Eye Of The Fortuneteller

She wore a gypsy dress. But it was hiked up so high that Kelsey could see her cutoff jeans underneath it.

And she didn’t have long, dark hair anymore. It was short and blond. The long, dark hair was a wig – and without it, Zandra looked even younger. She didn’t look much older than Kelsey.

“You’re a fake!” Kelsey shouted at her.

“We’ve got the card to prove it,” Drew added.

Kelsey flung the card down in front of the Amazing Zandra. “Look,” she said. “It even has the red X you drew on it. How do you explain that?”

Zandra stared at the card. “Where did you get this?” she asked suspiciously.

“It just appeared,” Kelsey told her. “Right after I was attacked by a swarm of horseflies.”

“What kind of trick are you two trying to pull on me?” she asked.

“Us?” Kelsey shot back. “You’re the one who ripped me off. You said you removed the curse. But you didn’t. I was nearly eaten alive by those horseflies! You didn’t remove that stupid curse – and this card proves it!”

“That,” Zandra declared, “is a different card. The one you brought to me is safely locked inside this box.” Then she reached for the metal box and placed it on the table.

“Really?” Kelsey smirked. “Then show it to me.”

“No problem,” Zandra replied. “I will.” She dipped her hand into the pocket of her dress and pulled out the key. She slipped it into the lock and turned it.

Zandra hesitated only for a moment before she lifted the lid.

“Oh, no!” She gasped, staring down into the box. “How can this be?”

Kelsey’s eyes were glued to the box. She knew exactly what they would find inside.

Nothing.

Zandra tilted it so that Kelsey and Drew could take a look.

But the box wasn’t empty.

And Kelsey shrieked when she spotted what was inside.

13

“Oh, no!” Kelsey cried. “I don’t believe this!”

Inside the box was a picture of Kelsey. And there, scrawled across the front, was a big, red X. A big red X right through Kelsey’s face.

The Amazing Zandra studied the Fool card that Kelsey had returned. Then she peered into the box at Kelsey’s picture. Then back at the card.

“How did you do this?” Zandra demanded.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Kelsey shouted. “I didn’t do anything. The card keeps coming back all by itself. Because I’m under a curse! That’s why I paid you ten dollars in the first place. Remember? To take the curse off!”

“Whoa! This is totally freaky,” Zandra said. “It sounds to me like you really are under a curse.”

“That’s what we’ve been telling you all along!” Drew yelled. “Now, can you do anything to help, or not?”

“I don’t know,” Zandra shrugged. “I think you probably ought to talk to the gypsy who put the curse on you and ask her to remove it.”

“But – but,” Kelsey sputtered, “I tried that already. The only time I ever saw her was in here. And you told me that was impossible – that there was no other gypsy!”

“I am the only gypsy here,” Zandra stated. “What was this other gypsy’s name? Did she tell you?”

“Yes,” Kelsey answered. “But I don’t remember what it was. It was something weird.”

“Madame something,” Drew reminded her. “Madame… Madame…”

“Valda!” Kelsey blurted out.

“That’s it!” Drew agreed. “Madame Valda!”

Zandra’s jaw dropped.

“What’s wrong?” Kelsey asked.

“That can’t be,” Zandra said, shaking her head. “Madame Valda. Here? No,” she answered her own question. “That just can’t be.”

“You know who Madame Valda is?” Drew asked.

“Of course,” Zandra answered. “Every gypsy in the world knows who Madame Valda is.”

“Well, who is she?” Kelsey asked, planting her hands on her hips.

Zandra took a deep breath. “Madame Valda is the most powerful gypsy who ever lived. And the most evil. But you could not possibly have seen Madame Valda,” Zandra assured them.

“Why not?” Kelsey wanted to know.

“Because,” Zandra said, staring directly into her eyes, “Madame Valda has been dead for more than a hundred years.”

14

“Madame Valda can’t be dead!” Kelsey shouted. “She was sitting right here! Tell her, Drew!”

“She was,” Drew insisted.

“Maybe you’re thinking of a different Madame Valda,” Kelsey told Zandra.

But Zandra shook her head no. “There is only one Madame Valda,” she insisted. “And I’m telling you that she has been dead for a really long time.”

“But we saw her!” Drew exclaimed. “So that’s impossible!”

“Well,” Zandra hesitated for a moment. “Not according to some of the old gypsies, it isn’t. But I never believed them.”

“What do you mean?” Kelsey asked.

“Well, some of the older gypsies believe that Madame Valda can still appear – even after death.”

“Yeah, well, you better believe it now,” Kelsey declared. “Because I’m telling you-she was here!”

“Oh, man.” Zandra cringed. “This is tooooo creepy.”

“Tell me about it!” Kelsey shot back. “I’m the one who’s been cursed by a dead gypsy!”

“So what do we do now?” Drew asked Zandra.

Zandra shrugged. “You’ve got me.”

“Oh, that’s just great!” Kelsey huffed. “Just great!”

“Look, don’t panic,” Zandra told Kelsey. “I have an uncle. He knows all about the old ways. He’s the one who told me about Madame Valda. I bet he can help you.”

“Where is he?” Drew asked.

“How soon can we see him?” Kelsey added.

“You can see him right now,” Zandra answered as she stood up. “Just wait here. I’ll go wake him up.”

Kelsey and Drew watched Zandra disappear through a curtain of beads that led into a back room.

Kelsey started to pace nervously.

“Do you believe this!” Kelsey was talking more to herself than to Drew. “A dead gypsy put a curse on me! I hope Zandra’s uncle is like Super-gypsy or something. Otherwise, I’m doomed.”

“You’re not doomed,” Drew muttered. He didn’t sound very convincing.

Just then the beads parted and Zandra headed toward Kelsey and Drew. An old man followed behind.

The man appeared to be as old as Madame Valda herself. Kelsey thought that was a very good sign.

He wore all black. Black pants, black jacket. A worn black leather vest. On a chain around his neck hung a large blue bead.

When Kelsey peered closer, she realized the bead was really a glass eye!

“This is my uncle, Gregor,” Zandra said as she approached them.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Gregor,” Kelsey said as politely as she could. There was no way in the world she was going to insult another gypsy.

Gregor’s wrinkled old face showed no expression. He stood as still as a statue and stared at Kelsey. “Zandra tells me that you think you have been cursed by Madame Valda,” he finally said.

Gregor spoke in an accent much like Madame Valda’s. And Kelsey thought that was an even better sign.

“I don’t think I’ve been cursed,” Kelsey told Gregor. “I know I’ve been cursed.”

Kelsey told Gregor about the Fool card and Madame Valda. She told him all about getting lost, and about the sand crabs. The jellyfish. The horseflies.

Gregor listened without moving. Without even blinking. When she was finished, he said, “I must tell you, this is most unusual.”

“No kidding,” Drew blurted out. “Especially since Madame Valda is dead!”

“Death is only a bend in the path for someone as powerful as Madame Valda,” Gregor told him.

“A what?” Kelsey’s eyes opened wide.

“A bend in the path,” Zandra repeated. “It means that death can’t stop Madame Valda. It just slows her down for a while.”

Kelsey turned to Drew in time to see his jaw drop.

“I told you Madame Valda was the most powerful gypsy who ever lived,” Zandra said, as if Kelsey needed to be reminded.

“Yes,” Gregor agreed. “She was the most powerful gypsy who ever lived. Only she was evil to the bone. And she used her powers in ways that were unthinkable.”

“Like how unthinkable?” Kelsey asked, not really wanting to know.

Gregor just shook his head. He didn’t answer Kelsey’s question. But he continued with his story.

“Madame Valda was so evil that the other gypsies feared her. They feared her for her power. But they also feared that her evil would cause terrible misfortune for all the other gypsies.

“So, secretly, the other gypsies – her own people – decided to kill her. They selected a young boy and a young girl to sneak into her tent and poison her wine.”

“Oh, wow!” Zandra exclaimed. Then she sat down and began fanning herself with her fashion magazine.