The hot afternoon sun beat down on Edmund as he walked along the dirt road. Sweat ran down his back making the heavy frame backpack that he was carrying uncomfortable. There was not a cloud in the sky and when he looked at the thermometer that dangled from his pack it read 90. It was too hot for this kind of trek, but he had wanted to get to the hostel by sundown and he knew he had at least five more miles to go. Exhausted, he stopped and pulled off his pack and sat down on tree stump along the side of the road. Sitting down on a tree stump by the side of the road he took the canteen out of his pack and took a drink of water. The trees provided a bit of shade, but without a breeze he was still warm.
Edmund had decided that he would trek across Europe in this the summer before his senior year of college. He had asked his girlfriend Sandra to come along with him, but she had told him that she thought it better if they would spend some time apart. During his trip, he called her every chance he got, but she was never at home when he called. She had gotten a job at a local library and seemed to be working there late most nights. At least that is what her mother had told him when she answered his calls.
Looking at his watch it was about 3:30. No way he was going to make it five miles to the hostel before night at the rate he had been walking. He resolved himself to the fact that he would spend another night under the stars. At least the weather was nice and it surely would not get too cold tonight. He hoisted his pack up onto his back and kept walking.
The trees in the forest he was walking through had gotten taller as he walked along. This morning when he started there had been small farms and people along the road, but now there were just tall trees. He imagined that there were elves running though the forest around him. They were gathering for a hunt, out to nail some unsuspecting hiker as he intruded on their territory. The elf chief telling his warriors what would happen if some no good human were allowed to intrude upon their forest. He laughed at the thought of being confronted by a squad elfin hunters, with bows drawn, as he walked around the next bend. It was just the late afternoon light playing tricks on his eyes.
He walked around the bend in the road and came upon a wooden Roma style wagon set off to the side of the road. Sitting in a small patch of grass, the wagon was about 15 feet long and was painted bright red and yellow. There was no sign of a horse anywhere about. At the back, there were three steps up to a brightly painted red door. Next to the door was a sign that said "Fortunes Told" in gold letters. There seemed to be smoke coming from the metal chimney at the side of the wagon. Who would need a fire in weather like this he wondered.
He debated if he should knock or not. He really didn't believe in fortune telling, but he admitted that there was more to it than he realized. Maybe he could find out what the deal with Sandra was, he laughed to himself. He took off his backpack and set it aside, propped up against a tree. He then climbed up the three steps and knocked on the door.
"Come in," said a woman's voice from inside the wagon.
He opened the door and walked into the wagon. The inside of the wagon was richly decorated with tapestries that showed all sorts of strange animals and symbols. They reminded him of the paintings by Hieronymous Bosch he had studied in art history. In the middle of the wagon was a table covered by a dark green tablecloth. On the table sat an incense burner emitting sage flavored fumes. A golden lantern that hung from the ceiling lighted the wagon.
Behind the table sat an old woman with long grayish black hair tied up in a scarf. The woman wore an enormous amount of gold jewelry, bangles about her wrists, dangling earrings at her ears and several chains around her neck. She wore a simple, low cut black dress that Edmond thought would have been flattering, were she not so old. The low cut of the dress allowed him to see that she had a rose tattooed on her shoulder.
"Come in, sit down. Would you like some tea?"
"Yes please," said Edmond.
The woman walked over to the stove and got a teakettle that had been sitting on it and poured tea into a cup she put in front of Edmond.
"What brings you to my woods, young man?"
"Oh, I was just passing through on my way to a youth hostel on the way to Nijmegen."
"I hope you don't think you will make it there tonight."
"No I was planning to sleep in the woods. I have a warm sleeping bag, so I shouldn't be too cold. The weather has been nice enough.
"So it has."
Edmond took a sip of the tea and found it very pleasant. It wasn't any type of tea he had before. It had a sweetness to it he could not identify.
"Would you like your fortune told?" the woman asked.
"Sure," said Edmond.
"That will be ten Euros."
Edmond reached into his back pocked and pulled out his wallet. He took out a ten Euro bill and handed it to the woman.
"Thank you," said the woman, taking the bill and putting it into the bust of her dress. Edmond tried not to wince at the thought of what he assumed were wrinkled breasts. He sipped his tea to cover his expression.
