, Indira met me first and kept my confidences like someone my own age.

"Kate!" she squinted at me. "What is...problem?"

I slipped deeper among the racks of fragrant, silky fabric that lined her tent. Her huge brown eyes let nothing escape scrutiny. She was a hard-nosed business woman, adept at haggling, even through the language barrier, and I realized she probably knew everything I needed to know about my mother's competition.

She followed my gaze and narrowed her eyes at me with a smirk. "Ah, you want to know for...other daayani."

I frowned and repeated her. "Di-yanni?"

She shook her head. "Daayani."

"Ok," I let it slide. It sounded the same as when I said it. I had no tongue for other languages - reason one hundred and sixty-two I'll never make it beyond a hedge witch. Latin will never be my second language. "Do you mean other fortune teller?"

Indira nodded towards the fortune teller's tent and pointed to me, then back at the tent. Her dark eyes sparkled and I wished I could understand her accented English better.

"Daayani," she said.

"Sure, that." I gave up and nodded. "What do you know about her?"

Indira pointed at the people in the line and made circle motions with her finger around her ear: the universal sign language for crazy.

I laughed and nodded again. "They do seem a bit strange."

"Daayani make... sad," she said.

I bit my lip. Sad? More like anxious, but I got the picture. I pointed at myself, then at the fortune teller's tent. "I am going to go there and get a reading."

Indira's eyes grew wide and she shook her head. "No, Kate. Bad Daayani. Not like you."

I cocked my head at her and was just about to explain I didn't tell fortunes like my mother, but a group of middle-aged women with too much cleavage swarmed between us and asked Indira all kinds of questions.

"Kate!" Indira strained to see me over the towering heads of the women. "Kate!"

"That's okay!" I said. "Thanks for the talk! I'll catch you later!"

As I headed towards the end of the line for other fortune teller's tent, I resolved to find a good Hindi-English translation app so I could speak to her in her own language, too.

*****
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