An Affair Of Sorcerers

way, looming up into the drizzling twilight, was a fifteen-story factory building. The side I was looking at was covered with climbing ivy. The windows had been painted black.

'Mr. Frederickson?'

I wheeled and was startled to find a man I assumed to be Krowl standing almost directly behind me. The door to the left of the foyer entrance was open, and he'd managed to approach me without making a sound.

No one had thought to mention the fact that John Krowl was an albino; his wraithlike, ghostly appearance startled me. Krowl's skin was almost the color of chalk, and he wore his thin, white hair at shoulder length. He wore glasses with tinted lenses, presumably to protect his sensitive eyes from the light. He was five feet ten or eleven, and reminded me of some coloring-book Jesus who hadn't been crayoned in.

I wondered how much Krowl's bizarre physical appearance had to do with the fact that he'd been drawn to- and succeeded in-the occult. Perhaps, in a sense, Krowl and I had something in common; Garth had always maintained that I'd have stayed on our family's farm in Nebraska if not for the fact that I'd been born a dwarf. Deformity-any deformity-can crush, but it can also propel a man beyond his normal limits.

'Is that part of your act?' I asked.

'Excuse me?' Krowl's voice was high-pitched, nasal and raspy.

'I'm Frederickson. I take it you're John Krowl.'

'That's right,' he said coldly, looking at me intently. 'Garth left word with my secretary that you wanted a reading. He said it was a matter of some urgency. Why?'

Krowl's chilly abruptness took me aback. I didn't want to offend Krowl in light of the fact that Garth had told me he could be a valuable source of information. On the other hand, something about me obviously put him off; he looked as if he were getting ready to ask me to leave. I decided it might be a good idea to get a better feel of his territory before I started asking direct questions.

'I've got problems,' I said quietly.

'Really?' He removed his glasses and stared at me with pink, washed-out eyes. 'How do you think I can help?'

I shrugged. 'I thought that was obvious. I was hoping you'd read the tarot for me.'

Krowl put his glasses back on and smiled thinly. 'Frederickson, why do I get the feeling that you think I'm full of shit?'

I felt myself flush. I had to give him points for frankness. 'Let's say I'm hoping you can help me,' I said, trying to sound humble and offering up my most innocent smile.

'My fee is forty dollars.'

'Fine.'

'Very well,' Krowl said abruptly. 'Come with me, please.'

He turned and walked back down the hall. I followed him through the open door, which he closed behind us. I found myself in a kind of parlor/sitting room carpeted with the finest Persian rugs. There were more Haitian paintings and faded antique tapestries on those sections of the walls not covered by oak bookcases filled with leather-bound volumes. The room was dominated by a round mahogany table in the center. Over the table a stained-glass Tiffany lamp hung like a sparkling jewel in the middle of the room's dark, earth colors. Although the table was not particularly large, its magnificently carved legs and edges lent it an air of massiveness. There were two chairs.

Krowl took a small bundle wrapped in black silk out of a drawer in the table, unwrapped it to reveal a deck of tarot cards. He sat down and motioned for me to sit in the chair across from him.

'Aren't you going to look at my hand?' I asked.

He shook his head and began to shuffle the cards. 'Not now,' he replied softly. 'Perhaps later. Frankly, I get very bad vibrations from you, and I'd like to see what the cards reveal.'

'I'm sorry you feel that way,' I said, resisting the urge to add something sarcastic.

Krowl put the deck back together, shoved it across the table to me and indicated that I should shuffle.

'I still don't feel that you believe there's anything to be gained from this,' the albino said, watching me closely as I manipulated the cards. He made a clucking sound of resignation. 'You should try to keep an open mind. As you shuffle the deck, meditate on some problem or question you'd like the cards to speak to. By the way, are you involved with a woman by the name of Amy? Or Abigail?'

'What?' I stopped shuffling and looked up at him, startled once again. The names Amy and Abigail were very close to April. I found Krowl's question distressing for a number of reasons, and I wasn't sure I wanted to confront any of them. I tried to smile, but it felt like a grimace. 'Is that a preview?'

'You'll have to tell me.'

'Don't you think you should check out my cards?'

'You're carrying a woman with you,' he said, looking at me intently. 'I thought I saw one of the names mentioned.'

'No,' I said curtly.

'All right,' he said easily. 'The presence of the woman is what's important, not her name. Are you right- or left-handed?'

'Right,' I said, actually having to think about it. My mind was wandering, and I was having trouble concentrating.

'Then the left is the hand of your subconscious. Use it to cut the deck into three piles, then put them back in the opposite order.'

When I'd done as he'd instructed, Krowl looked through the deck, without disturbing the order, until he found a particular card, which he placed face up on the table between us. The card showed a young man stepping off a cliff.

'This card is the Significator he continued. 'It will represent you in the reading. It's The Fool.'

'That doesn't sound very complimentary.'

He wasn't amused. 'The Fool is an innocent,' he said. He spoke softly, but his voice had an edge of disdain. 'I often use The Fool as a Significator for people who come to see me for the first time. As you can see, the young man is about to step into an abyss; it's the first step in a journey of the consciousness. Whether you succeed on this journey or are dashed on the rocks below is up to you.'

'That seems fair enough.'

Krowl quickly laid the cards out between us. He placed a card on top of The Fool, then another card crossing them both. Moving in a counterclockwise direction, he laid out four more cards, one at each point of the compass around the center cards. Finally he laid out four cards in a vertical line to his right.

I found myself staring at the cards. The predominant symbol in a number of cards seemed to be swords; I didn't find that encouraging.

Krowl sat in silence for almost five minutes, absently tapping his fingertips together as he stared at the cards. He seemed very much interested in whatever it was he was seeing.

'This is an unusual layout,' Krowl said at last in a soft, clipped voice. He looked at me inquiringly. I felt a fluttering in my stomach, but said nothing. Finally Krowl returned his attention to the cards and exposed the card that had been covering The Fool.

'The Queen of Swords,' Krowl continued. 'We say that the card in this position 'covers' you. It represents the general atmosphere surrounding your question. As you can see, it is a woman. The Queen of Swords may be a widow. I'm certain she's the woman I mentioned-the one in your thoughts.'

He pointed to the card he had laid across The Fool. 'This 'crosses' you. It's the Two of Cups-Desire. You have a very strong attraction to this woman. Frankly, the rest of the layout is confusing. The card at the bottom is The Devil. In this position it represents something which has happened to you in the past-and which is important to the matter. The Devil is a powerful card. And evil.' He hesitated, rapped his knuckles once, hard, on the gleaming surface of the table. 'There is evil surrounding the woman,' he said forcefully. 'Black magic. Does that mean anything to you, Frederickson?'

'You're doing the reading,' I said tightly.

Krowl took off his glasses and stared at me with his pale eyes. 'The Devil can also indicate the psychic. Something dark. Have you had a psychic experience lately?'