Born Again by Rena Marks Page B

girlie,” the old woman called
out.
    Sara looked at her blankly.
    “’Tis an important one, come.” She beckoned.
    Sara walked to her, although she wasn’t sure why. Carnival
fakers were not her style. As she approached, she got a good look at the woman. Geez , her teeth weren ’ t blackened , they actually were
missing .
    “Yer life is stuck in a pattern,” the old woman whispered,
her yellowish-green eyes all-knowing instead of sleazy like the usual fakers. “Ye
must break the cycle.”
    “A pattern? What kind of pattern?” Sara was confused at
first, but then alarm hit. She covered her midsection with her arms to avoid
sensing any of the woman’s feelings and hoped to feel just her own.
    “A vicious reincarnation, doomed to repeat behavior. But the
last time, ye tried to break it the wrong way and failed.”
    “What kind of repeated behavior?”
    “I’m not sure without delving into it.”
    There it was. Delving would mean into Sara’s wallet.
    “I’m not interested,” she said firmly and turned.
    “Wait! Ye must watch and see what happened to ye in the last
lifetime. Then ye must do the opposite now.” Her voice was agitated, as if she
sensed Sara would walk away. She hadn’t yet asked for money.
    That reason alone made the hairs on the back of Sara’s neck
stand on end.
    “How can I watch?”
    “Find out yer name back then. We track yer body, just the
spot where ye were buried and we can throw ye into a dream to relive the time
frame,” she whispered, eyes suddenly huge and sunken in her face.
    Was she for real ? Was she telling the truth ?
    “How can I find out?”
    “Yer name is similar in every lifetime, because ye are stuck
in a warp. Just like ye look similar, until whatever goal ye were meant to
accomplish is done. So it should be easy enough to research in these modern
days of computers and libraries. Come along, step into my tent. Let’s speak
further,” she coaxed.
    It was so tempting, but Sara refused to be a sucker. If the
woman’s story was real, it would also be real tomorrow. There was no reason for
urgency.
    “Sorry,” Sara said, glancing at her watch. “I’m on the
clock.”
    She began to walk away.
    The old biddy tried one last time. “Ye must be careful of
vampires and werewolves,” she called out.
    That clinched it. The old bat was crazy. Sara continued to
walk without a backward glance.
    When she was away from the old woman’s tent, the vegetable
stand was right in her line of vision. Why hadn’t she seen it first and saved
herself from the old loony woman? Confusion hit her and she pushed it to the
back of her mind when she noticed a hunchbacked old man moving slowly just
ahead of her.
    “Hi, I’m Sara Michaels,” she called as he set out
vegetables. He moved slowly, his skin paper-thin and tinged with gray. A shock
of white hair adorned his head.
    His eyes were black, the color of his pupils merging with
his iris into one giant hole. They never once seemed to blink.
    He hauled a box up from under the counter and set it on top
without a word.
    Sara shivered. People were creepy down here and it was broad
daylight.
    “Okay, I’ll just take this then?” Sara asked.
    He didn’t answer. He just continued to stare at her,
zombie-like. Weirded out, Sara lifted the box and turned, knowing he’d yell out
if that wasn’t what she was supposed to do.
    She glanced around to leave, box in her arms and looked
about her, wanting to avoid the old woman.
    Sara’s mouth went dry and she blinked her eyes, not
believing the proof that was before her. Not only was the old witch nowhere in
sight, but her tent had completely disappeared.
    * * * * *
    True to his word, Aric’s car was waiting for her when she
left the shop at five. It was Friday, she would have dinner with him and stay
the night at Beau’s tomorrow.
    “Oh, but I drove to work today,” she said to the driver when
he came to collect her. “I can’t just leave my car.”
    “Not a problem, ma’am. Mr.