The Magical Tarot Deck

by Marieke Lexmond

  ‘Is…Is it always like this?’

  ‘Yes. Now we only had one person in the vision. But if it’s multiple people, you feel all emotions. It’s pretty fucked up. I never intended for you to get hit like this.’

  Alice grabs her hand. ‘I can’t believe you’ve had to deal with this since you were a child.’ Fresh tears form in her eyes, and slowly they flow over. Diane wipes away the tears.

  ‘We all have our burdens in life. Don’t cry.’

  ‘Burdens! This is so much more.’

  Diane doesn’t want to talk about it. They can’t make it go away. Gently, she steers the conversation to the things they saw.

  ‘I think we got a glimpse of the person who has the Deck. I asked who has the cards and where is the Deck?’

  ‘He’s so lonely.’ Alice starts sobbing.

  ‘I agree, but what you saw doesn’t mean it necessarily happened or is going to happen. That’s the confusing part. It could be a metaphor or our minds associating with whatever the message is.’

  ‘Ravens represent loneliness. And that house…’

  ‘The car felt real. As it was shown in the center of the vision, it might be now or happening soon.’

  ‘He’s driving through mountains.’ offers Alice.

  ‘The Rockies or Appalachia?’

  ‘Shit, this doesn’t help us at all, does it?’

  Diane is resigned. ‘That’s the trouble. Lots of information, but nothing we can do right now to prevent anything.’

  ‘And who was he arguing with?’

  Diane thinks ‘At that point, I tried to influence the flow, thinking about the Deck.’

  ‘Do you think he’s going to use it again?!’

  Diane throws her arms in the air. ‘Great. You’re freaked out and drained. And we didn’t get one ounce of useful information.’

  ‘I wouldn’t say useless.’ Tom jumps up. Diane and Alice had gone to the Madigan house to share with Tara what they learned. Luna, Tom, Maeve, Bridget, Gwen, and Tara are all sitting around the table in the kitchen.

  ‘Does anybody have a pen, a piece of paper?’

  Maeve gets up and hands him a notebook and pencil from one of the kitchen drawers. Tom starts to draw a rough shape of America.

  ‘You said you were in the desert when he used the cards.’ He points at Bridget.

  ‘Yes, it was a desert garden for sure.’

  ‘Great.’ Tom draws a line around the southwestern states. ‘That means one of these states.’

  ‘You said he was driving through mountains.’ Now he points at Diane.

  ‘Yes. But Rockies or Appalachia?’

  ‘You also mentioned the sun was setting and shining in his eyes.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘He’s driving West!’ Now he circles the states with mountain ranges and desert.

  ‘It’s still a pretty big area,’ comments Luna.

  ‘This is a place to start. We know he’s in a car. We can contact car rental places here and see if he rented one. If we can get a license plate number…’ Bridget and Tom smile at each other.

  FAIRY

  The meadow smells of fresh rain. The two suns are covered with dark clouds, and a little bird chirps cheerfully while it tries to drag a worm from the soil. With a tweet of victory, it pulls its head back and swallows it. Hopping along, it makes its way onto a small mound. Curious, it pecks here and there. Insects scurry around. Another peck and—

  ‘Ouch.’ A hand pops up from the dirt, and the bird flies away. Ceri slowly frees herself from her earth enclosure. She must have been out for quite some time, judging by the amount of growth. It’s like she was swallowed by the land. For a while, she sits there, waiting for her body to start working again, her mind adjusting from this out-of-body experience. The information, sensation, and emotions that it has awakened in her will take some time to process. After several hours, she finally feels normal enough to get up. She has to grab onto some tree branches to help her steady herself on her wobbly legs. Damn it. This needs some work, and she’s covered in soil and Goddess knows what. Where can she clean herself up? An image forms in her mind, something she flowed across on her journey. Crystal clear, it pops now to the forefront of her mind. Felaern had a house, now her house.

  ‘I want to go home.’ She takes a step forward, and it’s like stepping through a wall of water, on the other side is a curious looking room. The walls are alive and seem to be made up of techy-looking gadgets and living things. A huge window overlooks a sea of trees. How will she ever get used to all this? Carefully, she makes her way through the house, which bends to her will. There is something that could be like a TV screen, projecting images, but the screen is not clunky like man-made screens. It’s fluid and has an amazing quality. She finds herself in a room with a big bed. The sheets are pink and seem to flow. As if the house was expecting her. Everything is moving all the time, very disorientating.

  ‘Are there any clothes here?’

  A female Fairy materializes in the room. ‘Welcome, Ceridwen Madigan, Keeper of the Land, Mistress of the House of Finvarra.’

  ‘Where—’ She stops herself. Better act the part for now, till she has everything figured out.

  ‘Who are you? I’m sorry, but you will have to help me out here. It’s all a bit new to me.’

  ‘Of course,’ the fairy curtsies. ‘My name is Alvina, and I’ve been part of House of Finvarra for several centuries.’

  ‘Right. Is there a shower here somewhere? And I will need some clean clothes.’

  ‘This way.’ Ceri follows Alvina through a hallway that opens up to a room decorated in blissfully calm green tones.

  ‘Here are your clothes. I figured pants. Most humans seem to prefer them.’

  ‘Pants are fine.’

  Alvina shows her an adjacent room where water flows like a waterfall.

  ‘No global warming here…’

  Alvina looks puzzled. ‘Everything you need should be here.’ She points to some fresh towels and toiletries that look human made.

  ‘Are these…’ Ceri can’t hide her surprise when she recognizes her favorite brands.

  ‘Master Felaern made sure we would be prepared whenever you were ready to come home.’

  Ceri swallows her snappy comment. This is not her home, and it never will be. But there’s no sense in sharing that now. She’s so confused, she doesn’t know what she thinks or feels herself. For now, focus on the present. Get clean and eat something. That sounds all very doable.

  ‘Thank you, Alvina. This is great.’

  Alvina takes the cue and leaves the room.

  Ceri strips and stands under the waterfall which, miraculously, is the perfect temperature.

  Not only does it wash away the dirt, but it helps her clear her mind.

  UTAH

  Cal pulls up in front of the house. The moment he’s been dreading has arrived. During the whole drive, he has been practicing what to say and how to present it. No matter what way he tries, he knows his grandmother will be angry. It’s like the only emotion that she has left. In all these years, all she’s shown has been either indifference, disappointment, or anger. Spying on the Madigans had opened up his mind to other emotions. They are angry too, but there are other feelings floating around. Joy, love, respect, companionship. Companionship, of all the things that’s probably the one he’s been missing the most. Maybe he should find a wife. All this distraction is not helping. Better to get it over with. This will be his last chance to look at the cards. He gets them out of his pocket, and they slide easily out of the pouch into his hands. The power resonates from them, runs up his arm, and gives him goosebumps. It’s tempting to keep them for himself, even though he knows Lucy will always find out. With a practiced hand, he shuffles the cards. He will use them one last time. What better way to introduce the Deck, than to show up with a Madigan by his side? That will impress them. Convinced this is a smart move, he thinks about a question. Out loud he says, ‘I want protection.’

  One
last shuffle and he fans the cards out in his right hand. With his left hand, he picks a card. Full of anticipation, he turns the card around.

  The Magician card, Seamus, he stands behind an altar with one hand up to the sky and one hand pointing down to the ground. On the altar, all witch tools are represented—the athame, the wand, the cup, and the disk. Seamus’ image starts to stretch and shimmer till it makes a slight pop. Seamus materializes in the passenger seat next to Cal. This time, however, the image is transparent. Ghost-like. Seamus takes a minute to adjust and then throws his head back and laughs and laughs.

  Cal is fascinated. This is definitely different than last time. He quickly returns the cards to his pocket. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Who are you?!’ counters Seamus.

  ‘You have to do as I say.’

  ‘Says who?’

  ‘That’s how it worked last time, they did what I wanted, and then they returned.’

  Seamus is feeling his ghost body. ‘Did the others also…look like this?’

  ‘No. They were more solid.’

  Disappointment washes over Seamus’ face. ‘I’m still dead then.’

  ‘You’re dead?’

  ‘So cool this. You have to tell me all about your experience. It’s so much more than I ever envisioned.’

  ‘You! You made this Deck?’ Cal is a little worried now. The witch who made this was powerful. And now he’s back from the dead…

  ‘I can’t believe it. Look what I’m wearing. My paintings came to life, sort of. But never like this!’

  ‘Can we focus on my question?’

  ‘There can’t be any rush. I want to explore this as much as I can.’

  Cal is becoming irritated. He’s losing control of the situation. He will teach this man who’s in control of the cards. ‘Well, I don’t. I need to go inside and hand over the cards. And you will come along as proof and to protect me.’

  This piques Seamus’ interest. ‘Protect you from whom?’

  ‘My grandmother.’

  Seamus laughs out loud. ‘Really? You need protection from me for an old lady.’

  ‘You don’t know her. She’s…’

  Slowly it dawns on Seamus. It can’t be? ‘Who is your granny?’

  ‘You don’t know her. Please behave, she’s very short tempered.’

  ‘What’s her name?!’

  ‘Lucy Lockwood.’

  Horror shows on Seamus’ face. ‘You can’t give her the Deck!’ he turns on Cal and wants to push him from his seat to try to grab the Tarot Deck from his pocket. His hands move through Cal; all it gives him are the chills.

  ‘Nooooooooo!’ Seamus pounds his ghost fists through Cal, but it doesn’t help.

  ‘This can’t be happening.’ He holds up his hands in front of his face before he slumps back in his seat.

  ‘Now we’ve got your little tantrum out of the way. Let’s go inside.’ Cal tries to hide his worries and that this whole situation is freaking him out.

  ‘You can go without me’ whispers a disillusioned Seamus.

  ‘You have to come. I want you to protect me. That was my question.’

  Seamus shrugs and pretends to ignore Cal getting out of the car.

  Cal opens the passenger door and tries to grab Seamus by his arm to pull him out of the car and make him come. Now his hand moves through Seamus. Shit. What does he do now?

  ‘Leave me alone.’ Seamus shoos him away.

  Cal doesn’t know what else to do other than to go inside. With lead in his shoes, he walks up to the house. Once he reaches the door, Seamus is yelling again.

  When he turns around, he sees him whirling around, banging on an invisible wall, which seems to be the boundary of the cards. Seamus was dragged out of the car when Cal had moved too far away. Now he’s trying to find a way out. The perimeter is globe like, and it’s weird to see him zoom around like that. The door opens behind him.

  ‘What is taking you so long?’ Mara ushers him in. She looks around to see what Cal is so fascinated by. She sees or hears nothing. ‘Don’t keep Gran waiting.’ She pulls him in. Cal is surprised she didn’t react to the erratic ghost outside.

  ‘You didn’t see anything?’

  ‘What are you talking about? Come on.’

  That’s interesting. Very soon, a cursing Seamus is following them through the hallway.

  NEW ORLEANS

  It’s a quiet evening in the Madigan house. Almost everyone has checked in today to see if there were any new developments, and as the cards haven’t been used, the anxiety level has dropped. Wes, Emily, Liam, Maeve, Gwen, and, surprisingly, Luna are doing a board game. Their laughter and occasional bouts of sparring bring an almost normal ambiance to the room. Tara is reading a spellbook, still hoping to find something. Bridget is on her phone, and Tom has decided to turn in early, exhausted from the long drive. Bert is working late. There is a fire going in the fireplace, despite the heat. The flames give comfort and help to calm Tara’s thoughts. So many things are running through her mind. The past and the present are colliding. This morning had rattled her, something happened that hasn’t revealed itself yet. She’s been running through all the possible options.

  ‘Are you okay, Gran?’ Bridget’s voice drags her out of her train of thought.

  ‘Seamus has disappeared.’ After dinner, when she went upstairs, he wasn’t there. It makes her sad.

  ‘He disappears from time to time, right?’ Bridget hopes she didn’t chase him away with all her questions.

  ‘Yes. He does. I think the Fates don’t like being defied.’

  Bridget reaches over and squeezes her Gran’s arm in a rare display of affection.

  ‘He’ll be back.’

  Tara manages a sad smile.

  ‘Yes!’ whoops Emily in victory. It’s good to see her smile. The poor girl feels so responsible for what happened. Even though it was stupid, she can hardly be blamed.

  UTAH

  Cal follows Mara into the great room where Lucy is sitting on her throne. Her eyes immediately lock onto him when he enters. A chill runs down his spine. He can see she’s in a foul mood. The light in the room is dim, and Lucy wears a turtleneck which strikes Cal as odd. Normally, she’s dressed impeccably, and a turtleneck, it doesn’t become her. It makes her look like she has no neck. Mara moves behind their grandmother. This is how it’s going to be, them against him. Seamus is dragged into the big room still sulking. His eyes bulge when he takes in the room. ‘No. no. no. NOOOOOO!’ He flies in front of Cal. ‘I beg you. Don’t give it to her. Please.’ Cal has the hardest time pretending he’s not there. Judging by the lack of reaction from Mara and Lucy, he figures that they don’t see him. All he has to do is ignore him, which is near impossible if someone is screaming in your face.

  Lucy’s eyes narrow. For a moment, she sniffs the air. Seamus freezes and turns to Lucy.

  ‘Don’t.’ says Cal, but Seamus is flying straight for Lucy.

  ‘What did you say?’ replies Lucy before Seamus hits her. The only thing he accomplishes is to give Lucy the chills. She shudders lightly. Strange that the cold is really affecting her; normally, it doesn’t bother her at all. It must be because she is cut off from her magic.

  Seamus keeps trying but without any results, so he quickly gives up and decides to inspect the room. The shackles and drains, the dark power symbols etched in the walls. Dead or not, he can feel the crossing of the ley lines and the smart positioning of the house. While Lucy is still staring down her grandson, Seamus is standing at her side.

  ‘You’ve always been a smart woman. This room is a work of art. Dark art of course, but I must appreciate it. The craft and knowledge needed for this is quite impressive.’ For a moment, he moves closer and puts his face right in front of Lucy. Cal can’t help but smile a little. It’s so bizarre.

  ‘What do you think is funny about all this?’ demands Lucy. Seamus right then lets out his inner child and sticks out his tongue at her. Cal has to look away.

  ‘Look at me!’
How is he going to survive this? Seamus is now jumping up and down in front of her waving his arms.

  ‘Nothing. I’m coming to bring you a gift.’

  ‘Really.’ smiles Lucy insincerely. ‘You’ve got me something. That’s a first.’ She waves him closer.

  Seamus, realizing what is going to happen, throws himself at Cal who shudders when Seamus moves through him. As he walks toward Lucy, Seamus frantically tries to stop him, but being a ghost really sucks. There is absolutely nothing he can do. Changing tactics, he floats next to Cal and talks to him.

  ‘Don’t you want to keep it for yourself? You know she will never let you touch it again. She will use it for evil. You can’t let her do that! Please, my family. You know it’s all only about her, right? She will never acknowledge you, your gifts, your generous spirit.’ Cal looks at Seamus, and for a moment, he has doubts. Who is this crazy old man that can look into his heart?

  ‘Now, what is it?’ Lucy impatiently waits.

  ‘Don’t do it.’ says Seamus. Cal has no choice. Unfortunately, Seamus doesn’t know his grandmother. You’d better obey. He takes the Deck from his pocket and hands it to Lucy.

  Intrigued she opens the pouch and turn the cards face up. For a moment, she’s stunned.

  ‘Oh no.’ Seamus sags to the floor, waiting for the inevitable.

  Mara peeks over Lucy’s shoulder and gasps. ‘It looks like they’re alive.’

  ‘Where did you get this?’ Lucy’s eyes twinkle.

  Encouraged by the positive reactions, Cal tells the story of his trip to the Madigan Bar. ‘And then I bumped into the child and pickpocketed the cards.’

  ‘You could have been caught,’ says Lucy, only half listening. The cards have her attention. Quickly she leafs through them. Seamus must have made them, such a gifted witch. Gently, she brushes over the surface of Luna’s card.

  ‘So real. Do you know how they work?’

  This is the tricky part. Cal is sure she will not be pleased that he tried them before her.

  ‘Well?’ Now she looks at him again. He shifts uncomfortably under her piercing gaze.