The inside of the marquee was very dark, illuminated only with a few small and well scattered oil lamps. Lois focused on the center of the room and noticed the outline of a person sitting at a table.
"Welcome!" the voice announced. "I am Star, and I can tell you your future." She said in a serious tone.
"Hi, I'm Lucy." Lois went over and shook her hand.
Suddenly a light lit up the table area. Star looked at her. "Ok…So would you like a palm reading or your cards read?"
"Which is the most accurate?"
"It depends. It is not an exact science after all." The serious voice had not softened to reveal a bubbly and excitable one. "Give me your hand. I have a feeling you are going to be interesting. Sit down."
Lois was still very sceptical but decided to have a laugh. There was no way Star could come up with a future for her, as there was not one in this time.
Star smiled and lay the cards out on the table. Lois could see the concentration on her face; obviously all part of the act. Her expression soon turned to concern. She remained silent.
Lois looked at her. "What is it?"
"I normally do not give true readings if there is any sadness in the future."
Lois sat up, her heart rate increasing slightly although she was trying to convince herself it was all a load of rubbish.
"Sadness?" She asked concerned. "I want you to tell me."
Star gave her a serious look. "I see a snow covered scene and what looks like a graveyard. You are at a funeral. You are so sad."
"Who's funeral is it?"
"I cannot see, but there are many, many people there dressed in black. Everyone is sad."
"Well, it is a funeral." Lois joked trying to wipe away her increasing anxiety.
"Can you see anything else there?" she added.
"There is a tall dark haired man, holding a hand of a dark haired girl. They look like the main people at the funeral, along with an auburn haired woman. Wait a moment, the woman looks a lot like the person I saw sitting at one of the table out there. I am sure it is her but only much older." Star announced in a puzzled voice.
Lois was inwardly panicking, but determined not to show it. "Who am I with?"
"You standing next to a petit blond girl; you are holding her hand. There is such sorrow amongst the people, maybe most of all, from the auburn headed woman and the young dark haired man. "
"What does the man look like?"
"I cannot see, he has his head bowed. Wait a moment, he is lifting it up now…Oh my god."
"It is the man I saw in the food-store earlier today. I believe he said his name was Tom. It looks like he is going to lose someone he loves." Star announced with sadness in his voice.
"What else can you see?" Lois pleaded for more.
"The setting has changed, and I can see you are holding hands with a blond man. He is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. There is lots of green flashing through the scene, and now you are getting in a limo with this man, and he kisses you. He is one rich dude by the looks of it."
"I am going out with someone else?" Lois voiced in shock, not knowing how she could be with anyone but Clark.
"Not only going out with him, there is a massive diamond ring on your finger, but it is strange, all I can detect is sadness in your heart. You know he is not the one; he is second choice." Star replied.
All kinds of thoughts were going through her mind. Who had died and why was she not with Clark? She could not believe that he would break up with her after he opened his heart to her less than an hour ago.
"Have you got any more information?"
"I am losing my link with you." Star said, trying to desperately regain it.
"Can you give me any names?" Lois pleaded with her for more.
"I know you are called Lois, and the name which keeps being mentioned is Clark. You don't belong here, do you?" Star announced when her connection was ended.
"What do you mean?"
"The one thing I did see was the sign above the door where you were attending a charity party with the blond man and it said it was 2009. The cars were like something out of a sci-fi movie." She continued.
"Maybe I am an actress." Lois tried to make excuses.
"I would have felt you were acting but all I could feel was emptiness in your heart. It was as though half of you were missing. You are from a different time, aren't you? Don't worry I am very open to the existence of other worlds and galaxies. Time travel is explainable, so very possible at some point in the future. Take the man in your life at the moment – he is not from around here, is he?"
"What makes you say that?"
"I do not know where he is from but when I shook his hand at the store, I knew he was not human. He is powerful and has a great destiny ahead of him.
Lois smiled at her. "What do you want me to say to that?"
"I don't expect you to say anything. You are not exactly going to admit it to me, are you?"
"Star, I need more information. I can pay you whatever you need."
"Lois, I don't want any money. The link between us was broken so we have to wait a day or so before trying again. If I try now, I will not see anything."
"So you cannot remember anything else?"
"There was one odd thing I cannot explain. It seems that at some point in the near future that some of your memories cease to be."
"So, you are saying that it is as though my mind was wiped."
"That could explain it, but who would do that?" Star asked.
"It is complicated, but I need to know more." Lois added. "Can we meet tomorrow morning? Say 10am. Come by Betty's B&B. Clark will be at the Kent Farm working. I will tell you more then."
Star smiled. "I will be there! I will do everything I can do help you."
Lois walked out of the marquee wondering what the hell had just happened. She did know Star very well but she trusted her for some unexplained reason.
Lois was going to go back outside to see if Clark was there, but she noticed he was sitting with his mom at the table. Jonathan and Lionel were nowhere in sight.
She went to join them. "Sorry, I got caught up chatting to someone." She told herself she was not lying… well not really.
"No problem." Clark smiled, as the next song came on. It was Lois's favourite. "Is this love?"
She looked at him, grinning. "Did you put this on?"
"Yeah…I thought you might like to dance." He got up, and held out his hand for her to take.
They worked their way through the few people slow-dancing on the floor.
"So what happened?" Lois asked him, as he put his arms around her and they started to move.
"I don't know what to do. My dad is obviously protesting his innocence but I cannot see any way of getting through to my mom. She is so hurt and angry." Clark replied.
"We will just have to keep trying." Lois smiled, putting his mind at ease.
"How do you do that?"
She bit her lip. "Do what?"
"You make me feel so calm. You just know me so well." He said, as he bent down and pressed his lips to hers, tenderly, as they continued to dance. "I don't ever want to lose you. I will tell you everything when we jump."
Lois looked at him. "You promise?"
"I promise, unless of course they wipe my mind as well." Clark joked.
Lois smiled but that idea started to work its way into her head. It was a possibility especially if they found out that Clark and she were together.
The more she considered the idea, the more she was convinced it was going to happen. She needed to find a way to leave a message for herself after the jump.
"Are you ok?" Clark said, concerned at her trance-like state.
She focused on him. "Yeah I am fine. I am just thinking about tonight. I can't wait."
"Me too." He smiled.
He suddenly saw a flash go off in the distance. "Oh god, mom is taking our photo."
"I think she has been for a while." Lois said. "It is just that you have been too distracted to notice."
"I'll destroy the film later. I hope she has not got any valuable photos on the camera." Clark added.
"Clark, your mom has a meeting with Lionel tomorrow afternoon. I am going to go with her to try and convince her not to take the job. You are working at the farm tomorrow, aren't you?"
"Yeah but I will try and make it back for lunch time." He announced. "I think we had better head back early tonight otherwise we may end up staying up too late." He winked at her.
Lois hoped Clark would be out of the way for Star's visit. She knew she needed to tell him but she was worried he would take the matter up with the Legion. The last thing Lois needed was for their suspicions to be aroused. She had worked out a plan.
After Whitesnake had finished, they headed back to the table where Martha was sitting talking to Betty. "She is not. I can tell you that now."
"But why are they getting married so young?" Betty asked, not realising that they were in ear shot.
"They are in love. Can you not see that?" Martha protested.
"Well I think she is pregnant and they are running from their parents. After all how much do you know about them. They have some strange visitors."
"Maybe you should concentrate on your own business instead of interfering in ours." Lois interrupted.
Betty got up and stormed off but not before shouting back. "I hope you won't have any trouble finding a new place to stay. I want my key back by 11pm or I will tell the sheriff and believe me he listens to everything I have to say."
Clark moaned and looked at Lois. Their plans for the night had been dashed. "Great work!"
"Well she deserved it. I am sure we will find somewhere to stay."
"What just before midnight, are you kidding me?" Clark smiled. However hard he tried to be annoyed, he just took one look at her, and couldn't be.
Martha stood up. "Go and see Jonathan. There is a spare room at the farm. I am sure he will still be up, stewing about our argument."
By the time, they had cleared their stuff out of the apartment and headed to the farm in the car that Martha had lent them, it was almost 11pm. Luckily they had phoned ahead and Jonathan had agreed immediately.
"I hope you don't mind us crashing?" Clark announced as he grabbed Lois and his stuff. He was amazed how they arrived in 1985 with nothing but she seemed to have acquired so much already, but that was one of the quirks he loved about her.
"No, to be honest the farm has been quiet since Martha moved out. Anyway it means you will be on time in the morning." His dad joked with him.
They went into the house. "Ok, you can put your stuff in the spare room. Go to the top of the stairs and turn left. The bathroom is just the next door along." Jonathan explained.
Lois grabbed the stuff out of Clark's hand and started upstairs in a hurry. "I get the bedroom."
Jonthan looked at her with a puzzled look. "You can share. It might have been a different story if one of you was my child, but you are not, so it does not matter."
Clark realised how weird this was going to be….
Clark and Lois headed upstairs to the somewhat bare second room. "This is weird." He said once the door was closed. "It looks nothing like my room."
Lois smiled. "I know it is missing two things – a plaid bedspread and the Elmer Fudd nightlight."
He laughed and kissed her.
She responded for a second before pushing him off. "If you think you are going to get your way tonight, you are mistaken."
"All I did was kiss you." He protested playfully.
"That where it starts." Lois replied.
"Which side of the bed do you want?" he asked. "We had better go to bed soon, as I have to be up early."
Lois suddenly remembered that she was meeting Star in the morning, so she would have to find an excuse to leave the farm.
There was a knock at the door. Lois went to open it. "I am going to bed now. Can I get you anything?"
"No, we're good. Thanks again for letting us stay." Clark announced. "We were a bit stuck anyway."
Jonathan smiled. "Well you are better off away from Betty and her gossip-mongering. Treat this house like your own."
"Thanks." Lois hugged Jonathan, and almost froze when the realisation hit her. He had been the only one not present in Star's vision of her future. It was so obvious but she had been so caught up in the mind wipe theory that she had not given it much thought. She needed to find out when the funeral was going to happen.
She held him tightly, before Jonathan pulled away and gave her an odd look. "Ok then, I am off to bed."
Once in bed, Clark was definitely in the mood for some fun, but Lois was not comfortable with the idea. "I always thought you would be the one refusing to do anything in your parent's house."
He smiled, and then nuzzled into her neck. He started to trail kisses down her neck, moving her nightie strap out of the way. She intercepted him and moved it back into place. "Clark, let's leave it until tomorrow. Maybe your dad will go out for an hour or so."
He sighed disappointed. "I am sorry, Lo. Until tomorrow then…" He kissed her before spooning her.
It took a while for Lois to fall asleep as she had so much going through her mind, mainly the fate of Clark's father. She knew they were not supposed to change history, but this was the future. How far into the future, she needed to find out.
When Lois woke up at 8am, Clark was nowhere to be seen. She got up and looked out the window to see him loading up the tractor. She took one of her quick showers and after an hour or so headed downstairs to see him.
"Morning honey." He said, making her stomach flip at the term of endearment. She kissed him, making him turn his attention away from the tractor to deepen their exchange.
"I hope you are not distracting one of my workers." Jonathan shouted as he approached them. "Listen I need to head into town to sort some finances out at the bank. I will be back in an hour or so."
"Ok…" Lois tried not to sound too excited and looked at Clark who had exactly the same idea, but then she realised she was pushed for time. She had to meet Star at 10am in town. "Jonathan, I need to return Martha's car and have a few errands to run. Would you mind if I caught a lift back with you?"
"That's fine. I have the meeting at 10.30am and I will be in for an hour or so. Say I pick you up outside the movie theatre at 11.30." Jonathan replied.
His dad headed off in the truck, leaving a very confused Clark in his wake. "Lo, I thought I could take a break now and you know…"
Lois could see the disappointment on his face. "I am sorry but I have to be somewhere."
"Lo, what is going on?" he asked. "You have been acting edgy since last night. There is something you are not telling me."
She took a deep breath. "Ok…You have to promise if I tell you that you will not freak and go off on a one man mission to sort things out."
He looked at her, confused. "What is it?"
"Promise first and I will tell you." She replied.
"Ok, I will promise because I trust you." He grabbed her hand and led her into the house.
"There was a fortune teller at the Shindig last night and I thought it would be interesting to get a reading on my future to prove that she was a fraud. Anyway she knew my name and saw some visions of my future."
"You are talking about Star, aren't you? Lois, can we trust her?" Clark asked in a panic, worried this could blow their cover.
"I don't know why we should, but I do."
"What did she see?"
"A few jumbled scenes and then one of me being married or engaged to some blond rich guy."
"Well she is talking trash. I am sure we will be together forever unless I die or something." He realised it was a possibility.
"No, I am sure the Legion wipe your memory and you go and get back with Lana, as is meant to happen according to their version of events. They were so against us getting together that a mind wipe would make sense."
Clark paused for a second. "Are you sure about this?"
"No, but it makes sense, otherwise how would you end up with Lana." Lois replied. "I am meeting Star at 10am to try and find out more."
"She saw something when she shook my hand in the store, didn't she?" Clark pondered out loud.
"She realised you were not human although she did not find out anything else about you."
"So what are we going to do about it, if it turns out to be true." Clark asked her.
"I have a plan. You are going to have to trust me on this one." She hugged him. "I am going to head into town now."
"I always trust you, Lo and I appreciate your honesty." He cupped her chin and kissed her gently. "I will take a rain check on the other thing, well for now anyway." he replied playfully.
She headed into town, deciding she would only tell Clark about the other vision of the funeral if she could confirm her suspicions about his father's death.
