Part 1
Perfection, Nevada, 6/11/2003
Burt pulled the binoculars away from his eyes. "Fool!" he said, disgusted. "That girl will never learn." He picked up the radio next to him and barely restrained himself from shouting. "Come in Kylie. This is Burt. Over." She continued running across the desert sand without a break in her stride. "Kylie, respond. This is Burt." Nothing. "Damn fool girl," he muttered, starting up the Power Wagon.
She gave no outward indication that she even heard the truck's approach as he roared up behind her. He shook his head. "Get herself killed," he pronounced. He swerved, hit the gas, and passed around an outcropping of rock, then came around in front of her and stopped, blocking her path.
She'd had plenty of time to stop, he knew that. Even running full out as she was, she had time to slow, even detour around him.
She didn't.
At the last moment, she blinked, startled, and tried to slow, but ran almost full on into the truck.
He winced.
She crumpled and fell, laying on her back, gasping for air.
Burt climbed out of the truck and squatted next to her, looking for injuries. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Kylie took in three more great lungfuls of air. "I-- gasp --I was," she replied.
"Did you get injured when you ran into the truck?" he clarified.
She lay gulping air a few more minutes before answering. "God Burt! Are you trying to kill me?"
"Why should I?" he asked, having ascertained that there were probably no permanent injuries. "You were doing a fine job on your own."
"I was just running, Burt."
"You weren't even aware of your surroundings," he insisted. "You could have been killed."
She propped herself up on her elbows. "I was aware," she protested.
"You didn't even see my truck until you ran into it."
She just rolled her eyes. "Gee, Burt, I wasn't really expecting a truck to leap into my path."
"That's my point - you were not paying attention to your surroundings."
"I was doing fine until your Power Wagon attacked me."
"El Blanco could have had you--"
"We're on rock, Burt. He doesn't come up here, remember?"
"--or any of a dozen other predators," he continued. "You shouldn't even be out here on that leg."
She crossed one shorts-clad leg up over the other and examined it. All evidence of her injuries a month ago was gone. "It's fine, Burt. You said yourself it was completely healed." She looked a little closer at her leg. "Though now I'll probably have a tire-shaped bruise, thanks to you." She looked up at him. "What were you thinking?"
"You weren't even listening to your radio, Kylie," he pointed out. "Anything could have happened." He stood. "Are you trying to get killed?" He held out a hand to help her up.
She sighed, and took his offered hand. She busied herself dusting herself off for a moment, then looked up at him. "You're right," she admitted. "I must have zenned out."
"'Zenned out'?"
"You know, went into a Zen state..." She saw his blank stare. "Zen? State of enlightenment? Asian philosophy...? Okay, probably nothing you've ever heard of."
He shook his head.
"It's sort of a meditative state. It's great - the endorphins kick in, your focus narrows to the here and now, you sort of transcend your local environment. It's sort of a spiritual journey, like chanting a mantra..."
He grimaced. "Sounds like one of Nancy's crazy ideas."
She shook her head and bent double, her face against her legs with her ponytail brushing the dirt. She stayed that way, stretching. "It's not crazy, Burt," she said to her knees. "It's a proven fact. Runners in a Zen state can run faster and farther, using less energy--" She looked at him sideways. "I've got scientific journals..."
He ignored her explanation. "It still doesn't mean you should do it in the desert. Things like that could get you killed here in Perfection. There are dangers out here. El Blanco--"
"You said he doesn't come up--"
"--mountain lions, coyotes, even lizards can be dangerous out here if you're Not. Paying. Attention."
She stood up, bent a leg up behind her and grabbed it, stretching. He didn't miss the slight roll of her eyes.
He tried another tack. "You can't be thinking, running in this heat. Look at your shoulders. You're already starting to burn."
"Eep!" She dropped her foot and twisted to examine her shoulders, noting the telltale redness developing. "I wore sunscreen!"
"It's not going to work out here. Too much reflection off the sand. Long sleeves, long pants - that's the only thing that works."
"Fine," she said. "I'll wear sweats tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" he asked, exasperated. "Haven't you heard anything I said?"
She nodded, walking around the truck to the passenger side. "Long pants, long sleeves. Got it."
He stood at the driver's side door as she got in. "There are other dangers out here in the desert besides sunburn!"
"I know." She held up a small canister of mace. "I always run prepared."
He put a hand over his eyes and shook his head.
"You going to stand out there all day, Burt, or give me a ride back to my Rover before I look like a tomato?"
He yanked open the door and got in. "Headstrong little girl!"
She did her best to look innocent.
The next day, Kylie ran her course again - this time in a long-sleeved t-shirt, light sweat pants and a stronger sunscreen.
Somehow, it wasn't as exhilarating as it had been the day before. She concentrated, but couldn't get in the zone. The rhythm of her feet couldn't lure her. She started at a lizard first, her mind wondering if it was one of the poisonous ones. A rock loomed up out of the sand and she stumbled, taking a few steps to get her stride back.
Ruthlessly, she turned her attention to the sound of her feet on the dirt. If she concentrated--
There was a flash off to the right. She slowed. What could be...? It had come from a rock outcropping with some straggling brush fighting for root space around it. There it went again, that flash--
She turned away with a smile, sped up, and continued her run, pretending she didn't see the distinctive shape of Burt's Power Wagon.
She had no problem getting in the zone after that. Not with her knight watching over her.
Burt walked through Chang's front door and busied himself stuffing his gloves into the pocket of his vest while he let his eyes adjust to the dim interior. Nancy and Jodi were standing at the counter so he strolled over to join them.
"Coffee, Burt?" Jodi asked, already setting a cup on the counter before him. He nodded and waited for her to pour while his eyes followed Nancy's gaze.
"Now what are they up to?" he asked.
Tyler and Kylie were sitting in the corner by the window, looking down at some cards laid on the table. He was listening to her talk, as she pointed out the different cards.
"She's giving him a tarot reading," Nancy said.
"She already did us," Jodi added.
"That makes you next," Nancy told Burt, an imp of a smile on her lips.
Burt turned and glared at her. "I don't think so. I don't believe in all that new age mumbo-jumbo."
"It's not new age, Burt. Tarot cards have been around for centuries. They can be very accurate in the hands of a skillful reader. And I think Kylie has real talent."
"She supposed to be some kind of psychic?" Burt scoffed.
"She says she's not," Nancy said, "But I think she's wrong. Her readings for me have been very accurate."
Burt looked to Jodi and raised his eyebrows, inviting her to join in him his disbelief.
Jodi shrugged. "So far, mine haven't been wrong. Though I'll admit not everything has come true yet. And she did give some good advice."
Burt's eyes slid away, looking over at the pair in the corner again. They were both looking at him while Kylie gathered up her cards. She said something that made Tyler laugh and they both got up and joined the trio at the counter.
"You're just in time, Burt!" Kylie said. "It's your turn for a reading."
"I'm not getting involved in that nonsense," he said, focusing on his coffee.
"Oh please, Burt, let me do a reading on you. I've been dying to get some cards on you."
He turned suspicious eyes on her. "Why?"
"Because you're the most interesting person in the Valley." She smiled when he didn't comment. "It could help you determine your future course and reveal hidden facets of your inner self, help you live your life more fully..."
"Bunch of nonsense," he decided, resorting to his coffee again.
"Come on, Burt! Let me do this for you. If you don't let me do a reading for you, I'll just have to think of something else to do to thank you for saving my life."
He thumped a hand down on the counter. "You don't have to thank me! I told you--"
She held up a hand and closed her eyes. "We have had this conversation before, Burt. I may not be worth much in this world, but I pay my debts, one way or another." She looked at him. "So what'll it be? Cards or... something else?" She grinned. "I could have another go at dinner."
He remembered the night she insisted he come to Nancy's for dinner so she could cook for him. The whole place had smelled like smoke and Nancy ended up making them french toast. If just making dinner could be that much of a disaster, he was afraid to think of what she'd come up with next. He looked around at the expectant faces watching him, and rolled his eyes. "All right, all right. Just... get it over with."
She took his hand and walked him over to the table by the window. Her voice became deep and mysterious. "Come with me and let Madame Kylie tell you what lies in store..." Then she broke the spell by giggling as she sat down. "Doesn't really have the same effect without the costume." She started shuffling the cards as he sat opposite her, but stopped to regard Nancy, Jodi and Tyler, who'd followed them to the end of the counter.
Burt just rolled his eyes. He didn't know if this would be worth the aggravation.
"Excuse me?" Kylie said to their audience. "Is this a spectator event?"
"We just wanted to watch," Nancy said.
"There's no watching. A reading is a very personal thing, not for idle curiosity." She waved them away. "Now run along like good little children. That's right..." She gave them a mock glare until she judged them at a sufficient distance then smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Nosy people..." She went back to shuffling the cards while Burt watched her uncomfortably.
"What do I have to do?" he said.
"Pretty much sit there and listen," she told him. "It's not difficult." She patted his hand that rested on the table. "This won't hurt a bit. I promise."
He drew his hand away and shifted in the seat. "I don't believe for one minute that you can read my mind."
"I can't," she said, surprising him, while she shuffled the deck a few more times. "The cards are directed by cosmic forces we humans can't begin to understand." She ignored his snort of disbelief and continued. "They know what's in your heart. I have some talent in interpreting their patterns, but I can't read your mind."
"I don't believe they can tell me the future, either."
She smiled. "It helps if you think of the cards as a tool. They won't tell you what will happen, only what could happen, based on where you are now, and what you can do to bring about the outcome you desire. You make the choice."
"Bunch of superstitious mumbo-jumbo."
Kylie nodded. "It can be. But it's also possible it's real." She looked into his eyes. "Tell you what, Burt, why don't you prove it's all 'mumbo-jumbo'?"
"That won't be hard."
"Uh-huh. So you think." She set down the cards and crossed her hands over them. "I believe in these cards. You don't. If you want to prove to me that they don't work, you're going to have to cooperate. Here's the deal: for the next fifteen minutes, you entertain the possibility that this reading is real. You work with me, really try to make it come out. And if I'm still totally wrong, then you can tell me I'm a fraud. You prove it's all 'mumbo-jumbo'." She leaned closer to him. "But if you don't give it an honest effort, then you're sabotaging the experiment and you prove nothing. Fair enough?"
He nodded. "All right."
"Good." She scooped up the cards again. "Now, think of a question. You don't have to tell me what it is, but the reading will be more accurate if you do. Could be something serious or something inconsequential. Something, perhaps, you want some guidance on. Try to focus on one specific concern." She gave him a moment. "Have your question in mind?" He nodded. "Going to tell me?" He only raised his brows. She grinned. "How did I know?"
She cut the cards one hand to the other, and said, "Give me your hand."
"Which one?"
"Whichever you like."
He put his right hand into hers.
She gave him the deck. "While thinking of your question, cut the deck - three piles instead of two."
"Any particular way?"
"Any way you like."
"Why do I feel like this is some kind of test?" he grumbled, but he cut the cards then stacked them together again.
She smiled mysteriously and slid the deck in front of her. After pulling the first card, she regarded it with raised brows. "Interesting." She laid the card in the center of the table. It was an man on a throne, holding a sword. "This card represents you," she said. "The warrior king." She looked up at him. "Still think the cards are 'mumbo-jumbo'? They seem to have you pegged."
"Coincidence."
She smiled but didn't reply as she turned another card and laid it across the first. Her brows rose again, but she said nothing, laying four more cards, encircling the first two, then four in a column to their left. She paused a moment, then laid out three more cards across the top of the rest. She studied the cards a few moments, her eyes darting this way and that to the pictures on the cards.
"This is a very powerful reading, Burt," she said at last. "Very few minor pairings here." She looked up at him with a slight smile. "With you, that's to be expected." She looked back down to the cards. "Also, as expected, there is some major conflict shown here." She put her fingers on two cards, far apart in the pattern. "Part of you lives in the past, and a part of you yearns to shed the past and go forward." She looked up at him, but Burt had perfected his poker face long before she was born. She went back to the cards. "You're searching for something, something that's important to you, vitally important. You've been searching a long time - months, maybe years." She tapped one of the cards. "Do you see this man? This man is so fixated on the empty cups in front of him, he cannot see what is offered behind him. This tells me that whatever it is you're searching for, it's already in your life, but you're so fixated on other things that you've missed it." She tapped another card, again featuring cups, this one with a lone shrouded figure. "But it's this past you need to shed. It's holding you back. Until you let go of the past, you won't see what's offered." She tapped another card. This one had the words, The Tower along the bottom. The tower depicted on the card was being struck by lightning, and had two people hurtling from it to the ground. "This one tells me there is a change coming in your life. Something drastic - it will change your beliefs in all you hold dear, most likely." She looked up at him again, speculative this time. "Be ready for this change. It can be a very good thing, if you let it. Or disastrous. That choice is up to you." She looked back at the cards, going back to the lonely figure with the cups. She tapped a card with a drawing of an overflowing cup. "This one will determine if it's good or bad. When the change comes, be prepared to let go of the past, and you will have what you wish. Cling to the past, and you will have nothing." She taped the card above it this time, a lone figure carrying a lantern - The Hermit. "Either way, that which you seek is coming. Be prepared." She studied the cards a moment more, then abruptly swept her arm across the table, gathering them into a pile. It wasn't until she'd carefully straightened the cards and shuffled them twice that she looked up at him again. "How'd I do?"
"Didn't have a thing to do with my question," Burt told her.
She nodded. "Sometimes the cards tell you what you need to know, rather than what you try to tell them you need to know." She shuffled the cards three more times and laid three on the table only to scoop them up and shuffle them back into the deck. Finally she shook her head and put the deck into a pouch at the edge of the table and packed them away in a box at her feet.
"Something wrong?" Burt asked.
She shook her head, fussing with the clasp on the box. "Powerful reading." Finally she looked up at him. "I know you think it's rubbish, but... Give it some thought."
"Bunch of new age nonsense. I expected this from Nancy, but you..."
She giggled. "Oh please, Burt. I can out-weird Nancy any day. I'm a Wiccan priestess. You can expect much worse new age nonsense than that from me. Wait until I get started on circles and moon gardening, and did you know Perfection Valley has some of the most powerful geodes I've found in the world? Why, the psychic energy they project--"
"Don't start!" Burt said, shooting to his feet.
She grinned up at him, her eyes twinkling, letting him know she was just baiting him again.
"Is that all? Are we done?"
"Yeah," she nodded, pushing the box into the corner with one foot and standing.
"That the box I fixed?" he asked.
She glanced down at the ornate case then back up to him with a smile. "Yes, it is. It doesn't quite work as an altar anymore, but the cards seem to like it very well." She put a hand on his arm to stop him as he tried to turn away in exasperation. "Thank you again for fixing it for me. It means a lot. You can't even tell it was broken unless you know exactly where to look."
He waved off her gratitude by resettling his hat on his head and started back toward his coffee - probably cold. She stopped him again with a hand on his arm. He turned reluctantly, afraid she'd either start thanking him again or spouting more nonsense.
"Hey Burt, why don't we just take one truck tomorrow morning?"
He frowned at her.
"No point in us both driving. Why don't you pick me up in the morning. About 8:30?"
"How did you know I--"
"Madame Kylie knows all..." She lifted an eyebrow at him then slid past and joined the others at the counter.
He looked down at the box of cards in the corner, then shook his head and followed her.
