Marilyn Kaye - Finders Keepers

‘I’m sad,’ Margaret said. ‘I miss you very much, Mama. I think about you all the time.’

It was pretty much the same thing she’d said last Friday, but Ken thought there was something different this time. Maybe it was her tone — she didn’t sound like she was going to burst into tears. In fact her voice was almost wooden, like she’d memorized and rehearsed these lines.

‘Your mother wants you to stay busy, Margaret,’ the medium told her. ‘That’s the only way to get over your grief. She suggests that you find an interesting club to join. Birdwatching, perhaps.’

‘Birdwatching?’ Margaret exclaimed. ‘Ick! Are you for real?’

Cassandra’s voice was steely. ‘This is your mother addressing you, Margaret.’

‘Oh, right,’ Margaret said. ‘Sorry, Mom, I’ll think about it.’

‘Your mother’s leaving us now, Margaret.’

‘Don’t leave, Mama!’ Margaret cried out. ‘Stay here, please. I’m begging you, don’t go away, I’m so lonely and sad, I need you. ’

Cassandra almost sounded impatient. ‘She can’t stay, Margaret. She’ll be back tomorrow. Now let’s try to call another spirit to us. Let us all be very quiet and concentrate very hard.’

Ken began a silent chant. Mr Fisher, Mr Fisher, Mr Fisher, Mr Fisher.

‘A spirit approaches,’ Cassandra intoned. ‘It is a man. He is calling a name. I’m having difficulty hearing him. Oh spirit, please, speak louder. Mr Fisher, is that you?’

‘Dad?’ Stevie cried out.

‘Shh,’ the medium murmured. ‘Again, spirit, again, who do you wish to contact?’ She drew in her breath. ‘Your son? Your son. Stevie?’

Holding Stevie’s hand, Ken could feel the boy’s grip tighten.

‘Do you have something you want to say to Stevie? Do you have a message for him?’

Ken couldn’t breathe. Or maybe he was just feeling the tension in the boy sitting next to him.

‘What is the message? Oh spirit, I cannot hear you! Your voice. it’s too faint! Repeat! Repeat!’

And then Cassandra sighed. ‘He’s gone.’

‘Oh, no!’ Stevie cried out. ‘Dad, come back!’

‘I’m sorry, Stevie. It wasn’t a good connection. But don’t despair! We’ve made contact. He’ll come back. Maybe I’m just not strong enough. If only there was another medium here, someone else who is also sensitive to the spirit world. Perhaps together we could forge a pathway.’

That was all Ken needed to hear. ‘Can I talk to you privately, Cassandra?’

‘Of course, Ken,’ the medium said. To the others, she said, ‘The seance is over. We will meet again at the same time tomorrow evening.’

Dahlia and Stevie went to the hallway and Dahlia opened the door. Jenna practically fell in, as if she’d been leaning against it.

‘What are you doing here?’ Cassandra demanded to know. ‘I told you to leave!’

‘I was waiting for Ken,’ Jenna said. ‘I thought we could walk home together. Come on, Ken.’

Ken glared at her. ‘I need to talk to Cassandra.’

‘Ken, don’t tell her anything! I read her mind. She’s a fake!’

‘How dare you?’ Cassandra cried out. ‘Get out of here now!’

‘I’m not leaving without Ken,’ Jenna yelled.

Ken turned to the medium. ‘I’m sorry about this. I’ll get rid of her.’ He grabbed Jenna’s arm and dragged her out the door.

‘Ken, I’m serious,’ Jenna hissed once they’d reached the hall. ‘I don’t know who she really is, or what she’s up to, but she’s not a medium. This is a fraud.’

‘You’re just saying that to keep me from helping her find Stevie’s father,’ Ken accused her. ‘You don’t want me to tell her what I can do.’

‘It’s not just that! I’m telling you, Ken, I swear, I saw something in her mind. And she’s not telling the truth.’

Ken couldn’t remember ever hearing Jenna sound so fervent before.

‘Ken, just do me one favour, OK? Don’t tell her today. Think about it.’

‘I’m not going to change my mind, Jenna.’

‘Just wait till the next seance,’ she pleaded. ‘It’s not like anything can happen now. OK? Please?’

‘What difference is one day going to make?’

‘I don’t know! I just feel like — like it will make a difference.’

That sounded pretty lame to Ken, but he’d never heard Jenna sound so frantic. If it really meant that much to her.

He went back into the apartment, where Cassandra and Margaret were talking.

‘Um, I have to go.’

‘I thought you wanted to talk to me privately,’ Cassandra said.

‘It can wait till tomorrow,’ Ken said.

THE WOMAN WHO HAD been calling herself Cassandra pulled off her veil and cursed as the door closed behind Ken.

‘I think we’re all right,’ she told Amanda. ‘I kept my mind completely blank all the time that girl was in the room.’

Amanda reminded herself that she wasn’t Amanda. ‘Why?’

‘She can read minds,’ Serena said. ‘But I blocked her from getting into mine.’

‘You can do that?’

‘I learned how when I studied hypnosis,’ Serena Hancock informed her. ‘You concentrate on a little phrase called a mantra. Some people do this for meditating, to clear the mind. It can work when you’re around mindreaders too. When I was student-teacher in her class I was able to hide my thoughts from her.’ She started towards the kitchen. ‘I’m going to fix myself a Martini. Do you want one?’

Amanda shuddered. ‘No, thanks.’ She followed Serena into the kitchen. ‘You can’t really make contact with spirits, can you?’

Serena stared at her. ‘Are you being funny? Of course not! You know that.’

Margaret would know that, Amanda thought. ‘Oh, sure, but I was just wondering. Maybe, after doing this for a while, you might have developed the gift.’

Serena began mixing her drink. ‘It doesn’t work like that. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. It’s too bad though. If I could connect with dead people, I wouldn’t need Ken. I hope he’s not going to be a problem. I think he really wants to help Stevie. He seems like the caring type.’

‘Yeah, Ken’s like that,’ Amanda said. Once again Serena looked at her oddly, and Amanda tried to recover. ‘I mean, that’s how he’s been acting here.’ Mentally, she scolded herself. She had to remember who Serena thought she was. It wasn’t easy. She was still reeling from the revelations of the evening before.

‘Don’t you want anything to drink?’ Serena asked.

‘Just water,’ Amanda said. ‘I. um. I’m on a diet. Excuse me, I’m going to wash my hands.’

It was just an excuse to be alone in the bathroom for a few minutes. She put the lid down on the toilet and sat there.

She had to admit, Serena had designed a very clever scheme. Fortunately, when Amanda had learned who Serena was the night before, the shock had left her speechless and she was able to learn a lot about the plan by just listening to Serena talk about it.

She gathered that Margaret and Serena were friends from back in the days when they’d studied to become teachers at the same university. Teachers didn’t make much money, and Serena wanted a lot more than she earned. And it appeared that Serena was still obsessed with getting her hands on a winning lottery ticket.

From what Amanda had figured out, Serena had learned about Stevie’s plight from another friend, Jane, who taught at a different school. Stevie was in Jane’s class, and he’d confided in his teacher. Jane was so moved and saddened by the story, she’d mentioned it in passing in a conversation with Serena. And Serena — without telling Jane, of course — came up with a plan.

Having done some of her student teaching at Meadowbrook in the gifted class, she’d learned about their special gifts. She knew what Ken could do, and she thought he’d be able to get in touch with Stevie’s father. So she set herself up as a medium, contacted Stevie and Ken, and enlisted Margaret to help her out by acting like a satisfied client. This would hopefully convince Ken that ‘Cassandra’ was a legitimate medium. And as payment, Margaret would get a cut of the money from the lottery ticket.