The Fair Lady frowns, as if this disturbs Her. But the old woman says, "There is a tree of the world, and its leaves brush the moon, where King David plays the fiddle and the saints dance. You brought me here because I saw the tree, and knew who stood under it, sheltered from your hailstones, and because I stopped you when you would have cut it down. But, see, I have woven yarn from its twigs.Thtwigs. Thes blinded himself, but I have taken the veils away, and soon he will see. The Raven will be saved by the love with which you cursed him, and the Coachman has his horses. As for the Owl, there is this."
With that she throws the yarn into the fire, where it at once begins to burn, and the smoke, grey as a storm cloud,goes out the flue and into the world of men, and yet the yarn also stays in the fireplace, always burning, never burned.
The Fair Lady gnashes Her teeth as the nora and the liderc pounce on the old woman and drag her away. She doesn't resist.
THIRTEEN
What the Badger Said to the Raven,and the Owl Said to the Coachman
How can you have lived this long
And not give in to rage?
Don't you understand that
We've both outlived our age?
There is no final curtain;
This is not a stage.
Can you read what's written
On this blackened page?
"BLACKENED PAGE"
The Gypsy smelled herb tea and wondered ironically if "huh" could be some sort of magic word, because the old woman said it every time she turned a card over. She had shuffled and dealt them herself, ignoring him after he'd cut them as commanded, and then she'd laid them out on a bright red silk, patterned with designs that stirred up hints of old memories-old memories that wanted to drag him away, only now he wouldn't let them. An old woman had died to give him a chance to complete his task-not to allow him to ruminate on his past.
She quickly finished laying the cards out, her hands steady, the cards placed deliberately in a pattern the Gypsy almost recognized. Then she studied them fora long time, occasionally glancing up into the Gypsy's face as if to confirm or deny what the cards told her.
Eventually she gave a "hum mph," and made a move as if to gather the deck up.
"Wait," he said.
She paused. "Yes, well?"
"Aren't you going to tell me what they mean?"
"Why? Would you believe them?"
"How did you know I was coming?"
She nodded slowly, then pulled one from beneath a small stack. It showed a man holding a globe in one hand and a staff in the other. "The Hermit," she said."Reversed. That's you, it seems, though I wouldn't have thought it."
"Why not?"
She ignored the question. "The key is The Emperor reversed, which I knew to begin with, and the Ace of Swords crosses it. The-"
"What does it mean?" he asked, becoming annoyed.
"Mean? The Ace of Swords? Look at it."
He shrugged and did so. A single sword pointing to the sky, a halo of leaves around it, and he suddenly thought of the knife that pressed against his hip. But it certainly couldn't be anything so simple.Hsimple. Hehis mouth to ask again, but she said, "It's the Tower that motivates you, that drives you, although whether you work to build it or tear it down I couldn't say. But I expect you work to destroy it, for the Wheel of Fortune reversed is what has brought you to this point."
The Gypsy felt his impatience growing. "And what is this point, then, old woman?"
She held up the next card, showing an old king standing on disks with stars, holding another star,while yet another rested on his crown. "This point is gathering power, little bird. Building forces, calling up an army. Or maybe it's getting others to do your work for you. Like me, little bird, and I don't like it,though there's nothing I can do about it now."
She said, "The ten of Pentacles tells me you may get what you think you want. But whether this next card refers to you or to all of those who try to help you, I couldn't guess." He looked at the next card,in which a man lay face down with ten swords sticking out of his back, and looked away again.
"Yes," she said, her words like whips. "That's the game you're playing, that's what you're courting,uttering in and out, cooing in everyone's ear. Think about it, since you've asked."
She sighed. "Yet, we have this for the environment, and it is hope, if nothing else." A beautiful woman drank from a cup, her eyes fixed on it as if in contemplation. "And your desire is Temperance,which gives me hope as well; it is more than I'd have thought of you.
"And you may wish for the nine of Cups, yet have the five of Cups to regret. The outcome. Hmmph.PeHmmph.Perhaps;ll escape."
She stopped, waiting.
The Gypsy stared at her. At last he said, "If any of this has any meaning, old woman, tell me now. I am older than you, and far more weary. I am living too many riddles to take any pleasure in hearing yet more from your lips. I don't know why I've been put on this path, but it isn't to serve your whims."
She stared back at him from behind eyes like velvet curtains, then she looked away and nodded. "Very well," she said. "Perhaps it will hinder more than help, but you have the right to know the little I can tell you.
"The Hermit reversed is someone on a path, seeking. He's looking for something. Does that make sense?"
"If I want it to," said the Gypsy.
"Yes," agreed Madam Moria. "Exactly. The Queen of Swords reversed is, huh, have you noticed that all of the women in this reading are reversed? You are either dealing with evil women, little Dove, or you have some attitudes-"
"Tell me about the Queen of Swords, old woman."
She glared at him for a moment, then said, "She is intelligent. She is perceptive. She is cruel. She reasons well. Her influence is all around you. Does that sound familiar? Have you a guess who it could be?"
"Save your irony, old woman. This card?"
"Yes. The Tower. The flash of truth or inspiratinspiration.Theall you've believed."
"It looks worse than that."
"It will feel worse than that when it happens."
"And the card with the wheel?"
"The Wheel of Fortune reversed is just past. You have been unable to effect the course of events, and you've been forced to wait. This is the passing."
"And this card, that you said meant the gathering of forces?"
"Call it the pivot point. How you will affect the events, obviously. Through the actions of others.Dothers.Doesartle you?"
"Go on."
"Temperance. You wish to bring the parts together that have been sundered. But this, too, I think you know already. The outcome, though, is split. You have two choices. One is pestilence, disease, the ten of Swords. The other are these three cards, the nine of Cups for wishes coming true, the five of Cups for sorrow, the Sun for escape and protection."
"So perhaps I will die, or perhaps I will escape, but I can't win?"
"So I read it. You may read it better if you can."
"The cards you use, they seem to be of many different styles."
"I use the cards that please me, some from one deck, some from others."
"Yes, I believe this."
Her eyes flashed. "It is not for you to judge me."
He laughed suddenly. "If I don't, young woman,who will?"
She frowned. "Young woman?"
"Older perhaps than the woman who was killed trying to help me, but younger than my brothers and I."
"You are more than you seem. I think…" Her voice trailed off and she frowned again.
"What do you think, young woman?"
Her lips twitched. "I think you are as much a fool as the Coachman, who sees the route, but not the ending. You push us all along a path that-"
He stood up, suddenly lost in a torment of fear,hope, and anger. "Coachman? What do you know of a Coachman?"